Brainwashing, said the historian Christopher Hill, is something that happens to Other People. That’s the point, of course. You can’t see it if you’re in it. Hill was talking about the ideological victory of the Puritan work ethic: a notion that labour, however menial or immoral, is Good, and idleness […]
To anyone visiting the St Pauls site of Occupy London, it would be painfully obvious that even if you did manage to convince yourself to brave the wind and join the occupation, there simply was no more room in the inn. Fire regulations and sheer popularity meant that tents were […]
Ed Miliband wrote an article in the Guardian on Sunday in which he notices theexistence of the occupation of Saint Paul’s, and of ‘hundreds of similar demonstrations in cities across the world’. The piece is a masterclass in political positioning and it deserves a little close reading. He claims that […]
The sight of Adam Boulton comparing OccupyLSX protesters to Nazi occupiers in France during WW2 on Sky News this week was not just indicative of Boulton, but also demonstrates how progressively desperate and defensive those who wish to defend the status quo have become since the Occupy movement began (see […]
If the occupations that have sprung up across our globe are indeed inspired by Cairo’s Tahrir Square (as we say they are), then it is worth mentioning that a number of people who were crucial for the organization of the Tahrir Square demonstrations are now behind bars. In fact, over […]
As the City of London prepares to usher in its new Lord Mayor this week, the Occupied Times asks: just how does the City elect its leaders anyway? The City’s residents get a single vote each; businesses get anywhere up to 79 votes depending on how many employees on payroll. […]
We exist in a precarious space, tucked into the collarbone of the London Stock Exchange. What we choose to fill this space with, in the little time we’ve made for ourselves, is what will decide our success or failure as a movement once we’re history. Consider that, precisely because we […]
As thousands of students march through London today and impose themselves, as we have, on unscrupulous corporations, the real reason we are here is brought back to us. The issue concerning Higher Education is not one of privatisation (most universities are in fact already private, though run as charities) but […]
At Occupy LSX we have been involved in a continuous process of negotiation with the Metropolitan Police. We maintain a constructive relationship in order to ensure the safety and security of our protest and do not seek confrontation. However, as activists, we need to ask ourselves about the role of […]
The idiosyncrasy of voices within the camp, has been, thus far, one of the characterising features of the occupy movement. Our difference, have made us strong, avoiding to be pigeon holed whilst leaving passers-by and media pundits baffled at the high levels of organisation and social cohesion within the camp. […]