For the last fortnight I have been wearing earplugs. The drilling in the adjacent building starts around 730am and is perceived by some as a direct provocation. It is ok for me though- the rat-a-tat-tat penetrates the earplugs in a way that the london buses, taxis, sirens, diesel generator and chatter of my fellow campers does not. And by now my subconscious knows it is time to wake up, dragging me out of whatever dream I might be meandering in and opening my eyes to judge the weather by the shade of blue on the tent canvas.
Because for the last two weeks I have been camping here, Finsbury Square, slap bang in the heart of London's financial district - the place that, much more than the puppet-filled place they call westminster further down the Thames, is controlling and suppressing the lives of people in our country and around the world.
I had initially been sceptical of the Occupy London idea - The little media that came out of Occupy Wall Street sounded amazing, and it was great to see Americans turning up the heat a little bit, especially as (as we have seen) their police state is a whole lot more hardcore than our police state - but it felt like a 'solidarity camp' wouldn't have much staying power. And initially, on the first day as the camp set itself up outside St. Paul’s (after being denied access to the London Stock Exchange, the original target), I thought I had been proven right- the amount of people was uninspiring, the rhetoric very similar to what we have had for a long while now, the police slowly kettling us. Friends of mine from SOAS, who had been deeply involved in the tornado that was last year's student demos, were openly critical. So after we had played some hot samba I got on my bike and went home.
But over the next week- I visited every couple of days- things began to get somewhat inspiring. The camp grew. The church came out in tacit support. The chef in the kitchen was an Italian with an emotional bent. Tent City University- a kind of free school set up on the camp- began a series of really interesting talks and debates. The SWP were unable to co-opt the movement. There was always a great guitar player on the steps to jam out with. Check out this video to get a feel for it http://vimeo.com/31905080
And then the following Saturday a 'tour of corporate greed' led us to Finsbury Square, where we found a girl on a tripod, half a dozen people putting up tents, and one beautiful opportunity being pegged into the ground. I decided to put my life on a momentary hold and get involved.
And so now my days are spent here, long days, sharpening my arguments with bankers, hearing stories of old Greenham Common protesters, eating great food, assuaging drunks, accepting donations, but most of all chatting, listening and figuring out SOLUTIONS.
And it is solutions that everyone wants - solutions that some members of the public practically beg us for. Trouble is - as the Daily Hate Mail media keep reminding us - we don't have one that can be summed up in a sentence. We do, though, have several short term alternatives (ending offshore tax havens, a tax on financial transactions, separating retail banking from investment banking, curtailing the powers of lobbyists in parliament, putting an upper limit on individual donations to political parties), and several long term alternatives (moving to a resource based, rather than debt based, economy; getting rid of the stock exchange; creating alternative currencies; re-organising our democracies so everyone can actually take part in decision making; un-privatising Education, transport etc.) that at the very least would redistribute some wealth and at most have the power to create the (r)evolution that is rarely talked about on camp, but that still seems like the only wholesale way out of this mess.
Because- get this- many people in the camp, perhaps the majority, believe that reforming the current system is the most desirable way of changing things. This is the reason why many of my friends- ones that are active on a whole host of different projects and who all see the need to completely rid ourselves of the current 'capitalist' system- are not participating. And the reason why we have recently taken down the 'Capitalism isn't working' banner from the front of the site.
But I digress. After 2 weeks standing at the info tent, talking to all and sundry, let me here repeat and distill down some of the conversations I have been having, so that you can comment on them, discuss with your friends and perhaps move the debate forward. This movement- the Occupy movement- will stand or fall on whether those people that don't, for whatever reason, want to camp and get directly involved, take these debates and ideas to their/your own communities, so as things in the world get even more crazy we are that little bit more prepared to articulate and action solutions.........
A man approaches...
“What are you rabble doing here creating an eyesore where I normally have my lunch?
“We are here for two reasons- Firstly, to create a platform for discussion and debate both physically here as well as in the media, homes, schools and workplaces across the country. Secondly, we are here to create an example of an alternative society based on equality, pragmatism and inclusivity. A Domocracy, if you will.
But you are a magnet for homeless people, drunks, layabouts. You can't tell me they are here fighting for a better world!
It is true that by creating a safe space, with good food, understanding people and comfy sofas, people who have otherwise been marginalised from society come to spend their time. Wouldn't you? Let's blow off the media smokescreen and look at reasons for homelessness- 10% of homeless people are army veterans. Up to 20% of homeless people carry with them mental illness, 48% have drink or drug problems*.. All of them have been failed by the 7th richest society in the world, where our famous welfare state has been systematically eroded over 50 years to a shell of its former self. Society- especially this nauseatingly phrased 'Big Society'- needs to confront these problems rather than ignoring them. In our struggle at Finsbury Square and St Paul’s to be as inclusive as possible, we are doing just that.
