My time at Occupy Oakland. Hanging with the 99 percenters. 2011

I spent a few weeks at the occupy movement in Oakland, camped out like a forest ranger in the park by the civic center. It is normally called Frank Ogawa Plaza, but for the time of the protest it was always referred to as Oscar Grant Plaza. Why? Who the fuck knows? The dead delinquent had nothing to do with Wall Street or politics. I am told he was a victim of “The Man.” I thought he was shot by a dumb cop who couldn’t tell the difference between his Taser and his Glock. A lot of people tried to convince me what a noble fellow Oscar was. Each time it came up I asked if they knew him personally; no one did. “How do you know what an honorable and noble fellow he was?”

Yeah, there were Oscar Grant fans there. There were a lot issues besides Oscar that were brought to the forefront each day. Some were there to protest their growing student debt. I asked them, “Are you still going to college?” Yes. “Why don’t you quit and stop going into debt?” Invariably, the answers were that “The Man” will eventually forgive all student debt so there was no need to drop out of school. “Dude, when this revolution is done, no one will owe a dime on a student loan.” Shit, I paid my student loans years ago. I should have let them ride and let “The Man” take care of them.

A typical day at the camp started just after midnight when the first of two or more drunks/stoners fell on my tent, keeping me wide awake. I never had a good night’s sleep there. I’d fall asleep for a little while and then the guys in the tent next to mine would start making love, usually about 3am. They sounded like hogs going at it. Their tent would shake and the poles would rattle. Sometimes they had an audience who would stand next to my tent and clap and cheer for their orgasms.

A couple of times I went to the community kitchen to see what there was to eat for breakfast. There was a lot of organic this and natural that cooking in pots. It wasn’t the food that I distrusted; it was the people cooking it. It was hardly a sanitary affair. I am still surprised there was not an E-Coli outbreak. I knew a lot of folks who had the trots. That caused a real crisis for our toilet facilities. I noticed a few guys and gals squatting like dogs on the lawn as the lines at the porta potties were too long and the urge of their diarrhea too great! I think this pissed off a lot of dogs as they spent their time trying to reclaim that territory with their own poop.  

The morning porta potty wait became a ritual. I would often find myself with the same people in line day after day at sun up. Sometimes we’d sing songs. There were a lot spontaneous chants that would arise. “Get the fuck out of the toilet!’ was my favorite. It tended to move the line along.

Well, in the mornings I usually took a walk to McDonalds or a coffee shop for some eggs and good ol’ processed meats. I was told by many that there was not enough food for all thru the community kitchen. It ran out often. When it didn’t run out, the food was very bad. After a while some of the nearby coffee shops closed during the protest and I had to walk farther for lunch and dinner. I’d be damned if I was going to eat anything made by “Natural Dan” and “Constantly Stoned and Happy Katey.” I was talking to “Constantly Stoned and Happy Katey” while she was making a dinner dish one night. She suddenly sneezed into the pot. She winked at me and said, “You didn’t see that.” Yeah, I did. I nearly threw up my Big Mac thinking of all the folks who were going to be dining on that later.

There were anti-war protesters there in droves. “Out of Afghanistan” read many signs. I talked to a nice couple who were singing some old protest songs. The guy looked like a young version of Pete Seeger and the lady looked like any other Dead Head/Phish Following Spin dancer. Should I say she had an “earthy” scent about her? “We gotta pull our troops out now!”

Another group out there at Occupy was the Tree Huggers contingent. This consisted of various backwoods types of hippies. Some were more concerned with global warming, others were the true tree hugger who literally save trees. One guy was very proud of the Redwood Trees he had spiked. Spiking a tree is hammering a metal spike deep into a tree so when a chainsaw hits the spike it breaks the chain injuring or possibly killing the lumberjack. The most creative of this group was the fellow who occupied a tree, calling himself an Ohlone Indian and declaring the tree his reservation or tribal property.

Many of the people I describe above were affiliated with socialism or socialist parties. There were people there who called themselves socialists and some who referred to themselves as communists. There were even those who called themselves anarchists and openly promoted the violent overthrow of the United States Government. All three of these groups advocated distinct and sudden changes to be made to our government. According to many in these particular groups, the current system of government provided through the U. S. Constitution is antiquated and unresponsive to the needs of the 99%.

Yep, I said, “Hey, good luck with that!”

Disarming America

The California State Assembly has recently passed a new law that would end the open carrying of pistols in the state. Currently, California law allows persons legally allowed to own a weapon to carry an unloaded pistol openly in a holster. Ammunition is to be carried separately from the weapon but can be on the same belt or in a pocket. The new law will end this practice once and for all.

