Occupy the World is fantastic. It is wonderful and inspiring and in 2,000 cities around the world. It is the first truly global popular protest movement, it’s made up of dedicated and self-sacrificing people with the noblest and best intentions. It is not vague, it is not spoiled, it is not destructive. It’s ace, OK?

But Occupy the World is, well, part of the world. And that means that it contains, in microcosm, a lot of what is bad about the world as it is. To whit: patriarchy[1].

Some people think that it’s OK to use the occupations as a pick-up opportunity; or so at least they claim – personally I take Amanda Marcotte’s view that they are threatened by politically active women and are trying to belittle them through objectification. Other people think – and have thought from Day One on Tahrir Square – that the bodies of women are theirs for the taking, that sexual violence is exempt from the demands for a better future. These people are often bolstered in their belief by organisers and sympathisers who pressure women to forgo the small aims of justice and safety for the greater aims of the movement[2].

More prosaically, I know of women who have been heckled, called gendered names, dismissed, silenced and intimidated at several of the camps. I’m sure this is endemic in most if not all camps, not because the people occupying are bad people, but because it is widespread and endemic in the world. Not entirely surprisingly, all of this[3] has added up to a somewhat subdued female participation rate in the Occupy movement.

This is not quite OK, as far as I’m concerned. What the heck point is it in changing the world for half the people, by half the people? If you’re going to be like that, then it should be “we are the 48%”, not “we are the 99%”.

So, last Sunday, my friend Jess organised a Feminist Picnic at Occupy Bristol. We came, we ate, we sat in a friendly circle, we interacted with the occupiers and the public (it was an “open family day”), and coincidentally we had an impromptu discussion about pole dancing. The sun shone and all was well with the world.

For a while..

Article shamelessly stolen from Marina S

People from across the political spectrum (& outside of it) are coming together to unite against what they see as unfairness, greed & injustice. They are coming together, living together and sharing their ideas about how this world could be better, while pointing out their reasons why things are wrong right now. In the camps themselves, a naturally-occurringsystem has arisen that is evolving and does not conform to one particular ideology – and in general it seems to be working. I’ve heard people say that life in the camps is better than the one they had outside. In the camps they are part of something, and allowed to be themselves and allowed to grow, learn new skills, educate and learn. I see people wanting to do jobs for the good of the camps, rather than expecting some reward for it. I wonder if the most important thing about this movement is not the protest itself, but the opportunity to find a way of living that works in practice.

Author: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=610902160

Quite a few people have been commenting on how the occupation movement in Bristol and throughout the globe is lacking political direction and vision. Having been on site since the beginning and having followed the global occupation movement over the last few months, I personally feel we have a clearly defined political agenda. Globally, millions of people are now taking to the streets in outrage at the injustices inflicted upon them by the Capitalist and political classes. Occupying open spaces may look like an infective response to some, however, if you look closely at what is taking place globally it’s success is becoming more evident as each day passes.

A new global consciousness is awakening, throughout the towns and cities ordinary people are coming together and uniting against the inherent corruption of the current political and economic order. We’ve had enough of state sponsored corporate socialism for the rich. We’re sick to the back teeth of having opportunities to better ourselves taken from us and our kids. We all want a better future. However, the future we dreamed about is being robbed from us daily in order to try and save an already dying system.

We’re told we live in a democratic nation, yet our only participation in the democratic process is sticking a cross on a ballot paper once every four years. This is what they call freedom. Many of you have said the occupation won’t work. The reason for this is because many of you have protested countless times only to be ignored, ridiculed and labeled by the propaganda system. Our political institutions no longer represent us. This is the reason why people are saying nothing will change.
However, the seeds of a global revolution against capitalism and corrupt politics are beginning to spread far and wide. The change each of us is longing for will only come through continued mass civil action and peaceful resistance.

