The strangest thing happened recently! I just happened to be wandering up Shop Street when I saw that people were setting up Food Not Bombs, a Really Really Free Market, and having loads of fun & games on a really busy pedestrianised street. Intriuged, I offered to help out.
People were playing Twister in the middle of the street, there was capoiera going on close by. Chalk was distributed for people to write their own messages on the street. People wrote things like 'I've learned to live with a little money and I'm happy', 'You are beautiful', and 'Leave us be'. People showed great creativity. There was also big canvas sheets where people drew stuff on with markers. There was lots of people around just chatting, eating food, and skipping. I was helping out with Food Not Bombs, and it was great seeing the look of astonishment on peoples faces when you told them that yes, the food was free, perfectly edible, and there was no strings attached. Unfortunately after a while the "authorities" arrived. They didn't like that we weren't on the street to buy stuff and to make corporations richer. They really didn't like that we were actually having fun, and insisted that we pack up and leave. Eventually it started to rain, which was actually great because loads of people, me included, began dancing in the rain!
It lasted for several hours, and I think a message got out there. Feck money! These are our streets, not the corporations, and the streets do not exist solely to consume. Another world really is possible.
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