Subscribe to RSSHow Long Will Occupy Auckland Last?
A hundred of so Occupy Auckland protestors have set up a tent village in the grass area backing onto Auckland Town Hall at Aotea Square and talk about staying six weeks or so.
TENTS: How long will the Occupy Auckland village last?
Security seem to be keeping a distant eye on them -and protestors said the police visited during on Saturday night about an “incident” in the liquor free zone.
PEACEFUL: The Occupy Auckland protest appears laid back
Otherwise it seems peaceful although passerbys may still be confused what it’s all about,and the New Zealand relevance to the global movement when visible emphasis of the protest aims includes legislating cannabis (Is Don Brash in one of the tents?!) and Maori sovereignty - mixed up in the protest which was supposed to mirror the Occupy Wall Street protests about corporate greed.
That Occupy Wall Street movement has camped out in a Lower Manhattan park since Sept. 17 to protest US finance industry bailouts, the growing US unemployment and income inequality.
Thousands of anti-corporate protesters marched at the weekend from New York City’s Financial District to Times Square but there were more than 80 arrests including when marchers tried to enter a bank and were charged with trespass.
So how long will the Auckland protestors last camping out in a public square and how much patience will the authorities - and those who frequent the square during the day- have with them?
OCCUPY Auckland's Aotea Square tent village
Photos from Saturday’s Occupy Auckland protest march and “occupation”
30 Comments
In a country where most peoples idea of political involvement is a sniveling whinge to a foaming at the mouth right wing host on talk back radio I see this as a positive thing. You think occupation can’t make a difference? Think Bastion Point.
A difference for what? It seems they don’t even know what they’re protesting about. I’d be all for it if it actually had a clear message and a sense of direction other than simply a “down with the man” attitude. Who is going to listen when there are a whole lot of mixed up messages? What is it that you want exactly? Tell me and then maybe I’d be for it, really!
@Ian
These protesters are doing nothing. Just a pack of lazy whingers who don’t seem to have a point.
The thing is no-one (except the media) cares about these “occupiers”, and they aren’t really protesting anything specific! What exactly do they want?
And if they wanted to protest properly they’d turn down their dole and live off the land - no-one’s stopping them from doing that. But no, they’ll keep taking handouts while nipping at the hand that feeds them.
Sir Josiah Stamp - former director of The Bank of England “The bankers own the earth. Take it away from them, but leave them the power to create money and with a flick of the pen they will create enough money to buy it back again. However take away their power to make money, and all the great fortunes like mine will disappear, and they ought disappear for this would be a happier and better world to live in. But, if you wish to remain the slaves of bankers and pay the cost of your own slavery, let them continue to create money”.
I was there, but I was trying to Occupy Sesame Street
I can’t live illegally in a public park because I have a job to go to. Hopefully the dole will be cut for these bludgers, as they are not actively seeking work.
I think everyone who’s unemployed should be there and everyone who’s employed should be supporting these guys. Owen what makes the occupiers and not the banks bludgers? Why do you feel the need to make them seem useless when what they are doing is certainly far more important than whatever little thing you do?
David,exactly! When did having a job become more important than humanity itself? They are there to discuss ways to make the world a better place, to make sure that governments can’t come into control for 3 years and basically do whatever they want, including exploiting a natural disaster (CHCH Earthquake) to put laws through under urgency. If you are seriously content with the way this country and the world is run, then you can continue your meaningless life, some people think that it is more important to speak up about injustices in the world and caring about humanity than making an extra few hundred dollars to buy a really cool tv. yes, we all need things and food to survive, and yes, jobs come into that, but when money becomes more important than people, we have a serious problem.
These protesters are a joke and I would bet most of them don’t even know the reason for the protests overseas but are just jumping on the bandwagon because they are jealous that others make more money than they do.
Overseas I think there is a valid case for some of the protests as many of the financial institution’s seem to keep making the same mistakes and then needing government bailouts with taxpayer money, as appears possible in Europe once again. In NZ and Australia however, we don’t have that problem because our banks have been relatively stable because they didn’t make the same mistakes that those overseas have. In a lot of ways many New Zealanders have been able to benefit from this because of the lower interest rates meaning that they have been able to pay their mortgages off easier.
