Occupy Auckland is an offshoot of Occupy Wall Street that is camped in Aotea Square and one evening I spent three hours there observing and photographing. This left me with many thoughts regarding the group and today I’d like to share a couple of ironies.
Irony #1: it is a group dominated by the far left, yet that group is using the products of capitalism to spread their message. E.g., I saw one person using a MacBook with webcam to broadcast their activities via Livestream. Perhaps they have forgotten that everything they love they owe to capitalism, and that only the profit motives drives individuals to provide such products to other individuals at affordable prices. In the Soviet empire high tech items were for the exclusive use of the ruling class, and in North Korea today the proles do not have access to the internet: both situations are a direct outcome of the ideology dominant in Occupy Auckland, yet I expect that the majority of the group would be appalled if they did not have access to the internet and the latest gadgets.
Irony #2: in the midst of an encampment seething with anticapitalists one of them approached me and asked if I’d like to buy two items that he had for sale 
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November 27, 2011 at 5:35 am
Why did you bother going to the Occupation? You could have written this just from reading all of the other hack press.
Use your own intelligence, don’t just repeat what others say; I suppose you would have criticised the American Indians for using steel knives and rifles in the fight against the white man for their tribal lands. Silly.
Where else but the Press could you have gotten the idea that this is an anti-capitalist movement? Some participants may be, but you dont mention the Declaration of Occupy Auckland, which is plastered everywhere so you can’t miss it. That document does not mention capitalism once.
Read and research before commenting. If you want to make an original statement, why dont you critique their Declaration point for point? You might find that a far more difficult challenge than you imagine.
November 27, 2011 at 2:23 pm
Linda, I do not allow ad hominem comments on this blog and yours definitely has elements of that. I welcome debate of the issues, so in future please stick to those.
You could have written this just from reading all of the other hack press. Please re-read the post, which could not have been written without visiting Occupy Auckland.
I came to believe that Occupy Auckland is anti-capitalist after I read the Declaration, which strongly reminded me of the Communist Manifesto.
That document does not mention capitalism once. That is an argument from silence and an argument that is specious in the extreme. One can express anti-capitalist beliefs without using the word “capitalism”.
November 30, 2011 at 2:47 pm
Thank you, but I repeat, why don’t you critique their Declaration point for point?
November 30, 2011 at 3:14 pm
Why do you expect me to justify my inaction?
November 30, 2011 at 3:17 pm
Consider it a challenge. I don’t believe you can do it.
November 30, 2011 at 3:29 pm
You are free to believe whatever you choose to believe.
November 30, 2011 at 3:37 pm
You’ve obviousky just read it, considered it, and now realize to your deep dismay that to argue for child poverty, frightening pensioners and otherwise exploiting people as you must do to remain consistent with your beliefs gives you too many troubling thoughts.
Well if its any consolation, it means you are a good person.
But it still leaves you with the problem of what to do about those troubling thoughts…
Good luck with that.