The Humanity Project has 70+ popular assemblies set up in the UK—communities acting in the face of our climate extremes

Front cover of this pamphlet

We blogged on ex-XR-founder Roger Hallam a few weeks ago, noting an upgrade in his communication strategy. We’re delighted to bring you his next initiative - the Humanity Project - a community-based mobilisation which is very consonant with our own CANs model.

As announced in his latest newsletter:

We are coming together because - well, because things are going badly. Things are getting worse and we can see it all around us. It's something we can all agree on.

Maybe you can say there are three things most people agree on: first, far too much money, profit - power - is going to a very small number of people - the elites, the super rich, the billionaires. We pay our taxes, why not them?

Second - due to them running off with all the money, as you might say, there is no money for things we all care about - things which really do not work properly any more - whether that be our health services, the schools, the trains - the list goes on and on.

Lastly, we all have this bad feeling about the future. What will happen if these super rich people and companies continue to put carbon into the atmosphere?  What happens when food shortages occur and much worse things? We don’t want to think about this, but it’s right there at the back of our minds. It's like, “we have enough to worry about without having to think about the end of the world.”

If things continue to get increasingly stressed, then people will turn against each other. In many countries you are going to get vicious governments and we know from history this leads to fascism, with all those horrors you see in the movies.

It really does not have to be that way. Yes, it is going to get worse - let's be honest with ourselves, but we do not want and do not need to start tearing each other apart - picking on groups - making scapegoats. 

If we are going to avoid this hellish future for our kids and young people, we have a responsibility - a duty - to stop it if we can. It brings us to what is positive  - an essential part of the solution anyway - and that is to come together as a community to do two simple human things: to talk with each other and to listen to each other.

Put away our phones, switch off the social media for an hour or two, and speak with each other - look into each other's eyes and remember there is so much more we have in common than makes us different. 

We all care about this neighbourhood, this town/city, our country. We all want the best for our kids, young people. We all are decent people who play a part.

We are not saying we know how to sort everything out, but all round the place people are getting together to do the first thing we can all do - which is have a good chat. It feels good, doesn't it?! 

We need more democracy, not less. That means building new political spaces and places, being brave enough to create our new future. The start of that process begins with people powerhouses, new assemblies for ordinary people, and new ways of taking action and of showing everyone what we’re doing together.

We’ve got 70+ assemblies happening the run-up to April, and you can run one too. Set up a Popular Assembly in your local area and empower everyday people to make decisions about everyday issues.

To find out more and get involved, sign up to an online Humanity Project briefing.

More here. And see Hallam’s new booklet, The Work We Need To Do.