Friday, August 1st – “We don’t need another parking lot” read one of over 30 stenciled cardboard signs erected Friday evening across the fences of various failed businesses throughout Santa Cruz by a group of bicyclists as part of a “Going Out of Business & Green Futures” community ride.
Part protest against car culture, part living art project, and part prank, the group of about 20 bicyclists visited the sites of former gas stations, drive thrus, autodealerships, and more, planting wild flower seeds, and other decorations depicting a deteriorating economy and hopes for a greener, wilder future. “Property is Theft”, “My heroes carry guns in the their minds”, and “Community Garden Coming Soon!” read some of the signs posted outside fenced off buildings and pavement cracking open with weeds.
The ride was in response to a statement sent by the Corporate Rulers of America that read:
“To the people of the United States,
Due to circumstances beyond our control, we regret to inform you that we will no longer be able to continue running this country as all of our assets are no longer viable.
Effective immediately, we will no longer be providing you with low-wage meaningless jobs, cheap gasoline, or hours upon hours of infotainment. Furthermore, we cannot guarantee that the remainder of our mass produced products are of any quality beyond the value assumed by our corporate logos, nor are they environmentally safe. We also cannot guarantee that your pensions will be paid, that your savings are secure, or that you’ll be getting the best health care in the industrialized world. In fact, to be completely honest, we’ve never really meant anything we’ve said but do thank you for believing in us nonetheless.
We hereby relinquish all deeds of private property and assume no responsibility with what happens to it from here on out.
Finally, we’d like to thank you for all your years of service and sacrifice, but most of all, thank you for your obedience to our way of life, we seriously couldn’t have done it without you. We wish you the best of luck. You’re on your own.
Sincerely,
Corporate America”
By Saturday afternoon, most of the signs had been removed…But the seeds have been sown.