The forest of tents pitched outside St Paul’s Cathedral in London is no more, and those great religious institutions the Church of England and Corporation of London will as a result rest easier.

I have a low opinion of “occupism” as a political movement, but at the same time an even lower regard for the state. The occupist protests are for me uninteresting, and certainly uninspiring, while the state is a truly wretched entity. But I cannot help highlighting today’s Index on Censorship blog post by Leah Borromeo. Especially its final sentences, with which I largely concur…

“You can have “peaceful protest” but the minute you start cutting near the bone, you will be stopped. Your free speech ends where the profit margin begins.”

“It matters little what you personally feel about the global Occupy Movement and London’s part in it. You could be devoted to it as a zeitgeist, you can maintain that occupation should be a political tactic used to achieve tangible change or you could say that the sight of riot police on the steps of St Paul’s cathedral at 2am was the most radical thing to come out of that plot of land. The truth is this –  gambling by financial institutions around the world has crippled the many for the benefit of the few. The blind eye turned by governments to this wanton destruction of lives shows that our will as the people to form the basis of authority of government has been raped. We are no longer equal before the law.”

Actually, we have never been equal before the law, but that is a minor quibble. One day we may be equal, but there is a long way to go. In the meantime, the lesson from our masters is:

“Behave yourselves, and do not mess with the money!”