JPG

As I passed through Union Square Park in New York City on a balmy summer afternoon I crashed into the socialist activist in this image. Rather, he crashed into me. He'd been shoved hard by a middle aged, wiry looking chap who'd, apparently, found very little solace in his socialist preachings. Still, the socialist regained his composure and turned to me and a growing crowd of onlookers, all seeking to quench their morbid curiosities at the chance that a couple of grown adults might beat the living daylights out of one another. What the socialist saw was an opportunity to speak his mind to a captivated audience. He clenched his fist, glared stalwartly and proceeded to deliver the most impassioned and fanatic political tirade I had ever witnessed. I crouched and snapped a couple of shots of him and those twin skyscrapers as a backdrop, monuments to a capitalist city and nation. I can't say that I understood, let alone agreed with all of what he was saying, but his fanaticism was enough to capture my eye and my imagination. Several moments later, and to the great delight of many onlookers, the socialist took a hard blow to the cheek from that same wiry looking fellow. This time the socialist hit back.