The Occupy movement seeks to present a radical democratic critique of the present self-destructive economic and political climate. It also expresses a demand for accountability and legitimacy on the part of the institutions of economic and political power. Therefore it is necessary to consider not only issues of economic and […]
Can you imagine a globalisation that would work for the 99%? Where need is put before greed? And institutions work to find global solutions to global problems? I’ll be honest, I can’t and that’s because of the globalisation we have right now. Let’s look at what has been globalised to […]
There are some economists who believe that total demand in an economy must equal its total supply. The argument goes something like this: When people sell their produce, they must, almost by definition, receive enough money to buy the equivalent value of other people’s goods. Or to put it another […]
Our legal system is failing the 99%. Within this term coined by the Occupy movement I include the myriad of non-human species humanity has co-evolved with over millennia. Injustice for the Earth has become the norm as the legal system in most Western societies consistently prioritises the growth of the […]
We are sawing off the branch on which we are sitting: our own economic activities are threatening the very support systems upon which human and non-human life depends. Some people think that the scientific facts about climate change are simply too complicated or else too depressing for ordinary people […]
Unbelievably, Nigeria, Africa’s largest crude oil producer, imports petrol. But Nigeria’s fuel importers aren’t upset by the government’s 1st January cut of subsidies to the cost of petrol and kerosene imports. They’ve simply passed on their ‘loss’ to Nigeria’s 99% by raising prices 100% and more. Joining furious demonstrators throughout […]
On 9 December 2011 we came, we saw, and although we didn’t conquer the United Nations, for two hours it felt as if we had. Towards the end of last year I travelled to the United Nations climate talks in South Africa. I had received funding from people in my […]
When the cosy physical and intellectual structures that we used to live in are reduced to matchwood debris strewn along the tideline, right about now might be a good time to give some thought to catastrophic wave dynamics. History proceeds in waves, as pointed out by futurologists Alvin and Heidi […]
Last November I accompanied Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello to OLSX for a music magazine feature about the movement. On the way down we talked about the role of music and the media’s hunger for an Occupy anthem. Morello, who is as much an activist as a musician, thought […]
I felt compelled to stand as a litigant-in-person; it was not an intellectual decision. At first I felt no fear. Later, even the possibility of having debts of tens of thousands of pounds wasn’t enough to deter me. I saw the court case as an opportunity to communicate and to […]