23 Apr 2010 lkcl   » (Master)

Farnham Hustings

well, that was veeery interesting on wednesday. the first of the lot, and the people i met from churches together were absolutely fantastic. the other candidates i met, i also found i was very pleased to be standing with them, get an opportunity to meet them. the people i was sitting next to during the debate were very supportive (is it fair if i say who they were? well - they know, and they were, so thank you :)

what did we discuss? what were the questions?

one was something along the lines of: "what is in your heart when you think of fairness and justice?" and _wow_ that was an interesting question. the answers, as you might expect, were really varied - but i was staring so hard at the piece of paper on which i'd had to ask richard mollet to repeat it for me (!) that i couldn't tell you what they were :)

my answer was that i'm a spiritualist (but i didn't mention that i have a catholic / christian upbringing and background), and so i view this veeery very differently. to understand where i'm coming from, it's best to read "journey of souls" (google it). from that, you appreciate that each of us is born to learn specific lessons; face certain challenges; be a part of peoples' lives; play specific roles and so on. so when you encounter something that is "unfair" or "unjust", and you feel strongly that you should act, that's your "life cue", and you have the free will to choose to act - or not... :)

so, in light of that, (and i perhaps didn't make this clear at the time, but i do keep emphasising it in writing) the "role" i'm putting _myself_ forward for (being a politician) is to empower people when they want to act, in ways that, on their own they feel unable or unwilling to do, so that _they_ can tackle the things that they feel are unfair or unjust (with my help).

the trouble is (as roger meekin's party UKIP is strongly pointing out) that the ability _to_ faithfully represent people - to enact laws in our own country - has been undermined by handing over sovereignty to the European Parliament. yes, you could get the law changed to deal with something, but the next week, a European Directive comes through that requires a _different_ law to be enacted.

and the general feeling from the vast number of people there in the hall, of whom there were somewhere around 1,000, was that they were _extremely_ upset that they had not been consulted about going into the EU, by way of a referendum.

so, i pointed out the alternative method by which they could clearly make their feelings known: reporting the politicians, cabinet offices and prime ministers who took the decision - without consulting us - for committing the crime of treason.

i _wish_ i didn't have to point this out to people. i _wish_ i could just stand on a "purely PPUK manifesto" ticket, but i _can't_ make the promises to people that i will faithfully be able to represent them, without having to prefix every single promise with the words "subject to us being a sovereign nation", and, having researched it, i am _really_ pissed about this and, now that i know that the 1848 law has been broken, i _cannot_ keep quiet about it.

i want to talk to people about how technology can and should empower people! i want to talk to people to warn them of the dangers and insane costs of overstepping the mark in letting big businesses "have their way"! but with our entire political system utterly in pieces on the floor, made irrelevant by the European Parliament and by the Party Whips concentrating power into one man's hands, how _can_ i sit back and say "everything's going to be all right once you've voted one of us in"?

so the big question is: what now? what should people be doing, to take matters into their own hands, to prepare for the upcoming 2012 changeover? for those people who may not be aware: 2012 is the time which all the prophecies in all the religions point as being a "key pivotal moment" in human spiritual development. there are _no_ predictions beyond that point, because the decision of where we go, and what we do next, is to be made *globally*, as an entire planet and a species.

i mentioned in the hustings that people should look up "Transition Towns", and i mentioned that at least 90 japanese towns, brixton and many rural villages in the UK have gone "Transition Town". it's basically the beginning of the Age of Enlightenment, starting early in those areas. they're creating _local_ community ties, creating a _local_ currency (barter is already quite strong in many rural areas in the UK already); people are growing their own food; they're reducing carbon emissions and energy usage.

and this is happening and inspired by people of their own accord! there's no "government initiative" involved. yes, there happens to be some laws, government grants and other things that can be taken advantage of, but the decision is being made _by the people_, and if they can't "get the grants" or "get government help" they just go ahead and do it anyway, regardless.

i think this is absolutely fantastic, and there needs to be more of it. and _fast_. we cannot rely on there being a continuous supply of either oil or national currencies: both are being undermined / running out / controlled.

and do you know what i think the most important thing to preserve is, whilst these "Transitions" are going on? global access to information, via the Internet; freedom of speech; freedom to find a damn good essential idea and copy it and implement it, free from threat of stupid Patents or other ways to "restrict" and "control" people.

oh look: maybe i am a Pirate, after all, and maybe PPUK does fit extremely well with what i stand for.

i'll leave it at that. have to get ready for Godalming Hustings.

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