I am amazed by the amount of people whinging about the Protestors…..at least they are trying to make a different as opposed to many who sit on the fence and then grizzle about taxes on petrol, gst, water rates, then theres ACC Levies, Road User Taxes and so forth, yet wages aren’t increasing to meet this. Everyone is working to be broke, people are starving and suffering, genuine people who are working hard and long hours just to make ends meet. New Zealand has had enough of the govt forcing people to pay high taxes on everything and now with the Rena, most likely more again…..this is not just about how much money people are making at all…….its about our Nations Govt not looking after the people they do take the money off including you and I who will be treated like we are no bodies after 40 years of paying $760,000 in taxes, only to be told in your later years, we cannot help you with anything, you must survive on little or nothing and thats how it is……..in many cases there are just not enough jobs out there even for the highly educated to find…..
@Dorothy:
“Everyone is working to be broke…”
Umm, not everyone. Two cases in point:
1. These occupiers - they’re not working.
2. Me - I’m not broke.
@nat
“When did having a job become more important than humanity itself?”
It hasn’t. I don’t care if you don’t want to work. But I fail to see why I have an obligation to pay you for doing nothing.
Here’s a quick fable I just made up for you guys:
Two insects.
Lets say, to be original, an ant and a grasshopper.
The ant works everyday and gathers food.
The grasshopper sits on his arse and gets drunk all day.
Then comes winter, and the grasshopper runs out of food.
Unfortunately the ant allowed the Mana/Labour coalition to govern and 1/4 of his food gets taken and given to the grasshopper. The grasshopper then accidentally sets it alight with a cigarette he chucked on the ground. He didn’t have insurance, and cries to the government who take more of the ant’s food. The ant works harder. The grasshopper gets pissed off the ant has more food than it does, and stages a protest. The ant gets told he is not educated and that insectality is more important than his hard work and food.
Moral of the story? Just work, at least you’re not a scumbag like the grasshopper in this fable. (I actually quite like grasshoppers).
I work in a no education required field and have worked my way up from minimum wage over the last 4years. During that time I’ve saved about $30,000 (less $5000 I paid for a car accident I had). I have several friends that work minimum wage that don’t have a problem covering day to day expenses and leisure spending. I don’t believe the taxes are too high. I think that the reason people are hurting economically is because they are making poor financial decisions. Can’t afford to pay your mortgage and feed your three kids? Why did you have three kids you can’t provide for?
The worldwide protests against control of the world economy and political systems by international banks is not in my opinion being fairly reported by the mainstream international news media.
I think some of the comments made here reflect the misinformation one picks up if one’s only source of news is local TV and press.
One can get a good overview of what the Occupy Wall Street protesters are on about by looking at this interview recorded last week between a Canadian TV host and the US Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Chris Hedges;
http://rabble.ca/rabbletv/program-guide/2011/10/best-net/cbcs-kevin-oleary-gets-schooled-occupy-movement-chris-hedges
It seems clear to me that central to the demands by the OWS followers is firstly that the network of privately owned central or regulatory banks that create paper money out of thin air to lend to national governments around the world should be nationalized. I mean such banks as the US Federal Reserve and the Bank of England etc. Few people realize these banks are private banks making enormous profits out of the huge debts they create but the OWS protesters are very aware of this situation
As Hedges makes clear, the protesters are no longer willing to accept a totally corrupt political system where both main parties are owned by corporate masters that dictate policies that serve to further enrich the banking and corporate elites.
I hope readers will find the time to look at this clip. It is quite short, only some seven minutes, entertaining as well as informative.
Ok railfan, but what we are saying is that probably 80% of those people down there aren’t there for that reason. Just look at some of the signs. If I was in Auckland I’d love to take a camera around and interview the ‘occupiers’ as to the reason they’re there and see how many I get.
The rich are wealthy mainly because they take risks and that’s a two way street they can earn millions but they can go bankrupt and lose millions as well. They are rich also because they make the right decisions if you don’t take these risks unless have another source you are not likely to be rich. One risk, having you’re own buissness provides jobs if you’re successful you will make money so how do they intend to stop corporate greed by increasing taxes so high it destroys any incentive to have a buissness.Resulting in less employment.
