Saturday, 7 March 2015

World in Our Hands


Unitarian & Anarchist

"We Unitarians look forward to the time when the power to love will replace the love of power. Then will our world know the blessings of peace."

William Ellery Channing

"Anarchists oppose the idea that power and domination are necessary for society, and instead advocate more co-operative, anti-hierarchical forms of social, political and economic organisation."

L Susan Brown

The Unitarian Earth Spirit Network

The Unitarian Earth Spirit Network (UESN) was founded in 1990 by Rev Peter Roberts, assisted by Jo Rogers as Sec/Treasurer. Roberts felt that the British Unitarian movement had two main streams of belief (Liberal Christian and Humanist) adequately represented, but that another mode of thought that was not formally represented, a Nature / Earth / Creation centred religious voice. The UESN provides a forum and creative expression for this and has become a recognised, credible part of the British Unitarian movement.

The Network started life as the Unitarian Pagan Network, but some members were unhappy with the term 'Pagan' because of negative associations. For a while, it became the Unitarian New Age Network - but still, members remained unhappy with this title. A ballot was run offering a variety of titles for the Network, and "Unitarian Earth Spirit Network" won hands-down.

Basics of Anarchism by Ann Arky

Ask the average person on the street what they think of “anarchists” and they’ll all probably say something like “chaos” “violence” “mayhem” or some other negative expression. Ask them what they have read of anarchist history or anarchist theory and they will probably say “nothing.” So where did they get their opinions? Obviously they got those opinions from the propaganda organ of the state and the corporate greed machine commonly called “the media”. Why should the media give anarchists and anarchism such a bad press?

Could it be because they see anarchism as the greatest threat to their desire and ability to rule over and exploit the people of this world? The state is a hierarchical structure set up to control the people and legislates to protect the wealth of the corporate greed machine. Anarchism is a non-hierarchical system of sharing and mutual aid to the benefit of all in society, the two are totally incompatible. The corporate greed machine works to exploit the population and drag all the wealth up to a privileged few, it puts a price on everything and excludes all those who can’t pay the price, be it healthcare, housing, leisure, services or the necessities of life. Anarchism seeks to see to the needs of all in society and for society to be shaped by all those who take part in that society.

The state/capitalist/corporate system produces an ever widening gap between rich and poor, plunders and rapes the planet in an endless drive to increase profits to the shareholders of the corporate beast. Anarchism seeks sustainability through a system based on free association, voluntary co-operation and mutual aid. Given a choice why choose to be exploited, why choose to struggle for the benefit of the privileged few, why sell your children into poverty? We can produce enough to see to the needs of all on this planet, the reason we don’t is not lack of resources it is simply that the system says “NO”, there must be profit in every action, profit for that greedy privileged few who control the corporate greed machine.

We accept a system of winner take all and to hell with the hindmost, our compassion and commonsense surely demand we look at the alternatives. It is only commonsense to attempt to break the downward spiral of the corporate driven consumer juggernaut that destroys the environment and creates the illusion that happiness comes in pretty packaged boxes, at a price. We owe it to our children and grandchildren to try to create a better world of peace and freedom from deprivation for all. Anarchists point the way, anarchism is the tool.