Politics: Occupy the Left

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Politics Occupy the Left How the Occupy movement has flipped the script on liberal activism. By David Weigel Posted Tuesday, Dec 13, 2011, at 02:24 AM ET Near the end of the Occupy the Ports march in Long Beach, Calif., when 400-odd protesters were walking around in circles and coming up with chants in front of a work site, there was a beautiful little moment of cognitive dissonance. A middle-aged woman, who'd been chanting along with the usual stuff—"Whose ports? Our ports!" and "What's the direction? Insurrection!" —started in on a version of the labor movement's unofficial anthem. It's supposed to go like this: Solidarity forever The union makes us strong The new version went like this: Solidarity forever Occupation makes us strong Occupiers would like to think that the "us" is the same from song to song. That's not really clear. The Occupy the Ports protests temporarily shut down some commerce from San Diego to Oakland to Seattle, shaming facilities owned by SSA Marine, which is owned by Goldman Sachs. "The 1 percent are depriving port truck drivers and other workers of decent pay," said Occupy Long Beach in a statement, "even while the port of LA/LB is the largest in the U.S. and a huge engine of profits for the 1 percent." Unionized workers got some unexpected days off. They didn't get paid for them. "I don't quite understand why they did it," said Sean Farley, president of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 34 in Oakland. "They want to impact the '1 percent,' which I get. They need to identify the '1 percent ... To continue reading, click here. Join the Fray: our reader discussion forum What did you think of this article? POST A MESSAGE | READ MESSAGES Also In Slate Why Scalia Changed His Mind About Whether the 14th Amendment Gives Women Equal Rights How Occupy Protesters Are Irritating the Same Union Workers They Claim To Be Rallying For I Used To Feel Guilty About Celebrating a Godless Christmas. Now I Love It.	Advertisement
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