Nostalgia

I’m going to try not to sound patronising now, but it’s not going to be easy for me.

I went to the Climate Camp set up on Bishopsgate after work on Wednesday as part of the G20 protests. I really wanted to go to feel part of the event but they weren’t about to let me into the G20 summit meetings which I would have preferred to attend, so the protests seemed like a good second choice.

It was amazing to see a mini festival site set up in the shadow of the Nat West tower in the heart of the city. The range of protests was staggering, mostly green, and anti-capitalist. “Nature doesn’t do bailouts”, “Bankers are Wankers”… but I even saw a guy with a Free Palastine poster.

I was thinking a few nice banners on the Bank Of England saying “Closing Down Sale”, “30% off all UK currency”, “Bullion reserves reduced to clear” would have been quite an effective protest slogan. Revolution through sarcasm, that’s my philosophy.

So what was the protest about? All the world leaders came together in one place to try to figure out the mess that’s been made of the economy and environment. I was just happy to celebrate that they are talking.

But aside from that it was a trip down memory lane to the days when I was an angry teenager, listening to the Levellers with my hair wraps and the smell of patchouli oil emanating from my slogan covered t-shirts.

So I’ve hit my 30’s and become a tedious reactionary, but I can still dance it up at a cycle powered sound systems and get one over on moronic riot police. They boxed everyone in for 4 hours, but I managed to blag my way out with an old press pass despite being quite drunk.

Meanwhile back at Excel, it looks like the old world order over, as China and the other BRICs have effectively bought the rest of the world up at a knockdown price. Let’s hope they don’t copy the model of industrialisation and foreign intervention that the US and Europe used over the next 50 years or we’re really screwed.