[OccupySheffield] [Occupy London] My vision for the Occupy movement in 2012

[Elizabeth Beech]

My vision for 2012 has to start with letting go of 2011.

I've spent some hours building up to writing this, and trying to put it off, but I can't, so here goes..................

I support the idea of looking on the bright side. I lived in Glastonbury for 15 years so accentuating the positive is not a new thought!  Still and all Occupy, like Glastonbury, has a tendency to sweep inconvenient truths under the carpet in the hope that the basic message of good will prevail.

As a consequence there seems to be a reluctance to face reality in the here and now, or to adjust ways of working which perpetuate the problem.

I first came to Occupy (at St. Paul's) on October 18.  I was very impressed and very disturbed.  I chose to go with 'very impressed'.  However what I found disturbing did not evaporate over the coming weeks even though I kept hoping that the ideals which formed the Initial statement would (miraculously ?) transcend the escalating problems.

They didn't, and they haven't and  I am now uncomfortable with greeting a new year with the Occupy movement without stating my dis - ease.

From the problems of co-existing with the most vulnerable people in our society, to the latest information regarding the looting at the Bank of Ideas and the issuing of 'stab' vests to the Tranquility team, there is a shadow side to the amazing progress  that has been made which I feel should lead to a major re-think of our claim to be the 99% and, more tellingly, 'this is what democracy looks like'.

I also feel that Occupy, I think unwittingly, has a tendency to a masculine approach to problem solving,or, the language in which the politics of the movement is expressed seems to me to be largely masculine. Though it is notable that strong, forthright women have, thankfully,been prominent at St. Paul's.  

I made some attempts to join 'Tranquility' early on, but quickly abandoned that due to the macho nature of the team at the time. On several occasions 'Tranquility' involved themselves in situations that were already being peacefully dealt with, escalating the events into scuffles and hysteria.  Not in themselves critical but certainly unnerving. 

Lateral moves were made to resolve things.  Lateral moves continue to be made to resolve things.  Quite simply this does not bode well for the future of Occupy.

My impression of what people want, I mean ordinary people in ordinary neighbourhoods, is a sense of coming together to express their disquiet about the ever widening gap between those who are 'comfortable' (in this country mainly to do with the illusory nature of the property market) and those who are 'uncomfortable' and insecure. 

In the first instance these ordinary people are not going to come on the streets in large numbers demanding change.  At the moment ordinary people are hoping against hope that they can cling on in there, ideally not having to think about the person down the road who is not faring so well, assiduously avoiding the 'rough' areas where poverty is all too evident and possibly contagious.

Somehow or another Occupy has to encourage communities to come together where they are.  Not yet live together, but come together, and, to explain why I have mentioned the 'women' issue, it is often the women who enable this.

To do that, and not have the problems we have experienced, it seems to me that the 'ToolKit', that excellent booklet, has to suggest what can be done about setting boundaries to eliminate, or at least minimise, the difficulties that arise when disruptive behaviour threatens the well being of the whole.

This is, perhaps, more vital for those of us who want to Occupy our own neighbourhoods than it is at, say, St. Paul's.  'A prophet in his own country' and all that.  For most of us St. Paul's is somewhere else.  It is not our home, not our neighbourhood.  The cafes are not where we go with a friend after dropping the kids off at school, the pub is not our local, the church is not our place of worship etc.

Whilst I have hugely appreciated the friendships and connections made at St. Paul's, and whilst I hope very much to continue those connections, I also hope we will spend the start of 2012 reflecting on what we have learned and encouraging and supporting each other to take Occupy to where we are.

As it is at present I don't know a single person where I live (Shepherds Bush), who is an active supporter of Occupy.  I imagine a lot of other people are in the same situation, so, though hopeful, entering 2012 is both exciting and nerve-wracking !

I've just re-read this, and acknowledge that it is not a well-argued piece - it jumps about from this to that.  I apologise.

It is heart-felt.

I hope to be at St. Paul's later today, and, for those of you who will not be there, I send warmest wishes for the coming year,

Liz