- A flyer I picked up from the Tent University
- Walls and pillars across from St Paul's are covered in political art
- St Paul's at night
One evening, a couple of weeks back, I visited Tent City outside St Paul's. It was a cold evening and my first thought was how tough these activists are to cope with such low temperatures day in, day out. It just goes to show their commitment. You wouldn't get an angry Daily Mail reader camping outside the House of Commons campaigning for longer prison sentences. We live in a market forces dominated authoritarian society, and it is the progressives that are left truly exasperated by the 1% screwing the 99%.
My second thought was how wonderfully set up the whole place was. I popped into one of the larger tents which seemed to be a feeding station. Whilst there I noticed a couple of men - city types in suits - having a look around. One said to the other,"It's very well organised." He wasn't wrong!This has been for me the overarching achievement of Occupy LSX. What at first to many commentators seemed to be a bunch of hippies getting ahead of themselves, is now a protest that has gained legitimacy, partly because it is so well organised.
There was much discourse taking place in the larger, more communal tents, that evening, covering the big social, economic and environmental issues of the day. This is another achievement. The memes and solutions that are offered by Occupy are being discussed in the mainstream media and on the world wide web. I had some enlightening conversations with lovely people....the kind I would have probably have met at a rave in the early nineties.
The final thought, that I actually took away from visit, was: inspiration. I sat on the steps of St Paul's and listened to the various announcements relating to business matters of the camp itself. One activist from the Finance Working group announced that funds were now at £10,000, and that donations had now dropped below the £1500 per day mark for the first time. He pointed out that the running costs for Occupy LSX were about £1500. How about that for transparency! Take a leaf out of this book Croydon Council! Green Party leader Caroline Lucas correctly highlighted how genuine the democracy was at the camp when she made a speech at Occupy LSX recently.
A recent Com Res poll pushed by Londons' Bigots Conversation (LBC) noted that when asked:
"whether the protesters should be allowed to stay outside the cathedral for as long as they chose," - 56% disagreed. Turned on its head, 44% did not disagree with this premise. This poll actually reflects the level of public support for change. Long live Occupy LSX.
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Tags croydon, greenparty
2 comments:
Rev Jesse Jackson! WTF?
He sold out to the establishment over 20 years ago. I wouldn't let him on any left platform, I don't trust him as far as I could throw him.
I see what you mean. One thing though, the presence of Rev Jesse Jackson and other members of the establishment at Occupy LSX adds legitimacy to the protest. Note: many newspapers are still peddling stories about dog excrement and litter all all over the site.
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