Capitalists for Peace
Sunday, March 23rd, 2003
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Yesterday’s anti-war march in New York City was notable for how professional its participants were. Not only were they well behaved (outside the handful of predictable losers), the crowd strolling down Broadway were remarkably on message, as the PR people say. Most banners simply read “No War” or “The World says No to War.” None of the irrelevant agendas that have dominated rallies I’ve attended in San Francisco - Marxism, Mumia, bike lanes, whatever. I’m glad to see the backlash from people with jobs in SF, where marchers seem less pro-labor than anti-work. Protesting isn’t un-American. Blocking the FedEx guy is.
Maybe the difference is because (a) New Yorkers saw 9-11 with their own eyes, and (b) New York is the world capital of capital, marketing, and communications. Whatever the reasons, going back to California this summer will be hard. San Francisco is still lying around the house in its bathrobe, bitching about its lost dot-com job and demanding rent control while neglecting to take out the garbage. Despite being dubbed “Baghdad by the Bay” by Pulitzer-winning local Herb Caen, they can’t even spell it.
By contrast, Manhattan is a city that suffered a devastating loss eighteen months ago, yet still gets up and goes to work in the morning. I (heart) New York.
