{"id":7086,"date":"2011-11-05T13:58:50","date_gmt":"2011-11-05T12:58:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rogerdarlington.me.uk\/nighthawk\/?p=7086"},"modified":"2011-11-08T13:42:59","modified_gmt":"2011-11-08T12:42:59","slug":"the-occupy-london-protest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.rogerdarlington.me.uk\/nighthawk\/?p=7086","title":{"rendered":"The Occupy London protest"},"content":{"rendered":"

The protesters initially intended to marshall in front of St Paul’s Cathedral prior to occupying the close-by London Stock Exchange in Paternoster Square. But the police put a stop to that (and still do) and the protest turned into a tent site in front of the Cathedral and all along its north side.<\/p>\n

It was only this week that I found myself in the area and decided to have a quick look around the tent city. I was only there for a short time, but I was really impressed at the degree of organisation on show and the evident willingness of the protesters to engage with passers-by who wished to discuss and debate with them.<\/p>\n

At home, I checked out the Occupy London web site<\/a>. Three weeks into the demonstration, the nearest there is to a set of demands or a policy programme is the Initial Statement<\/a> which insists: “The current system is unsustainable. It is undemocratic and unjust. We need alternatives<\/em>.” There are a few Key Facts<\/a> on the economic crisis and the inequalities in our society.<\/p>\n

Every day, there is a lot of activities and debate and there is a real effort to make the process democratic and inclusive, There is a General Assembly and working groups with minutes and a process for consensual decision-making – for a flavour, see here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It would be easy to dismiss or trivialise this protest, but it has clearly tapped into a mood in the wider populace and achieved an unexpected degree of publicity. This is an event worth watching.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"