Tomorrow marks two months since the start of the global Occupy movement, and already a tremendous amount has been achieved. Those of us who have been part of the occupations since October the 15th weren’t even sure we would make it through the first night – and in a sense, we didn’t. The original plan to occupy the London Stock Exchange never came into fruition, but did that ever really matter?
A movement is called such because of its fluidity; it must navigate obstacles that are inevitably placed in its path, extracting whatever value and impetus it can from each given scenario. The skirmish with St Paul’s could be viewed as a distraction, but from it came widespread support, even from devout Christians. In the event, St Paul’s was subjected to a more thorough critique than the occupation on its steps, with any moral discrepancies exposed. Clash with Occupy, and you will be scrutinised. It isn’t a bad reputation to have.
But to avoid petering out or becoming irrelevant, a movement must retain its mobile advance, rather than resting on its laurels. So the occupation of Finsbury Square and then the Bank of Ideas quickly followed. With each new chapter come new problems to negotiate. In our path are two legal disputes and the remaining cold of winter.
Christmas might seem an obvious point to wrap things up, but while there would be no disgrace in retreating from the cold, the festive season could be the perfect time for Occupy to escalate further still. While London is lit up and corporations throw lavish Christmas parties, poverty isn’t suspended for those who know it well, and for many families gifts will be less plentiful than in past years, for reasons not of their doing.
In ‘A Christmas Carol’ Dickens poured scorn over 19th century industrial capitalism, and 150 years on Occupy is offering its own non-fictional critique of the modern day equivalent. Just as Jacob Marley visited Ebenezer Scrooge, the financial sector’s past transactions and the political elite’s neoliberal policies must come back to haunt them. We’ve learned how past events caused this crisis and who was responsible, and at present, we are taking action against those same people who still own the means to shape our futures.
Tomorrow we occupy everywhere; but everywhere, occupying tomorrow is the real challenge.
