“There’s a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious, makes you so sick at heart, that you can’t take part! You can’t even passively take part! And you’ve got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels…upon the levers, upon all the apparatus, and you’ve got to make it stop! And you’ve got to indicate to the people who run it, to the people who own it, that unless you’re free, the machine will be prevented from working at all!” Mario Savio, 1964.
Have you noticed whenever bad things happen, some supposedly radical campaign group comes forward claiming to speak for women or minorities? They talk the talk—it all seems good and radical. They have us march and then suddenly settle for reformist demands. Because they lack political imagination. Because they are gutless and clueless about structural change. They want “system change” but won’t take real steps towards it.
So after all the shouting, outrage, and rhetoric, what’s the actual plan? More laws to protect women, repeal of the police bill—“sensible” stuff we know is not enough. We don’t want to ask the system for change—we want to remove the system itself.
This is 2021! 125,000 have died miserable deaths this past year because government won’t protect the vulnerable. Children going hungry by the million. Local governments slashing services, raising regressive taxes so the rich avoid paying for Covid. The ruling class won’t act on climate breakdown, which threatens future generations with disaster, as scientists have warned for decades.
Let’s get real. Only by bringing down the government and replacing it with assemblies of ordinary people making decisions can we be free. We’ll get hurt regardless—so there’s nothing to lose.
People and organizations claiming to speak for us don’t understand the stress, despair, and depression we live with. They’re doing fine—they have skin in the game. We need to say: get out of the way. Let’s come together and choose whether we keep being lied to, insulted, and harmed.
Valerie Brown is standing to be the last Mayor of London
To show defeatists and reformists what real revolution looks like. What courage and joy look like when you pursue what you truly want—not what seems possible.
Supporters don’t care about winning a rigged election. It’s about no longer accepting the status quo; living life worth living—and that’s how we win.
The Climate Situation
is F*cked
Help me to get with the job of sorting it out.
Rev21 Intro & Culture workshops |
Rev21 is gearing up for big collaborations – we’re currently working with multiple groups and movements internationally to coordinate effective civil resistance, while refining and spreading best practices for cultural transformation. Come and experience how it feels to get inside this vision. Then get to know how we’re going to make it happen, and find your way into making a meaningful contribution. |
