[OccupyComms] [OccupySheffieldPrivate] [Occupy London] Excellent article on US Occupy

[Robert Daines]

Hi Mark

I too think that it is brilliant. In the UK we are in the same position but
can find many more corners in the more open weave of our society. I know
what you mean by the crap and the brilliant but that wording does badly
damage the profound nature of our shared humanity, which is what Occupy is
about. Occupy in Sheffield was the second longest surviving street camp in
the UK and was a joining up of some of the most vulnerable and those who
were strong enough and free enough to see things differently. It managed to
imitate a future society and supported the vulnerable while providing
security and making rules such as banning those who were drunk. It closed
because it could not afford the second round of court costs. Now it does
not have its own space it manages to keep going as a network that meets up
in various locations as working groups and GA's and at events it organises
or has slots at (Peace in the Park). It organised a conference; which was
well supported and widened the network with important workshops; on the
back of the Climate Caravan visit. The workshops were on co-ops, Positive
Money and growing small initiatives. It also plans to get back on the
street in August with a central focus on handing out Positive News on
Saturdays. New people are still finding us.

All the best

Robert

On Fri, May 25, 2012 at 3:38 PM, Mark Barrett
<marknbarrett at googlemail.com>wrote:

> Thanks for this Saskia - excellent.
>
> "Occupy is very odd right now. The people who have stayed are the
> cream of the crap, and the brilliant. The rank-and-file in between are
> at home."
>
> What a quote!
>
>
> "The big question for Occupy is how it can build a dual system of
> power, as Egyptian activists did over years with revitalised labour
> organising, a national anti-police brutality movement and politicised
> youth and women in micro-enterprises that populate urban areas. This
> requires organisation, but it also gets back to the question of space.
> Alienation, fragmentation and suspicion is so pervasive in US society
> that people need secure areas where they can take the time to share
> stories, to listen and debate, create bonds, forge trust and take
> action.
>
> The places where Americans can and do gather in large numbers, such as
> parks, squares, factories, shopping centres, the workplace, stadiums,
> schools and places of worship are almost all privatised and subject to
> strict legal and physical regulation. Nonetheless, Occupy's future
> success is based on finding forms of space where it can reproduce
> itself."
>
> Cheers
>
> Mark
>
> > Hiya
> >
> > highly recommend this read from Arun Gupta, a co-founder of The
> > Indypendent and The Occupied Wall Street Journal. He covers the Occupy
> > movement nationwide for Salon.
> >
> >
> http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2012/05/2012521151225452634.html
> >
> > Saskia
> >
> > --
>
> _______________________________________________
> OccupyComms mailing list
> OccupyComms at email-lists.org
> https://www.email-lists.org/mailman/listinfo/occupycomms
>
> _______________________________________________
> OccupySheffieldPrivate mailing list
> OccupySheffieldPrivate at email-lists.org
> https://www.email-lists.org/mailman/listinfo/occupysheffieldprivate
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://www.email-lists.org/pipermail/occupycomms/attachments/20120526/7d7a7619/attachment-0001.html>