A promise from Occupy London: this is only the beginning
Posted 12 years ago on Feb. 28, 2012, 7:46 a.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
from Occupy London:
The last thing to go were the kitchen shelves. Around a dozen occupiers peacefully resisted to the last; a short distance away a vigil continued on the Cathedral steps as others observed, supported, prayed and remembered. The police cordons made the groups seem further apart than they actually were.
On the steps, a mini GA discussed events as they were happening around it – and in particular the collusion of Saint Paul’s Cathedral in the eviction they had previously said that they did not want to see. At around 2am in the morning, the floodlights which illuminate the neoclassical edifice of that great building were turned off. When the lights returned, four policemen could be clearly seen on the balcony, in silhouette.
Not long afterwards, police were given leave to clear the steps themselves, the site of former Canon Chancellor Giles Fraser’s famous intervention of 16 October, when he asked the police to leave and recognised our right to assemble. Giles Fraser, who is so much a part of this story, was prevented from crossing the police lines to reach the Occupy London Stock Exchange site tonight. We would have liked to see him there.
This morning, the City of London Corporation and St Paul’s Cathedral have dismantled a camp and displaced a small community, but they will not derail a movement. The attention given to the final hours of the Occupy London Stock Exchange site is testament to that. We would like to thank all those who got the word out on social and traditional media overnight. We are deeply appreciative of the sustained attention we have received; it’s all the more precious at absurd hours of the morning.
The natural question to rush to in these moments is “what next?” In the short term, there will be a GA at 7pm on Tuesday by the steps of St Paul’s. In the medium term, it is only right that people will need time to rest, reflect and recharge, to take stock and learn the lessons of the past four and a half months. But be assured that plans are already afoot: plans of some ambition, employing a diversity of tactics and delivered with the aplomb you would expect from us. All will be revealed in time. May is one of our favourite months.
This morning also saw the eviction of the Occupy London School of Ideas in Islington in, to say the least, somewhat unorthodox circumstances, while their case was still progressing through the court system. We trust that occupiers will be able to fully retrieve their belongings before what sounds like a hastily brought forward demolition is enacted. What happens to Southern Housing Group’s planning application this week deserves careful examination, as do the views of local people living near Bunhill Row.
We’ll miss Occupy London Stock Exchange but not because of the tents, or even the kitchen shelves: it was a makeshift, loosely cooperative, occasionally quarrelling and fiercely idealistic group of people who came together to achieve something extraordinary. The relationships forged during these strange and beautiful four and a half months still have much further to run. This is only the beginning.
Occupy London Press Team
The first site I read every morning is Occupy. I need to know we are still together, moving forward and in solidarity with occupiers everywhere.
God bless Giles Fraser, a man of courage and God bless Occupiers everywhere . . . my prayers and hopes are with you all.
Emphatic Ditto ... and re. last night in London - HQ of all things nefarious in the world of 'High Finance Crapitalism / Banksterism' :
The Paramilitary Police Eviction Excercise of 'OLSE' took well over four hours in the end to evict and when the last die-hard occupiers were encircled 360 degrees by 'The Dibble' and the Bailiffs ... they'd prepared scaffolding made of wooden palettes which was stacked and hastily lashed and screwed together to create a 6' high raised platform (NB : A Gr8 idea for the days to come~;-), which they then proceeded to 'extreme occupy' by climbing on top of it ! They even had live music to the bitter end with a penny whistle player and a crazy 'mandolinist' on 'The Stack' !! Gorra love, love, love thAt Spirit !!!
Well Done, guys 'n' gals & SOLIDARITY to Occupy LONDON Stock Exchange !!!
Congratulation on an excellent Four and a Half Month effort and 'representation' !!
Rest, repair 'n' recuperate and Onwards and Upwards to "Occupy : Stage 1.01" !
So, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErQHc9N2O08 ;-)
per ardua ad astra ...~~~*
"Rise like lions after slumber,
In unvanquishable number -
Shake your chains to earth like dew
Which in sleep had fallen on you -
Ye are many -
They are few."
(P. B. Shelley)
~*~
If everybody has an independent job and refuses to be a soldier or a policeman, the corporations have nobody to defend them from the attacks of the protesters. Who works for himself and his family is free and has a lot of free time. Don't go in a war for money, because life is more important than a wage. It's better live on fruit and vegetables than die or lose a leg. Don't beat poor people who claim their rights because nobody likes to be exploited like a slave. Humanity needs to leap to a more advanced standard of civilization. We can't go on living like the beasts who killed other beasts during the stone age.
You're right, but I think a decent percentage of humans already think and try to live this way. Many of us have evolved, but that doesn't change the fact that there are very strong tyrants at the top of the pyramid who want to keep things the way they are.
