It was a very short day yesterday. Earlier in the week, I finished coding on my last project for the quarter, which I had been putting a lot of effort into for the past couple weeks. It took a few days of unpleasantly long hours to push past the final stages, but I finally reached the point where I could go to sleep, not set the alarm, and stick pillows on my head. This is what I did for most of yesterday. I dreamt vividly, which pleases me; REM sleep may be the most difficult body maintenance procedure to execute regularly. Hopefully it will cut down on the delerium and hallucinating. I dreamt of people I haven't seen in a long time.

Now, of course, I don't feel sleepy, since I woke up at 10 pm or so yesterday. I've only been awake for 8 or 9 hours. I sorta feel like having lunch, but the sun is just coming up. This fills the room with blue-grey light, which makes me feel quiet and dusty. One way to snap out of this would be to start making breakfast - the manual labor and loud whisking sounds involved in the production of scrambled eggs set the right atmosphere for early morning activity. Then a shower, and some freshly washed clothes! Except that none of my shirts are freshly washed - I used the last cup of detergent on my pants.

The other day, as I was walking through my neighborhood, I walked past some flyers protesting the opening of a new THE GAP store somewhere around here. They invited one to come down and help protest sweatshop labor. I don't know if THE GAP uses sweatshop labor or not, but it made me wonder about the type of person who protests things. Why do some people protest perceived injustices? Are they just morally superior? They might posess just the right combination of indignation, drama, and idealism to make them willing to be conspicuously against Evil. Do sweatshop workers ever protest about where they work? Something tells me they don't - they just go to work day in and day out and make 3 cents a month for their trouble. Instead, federally-tuition-assisted, well-fed students are the angry ones. They are protesting at least partially because they don't believe anyone should live under the conditions of the alleged sweatshop workers.

The workers themselves are willing to pay for the privilege of working 16 hour days, 7 days a week. They pay to get the job. They work unbelievably hard under near-fatal conditions. Would they like better conditions to work in? Sure - but they can't get them. They work in sweatshops because labor is so incredibly scarce in those parts of the world. The point of all this protesting, I guess, is to make everyone notice that The Gap is willing to provide very crappy jobs to people who want them, so that we'll all write to The Gap until they settle up with the workers. Hmm, I'm not so sure why The Gap would do so.

Anyway - so there's protestors. They protest things. Maybe their friends do it. Maybe they are the only people in the world actually aware of what is going on. Maybe there's a "protesty" gene. It makes you magnetically attracted to big banners, megaphones, and the phrase "corporate greed". (That last puzzles me a little - a corporation is not a person, and if it was, the only goal it would have is to create shareholder value (make money). If you give a corporation a choice between 5 billion dollars or 6 billions dollars plus 100,000 innocent deaths which don't affect long-term profitability - it is obvious which it would choose. Saying "NO" to corporate greed without really having some sort of realistic alternative in mind doesn't seem to have an effect.) Hmm, some of these protestors seem to be carrying signs that say "International Organization Socialist". I think the Living Color song "Leave It Alone" is about people who aren't activists.

Well, there's still injustice, cruelty, and Evil in the world. Would I ever get my headband and sign out to go and protest any of it? My pet issues are censorship and legalization (of whatever substance). I'm of the opinion that too much social control is occurring. But I also think power doesn't come as quickly or easily as making a sign and marching. Power is gained through 1) subtlety, 2) nerve, and 3) perseverence.

I wouldn't be surprised if I thought differently someday. Maybe I'm underestimating the power of advertisement. It is 8 am, I'm 24 years old, and Andrew Denyes is signing off.