Mohandas Gandhi was imprisoned in 1922, 1930, 1933 and 1942. Because of Gandhi's stature around the world, British authorities were loath to allow him to die in their custody. It is likely Britain's reputation would have suffered as a result of such an event. Gandhi engaged in several famous hunger strikes to protest British rule of India. Fasting was a non-violent way of communicating the message and sometimes dramatically achieve the reason for the protest. This was keeping with the rules of Satyagraha.
In addition to Gandhi, various others have used the hunger strike option during the Indian independence movement. Such figures include Jatin Das and Bhagat Singh.
After Indian Independence, freedom fighter Potti Sreeramulu used hunger strike option to get a separate state for telugu speaking people.
Jimshock told me the other day Gandhi was also a wife-beater which is a let down, but no one is perfect are they?
Il be keeping a blog @ hunger strike against monetaryism 2010.
Join me. Strength in numbers
Il be starting on may 6th election day.
Do you have a URL for that yet ?
I would go more for a diet myself, but still, think of the money your be saving on food!
So here is the url, for the blog @ http://hungerstrike2010.blogspot.com/2010/05/thinking-and-talking-and-pl... This is stage 1 and today i will be going into more detail about exactly why and what il be doing.
And here is the draft of the letter i'l be sending to councillors in my locality, il also be mailing local churches political groups social groups, radio and newspapers and keeping vlogs and photo journal!
Councillor,
I am writing to inform you that on the morning of may 6th 2010, i will be begining a hunger strike. I am a resident in sawbridgeworth, i live in one of the flats at willow court. For more details on why im hunger striking, and what i hope to acheive, please visit my blog which is @
I hope you identify with the direction im taking, and support me by either joining in, or opening a dialogue with me. I would enjoy to record a conversation between me and you, i certainly feel we have topics that deserve engaging.
Also i will be contacting local newspapers and radio stations, and i hope that with enough support from our community, we can bring about a positive step in the journey towards sustainability, both locally and globally.
I look forward to your response
Blake
Please anyone on tzm forums who reads this, dont hesitate to let me know you're thoughts and you're constructive criticisms
> I will be eating whatever the bare minimum is to keep me alive.
I'm not clear on whether your be eating nothing or not ?
> hunger strike against monetaryism
I might have imagined being that TVP's main thrust of thinking is the scientific method, and that as we don't know how to run things without money, because we have not tested replacements well enough in detail, that your hunger strike would be directed towards something more along scientific lines, perhaps to demand that alternatives are at least looked into and studied, as we don't know for sure if we can manage to run the modern world without money in some form or another.
Perhaps you need to be more specific on which parts of moneyarism you think need removing/replacing, as think that would put you in a better position to argue your case and reduce the risk of you being sectioned and disappearing for a while, and give you a greater chance of being taken seriously with the mainstream media if your message is more achievable than something like world peace.
> my wife and son.
As someone whose lost several parents in my life, and the fallout from that contributing to my current poverty, do you think its perhaps not in your sons best interests to be doing this ?
To clarify, i will not be commiting suicide. As far as i know, hunger striking is usually not eating solid food, so i presume powdered or liquified food is within the parameters, but i get your point, i could liquify a roast dinner and not be hungry, but say im on hunger strike.
I will be keeping a detailed blog, and every gram of food consumed liquified or powdered will be recorded, and i'l leave it up to readers or followers of this hunger strike to believe or not, that i am inflicting starvation on myself. My aim is not to eat, full stop.
I've never done this before, maybe il last a fortnight and have to go to hospital, or maybe i'l last a month and not need medical help, i dont know.
Specifically the aim is to put pressure on whichever group of people actually govern the uk, to de-monetise food water and energy. Its a progressive thing so i sight that, they may say ok and then just not do it, or maybe they wont even reveal themselves to be the actual formulaters of policy in the uk. I think the latter is the most likely, however, the more social pressure and unrest, the more likely it becomes.
We may not know, collectively, but i "know" individually that money and thereby all forms of monetaryism constitute a restriction on quality of life, doing more damage than good. Every transaction down to the last penny.
My wife and sun are in fact, not mine. They are children of the universe, i owe them absolutely nothing and refuse to be held to account for thier quality of life. The whole point of this is to show that despite my endeavours and my best intentions, they can expect a third world quality of life within the next few years in the uk, unless food, water, and energy are de-monetised.
