הפגנת מסיבת התה הגדולה בוושינגטון אמש
מאת בועז ארד | 13 בספטמבר 2009
בתאריך 17 באפריל השנה כתבנו ב"דבר העורך" על מסיבות התה של איין ראנד: "השבוע הוצפה ארה"ב ב"מסיבות תה", הפגנות מחאה נגד הממשלה הגדולה והבזבוז ההרסני של ממשל אובמה, השבוע (12 בספטמבר) הגיעו ההפגנות לשיא בהפגנת המונים שמילאה את השדרות הממשל האמריקאי בוושינגטון – ראו מצגת שקופיות מההפגנה.
התקשורת הממוסדת לא טרחה להתייחס לתופעה שהקיפה מאות אלפי אמריקאים במאות אתרים ברחבי ארה"ב ראו מפה דינמית מתעדכנת של האירועים. מקומם של תומכי איין ראנד לא נפקד באירועים אלו וניתן להתרשם מהם בתמונות ששודרו ברשת "פוקס", הרשת היחידה שטרחה ללוות ולסקר את האירועים באופן רציני. בבלוג "הקפיטליסט הרציונלי" סיכמו את תגובת התקשורת הממוסדת באופן קולע:
The news that the news doesn’t take the news seriously is not news
אולם מסיבות התה מבטאות תנועה דמוקרטית עממית אמיתית שהתקשורת לא תוכל להתעלם ממנה לאורך זמן… עד כאן חלק מרשימתי בתחילת השנה. ובכן טעיתי – התקשורת מצליחה להתעלם גם כעת כאשר מעריכים שכ-2 מליון מפגינים מכל רחבי ארה"ב התכנסו להפגנה בוושינגטון.
בשבוע שעבר פנתה אלי ידידה מארה"ב ושאלה כיצד זה שהחיפוש אחר דיווחים על מסיבות התה בעיתונות הישראלית לא מעלה דבר שהרי זאת תופעה שמתמשכת בעקביות כבר חודשים רבים. לא יכולתי אלא לענות בהומור ולספר לה על ההסכם הבלתי כתוב שיש לי עם העיתונות הישראלית; אני מדווח על הנושאים החשובים והיא על כל השאר – בנתיים התקשורת הממוסדת שומרת על חלקה בהסכם.
ובכן, אמש התקיימה ההפגנה הגדולה ביותר ב"מול" שדרת הממשל בוושינגטון. לפי דיווחים של תומכי אובמה מדובר בעשרות אלפים רבים ולפי דיווחים אחרים עד לשני מליון איש התקבצו למחות נגד הממשלה הגדולה. לפניכם דיווח של לין זינסר, מנהלת מרכז איין ראנד ותמונות אותן צילמו חברים באירועי אמש:
I attended yesterday's March on Washington DC tea party at the national mall with Yaron Brook and John David Lewis and Kurt Kramer.
We arrived around 12:30 pm and there were already tens of thousands on the mall. We had to ask for police assistance to get Yaron to the staging area for Speakers as it was not easy to determine how to reach the stage. The police were very accommodating and a few people recognized Yaron as we worked our way through the crowd, and acknowledged his efforts and thanked him for speaking out.
The sights of the tea party attendees from the staging area were awesome, and it was truly amazing to see all of these people there. They were very peaceful, but angry and scared of the future. Obama has made the difference and, I think, awakened them, as one speaker said, because his agenda is so clear. There were no confrontations that I'm aware of. For those who know DC, the crowd ranged from the Capitol almost back to 14th street, and from Independence to Constitution Avenues. Estimates are all over the place on the number of attendees. I think 75,000 seems right, although it could easily be more.
There weren't many "Atlas Shrugged" type signs as I had seen at previous events, although there were a few. There were two or three variations of one I liked "Charity is not a function of government" or "Charity is not in the constitution." Lots of signs about Congress and Obama over-spending in all areas, and lots of signs about health care and cap and trade. It was moving to see so many people objecting to the overspending and to know that these people had traveled, most of them by their own money and means, from all 50 states, to this rally. I thought that these are the real Americans — the ones who earn a living, raise their kids and are trying to go about their lives as decent people.
John Lewis videotaped over 2 hours of material, including Yaron's all-too-brief talk of about 2 minutes. I think he will be putting some of it up on his website in the next day or so. johndavidlewis.com
There were about 30 speakers — none of whom were to talk over 3-4 minutes. Some did. Yaron was toward the end, and as a result, his time was cut to 2 minutes. Messages from the speakers were all over the place. Some religious, some economic, some ramblings, many altruistic. Yaron addressed the altruism and said, "You are Not Your Brother's Keeper." As such, he did not get his usual rousing response, but there were some who did cheer.
Also, before Yaron spoke to the crowd, he was interviewed by Glenn Beck for his special show yesterday. The segment was about 5 minutes, and was about the role of religion with regard to the principles underlying our form of government. Glen's previous segment was about how important Christianity was, so Glenn then opened with Yaron by indicating he was sure they had a difference of opinion on this issue, and Yaron was given an opportunity to talk about rational egoism contrasted the morality of need (and altruism).
We left shortly after his talk to the tea party, and walked through the crowds to get him to a plane (as usual). He was recognized by a large group of people standing behind a fence, and many of those people wanted to shake his hand. One even wanted his picture taken with Yaron. They thanked him for his work and words. John, Kurt and I were walking with an intellectual celebrity.
All in all, I was inspired with hope and by the recognition that we still have a long way to go. Every day, I become even more convinced that there has never been a better time than now for intellectual activism. Tea party people are clearly fed up with what is going on, but need direction toward the correct principles. They want to be free to live their lives, but they don't know what it would be like without government involved in most aspects of their lives, as true alternatives have never been presented to them.
What you are doing is important and we can change the culture. Reason and reality are on our side.
Lin Zinser
Ayn Rand Center for Individual Rights
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