Thursday 17 November 2011

Occupy London Stock Exchange - OLSE


I went to the Occupy London Stock Exchange with a heavy heart expecting Wizards preaching the end of the world by frogs drinking coffee through their eyes...

Whereas in fact, I quite enjoyed myself, and I saw no frogs with severe caffeine habits.  

What happened was that I sat in a tents talked, debated and even sang Beetles songs with a man playing a guitar.  I chatted with a broad range of people, all enthusiastic to talk about what they each individually stood for. 

I saw businessmen passing through looking with smiles on their faces like everyone was high on something here.  We were all buzzing, but from what cause we didn't know, only that something was going on and that seemed to be enough.


I was impressed by the churches original stance and that they had actually stood up for the people, it felt old and respectful rather than modern day and exploitative, but as I write this today I read the tents have had a bailiff notice issued.

It seems to signify everything the protesters had set out to try and 'change'.


When I got back home the next day a friend visited for lunch and a chinwag and we talked about the occupation.  His stance was that the protesters/occupying people had used Starbucks for the toilet and to buy coffee, so their argument against capitalism was invalid.  


I said that I thought their argument wasn't about the abolishment of capitalism only the belief to make it fairer by talking and more importantly, 'doing' something about it.


Perhaps they have achieved something of this but under our present Conservative led government I fear a two-tier system will form in the UK, and faith alone will not cure it.