38º is the angle that snowflakes come together to form an avalanche. It's also a metaphor. People coming together to make a change is what democracy is all about. Without the means to make a difference, we turn away. Through media channels like 38degrees.org.uk we can get our opinions heard and protect the nation from being governed or poorly run by our politicians. All it takes is for more people to act and speak up, contact their MEP's and make a stand for their beliefs.
The time now is easier than ever before to make a change. All we have to do is factor-in a small amount of time in our days to read, sign and spread the word to our friends, family and loved ones via social media. Without this, we stand to lose what we hold dear and what defines us as a nation, our freedom as individuals and our rights as human beings.
Fast going are the days when the power elite could sway the masses through spin pushed out in the newspapers and in TV.
Now, through the Internet and social media, we have the opportunity to have our voices heard. We can make our own videos, connect and share information with the world and through our own research, educate ourselves to make our minds up what is right and wrong.
A recent political initiative that has been opposed by communities in the north of England, has today been stopped. The stand against fracking. This is a significant move for the people of this country and marks what I believe to be a move towards true democracy. A place where the people can see that their opinions matter.
Thankfully, we all still have the power to force the government and the agencies motivated by greed, to divulge the information we need to see before political decisions are made. It's thanks to Greanpeace and other defenders of the people who fight to protect our environment that we will now know the original content of the research document on fracking before it was edited to make fracking seem more appealing.
There's many instances where this kind of underhand behaviour has been used before and this will be the last time it will happen so easily, I'm sure. I feel that maybe the people of the USA have a bigger battle on their hands as the corporations really do have so much power but it is still possible if they can see what has happened in this country today - they'll know that it's possible.
By donating a small amount of money and time, we can all help save the environment, empower local communities, see an end to corruption and put the power back into the rightful hands of the worlds citizens - away from corporations and puppet politicians.
The game of life is a tactical role play game with an element of luck thrown in. And just like reality - it can be played out in a fantasy realm like those found in Dungeons & Dragons adventures.
To play this game, one must work out what their game character is by answering an extensive set of character-defining questions. Then, based on some real psychological foundations, these characters and their skills are analysed to understand their role fitting within the game's fantasy alignments. I never played these games at school - in fact, I picked on the kids that did. I wish I'd never done that but bully or be bullied was how you survived. So, I missed out on something that seems a lot of fun and very creative to play and although I had nobody to play it with, I took the character test.
Chaotic Neutral Human Sorcerer (6th Level)
Very interesting. It's the truthful answers I gave and the resulting character's game characteristics that seem to have spurred me on to look at some inspiring topics that I would not have searched for otherwise. Consequently, the game has weirdly helped to show me a bit more of my likely character traits but also reflected in a real world situation. This fantasy game has helped me embark on a worthy mission, resulting in me signing two political petitions, donating money to a worthy cause, sharing some important videos/messages that need to be heard by EVERYONE and inspired me to embark on a quest of discovery. Hence, I've since been taking important political decisions on topics I feel passionate about. And I had never thought about politics at all before now - or about getting involved myself so enthusiastically before taking this fantasy test.
The creator of Dungeons & Dragons, Gary Cygax, was a real visionary in game role play. I would never have believed doing the Character test would have motivated me in the real world - but playing games IS key to playing life - just as I've realised before now. So, although this test was for a game scenario, these character descriptions have in some strange way, prompted me to consider what my place in society is and encouraged me to look at some of the issues we're facing with our battles in the non-fantasy world.
We're on the very edges of a new world order. The sun will set and either this new dawn will rise on a bleak and broken world or a revolution in how the masses take back control, will see a brighter future. How long can we continue to ignore the facts? The power of the corporations motivated by greed are motivating our politicians to sell us out.
The few people that are standing against these forces have thankfully been working so hard to inform the masses, that finally, the message is reaching a wider audience and people like me, who have shunned politics (I have never voted) are now listening and wanting to take action.
It's not that I don't care what is happening in the world, it's just that I haven't really been conscious to what's going on, it's just I've felt powerless to change it. Distracted and dis-associated are what the majority are no more. How easy it's been to just switch off to corruption going on in the USA. The UK has it's share of bumbling politicians but surely there's a rule of law to stop any underhand goings on, right? Evidently not. This is all inter-connected on a global scale as the TTIP - a trade agreement with America and Europe, will allow corporations to take over our basic necessities like healthcare by taking control away from the people and even less control for our failing government. The NHS has already been broken up and sold. Everyone needs to watch this film, Sell Off to better understand/learn where this is all going wrong.
Getting Political
It's difficult for me or anyone else who is feeling helpless at changing the status quo, to want to get involved. This TTIP agreement and NHS sell-off is all going ahead and there's no way to stop it. Wrong. We all need to get politically involved and signing petitions is one good way to start off. Communities are finally pulling together like never before, to protect their families and their way of life. They are getting more organised through using the internet to spread the message to the masses and holding peaceful protests against some of the government's initiatives - some of which it is very clear to observe and understand from just watching, reading and learning a little bit on the issues we absolutely have to make a stand on - that these politicians, pressured by the corporations, are not acting in our best interests (but seemingly for self benefit) and neither do they even understand what these interests are. Corporations have no soul and it's share prices that motivate these faceless monsters to potentially ruin our planet. There has to be a better way.
The very real concerns centred around the use of fracking, has helped to convince thousands of apathetic non-objectors, to come out in their droves and stand up for humanity. This serious issue, which has ruined Australian and American communities, has in turn, been a conduit for those now aware, to make further investigations into and around TTIP, the irresponsible management of toxic waste and opened the doors of perception for many of the country's population to realise the negative impacts.
This state of affairs isn't just for the swampy's of the world. I can see that Swampy (real name Daniel Hooper) has kinda got it right by moving to a hippy community in Wales - where there's a real shift towards permaculture. Even Happy Monday's Bez has been a real force in promoting a self-sustaining way of life in our inner cities too. It's a shame that Daniel, originally from a middle class family in Newbury, isn't prepared to be more active in the current political arena as I believe he still has a responsibility to show support for the communities that are fighting against the drilling corporations being backed by our government today. These people making a stand, are just like you and me - not a fringe alternative group that the majority jeered at for holding up the 8 mile extension to the A30 in Devon back in 1996.
Faces Of The People
So it's thanks to the Ian Crane's and Tina Louise-Rothery's of this world with their well presented and informative 'Fracking Nightmare' exposés on YouTube and information served through social media channels, that we now have many different faces of the people that we can all relate to.
What I believe so many people have missed out on since past elections, is having a party that represents the people and the people's interests. Unfortunately, we only have the parties to choose from that receive the most backing - and the motives for backing these parties is largely for financial gain. We have those with money wanting more which are affecting those without money getting less.
Making What's Important Normal
What needs to happen first are changes in people's priorities about what's important. Once these are established, the changes will start to happen. Moving away from selfish gains of financial wealth to buy useless commodities towards 'Dragon Dreaming' projects for using sustainable energy, living and home-grown pollutant-free foods. Self reliant communities are cropping up more as permaculture is seen to be the answer to the current problems facing the world. We need to get this power into the hands of the people. It is not just the question of if - it's when - we just need to create the political motivation to make it happen one by one.