I can hear "yea" and "wheeee" coming from the anti-gunners out there. This is really much ado about nothing. The open carry law has been on the books for many years. It was not until recently that gun rights advocates took to the streets carrying their guns to shed a little light upon the Second Amendment and our right to bear arms. Of course, where there are gun advocates, there are those who feel that private ownership of weapons is barbaric and an affront to a decent society.

The ultimate goal of the anti-gun crowd is to outlaw the private ownership of projectile firing weapons. You would still be able to use a baseball bat to protect your home and family - provided that it is not a metal bat, as those may be outlawed too.

The FBI estimates there are over 200 million privately held guns in 40% of the households in the US. To wrest control of all of these weapons is a gargantuan undertaking. There is a certain percentage who would give up their weapons willingly. But there is also a more significant percentage who would rather have their guns pried from their cold dead fingers rather than give them up willingly. Let's consider how the Weimar Republic of Germany eliminated private gun ownership.

By 1938, the Weimar Republic already had many laws on the books that anti-gunners advocate now. You had to have a special license from the police to own and carry a weapon. The German state police had carte blanch over all ownership decisions. This unlimited police control is the foundation of "Brady II," the gun legislation being promoted by the gun control lobby since 1994. The German Gun Control program was all the Nazi's needed to insure that Jews and others who were not trusted by the state to be good Germans would be disarmed and helpless.

In 1938 Germany passed their special "1938 Weapons Law," stating that Jews could no longer possess firearms. Possesion of a firearm by a Jew would result in death or 20 years of incarceration. In accordance with the new law, Police entered Jewish homes and confiscated pistols, rifles, and even old swords and sabers owned by WWI veterans. On Nov. 8, 1938, the New York Times reported from Berlin, "Berlin Police Head Announces 'Disarming' of Jews," explaining:

The Berlin Police President, Count Wolf Heinrich von Helldorf, announced that as a result of a police activity in the last few weeks the entire Jewish population of Berlin had been "disarmed" with the confiscation of 2,569 hand weapons, 1,702 firearms and 20,000 rounds of ammunition. Any Jews still found in possession of weapons without valid licenses are threatened with the severest punishment.1

On November 9, 1938, the Nazi government initiated "Kristallnacht," where thousands of unarmed, helpless Jews were attacked by government sanctioned mobs. Certainly, if the Jews had firearms, the mobs would have thought twice about destroying their businesses and homes. I have heard some nuts say the Jews did nothing to protect or defend themselves in the Holocaust. What can you do when you have been disarmed and there are masses of people with torches and clubs willing to bash you into the next week? Or quasi military organizations like the SS or the Gestapo armed with automatic weapons comes around to take you away? There was some resistance, but those who resisted were killed or maimed. No, there was little that Germany's Jews could do to defend themselves in the face of State directed genocide.

Of course, at this time in Germany, they had full gun registration. If you were a German citizen and not a Jew, you could still own a gun. However, the German legislature was the first to distinguish between military and sporting arms. So, ownership of pistols and semi automatic rifles were prohibited. Every weapon in possession by the citizenry was recorded.

As the pendulum in the battles of WWII swung to the allies side, Germany was forced to play its trump card. Finally, in 1942, the state went forward and initiated confiscation of all firearms. Paranoia of their leader and others in positions of power drove them to take away all firearms for fear of a popular uprising.

The path to gun control is paved with good intentions. Registering weapons does nothing to keep them out of the hands of those who would use them to harm us. It does give the government a "Black List" to move upon when the time comes for confiscation. As an American gun owner, I do not fear my government. My government, technically, fears me and all the other millions of gun owners.

Rep. Edwin Arthur Hall-NY, Member of the House of Representatives from 1939 to 1953, explained: "Before the advent of Hitler or Stalin, who took power from the German and Russian people, measures were thrust upon the free legislatures of those countries to deprive the people of the possession and use of firearms, so that they could not resist the encroachments of such diabolical and vitriolic state police organizations as the Gestapo, the Ogpu, and the Cheka."9

Rep. John W. Patman-TX, Member of the House from 1928 to 1976, added: "The people have a right to keep arms; therefore, if we should have some Executive who attempted to set himself up as dictator or king, the people can organize themselves together and, with the arms and ammunition they have, they can properly protect themselves. . . ."

One must fear the government that wants to take their gun. Now, the State of California wishes to infringe upon our Second Amendment Right because some ninnies in Starbucks feel threatened by citizens exercising their personal right to carry an unloaded weapon. Schwarzenegger's political career is shot to hell. He is becoming more of a Kennedy daily. I bet that ninny signs the open carry restriction bill.