M8, my old man, had his incongruencies, but they werent his fault as such. Its not his fault he was in prison while i was young, its not his fault that he ddn compose some financial security for our family. In fact i think it stands in his favour that he didnt. It is the outcome of our social paradigm and of our environment. The next part of the blog is up now if youd like to read it @
http://hungerstrike2010.blogspot.com/2010/05/my-parameters-and-why-im-ta...
> powdered or liquified food is within the parameters
I think if you did that, the media wouldn't look at is as a hunger strike.
You could take a daily picture of yourself to show the weight loss.
> My wife and sun are in fact, not mine. They are children of the universe, i owe
> them absolutely nothing and refuse to be held to account for thier quality of life.
I tend to think that when you bring children into the world, you owe them a responsibility to help look after them.
> to de-monetise food water and energy.
I think its good to see a more concrete list of demands there, I would hazard a guess that water would be the easist one of those for any government to make available for free in the UK. (I would also hazard a guess that making it free would actually save the country money so to speak, as at the moment it costs a fair bit to collect payment from householders.) One might want to restrict free water to personal households/etc. and charge for industrial use though.
The energy one, perhaps you could break that down further, do you mean road fuel, electricity generation, which specific ones say ?
(I was thinking about the electricity one, it wouldn't be too far removed to imagine a local council building a power station to provide people with free electric as part of their council tax.. I could actually see that working as a step in the right direction, I wonder if I could do that here..)
Incidently, I thought the blog was overall quite well written and informative.
You are maybe unaware of how fortunate your position is to have a low rent home to live in, as many folk will never see such a luxury in the UK their entire life, and I'm not sure you perhaps realise the difficulty of a future life being homeless, especially into old age might bring you and your family. (Though my time living with my family being homeless wasn't so bad in a cherry orchard, but still, its done me no favours long term as you can see by my current position not being as good as yours in many ways.)
Still, I think your efforts could help spark avenues in peoples minds, it has at least in mine.
Definately be documenting my experience visually as well as in text.
Thankyou very much indeed for your compliments, your ideas and your criticisms, they are very welcome. You are absolutely right i need to be more explicit about exactly what type of energy. I had home energy supply in mind but have never stated that yet. I will link the blog to the forum on tommorows post. The latest blog post is up now @ http://hungerstrike2010.blogspot.com/2010/05/lists-of-related-media-list...
hey pac3mak3r.
I've read your posts and your blog, and i am 110% behind you.
Not sure how this will work for you though, no offense, but hunger strikes are usually attempted by people in the public eye or in jail.
I feel your pain with regards the bank charges, i too have been getting hammered since december 09 for being £8 OD, i think at last count the charges are up to £535... I also use the halifax.
But I have managed to get them wiped out, The method i used was, by making a formal complaint with regards the bank willing to increase my OD without my permission by adding charges, and not allowing me to have an increase to stop the charges.
I then started shuting at them very loudly to get them to pull all my telephone conversations so as to prove I asked for help. They said basically no chance, which is what I wanted as It gave the banking ombudsman something to work with. Seek these guys out for help. It worked for me.
Also, with regards telling the dole your doing a hunger strike, remember your on jobseekers, which means you have to be available to find work, they may question you with regards your availability and willingness to look. They may cut your money.. its the dole remember...
Have you contacted your local press office for some PR...?
Any local rag would cover this story.
I would also go to the doctors and get checked out 1st, and tell them your plans.
And best of luck, i'll be keeping an eye on your posts and bloggs, i cant join the fun though, i have a wee girl, what example would that show her.
Everytime she didnt get her own way she'd stop feckin eating.....lol...
Still waters run deep...!!!
We are all members of spaceship earth, lets fly this baby in the right direction.
Thanks for the support and thanks for the advice on the bank situation. Sounds like good advice, il definately be getting in touch with the ombudsman.
I know theres a good chance il lose my jobseekers, and consequently my housing and council tax benefits, which will be harsh, but not as harsh as the outcome for people all over the world if food water and energy arent de-monetised or else i wouldnt do it.
