What do you think about Chaz in Seattle?

[Pio1980]

Originally Posted by Waggs098

Thanks for the response.

I have to ask though, watching all the news and seeing what's happening you have no opinion at all?

Not yet, but welcome to the discussions!

[TryToFindmid]

I feel bad for the businesses that are within their occupied area.

That is unless the occupants are generating equal or maybe even greater income than normal???

Never mind the owners / workers of the businesses having access to them.

It's no secret most of the regular posters here hate the Trump administration, the small business covid funds and where they went have been largely secretive. Which I also despise. All the more reason I feel so terrible for all the small businesses that the covid pandemic lockdown killed or made survival questionable at best. Then the protests and the other byproducts of riots and these occupation efforts added to their possible survival struggle.

Not sure if the broader picture of business tax revenue and its role in supporting far more than police is fully understood by the powers that be.

Theres been allot of articles written about the ever weakening of the us dollar in leu of the lack of us savings vs spending and the massive loaning that has been going on.

I really appreciated Don's recent notion about not burning the entire system down to replace it in the Hope's of perfect system. I agree there are no guarantees in doing things this way. I simply worry if major cities see a massive reduction in localized business's in general and the tax revenue they create due to covid and now the movements. Combined with government monopoly money.

I keep reading how Amazon keeps gaining leverage, aka no local spending.

All I can say is I've never been more certain I've no Fing clue what the future holds.

These times are nuts more than I've ever seen.

[Pio1980]

I share many of your concerns concerning the effects of dealing with the pandemic on commerce and local economics, but have less than zero confidence in the empathetic competence of the arrogant self-absorbed babbling nitwit in the WH and his hand-picked largely equally incompetent servile sycophants.
Selfless competent leadership would have been most welcome over a blustering bullshitting conman.

[donquixote99]

Everyone is ignorant of what goes on with CHAZ, except a person who's holding his cards close to the vest? Well, I will try to find out what goes on.

Going in, I know:

1) it's an area the cops are keeping out of, I think
2) Fox put up some false images to make it look like it's some fortress of armed rebellion. So it's not a fortress of armed rebellion.

More when I know more.

[donquixote99]

Slate report a good place to start: https://slate.com/technology/2020/06...d-protest.html

Based on the Slate piece: The cops aren't there because the Mayor ordered them out, abandoning the besieged precinct building. Pissed-off the cops surely. Now it's run by 'volunteer consensus.' Residents and anyone can come and go--unless you are recognized as a not-liked person, then a crowd will form that will--I don't know, yell at you a lot? There are people watching the 'barricades,' but so far, no arms visible and no fighting.

Volunteers are distributing food, and otherwise inventing progressive community stuff. There don't seem to be big problems yet, but I wonder what happens if bad actors come to create violence, set fires, etc. That would sort of be the big test of the no-violence no-police approach.

Historically, the government tolerates stuff like this only so long, then they send in police or troops and 'restore order.' It will be interesting to see how this goes. Pretty progressive mayor may resist the pressure to do something like that. But the more radical of the occupiers will want to make a real revolution out of it, and may force his hand.

[RickeyM]

What was that soiree a couple of years back out West where the ranchers (the Bundy brothers I think) took up arms and occupied a government building and told the feds to f*k off? Something about grazing rights?

[Pio1980]

Originally Posted by RickeyM

What was that soiree a couple of years back out West where the ranchers (the Bundy brothers I think) took up arms and occupied a government building and told the feds to f*k off? Something about grazing rights?

A grifting rancher and some "soverign citizen" bullshit.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cliven_Bundy

[donquixote99]

That was right-wingers doing a mini-rebellion. Armed to the teeth, and full of violent rhetoric. Occupied a National Wildlife Refuge facility. Made a big thing about some local ranchers being in trouble for setting fires on public land. Basically they wanted to declare independence from the Bureau of Land Management.

The thing was 'tolerated' for a while, and the rebels thought they could come and go as they pleased. Then the FBI went to arrest some while they were traveling, and one leader was killed. In aftermath, juries in Oregon refused to convict, and the rebels walked.

[nailer]

Originally Posted by bobabode

Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone, wiseacre.

CHAZ in other words.

[nailer]

Originally Posted by Waggs098

Chaz is the "occupied" zone in Seattle.

Thank you.