[Campaignforrealdemocracy] Fwd: Planning date - 6th

Wed Jul 1 12:09:25 BST 2009

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Sally Wood info at thepeoplespalace.org.uk

Hi Mark,

I am not in London on the 6th but would still like to help as much as I can.
I shall look forward to your feedback from that meeting.

Here are my thoughts on it:

Pro real democracy = Progress towards a future time where we have more
autonomy over our lives. Where we are responsible for each other and provide
for ourselves. In this future, central and local government exist but they
exist as a collective not as competing sides, politicians work together,
they do not play games and their role is to protect the people they oversee
and collect and distribute information on behalf of and to benefit the
whole.

Real democracy is not something that we have to fight for, it is something
we have to remember we already have. We are in a fortunate situation in this
country because we are not overtly repressed, however, we are hoodwinked
instead! Our systems of finance and governance combined hoodwink us into
thinking we have choice but I have been alive for a good 31 years now and I
have never witnessed anything like choice as to who runs the systems apart
from the same people who have always done it. !

Real democracy means people led decision making. This is something we can
already do, we don’t need permission. We just need a groundswell of people
to tip this message into society at large in order to activate people to
stop looking out and complaining and start looking in and connecting up. (It
would be very useful to get the journalists on side). The beauty of this is
that increasingly, we are all becoming aware of the lack of control we have
over our lives and it effects everyone. So, this is something that everyone
can stand alongside. We the people are it, frankly, we already run the show,
we just don’t see it that way.

So, the picnic can be an opportunity, not to just stand in solidarity
against because we have nothing to fight for, we already have it we just
need to meet up more often, discuss the options, invite discussion on this,
share ideas that help people to connect or connect people to their local
Transition towns / similar local group, etc. I think my point is that it is
not just a day to stand up and be counted in the vain hope that someone in
parliament sees the light, but it is a day where practical information can
be given, plans made, links created, people connected etc etc etc.

I keep thinking about groups like North London Lets or TimeBank. Also, check
out the abundance project in Sheffield for an example of projects that
locate sources of free fruit:
http://www.growsheffield.com/pages/groShefAbund.html I think this is more
for Transition towns but there are lots in London. Good to get them there
and also at the 23rd? However, another practical thing re. thinking about
self sufficiency may be to ask people whether they have fruit trees in their
gardens that they don’t really use, maybe provide transition towns with this
info if they are happy. Also, lists of books or research that people can
access ideas / each other. We need helpers to talk to groups at the picnic
and give this info. . .

I really like the idea of drawing on each others placards. No words, just
pictures and no protest symbols just pictures, just people inspired art.
Just expression. Can we encourage people to bring felt tip pens or water
based paints? Oh, and send shouts out for jugglers, performers and face
painters. . . Can help with this

Also, please supply a draft email that people can send to their friends,
facebook contacts, mailing lists etc.

Sally
x:)

PS: I have just launched a blog -
http://sallyallypally.wordpress.com/

On 25/6/09 7:59 pm, "Mark Barrett" <marknbarrett at googlemail.com> wrote:

>I am glad that the plan is for the Parliament Fields [Hampstead Heath]
picnic to go ahead.  We need to focus on Democracy - be it local or
national.

Yes, and don't we need to work together to offer activism to people who do
not want to do actions "against" but who yearn for a different world. If we
want a mass movement we need to show what we are for and that this is about
liberation not just shutting reactionary stuff down, important thought that
is it is just battle as distinct from war. Sometimes it seems to me that
influential people on the left are not actually serious about winning. We
are so very good at showingh what we are against, but this tactic on its own
seems to keep us in a ghetto, or at best always doing single issue work,
and sometimes even giving extra publicity to our enemies*. If only we could
work so well with our friends on the same side of barricade we might
actually change the whole thing.

But for the 15th to be big we need to promote it from now on. Who's up for
helping with this? If we get it right - and the weather works for us - it
can be quite big, will reach out beyond the usual activist circles, and with
blank banners, very symbolic. Shall we have a Monaday meeting at the Vegan
Cafe Panda found for us say Monday 6th? Specifically to plan the picnic? Who
else is up it - not just coming but helping promote and vision it? We need
to make it clearer what it's about, make and distribute fliers, contact
newspapers and London listings people - lots! I can also get the
peopleincommon.org <http://peopleincommon.org>
<http://peopleincommon.org/> site updated with info once we've done
the basics. Monday 6th meeting?
* about danger of giving any kind of publicity to the BNP, see today's
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/jun/24/bnp-race-watchdog-court-action
but I
do support any block to their activities - it's just a shame when
they manage to make hay from it. On the subject of historical precedent,
someone sent me this a month or so back "It is imperative that we learn from
experience.  The eclectic Popular Front of the 1930s against fascism failed
to prevent WW2 and Hitler's rise to Germany in 1933 in the first place was a
failure of the social democrats and communists to form a united class front
against the nazis thus betraying the workers in their rank-and-file and
their supporters"

I think a democracy picnic can help with this. But also we need to work with
the anarchist and union movement, and build a strong vision and
organised movement for democracy / community sovereignty, or some such.
Yes?

Much to do :-)  Monday 6th July - Planning Meeting: Big Democracy Picnic,
venue tbc. Please help!

Mark
2009/6/

 I am glad that the plan is for the Parliament Fields picnic to go ahead.
We need to focus on Democracy - be it local or national.

As an example of what I mean about the links between the local and the
prisoner maintaining innocence may I suggest you google in Innocent
Manchester and go to cases and take for example Mario Periere - a north east
London case.

Jenny

--~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
"Project2012" group.
 To post to this group, send email to project2012 at googlegroups.com
 To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
project2012+unsubscribe at googlegroups.com<project2012%2Bunsubscribe at googlegroups.com>
<mailto:project2012%2Bunsubscribe at googlegroups.com><project2012%2Bunsubscribe at googlegroups.com>
 For more options, visit this group at
http://groups.google.com/group/project2012?hl=en-GB

-~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---

------------------------------

_______________________________________________
Campaignforrealdemocracy mailing list
Campaignforrealdemocracy at lists.aktivix.org
https://lists.aktivix.org/mailman/listinfo/campaignforrealdemocracy

-- 
"We hear men speaking for us of new laws strong and sweet /Yet is there no
man speaketh as we speak in the street.”
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://lists.aktivix.org/pipermail/campaignforrealdemocracy/attachments/20090701/2b2b6e63/attachment-0001.htm>