Comments on: About Occupy London

By: Support?

Support? — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 21:56:30 +0000

I am slightly confused by your latest choice of location for an occupy camp. Namely the community garden in Haggerston Park. In Hackney we are not all lucky enough to have our own gardens and green spaces are places to be enjoyed my all and not occupied by the few. In recent times the local community has transformed the garden with a lot of hard work and it is now a place enjoyed by the whole community. I often spend time there with my children, as do many other parents living in the area. It is also used my schools who partake in activities at the local city farm or community bike track. I support your cause for the most part, in particular it’s connections to homelessness but i have to ask you to move on. Hackney is a poor area and a seemingly strange location for a protest against The City and Westminster. We have enough on our plate, don’t make things worse.

By: CJ

CJ — Wed, 02 May 2012 15:19:37 +0000

Today my Big Mac had no gherkin in it. It’s just another example of the arrogance and power of the large corporations and the banks. Can I count on the Occupy group to help change this? We MUST fight now or nothing will change. #OCCUPYMCDONALDS2012

By: Will

Will — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 10:34:45 +0000

Okay S. I will do that. Thanks for the link and for taking the time to view what i posted.
Will

By: S

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 10:28:55 +0000

Hi Will,
Occupy is an open movement comprised by people like you. So why not join and push those issues yourself? I’m sure people will be very interested to hear what you have to propose. What I’ve personally had enough of is people lecturing me what I need to do via the internet from the comfort of their sofa. So i’d suggest you submit your proposal here: http://occupylsx.wufoo.com/forms/proposal-for-consensus/ and push it forward.

By: Will

Will — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 10:13:44 +0000

Clearly the occupy movt. needs a political platform. Protest is not enough in itself as this is merely the means to raising consciousness. The actualisation of a public consciousness by establishing a party is what is needed. Only in this way can the movt. set about a program of separating government from business, reducing the power of the financial district and also fighting for a more diversified economy that is not reliant on banking. if there are people, like me, interested in doing this then some form of constitution for the occupy movt. is needed. Some ideas for this might include:
1. Charter removed from the Bank Of England as lender of first resort
2. Government responsible for issuing its own paper currency (equivalent to a non-interest bearing bond)
3. Banking taxes to be raised in proportion to their profits
4. A national charter of service to be imposed whereby bank’s moral obligation to the society from which they derive their profits to be outlined and compensation levels for breaches of obligation imposed.
5. Banks to more fully serve the borrowing needs of the wider economy and for the shadow economy to be properly and fully regulated by a truly independent watchdog

To achieve these things the Occupy movt. needs its own political party. Such a party would be funded by:
1. donations
2. any elected member can only receive a national average salary on the principle that one can only truly serve the needs of others when you share their economic condition. Any surplus salary would be directed back to the party.
3. fundraising

Such a party must NOT:
1. be seen as anti-capitalist. There will ALWAYS be a need for those who have surplus money to invest to be put in touch with those who need it for a potentially profitable enterprise. It is against a predatorial and irresponsible mode of capitalism that policies should be targeted.
2. have a poorly thought out or prematurely conceived political agenday. It must be clear and precise, well-constructed and economically feasible. Fortunately there are plenty of eminent thinkers who can and already have contributed e.g. see The Money Masters by Bill Sill (youtube)
3. be naive enough to believe that we will receive any media support nor that we will not be infiltrated by political enemies.

Such a party should:
1. be seen as moral, but also intellectually dynamic and brimming with common sense.
2. in its early days at least avoid any form of scandal or irregularity and any member involved in a misdemeanour against property or rogue accounting to be thrown out.

This message is just my way of trying to start a conversation about the way forward and I am sure it is not the first nor will be the last. I really hope Occupy can seize the moment when public anger remains hight and use it to build something. Once the economy recovers people will return to their everyday state of tranquilisation and ‘they-ness’. Now is the time!

By: Concerned 2

Concerned 2 — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 17:11:31 +0000

We are lucky enough to live somewhere where we are able to exercise our freedom of speech. If we disagree with the current economic system there is no reason not to exercise this freedom. Just spending lots of money and getting a minimum wage job might make the government figures add up, but social progress only comes through communicating and developing ideas. If people feel the urge to protest about something they care about, whilst you might not agree with it, its important that we support their right to protest; their behaviour is not disgusting. Moreover, if at some point there is something that you feel strongly about, and you choose to let people know, you would want people to understand the need for you do so; demonstrate your voice and opinion.

By: Emma

Emma — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 10:25:47 +0000

Occupying local parks in Tower Hamlets is just plain rotten. I do not judge the people involved nor your movement as a whole but I do judge your poor, poor decision to encroach on the very few green spaces left to one of the poorest boroughs in UK. There are no big banks in Shadwell or Mile End. We also do not have nearly enough access to green space as any human deserves. What we do have instead is plenty of social housing and plenty of people living in overcrowded conditions!
And pray do tell what is your infatuation with the dead? At KEMP your people set up camp on the wildflower meadow (a very fragile ecosystem and a key asset in TH biodiversity plan), ie the place where most of the memorials are and now at Mile End you are tearing up trees from the Cemetery Park…
Aren’t you supposed to be protesting against the banks? You are picking on the cramped and the dead instead. Charming.

By: Mark Baynes

Mark Baynes — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 09:38:58 +0000

What on earth are you people doing? First you invade King Edward Memorial Park and now we have heard reports that your Mile End group is tearing down living trees in Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park. Have you no shame? You purport to ‘support local communities’ yet your actions are the complete opposite to this.

Please contact your people in Mile End and stop them from the destruction.

By: S

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 13:15:42 +0000

Sorry to hear that. People from Occupy have already been in touch with the campers at King Edward Park and have asked them to leave the site. We’ll keep you up to date.

By: Suzy Constanitne

Suzy Constanitne — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 13:11:27 +0000

Please ask your people to leave King Edward Memorial Park. I am a Mum of 4 young children who have no space to play. We live in a small 2 bed flat with no green spaces near by. Shadwell park is our haven, where my children can be free to run and explore its beautiful surroundings. Parks are not places to be OWNED or OCCUPIED they are places for communities to gather, play and relax. I agree with your campaign but struggle to see how camping in our only green space gets your message across to THE BANKS.