Ah, it's alright for you to sit here smoking rollies and reeling off sob stories, but I am paying your taxes!
Many of us here work and pay taxes too, or have been made redundant by government cuts. If we hadn't spent all that money on bailing out the banks and subsequently made such deep cuts in public services, many would still have our jobs and not be reliant on benefits. So, in truth, we are fighting to get our jobs back so we don't have to be here anymore. Furthermore, we are here not for a jolly, but because we believe there are ways for us- the 99% that are not responsible for the current crisis- to have better lives, day to day.
But if we didn't bailout the banks the whole system might have collapsed!
Well, yes.
But then what would we have? ANARCHY?
Rather Anarchy than chaos. Perhaps if the banks had collapsed we would have actually had to face the causes of what had happened, and would have created a monetary system that doesn't rely on debt, rather than continuing to duct tape up our sinking boat in this, the End of Certainty (http://theendofcertainty.wordpress.com/).
As it is, many of us are still only clinging on to the life raft. A few figures: 2.62million unemployed in the UK. 21% of UK children living on or below the poverty line. 4 million people in fuel poverty (spend more than 10% of their income on heating and cooking). Average household debt (excluding morgages)£8,002** . Anti-depressants. Double dip recession. Teenagers rioting. Students rioting. Teachers striking. NHS privatising. EDL rising. Belief in the current democratic process vanishing.
And these are just the figures that can be quantified. Many people feel trapped (work, eat, TV, sleep, work, get wasted, sleep) isolated and voiceless, but worse than this, they think there is nothing that can be done! This is the biggest trick of all.
A trick? Mark my words young man, capitalism may not be perfect, but look at what happened in Russia during communism!
Calling for 'systemic change towards global equality'- the first point of Occupy London’s initial statement (http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/oct/17/occupy-london-stock-exchange-occupylsx) does not mean we all need to go and live on collective farms. The strength of this movement is that there are many viewpoints and many different ideas of alternatives ways of trading and living together. This is why, at Finsbury square, we have a big 'alternatives' board that the camp and the public have been adding to. You can find it http://benoverthere.blogspot.com/2011/11/finsbury-squares-actionable-ideas-for.html
But you are- or at least claim to be- a musician. How can you critique these complex economic and sociological problems?
I am not an economist, but I have some ideas. By speaking to people right here in the city of London I hope to develop those ideas. Our Tent City University http://tentcityuniversity.occupylsx.org/ has all sorts of experts sharing their ideas, all geared towards developing alternatives.
So you are saying you don't have any alternatives?
As a matter of fact I do. In the short term, as individuals we could, for example
Take our money out of banks and put them in building societies or credit unions.
Consume less and enjoy what we do consume more.
Educate ourselves (youtube is great starting point) and our young people about the financial system and the power structures in our world.
Speak openly to our family, friends and colleagues about these issues, and take their criticisms not as insults, but as points to research further.
Put our time and skills into local campaigns so we see the positive and powerful effect we have when we get together.
But that's not going to bring down the banks, is it?
Not by itself. These ideas are tools to begin to realise the power we have as both producers and consumers, as both independent minds and members of our community. However, the people who control the land, natural resources, means of production and media (the '1%', though in reality it is more like 0.0001%) are not going to be persuaded to hand that over to the 99% by consensus decision making. It is doubtful even Jesus- never mind the Archbishop of Canterbury- could persuade them that happiness lies outside their air-conditioned Bentleys. The institutions that make up their web- the central banks, the IMF, the stock-exchange, international law mechanisms, our 'representative' democracy- these are rotten to the core and need to be taken apart in totality. The strength of the current capitalist system is that it is supremely flexible, with no one 'head' that can be chopped off in order to change it. We have to go for the heart. It will require some masks, and it will not be pretty.
Well, that new Thatcher film does look a bit grim... maybe you are right. But I just don't believe you can actually change anything.
History is stuffed full of seemingly unconquerable empires. Every one, save those currently tottering on the edge, has fallen. The anti-apartheid movement in South Africa and the independence struggle in India teach us three things. First, that a 1% ruling over the 99% is not sustainable and will inevitably, despite the firepower of the former, fall. Secondly, these things take time, sometimes generations, and the light at the end of the tunnel is not always apparent until you get very close to it. Thirdly, it takes a small group of people putting their head above the parapet and making enough of a stink that the framing of the debate is changed, and people start seeing that, actually, there IS an alternative. Perhaps Autumn 2011 is not going to be remembered as the time that we brought down our own imperialist rulers from the inside, but it is fact that this is the next step in a global movement gathering momentum, educating itself, fortifying itself. And I sure as hell want to be a part of it.
**http://www.creditaction.org.uk/helpful-resources/debt-statistics.html
