A Talk on Corporate Mindfulness by Google Executives is Disrupted by Protesters at Wisdom 2.0

Tricycle: The Buddhist Review‘s Associate Editor Alex Caring-Lobel has the story (with video and some prophetic commentary) at the magazine’s official blog. Here’s just a snippet:

Bill Duane, a senior manager at Google, attempted to neutralize the situation with “grace and compassion“—and more than a little condescension. He directed the crowd to “check in with your body” and “feel what it’s like to be in conflict with people with heartfelt ideas” after a spirited tug-of-war for the banner concluded at the edge of the stage.

The Wisdom 2.0 team issued a rapid response, lauding its corporate sponsor for its kindness and compassion. Of course, only in a country where corporations are legally people could a corporation be mindful, too.

Policies that privilege tech companies like Google, Heart of the City activists write, come at the expense of local residents, and contributes to “displacement, privatization of public assets, for-profit surveillance, profiling, policing, and targeting of activist communities.”

Read the rest of Alex’s post here.

For additional reading, I recommend the great Richard Eskow’s past piece for Tricycle about Wisdom 2.0, “Buying Wisdom” (subscription required). I’ve also commented on the “McMindfulness” for this blog in a post called “Your Practice is Not All about You”.