In response to Tim's qusetion, "who was the city being reclaimed
for", perhaps it was more a case of "who was it being reclaimed
Against". This protest sounds a bit like the City of L,ondon one a
few months ago - I expct there was a strong anti - capitalism, or
rather a strong anti big - business element to it. The desired point
is certainly got across by the demonstrators, but unfortunately a lot
of ordinary people are alienated as well. An evening of very loud
music, heard several blocks away, even in a city centre there are
people living - perhaps early Sun morning bus or train drivers, shift
workers, small shopkeepers and newsagents, churchgoers - all of whom
would rather sleep when it gets after 11pm on a \Sat night. Even more
unfortunately the target - big business - probably actually benefits
from such events. There is now more demand for policing, more
repression of anti capitalists, ultimately a political demand for a
"crackdown on those unemployed who wont work" - leading to more being
made to take low wage jobs....oh yes, big business is laughing all
the way to the bank! There are other ways of avoiding boosting the
profits of the MegaCorps
of the World Inc. - less spectacular but more effective.
Hillary Shaw, P/G Geography, University of Leeds
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