Occupy D.C.

'Occupy Washington, D.C.' tents set up in Lafayette Square, with the
Capitol building in the background.  (Image/Dick Bergeron)

On the way to our first visit to the Martin Luther King Memorial in Washington, D.C., we came upon an unexpected surprise:  As we crossed Pennsylvania Avenue from the J.W. Marriott Hotel, Pris and I noticed a tight grouping of weatherproof tents on the concrete slab of Lafayette Park. 

 
The sign outside one of these shelters read “Welcome to Washington, D.C.,” and the marking on the largest one read “First Aid.”  It was, to my surprise the peaceful encampment of an “Occupy Washington” contingent.
 
However, unlike what’s been happening in Manhattan with “Occupy Wall Street,” the Washington version seemed to be a model of civility.  Indeed, I couldn’t determine whether or not there was anyone occupying any of the tents!  Nor did I see any protesters on the pavilion.

 
The only persons visible from where we walked while crossing the street, in full view of the Capitol Building, were a few onlookers who cautiously paused to gaze or, like me, to snap a photo – no one there, it seemed, but empty tents or occupants sleeping in on a late Saturday morning.
 
A word about these ‘Occupy’ movements: 
 

Several passersby in front of the First Aid tent at 'Occupy Washington, D.C.'
(Image/Dick Bergeron)

I don’t wholly understand their practical purpose.  It started in Wall Street’s Zuccotti Park, a privately-owned site which the ‘Occupy’ demonstrators promptly began to trash, as they harassed passersby, and made a public display out of effecting in public what usually occurs in a bathroom or in a bedroom. 
 
It’s not exactly what Henry David Thoreau had in mind when he wrote his famous essay on Civil Disobedience.  Nor does the Occupy Wall Street movement reflect the type of non-violent protest demonstrated by the actions of Mohandas Gandhi.  I wonder how many of the protesters even know of these famous personages and what they stand for.
 
I don’t belittle the Occupy cause – if there truly is one – which, I think, is to protest the excesses of Wall Street. 
 
Well gentlemen and ladies of the Occupy movement, step aside and join the club.  I could bore you with a litany of fact and opinion about corruption in parts of corporate America.
 
In support, The New York Times has written in its online DealBook newsletter of some Wall Street hedge fund managers and traders who, as knowledgeable insiders, are in sympathy with those who are genuinely protesting the avarice and unethical conduct of some key Wall Street power brokers.
 
But there has been a basic issue with the behavior of the Wall Street ‘Occupiers’ as well as with those in Oakland, CA., and it’s this:   Any observer attempting to make a genuine effort to listen to the ‘Occupiers’’ message should not have to hold his or her nose, or to fear for personal safety.