More on occupying Wellington

People who read the blog will remember how vehemently opposed to the occupation of the Reserve Bank I was.  And I stick to that – every word, even the misspelt ones.

But I’m glad to see that this isn’t how the movement has evolved.  From what I can tell the focus is very much on the fact that things don’t feel right – there is injustice, and they are finding a peaceful way of expressing their distaste for it.  To me, this form of protest makes sense.  We have had a massive financial crisis, a lot of things that have happened aren’t fair – and people are suffering through no fault of their own.  Expressing that this isn’t right makes complete sense to me.

I am sure that when it comes to policy conclusions I would disagree with many of the protesters – but many of them would disagree among each other as well.  Policy conclusions are not the point of the protests.

Personally, I am not going to join the protests  – I would prefer to spend the time trying to understand what is going on with the crisis, so I can try to figure out what I believe is appropriate action.  This is part of my job, a job I love to do, and it allows me to express my feelings regarding the world.  But the idea of protesting just to show that you do not feel comfortable with what is going on in the world, and feel disenfranchised, makes sense and is part of democracy – and in this context I agree with the protesters.