Berkeleyite Wash Poster: To Protest Bush, Capitalism Just Go Dumpster Diving

Business & Media Institute ^ | August 16, 2006 | Ken Shepherd

[freemarket_kenshepherd]

Out: the media showing homeless people scrounging for food in dumpster as an indictment of the economy under conservative presidents.

In: the media showing middle class young people scrounging for food in dumpsters as an indictment of capitalism’s success.

Washington Post staff writer Megan Greenwell devoted her article on the front page of the August 16 Metro section to the new trend for young liberal dumpster divers.

Prince Frederick, Md teen Bryan Meadows “considers himself a ‘freegan,’” Greenwell wrote, describing the term as “a melding of the words ‘free’ and ‘vegan’” because Meadows “tries not to contribute to what he sees as the exploitation of land, resources and animals wrought by commercial production.”

Greenwell, a Berkeley, Calif. native, later dumped the quotation marks around “freegan” as she continued her story.

“The number of freegans in the D.C. region is anybody’s guess, but the ranks appear to be growing,” Greenwell insisted, citing anecdotal evidence. The Post writer also blamed “disillusionment with the Bush administration’s environmental policies” that have “pushed some young people to everyday forms of protest.”

But Greenwell didn’t just cite everyday bored left-leaning suburban teens. She also turned to an editor from a liberal Christian magazine, Ryan Beiler of Washington, D.C. who defended his dumpster-diving as a protest of “corporate farming practices” and in reaction to “the absurdity of how the American economy works.”

[Gay State Conservative]

My guess is that neither the Kerrys nor the Laments participate in the "freegan" movement.

[Southside_Chicago_Republican]

Meadows “tries not to contribute to what he sees as the exploitation of land, resources and animals wrought by commercial production.”

So where does he figure the stuff in the dumpster came from -- spontaneous generation?

[martin_fierro]

[girlangler]

spontaneous generation?

LOL.

My thoughts exactly.

I can't believe they'd let such a stupid article run in any newspaper.

[VeniVidiVici]

This is too cool! I can put my garbage out by the road, put a sign on it: "One dive, one dollar" and make a few bucks!

[50sDad]

Another form of mental illness, along with most homeless.

As a protest to the fact that there are people who have more money than I do, I believe I will go back to the cheese asile at the local Kroger and scarf up a few dozen sharp chedder cubes on toothpicks. That will show the news media that I am a rugged, high-minded young person protesting the way they raise veal!

“The number of freegans in the D.C. region is anybody’s guess, but the ranks appear to be growing,” Greenwell insisted, citing anecdotal evidence.

"I have absolutely no hard facts to back up what I consider to be true, but I'm going to report it to you as truth."

[martin_fierro]

OTOH, for those looking to give away/get free (used?) stuff, try FreeCycle.

[downtownconservative]

The only true freegan would be a hermit-type living out of doors or in a cave eating grass like cattle. You could add the adjective "free-range" DYT?

[50sDad]

This is too cool! I can put my garbage out by the road, put a sign on it: "One dive, one dollar" and make a few bucks!

You are and Evil Capitalist, corrupted by the profit motive, and far less noble than the people in this article, who clearly scorn money because they have never actually had to go out and break a sweat actually earning any of it.

[50sDad]

The only true freegan would be a hermit-type living out of doors or in a cave eating grass like cattle.

That would be Nebbikenezzer, brought low by God for his own hubris and arrogance, wouldn't it? A point well taken.

[Tijeras_Slim]

Season your leftovers.

[GeronL]

what they want to find in the dumpster still came from capitalism

[KenmcG414]

Damn right!! If the slob doesn't want to work let him go dive in the dumpster for his food.

[Kenton]

I bet this kid never heard of Abby Hoffman. He probably think he came up with this idea himself.

[Southside_Chicago_Republican]

Yes, kind of like the Russian Orthodox St. Herman of Alaska, who dug himself a hole in a side of a hill and lived in it for years.

[speedy]

I don't understand why this is a protest. They just seem like ordinary scrounging bums to me. There is always a certain percentage that doesn't believe in working for a living; this is just a PR effort to make them seem more high-minded.

[goldstategop]

Liberals spew garbage, produce garbage - and as it turns out - eat garbage! I'm not really surprised and its an arresting visual metaphor to what liberalism really is - a mound of stinking, fetid compost.

(No more Olmert! No more Kadima! No more Oslo!)

[Kenton]

Q: What do you call a privileged scion of a successful father, attending a prestigious university on his dad's money, who scavenges garbage from dumpsters to protest capitalism?

A: A bum.

Take away daddy's money, he could be doing this for real! This kid's name isn't Kennedy, is it?

[Personal Responsibility]

The number of freegans in the D.C. region is anybody’s guess, but the ranks appear to be growing,” Greenwell insisted, citing anecdotal evidence.

I can hear the demented moonbat interview on 60 Minutes now:

"I heard of one other person doing this last week. That means our ranks have seen 100% growth in the last 7 days. At this rate, there will be more freegans than illegal aliens in just 24 weeks! "