What do they think they are doing?

What do they think they are doing?

A survey on customs in the EU and English-speaking countries that are scarcely ever written about in school manuals

What most people remember, what they think they know of England, its culture and its customs and traditions usually isn’t more than that- the essential 5-o'clock-tea (now actually abolished by the major part of the British), a typical English breakfast (cones with butter and oats porridge that, as many Englishmen claim, no one ever eats in their country, except for the Scottish maybe), and, of course, «the Trafalgar Square with the Nelson column in the center «that, according to one of the English manuals, a Russian schoolboy should remember and like most in London… They might also remember All Saint’s Day (the Halloween), Big Ben etc. But many relatively new customs and cultural activities in UK, America and the rest of Europe that we probably are totally unaware of, seem to me far more interesting than those mentioned in Britain or the plain data on eating roasted turkey in America on Thanksgiving day-for example, the Speaker’s Corner at one of the entrances in Hyde Park ought to be considered to be the embodiment of European democracy, the embodiment of free speaking and civil rights. The speakers have to raise on a stool which they bring to the Corner with them, and then they may attract the visitors' attention with speeches of any kind- from expression of negative altitude to the government or the present political system to bringing forward their idea of love and God. As those who most actively back the idea of Speaker’s corner claim, it is something opposite to «opinion polls» that they call «static phenomena», while the opinions spoken out in Speaker’s Corner are «a dynamic reflection of mass psychology» as it shows all the nihilistic doubts in those who said «yes» or «no» during the «opinions polls». Amongst those who have attended meetings here, are some ofthe most influential figures in world history such as Karl Marx, Frederick Engels and V.I.Lenin

Oliver Cromwell’s corpse was hung up here in a cage for public display, as a warning to others who might wish to abolish the Monarchy. This was of course in the days before Speakers' Corner, when «Tyburn», one of the «hanging fields» of London was located there. Others whose ghosts haunt this corner include William Morris, George Orwell, C.L.R. James, Benn Tillet, Marcus Garvey, and a star-spangled cast of millions more who shall remain unmentioned, excepting the immovable Lord Soper, who was still speaking till three weeks before he died at 95 years of age.

But even those who are familiar with London’s speaker’s corner might be unaware that such places exist in many other countries, too. For example, there is one in Saksatchevan, Canada.

In the southwest corner of Wascana Park in Wascana Centre, a historical link with the past was officially dedicated on April 12, 1966.

Speakers' Corner was dedicated to the people of Saskatchewan by the Earl Mountbatten, Admiral of the Fleet of Burma during World War II. It serves as a constant reminder of their heritage of free speech and assembly and a tribute to Saskatchewan’s people who have upheld that heritage.

Speaker’s Corner was designed by Wascana Centre Authority staff and forms the entrance to Wascana Park from Albert Street at Nineteenth Avenu

The next interesting democratic custom is a truly new one, and it has been borrowed from China of the late 70-ties of our century .It is the idea of «the democracy wall» by Wei Jing Sheng-a wall of free announcements any volunteer could post except for those who would post something persuading to buy, a plain tasteless advertisement. The idea was given a go in 1979 in Beijing, and the government didn’t like it. In the same year, Wei Jing Sheng was arrested.

Now, those who back creation of a democracy wall near Speaker’s Corner in London, claim that the Democracy Wall is the best way to publish educational information; they call back the promises of

Tony Blair’s government to «educate, educate, educate».Yet, as they notice, the price of hiring a poster in the town or in the Tube is too high for it and only allows «shopping information» to reach the citizens. A long way of struggle is before the supporters of the Wall yet, but they expect to win, though the government, as they argue, always seeks for reasons to erase what is posted on the wall.

Tourists who have seen both places mentioned only once, might think that only madmen go to speaker’s corner. But let me remind you what Lenin told particularly about these opinions. He told a story about a man who sat twitching and shaving; his arms were trembling, his head was shivering, a spectator thought he was crazy, but when he (the spectator) came closer he could see the man was sharpening a knife…

There are tens of thousands of speakers who come to speaker’s corner once a year, and hundreds of «regular» ones. What are they talking about? What is considered so essential for them that should be posted at the entrance to England’s main park on a huge wall? What exactly are «dynamic reflections of mass psychology»?



Теги: whistleblowers, speaker