Tomorrow at 12pm in Bristol and in cities around the world people will assembly in a central location and attempt to live there for an indefinite period of time. They are doing this because they want to see a change in the current process of the democratic system of government. To make them more accesable and accountable. Inspired by the protest camps that created revolutions across the Arab world, the Spanish 'indigados' movemnent and more recently the occupation of Wall Street; this form of direct action aims to create a liminal space through co operation in order to develop a style political discourse that is truly open to all members of society; uniting people who for whatever reason feel they can no longer continue to acquiesce to the current systems and practices of political organisation.
It is certainly idealistic for only in this kind of communal space can ideals be heard. But here in England it has has been a long time since people have open and honestly expressed these ideals in a public forum. Skepticism is an invaluable tool in politics but we must bear in mind the skeptic is very different to the cynic and I fear it will be cynicism often in the guise of humour that could present the biggest threat to this burgeoning movement. Forget the cops, kill the cynic in your head. This is not to say that we shouldn't be reflective about all the possible criticisms that might be levelled against the camp. It will only be through a self organising critical process that this kind of action will find sympathy a much wider section of society. To be more pervasive than cynicism itself.
I first heard about all this two weeks I was told that the M15 movment which evolved out of the acamapadas in cities across Spain this year made a call out for people to 'toma la plaza' on 15th October. A few days later I discovered, through the internet, the occupy Wall Street camp. I checked out there website and they have this wonderful interactive map where you can co-ordinate meetings. I didn't see any in Bristol so i thought I'd set one up for Thursday night to see if anyone was interested in talking about this at least. About five people joined and then someone left a message with a link to the occupy Bristol facebook page. It seems that over the last few days this page has received more and more attention. Not just willing supporters and attendees but the police and the media. It's happening. But what is going happen and how?
I don't know exactly but there will be a meeting. A long meeting and everyone's invited. This will be called the general assembly. The question will be how the process of this assembly will be facilitated and by who. The content or agenda of the meeting will have to be decided by the assembly itself. I'm guessing that the practical concerns of the camp will be a priority but who knows. We'll see tomorrow.
So let's think about some of the possible criticisms and how they might be answered.
First; this is a copy and paste protest. The Spainish did it first it it was them who propose the date for this action and people are only interested now because of the occupy Wall Street camp going on at the moment. Well we could say that this Bristol camp might not necessarily be in complete agreement with these other camps, it depends on the people of Bristol. The camp is just the structure the content is created by those involved. If you think it's a good idea then forget the Spanish, forget the Americans and besides we did it in London first last year with Democracy village in Parliament Square(resulting in parliament square being completely fenced off ever since). We must also remember that this action supports those in other countries that are also taking to the centre of their cities. It's an act of solidarity.
I mentioned London. There is going to be a camp outside the stock exchange. So why do we need one here in Bristol? That's where all the action will be and we'll all just be looking to London to set the agenda and make the proposals. London is another a city with its own problems. They have a slightly different challenge on there hands as do Manchester, Liverpool, Belfast, Paris, Berlin, Los Angeles. What are the difficulties we face here in Bristol? How can we overcome them?
This is a bunch of unemployed white middle class whingers with nothing better to do than cause trouble and make a scene. The question of class is still a big problem in the UK. Mostly because people still cling to it in order to define others. Is this a class issue? Only if you want it to be.
This is merely an expression of a left wing sub culture that seeks to impose its values on the rest of society. under the guise of accessibility and equality they have the audacity to presume they can represent 'the people'. Fucking hippies. There might be something to this. But lets not be too cynical. Will we see the wavy jazz hands tomorrow? Can we come to a consensus? Will the English masses have a few more hand signals to add to the assembly. We'll see.
It is certainly idealistic for only in this kind of communal space can ideals be heard. But here in England it has has been a long time since people have open and honestly expressed these ideals in a public forum. Skepticism is an invaluable tool in politics but we must bear in mind the skeptic is very different to the cynic and I fear it will be cynicism often in the guise of humour that could present the biggest threat to this burgeoning movement. Forget the cops, kill the cynic in your head. This is not to say that we shouldn't be reflective about all the possible criticisms that might be levelled against the camp. It will only be through a self organising critical process that this kind of action will find sympathy a much wider section of society. To be more pervasive than cynicism itself.
I first heard about all this two weeks I was told that the M15 movment which evolved out of the acamapadas in cities across Spain this year made a call out for people to 'toma la plaza' on 15th October. A few days later I discovered, through the internet, the occupy Wall Street camp. I checked out there website and they have this wonderful interactive map where you can co-ordinate meetings. I didn't see any in Bristol so i thought I'd set one up for Thursday night to see if anyone was interested in talking about this at least. About five people joined and then someone left a message with a link to the occupy Bristol facebook page. It seems that over the last few days this page has received more and more attention. Not just willing supporters and attendees but the police and the media. It's happening. But what is going happen and how?
I don't know exactly but there will be a meeting. A long meeting and everyone's invited. This will be called the general assembly. The question will be how the process of this assembly will be facilitated and by who. The content or agenda of the meeting will have to be decided by the assembly itself. I'm guessing that the practical concerns of the camp will be a priority but who knows. We'll see tomorrow.
So let's think about some of the possible criticisms and how they might be answered.
First; this is a copy and paste protest. The Spainish did it first it it was them who propose the date for this action and people are only interested now because of the occupy Wall Street camp going on at the moment. Well we could say that this Bristol camp might not necessarily be in complete agreement with these other camps, it depends on the people of Bristol. The camp is just the structure the content is created by those involved. If you think it's a good idea then forget the Spanish, forget the Americans and besides we did it in London first last year with Democracy village in Parliament Square(resulting in parliament square being completely fenced off ever since). We must also remember that this action supports those in other countries that are also taking to the centre of their cities. It's an act of solidarity.
I mentioned London. There is going to be a camp outside the stock exchange. So why do we need one here in Bristol? That's where all the action will be and we'll all just be looking to London to set the agenda and make the proposals. London is another a city with its own problems. They have a slightly different challenge on there hands as do Manchester, Liverpool, Belfast, Paris, Berlin, Los Angeles. What are the difficulties we face here in Bristol? How can we overcome them?
This is a bunch of unemployed white middle class whingers with nothing better to do than cause trouble and make a scene. The question of class is still a big problem in the UK. Mostly because people still cling to it in order to define others. Is this a class issue? Only if you want it to be.
This is merely an expression of a left wing sub culture that seeks to impose its values on the rest of society. under the guise of accessibility and equality they have the audacity to presume they can represent 'the people'. Fucking hippies. There might be something to this. But lets not be too cynical. Will we see the wavy jazz hands tomorrow? Can we come to a consensus? Will the English masses have a few more hand signals to add to the assembly. We'll see.