I have contacted my local paper and over the next week im going to be contacting radio stations and other institutions. I hear you about prison or public eye. A big part of whether or not this has the desired effect is publicity, so il be doing as much as i can in that respect, but i will also be archiving the experience with blogs vlogs and photos, so people can see what happened afterwards as well. The closer it gets the more i realise its going to be darkside. My immune system will suffer, my energy levels will be non existent, but i hope it will also help me clear my mind and curb my consumer habits.
The thing is because you suffer, doesnt nessecarily follow that your daughter will, but i agree, certainly in todays paradigm its likely. I am putting a limit on this hunger strike to 42 days now, and i will have to accede at that time, because i want to return to physical health in time for the birth of my sun. As a personal experiment into my own boundaries and life experience, and as a cry for help, and policy change, i hope this works out well
got a good chuckle out of your last paragraph OH oh for the wings of a dove
> I am putting a limit on this hunger strike to 42 days now
Pleased to hear that.
I was going to say, before I read what you wrote, that I think a practical working solution to offering free electricty to the people could be achieved in the current system by the following:
A not for profit company, that provides a ration of free electricity units per household for domestic customers (aka, not businesses.), and charges just below market rates for business customers. With any excess used above the ration charged at well above market rates to encourage conservation.
My thought for low cost energy production is in the geothermal area, which I think could be one of the lowest means for us to provide 24/7 base load capacity in the UK. (And with the coming energy shortage in a few years here, I imagine the government would be keen to see companies solve this issue and thus encourage and help such developments.)
So that business customers would in the main be subsiding domestic customers usage, but as the whole endeavour would be run on a not for profit basis, I think it might work out finanically doable.
A particular geothermal to electricity technology I have in mind, is:
http://www.evworld.com/article.cfm?storyid=247
http://www.powertubeinc.com
I was going to suggest to you, that instead of a hunger strike, perhaps you may wish to assist me in whatever way you could to make this kind of plan a reality in the UK, as I think it would more likely achieve what your aiming for.
As your hunger strike will last no more than 42 days, perhaps you (Or anyone else..) might consider this plan as something you could work on.
hi again,
I had this mad thought last night while lying in bed.
I know i shouldn't be thinking of you in bed, but there you have it.... :?:
You could always trick people into thinking you were on a hunger strike, but larger sized t-shirt in, and just change the t-shirt every couple of days.
You would look thinner on your vblog.
Just a thought, as we've had the wool pulled over our eyes for years, maybe this is your chance to get some small revenge.
good luck.... :clap:
Still waters run deep...!!!
We are all members of spaceship earth, lets fly this baby in the right direction.
Jimshock told me the other day Gandhi was also a wife-beater which is a let down, but no one is perfect are they?
Il be keeping a blog @ hunger strike against monetaryism 2010.
Join me. Strength in numbers
Il be starting on may 6th election day.
Hey pac3mak3r
You've had a feature on Max Kesier's website here:
http://maxkeiser.com/
"stacyherbert
Respond
Stacy Summary: A thread for the UK elections today. Most are predicting a hung Parliament. But I’ve seen many consensus predictions fail in UK politics. This British guy, Drake, starts a hunger strike today against the monetarism of all parties. So any Brits or UK residents who will be voting today, leave us any comments in this thread about what you are hoping for, what you are voting for, etc. "
They got your name wrong - isn't your name Blake?
I'm from Ipswich, not too far from you. Where exactly in Hertfordshire are you? I hear you guys are having fairly regular meetings in your area..
[i]"In trying to solve the terrifying problems that face us in the world today, we naturally turn to the things we do best. We play from strength to strength, and our strength is science and technology." [/i] - B.F. Skinner
Thanks for notifying me about that, my name is blake, but i used to have a pseudonym of drake cohen and thats what it says when i send an email.
The meetings have been happening weekly since the end of march in bishops stortford @ the half moon pub in north street.
Due to overwhelming pressure from my immediate family, I am giving up the fast. ApologY'S to anyone who has drawn inspiration from this, i still stand by the validity of my suppositions, even if i cant see this through.
I will still be trying to learn new ways of sustainable living and new ways of impeding globalisation, but i am going to tick the boxes concerned spectators want ticked so i dont get sectioned. Fear has owned me for now, but life works in phases and hopefully il bounce back. Nothing ventured nothing gained as they say. Or in other words, it was worth a try.
Your willingness was still inspiring.
thanks nanos. Up on max keisers website theres a link to the blogs now. Its this picture about half way down the page on the right