Critics of #occupy movement are more anti-capitalist than the protesters

by Sunny Hundal    
November 6, 2011 at 9:30 am

The #occupy movement in the USA and the UK is frequently described in the media as being ‘anti-capitalist’.

But anyone with a cursory knowledge of economics who looks at this dispassionately will tell you this is hogwash.

They may not know it or say it, but the #occupy protesters are more ‘pro-capitalist’ than their critics.
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Ed Mili endorses aims of #occupyLSX

by Sunny Hundal    
November 6, 2011 at 8:50 am

Ed Miliband made the surprising move of endorsing the aims and sentiments of #occupyLSX – a movement barely two weeks old in the UK – with an article in the Observer today.

He said that while many may not agree with their demands or methods, they still reflected a “crisis of concern for millions of people” about what he called the biggest issue of our time: “the gap between their values and the way our country is run”.

You do not have to be in a tent to feel angry. People feel let down by aspects of business, finance and politics which seem in touch with the richest 1% – but badly out of touch with the reality facing the other 99%. They wonder if things can be different — and whether politics can make a difference.
…
When people at the top show such irresponsibility, it should be not be a surprise to find it elsewhere in society too. We must make big changes in the way our country works. And that is why the choices we make now to address people’s immediate worries should also pave the way to a better economy, society and country in the long term.
…
Business as usual is not an option. In every generation, there comes a moment when the existing way of doing things is challenged. It happened in 1945. It happened in 1979 and again in 1997. This is another of those moments because the deeper issues raised by the current crisis are too important to be left shivering on the steps of St Paul’s. We cannot leave it to the protesters to lead this debate.

But we can only win this debate with a movement which stretches beyond politics.

Some of the usual suspects on the ultra-left, who were last week criticising him for not supporting the movement, were found on Twitter ranting away that he: was jumping on a bandwagon / still did not want to bring back communism / had personally started the Iraq war so would never be forgiven, etc.

Nevertheless, Ed Miliband clear call came as an unexpected development for me and went further than Ed Balls on BBC Question Time last week.

The real reason UK is talking about an attack on Iran

by Matt Hill    
November 5, 2011 at 4:43 pm

It’s being touted that a military strike is the only way of dealing with a rogue Middle Eastern state with a nuclear weapons programme, along with a record of aggression towards its neighbours and an evident disregard for international law.

But given the human casualties and regional instability that would result, it’s my firm view that we must exhaust every diplomatic option before attacking a nuclear site like the Dimona centre.

That’s Dimona, Israel, of course.
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Other demands that #occupyLSX could make

by Jim Jepps    
November 5, 2011 at 9:50 am

One criticism of the Occupy London Stock Exchange movement has been either the lack of concrete demands or their incoherence. While that’s not necessarily fair it is certainly true that only one point in the initial statement was policy.

To get the ball rolling I thought I’d make a few suggestions, based on things we already know, that may not abolish capitalism but would at least re-establish a little social democracy.

I’m sure collectively we can come up with something stronger.
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Mensch to speak at ‘extreme’ Israeli conf

by Ben White    
November 4, 2011 at 6:08 pm

Conservative MP Louise Mensch is set to appear at a conference organised by the UK branch of Israeli lobby group – StandWithUs.

According to a publicity poster, Mensch will be a “guest speaker” on a day aimed especially at students.

The attendance of a Member of Parliament at such an event is troubling, given StandWithUs’ track record of promoting extreme positions and working with disturbing allies.

The UK chair of StandWithUs disputes the international legal consensus that Settlements in the Occupied West Bank are illegal.

A 2009 investigation into StandWithUs’ donors accused the group of having “a web of funders who support organisations that have been accused of anti-Muslim propaganda and encouraging a militant Israeli and U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East”.

The group’s activists have also been accused of intimidating Palestine solidarity activists in the past.

A StandWithUs event of the same name happening in the US this month features Itamar Marcus, an Israeli settler who features in Islamophobic film ‘Obsession’.

Here in the UK, StandWithUs is working with religious fundamentalists, sending their national coordinator to speak at a conference promoted by those who believe that God will “curse those who curse Israel”.

