In re: P-Fuzz’s recent “embarrassing” GPOY, this is a photograph of me taken by friedzombiebrain on deviantArt. This is from 1/6/2003 (I was 18 years old) at a big anti-war rally in Pittsburgh PA. I’m wearing a Corporate American Flag that I bought from Adbusters back when I used to think that Adbusters was the greatest, most thought-provoking magazine ever. And I still have that same red hat, too, which was given to me by Tina, my favorite barista at the Beehive, where I spent my Formative Radical Years.
I wasn’t aware of this photograph being taken & didn’t discover it until months later. I’m glad it’s still online & I still like to show it off sometimes as proof that I was once, like, totally punk rock (or whatever). But this photo is also indicative of the time when I became disillusioned with practicing activist tactics that “follow the rules” and comply with authority (ie, getting a protest permit with a police escort, then acting shocked and outraged when the riot cops become violent before anyone so much as picks up a brick), not to mention totally disillusioned with the concept of democracy in America. These protests were replicated in multiple cities worldwide — there were thousands of people at the one in Pittsburgh alone — yet what seemed to be a majority of public outcry still failed to Impeach Bush and/or Stop the War.
Also, that Corporate American Flag probably cost about $25, so this was also shortly before the time I began to realize that there is a hugely profitable racket in pushing “radical” consumables on people who think they need to spend money to look the part of being totally alternative. (See also: Commodify Your Dissent, which I wish I’d read when I was 17 instead of 27.) Ah, misguided youth!