It's true. There are a lot of tyrants who don't want to give up their privileges. But they are thousands, while we are billions. If we go on spreading our noble ideas, one of these days we''ll able to impose them even to the tyrants. It's only a question of time. You have Occuy Wall Street, UK has Occupy London, Greece has the Resistance of the people, Spain has the "indignados", in Italy we have the NO TAV Movement. A new Renaissance is coming along. This sensation is in the air and I feel that we are winning. Our sons will have the freedom we have fought for
I like the way you speak. You revive the optimist inside of me. Thanks for reminding me to believe! I will keep working for that freedom. Solidarity.
Solidarity is the right word. If we coperate and exchange our infomations nobody will be able to stop our hope to revive the ranaissance of the ancient values.
The sign is true. This "is" only the beginning. May God Bless your future efforts as well as ours.
The push for change toward an anarcho-syndicalism model was a mistake, it just doesn't resonate with the public in general.
That can change with continued convincing and organizing. But it should be the end goal. Anarcho-Syndicalism is what we should strive for because it allows people to be in control of their own lives, workplace and community:
http://struggleforfreedom.blogg.no/1320873951_the_society_we_should.html
If one likes the idea of people having a democratic influence in the things they´re a part of and which affect them - real democracy in other words - then that would certainly include democracy in the workplace and community.
No one said that the struggle for freedom and justice would be easy. It´s going to be a long hard fight, and we`ve just got to keep on fighting.
In a way people have already voted on anarcho-syndicalism, it's still a fringe movement after what, a century or more? Few want it and often the more one finds out about it the less attractive it becomes. You're welcome to keep fighting. People have a democratic influence over the things in their world already. Claims of wage slavery under capitalism or freedom to work for yourself (as long as your happy getting exactly what everyone else gets) under anarcho-syndicalism, the difference is only semantics. To change the current system you need to PROVE the change would be better, not just say it will be. Committed syndicalists place the rights of the worker above anyone else that might have a concern in the success of a business. That simplistic view might have been fine in the early 20th century, today it isn't right or just.
It isn't the voting part that stops acceptance anyhow, it's the socialist aspects. Few truly believe for a moment that everyone will work hard when they know it doesn't matter. In the ideal anarcho-syndicalist society everyone gets what they want for free,nice carrot, few believe it wold actually happen. You can do your job in a half hearted manner and get the same benefits as anyone else, only fools will work hard. Proponents argue that man's nature isn't like that, but have no proof. I could see where they could be right if everyone had a career they loved, but that won't ever be the case in the real world.
I don't see it as a struggle for freedom or even justice, unless it's the kind of freedom you would have in an ant colony. That's probably anarcho-syndicalism's biggest hurdle. It pays lip service to the individual but when you get past generalities it's more geared toward the individual serving the needs of the group.
Opinions can be changed, you know.
I want people to have more democratic influence!
More democracy is something we should fight for as a matter of principle.
The urge to create, work and contribut is part of us as humans: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXevpVXzePc
And also, Libertarian Socialists does not necessarily reject the concept of remuneration proportional to effort.
I'm not sure it matters what you want. If you're talking democracy then you'll occasionally lose on an issue and, no matter how important you think it is, a majority of the people won't always agree with you. I see socialism as unworkable, for the last century or so a vast majority have agreed with that point of view. Considering the shrinking size and influence of non-public employee unions the trend may actually be going more in my direction then yours.
"I'm not sure it matters what you want."
Dude, I´m just expressing my opinion like everybody else here.
"If you're talking democracy then you'll occasionally lose on an issue and, no matter how important you think it is, a majority of the people won't always agree with you. "
How is this an argument against what I have written here?
"for the last century or so a vast majority have agreed with that point of view"
What has often been described as "socialism"(and objected to) is leninist-type models. These are awful systems and totally different from libertarian socialism.
You didn't offer an argument, you said what you wanted. I have no argument to an offered opinion, just my own opinion, that In life you'll occasionally have to learn to live with disappointment.
As far as the principle of more democracy, you have to work for it through the representative republic we have. You'll need a two thirds majority in the House and Senate and three quarters of the states to make the changes. Again you may find your opinion about more democracy somehow being better then the republic we have is a minority position. More of anything doesn't necessarily mean better. Besides we've talked enough that when you say "democracy" I hear "give free stuff to workers at the expense of the owners". You want to change property rights, ok go to it, I think it's the fifth amendment you'll have to change. It contains something about not depriving a person of property without due process or just compensation.
Difficult to see a libertarian socialist state working with a population of over 300 million. I've read some articles and seen videos where the perfect size for a direct democracy is about 200 to 250 people. My employer had about 450 employees open meetings could drag on for hours on one issue alone. You can't run a nation or even a large corporation through direct democracy.
There is a rise in racism, fascism and scapegoat-ism not just in the UK, but especially in Europe. When there is economic crisis, this has occurred before, think of post 1930s depression. What has Occupy LSX done some people ask... we have facilitated the increased education to the public of what is truly going on in the iniquitous City of London, we have changed the political rhetoric, in that the political elite are all having to discuss the issues we raise, as we are not going away conveniently. We will rise up stronger, with growing numbers of Occupiers and we will continue to challenge the corruption, the banks, the corporations and the government until there is real change - until the current dominant system ceases ... then we can have a system that represents the people, for the people and the greater good of all civil society. We will continue to stand in solidarity with those who fight against the nefarious dominance of the 1% elite.
