By: havekippawilltravel

havekippawilltravel — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 00:12:03 +0000

As I wrote this, Occupy Wall Street have been evicted and lost their legal battle for an extension of their injunction against NYPD, and the City of London Corporation has chosen to cut short their negotiations with Occupy at St Pauls’ and kickstart their legal action for eviction again.
Several things cross my mind.
The first is that, where America goes, we follow shortly thereafter – ‘special relationship’ and all that.
The second is that, despite appearances, this might well be the biggest favour anyone could consider doing for us at this particular moment in time.
As a movement, we thrive on public opinion and public opinion is award only when we are visible and when we serve as a very public example of the worst excesses of this corporately minded state that we live in and under.
We are always in danger of stagnating if we do not have a very obvious and publicly noted way forward. Thus far, the nature of the Occupy Movement and the way we have chosen to govern ourselves in the midst of a corporately led and inclined Western world makes it hard, if not impossible to achieve concensus on our aims and the means by which we should achieve them.
We are working with bold and general brushstrokes, but the world loves detail …… ditto the media.
This legal action focuses attention on a fine detail that, not only can we all agree upon but, that the metaphorical 99% also has sympathy with and the desire to protect …….. the right to protest.
If we work sensibly with this we can move forward without being painted as extremists and zealots. If we use this issue wisely we can ‘piggyback’ a plethora of issues which are rightly connected to this basic democratic freedom, without allowing our many divisions to become the issue instead of the multiple ways in which our issues are interconnected.
If I have the right to protest then I must not allow the definition of protest or the agenda to which I work to be dictated by those who would subvert this agenda and use it to remove this right.
Therefore I say, thankyou to the City of London for focusing attention on this agenda. I say, do your worst, because your worst will bring out the best in us.
And I remind the Masters and Movers and Shakers that, you make take away a tent but you cannot take away an idea.
I remind those who work for them that the world is watching.
And I say to my friends and fellow Occupiers, never fear that eviction means losing. Eviction is a large step in a hearts-and-minds battle that we cannot lose, be cause, ultimately, the 1% do our work for us whenever they remind our fellow 99%ers that we are being ruled and ordered and pushed and shoved by money that should be working for us and not against us, because it is our money.
The more they fight us, the more we win.
The more they hurt us, the more sympathy we garner.
The more they try to silence us, the louder they make us sound.
It has never been more important to stay exactly where we are and make those who would push us move instead.
We are interconnected.
We are visible.
We are still here.
We will win.
(I now step off my soapbox in favour of the next person who has something to say !)

Comments on: Why Occupy?

By: havekippawilltravel