Occupy Edinburgh

I had to pop into town this morning. While I was there I thought I'd head along to St Andrews Square and see what was going on with Occupy Edinburgh. While there aren't the same numbers as there are in the Wall Street protests there are a good number of committed people out making their point. There are a number of people camping in the square.

Every Saturday at one they are going to have events on with speakers followed by music. Hopefully the message starts getting across more as, when you look at discussions online there still doesn't seem to be a clear understanding about what it's all about. Particularly the Wall Street protests where there seems to be an attitude from some that if you don't support the current model of capitalism than you must be supporting communism.

I don't think many involved with the protests are saying capitalism is intrinsically wrong but in the current form it's certainly unsupportable. My grandad, who was an economics teacher, predicted all of this 20 years ago. He explained to me that the reason our current system was unsustainable was due to a fundamental mistake.

The current financial system, according to my grandad, is based on the economic theories of Adam Smith. My grandad was a huge fan of Smith's model but was always quick to point out that the fundamental principle underpinning Smith's theories was that for it all to work the poorest elements of society must be kept comfortable and above the poverty line. For at least the last 30 - 40 years this has patently not been the case.

What has made it even worse is a media system which has the bulk of society blaming the poorest for taking more than they contribute from the system while turning a blind eye to how much the richest skim off the top. We were fed the lie that if the super rich were allowed to keep getting richer then we'd all benefit as the wealth would trickle down. I'm sure if you ask the people in teh poorest areas of any country, or the disabled, or the elderly whether they have seen any wealth trickling down you'd get a fairly flat denial. At the same time we are told to "stop bashing the bankers" and let them get on with taking ridiculous bonuses regardless of competence while those already struggling the most in society are hit hardest by the cuts.

It's definitely time for a change.

If you can you should get along and support your nearest occupy protest, even if you don't have much time the people making a commitment to staying out and making a point are sure to need assistance with something or other be it teabags, spreading the message or just general support. The lady in todays blips was one of the people taking responsibility for organising the camping. Hopefully, like with the Wall Street protest it will grow week on week.