Anti-Wall Street Protests Spreading to Cities Large and Small

[squealy]

Those protesting are the public too.

Originally Posted by squealy

Those protesting are the public too.

And I should imagine a fair few of them(especially those who will be at work tomorrow)pay their taxes too and pay for the policing of public protests.

[Sirius]

Originally Posted by Maggy J

And I should imagine a fair few of them(especially those who will be at work tomorrow)pay their taxes too and pay for the policing of public protests.

Well lets see by how much the crowd reduces tomorrow shall we.

[devilincarnate]

Originally Posted by Sirius

Well lets see by how much the crowd reduces tomorrow shall we.

If it is going by this protester it will grow?

Another protester, Joshua, said he was confident the protest numbers would swell, based on the US experience.

"New York actually started with 70 people on the first night. We already have up to 500 on the first night. And by the next weekend they had 70,000 at the assembly. We're being watched. So there's absolutely no reason why we shouldn't [grow]."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-15324901

---------- Post added at 17:39 ---------- Previous post was at 15:48 ----------

This is a good read?

In February I wrote a blog called "Twenty Reasons Why It's Kicking Off Everywhere". With the global Occupy protests yesterday it is still looking quite accurate. But it's now clear there is a 21st reason. And a 22nd. We've had nine months of political paralysis. And people have begun to feel the economic permafrost setting in.

I went down to Paternoster Square to observe the first few hours of the London protest. The police sealed off the square, which is private property, so the protesters squatted the steps of St Paul's Cathedral. They had a big, sit-down general assembly and then broke into small circles, cross-legged, then got back together and decided to stay the night. At that point there were around 2,000 people.

Who were they? This is not yet as demographically wide as the indignado camps in Madrid or Syntagma were when they first started. Nor is it as "mainstream" as Occupy Wall street - yet. Not a single mainstream British politician attempted to appear at the protest; not a single MP, not a single famous author or film-maker. Helen John, the Greenham Common veteran, spoke, as did Peter Tatchell, but the biggest response - indeed it was a rock-star like response - was for Julian Assange. He was acclaimed by 9/10ths of the crowd and barracked in ribald language by the others.

But this is the best bit of the article (Ithink)

Though the place was swarming with media, including a hilarious spoof of a Fox News reporter wearing a flak jacket, the main complaint is that the media is ignoring them and does not understand them. This latter point I think is largely true.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15326636

[Dai]

At least Paul Mason seems to "get it"..


"Occupy Everywhere, then, is the kind of movement you get when people start to believe mainstream politicians have lost their principles, or are trapped by vested interests, or are all crooked. "

[Chrysalis]

Originally Posted by Dude111

I believe stuff is starting to fall apart Maggy and i fear this is just the beggining.. (I sense it will be WORSE than the riots you guys had)

Thankfully your riots were contained fairly soon after they started....

People are starting to wake up to the fact capitalism isnt best for everyone when its not regulated enough.

The question is which do you (and everyone else) see as the problem.

1 - The protests/riots themselves, so once they stopped problem solved.
2 - Or the reason they happening ie. unfair wealth distribution, corporate influence on politics etc.

Example been osborne in this country thinking only about businsses when he is removing workers rights, and labour bailing out the banks. Also the slow and steady privatisation of the NHS and welfare system.

In america as I understand it they got similiar issues with the bank bailouts, except there's was worse as I believe the government over there cannot even ask the banks how the money has been spent, there was a clause that made them allowed to keep that info secret. Also in america they have people from the major banks working as part of their cabinet so have extreme influence.

The history of US presidents assassinated, every single one of them opposed a central reserve bank ran by the private sector, (currently the fed reserve), mysteriously when a president has plans to change the system they get killed.

The only way something like this will change in countries like britian and the US is if enough people take on arms and win a civil war against the army, probably realistically would require the army to either defect or not agree to fight as they would squash any rebellion. Or if another country invaded and won to change the regime.

---------- Post added at 21:39 ---------- Previous post was at 21:35 ----------

Originally Posted by Sirius

My views on protests are based on the protests we have seen over the last 12 months. The majority of them have turned violent. The right to protest i agree with fully, The right to disrupt people lives and property i don't agree with and that seems to be the way protest in this country now progress. They start with good intentions then the same groups turn up and make normal peoples lives a misery whilst there property is smashed or looted. I see these protest progressing in to trouble just the same as those over the last 12 months.

