Thread by @StefSimanowitz

“The most important thing is that we’re allowed to think about alternatives” (Žižek)

Ten years ago I joined @OccupyWallSt

Occupy’s incredible positive energy was underpinned by a cohesive sense of anger at corporate greed, govt mismanagement & inequality newint.org/features/web-e…

“This is the most hopeful I’ve felt for a long time.”

For those involved those early stages of Occupy Wall St in Zuccotti Park - nicknamed Liberty Plaza - the mood was intoxicating & contagious

But as Žižek warned: “Remember carnivals come cheap. What matters is the day after”.

Over the next month, @OccupyWallSt spread across the US attracting celebrity & political support including from @JoeBiden, @SpeakerPelosi, & @algore

Occupy also crossed the Atlantic popping up outside St Paul’s Cathedral, just after I got home to London.
ceasefiremagazine.co.uk/wall-street-st…

As in New York, @OccupyLondon had set up in central site, providing a practical & symbolic focal point

Slogans & messaging - “We are the 99%” & “Bankers got bailed out, we got sold out” – mirrored those of @OccupyWallSt & public figures also showed up (including Julian Assange).

As in New York where a new edition of the “Occupied Wall Street Journal” was printed every few days, @OccupyLondon also had a newspaper, “The Occupied Times”

I wrote a piece on lessons from Tahrir Square, one of the inspirations for the Occupy Movement. theoccupiedtimes.org/?p=1539

Ten years on, the energy & optimism of Occupy & the Arab Spring seem distant, but their energy still fizzes

The idea that alternatives are possible

The feeling that change can come

Jefferson wrote: “A little rebellion is a good thing”

But maybe "a little" isn't quite enough👇

https://twitter.com/stefsimanowitz/status/1339378419616919552