By Arizona Slim
Wow. Just wow.
That’s the official Arizona Slim reaction to the first-ever Naked Capitalism meetup in Tucson.
And, let me tell you something about Tucson: This can be a funny place. I scheduled that meetup for a Friday evening, and I wasn’t sure if anyone would come. After all, it isn’t like there’s a shortage of other things to do here.
Well, the first meeter-upper rolled in around 5 pm. Others soon followed.
How many people attended? I stopped counting at 17.
Where did they come from? Most were from Tucson, but we also had visitors from Prescott, Arizona, and Boise, Idaho.
Any famous NC-ers? Yes, indeed-y! Our meetup was graced by none other than Jim Haygood. Yes, that Jim Haygood. And he’s just as baffled by those lofty tech stock valuations as the rest of us.
What else did we talk about? The same things we thrash around on the blog! Like the ineptitude of the Clinton campaign and the Democratic Party. Bernie Sanders and his well-attended rallies here in Arizona. The attack on public education. Demexit was another popular theme, but then one participant spoke up and said he was doing the opposite. To the point of getting active at the Democratic Party precinct level.
Then there was the guy who issued a challenge: What were WE doing to reduce massive inequality? Hmmm, thought the group, shouldn’t we be electing better representatives?
Bzzzzt! Wrong answer!
In years past, our fellow meeter-upper had been among the founders of a food co-op in Arizona and a land trust in Pennsylvania. Big projects that aren’t built for private profit. That’s the heart of his challenge.
Now, I suspect that some people came into our meetup and couldn’t find us. My apologies for only making one little sign. I’ll bring more next time.
And, yes, there will be a next time!
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Criteria for electing better representatives:
Just a few off the top of my head and in no particular order:
A tendency not to lie.
An understanding of the implications of fiat currency.
An understanding of the basis of civilization (order – the role of the military and policing).
And finally in my truncated shortlist: experience in the administration of the consequences of human concentration – eg running a sewage treatment works.
Pip-Pip
My american relatives lived in Prescott. I have very good memories about a thanksgiving celebration years ago.
Nice to see a lively NC “community” in that beautiful state. Next time use more saguaros to mark the meeting point!
As readers know, I’m an advocat of an “inside/outside” strategy re: The Democrats. Both people working inside the party (especially at the precinct level) and the outside (e.g., the DSA or the Greens, if locally competent) are important, and I think we should give the people taking the inside path credit for taking a hard path, given the state of the Party; they have to wade through the bullsh*t, not fall into it, and above all not fall for it.
Sounds like a great meeting. Tip on signage: FWIW, I’ve never made a sign. I tip potential attendees off to what kind of shirt I’m wearing, and make sure it’s a bright color (like purple or red). That might work?
Thanks AZ Slim for organizing this enjoyable event.
At the South Tucson restaurant called Mi Nidita which has hosted many celebrities, the menu features a presidential plate with the same items consumed by Bill Clinton during his visit on Feb 25, 1999.
But deplorably, there is no First Lady plate. Even in good liberal Tucson, Hillary gets no respect. Do you see what the poor woman is up against? :-(
Indeed. When Bernie Sanders came here for his October 2015 rally at Reid Park, 13,000 people showed up. I was one of the rally volunteers.
As such, I had to arrive several hours before the festivities started. That gave me an excellent chance to talk to people, and I learned that some had come from as far away as Bisbee, Arizona (100 miles) and Farmington, New Mexico (300 miles).
In March 2016, Bernie had another rally at the Tucson Convention Center. By that time, I had soured on volunteering for the campaign — too much emphasis on phonebanking, which I didn’t think was working — so I just went to the rally. It was in the hockey arena, which was only about half full, but, even so, that amounted to 7,000 people.
Contrast that with Hillary Clinton’s rally, which was in the football stadium at Sunnyside High School. A much smaller venue than Reid Park and the Convention Center. I think she only got a couple thousand people.
When I heard that Hillary had won our state’s Democratic primary, I couldn’t believe it. And then I heard about the voter suppression up in Maricopa County. Y’know, the number of polling places cut by 70%, people forced to stand in line for five hours, that suppression.
I was at the Reid Park rally too. I sat, or stood, with some friends from, you guessed it, Bisbee.
It’s a lovely little town, Bisbee, especially during their 4th of July celebration.
It was a pleasure to meet you, Slim, and all the other NCers. I had a great time. Dementering is not an easy thing to do. I reason that, whatever we think of the duopoly parties at the national level, would you like your neoliberalism with or without diversity, there will be elections for state level lawmakers and state laws are the ones that affect us most. I look forward to the next meet-up, maybe at a venue where we can all sit at the same table.
P.S. – What ? Some people still haven’t read Econned ?
Next meetup? Yup, that thing is going to happen!
Next time, we’ll have our very own room.
My dear Slim and the Tucsonian meet-uppers, I cannot begin to express my envy. Would any Toronto-area NCers be interested in meeting up here? I volunteer to host, I am in TO right downtown, lots of nice *quiet* places here, close to the Gardiner, GO trains, right on our good TTC and with parking. If any interest, pls let me know. If downtown is a problem, open to suggestions.
Hey, thanks for the post, Arizona Slim! I am in San Diego and really thought about coming but have a new job and am working a lot right now.
I am so glad to hear that ‘Comrade’ Jim Haygood was there, too.
Count me in for the next time. I’m 60 and I’ve learned more from all of the good folks who post and comment here than I have from any other one source in my life.
Would love to throw back a couple with you all and talk, talk, talk.
Adding my thanks to Arizona Slim for organizing this; it was a good meetup & I’m looking forward to more!
I was also at the Reid Park rally for Bernie & contributed throughout his campaign, and was also stunned that the $Hill won here, not thinking that possible.
In the last election, the local Green party missed a deadline to provide the names of their electors to the Secretary of State for inclusion on the November ballot. (They seemed to have confused national electors with party convention delegates.) The SoS allowed them a late specification, in a sense of fairness. Good, but that episode did not speak well of the professionalism of the local Green Party. I surely do hope for better of them in the future.
As a denizen of the Old Pueblo and one who drove six hours for the NC meetup in L.A. last year, I was dismayed to see that I missed this. (Serves me right for not closely reading NC every single day!) I hope we can do another one soon.
I’m working on organizing the second Naked Capitalism meetup in Tucson. Early June. And this time, we’ll be in our very own room so we can talk amongst ourselves.