Citizens rights should not disappear but lets face it the protesters know how to manipulate there rights to ensure that they are not the ones in the press when they make everything go pear shaped.

I agree there is a boundary that when crossed its going too far.

I should also point out tho there is peaceful protests that the news agencies refuse to cover. It seems they only interested in ones that have violence or cover an agenda that fits the news bias.

The recent riots here certianly got news coverage and made some people think.

Went past these protesters on the way to work. They are very different to the usual crowd that 'anti-capitalist' protests tend to to attract. They are very peaceful and calm.

I read that the police have scaled back their presence because they hadn't caused trouble, they made an agreement with police on where to put their tents and haven't broken that agreement, they have moved meeting/speaking times in order not to disrupt church services and have left the way into St Pauls accessible for visitors.

Originally Posted by Damien

Went past these protesters on the way to work. They are very different to the usual crowd that 'anti-capitalist' protests tend to to attract. They are very peaceful and calm.

I read that the police have scaled back their presence because they hadn't caused trouble, they made an agreement with police on where to put their tents and haven't broken that agreement, they have moved meeting/speaking times in order not to disrupt church services and have left the way into St Pauls accessible for visitors.

They are peaceful and calm probably because they are too busy updating the media on thier iPhones / iPads and Macbook Pros...

Did you wave a bunch of £20's at them?

Originally Posted by Tuftus

They are peaceful and calm probably because they are too busy updating the media on thier iPhones / iPads and Macbook Pros...

Did you wave a bunch of £20's at them?

Well I walked by with a Starbucks cup which I imagine is pretty antagonistic.

Fascist - grinding (coffee) in the faces of proletariat....... :-)

[Osem]

St Paul's Cathedral could be forced to close by the presence of activists in the churchyard staging an anti-capitalist protest, officials say.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-15380205

I wonder if all that Christian empathy bestowed upon the protesting masses will be eroded now the capitalist $$$s have stopped flooding in to the cathedral's rapidly emptying coffers?

It'll be interesting to see how the crowd react to being asked or even forced to leave (if that's what happens). If they're all peaceloving folk there shouldn't be a problem but who knows....

Originally Posted by Osem

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-15380205

I wonder if all that Christian empathy bestowed upon the protesting masses will be eroded now the capitalist $$$s have stopped flooding in to the cathedral's rapidly emptying coffers?

It'll be interesting to see how the crowd react to being asked or even forced to leave (if that's what happens). If they're all peaceloving folk there shouldn't be a problem but who knows....

Well it's all been quite civil so far, let's hope they can work out a compromise. The protesters made concessions to try and avoid this problem, maybe they will make more.

Originally Posted by Osem

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-15380205

I wonder if all that Christian empathy bestowed upon the protesting masses will be eroded now the capitalist $$$s have stopped flooding in to the cathedral's rapidly emptying coffers?
....

That's a little unfair - out cathedrals are among our most treasured historical monuments as well as important places of worship. If the upkeep of the monument and the provision of worship space are both under threat, I don't see what's wrong with the Dean asking the protesters to show the cathedral some of the same understanding that the protesters themselves have so far received.

[Osem]

Originally Posted by Chris

That's a little unfair - out cathedrals are among our most treasured historical monuments as well as important places of worship. If the upkeep of the monument and the provision of worship space are both under threat, I don't see what's wrong with the Dean asking the protesters to show the cathedral some of the same understanding that the protesters themselves have so far received.

There's nothing wrong with him asking them to move. In fact I don't think they should've been allowed there in the first place for the very reasons you've just made. IMHO it was a foregone conclusion that as soon as visitor numbers started to be affected something would need to be done about it. The reference to capitalist $s was made with a hint of irony given the nature of the protest BTW.

As for the protestors, of course I very much hope theY will move on and clear up any mess they've left.

I hope the cathedral will allow them to stay.I'm getting quite fed up with the way people aren't allowed to even protest peacefully anywhere these days..Luckily our police aren't likely to fire on them unlike those in Syria and Libya were prone to do.

Osem you seem to be against these particular protesters.Can I ask why?They haven't caused any particular trouble and the trouble there was at the weekend came from a different group altogether.

Of course if there is violence then they deserve to be arrested but I cannot see why they should be prevented from staying if they come to an agreement with the Cathedral authorities.