I too applaud all occupiers, and know that this movement has only just begun. We are all over the world, and nothing will stop us now. Only in it's infancy, we have made extroidinary changes, shown extroidinary courage, and we are all proud of all of us all over the world. We also pray for Syria and other war torn countries where citizens are only protesting for their fundamental rights, to live a life they choose, with love and respect for each other. We are learning to reach out and touch one another, and feel others pain. We the people will prevail, never fear.
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Americans Elect candidate Buddy Roemer on toot big to fail banks. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVLFydLhDJs&feature=youtu.be
"The Corporation of London", wake up you simple minded people to the fact that a corporation runs your freedom, not the citizens. Hear and fear what is said to you, that a silly old queen, and her princely sons, rub their wealth in your face and put your children in the background of their pomp and circumstance.
Fact: On the international level, the central banking elite have put huge organizations in place to implement their policies, including the World Trade Organization, the World Health Organization, the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund. Fact: Those secretly driving the agenda have been known by many names. Leaked reports confirm that they meet throughout the world, behind closed doors, to discuss their agenda. Then, like clockwork, their plans begin to show up in the media, finance, corporate, government and military arenas. Fact: At the international level, central bankers use the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to make more money while exploiting the resources of countries they lend to - bankrupting them in the process.Will it be Britains turn soon? Fact: Globally, the richest 2% of adults currently own more than half the world's wealth. Fact: banks have about nine times as much money loaned out as they have on reserve in their vaults. Fact: In 1910, representatives of the Rockefellers, Rothschilds, Morgans and other private bankers gathered secretly on Jekyll Island to draft the legislation that would create the Federal Reserve. the same year the Federal Reserve was founded, 1913, the Internal Revenue Service was also established. Fact:Right on que,the media have begun to praise the new unelected prime minister of Italy mario monti for his new measures,who put him there,what was his previous role? Fact: U.S. media has consolidated from 50 companies down to five in just over 25 years. Fact: The Rockefellers’ oil empire got started in 1870 when John D. Rockefeller founded Standard Oil and became America’s first billionaire. Standard Oil has since morphed into Exxon-Mobil and others. Fact: The Rockefellers control our food. They were primarily responsible for the global shift to large-scale petroleum-based agriculture. Fact: The Green Revolution was the brainchild of the Rockefeller Foundation’s Natural Science Division, in partnership with large agricultural corporations. Fact: The true costs of the Green Revolution can now be seen: taxpayers pay billions in subsidies to giant agribusiness corporations; small family farms have all but disappeared; biodiversity is destroyed; toxic chemicals poison farm workers and pollute the land, water, and our food supply, endangering the health of all of us. Fact: As of 2010, approximately 1 in every 7 people worldwide did not have enough to eat. Quote: There is urgent need for a true world political authority. - Pope Benedict XVI, Encyclical letter, 2009 All of our current financial and social problems can be traced back to the same sources,just follow the money back up to the top of the pyramid,past the puppet politicians in every country,past the bank and corporation CEOs,up to who really controls the flow of the money because they HAVE most of it! What is their real agenda?If the many dare to challenge,we can dare to dream. http://www.thrivemovement.com/home
I am afraid so many Americans are oblivious to what is going on around them. I just want to shout put down that damn phone and pay attention please. Joe Baegent (passed a year ago) wrote very well about how we vote against our own good will. We are a land of ostriches unfortunately but I have hope we can be woken up.
Lots of facts, are they all from the same questionable source?
Thanks that was informative.
And did they "achieve something extraordinary"?
London already is occupied by communist, radical muslims, and freeloaders. What is OWS going to add? Public Hygiene problems?
You left out Bigots, Criminal Bankers & Extreme Right parasites who keep us poor.
the U.K. is an example of what will happen to the U.S. if we continue to be politically correct. U.K. throw out the damn radical muslims from your country now before your country is unrecognizable. kick out the occupiers as well, they aren't what they advertise themselves to be.
And the USA is an example to the rest of the world what will happen if you let the political and financial elite take over a democracy. It already is unrecognizable to anyone who takes the time to learn about it.
R.I.P. Occupy. It was fun while it lasted.
It has only just begun. As long as the oligarchy grow and strip out wealth from society then protest will mount higher until open conflict is routine as their is no other option.
This is not new but the scope of stripping of world resources, damage to the planet and wiping away a future for out grandchildren is unprecedented.
The Corporation of London is a seat of a viscous criminal pact controlling world bankers who are the seat of the problem.
The newspapers are their mind control of the masses.
Indeed, but in America there are so few willing to protest because of the consequences. We need mass action, but in the end it is only a small number who are willing to make sacrifices for the cause. So many more people follow the various websites about the movement rather than participate, and even I am one of those who ran from the cops because I can't afford to lose my job. In America, the people will stand by while those who care are victimized for standing up. To make a nerdy metaphor, we don't need any more martyrs- we need ninjas.