Wow tbird you certainly have the knack for explaining complex social problems. A fable. And if that wasn’t simple enough, a moral, (just work), is provided.
Cheers Ian.
Let me know if you need anything else explained.
Tbird - I know the rest of the story you started.
The grasshoppers and all the other creatures starved to death because the greedy ant stashed away 1000 times more food than it needed each year.
Well, that’s the thing. There are only finite resources on this planet. (Despite what the peak-oil deniers suggest).
Now in real life nearly every species is adapted very well to survive in its environment. If grasshoppers behaved like they did in this story, you’re quite right - they would have died.
You’re right about another thing too, rather than look at their own behaviour they’d have blamed the poor little ant! He had to work hard for every grain he ate! He was just trying to provide for his family. Leave the guy alone.
Haha, what’s that whooshing sound, tbird? That’s the sound of Jeff’s irony going right over your head.
As to your suggestion to “live off the land”, have you seen the price of land in NZ lately? It is ridiculously expensive. In many other parts of the world, including advanced capitalist economies with rich cultures and decent healthcare such as France, land is much cheaper. I know this because I’ve recently returned from 10 years overseas and am shocked to read of dual income families being unable to afford to buy a house.
There is much to protest in NZ right now, such as the fact our rivers are in the main too polluted to even swim in, cost of living is rising whilst tax cuts were given to the wealthy, the use of urgency to pass dubious policies and disbanding of democratically-elected bodies such as eCan, the roading-centric transport focus of our current govt which recently reduced funding for PT & active transport modes from its already abysmal proportion… need I go on?
Jeff was being “ironic”?
You better look up the definition of that word Ash, because people who use words that they don’t understand just sound stupid. I guess you heard it in a song in the 90s and liked it. I’ll go easy on Alanis for being lax with grammar, but I’m not giving you the same generosity.
Tax cuts aren’t “given to the wealthy”, they now get less
tax taken from them. Yours a standard Labour phrase, and you show yourself up as a lefty shill when you say things like that. Everyone got tax cuts.
Why are you so dependent on the government? You want the government to take money off people to give to others. What makes you think the government is good at that? What makes you think they’ll be fair? Most evidence shows that the government is pretty useless and inefficient at most things.
Stand on your own two feet and stop being such a whining whinger. Rent a house for a week in London, then go take a dunk in the Seine, and then join the protests in Italy. We’ve got it good here.
Thanks tbird, but if I require any la la land explanations regarding social and economic matters I usually go to the high priests of lunacy, the Libertarianz.
Whoops tbird, it was Ian who was being ironic (in two comments to you now). Whereas Jeff used a satirical addendum to show the shortcomings of your little fairy tale.
Regarding wealth redistribution, there’s been sociological research into market socialist countries such as those in Scandinavia. They have much higher social cohesion, less mental illness, fewer teenage pregnancies or drug abuse problems, etc. You want to guess what their top tax rates are?
The research shows that it’s not how wealthy anybody in a society is, but the difference between rich and poor that is the marker for social problems.
And meanwhile, Sweden is ranked the 4th most competitive economy in the world.
Now, do you want to suggest some low tax ‘paradises’, so we can make some comparisons?
Something that’s often missed by advocates of lower taxation is that money spent collectively can bring much greater benefit, even to the rich, than they could buy themselves with the margiinal tax paid.
And a safe and stable society is a prerequisite for most “self-made” men. It’s not a given in an unequal society.
Ash, a question:
Is it “ironic” that you said “whoosh” about my response to Ian’s comment (October 18, 2011 at 6:18 pm), at the same time missing any irony in what I said? Isn’t that ironic? Don’t you think? Whoosh?
Anyway, glad you’re concerned about our country. It’s nothing that a drum circle won’t fix. Go occupiers! Save us with your condescending wisdom and Jesus beards! Show those Wall Street fatcats what’s what! You are the 99%!
Where is this going? There is a global movement that may just become strong enough to start shifting the most powerful bases of power in the world. One part of it is happening on our doorstep in Aotea Square. And what is happening here on this thread? Correspondents seemingly are sniping at each other within a ridiculously tiny area of reference, from inside the superior world of their own good selves.
