Strike! Resist! Occupy.....Guy Ritchies Million $ Mansion Invaded By Squatters

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At least 12 people have settled into the listed building in Fitzrovia and they now plan to turn it into a school – offering lessons in successful squatting, among other things.

Police were called to the property at the weekend but the group calling itself the Really Free School refused to budge.

It is unknown if they knew it belonged to the Lock Stock And Two Smoking Barrels director before they moved in.



Bold: Squatters advertise their free school at Guy Ritchie’s London home (Getty Images)

.Yesterday they were inviting the unemployed to join their cinema club and spend the night in the five-storey property.

‘We need occupiers for tonight! Will be film showings in the new cinema. Come sleepover in the most rah property in London,’ an online post read.

The group has moved from another address in nearby Bloomsbury, where their ‘school’ curriculum included classes in anarchy, tarot-reading and social media.

Neighbours are frustrated by the occupation and one woman who works in the area chased two squatters down the road demanding to know how long they would be there.

A resident said: ‘I don’t like it at all. There is no substance to their ridiculous cause. They don’t own the building, why should they live in it?’

Ritchie bought the former language school, which had been empty for three years, last May and was in the process of having it converted into two homes.



Read more: www.metro.co.uk...

another link to same story

So even Celebrities are not immune to having their unoccupied manses squatted upon. At first I read the story because it was celebritiy related, but it got me thinking about the horrible conspiracy against our homeless. The jarring juxtaposition of a million dollar manse sitting empty and homeless men and women die in the streets every single day. How horrible we treat our fellow humans on this planet when huge buildings can sit empty along side the empty shells of former humans.

But that was only my initial thoughts on this story being offered as a celebrity piece.

My thoughts quickly turned to the squatters, who upon moving in hung huge banners from the windows that said STRIKE! RESIST! OCCUPY! Them be fighting words here at ATS land, so I googled the group squatting in the manse.

reallyfreeschool.org...

Really Free School
34-35 Fitzroy SquareAboutContactEvents ScheduleHow to…Paywall LoginWishlistPhotosCommunique #3

What is a really free school? Perhaps its easier to explain what a not really free school is…

A not really free school is one that comes with a price tag so high that most will never consider attending, whilst those that do will spend a good chunk of their lives working to repay the bill instead of living. And yet it is all too easy to say this. It would be mistaken to think that education would be really free if it simply didn’t cost anything to receive. For whilst the price of attendance has been slowly rising, something far darker has been going on. The learning process has been completely transformed from within – and so even if we were to break open the gates to the ivory tower, what we would find inside might be little more than the training program for our future life at work, The keys to our own dungeon.

Wow, some mission state,ment there. I find myself admiring the sentiment behind this group. I have always believed education should be free and offered to all, accessible to all for all time.

The blog contains much about their work and philosophy, and is very interesting.

But you say, they did not OWN Guy Ritchies mansion! They have NO RIGHT to live there.

I say, to the little boy from the wrong side of the tracks, But you dont OWN enough money to go to college, You have NO RIGHT to the knowledge contained with in.

I can see why they operate this way, I can see their logic, and I have no problem with what they are trying to do.

So, what are your thoughts on this subject? So many issues to discuss on this one, from homelessness, to empty homes while people sleep in shelters, to free knowledge, to squatters to activism. And beyond!

You are comparing apples and oranges.I have a great deal of problem with theft of property,Perhaps you should have them move into your home and then provide them with some free education in how you don't care that they have invaded your home and privacy.

After a half-century, I've concluded such sentiments are easily supported until it comes to an apartment near you.

You and I don't want squatters taking over our homes while we go out for groceries, right? In principle, it is the exact same deal, only the scale of my rag-tag apartment vs a glittering mansion make it seem different.

Besides, if they squatted in my home, they would have to bring their own damned lunch, lol.

