Michael Yon is back in the states from Thailand. His recent Patreon entry is fascinating and informative.
When you are assessing the situation in your area, Watch the Graffiti. Make photographs. Remember what you can. Valuable.
As I travel through America, I will make thousands of photos of graffiti. Watch for patterns.
Example: if I see certain graffiti in Seattle, and then see same again in DC, but nowhere else, that can be a clue.
Don’t just walk by graffiti. That’s like walking past the prints and poo on the jungle floor without stopping when you are tiger hunting.
Often I just photograph close and also establishing shots for later study.
In this case, I stopped here in Portland to photograph. This fellow quickly arrived and started talking about 9th Amendment, and Veteran issues. He was aggressive, erratic, rambling like the graffiti. He began to read for me. Unfortunately, I did not think to ask if he wrote this.
Bottom line: this is just near the Federal Courthouse that has been attacked for about 100 days. Many police casualties.
This scribbling is par for the base-level art and messaging in the area. This area has the most primitive protest-graffiti I have seen in my years of war and conflict, including hundreds of violent protests, some far more violent than here.
The finest messaging I have seen has been Hong Kong, and Thailand. You knew exactly what they wanted. Specifically. Not some general ramble or idea like “justice,” or “black lives matter,” or “anti-fascist.” In Hong Kong, as example, it was FIVE DEMANDS NOT ONE LESS. And they would list those specific demands. Clear, concise, and memorable. Bite sized for meme-ability.
I watched many live stream videos of the fighting in Portland before I got here. I still have little idea what they want after watching for several months. In Thailand or Hong Kong, you’d know specifics in 5-10 minutes.
In 2020, I have not seen a single person analyse this graffiti. If you have, Please leave a comment. I want to see their findings and opinions.
I’m not aware of any analysis of the graffiti in Portland other than Michael’s. This caused me to pause and consider what he said for a few minutes. Allow me to extrapolate if I may.
These people are homeless, drug addled, mentally and spiritually ill and vacuous, perhaps combined with under-educated liberal arts majors who have never been held to account by a single professor, paid by outside provocateurs (like George Soros). “Here’s another $100, do it again tonight, and come back and I’ll pay your drug or food money or apartment expenses again.”
None of these people work for a living. None of these people can construct coherent sentences, or even coherent, meaningful art. The images in their head are completely incongruous, mixed up and messed up, with no thoughtful or considered theoretical framework. The people in Hong Kong, Thailand or virtually anywhere else can do better than this.
By the way, I give a little to Michael and you should consider that too.
