PowerSwitch

Anyone going? (Please PM if shy!)

Yup I'm going - not sure which horseman I'll be following. I'll have to brush up on my protest chants - not sure if "Maggie, Maggie, Maggie, out out, out," will still cut the mustard

Mr Vortex, have you gone all Ayn Rand on us?

It seems absurd to me that I've never actualy read atlas shrugged

DominicJ wrote:It seems absurd to me that I've never actualy read atlas shrugged

It's something that keeps me awake at nights too.

Tess wrote:Mr Vortex, have you gone all Ayn Rand on us?

She hated The Looters, as do I.

Yup I'm going - not sure which horseman I'll be following.

I might avoid the 4 routes as they will be well policed. I may try to sneak up to The Bank via side streets.

waermund wrote:Yup I'm going - not sure which horseman I'll be following. I'll have to brush up on my protest chants - not sure if "Maggie, Maggie, Maggie, out out, out," will still cut the mustard

Ah those were the days !

Well, I spent yesterday in the midst of it all.

I was so early that I was interviewed and filmed by almost ALL the main media channels .. they had nobody else to talk to!

(I was protesting about the financial situation not climate)

The smashing up of the RBS site however seems to have displaced anything I said!

It was quite - err - interesting seeing the black hooded anarchist teams at work.

I avoided the trouble spots mostly - but at the end of the day the police lines went down and the swirl of 1000s of people: peaceful protestors, thugs and scared isolated police was scary.

A lot of us just stood there with our hands up to show that we didn't want a kicking!

An interesting day out .. but perfectly pointless of course ... TPTB won't take any notice.

A crap picture of me clutching my banner is here ...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7977863.stm

Vortex wrote:Well, I spent yesterday in the midst of it all.

I was so early that I was interviewed and filmed by almost ALL the main media channels .. they had nobody else to talk to!

(I was protesting about the financial situation not climate)

The smashing up of the RBS site however seems to have displaced anything I said!

It was quite - err - interesting seeing the black hooded anarchist teams at work.

I avoided the trouble spots mostly - but at the end of the day the police lines went down and the swirl of 1000s of people: peaceful protestors, thugs and scared isolated police was scary.

A lot of us just stood there with our hands up to show that we didn't want a kicking!

An interesting day out .. but perfectly pointless of course ... TPTB won't take any notice.

I guess if you've been drinking zider all day previous then you're not going to get there as early as you Vortex. Did you take your bongos and tent?

Good on you for going. Wish I could but am too busy.

I sekritly admire the black block. Shhh, don't tell anyone.

Nice quote by the way, alongside your pic.

emordnilap wrote:

DominicJ wrote:It seems absurd to me that I've never actualy read atlas shrugged

It's something that keeps me awake at nights too.

This might be more to your taste Jennifer Government

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jennifer_Government

Setting
The story takes place several years (what year exactly is never mentioned) after the United States has taken over the entire Western Hemisphere (except for Cuba), South Africa, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Iceland, India, Japan, Oceania, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Myanmar, and (most recently) Australia. Russia is said to be affiliated with the US, but not fully absorbed; whether or not Russia actually belongs to the US is not explained. With so much land under the US's control, international trade is no longer necessary, and thus the US cuts itself off from countries that it has not yet taken over. Amongst these other countries is the European Union, which is thought of by Americans to be "socialist." The language of all US lands is now "American", the language formerly known as English (only American English is spoken now; British English and the British accent no longer exist).



Either before or after this takeover, taxation is abolished, which eventually leads to the U.S. adopting what is referred to as "capitalizm" (similar to anarcho-capitalism with a few differences). In this new state, the Government is privatized, having to do work only within its budget. This makes the Government unable to write new laws or even hold elections, leaving it with its only job being the prevention of crime. Crimes can also be solved, but the Governments' budget only covers retaliatory investigations if the Government can be paid by the victim or the victim's family.

Outside of the Government there are two other military organizations of power: the Police and the NRA. The Police has since become privatized, having been reduced to a combination of law enforcement and mercenary agency, and is only involved when contracted by interested parties. Meanwhile, the NRA has become a complete mercenary-for-hire organization able to deploy a fully equipped military force.

Most large corporations are now allied into one of two massive customer loyalty programs, US Alliance and Team Advantage, fiercely in competition with each other. US Alliance members include Nike, IBM, Pepsi, McDonald's, and the NRA. Team Advantage members include the Police, ExxonMobil, Burger King, and Apple Computer.

People take the surnames of the corporations they work for, and a person with two jobs hyphenates their name (e.g. Julia Nike-McDonalds). Charity workers can also use their charity's name in a hyphenated surname. Schools are now sponsored and controlled by corporations, such as McDonald's and Mattel. Though little is said of the education given at them, it is hinted that much of it is corporate propaganda. Children who attend school are given the corporate sponsor's name as a surname, but are parenthesized with their parents' employers in school directories, such as "Kate Mattel (Government)."

Other notable aspects of US society include pre-payment before ambulances can be dispatched, the abolishment of welfare, total deregulation of weapons, legalized drugs sold in supermarkets, and privately owned roads with charged access.

I like the quote on the BBC site by today's protest report.

"The high cost [of the security operation] is the price of democracy"

Stuart Fraser
The City of London Corporation

So, the more valued democracy is, the higher the cost of the security required? Hmm. Bit arse about tit that isn't it?