On going to Prison, Privilege and Preparation “If you are healthy, it’s not so bad in prison. You have your brain, your conscience and your soul. They cannot take that away from you. Jail is not the worst place for a person who thinks.” – Nadia Tolokonnikova (Pussy Riot) In late 2017 four activists — Genny, Roger, Ian and… Continue reading Why We Chose Prison
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A week in HMP Bronzefield
Genny took part in the RisingUp campaign Stop Killing Londoners: Cut Air Pollution. She, along with 3 others, were sent to prison on remand for a week in November 2017, after repeat acts of civil disobedience. Here's her story... After the decision to remand, I was held in court cells awaiting transfer. This period was… Continue reading A week in HMP Bronzefield
This Election Stinks! How to Fake A Democracy
WAKE UP UK Citizens! – You don’t have a genuine democracy!
We wish progressive candidates well in the 2017 general election – please vote to get the Tories out! However, the “playing field” is almost vertical – we have a system rigged for the rich and corporations. Here's How to Fake a Democracy and an invite to join in with mass civil disobedience!
Breaking new ground on direct action escalations
The King’s College Climate Emergency Campaign. Breaking new ground on direct action escalations. Roger Hallam April 2017 This is a report on the King’s College Climate Emergency campaign (KCCE) to get total divestment from fossil fuels. It goes into quite a lot of detail about the design elements of the campaign and therefore assumes a… Continue reading Breaking new ground on direct action escalations
Compassionate Revolution and Rising Up!
Some of you may have originally signed up for pledges and information on Compassionate Revolution. Having taken feedback on that name, having joined up with other groups and having had mega spam issues with “passion” in compassion (!) we have decided to foreground the brand Rising Up! Compassionate Revolution is here for people who think of themselves… Continue reading Compassionate Revolution and Rising Up!
How pledging to act with other people (“conditional commitment”) could change the world
The rent strike at UCL was designed using conditional commitment Compassionate Revolution was launched in summer 2015 as a grass-roots run platform for hosting pledges of collective action- “I will if you will”. The pledges can be acts of art (like mass graffiti), acts from the heart (like group meditations or modelling kind behaviour in… Continue reading How pledging to act with other people (“conditional commitment”) could change the world
Use tax disobedience to call for a fairer society – an open letter
The latest tax scandal is bringing the erosion of our democracy into ever sharper focus. Britain suffers under an enormous democratic deficit due to state capture by “free”-market neoliberal fundamentalism and its associated corporate and financial interests, in aggressive ascendancy since the 1970s. Notwithstanding the 2008 financial crisis, this capture of the state has remained… Continue reading Use tax disobedience to call for a fairer society – an open letter
Draft principles and thoughts for a TSD (thinking, supporting, doing) Group
Compassionate Revolution- how we support and develop the project How different people can relate to the Compassionate Revolution Compassionate Revolution has been created as a space to hold pledges of collective acts of art, heart and civil disobedience. The idea is that the project is largely “distributed”, meaning that people can adopt the term if… Continue reading Draft principles and thoughts for a TSD (thinking, supporting, doing) Group
Principled Tax Rebellion and how it is compatible with Tax Justice
The current system (based on neo-liberal capitalism) is unjust, it is: Dangerously unstable and associated with a growth in corruption and debt Creating gross inequality, leading to many social problems Downgrading public services, like the NHS and welfare system Threatening life on earth through climate change and environmental degradation Bringing us into a state of almost constant… Continue reading Principled Tax Rebellion and how it is compatible with Tax Justice
Awakening The Universal Heart: A Guide for Spiritual Activists – Review by Richard House
Richard House Book Review : Serge Beddington-Behrens, Awakening The Universal Heart: A Guide for Spiritual Activists, Umbria Press, London, 2013, 368 pp; ISBN-10: 0954127587, ISBN-13: 978-0954127589, price (paperback) £14.95 'If I create from the heart, nearly everything works; if from the head, almost nothing.' Marc Chagall In the Thatcherite 1980s in Britain, many left-wing activists became… Continue reading Awakening The Universal Heart: A Guide for Spiritual Activists – Review by Richard House