The MagazineOccupiedChristopher Caldwell in occupied LondonNov 21, 2011, Vol. 17, No. 10
• By CHRISTOPHER CALDWELL
 Chug-a-lugging malt liquor and smashing things may be the Oakland way of expressing support for the Occupy Wall Street movement. But there are other ways. The movement’s English sympathizers seemed to be asking what Jesus would do. In London last week I decided to visit them.  Alan Denney I have a soft spot for the English counterculture, maybe because I know it mostly through books. George Orwell once wrote that “the mere words ‘Socialism’ and ‘Communism’ draw towards them with magnetic force every fruit-juice drinker, nudist, sandal-wearer, sex-maniac, Quaker, ‘Nature Cure’ quack, pacifist, and feminist in England.” Say what you will, Nature Cure quacks are not known for following Pol Pot. English protesters don’t smash up Mercedes showrooms with lead pipes. They lean more towards hallucinogenic mushrooms, hard-to-name stringed instruments, infrequent bathing, and all-encompassing theories about sex. They are more hippies than vandals. Rather than holler in front of some sooty stock exchange or central bank, the London Occupiers camped in front of St. Paul’s Cathedral. In so doing, they occasioned a crisis of conscience in the Church of England. The tabloids urged clearing out the lowlifes. The church showed every inclination to oblige. But then Canon Giles Fraser resigned rather than participate in their dispersal. “I could imagine Jesus being born in the camp,” he said. To kick the protesters out would constitute “violence in the name of the Church.” Fraser won backers, inside the church and out. Conservative columnists soon began to remark that Jesus did have a pretty negative opinion of wealth. To read more, you must be a Weekly Standard Subscriber We're Sorry,
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