Allies, and Opponents

To belabor the obvious: Welcome to the 2012.

So far this year, I’ve managed to alienate allies, and opponents.

Last Saturday, I attended the screening of 99% (The Occupy Wall Street Collaborative Film). You may have seen the tweets, or email which I sent announcing this event. That screening did not go well on my end. As you may know from reading this blog, I am one of the struggling 99%. I live in an extended stay hotel with two others in an “alternative living” arrangement. I am one of the many working poor. I have no extra money for frills. My access to the net is limited by what is provided by the hotel. Even at the best time, like now, I have a Wi-Fi connection which is choked to 11Mbps (best throughput on an IEEE 802.11b connection). Once the Hotel awakens it degrades to about that of a fast dial-up modem. Last Saturday, 7 January 2012, my throughput was 1 Mbps. Unfortunately, that was not enough throughput for me to watch the rush screening.

While I did participate graciously in the Theater, I also had a conversation with the services' Technical Support. I was certain they could do nothing about the data throughput, but I contacted them anyway. I figured that they needed to know the limitations of their service. I was told that I could go to a different location, and try again later if the producers of the movie would arrange to allow me to have another screening (shades of someone who was trained by Microsoft’s® Technical Support). I was not too surprised at that answer; once again, even among Occupy Wall Street Supporters the dark hand of American capitalism comes to play.

There is, even within the Occupation, an assumption of access to Middle Class Resources. Those who are not up to that level need not jostle the sensitivities of those who still retain their socioeconomic strata. I can only guess that they were somewhat surprised by my not taking the suggestion like a vagabond on the street with a “Yes, Ma’am …. Thank you, Ma’am …. God bless you Ma’am.” I did go to twitter and rip off a blistering stream aimed at no one. No names were mention. No one was condemned. No one was called out. I was venting. That is, by design and convention, one of the reasons the Internet exists.

Before moving on, let me again repeat myself; I was one of the tens of thousands who had a hand in bringing the Internet into existence. I was one of the geeks who came in to new installations and made the network work. And I was one of the tens of thousands dumped on his ass when Corporate America was done with us by the end of 2000. That puts me about eight to ten years ahead of many of the Occupiers. As I was told in 2005 by my Comp TIA A+ Certification instructor: “Success in IT (Information Technology) is not what you know, but who you know.” Mind you I had just paid $1,500.00 for the boot camp to get certified on what I already knew. I was also informed by one recruiter at TekSystems in Fort Worth that once one is out of IT for six months it is almost impossible to get back into the field. While seeming to digress here, the point is: The pervasive attitude, even among the Occupiers, is “I’ve got mine!” Sometimes that is followed by an expletive of what you, or I, should do.

Being that I am 54, I am also pretty sure that many would just as soon I shut up and die already to make room for the twenty-somethings rising to fill positions that we have clogged up on the way down. Age discrimination is rampant in the US (and I documented it in Wealth, Women and War in 2007). “I’ve got mine!” is the real battle cry in the USA today.

I’ve not heard a word from the folks at 99% (The Occupy Wall Street Collaborative Film) – other than the anonymous, oft’ unanswered, and repeated tweets since January 7, 2012. They do have some of my video and all of my pictures from Occupy Chicago dating from September 23, 2011 to November 25, 2011. And they have the signed agreement which has not been returned to me.

On good faith in compliance with the agreement, I have removed my pictures from Flicker, and made most of the video on YouTube private. I have left the videos up here pending the finalization of the agreement.

Exclusivity: by uploading or delivering media to the Producer, The Production Company, its representatives or agents, the Filmmaker warrants that they will not use (nor allow the usage of) the same media in another film that exceeds 25 minutes in length and is about Occupy Wall Street, which is intended for release in any format in the Unites States of America. The window of exclusivity begins now and ends one calendar year after The Film’s first commercial theatrical screening or Television or Cable broadcast that is not part of a Film Festival, or by Dec 29, 2013, whichever is first. The Filmmaker agrees to only upload and/or deliver and/or make available to The Production Company (and/or its representatives or agents) media of which they are comfortable granting exclusively to The Film. The Film is intended for Theatrical, Television, Digital, Physical (DVD and all Ancillary formats) release in the US and international markets (throughout the Universe), as well as in formats and technologies that may not yet exist.

Nothing which I have produced exceeds the 25 minutes stated herein, I will note.

At this point I’ve no idea if the work I have submitted will be used or not. The producers may be too busy with the project to answer my email. However, from what I have seen in the USA, and the Occupation movement, until we start understanding that others have limitations on resources with the upper classes take for granted, the movement is, as they say on the net, an Epic Failure.

However, I do wish the producers of 99% (The Occupy Wall Street Collaborative Film) continued success. With their connections and their considerable skill they have raised the funding to make the project viable. No idea if that will trickle down to me here in the extended stay hotel outside of Chicago, working on a dismal and decaying 11Mbps 802.11b connection. I am, however, getting the impression that they really don’t want to hear from any of the real 99%. I guess I am not a gracious enough bum.

Of course, I will ask, being anticlimactic here, why should I beg? I’ve done my work with my little, unprofessional, amateur Kodak Zx5 Play Sport; it may not be much, but it is what I do have to work with. Too, this movie has very little out of Occupy Chicago, so if you like what you have seen, and support true Indy reporters, tell them about it: http://www.99percentfilm.com (contact@99percentfilm.com).

Update: I did hear from the producers today. They're busy ... very busy; putting in 100 hours a week. And, yes, they will be using some of what I have contributed. I'd bet a good word to them, and/or a donation to the cause, couldn't hurt.