Occupying common ground

23 Nov 11
Richard Murphy

The protesters camping outside St Paul’s Cathedral in London are voicing the views of many people – and pointing the way towards real local democracy

What has the Occupy movement outside St Paul’s Cathedral and other places got to do with the work of the local authority treasurer?

The answer might seem to be ‘not much’ – but that would be a serious error of judgement. Those protesters have the world of the local authority well within their sights. If serious proposals come from these camps and these influence public debate, this is an area where real demands for change may be made.

On my last visit to Tent City University (where I had the honour of speaking), a very serious debate on the issue of land value taxation was in progress. It has been a recurrent theme of discussion there.

That tax is, of course, a direct alternative to council tax, which is, as many of those involved in the discussion were all too aware, profoundly regressive. The charge it makes on those with low incomes tends to be much higher proportionately than that made on higher income owners in larger properties.

That puts this tax firmly in the whole 99%/1% inequality arena that is at the core of the concerns of the Occupy movement. Our suspicion is that this will have lasting repercussions.

But that is not the end of the interest  the Occupy movement has for those working in local authorities. The process of democracy itself is under scrutiny in these camps, which are themselves explorations in consensus decision-making.

Such methods would not necessarily translate into widespread use. But what is clear is that the Occupy movement is striking a blow at the heart of one of the most secretive of all local authorities in the UK – the City of London Corporation. The protesters are, by their actions and with the openness they are displaying,  challenging the methodology of decision-making in use up and down the country.

Far too much takes place behind closed doors, leading to elector alienation. The demand for transparency and accountability is high on the Occupy agenda as a result.

These are just a few examples of what I think is happening within the Occupy movement and its extraordinary relevance to our times, the problems we face and the changes that are needed to address them.

But there are broader issues. What is happening is indicative of a paradigm shift that is occurring within the public, even if the political class has yet to respond to it. This is the theme of my book, The courageous state: rethinking economics, society and the role of government.

The book was being published as the Occupy movement arose. At the time I had no idea that many of the themes I address in it (including land value taxation and local democracy) would also be issues Occupy were concerned with.

Equally, I do not believe that happened by chance. It is apparent that people have had enough of the current economic model and the inequality that underpins it.

At the same time, they are expressing frustration at the failure of the current political system to offer alternatives to that model, when it has so very obviously failed to deliver on its promise of prosperity for all.

That failure is in no small part due to an excessive and inappropriate belief in the power of markets to find solutions. Experience shows that this power does not exist and that it is the mechanisms of government, and particularly local authorities, that have achieved real transformation in people’s lives in the past.

I want that faith in local authorities, and in government itself, restored. But that will require courageous politicians willing to say they are seeking office because they believe in public office, public supply of services, the quality of their public officials and their public employees – and the ability those people have when working in combination to meet local need.

We lack those politicians. We don’t lack the other components in the mix. With empowerment from courageous politicians, the next era of real local democracy could dawn, with benefit for us all. I suspect the Occupy movement is signalling the way.

Richard Murphy is director of Tax Research. The courageous state is published by Searching Finance and is available on www.searchingfinance.com

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