Dear comrades,
I know that you people are all very excited about the Spanish Revolution. You can’t wait for something like this to happen over there. Well, I’ll tell you, there is no reason to wait. You can start this revolution right now, right here. That’s why I have prepared a little Vademecum for the 21st Century Revolutionary.
Here goes.
ECONOMY
Most banks simply want to make a profit, no matter how. Traffic of arms, money laundering, speculation, death and destruction, to them it doesn’t matter just as long as they make a buck. They can do so because you allow them to. So close your bank account today and transfer all your assets to an ethical bank that invests in sustainable projects. Keep yourself informed about what your bank is doing. Demand transparency about their investments.
ENERGY
Use less of it and use it better. Don’t put your electrical equipment on stand-by, but switch it off completely. If it’s cold, take a blanket. If it’s hot, don’t be a wussy, close up and get used to it. Leave the car, take the bike. Or else start to drive hybrid. Install solar panels. There’s no need for you to depend on an external network. You can create energy yourself, together with your neighbours. As a community you can be completely energy-independent.
FOOD
Be conscient of what you eat. Know well what chemical fertilisers and pesticides are used to produce your food, and what preservatives, colourants and other shit is added to it. If cancer is the number one cause of death there must be a reason for it. Start eating biological food. It’s better for you, it’s better for the environment, and it’s better for the animals. Stop going to the supermarket, start going to grocers and bakers. Better still, start looking for biological farms in your vicinity and buy your products directly from there. Better still, create your own vegetable garden. At least you can be sure of what you eat.
INFORMATION
Distrust of mainstream television, radio, newspapers and magazines. No media outlet that depends on advertising or on the state is independent. Inform yourself through the internet. There are lots of independent media sites. Choose the ones you like and bookmark them.
POLITICS
Do you want democracy? Then there’s only one thing you can do: organise assemblies. Start with the street you live in. Come together once a week to get to know each other and discuss the common good. Do you want trees to be planted? Decide it together and plant them yourselves. Don’t wait for the city council. They’re only bureaucrats, they live somewhere else, they don’t really care. Once your local assembly is a success, organise a neighbourhood assembly, set up thematic working groups, participate. Then organise a city assembly in the same manner. Soon the bureaucrats will be superfluous. And you will know what democracy really means.
HOUSING
In modern society houses are build only once, but they are paid for many times over. The price of a house is only half the price you pay. You pay more or less the same ammount to the bank in interest. Each time the house is sold, the banks earn the entire price of it once more. There is no reason why you should keep paying perpetually for something that already exists. Once you have democratically organised yourself as above, stop paying your mortgage and your rent. The banks parasiting on your labour through real estate slavery will collapse. Better still, build your own house in the country. Use sustainable materials. It’s not that difficult and it doesn’t cost much. Inform yourself. Everything is possible.
LABOUR
You don’t like your job? Call in sick and start thinking about your future. Think about what you want to do, think about what you’re good at. Create your own job, alone or together with other people. Make it something satisfying. Don’t be afraid. Fear is what keeps us from being free. You can start a new life as from next week. Many people already did.
SOCIAL
Get to know your fellow men. Help people who need help, without a catch. Instead of going to the mall, visit an old folks home. Keep them company. Listen to them. The elderly have a lot of things to tell. They can be interesting or they can be annoying, but they all need to be treated as human beings. Remember that they are our parents and grandparents. They are the ones who gave us the gift of life.
EDUCATION
All good things start with the right education. So choose well in what way you want your children to be educated. Choose a school where each of them can develop his or her abilities to the max. Don’t teach them to compete, teach them collaborate. Don’t fill their heads with bullshit, teach them to think by themselves. If you don’t find a school that is good enough, then get together with other parents, and educate your children yourself. The state says you can’t do that? Fuck the state. Who are they to decide what’s best for your child? The state should be at your service. If it isn’t it loses all legitimacy. Don’t be afraid to defy the state. The future of your children is much more important.
CULTURE
The internet is a magical means that has given us access to all the knowledge and all the cultural heritage of man kind. Make full use of it. Instead of watching television, download a movie. Instead of listening to the radio, download music. Don’t listen to the people who say it’s ‘illegal’. They are only defending the interests of the discographical industry. We don’t need the discographical industry any more. They are a dinosaur from the 20th century. All past music and movies is cultural heritage that should be freely accessible. All contemporary music and movies as well. If you want to spend money, you go to a concert or to the cinema. The only time you will want to pay for recorded music is when you encounter an unknown group of musicians on the street or in a theatre, selling their own disks. If they’re good, support them.
WEED
Plant weed. Plant lots of it. Don’t believe them when they say it’s illegal. It can’t be, it’s a plant. Not only: it’s the most useful plant you can imagine. It can give you paper, cloth, oil, biofuel and much, much more. The late Henry Ford built a car completely made out of cannabis in the 1930s. It was fully operational, it went on cannabisoil and it was 100 percent sustainable. Soon after that cannabis was banned by law. Coincidence? Not at all. Expose the truth, start planting it wherever you can. In your garden, on your balcony, in the fields and in the parks. Everywhere you encounter a bit of earth, plant a seed. Weed can save the world. And you can smoke it as well.
MEDICINE
Take a look in the mirror. Ask yourself the following question: ‘Am I really sick?’ If the answer is yes, go to a doctor. If the answer is no, open your medicine cabinet and throw it all out. When you have started changing your life as above, you will find out you don’t need all these drugs. The occasional joint will be enough to calm you down and help you put things into perspective. Also, stop being afraid of filth. Filth is good. Your house doesn’t need to be polished to shine. You don’t need a shower every day. In a sterile place your immune system will get lazy. You will pick up every virus that passes by. So clean less, and when you clean, use biodegradable products. It makes no sense to clean your house if it pollutes the environment.
TRAVEL
Start hitch hiking. Pick up hitch hikers yourself. Don’t be afraid. It’s a good thing to know people. Especially when they’re travelling, because it means they’re open minded. You don’t need to spend money to travel. The less you spend, the more interesting your trip and the people you encounter. Start couch surfing and offer your couch to people passing by. We are a globalised world, so let’s start acting like globalised people. Cross borders and cancel them out. No-one is illegal. This world belongs to all of us. If people are starving, we have a moral obligation to open our doors and feed them. If we don’t do that, what kind of human beings are we?
RECYCLING
Stop buying shit that doesn’t last. We all think that when we throw things away, they ‘disappear’. Well, they don’t. Modern consumerism turns raw material into trash, with only a very short intermediate state in which the material is a useful product. This is what keeps our economy going, the production of ever more trash. Think about it. Try to imagine our daily global trash production. Once you do, you know why you should stop throwing away all the things you throw away. When something breaks down, try to repair it, or have it repaired by someone else. It used to be normal. It should be normal. And if you really don’t want something anymore, bring it to a second hand shop. Maybe someone else likes it. And once you’re there, take a look around. Instead of buying something new, buy something old. Break the circle. Make things last.
**
In the end, comrades, it all comes down to a few simple things. Spend less money and spend it better. Stop being afraid, for fear is their most powerful weapon. It turns us into slaves. Start informing yourself, for knowledge is power. Get together, for we all share a common destiny. Then start to act, and use your common sense. When people begin using their common sense, you will have a revolution.
All the best,
Oscar
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