the minute of silence brought a space where my tears cam to my eyes, after having listened very avidly to every word about the science of climate change.
I've listened to several of these talks now, obviously there is going to be a lot of overlap as the presenters are singing from the same songbook but each one also seems to go off on a few unique tangents which means I keep coming back for more presentations. I am really glad this is happening, I support it. I am a little uncomfortable with some of the airbrushed examples of historical peaceful protest though, we mustn't mislead ourselves into thinking this will be achieved completely peacefully, or that peaceful protest always works. I also have the feeling from some of the leaders that they'd see the bashing in of the heads of a few rebels by the police as a gift to the cause. Also I think a larger segment of society might not come on board and might take great offence, and that peoples' committees making policy decisions is likely to backfire, as most people will be concerned more with immediate issues like jobs and if the proposed policy looks to block jobs they won't support it. I'm thinking that violence will be brought down on the rebels if they gain momentum. I just doubt the powers that be will ever roll over and say okay, you take the reigns. They will always want to be in control and they will protect their status at the top however they can. I cannot stand it when people in charge are incompetent or compromised by other interests, or deliberately placed in positions of power to undo any good that could be done, these people are a danger to all of us.
Particularly good. Great to hear reference to some of the forces that are at work and almost never mentioned. The IPCC is a classic example as to why humans will never get there act together as a potent unified force. The IPCC is totally misleading having been emasculated by the need to compromise and accept the influence of fossil fuel producing countries. Also the almost total omission of acceptance of global dimming, albedo effect, water vapour, permafrost and methane (apparently too unpredictable and difficult to model) , population of humans (and population of livestock) to mention but a few omissions. The result is that the general public is lead to believe that things are bad, but okay because “we (whoever that is) still have time” and life as we know it can continue. A ‘Pollyanna” madness. Recognizing and accepting the reality, working to do what we can to slow the warming process, and above all working on a process such as “ Deep Adaptation” is the only realistic way forward.
NB Strong word of warning about the Citizens Assembly here in Ireland, that was no random selection of citizens, it was a carefully screened group that kept out more left-wing, anti-capitalist perspectives. Any topic at all that came next or near threatening the economic system were pretty much shut down or neturalised in terms of making effective impact. There were big protests about all this when it was being set up. The successes were all in the arena of 'safe' social issues like abortion, gay marriage etc. No threat to profits in those, you see. Environmentally it was entirely irrelevant. It would be entirely naive to point to this as an example of a proper, functioning citizens' assembly of the sort you are talking about.
Really well explained. The talk is better than it was, the only weak point is a graph with a wavy line with no other info whatsoever - that was meaningless to me. That slide needs to be replaced/improved.
I am in Cardiff S Wales, i am looking for help with getting linked up in my area with like minded people,need info, leaflets so i can spread the word in my community!
Have you factored in the way your transparent approach.. which means the police aren't arresting you in large numbers.. seems to undermine protest effectiveness?
What the fuck is this "meet your neighbor" crap? It's supposed to be a rebellion, not a fricken therapy group. If they did that to me, I'd be out the door. Not everyone is an extrovert.