[SSC] talk/discussion and teaching options

[john andrews]

Several relevant questions were raised at last Saturday's meeting, such as who exactly intends to be teaching what at LSSC, and why?

 

It was also suggested that the LSSC should host a talk/discussion event. 

 

I won't be attending the meeting scheduled for 1st August when these issues are due to be discussed further, but I would like to submit the following for consideration.

 

1. I shall begin by taking the last point first - the talk/discussion event.

 

It was suggested that this should have some direct bearing on the work the LSSC aspires to do, and that perhaps it should suggest exactly why the LSSC claims to be radical. 

 

I would like to propose that I host a talk/discussion on a piece of work that I've been involved with for about ten years, and which could, if the LSSC chooses to take it up, quite literally change the world - for the better - which would be pretty radical in my view.

 

I call it the People's Constitution. Although it's obviously my property at the moment, in the sense that I'm the only person who has worked on it, the intention is that it should, by definition, belong to the people - that it should serve and protect every individual on the planet, by belonging to everyone in general and no one in particular; and that it continually evolves and adapts to ever-changing society and the needs of a suffering planet. I offer it up initially as a subject for discussion and then as a starting point for an inclusive LSSC project, an opening framework for a project with which anyone and everyone at LSSC may be involved, if they choose to be.

 

I shall not go into the detail here, but the reasons I believe this piece of work might be relevant to LSSC are:

 

a. It is an intensely political and philosophical piece of work. It's very new, innovative and radical, as it proposes a method of government which, although not entirely unknown, is a very different model to the one we actually have: it proposes a humane government, directly controlled by a humane, well-informed, environmentally responsible population. There is also a very important separate area of work around the subject of transition - the move from where we are to where we would like to be.

 

b. The project could be widely inclusive of anyone at LSSC, as it embraces the areas of interest of most people involved with social science and humanities - from the work of economists say, to environmentalists; from specialists in moral, political and religious philosophy to media and IT specialists... you get the picture. Because it aspires to encompass all of the major components that should make up a humane, environmentally-aware society, it has the potential to satisfy the imaginative and creative aspirations of anyone who sincerely wants to make the world a better place.

 

c. It is a massive project - massive not so much in terms of physical volume, but in the range of interests affected, and its truly world-changing potential. If the LSSC chooses to take it up it could establish the LSSC's reputation not just in our own country, but throughout the whole world. It could be the twenty-first century version of Magna Carta. It really has the potential to be that significant. 

 

d. Even if no more than two or three people chose to become involved in the project, its mere existence as a piece of work being undertaken by some members under the LSSC umbrella would give real credibility to the imaginative, creative, humane, and radical aspirations of the LSSC as a whole.

 

e. The reason I created the People's Constitution is because I've only recently (last ten years or so) begun to understand how our world really works. It is not a pretty picture; and the need for radical changes to political decision-making is not just desirable, it's essential. The fact that twenty-first century communications has now not only made that possible (for the first time ever) but also inevitable, is hugely exciting - and the race is on to be the first to make the most of those technological changes to bring about systemic change, to really improve society, and rescue the planet from what is currently a bleak-looking future.

 

f. People are often afraid of radical change, and there would of course be concerns that a People's Constitution would seem too eccentric. But I've campaigned as an Independent in four local elections, with almost no funding, based entirely on my version of a People's Constitution. The last time I did so I won a third of the vote. This shows not only that people are nearly ready for seriously radical change, but also how that change might be effected.

 

2. What I'm prepared and able to teach.

 

 

The evidence for why we need to change the way the world works is the core material of what I can offer to teach to others. The subject matter is quite wide-ranging - from history to economics, from politics to moral, political and religious philosophy. There is no particular qualifying standard necessary to take part in this course. It only requires the ability to read, and the desire to do so.

 

I would use the tutorial model for anyone interested in taking up this line of study. i.e. that people work through an initial reading list, meeting periodically in groups to discuss the issues they discover. There are also films to be seen, music to be heard, websites to be visited.

 

An initial reading list might comprise something like the following books, for example - in no particular order:

 

a. "The Blood Never Dried - A People's History of the British Empire" - Newsinger.

b. "The Guardians of Power" - Edwards and Cromwell

c. "Captive State - The Corporate Takeover of Britain" - Monbiot

d. "No Logo" - Klein

e. "People's History of the United States" - Zinn

f. "Web of Deceit" - Curtis

g. "Age of Reason" - Paine

h. "Treasure Islands" - Shaxson

i. "Blood and Religion" - Cook

j. "An Ordinary Person's Guide to Empire" - Roy

 

There are of course many other books that provide the proof for why change is so desperately needed.

 

3. Why I'm doing this.

 

I'm trying to make the world a better place. Once people fully understand the problem it's difficult not to want to do so; and how else can we look the future in the eye? The process must start with re-education. To borrow from the nineteenth century Welsh radical Dr Richard Price: 



"Our first concern, as lovers of our country, must be to enlighten it."

 

Beyond learning for the sake of learning, we need to actually DO something with that learning, to take a stand, to be pro-active, to be the change.

 

 
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