University of California: Adding Injury to Injury

The dirty shame, yet standard operating procedure of America Inc. — especially after screwing it up — has simply been to turn around and dump as much of it as possible — in the abstracted form of paperwork, leg work, extra fees and surcharges, etc. — onto Mr. Consumer, the the heaviest load on the youngest, poorest, least sophisticated.

This Getty/AFP shot, showing a campus policeman at UCLA tasering a student demonstrator yesterday, captures the pain, anger, abuse, degradation and fury over the outrageous 32% fee hike by the University of California.

When are people going to get (America Inc. rounding the last populist edges off the health care legislation as we speak) that the economic tasering of the consumer has been consistent and systemic, and that what’s mostly striking about this photo is the rare example of push back … and the consequences of it.

More power to UC students, and as many pictures as possible, calling bullshit on the “business of the State.”

(Photo: Mark Ralston/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images. caption: The state allocation for the 10-campus system was cut $813 million, or 20 percent, this year, leading to a hiring freeze, furloughs and layoffs. A student protester was tasered by a police officer during a protest against the increase in student fees at U.C.L.A.)