Global Occupation!

Inspired by the Occupy Wall Street protests and the Spanish Indignants yesterday (15/10/11) the Occupy movement went truly global. There are now occupations in 950 cites in 83 countries in places as diverse as Toronto and Taipei. Moscow and Melbourne. London and Lisbon. Madrid and Manila. For the most part the occupiers aren't the people who normally go to protests or have much to do with politics so it is hard for them to know what they want and what they're against. They do though know who they are.

They are the people who've seen their pay cut just as prices start to rise. They are the people who are being told to pay more for their pensions when they can't afford lunch. They are the graduates who spent thousands on their education only to find that there are no jobs for them. They are the people who want to get married and start a family but can't because they can't afford a home. In short they are all the people whose futures have been lost to pay for the greedy bankers and their bailouts.

Unlike a march or a rally that burns brightly for one day before disappearing the idea of the Occupations is that they start small but then grow slowly over days, weeks and even months. So on the first day for the most part the Occupations were small, civil and overwhelmingly polite. The only exception was in Rome where the Occupation quickly gave way to running battles between the police and anarchists in some of the worst rioting the city has seen in twenty years. This is because the problem is much more acute in Italy. While everyone talks about Greece the big worry is that the Italian economy could soon collapse and the country's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is facing votes of no confidence and multiple criminal prosecutions. So in Italy the Occupation could well be the thing that finally brings about the fall of the clown.


Edited at about 20:00 on 16/10/11 to add: With 949 other occupations going on it seems rude to only talk about the London one. However I guess it is my neighbourhood so;

After being prevented from occupying Paternoster Square near the London Stock Exchange by a court injunction granted to the landowner Occupy London (occupylsx) has set up in the Church yard of Saint Paul's Cathedral. This is private land so although the police were yesterday (15/10/11) very keen to show that they in no way endorsed the protest they don't actually have any power to remove the occupiers unless they are asked to by the landowner and even then they're pushing the rules to breaking point and can't arrest people for refusing to leave. Apparently the landowners (the Church of England) have so far been very reasonable and haven't objected to the occupation. However they are going to come in for some pressure by both the police and the City of London Corporation to allow the occupation to be cleared by the start of business tomorrow (08:00 on 17/10/11).

If that does happen it's worth remembering that Dale Farm is just a 40 minute train journey from Liverpool Street. Although the residents have been granted an appeal hearing at 12:00 tomorrow there is still a chance that Basildon Council will attempt and eviction regardless of legal process.