Bern tattoo. Photograph: The Guardian How does it feel to be an employee for a startup, funded by venture capital, protesting outside a venture capitalists house? I might feel different if it were my VCs house, Corpus admitted.
As policy director for the Bay Area Council, 32-year-old Adrian Covert handles the Google buses and says the tech industry is more politically complicated than the traditional narrative here of techie gentrifiers against the old town.
The backlash against tech is an inter-class war between the middle class and the poor, which is self-defeating for both of them, said Covert, another Sanders supporter. The average person hopping on a Google bus is not the 1%.
Much of the protesters language centered on white-collar work frustrations, as the man with the bullhorn asked: How many people here have weekends off hands up? They have us working around the clock so they can get richer. How many of you are expected to be online over the weekend? Or get a call from your boss at 9pm?
As the march started, the person on the bullhorn led chants: Hey hey, ho ho, Hillary Clinton has got to go, this oligarchy has got to go, Bernie, Bernie, Bernie. But then something strange happened: dissent.
As the group snaked through the neighborhood around Pishevars house, which had been blocked off by police, one man opened his window and waved a Trump sign. He shouted Cops Lives Matter before being drowned out with the Bernie chant.
A 64-year-old woman, who said she lived a few buildings down, came out to see Clinton. She was shocked to find a protest: All these young people like Bernie? Hes a grumpy old man. You see him in debates, and hes so tetchy. I dont understand.
Many of the protesters had only moved to town recently, but several said that even in that time they had seen the city change. Mark Noviski carried a sign that read: Let them eat $8 toast! Hillarie Clintoinette is out of touch!!!
A couple years ago, a restaurant serving $4 toast caused a protest about gentrification, said the 26-year-old. And Ive seen that toast get more and more expensive ever since.