7/18/2010

Democracy Village. By Uncle Monty.




Democracy Village. By Uncle Monty.
Village Photos By Alex Albion.
:::
After spending yesterday afternoon having
close chats with the Archbishops of Canterbury,
Westminster, Wales, Southwark, and Cardiff,
along with numerous other Anglican, Catholic,
and Orthodox bishops, at the extraordinary
invitation I had accepted to attend the 400th
Welsh Anniversary of “Gwasanaeth Eciwmenaidd
- yn dathlu bywyd - Cymru’s Sant John Roberts,”
I then stopped by in the early evening, and before
dinner with friends, at London’s Parliament Square
to visit first-hand the controversial “Democracy
Village” that has sprung up there right under
the big shadow of England’s Big Ben.
:::
Front Entrance To London's "Democracy Village."
:::
On entering the village encampment, my immediate
impression was a disconcerting one with a motley cast
of young and alienated misfits, weirdos, freaks, odd-
balls, nut cases, and fringe folks, who seemed to have
latched on to become the so-called “residents” or
“villagers” of what they have dubbed as their own
“Democracy Village.” There, I spent a couple of hours
observing “village life” right under my own nose and
right opposite the British Houses of Commons and
Lords. What I had now done was to literally go from
talking to vibrant archbishops to vibrant anarcharists
within less than half an hour. I also met some vibrant
loonies, too. And, I had now stepped from High
Church to Low Comedy.
:::
Two Cloonies In One!
:::
Many of the residents I met at Democracy
Village did'nt seem to have a brain in their
strange heads from what I could see. Some
childishly declared themselves fit and ready
to create anarchy and havoc just for the heck
of it. To me, many seemed to be "broken" or
"lost" young people living in a world all of
their own and almost detached from the
raw reality of real life.
:::
Some of "The Residents" of Democracy Village.
:::
With roughly 60 small tents - a loose kind of
"Tent City" of sorts, if you will – and with about
250 irregular “villagers,” there was a feeling of
debilitating insanity in the air as some of the
Democracy Village residents acted out with
their rambling public speeches, disjointed
dancing, rude gesticulations, foul language,
cockeyed-singing and peculiar mannerisms.
Some seemed little more than latter-day
peaceniks, flower children, dupeheads, and
social retards . They hollered and screamed
about their desire to one day rid the world
of injustice, prejudice and hate. Yet, they
wouldn't know how to take care of a dead
ferret let alone start to change the world for
the better. Sadly, too, what I also saw at De-
mocracy Village were mainly marginalized and
stateless people, if not for some simply homeless
per se. Worse still, I wouldn't want some of them
to be my next door neighbour, since they resemb-
led those kind of would-be neighbours from hell!!
:::
Brian Haw - The Veteran London Peace
Protestor At Parliament Square.
:::
You haven't really been to Parliament Square,
if you haven't seen or visited Brian Haw. I first
met him in 2005 and have since followed closely
his anti-war protests against Iraq and Afghanistan,
etc. When I stopped by to chat with him again,
Brian Haw was none too happy about the rise of
“Democracy Village” right under his own toes.
He has been pretty much sidelined since the
"villagers" took over his nearby protest spot with
their own public protests. He told me he wanted
them out of there saying they had brought no
good to Parliament Square or to him! Their
presence is a clear irritant to Brian Haw. Since
the High Court has last week ruled that the
“Democracy Village” people must decamp by
peaceful and lawful means from Parliament
Square, Brain himself will be left legally in-
tact to stay there to continue his own
long-held lawful protests against the
horror of war. Bravo, Brian Haw!
:::
An Assortment of People at Democracy Village.
:::
From what I saw of the assortment of "broken"
folkz at Democracy Village, I fear there is going to
be an awful confrontation between them and the
Met Police once the latest court order is enforced.
Some will leave peacefully, of course, but still
others won't budge no matter if the riot copz are
called to clear them out from the public square,
that it is or was until the villagers rudely and
aggressively took over the place. It's become
a kind of free London tourist stop is the village
now with foreign visitors snapping photos of the
encampment to take home with them. But, I
noticed that some parents with young kidz
were rather apprehensive of letting them
enter "The Village" and soon grabbed
their kidz to go elsewhere with them.
:::
In The Big Shadow of Big Ben.
:::
Day 22 on Hunger Strike at Democracy Village.
:::
On Strike For Peace!
:::
Tents, Tents, Everywhere!!
:::
One reason why I went to Democracy Village
was to make up my own mind about what was
really going on there before I decided I would
either support or oppose the villagers at Parliament
Square. It didn’t take me long to decide the place
was a bloody mess - even as I saw a couple of the
villagers trying to clean-up the place or village
of piles of refuse and garbage all over the place -
and polluted with seriously messed-up people
who are going nowhere other than breathing
the air to live a life of crazy existence for the
most part. What they have done at Parliament
Square is to commandeer what is not their's.
They're more or less illegal squatters to put
it mildly. Public protests I clearly support - I
should know all about that in my own current
stages of protest against The Big Issue's Peter
and John Bird - but the loonies of "Democracy
Village" are what we say in America: "Trailer
Park Trash" at best or at worst useless
human derelicts to put it frankly ...
.
Democracy Villagers Now Stuck With Paying £88,000
For Eviction Legal Costs By British High Court.
~~~
The sooner Democracy Village is removed just on
the basis of being an eyesore and heath hazard,
the better. And even better still, Parliament
Square should be given back to the real people to
enjoy again at their own leasure and pleasure and
among the national statues of Churchill, Smuts,
Palmerston, Lloyd George, Mandela and all.
.
:: NEWS FLASH ::
DEMOCRACY VILLAGE IS NO MORE!!
.
Peace be unto you, Uncle Monty.
+St. John Roberts of Wales, 2010.
:::
Debadged or Not! By Uncle Monty.
.
.
.
{ Click on any image to Enlarge }
.

1 comment:

Shirley Paxton. said...

Monty! I liked the photo of you with the archbishop of canterbury.
I also saw you on tv with him. As
for the democracy village your story was curt against those who
reside there. You paint a depressing picture of the characters in the square. I have only seen the so-called village
from the top deck of my bus going
by the camp .... It doesn't look
that nice for me to want to go
and visit. The place will be gone
soon by order of a judge. The place
will be dismantled. Go there Monty as they demolish. Then write one of your follow-up stories. Should be interesting coming from you. My regards now for you, Shirley Paxton.