Life of Wry

The annual Whole Earth Festival opted to move its substantial operation to the IM Field, as the students have set up a pro-Palestinian encampment on the Quad.

My response to this is: what an extraordinarily generous move on the part of WEF. There is no shade on the IM field. The temps are in the 90s this weekend. Thousands of folks are grumpy and overheated. Vendors are suffering under their unshaded pop-ups. It’s a very unpleasant place to listen to music and picnic.

I get it, what are you going to do.. clear them out? I generally support the students in their right to protest. And there they are, plunked on the Quad. But I’m also annoyed. I think a huge part of my annoyance is rank fear that there is building momentum for an unstoppable freight train of discontent that will lead to the loss of the youth vote. Which matters on so many levels. I’m annoyed that the issue has become an oversimplified binary choice.. you’re either pro-Palestinian or pro-Israel. The nuance of history and complexity seems lost. And with that oversimplification comes anger at Biden for a walk on the tightrope that is not satisfying their demands. And their demands are so .. I don’t know.. uninformed? Unhelpful? Uncompromising?

The Quad was quiet this morning as music echoed over on the IM field.

And yeah.. that sign says, “COP WATCH ZONE, WE HATE YOU.”