Free speech

I find it ironic that I should be in Cal Berkeley, the home of the free speech movement, while protests take place in Iceland, a country not known for revolution. Especially since Cal has lost some of its radical edge. When I was an undergraduate here, there were numerous protests on campus, against racism and war mongering, even against legal requirements to wear clothing. Now, don't get me wrong, there is still the guy in the middle of campus talking about damnation and conspiracy theories, and still people that gather on the lawn of west campus everyday to hold a peace vigil, plus there has been some vandalism targeted at the Chancellor's new marketing campaign, plastered all over campus. But I've been worried about the lack of real student mobilization movements. 

Today sitting at the Free Speech cafe, reading a poster about the upcoming lecture by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. on his dedicated efforts to protect the American environment (especially river ways and the native peoples who have legitimate claim over these water ways), my concerns are ameliorated. Cal Berkeley advocates that a radical attitude should not be a special event engendered by extraordinary circumstances, but the daily norm. Even while one drinks a latte.  

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