We can build a better future for ourselves through identifying and embracing the common bond which binds us all together. We are the 99% just like you. We’re looking for a better future just like you. Now is the time to occupy. Stand with us.

I’m someone who is employed, well paid and has never been involved in protests before.  I was taught to be honest, work hard and keep my head down and believed that if I did that I would be justly rewarded – and I think I have been.  While I was growing up, I also had excellent moral role models in the form of my family.  They taught me concern for others and to seek out and value justice in all its forms.

I’ve become involved in the occupation because my sense of justice has been increasingly offended by what I see going on in the world.  Please allow me to try and explain:

In the run up to 2008, traders incentivised by short-term bonuses did what any reasonable person in their sub-culture would do and maximised their income.  Their short-term decisions would turn out to be bad news in the long-term, but no-one wanted to listen to the party poopers who dared to broach the subject.  Banks and governments had created a situation in which the value of money became evermore disconnected from the work and well being of people.  The mere movement of money (albeit through exquisitely complex financial instruments) was all that was required to generate a profit.  Everyone basked in the glory of the perpetual motion machine that was the global financial system.  Naturally the people operating the machine did very well for themselves and everyone else waited for the trickle-down.

So far so good – my morals not yet offended, I kept my head down.

Then came 2008 and the ‘Lehman Shock’ that led to the Credit Crunch.  It became clear that the complex financial instruments rated as AAA investments were far from safe.  As the seismic repercussions bounced round the planet, the people and politicians remembered that perpetual motion is an impossibility against the laws of nature.  For a few days there was talk of putting the finance industry under the kosh; making huge structural changes to the finance system; putting the possibility of any future crisis beyond reach of future financiers.  Then, realising how big a step into the unknown this would be, the world stuck fingers in ears, closed its eyes and wished the problems would all go away.

So far, still no moral outrage.

The next chapter is best summarised by the phrase “Privatisation of profit, socialisation of losses”.  The politicians of the world, in a monumental act of cowardice, failed to get the too-big-to-fail financial institutions in check before handing them the money needed to save them.

The banks, as far as I can tell, continue with business as usual.  Governments, on the other hand, do not.  They are cutting spending, killing essential services to people in need of them – I’m not going to bore you with a bleeding-heart tirade about the cuts as I’m sure you’ve heard about them as much as I have.  I’ll summarise it all by saying that it’s the nations and their citizens that have ended up under the kosh while the practitioners of the financial black-arts go largely unaffected.

Now my morals are offended.  I am outraged.

There are a number of ways in which a society might seek to achieve justice: “From each according to ability, to each according to need” is one, “Reward in proportion to contribution” is another and I’m sure there are many more.  But I can find no way to justify a society in which the actions of a few, unchecked by the state, result in hardship of the many.  I do not wish to live under the rule of a political clique who, when they had the chance, did nothing to protect the interests of their people.  I cannot live in a society where the pursuit of financial gain leaves us unable to look after the old and infirm.  I do not want a world where people agonise over whether to turn on their heating as winter draws in.  This situation cannot be allowed to stand.

Things can be better.  I’m doing what I can to make them better.

I appeal to you to find out more about the Occupy movement.

Author: http://twitter.com/#!/deeleysimon

Ok, this is the thing about a horizontal group…no leaders and, unless something has been agreed on by consensus by the general assembly, each of us speaks only for ourselves. Ok, the other thing about Occupy Bristol is that we keep bumping up against an issue and then working it out. It is this creative and collective spirit in action that figures out solutions.

Into our second week, and so much has happened. I am struck by the diminishing numbers of women. Ah, it is one of those ‘issues’ mentioned in the first paragraph of this blog. Speaking about the lack of women yesterday with people in the group, it confirmed for me that that creative spirit of Occupy Bristol will come up with a solution. That’s heartening and makes the Occupy movement, in general, something wholly different than anything I’ve ever experienced.

Come a join us today at the Occupy Bristol Community Fun Day. It starts and 2.