Under the Perfect Sun

San Diego Free Speech Fights: Then and Now

October 31, 2011 by Jim Miller
Thumbnail image for San Diego Free Speech Fights: Then and Now

As we watch the Occupations from New York to San Diego fight for the right to exercise free speech and occupy public space, it is worth noting that we have been here before. Recently, it was my pleasure to do a small teach-in at Occupy San Diego with the OB Rag’s own Frank Gormlie on the history of civil disobedience in San Diego. For my part, I outlined the story of the San Diego Free Speech Fight in 1912 when the Industrial Workers of the World and other local labor and community activists struggled against the San Diego’s elite for the right to speak on a soapbox at the corner of 5th and E downtown. As the homepage of the San Diego Free Speech Fight 100 Year Anniversary website notes:

2012 is the 100-year anniversary of the San Diego Free Speech Fight, one of the most important moments in the history of the city of San Diego. During the winter and spring of 1912, members of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) and their allies in labor and the community engaged in a pitched battle against a city ordinance that banned public speaking in the area around 5th and E Streets in downtown San Diego.

Read the full article → 3 comments

Who Do We Shoot? A Paycheck Away from Poor in America’s Finest City

October 24, 2011 by Jim Miller
Thumbnail image for Who Do We Shoot? A Paycheck Away from Poor in America’s Finest City

Recently, Clare Crawford of the Center on Policy Initiatives noted that, “Even three full-time minimum wage jobs don’t make enough to make ends meet in San Diego County.” Crawford was responding to the release of a report by the Insight Center for Community Economic Development that documented how it now costs a family of three nearly $63,000 to make ends meet in San Diego.

This is according to the 2011 California Family Self-Sufficiency Standard and the grim news is that more than one million San Diegans are living in households earning less than that threshold. That’s close to a third of all San Diegans, much higher than the fifteen percent of San Diegans who fall under the official poverty line.

Read the full article → 14 comments

This is What Plutocracy Looks Like!

October 17, 2011 by Jim Miller
Thumbnail image for This is What Plutocracy Looks Like!

While it remains to be seen whether the Occupation of America, from Wall Street to San Diego, will be able to sustain its amazing initial momentum, it has unquestionably struck a nerve and sparked a national discussion about class, power, and politics. The heavy weights at the New York Times have recently staked out an interesting range of opinion on the occupation movement.

You have Paul Krugman, the paper’s reliable progressive, observing the panic of the plutocrats and astutely noting that, “The way to understand all of this is to realize that it’s part of a broader syndrome, in which wealthy Americans who benefit hugely from a system rigged in their favor react with hysteria to anyone who points out just how rigged the system is.”

Read the full article → 33 comments

Inside the Grocery Workers’ Struggle: How Direct Action Got the Goods

October 10, 2011 by Jim Miller
Thumbnail image for Inside the Grocery Workers’ Struggle: How Direct Action Got the Goods

With the economy in the tank and prospects of a recovery looking dim, everybody knew that the grocery workers were going to lose. They would either accept the gutting of their healthcare benefits and pensions or they would go out on strike and lose big. With so many people unemployed and with aggressive union busting in the air, they might as well surrender. At least that’s what lots of smart folks were saying in the local media and Southern California political circles. Everybody knew.

So much for the prevailing wisdom.

Read the full article → 2 comments

The 6th Annual San Diego City College International Book Fair Begins Today, October 3rd

October 3, 2011 by Jim Miller
Thumbnail image for The 6th Annual San Diego City College International Book Fair Begins Today, October 3rd

Politics, Poetry, Fiction, and Music and More in the Heart of the City

The 6th annual San Diego City College International Book Fair is this week (October 3rd to the 8th), and it offers an impressive line-up of writers, poets, and musicians including:

Read the full article → 0 comments