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^H6 e. doyton st. - 706-354-8631 • www.helixathens.com
2011
.ATHENS
FARMERS
MARKET
S U S X 3
Saturday, November 5
In conjunction with
the 2011 Tree Fair,
we will have tree
related activities
for the kids and
planting tips for
the adults.
Search: Zuccotti direct democracy
The Occupy Wall Street movement is
shaping up to be a potentially epochal
moment, a watershed in American politi
cal economy. While it is reminiscent of
both the rights-based movements of the
1960s and the economic populist one of the
1930s, the new movement is ultimately unlike
either in a pretty fundamental way. The Occupy move
ment is leaderless and horizontal: rhizomatic. It is intensely
democratic, with decisions arrived at by consensus rather than
majority rule. Unlike the populist movement of the 1930s,
which relied on father-figure leaders like Huey Long or Father
Coughlin, the Occupy movement eschews single leaders and
vertical hierarchies. It's the process that is prioritized, not any
single charismatic or otherwise powerful individual. Power is
something to be distributed, not concentrated in an individual
to wield as !ie or she wishes.
The '60s Civil Rights Movement, too, relied on charismatic
leaders. The soaring rhetoric of Dr. King and the articulate
anger of Malcolm X were necessary to the freedom struggle,
but the elimination of each leader effectively decapitated the
organization each man led. Wisely, then, the single greatest
opponent of the movement, the United States government, tar
geted King, X and others for "neutralization" (their word, not
mine), the success of which would effectively end the move
ment. Google "COINTELPRO" to find the story of Washington's
war on the Civil Rights Movement and the strategic thinking
of the FBI, which led to heavy surveillance, harassment and
assassinations of key civil rights leaders. By the end of the
1960s, most of the civil rights leaders were assassinated, jailed
or in exile.
The leaderlessness of the Occupy movement's general
assemblies not only presents a tactically advantageous asym
metry vis-a-vis the powerful who wish it destroyed; the
intensive democracy and equality in decision making serves
as a model for how to proceed. It is a demonstration in the
truest sense of the word, a working model for how to expand
democracy. Occupy Wall Street may have started as something
defined only by its opponent—i.e., runaway financial capital
and its bought politicians—but it has become something valu
able in and of itself.
A thoroughness of democracy never seen in Washington can
be found at the twice-daily general assemblies in Manhattan's
Zuccotti Park. Philosopher Judith Butler, speaking on the eve
of Occupy Wall Street, described how similar protesters in
Cairo's Tahrir Square last spring were "incorporating into the
very social form of resistance the principles for which they
were struggling on the street." Perhaps the most concrete
statement made at Tahrir or Zuccotti is the form of organiza
tion itself: the medium is the message.
And without the need for leaders, the movement, which is
essentially only an organizational method, spreads with prairie-
fire speed. While consensus-based democracy—wherein full
agreement is sought rather than 50-percent-plus-one majority
rule—is incredibly and necessarily slow, the speed with which
general assemblies spread to new places is incredibly fast. It
merely takes a decision by two or more people to form one.
Growth can happen even more quickly.
Chicago's occupation started with a small handful of locals
inspired by Occupy Wall Street to march in protest. By the time
the initial demonstration reached the Chicago Board of Trade,
it had grown to dozens, and now Chicago's general assemblies
draw hundreds. Occupy the Hood, an effort to involve inner
city residents in the occupation movement, similarly began
with only two men in Queens. It now has chapters across the
United States. Occupy Athens, GA emerged out of a few conver
sations and grew to have general assemblies 60 people strong.
The Occupy Wall Street movement is reminding Americans,
so weary and suspicious of the state of our corrupted electoral
politics, that power originates with the people. That people
should gather in equality and free exchange—i.e., true democ
racy—is still the most radical idea around.