In the US if you try to squat in a home they woulf be notifying the next of kin. We wouldn't putup with it

Why we allow any of our fellow humans to be homeless or starve, is beyond me. If we really cared for each other then we would stop arguing over created differences and start banning together to fix this corrupt system and free our selves from this prison of misconceptions. School should be free, but do you really want to learn the garbage that they are teaching? There is no real substance to the teaching in today's schools and it's designed to be that way. Education in the system is brainwashing plain and simple. History is written by the winners and you only get half truths anyway. I think, similar to this group, people should ban together and all teach something useful to the children. With the internet and some common sense people can find the truth and teach it to their kids better than a school can. As for the squatting part, good for them. Is Guy using the house? No, so he should want to help out his fellow humans! But sadly, he doesn't. Hopefully we are not past the point of being able to fix this peacefully. S&F

Teaching is labor and labor is not free unless the laborer is willing.

The public library provides all the books you can possibly want at your request and operates on your tax dollar. That's as close to free as you're going to get.

Regarding the homeless, why don't you let any stay at your house? Or do you?

reply to post by Protostellar


Teaching is labor and labor is not free unless the laborer is willing.

I agree but only because we forgot about the barter system. Lets say you were a teacher and had a class of 20 children. The 20 children have parents that have a skill and you could trade services. You teach, 1 parent fixes your car, 1 parent cuts you in on the garden, 1 parent makes sure you have milk, etc... You get the amount of labor you put in. We could all be this way, work less, accomplish more, and have all we need ,in abundance, if we stopped fighting over petty issues, like race. There are not multiple races, there is 1 race ,the HUMAN race.

As for letting homeless folks live with me, I am a disabled vet with a wife and 6 children, I have my disabled vet father living with us as well, and we are surviving on VA disability. We are not far from homeless ourselves, but we have room for tents, and could always use a hand with gardening, canning, and with the animals. I should be so lucky to be able to help out my fellow humans. We should all start survival communities.

reply to post by hotbakedtater


Great thread, thanks for starting this.

I especially like this quote from your source.

[ex[and so even if we were to break open the gates to the ivory tower, what we would find inside might be little more than the training program for our future life at work, The keys to our own dungeon.

This is exactly what I see from our institutions of higher learning. All reward goes to those most willing to be sub-servant and conformist. Understanding the lessons is not important, kow towing to the teacher is of utmost importance, even if the student understands the subject better than the teacher. This is why so many engineers with degrees can't do basic algebra.

Here in Silicon Valley, high tech capital of the world, there is so much unoccupied commercial real estate that there is absolutely no reason for people to not have shelter.

Considering the realities of our fiat money system, where the government just bailed out the banks, and huge amounts of money have been loaned from the public trust to back up nameless faceless corporate identities, exactly how valid is any of these peoples claim to property.

Considering the vast amount of shady property transfers over the last decade, calling in question how secure the property rights of these huge corporations and those who profited mostly from these crooked schemes is quite valid.

reply to post by lonegurkha


You are comparing apples to oranges, or in this case, home invasion to squatting.

Moving into a building occupied by others is home invasion.

Moving into a building that is unoccupied, and has been unoccupied for months or years is called squatting.

How can anyone claim there is a functioning market system when the unoccupied space exceeds our homeless population.

Maybe we might be able to create a free market system after all.

reply to post by poet1b


I think you should reread what I said and what the post said about the building being worked on.Stealing is stealing and a liberal viewpoint does not negate the crime here.

reply to post by lonegurkha


No, the story said the building had been empty for 3 years.

Ritchie was in the process, which means most likely the planning process, as there is no mention of interference with construction work.

They took over an unoccupied building, not someones home.

They took over a building that they didn't own what part of theft of property you having a problem dealing with.So your saying that if you go to say england for three years for a good paying job and leave your home unoccupied for those years,It's ok if I move in and take over your home right.Cause that's what your saying exactly.Think it over before you say anything else cause your wrong here by any legal measure.