Occupy London: A Snapshot

This is the little girl that spoke to the masses

Since the dawn of the Arab Spring the world has erupted with the spirit of protest. With one of them: Occupy London, at my back door, I couldn't resist the opportunity to get to the bottom of this worldwide phenomenon. 

I spent two days at St. Paul's to try and gain an understanding of the Occupy movement. To find out for myself and not through hear-say, the media and rumour. 

Tents were outside the entrance of St. Paul's. Contrary to what I'd read, many tents were occupied and there were a few tired heads trying to rest amidst the chatter of excitement in the square.

The people that attended were of all shapes, sizes, creeds and colours. Most social groups seemed well represented. Although It was a combination of disenchanted university graduates and those in the counterculture of the 60's that probably formed the meat of the numbers.

The atmosphere was positive and infectious. People bought along  instruments and created impromptu gigs. Children danced around the music of newly acquainted musicians and bought lightness to serious conversations. There was a feeling of community, and anyone who desired could grab the megaphone and express their hopes and visions for the future. Even a 5 year old girl shouted for us "to love each other!" and the crowd repeated it so that it could be heard across the square.

The general assembly was also performed via megaphone. The crowd listened to the volunteers as they summarised the agreements of groups that had met earlier in the day. This was performed nightly and seemed a good tactic for integrating everyone's voices in a true democratic movement. However, due to the limits of the megaphone, messages had to be repeated across the crowd, which was a problem when certain speakers couldn't phrase things succinctly.

I spoke with several people who had taken roles of responsibility within the camp. Volunteers were in charge of social media, food, meetings, shelter and even a library. The leadership seemed permeable and very much built on an anarchic (leaderless) philosophy. The desire to integrate everyone was admirable, but I wondered what staying power the occupation would have without a greater sense of leadership and order. 

The views of those present (despite some media reports) were, however, unified. I found a common desire to eradicate economic and social inequality, and a common belief that Corporate influence directly compromised this. People I spoke to often envisaged overhauling monetary systems to be reformed around ethical principles. There were also those that saw money as unnecessary and counter to the full productivity and compassion of human beings.

These desires were rooted in a collective sense that the monetary system was outdated and close to total collapse. There were many discussions on how to to build a society post-crisis that would be based upon accountability and freedom from corruption. Conversations that would later form the basis of democratic votes on the "manifesto" of the occupy group. So even if their philosophy has yet to be properly defined, the process is certainly well under way. 

Elliott discussed with me (blazer) about how the Tobin Tax seemed to be becoming part of Occupy's focus. A 0.5% tax on all exchanges of one currency into another would provide at least £300 billion pounds, ten times the alleviation of poverty targets set by Oxfam. 

Energy and emotion is behind the movement and will likely only grow as living standards are squeezed. If more people then mobilize and occupy then the momentum for the power of this social movement could be significant, but until that happens it will be a feeble bounce when compared to the revolution of the Arab Spring. But with increased support and a target that can channel it's potential, this could well become a phenomena that will come to define our generation in the west.

This spontaneous Jazz gig had several hundred dancing

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