Autonomous Automatons

I've been catching some of the stuff coming out of CHAZ - this is the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone in Seattle, USA. Where protesters, well funded and backed by the mainstream media, have set up shop and declared some kind of state of independence. Of course, if normal people - i.e. people not supported by the mainstream media - tried anything like this they'd quickly be dealt with and arrested. So it's pretty clear something very purposeful is going on here.

The thing that springs out most to me is the name. It reminds me of how Russia is divided into regions. "Autonomous okrugs" and so forth. So perhaps we have yet another echo of communism that we can add to our recent list. Apparently the name has now been changed from CHAZ to CHOP - Capital Hill Occupied Protest 😄 It doesn't quite have the same ring to it, so it probably won't catch on.

From what I've seen so far it pretty much looks like Glastonbury, but without the music ..and with guns. Apparently the Seattle mayor has stated it could become a "summer of love". Which goes to show that this is the realisation of the dreams of the boomer generation. Not the spontaneous outpourings of the youth.

I keep worrying that we may be seeing another round of communism. The Russian Revolution re-run in the 21st century, complete with all its devastating consequences. However, the more I think about it the more it occurs to me that it might in fact be the death of all that. The dying whimper of the hippie-commune mindset that saw its cultural high point in the 60's. This hippie generation, that are now in power themselves, are trying to rule by protest and activism. It's dated though, and most people simply do not want it.