"Those who condemn the past forget to repeat it."
--Bizarro George Santayana
(the unofficial slogan of Cryptoscatology.com)
The same psychological warfare techniques used to demonize Seattle's CHOP back in 2020 are now being trotted out to vilify the current protests in Los Angeles. (See, for example, this 6-10-25 CNN article entitled "Social Media Algorithms Boost L.A. Protest Misinformation in ‘Combustible’ Environment.") If a lie works the first nine thousand times, why not try it again, right? Five years ago, I asked one of my roving band of Cryptoscatology correspondents to provide me with a first-person account of the "chaos" that was allegedly breaking out in Washington State at that time. This particular correspondent lived in Seattle not far from the autonomous zone that eventually became known as the CHOP (Capitol Hill Organized Protest), formerly known as the CHAZ (Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone). This individual was in constant contact with permanent residents of the CHOP. Here's the report filed with Cryptoscatology back on June 10, 2020. Keep all of this firmly in mind as you attempt to distinguish between truth and fiction regarding the ongoing state of affairs in Los Angeles:
I
see the questions people outside of Seattle are asking, and I have come
to the conclusion that they are really confused about who we are.
For
example, they are convinced the residents and shop owners are angry and
have been taken over. From firsthand accounts, residents and business
owners are happy to no longer be breathing tear gas and happy their
property is no longer being damaged by police rubber bullets and flash
bangs. I hear their relief in no longer needing to struggle to shelter
and protect protesters from the attacking police. I hear locals saying
their main concerns are the COVID risk, things taking longer to get back
to normal, and the message of BLM being diluted by the misconceptions
about the CHAZ.
My
other takeaway is that the people there aren’t outsiders coming in and
taking over; they are the residents and business owners and people from
the Seattle community. Also people in Seattle can be some serious
nerds. I have seen people take on Game of Thrones accents and call the northern barricade “The Wall” and do some GoT
satire, I have seen a dad bod Darth Vader stroll through the park with a
boom box playing The Imperial March, I have seen cops watching The Simpsons upstairs in the precinct. And the scariest thing of all... musicians playing smooth jazz on the street!
Viewers
ask questions like “Who is going to clean all this up?” I guarantee
there is a group of people organizing volunteers for that, just like
people do for events in Seattle like Hempfest, Bumbershoot, and the
block parties. Just like volunteers are organizing waste management and
food and water. If there is any organizing, it’s people coming together
and filling a need. There is no Warlord. It is not Mad Max.
Children
are swinging in the park. People are walking dogs, playing hoops,
watching films, playing music, speaking passionately about the effects
of systemic racism and police brutality and advocating for positive
change to various sized groups of listeners, helping keep an eye on
things to keep each other safe.
And
the barricades? They aren’t some Les Miz French Revolution barricades,
just ones to keep cars out so no one gets hurt (just like a barricade
for a block party does) that can be moved to let cars in if there is an
emergent need. No one is checking IDs. One man sitting in the shade of
one of the barricades and manning it was asked what he did today; he
said when it was sunny, he had read a book.
Sure there is graffiti, but knowing Seattle that will get cleaned up eventually and probably much of it turned into murals.
I
am seeing so many lies about our city and our community. There are good
things happening here. Please listen to what the people here are
saying, not the lies Fox and some other news outlets are trying to
gaslight you with.
Even
though the CHAZ is not the mayhem the news is trying to convince people
of, and even though the atmosphere in some ways is festival-like, we
can’t forget that police brutality was enacted there all last week and
since the protests started. There is an underlying purpose to what
people are doing in the CHAZ. The system must be changed to meet the
needs of the people of Seattle and across the US. There must be
fundamental change for the health and safety and peace of our community.
Open your minds and hearts and listen to the lived experiences of the
people of Seattle and across the US.
So
please watch some of the live streaming for yourselves. Better yet, go
there and talk to people if you can. Just make sure to smoke in the
designated smoking area, and take care not to walk on any newly planted
vegetables. And if you forgot a water bottle, someone there will have
your back.
Here are some recommended contemporaneous articles about the CHOP published back in 2020...
1) Emily Pothast's 6-11-20 Medium article entitled "What the Heck Is Going on in Seattle?"
2) Jim Brunner's 6-12-20 Seattle Times article entitled "Fox News Runs Digitally Altered Images in Coverage of Seattle’s Protests, Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone"
3) Bridget Read's 6-15-20 The Cut article entitled "What’s Going on in CHAZ, the Seattle Autonomous Zone?"
4) Andrew Paul's 6-16-20 A.V. Club article entitled "John Cleese Dunks on Fox News for Reporting a Holy Grail Quote As News"
"[In the late 17th century, Captain] Mission explored the Madagascar coast and found a bay ten leagues north of Diégo-Suarez. It was resolved to establish here the shore quarters of the Republic—erect a town, build docks, and have a place they might call their own. The colony was called Libertatia and was placed under Articles drawn up by Captain Mission. The Articles state, among other things: all decisions with regard to the colony to be submitted to vote by the colonists; the abolition of slavery for any reason including debt; the abolition of the death penalty; and freedom to follow any religious beliefs or practices without sanction or molestation.
"Captain Mission’s colony, which numbered about three hundred, was wiped out by a surprise attack from the natives, and Captain Mission was killed shortly afterwards in a sea battle. There were other such colonies in the West Indies and in Central and South America, but they were not able to maintain themselves since they were not sufficiently populous to withstand attack. Had they been able to do so, the history of the world could have been altered. Imagine a number of such fortified positions all through South America and the West Indies, stretching from Africa to Madagascar and Malaya and the East Indies, all offering refuge to fugitives from slavery and oppression: “Come to us and live under the Articles" [...].
"I cite this example of retroactive Utopia since it actually could have happened in terms of the techniques and human resources available at the time. Had Captain Mission lived long enough to set an example for others to follow, mankind might have stepped free from the deadly impasse of insoluble problems in which we now find ourselves.
"The chance was there. The chance was missed. The principles of the French and American revolutions became windy lies in the mouths of politicians. The liberal revolutions of 1848 created the so-called republics of Central and South America, with a dreary history of dictatorship, oppression, graft, and bureaucracy, thus closing this vast, underpopulated continent to any possibility of communes along the lines set forth by Captain Mission. In any case South America will soon be crisscrossed by highways and motels. In England, Western Europe, and America, the overpopulation made possible by the Industrial Revolution leaves scant room for communes, which are commonly subject to state and federal law and frequently harassed by the local inhabitants. There is simply no room left for 'freedom from the tyranny of government' since city dwellers depend on it for food, power, water, transportation, protection, and welfare. Your right to live where you want, with companions of your choosing, under laws to which you agree, died in the eighteenth century with Captain Mission. Only a miracle or a disaster could restore it."
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