Occupational Therapy

By The Black Balaclava.

For the first time in years I heard myself screaming in laughter and praise as I watched Ian Hislop, on last nights ‘Have I got News For You’, turn Right Wing Neo-Nazi Tory Fascist Boot Girl,  Louise Mensch into a complete and utter figure of public ridicule over her uneducated, ill-informed and pathetic attack on the ‘Occupy London Protestors’, who are currently encamped along the external west wing of St. Pauls Cathedral in London.

 

Unlike Ms Mensch, who see’s the peaceful protestors in the same way as Adolf Hitler saw the Jews of Europe, I have taken the trouble to travel to London and spend the night on the steps of St. Pauls chatting and interviewing protestors face to face. I spent a great deal of time getting to know them and trying and understand what they are campaigning for, and unlike many protests I have visited over the years, this  was the first that touched a raw nerve with me. Whilst the group seemed to have many different points that they wished to get over, there was clearly a common theme that was interlocking the wide ranging social group.

Louise Mensch - Hässliche  faschistischen

It was a very strange feeling being sat in the heart of London at 4am in the morning listening to polite, well mannered and educated people discussing rationally the problems of the world and the ways things could be changed. It was very clear to me that no one had the false expectation that things would change overnight, but what these people were trying to do peacefully, was to engage the minds of ordinary people from all walks of life and social backgrounds, to think differently and work together to effect change for tomorrows children.

A radical idea most would think, well no not really.!! Engaging people in debate and trying to change people’s mind set over a period of time has resulted in some of the most fundamental changes in our social history. Votes for Women, equal pay for all and the removal of cruise missiles from Greenham Common, are just a few that come to mind in this country alone. These were long protracted campaigns and protests that started with a small group of people coming together to share a common believe and a vision of a better future for our children.

  

I do not wish to impart on you my feelings and comments on the complex issues of what Occupy London is about, but I would ask you to do your own research and visit the protest website at http://occupylondon.org.uk then make your own minds up, but I will tell you what I took away with me as I left the peace camp in the early hours of Monday morning, and that was this very simple and chilling thought, that our children are not assets of the state and are not to be used as an insurance policy for banks, corporations and government to secure and levy future debts on.

For our childrens future things have to change.

All images  -  ©Matthew Myatt (2011)