Occupy, the movement that has grown up around the world.
A space with a purpose to protest austerity, inequality, injustice, greed, corruption, destruction of the environment, profiteering over people, violence, wars, plundering poor regions of resources, globalisation, corporate monoliths.
Occupation in terms of jobs can be rewarding in pay, but also in interests, in achievements, in contributing to a better society. It can also be negative in exploiting others, companies exploiting others in society.
Bosses treating staff like servants, bullies getting to the top, corporate psychopaths!
For unemployed, the aim is to get a job for monetary and personal rewards to enable disposable income to afford things they enjoy in spare time when not at work and if fortunate to have job that they enjoy also from the job. Problems arise when income is so low not to enable affordability to do other things, when it all goes on bills, leaving nothing and even worse when even after working, ends cannot be met. When that happens it is more like being unemployed without sufficient means to live, but working and still not having sufficient means to live, to properly be part of an exciting world.
A job becomes merely occupation of the mind, body and soul, lives of meaningless activity, drudgery, slavery.
Unemployment can be used productively personally for the individual as well as it being a job itself trying to gain employment in a world of immense competition, uneven opportunities, geographical and material limitations. It is not a level playing field, where connections and location can be even more important.
Unemployment can also free the mind that can be constrained in full time work doing menial repetitive tasks and the all too familiar out of work activities of watching TV or going to the pub, clubbing or hours of engagement in watching sport. Altogether leaving little time to think about anything else apart from carrying out menial tasks at work, drinking alcohol watching football and hours and hours of unreality reality TV.
“Attention spans”
Unemployment can mean a time to think, to experience existentialism, and relive “childhood dreams”
Rewind the Film, Manic Street Preachers:
To look at the world from a new position, not as cog in a meaningless wheel. Like when at university, between times of intense study when students learn and think, they have time to ponder to think about wider issues, existentialism, philosophy, art, literature, music, be creative and develop creativity and creative thought.
Menial work stifles creativity.
Governments can become afraid of people who think as they are not so easily led, coerced persuaded by propaganda. This is one reason extreme governments throughout history have cracked down on intellectuals and academics.
It could be argued that the fear of unemployed engaging in activities that may seek to protest at the inequalities of opportunities, lack of meaningful work with living wages, what through experience they know is injustice and an often unfair balance towards those lucky enough or having connections enabling them to get the better jobs, leaving others on the scrapheap. This could be part of the reasoning behind occupation in workfare unpaid or pushing into part time zero hour contracts that do not pay a living wage and are insufficient to live on type jobs.
Creativity:
John Cleese on needing time and space for creativity:
John Cleese on the 5 Factors to Make Your Life More Creative
https://twitter.com/BeyondMeds/status/481396389314699266
“And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music.” — Friedrich Nietzsche
Creativity, Essence, Eureka and mental cognitive psycho-neurobiological struggles with social interactions in mental health states, poverty, freedom of opportunity to think, feel, understand and express.
Secrets of the Creative Brain by neuroscientist Nancy Andreasen
“When eureka moments occur, they tend to be precipitated by long periods of preparation and incubation, and to strike when the mind is relaxed.”
Artist Taxi Driver on creativity:
“We don’t want you to dream, we don’t want you to be free.. to be musicians, artists..but to guard self-service checkouts..everyone wants to be someone..why don’t you ask them what their dreams are…make a 100,000 guitars..were going to promote creativity..set-up occupy centres..real books, philosophy society the arts…political awareness, debate support people to think for themselves…finding their dreams…a better society…A future where dreams are possible to realise…without hope, without dreams..about low pay no pay zero hour contracts..about corporations,,this is their society…give out 100,000 guitars, build libraries, centres, filled to overflowing.. they would never do that because they would learn..would take politics by the scruff of the neck..children of the future would own their own lives…The government is about the Disneyfication of creativity, kings princes heroes, war, protectionism.. like robots, unthinking, uncaring, controlled.”
It is seen by authorities, governments that occupation as necessary to control the masses.
No matter how low paid it may be, even for free, anything but let people use the time available to think, to debate, to present alternatives, be creative, produce art, music, contribute with organised vocalised alternatives, reiterate to think or actively protest.
