by Keith Locke
I got a buzz out of visiting the Occupy Auckland camp again this sunny afternoon. Seventy tents have mushroomed on the grass in Aotea Square right next to the Town Hall. Hopefully the Auckland Council will continue to tolerate the camp as a venue for citizen engagement with politics. It’s not just the ‘occupiers’ discussing how to make our society more equal and just. Many Aucklanders are also stopping by for a chat. The camp is like a little village with special tents for food, first aid, social media, information and meetings.
There is a lot of learning going on to find out the causes of the problems we face, and some of the solutions. The gross inequality between the top 1% and the other 99% is an overriding theme – as it is around the world – but the daily general assemblies and the workshops are picking up many other issues.
The mood is positive, with signs like “Awake with the dreamers” and “The beginning is nigh”. Others have a good turn of phrase. I liked “In oil we lust”. Drop down and see the folks sometime. Or check out their website at www.occupyauckland.org.
Published in Justice & Democracy | Society & Culture by Keith Locke on Tue, October 25th, 2011
Tags: Auckland, citizen engagement, democracy, global financial crisis, grass roots, inequality, Inequality in Aotearoa, Occupy movement, wealth inequality
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on the trolls and those who are unable to keep on topic
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Phil, you’ve been complaining previously that the Green MPs and frogblog haven’t in your opinion given enough attention to the Occupy movement, but when Keith posts here about it you attempt to divert the thread onto a completely different issue. Are you never satisfied?
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The occupy movement is a bit too much of a catch-all at the moment. It needs more specific goals.
I’m not anti-rich per se. It’s how the riches are gained that winds me up.
Speculators are the lowest filth as far as I’m concerned. Futures/hedge traders make obscene amounts of money and produce nothing of any value at all. Vaporise them.
Capital gains need to be taxed just the same as any other income.
what else?…
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I agree with Samiam, the Movement needs a more specific agenda – I remember I was trying to figure out what the protests were about when the Occupy Wallstreet first started, and I couldnt find any concise information on their actual site!
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Phil, why do you keep going on about Keith Locke (and the Greens) supporting the “cia-coup in Libya” when they did the exact opposite. Keith consistently opposed the NATO intervention. Read his blogs, such as this one in July, which begins:
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Whilst I support the idea of a protest against the rich & the filthy rich.. the occupy protest just seems to be a rallying point for anyone who has a gripe again authority & for some politicians to wave their banners.
At the end of the day.. is it really achieving its objectives ?
Maybe they should move from Aotea Square to Epsom ?
Kia-ora to ALL who support a more even society !
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From my observations, the Greens have been very respectful of the Occupy protests being a peoples’ movement, and have not sought to get media attention from it or attempted to co-opt it.
Despite what phil u says, I think that is the correct choice. Maybe Phil dreams nostalgically for the days when the Alliance fronted hundreds of placards and flags to every protest they could attempt to get some MSM media from.
I don’t. I think the lower-key approach Green MPs like Keith and Metiria have taken in personally offering their support to the Occupy protests without trying to publicly co-opt them to Green party-political advantage is the best one.
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@phil u 7:40 PM
Um, I suspect from the posts here over the last fortnight that an environmental disaster in the Bay of Plenty was the Green MPs’ primary focus over that time, Phil.
Anyway, more Green MPs after the election should enable them to cover more bases more quickly.
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unable to multi-task..eh..?
..only able to mono-focus..?
..that’s a worry..
..and the worst excuse for anything i have heard for a long time..
..phil(whoar.co.nz)
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I wasn’t pointing the finger at any particular party (as banner wavers)i.e. Greens.. in fact the Occupation in the Octagon, is dominated by banners from one of the other ‘minor’ parties & there has been negative media statements from yet another ‘minor’ party, about the percieved intent of the protest.
I say : “good on the protestors, for raising awareness”.. but I just wonder where its actually going ?
Kia-ora
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Under occupation Greece dares to seek the consent of its people to the solution imposed by the EU and “world market capital”.
The idea that a nation should have a mandate to agree to terms set by lenders and other governments is going to annoy the establishment – what next ratification of free trade deals by referendum?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-15549352
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These people continue to arrogantly assume the right to speak on my behalf. By claiming they are the “99%”, they are assuming the right to represent me.
This movement is NOT the 99%. How many people are involved around New Zealand – a few hundred? By my calculation, that makes it more like the 0.0099%.
This movement DOES NOT represent me.
I DID NOT give them permission to speak on my behalf.
By claiming to speak on my behalf, and on behalf of the 99% (which they DON’T), they are arrogantly assuming disproportionate control and speaking rights that they have no right to do. This is exactly what they are complaining that the mythical “let’s-pull-a-convenient-number-out-of-thin-air” 1% are doing.
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