The OccupyLSX protesters have lost sight of their original objectives, says law graduate blogger the Training Contract Hawk, AKA Krish Nair
Let me tell you about an old schoolmate, Mitch (not his real name). Mitch was that guy in class with the shabby hair and intentionally oversized uniform who ‘played’ acoustic guitar. I bumped into Mitch a month ago -- the first time I’d seen him in a number of years. That he ended up a (self-proclaimed) hippy is less a testament to my clairvoyance than to predictability. Today, Mitch trots the globe in search of things to rebel against and people to scorn. He told me why he was doing it: “things need to change”, he said. I didn’t listen too closely to his response -- possibly awed by details of his capricious lifestyle and his loud bandana -- but I agreed with him.
I came across Mitch again last week at OccupyLSX outside St Paul’s Cathedral. It was a warm evening but dark, verging on depressing. But Mitch and Co. were at hand to brighten things up. Mitch -- 6’2” with unearthly shocks of brown hair, beard to match -- doesn’t smile but his demeanour is otherwise one of acceptance and generosity. He offers me a homemade pierogi. I decline. I ask him why he is here. “People are losing their jobs and the banks are raking it in”. That’s all he says.
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