As organized as the protest community is in Olympia, they border on radical and lose the support of the rest of the community.  The port protests were a prime example of not being satisfied with what is legally extended to them.  I spent two nights at the port - probably 6 or 7 hours in all.  I talked to TJ, in my cleanest tone possible, and his response was about as childish as one could imagine.  Ultimately he told me if I didn't like what was happening, specifically his role in the event, I could move to Lacey or Tumwater.  Very grown up of him...  I didn't witness protest at the port - I saw what to me were people who felt like they weren't being heard and took it to a level not protect by rights.

So, now we are looking at organized chaos.  Specifically designed to challenge the council's decision.  The council will vote and move on.  Protesters will line the streets and stand up to the council's decision without thought - pure emotion.  If you step back and look at it you become a target of the council's ordinance and are subject to the consequence.  I guess if enough people follow, your expectations are that you can change minds.  It's a gross form of manipulation and subject to failure.  Why not contact the ACLU, National Homeless Advocate, etc., and take the road most would when trying to oppose a government entity?  You'll change minds with compliance along the way and due diligence in between. 

Folks, the first rule of survival is that you must survive. All the other rules go out the window. When you're as close to death on a daily basis as folks are who work with / are / know personally the people who live outside the economic security of jobs, conformity, and clothes which were washed this week, your priorities are not the same as those whose next fifteen meals sit in their refrigerator, half of which will rot before they are eaten.

When I was a young kid going off to college for the first time, I had that attitude that the purity of intent was what mattered. It does matter. But now that I've been someone who ate from dumpsters for a summer (thank Gaia it was a summer!) I have a slightly different perspective.

Folks, the anger you're seeing is NOT coming from the "usual suspects" Evergreen crowd. These are NOT the people organizing this protest of Scrooge. These are (the ones I have met) homeless or underhoused people who feel a viceral threat in this law, which passed the City Council. Whether you agree or not is beside the point: the anger is real, and the anger is life/death in origin. Do not underestimate this anger, or its expression. Listen to its lessons or ignore them, but preaching at these folks on Olyblog is like shouting into an Atlantic hurricane. If you want to speak with them, get down to the street tomorrow before 7PM and occupy the sidewalks with civility and prepare to have a loud conversation. My suggestion is that you shut up and listen - these folks have not been heard much recently, and they have much to teach you.

"A fool will learn less from the wise than the wise can learn from a fool."

"The greatest hoax played on the masses is that their individual voice is nothing amidst the cacophany of world events." - enpen, an Olyblogger (2006)