How would you vote if there was a general election in the next couple of months?
It was telling that almost everyone at Campout 2022 stuck up their hand when asked if they felt 'unrepresented' by the current political situation. There is a strong shared belief that politics (and especially party politics) is broken, that it has become a circus of lies, deceit, back-stabbing and divisiveness.
How can it be fixed or overhauled? There are a variety of initiatives and movements all around us working for widespread and wholesale systemic change, as well as the personal shifts that are necessary for each of us to undertake this type of heart-centred readjustment.
What is needed now, quite urgently, is for those people and organisations doing the good work in 'parallel polis' to come together and unite to build a new movement.
Together we can be strong and maybe there is a case to nominate the tag 'trailblazer' once again as a way forward. We are all inspired by others, whether friends, peers, authors, speakers or influencers, progressive local and regional initiatives. So maybe we can imagine how we might create a resource where we recognise and empower each other as 'trailblazers'.
The Trailblazer movement isn’t (neccessarily) a political party, or even something that could be labelled as politics - it’s about re-imagining what's currently called politics as it should be. It places hope, truth, positivity and pragmatic solutions centrestage, as we co-create a national framework for change with potential to become international.
We envisage something way more fit for the times than dinosaur political parties. No longer Punch and Judy politics, which party to vote for, how to form progressive alliances.
The movement is about people, representing themselves, moving forwards together, underpinned by these values:
1 Progressive. A society run by all, for all, grounded in common sense and integrity.
2 Independent. Working outside the existing outmoded party political structure and tribal dogma.
3 Local. Respect for democracy at grass roots level, localised communities working within a global interconnected framework and connected by an overarching social network/s.
4 Empowering. Working for the good of all, creating and nurturing a participatory environment where people feel they have a voice and can make a difference through liquid democracy.
5 Humanistic. A greener, more empathic society moving away from materialism and profit as primary drivers, celebrating its spiritual elements and natural beauty, supporting renewables and working for peace through conflict resolution.
6 Collaborative. Encouraging complimentary skills and knowledge, bringing people together via mutual support mechanisms and initiatives which reward their own members through measured input.
7 Diverse. Joining the dots but respecting the differences, bringing to the table a range of viewpoints and experience.
8 Connected. A self-sufficient networked community that maximises technology for good and networking, enabling co-ordination and exchange, supporting creative commons and open source approaches.
9 Resourceful. Building collective wisdom through new approaches to learning and ideas development.
10 Principled. Making decisions based on our core values.
11 Fun. What’s living for if not to enjoy life and all it has to offer?
We are collectively working towards a framework for real and radical evolutionary change. A framework is not easily formulated or agreed but we are actively seeking your involvement for discussion to realise co-created pragmatic ways of making these changes immediate and meaningful.
Each of these steps on the path are essential and inter-connected. Unless we start by looking at ourselves and the changes we need to make, none of the other parts of this eco-system approach are likely to succeed.
The Path:
• 1 A shift from materialism to empathy. Working for ‘the good of all’. A move away from trademarking, copyrights, intellectual property, enclosure and exploitation to creative commons, open source and community collaboration.
• 2 An overhaul of the political system, away from party politics and polarity - true grass roots democracy which looks to build consensus by maximising engagement (including digitally).
• 3 Re-imagining a future with more compassion and equality, a place where all can flourish, create and experience a productive and fruitful environment.
• 4 Collaborative online platforms for ideas development globally, mutual support mechanisms and initiatives which reward their own members through measured input.
• 5 Localised communities pooling resources, skills exchanges, working within sight of a global interconnected framework.
• 6 Universal Basic Income : freeing up creative time from dead-end jobs for the planet’s workforce.
• 7 A shift in energy use to renewables.
• 8 Peace-building through conflict resolution.
• 9 An end to the mainstream media stranglehold - self-sufficient networked communities that develop good practice with news formulation and dissemination.
• 10 Joining the dots whilst respecting the differences. A 'no nation' state aiming for global governance
• 11 Having fun in the process! (always point 11 of a ten point plan!)