An observant friend sent me this innovative sign of our troubled times, photographed on the streets of Norwich. The media, government and police have virtually ensured that there will be trouble on the streets of London next week with threats of dire insurrection, but subtle irony, like that which is displayed here by the anonymous authors of this sign, is more constructive and ultimately more satisfying than running around in balaclavas giving Plod an excuse for mass overtime and Brown a reason to curtail yet more civil liberties. And another thing . . . what kind of regime deems it a crime to protest about civil liberties and injustice, especially when foreign ‘dignitaries’ are visiting, and to violently suppress such protests? Could it be the same regime that ignored the peaceful protest of 2 million citizens against an illegal war? Yes it could! Welcome to Guantanamo Britain, Mr Obama.
John J Kelly
3 Comments
Twitter is all a flutter with accounts of the protest, though by all accounts the manifesto and ideas put forward seem a little bit weak.
Don’t get me wrong, I am a natural supporter of this kind of protest, but it would be really nice if we could go over the demands and sharpen them up with a debate on these hallowed pages.
I still can’t get my head around Twitter, and can’t be bothered, to be honest, but I think we should get the G20 summit into perspective. It’s a ghastly photo opportunity for a self-appointed group of people to justify the continued existence of a self-serving system which has clearly failed. Lulu da Silva is right to say that the crisis was created by ‘white men with blue eyes.’ The lovely Ms Kirchner is right to be cautious of same men. Argentina has experienced years of hyper-inflation with all its attendant consequences in the form of civil unrest, poverty, corruption and economic enslavement. Mrs Merkel is right to say that she will not be bullied into over-committing Germany for the sake of profligate non-manufacturing economies such as the UK. Sarkozy is loving the discomfiture of pudding-faced Gordon Brown. The Chinese will do their own thing and don’t need the US and especially busted flushes like Britain to tell them what to do.
They will all stand on the podium and smile like extras from Shaun of the Dead and pretend to agree on non-binding measures. A few hotheads will wear masks and break some windows, but the real question is whether the financial system has become more important than the global means of production itself. Those who profit from the former – Soros, for example – would have us believe so. If they are right – and it is eminently possible that that are – then the world. but especially its poor, should be very fearful indeed for the future. All this is too much for a Twitter.
Oh I agree, that’s why we like debating forums like this…
I am interested in exploring the counter proposals mainly, but I like your Shaun of the Dead reference, it does say rather a lot.
The problem with the Global financial system is that a large part of it just effectively died. Surely that will have some effect on the future, although perhaps this whole attempt at re-animation may twist things somewhat.
I actually really approve of these protests. It really is time for a rethink, since all the mainstream political debates seems as bankrupt as the banks right now.
But I do think the alternatives need to work hard on upping their game in terms of thinking of ways forward