It looks as if nobody who responded since I suggested looking at
http://rabble.ca/rabbletv/program-guide/2011/10/best-net/cbcs-kevin-oleary-gets-schooled-occupy-movement-chris-hedges
has done so. If one takes the time to look at this interview right through one might just learn something not known before. I wish to repeat that I believe the mainstream news media is not honestly reporting these protests. I think it behoves us to take a little time to try to find out what is really going on, not only in Aotea Square, but around the planet.
Unfortunately railfan, the protests are doing nothing but turn people off your message.
It’s no longer about big government bailouts, it’s about cannabis, it’s about John Key having money, it’s about FTP, it’s about communism, it’s about wars, it’s about oil drilling, it’s about Maori sovereignty.
NZ doesn’t have such a big problem with lobby groups as the US. There is the Labour-introduced MP3 sharing bill which is our best example of corporations over citizens, but not much else.
And the occupations aren’t attended by the 99% of us. They’re attended by dreadlocked, bearded, smelly, riched-parented uni-students, old socialist hippies and scummy dole bludgers (the 0.03%).
These occupations are counterproductive. It’s the 0.03% interfering with the lives of the 98.97% and the 1% aren’t worried at all. The protesters have zero credibility - more credibility than they deserve.
Look at Greece, these occupiers are attacking each other with petrol bombs. Fortunately NZ, despite intense media hype, has given these incoherent occupying layabouts the attention they deserve - minimal.
How do you think the system changes tbird? Can’t you take a lesson from history’s book and see that change must be struggled for by the minority for the benefit of the ignorant majority? People are “dumbed down” in this country and it is able time people wake up to the system that is not working! Why can’t people acknowledge failures in the system and try to fix them? Let’s face it, democracy in its current form is a farce! 2 parties that can be bought and sold. Its about time the people have a real say in what they want, rather than ticking a box every three years that brings nothing more than more of the same trash- year in, year out.
History…. Let’s see…
1789 Paris: a bunch of hippies camped out in tents built by corporations and whinged about cannabis.
1956 Santiago, Cuba: a bunch of hippies camped out in tents built by corporations and whinged about cannabis and used their iPads.
1989 Tiananmen Square, Beijing: a bunch of hippies camped out in tents built by corporations and whinged about cannabis used their iPads and wore designer sunglasses made by multinational corporations.
Lesson learnt.
Oh, and a far-lefty calling others ignorant. How original! I guess we need a re-education.
Two parties that can be bought and sold? No they can’t. You can’t just make up lies! Labour’s pretty heavily swayed by the unions, and sure they get money from the unions, but I doubt even Darien Fenton in withdrawal would accept money in exchange for political influence. There are multiple parties to vote for, the majority doesn’t vote for nutters like Mana because we dont want to (not because we’re “ignorant”).
I can chose who I vote for. I don’t want a bunch of self-righteous losers sitting in the sun playing guitar on their exam break acting as if they speak for me. We are not ignorant, you are arrogant to say that. You have no ideas or ideals. You are intellectually bereft and morally bankrupt and the majority of the country sees right through you. You speak for no-one except other stoned sycophantic losers.
TBird,
I have joined the Occupation. I am taking annual leave from my job to take part. I am not a ‘hippy’ and really I don’t like camping when I can be in my warm dry home. However, I believe in the message that the Occupation stands for; that is, a real democratic society is where everyone has a voice and power is not limited to a small percentage of people with wealth.
What timing for a research study introduced by the New Scientist 19th October 2011. I’ve linked to the New Scientist below. To link to the actual report click the link “an Analysis” within the New Scientist summary.
Section 8.3
“This is the first time a ranking of economic actors by global control is presented. Notice that
many actors belong to the financial sector (NACE codes starting with 65,66,67) and many of
the names are well-known global players. The interest of this ranking is not that it exposes
unsuspected powerful players. Instead, it shows that many of the top actors belong to the core.
This means that they do not carry out their business in isolation but, on the contrary, they
are tied together in an extremely entangled web of control. This finding is extremely important
since there was no prior economic theory or empirical evidence regarding whether and how top
players are connected. Finally, it should be noted that governments and natural persons are only
featured further down in the list”.
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21228354.500-revealed-the-capitalist-network-that-runs-the-world.html