INSIDE OLSX

Occupy London Stock Exchange will be my new home for two weeks starting November 10th. Till then I can enjoy hot showers.

I have been helping out by editing a short video here and there that roaming filmmakers have donated footage for. I hesitated getting my camera out because I could not bring myself to. I am not interested in vox pox and pre production is required to seal interviews with Deans and Bishops and City of London characters who interest me enough to carry my camera for.

The OLSX environment is familiar to me although I have never lived in London. Like all activist initiatives in the Western World, The Occupy LSXers are a combination of serious activists and people whose only contribution seems to be the space they occupy in the air of the camp - in some cases neutralized by bad poetry. My conscience screams at me to be patient and to appreciate that the movement needs people power and I heed that scream. I falter nevertheless.

Yesterday I was consumed by a feeling of disdain when I walked into the 'tech-tent' which up until now has catered for everything from charging batteries (everyone's phone, laptops and walkie talkies) to the editing studio. I found three people in there, all smoking cigarettes. It would have had the romance of an old movie setting had it not been for lack of O2. All three had not slept it seemed from the night before. One was busy fixing a wireless intranet network and two were chatting taking up all the space one might use for editing (ie: me). They were also keeping him company I assumed but I was unamused. I was there to work and my work space looked like the inside of a skip.

Its relatively impossible to pull rank in non-hierarchical modules. People are expected to act out of respect and when they do not I am lost. Who left the garbage? For some reason I could not bring myself to ask for the space and the chair I needed. The young large man seemed to be gas bagging as far as I could tell but he also could have been one of the most respected people in the camp. Who knows?  I did not recognize them, nor they me. If you cannot ask them to leave what can you do?

I started cleaning up to make some space. Still no movement.

Establishing shot- wide of a 5m by 3m tent with two tables and 'stuff' all along the sides. The intranet guru helps clear up while the two keep talking about how long they have been in the camp and how much they have contributed. They are unwittingly fondling my trigger which in hindsight I believe its because guilt is motivating their ramble and this guilt irritated me.

We make a clear distinction between the two tables... one is for repair and one is for everything else (namely film-making). A film maker walks in to dump footage, The camped being who has not stopped telling us one brilliant idea after another, which included gems like walking off with the communal hard drive so he can provide a community video group off site with all the footage (without bringing it up at a meeting), is at the film making table. Its my moment for self righteous pomposity. "are you film making" - he says no - I say "we need that space' .. he diligently gets up and leaves. I hear "its a new day' in the background in support of my assertiveness and I then en devour to talk to the film maker about the footage of the Nov 5th march.

Although I would rather the camp not have to deal with the mentally challenged or 'hardened through chronic homelessness' people, who the camp attracts I have a lot more patience for them than I do for laziness. People who do not lift a finger to wash the dishes, clean the floors, take care of the rubbish etc. The camp is up against so much and it is so difficult to know who to talk to have your voice heard. Meetings are called but not everyone is informed about them. Many people who have time and dedication, have little money and each text, phone call and tube ride costs precious pennies. This taxes their efforts and communication suffers as a consequence. Decisions are made and word is put out and then somehow there is a change of outcome which debilitates a trust amongst the activists.

Its difficult and as I get older I have to wonder why I have been an activist in anarchist circles all these years when its fascism with capital punishment that I desire to implement most in these camps. 'Spank the Children' I hear myself say.

I calm down and realize its because of what we are up against and my passionate belief that we are at an important time in history and it is no time to be complacent. The facilitators guidelines for meetings and conflict resolution humbles me as I hear the wisdom but doubt I have the strength to honor it.

The camp is made up of many individuals, some are anti capitalist but most are not. Most are driven by an inarticulate belief that too much is wrong with the powers that run the world. There are too many wars that are not supported by the people. There are too many people who are jobless and hungry and there is too much evidence that our democracy does not represent the needs of the majority of its people. The 'inarticulate' element is pounced upon by some journalists in an effort to instill the two sided paradigm of 'us & them' that is a staple in journalism. The truth is that there is plenty of evidence that Occupy LSX has many respected (and articulate)  supporters including Rev Giles Fraser and Tony Benn to name a few.

Occupy London has attracted many followers who want to latch their passionate causes to it. One example - the environment - is easily debated as a more pressing concern than the financial system. Amongst OLSXers, I imagine that it is fair to say that the fact that we cannot eat and drink money, that we cannot live in shelters made out of money and that money is not energy is accepted. However 'the environment' does not reverberate with the general public's consciousness enough to instigate the anger needed to catalyze change - unfortunately. The general public is simply not enlightened enough for that. Tax payers bailing out the banks is something that could start a civil war however, and sanely enough, Occupy London is vehemently against violence.

I cannot help but think of the strategy of 'Divide and Conquer' implemented in war. By adding too many labels to our movement I believe we are dividing and conquering ourselves. I have not found the right opportunity to say this in the General Assemblies because I get intimidated and I really cannot tell when would be the right time. I queued up the other day to say it, heart beating fast. I asked a man in the queue if there was a procedure and he told me that I should have brought it up at the Process Meeting which is conducted before the GA. I glumly sauntered off.

In the shower and to my audience of Olive (my partner's dog) I have my moment.

I declare that supporters of other urgent agendas such as nuclear proliferation, the environment and the Israel-Palestinian situation, to name a few, need to humble themselves to the one movement that could galvanize the people of the world let alone the people of Britain and sit tight while this movement gathers strength, enormous strength. I implore the activists, the hot water dripping off my back, to have faith and trust that all the major issues are at the heart of this movement but that the face of Occupy LSX needs to be simple and inviting to attract the masses. We can only implement real change with the majority of the people of the United Kingdom behind us heart and soul. The heart and soul of these people is freedom and comfort which in 2011 is synonymous with a steady and respectable income and that is OK. It is valid to fight against crippling the United Kingdom to bail out bankers with obscene bank balances.

As Tony Benn says -

" Now we live in a world where real power has moved away from the parliaments we elect, and is now, the real power, is exercised by people we didn't elect , can't remove and do not have to listen to us ..."

Stop the Confusion

OLSX

Later

inka