Time for some old fashioned radical agitation. Looks like the Occupy Wall Street Maui folks read the recent Maui News story on the proposed Maui Bus fare increases (day passes would now cost $5 instead of $2) because on Saturday, May 19 they sent me an email titled “Occupy Our Buses!”
“The Mayor, the Maui County Council, and the Maui County Department of Transportation (DOT) are trying to make this a done deal before you even find out,” read the PDF flyer attached to the email (which you can read by clicking here). “There were past opportunities to testify, but no notices were ever posted on the buses. Your final opportunity to give testimony is coming up this Thursday, May 24th, yet there are still no notices on the bus, even though Maui DOT has repeatedly been asked to post them.”
Occupy Wall Street Maui is calling for all the usual citizen actions to fight the proposed bus fare hike: testify before the Maui County Council on May 24, email Mayor Alan Arakawa and all the council members, call for a special public hearing on the proposed fare hikes, etc. Oh, and one thing, too:
“Practice non-violent civil disobedience by putting $1 in the box come July 1st and refusing to get off the bus,” states the flyer. “If we all stick together on this, there is no way they can stop us. It’s impossible for them to arrest us all.”
Yeah! Stick it to the Man right where it hurts! In the bus fare box!
Oh, and County of Maui–don’t bother trying to undercut the whole thing by keeping the $1 ride fares, because the Occupy troops are already anticipating that:
“Due to public outcry, there is now some talk of keeping the $1 fare but still raising the day passes to $5. Should this happen, let’s still all practice civil disobedience and demonstrate our outrage by putting put just one penny in the fare box and refusing to get off the bus.”
Yeah, do that… wait. A penny? Where’d that come from? And why a penny? Who’s got a penny these days? Besides, if the county keeps the $1 ride fare, then sticking just a penny into the box would actually constitute unjust theft. I can totally see where giving $1 instead of $5 is legitimate protest, but a penny? That’s just mean. Then again, It’s been a long time since I read Saul Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals, so maybe I’m missing something.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Tags: Alan Arakawa, County of Maui, Maui Bus, Occupy Maui, Occupy Wall Street Maui
No Comments