Israel’s defenders are free to choose the allies they want – but should an MP be giving them support?

How women’s voices are silenced online through trolling

by Guest    
November 4, 2011 at 2:45 pm

contribution by Ray Filar

It’s difficult for women to speak in public, particularly political women. Yesterday, Helen Hasteley-Lewis blogged at the New Statesman about the torrential online abuse feminist writers get.

This follows Cath Elliott’s blog earlier this year on the shocking invective she personally regularly receives. 
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Why Labour won’t and shouldn’t have to endorse #occupyLSX

by Sunny Hundal    
November 4, 2011 at 10:50 am

I want to make a broader argument, but first need to deal with a small point raised by Owen Jones in his front-page piece in the New Statesman this week.

“[Labour] are missing the boat,” John McDonnell MP tells Owen Jones on the issue of the occupations. Editor of Occupied Times Steve Maclean tells him: “I think a lot of people are very disappointed that there’s this grass-roots movement and sentiment, and Labour isn’t leading or driving it.”

I’m sorry but this is highly naive.
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Did ‘moments of madness’ lead to riots?

by Sunny Hundal    
November 4, 2011 at 10:30 am

The BBC reports:

Young people joined the summer riots in “moments of madness” on “a day like no other when normal rules did not seem to apply”, a report has suggested. The study, carried out for the Cabinet Office, found many were initially motivated by excitement, “free stuff” and getting back at police.

A series of factors on the night, including friends and social media, then nudged some to take part. In all, 206 people were interviewed, including about 50 involved in rioting.
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It found the riots had no precedent in young people’s experience and for some, “moments of madness” led to atypical behaviour.

The full report is here

I have to say – this sounds like the most plausible explanation to me.

During the riots and in the aftermath, there were too many people on the left and the right offering ready-made reasons for what led to the riots. From poverty and the cuts to ‘social breakdown’, lack of morality and ‘liberal elites’ – everyone came to the discussion with their prejudices.

But the riots involved middle-class kids and poor youths. It involved individuals and gang members. It took place in poor areas, but also wealthier areas. There cannot be a simple explanation.

And lastly, doesn’t the ‘poverty -> riots’ theory also assume poor people are more prone to crime?

Virtual occupy London – how anyone could take part

by Guest    
November 4, 2011 at 8:50 am

contribution by Kenth Gustafsson

It would appear that many of us (including the odd city worker) feel generally supportive of the #Occupy movement, and may want to express this without having to find our old tent in the attic and physically join #OccupyLSX.

The thought of having to announce at the dinner table that you are packing tonight to join the efforts down at St Pauls cathedral may well put an awful lot of potential protesters off.

I suggest that the internet could offer an easy and fun way for potentially many thousands of people to become engaged.
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Did Osborne lie to MPs over Euro / IMF bailout?

by Sunny Hundal    
November 4, 2011 at 8:30 am

This is what George Osborne told MPs last week:

Britain will not be putting money into the bail-out fund either directly or through the IMF.

The IMF exists to support countries, it does not exist to support currencies. The IMF contributing money to the eurozone bail-out fund, no; Britain contributing money to the eurozone bail-out fund, no. That is Britain’s clear position.

Well that’s very clear then.

Oh wait, it isn’t so clear now.

George Osborne is braced for a backlash from Eurosceptics in the Conservative party over plans for a multi-million pound increase in Britain’s contributions to the International Monetary Fund.

The boost in IMF funding, under discussion for more than a month, is designed to strengthen the countries which are fighting excessive debt and spiralling borrowing costs.

If this deal was in discussion for over a month – did Chancellor George Osborne lie to MPs? Someone from Labour should ask him to clarify.

Labour will vote against the bailout, rightly, because it is a substitute for direct intervention by the European Central Bank.

Only ECB intervention can stabilise this crisis once and for all. Anything else is a stop-gap measure.

Ed Balls said yesterday:

The IMF’s job is to support individual countries with solvency crises, not to solve a structural problem caused by eurozone countries being unable to agree the necessary steps to support and maintain their monetary union.

Indeed.

In the meantime, can someone please find out if Osborne lied to MPs?

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