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There are 17 comments on Police Urge Students to Shun Occupy Boston Walkout

  1. I spoke with a visiting alumnus at BU this weekend who had heard about Occupy Boston and was stunned that more students at BU were not participating. She said that were they facing these things in the 70s, they’d have shut the place down (and did, if you know your history), particularly over the Bank of America presence on campus. I don’t see what the problem with being “stuck in 60s activism” is, although fetishizing nonviolence is problematic, too. Egypt’s revolution was not as peaceful as western MSM would like everyone to believe. They fought to defend area they took from the state and stood up to law enforcement until they won. This can be a nonviolent moment only if it is allowed to happen.

    There has been so much slander of the movement and divisiveness from non-participants that shows incredible privilege, ignorance and reliance on outside sources for information rather than first-hand experience. No, the movement’s not perfect, but let’s not romanticize every political movement that came before it, because those were not perfect, either. Students need to participate in this movement because it is us and our families who have some of the highest debt in the country with absolutely no recourse, declining post-educational job opportunities and an increasingly narrow range of options. People with a BA these days who don’t have connections, the ability to exploit themselves in unpaid internships or plans to continue their educations are faced with insurmountable debt and little chance of paying it off.

    Most of my peers are looking forward to jobs, if they’re lucky enough to find them, where they’re competing with high school students or people who do not have degrees for jobs that pay minimum-wage. In the world of young twenty-somethings, working in retail with a degree is a reality, not hyperbole. We’re overqualified for most jobs, under-experienced for others and too desperate for wages to be picky about the kind of jobs we take or for which we apply. It’s an exploitative culture that young people have to navigate and our post-grad futures are looking bleaker and bleaker. Don’t shun the walk-out because police think it’s a safety issue (seriously, that’s the best they can do?). Go and stand up for yourselves. It’s about time.

    Appealing to the powers that be won’t change anything — most of them don’t even have the power to make the changes we want to see and none of them have our interests at heart when they’re elected not by the polls but through the corporatization of politics (you don’t even see half the candidates who run because the media and corporate interests spend their time and money on candidates they know will do what’s best for them, and when most MSM outlets are controlled by corporations, what do we expect?). If the cops supported us, they’d join us. If the faculty supported us, they’d join us, too. Same with politicians. But they don’t and actions speak a lot louder than words.

    1. I understand the Movement’s opposition to the culture of corporatism that has permeated American politics for too long. The anger aroused by the bailouts is a righteous one, I feel it too. However, to direct that anger solely at corporate america and anyone deemed as ‘too successful’ with this 1% percent business is an attack on a symptom of the true problem. Yes, lobbyists are able to control politicians to push through self-serving legislation, but the Movement’s answer to this is more government control? This is simply expecting different results from the same remedy. So I cannot agree with this line of thought. New regulations will only create a new opportunity for a different privileged minority to push it’s agenda on those who do not wish it. We must continue to remind ourselves that democracy is susceptible to a tyranny of the majority, and true liberalism equates to holding a true conviction in one’s beliefs while not imposing those expectations upon others. I am not part of the 99% and I am quite certain I have never even met a member of this infamous one percent. (Though I’ve probably seen them in the movies or playing for a professional sports team.) Those figures need recalculating. Then there is this issue of wealth distribution. I have not as of yet learned what the ‘right’ amount of wealth for each citizen ought to be, but as long as it’s a positive number I stand to profit off the deal. However, from a group whose members are often quite vocal in their attacks on religion this seems an awful lot like required charity, through forced attrition. I love the separation of religion from state affairs as much as the next Jeffersonian but this is just religious law by another name. To sum this pathetic diatribe up because I must get some sleep before my next class and going to work tonight. (There’s no shame in working a job you are overqualified for, we are not the first generation of young people subjected to this torture. However, if one doesn’t work and demonstrate his over-qualified nature he will surely not be noticed.) Back to the point, deep down I feel a strong affinity towards anarchism, though I’ll settle for advocating a national government that intrudes into our lives as little as possible. After all, any self-respecting anarchist would do well to remember the treatment our kind has received at the hands of socialists in the past. (think CNT/FAI during the Spanish Civil War and the Ukrainian Black Army during the Bolshevik Revolution.) One last thing, I hope every Occupier will read ‘Animal Farm’ by ol’ George Orwell and remember: Boxer represents the youth.

  2. Absolutely shameless! If those students want a future(for their $40,000+ per year) they should shun the police and those flunkies at the Student Union.

  3. As the protest is going to happen during the day, I’m sure the safety of trick-or-treaters (a nighttime activity) won’t be compromised. One has to wonder about the motivation of the police in telling such a transparent lie. It certainly hurts their credibility, now and in the future.

  4. BPD: you should be ashamed. You’re telling a group of young adults who are trying to develop their identity and who are the individuals that are struggling to find post-graduation jobs to not protest. Isn’t college the time to experiment with who you are and to broaden your education. BPD should be ashamed of themselves for attempting to thwart our 1st amendment right to protest. If anything, the students should be outraged and compelled to protest just for the sake of protesting. Doesn’t matter if you’re on the right or the left, you have the right to protest and no one should discourage you from doing so.

    1. “Boston Police Superintendent William Evans, chief of the BPD Bureau of Field Services, told the students that police would be glad to guide the group’s marches. ‘We are not trying to stop you from peacefully protesting,’ said Evans. ‘If you can do it in a safe way, we’re all for it.'”

      Sounds to me like they want people to protest peacefully and will even escort them, but to be mindful of safety. Of course they are going to suggest that other actions occur, but I don’t think they need to be ashamed or that they are trying to stifle someone’s right to protest. I think they’re suggesting people be thoughtful about their actions.

      If someone wants to protest, I would hope they would anyway regardless of this conversation.

    2. Mike, obviously you didn’t read the whole thing. They asked us not to protest on *Halloween* because there will be little kids trick-or-treating, and they’d rather use their efforts to protect those kids than escort our marches. On any other day, they’ve supported our protests.

      1. KC, you obviously didn’t do your research. The students planned to walk-out of class at 1 pm. I don’t know how much trick or treating is going on when all of the kids are in school.

        1. The choice not to march on the 31st was not due to the police speech, but rather because a march on Wednesday November 2 took precedence. While this was a walk out for the movement as a whole, the Wednesday march was about solidarity with Occupy Oakland and the message was something we wanted to support as a group.

  5. The students who chose to come to BU knew how expensive it was when they signed up, I would like to note. And I still don’t see how marching around a city will get anything done when this protest group doesn’t even have a set list of goals or a leader to rally behind. I’m with Chomsky on this one: This movement might have a noble aim, but it needs to have have realistic and achievable goals, too, instead of a bunch of whiny young adults and unemployed, disgruntled hippies sitting around saying, “They took all our money and we’re tired of it.”

  6. re: “the walkout would pull officers away from efforts to safeguard trick or treaters.”

    Why would the officers need to have ANY involvement with citizens in a walkout?

    If the officers leave particpant of the walkout alone, in order to “safeguard trick or treaters,” how would that be a bad thing?

    1. Good point. Unless there were plans for a large sit-in protest as part of this walkout, there should be no Police involvement needed for students standing up and walking out of class, etc…

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