NO PHILOSOPHY

Guardian-

...Small actions like the ones above may be inspirational to the participants, but they are of little use to the wider aim of garnering support and jolting politicians into action; showing politicians that the world is moving on and that they need to move with it.

For that you need to be ambitious, you need to plan and research meticulously; the result can be actions such as Greenpeace's climbing of the Kingsnorth chimney or Climate Camp's occupation at Heathrow, which genuinely created a buzz.

The next few months are crucial. It will be interesting to see whether Climate Camp's decision to invest in movement building will pay off...


err.. Yeah anyway whilst everyone was in town ripping the S off of SHELL I was up at the camp discussing Where Now? Very difficult because it was organised by people at the front who told everyone to discuss in groups for ten or five minutes and then went off on one themselves all the time yabbering between these stunted debates. This is consensus I am quite used to and it doesn't really bother me. I still reckon it is a good thing, we just have to spend longer invovled in each others lives than your average Capitalist.

They played a game where everyone walked around in circles shouting ideas at random which the group then answered which was quite fun. How can I surmise? People wanted Climate Camp to appeal to more people. They feel a bit middle class and honky-fied. Someone said they wanted less national meetings cos they are hard to get to and distract people from creating strong local groups. They want to engage with pre-existing community groups and residents associations.

I only arrived for the afternoon session, but in total this went on for about six hours. For the whole time one guy was standing alone with some stupid sign hassling people every so often with the facilitators trying to reason with him. Right at the end, when one chick got up and said there would be time for people to quickly publicise upcoming events to the group as a whole, another of them stood up and said she "Had to learn to say no" at these things, and then proceeded to use the time up waffling some more herself instead.

Its all quite funny really and, as I say its something I am quite used to. I like living surrealism. Will mainstream society one day embrace this non-hierarchical way of life? I think so. It is something which has been lost a long time ago which we are struggling to refind so although I felt a bit frustrated it didn't put me off any. I am only on the periphery of climate camp and if I can say anything useful I will.

Predictions? Well trying to shut down a Power Station will put the Police straight back into Kings North mode. Hassle people. Inconvenience them. Inconvenience them a lot. Provoke them. Try to discourage them from coming back. You can't just shut down Power Stations now can you? They'd look pretty silly if a bunch of people like this did shut a Power Station down eh.

But wait...

...Scotland Yard said tonight the model of policing used at Climate Camp, the week-long gathering of environmental activists that ends tomorrow, was a "really successful" approach that would be repeated at future demonstrations.

Chief Superintendant Helen Ball, a spokeswoman for policing at the campsite in Blackheath, south-east London, said neighbourhood-style tactics which included a "low-key" presence, limited surveillance of activists and almost no use of stop-and-search powers proved the Met had changed its approach since the G20 protests in April. The tactic is likely to be repeated at future demonstrations, she said, noting there had been just one arrest in seven days. "Where the opportunity arises to adopt a similar policing style in the future, we will do that, so if you are in Nottingham in October, buy some candles"...

I made up that last bit.

In the evening Martha Tilston played, which the folkies thought was a big deal. I realised as she played what was alienating me from all this. She has a great voice and beautiful songs but "Wonderful world" just isn't something I can relate to or sing along to with any conviction. Its not that I think it isn't, I just have no philosophy. This became apparent to me in a flash of inspiration in Tescos the other day. I would imagine a lot of people have shed their belief system in the queue at Tescos, this is how I shed mine.

I looked up and sitting down next to her mum was an Indian girl of perhaps fifteen with her face like the Elephant man. Sort of hall of Mirrors without the mirrors. Of course I looked away or tried not to look, or tried not to look uncomfortable. I walked on and saw a beautiful young blonde and felt my eyes and whole self attracted toward her. She opened her mouth and shattered the spell of her beauty with some proper Bermondsey attitude.

I just thought, human beings are just naturally as fickle as any other creature and I am one of them. No religion, no philosophy. I am not going to question anymore. If I can have fun, create or make the world a better place, its just because its a good idea. No belief, no goal. I think I am happy with that.

When I was hungover on Sunday some Spanish guy visiting my house was going on about Holotropic breathing. I have been giving it a go since and its made me incredibly angry very quickly to the extent that I am seriously considering finding some sort of guide rather than getting it all DIY style off of Youtube. Someone said I was "Holding on to Negativity" and had to "Breathe through it."

..