Sunday morning service,
Sunday lunchtime train,
Sunday afternoon discussion
Sunday evening statement.
And my awkward explanation of why.
This was the beginning of Occupy.
Heading North to the Monument
Another prayer tent at another occupation
And a visit to the Turner Prize
Hope being expressed across the globe.
Another awkward yet hopeful post or two
near the beginning of Occupy.
A time for sober reconsideration
And a hit of reality
Middle class, single mother
Returns to “her real life”
And types another awkward post
as she stops camping with Occupy.
Camp she’s left gets attacked
By the right wing thugs
And discussions occur
About whether to carry on.
Her response another awkward post or two
about the continuation of Occupy.
Theology in a public space
Was one lens of interpretation
About the camp back in London
And faith engagement around the world.
Cue another awkward blog post and then one, two more
about this thing called Occupy.
In December Time Magazine
Named “The Protester” person of the year.
Analysis starts to get darker
But still too shiny and full of hope?
In this very awkward post
about the protests of Occupy.
A New Year
And The Monument is cleared
The voice of disillusionment chimes
With respect for E and RR, etc
In this post about the end
of the camp in Newcastle linked to Occupy.
January moves into February
And Occupy LSX
Is cleared from outside St. Pauls
By court order.
I sort of blog with a post of back links
about Occupy.
Almost 8 months on from that post
And they are in London again
Remembering and Celebrating
Keeping alive the Spirit.
And this is another crap post
full of back links about Occupy.
Time to stop….think…..reflect
Would I do it again?
Were they right?
Was it worth it?
What does this writer,
just another average blogger,
think about Occupy?
Answer….
The country and the world are arguably getting even more f***ed by the day. Karl wrote an excellent blog post yesterday discussing some of what’s happening and why the ideas being pursued are wrong. Institutional politics might be argued to still be failing us but is engaging with that more the only real way to change anything? I don’t know anymore….
The church (in both institutional and wider sense) are still focusing on dealing with the impacts rather than questioning how we change the systems of power and the structural inequality they create. On an institutional level there are spotlights being targeted, as this Church Times article on the Occupy anniversary explains, but we’re still too busy arguing about things like gay marriage to give a damn about changing what really needs to be altered….in part one thinks because it would pose difficult questions for the institutions themselves as investors, landlords and the like and us as individuals who like our lives as they are.
Occupy was good for starting conversation but did it ultimately just raise expectations and then leave them screwed up on the ground like pieces of discarded cardboard? Is it we the Occupiers who are to blame? Should many of us been willing to sacrifice more? But could we have sacrificed more? I had to work, I had to bring up Third Party…..personal excuses which echo the many realities of life people faced.
Is an alternative actually possible?
Honest answer is one year on I’m not sure. That said I refuse to give up….if I do what faith do I really have? Why do I go to church and profess faith in a risen Christ if I can’t hold onto hope of a better, more just future? Why do I pray “your kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven” if I’m not prepared to hope and work for change?
I don’t think that it means a neo-Marxist or anarchist vision of the future, but I do believe many of those involved in such groups have a glimpse of what might/ should be in terms of seeing the possibility of a world where social justice is a reality. They perhaps have more of an idea of what it means to try and live that line in the Lords prayer than many who would hold on to it and profess it regularly. That’s one reason why however little good I think it will do I’m intending to go on the TUC’s A Future That Works demonstration next weekend.
So where do I/we go from here? Not sure…..not at all sure. Continue to try and pray and work it out one day/ one week at a time I guess. And probably alot more awkward blog posts along the way. If nothing else having something to look back on after Occupy – reminding me what happened when, and what I had to say about it at the time, has been useful for me.
