Things just took an interesting turn. These youngsters seem to not understand the power of the government.
I think it’s infantilizing to imply they don’t realize there will be consequences to this.
Being so afraid of your government that you do not speak out, assemble, engage with a free press, practice your religion, etc etc etc is about as un-American as something can get.
What government? Columbia is a private university. Thankfully, corporations don’t control absolutely 100% of the U.S. yet.
There has been a history of some states calling out the National Guard to put an end to campus protests in the past, the most notorious being Kent State in 1970.
Whether the school is public or private has nothing to do with it. However, despite it’s name, the National Guard is controlled by its State Governor unless explicitly federalized by the President. I don’t think the NY Governor is eager to step into that.
I was referring to OP saying, “these youngsters seem to not understand the power of the government” when it’s not the government going after them. Not right now anyway.
Not right now anyway.
That’s the key thing, though. It can escalate to that. And while Hochul is a Democrat, she’s from Buffalo and may not hold Columbia in as high esteem as your typical NYC pol.
She was caught recently saying that “if Canada attacked Buffalo, there wouldn’t be any Canada anymore”, which she had to walk back. (She may be overestimating how much we care about Buffalo). So I wouldn’t assume she will have endless patience with the protestors.
Kathy Hochul? She’s a shitty politician, I wouldn’t be surprised if she did call them in. I can only imagine Eric Adams is salivating at the idea of it too, he’s basically a moderate Republican in disguise. No one likes either of them.
Today’s news prompted me to come back to this comment. Clearly Adams didn’t feel the need to wait for Hochul before sending his guys to clean it up…
Is Hamilton Hall a government building?
No, it’s a building with a history when it comes to civil disobedience. It was occupied in 1968 when students protested the Vietnam war.
From BlueSky: According to the Columbia wiki, Hamilton Hall was blockaded or taken over by protesters in 1968, 1969, 1972, 1985, 1987, 1992, and 1996.
I know - people in certain circles are treating this as equivalent to the storming of the Capitol.
Friend, if your government doesn’t fear it’s citizens, then we have failed