Matthew Pulver
COME WHAT MAY
Fatalism?: I doubt that's the attitude that Trae Stewart and
Renee Hartley entered into business with when they opened
Kumquat Mae (18 S. Barnett Shoals Rd., in Watkinsville) ear
lier this year. Still, the name of their restaurant puns on the
phrase "come what may," implying an inability to change the
course of events. Maybe it means they've gained in wisdom
(this is Stewart's third time opening a restaurant/bakery under
that title; the previous two were derailed by life events rather
than a lack of business) and are taking the vagaries of the uni
verse in stride. Maybe it means they can overcome whatever's
thrown at them, or most likely, they think the name is cute.
Kumquat Mae does have some nice attributes for
Watkinsville. You can get a beer or a glass of wine with your
dinner or lunch. It serves a veggie burger made with nuts,
croutons and cheese. It's open long hours: from 6 a.m. Tuesday
through Friday, with a full breakfast, fresh-baked breads and
a case of pastries, cookies, fudge, etc., and until 10:30 p.m
Thursday through Saturday, when it does tapas for dinner.
Tuesday and Wednesday, it closes at 3 p.m., after lunch, and
it's closed Sunday and Monday.
As a bakery, it's not as good as The Granary, around the
corner, but it is open some evening hours, which may recom
mend it. I find the sweets a little too sweet and the breads not
as substantial as they could be, but they make their own cute
doughnuts and mini pies, and the case is always impressively
full of an array of stuff.
The lunch menu, is mostly sandwiches and salads. A turkey
Reuben on special, made on the restaurant's own bread, as are
all the sandwiches, is good, but
the chips and salsa provided ...three pretty little
as a side seem straight out of r 1
a bag and a jar. Likewise, a Crab Cakes...
pimento cheese burger is well
seasoned and well cooked, if not exactly mind-blowing, but
the accompanying mix of french fries and sweet potato fries is
anemic and clearly previously frozen. At around $8 each, both
are decently but not superlatively priced. The tapas at dinner,
on the other hand, at $3 each, enable one to construct an
affordable and fairly nice meal. Some aren't great. The meat
balls in a tomato sauce with slices of baguette alongside are
unimpressive. A tart with onions and mushrooms is flavorful
but on the flat side, and the puff pastry doesn't taste home
made. On the other hand, three pretty little crab cakes are a
bargain at a dollar each, with plenty of crab and a delicate
texture. A Spanish tortilla with plenty of vegetables is likewise
a good option.
The entrees, coming after the tapas, which are sizable for
their price, are a step back, not much larger and not as well
executed. The asparagus on the side of a pork loin are cooked
just right, but the pork itself comes sliced thin enough for
a sandwich, and is therefore rather dry. Dessert is ittv-bitty,
which is far preferable to the mounds of sugar you receive
most places. The restaurant takes credit cards.
Homerism: How does YoDawgs (723 Baxter St.) differ from
any of the other million-and-a-half frozen yogurt places? Well,
since UGA managed to beat Florida, the store is offering free
yogurt in some fashion, so there's that. YoDawgs is of the
self-serve variety, with about 10 flavor options, paired so they
can be swirled. Like Menchie's, it has some vegan offerings,
which are among the better ones. Tart fruit flavors tend to
work pretty well with frozen yogurt or sorbet, and while pome
granate couldn't be mistaken for the real thing, it was tasty
combined with a mango flavor and topped with fresh fruit. The
helpers behind the counter are not exactly Hooters-ed out,
despite what the establishment may have implied with its ads
featuring "YoDawgs girls." The patio is large; the yogurt well
priced at 44 cents an ounce, and the place clean and neat. It's
open from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and
until midnight Friday and Saturday.
WHAT UP?: Sr. Sol #2 is open on Broad Street in the former El
Patron, with fresh paint and a lot more space. Keba #3 is open
in Watkinsville, in the Colony Square Shopping Center. It will
have grand opening celebrations Nov. 6 from noon to 2 p.m.
A new bar called The Georgian Tap Room opened next to The
Capital Room and is serving lunch Monday-Friday.
Hillary Brown food@flagpole.com
8 FLAGPOLE.COM • NOVEMBER 2, 2011