> My ex and my daughter went to visit Occupy Oakland today. My ex who has been a rabid commie trot all his adult life came back very impressed with the organization of the people there. Now, given, that there isn't a single political movement that hasn't earned his contempt in the last twenty years, this is praise indeed.
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> Something is definitely growing out there.
I dropped in on Occupy Sydney yesterday, not knowing what to expect at all. There were a couple of 'official' websites, one full of quite insane sci-fi conspiracy stuff (occupysydney.org) and one more indymedia style (occupysydney.org.au). I thought there could be anywhere between a hundred and a thousand.
There were I think well over a thousand in Martin Place. A really good vibe, everyone quite excited that something new was going on. I ran into old friend after old friend, everyone having come down to check it out and being pleasantly surprised. Lots of veteran activists, all the Trot groups, lots of new people of all ages. A few unions were represented with banners, including the Finance Sector Union. Quite a few Guy Fawkes masks. Anarchists seemed underrepresented.
I spent the whole time talking to people so I didn't listen properly to the speeches, and I couldn't stay long because I had my baby daughter. There was amplified sound so no people's mic. There was token reference to 'consensus' but with that many people there it really was token. From what I did hear of the speeches, there was a lot to like. An effort to put an Australian spin on things - we haven't had a recession here so the issues are inevitably different - housing costs, refugee detention, the fact that despite 'good times' in a macroeconomic sense inequality is fairly extreme and people do have a lot to complain about. I noticed a bit of grumbling on Twitter that the microphone was hogged by organised Trotskyists. It was definitely the case that many of the speakers came from Solidarity, Socialist Alternative or one of the Green Left factions (I have lost track of them). But that's to be expected here I think.
Police presence was subdued. After dark, though, police raided. It seems the lesson they have taken from NYC is to nip it in the bud. They confiscated tents and put everything in a rubbish truck. But it's warm Sydney spring weather and about a hundred people stayed through the night. Things were expected to build up again today, with a long pre-planned rally against coal-seam gas mining in the same part of town. I think it's likely police will crack down by Monday morning.
Mike