Mindless violence

I went on the demonstration yesterday - with a quarter of a million other people. There were five of us together, and none of us had ever done such a thing before. It won't make any difference - already the press and politicians (can you spot the difference?) are saying that it can be ignored, because it was just public sector workers trying to save their own skins. But you see, that's the way the private sector thinks - the private sector thinks, it's all about me. In the public sector, we think about other people, we help other people. We believe in communities, we believe in society. The government believes in shareholders, in how much money they can make from other people (or "suckers", as they think of us).

It was a peaceful, friendly, tolerant, cheerful march which brought together all sorts of people. We ended up marching behind the RMT and their brass band. There were lots of bands (it is the first time I have ever heard a pipe band playing the Internationale), lots of inventive placards, it was fun.

Long after most of us had left, there was an outbreak of more direct action along Oxford Street. This is beng described by everyone this morning as, "Mindless violence". It's an easy phrase, trite and dismissive. But it wasn't mindless - it was carefully targetted, it was planned, it was managed. I don't condone it, but I'm not going to dismiss it either. If the peaceful protests are ignored, what's the alternative?

Or are we all happy to agree that as long as you've got the money, you can buy a health service, education, a nice house in a safe area, and if you haven't got the money, well, that's your problem, isn't it?