Further control the masses by media propaganda, workers versus workers, poor versus poor:
“blame the poor, praise the rich”
This is occupation of time, of minds, to restrict, constrain, physically in protests and mentally, to be occupied:
“keep em boxed in, keep em kettled in
Create a mistruth so bewildering”:
30 Year War, by Manic Street Preachers
30-year War Lyrics (Official Manic Street preachers website)
Manic Street Preachers – Futurology website
More on occupation, work, time, labour
Utopian dream turned into a dystopian nightmare by false self-centred greed is good mantra of those in control around the world.
Occupations, working hours, weeks. Instead of technology and higher productivity meaning everyone can work fewer hours for sufficient income, the fear of the establishment, those with the most of freedom has reversed employment improvements since the terrible days for the poor and working classes, the enlightenment of expansion of education and opportunity to the ‘Gordon Gekko’ ‘Wall Street’ “greed is good” ideology of the right and far Right, post-Capitalism and post-Communism, age of the Corporation, record nouveau-riche and return of the old and new aristocracies and oligarchs, landed gentry and peasant workers. Simultaneous Age of Austerity, rather as foretold in Orwell’s future dystopia of Nineteen Eighty Four and Animal Farm.
Past decades and centuries of oppression of the poor, using technological change combined with reducing worker freedoms into widening the wealth divide, with lager numbers working harder for less. Masses not even able to get paid work suffering in poverty, even abject poverty, copying in unfairness in the developed world that has perpetuate din the Under-developed World. Generations of exploitation have resulted in such a system in the Third World, with terrible poverty consequences, disease, damage to life, malnutrition, starvation and masses losing life. All whilst the rich prosper materially and the people in effect put up with, do as they’re told metaphorically. Worn down, too poor and weak, starving, isolated by unaffordable transport, to stand up against a corrupt system. Even worse rather too close to comfort like science fiction dystopia mind -controlled, brainwashed by devious political corporate interest and media, controlled, divided with hate and prejudice, even with poor fighting other poor, whilst the rich carry on getting even richer.
Article by Thomas Frank in publication Salon:
In UK the reaction to austerity mantra and propaganda, rise of activist protest movements such as UK Uncut, People’s assembly and DPAC:
Radio interview with Chomsky over UK social media activist Mark McGowan, Artist Taxi Driver:
In the interview which took place at MIT in 2013, Professor Chomsky had only listened to a single Artist Taxi Driver social media video broadcast that was played during the audio interview. Based on the one broadcast, he made some interesting observations and gave credit to this type of activism.
By watching more Artist Taxi Driver videos, it soon appears he too has a very wide grasp of things that are going on, expressed in a different colloquial language to Prof Chomsky, but as Chomsky iterates is just as valid. It is also a way to get across to a wider cross-section of society to academia, but it is academics and activists who expresses such thoughts and ideas, that the mainstream media often ignore or repress.
It would have also been interesting to get Prof Chomsky’s reaction to many of the excellent video interviews Artist Taxi Driver has done with a wide range of activists in UK, or to his movie editions of compilations strategically put together in movie length production.
It is quite a humorous observation, but not critical as it is part of a communication vernacular, of Prof Chomsky regarding Artist Taxi Driver, saying it his way, the use of words and dialectics
Chomsky goes into more detail on the Occupy movement and about a post capitalist society that the world is now in.
Tony Benn speaking at Occupy camp in London in 2011 before it was removed in 2012:
Our Streets to One world, Our world, worldwide protests:
Some interesting references and links provided in following article on youth protests in Europe:
Protesting Youth in an age of neoliberal savagery
Disabled people Against the Cuts (DPAC) and UK Uncut Protest (2012):
Francesca Martinez speech at Austerity rally in London to highlight UK disabled and poor suffering in Austerity Britain (June 2014):
Russell Brand speaks at the same Austerity protest rally in London (June 2014):
Green activist Caroline Lucas at the London protest rally, speaks about the poor being made to pay the price for the failure of the rich and calls to stop the attack on the poor through Austerity (June 2014):
Russell Brand says of the mainstream media lack of coverage “if people knew what was happening they wouldn’t tolerate it… Ignorance is a necessity ingredient for oppression”
Interviewer: Do you still want a revolution?
Russell Brand answer: ” Yes”
Book review
Book review
Noam Chomsky – Occupy
Review: Occupy by Noam Chomsky
Noam Chomsky: ‘The Occupy movement just lit a spark’ – video
Further References:
Clive Boddy (2011) Corporate Psychopaths: Organisational Destroyers .Palgrave Macmillan.
Nancy Andreasen (2005) The Creating Brain: The Neuroscience of Genius – Daba Press.
Uttrycka Talang 