# Roger Hallam > The Climate Situation is Beyond F**ked. 1000’s of millions of Climate Refugees, Economic Collapse & Human Extinction. Join me in a Global Revolution to change it. Public Ghost content for AI and LLM tooling. This file includes a bounded export of public pages first, then recent public posts. Append `.md` to any post or page URL to get the content in Markdown (for example, `/example-post.md`). ## Pages ### About URL: https://rogerhallam.com/about/ Last updated: 2026-05-27T20:32:59.000Z Roger Hallam is one of the world's top climate campaigners, famous for being a founder of Extinction Rebellion, Insulate Britain, and Just Stop Oil—the most prominent social movements of recent years in the UK. He has worked as an advisor around the Western world, facilitating the creation of significant climate campaigns in Italy, Germany, and Sweden. Roger has been committed to social justice for decades - dropping out of LSE in his 20s to join the peace movement. Afterwards, he worked as an organic farmer in Wales for 30 years before unprecedented rains destroyed £100,000 worth of his crops. Having experienced climate breakdown first-hand, Roger recognised the need for societal change and became a researcher at King's College London. There, he produced award-winning research on the psychology of mobilisation and the design of civil disobedience. In 2018, he wrote the Tate Modern book of the month, *Common Sense for The 21st Century* \- an introduction manual to Extinction Rebellion. In 2023, the New Statesman rated him as the 34th most influential progressive person in the UK—the highest position of any environmentalist apart from David Attenborough. In 2024, he wrote the introduction to *A Green Day: Embracing Climate Action* (Hachette India). In 2024, a British judge had Roger dragged out of court by police for refusing to break his oath to tell the "whole truth" to the jury in a climate protest trial. For his efforts to speak publicly about the greatest crisis in human history, he was given a five-year prison sentence in July 2024—the longest sentence for civil disobedience in the UK since the Second World War. His prison sentence was front page news in The Daily Telegraph, The Times, The Guardian and The Daily Mail. He has written for a broad political spectrum, from the Guardian to The Daily Mail. On TV, he has appeared on BBC HardTalk GB News with Nigel Farage and has starred in several films about his civil disobedience, including [The Troublemaker](https://rogerhallam.com/film/) and[ Conscientious Protectors](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt18951396/?ref=rogerhallam.com). Roger continues to work from his prison cell. # DISRUPTION WORKS. ## DISRUPTION IS JUSTIFIED. Only mass civil resistance can stop the top global 1% imposing mass death on billions of people. We are out of time for anything else. “The essence of what is human is the ability to make a decision, a conscious decision, about what is right in life.” --- As an organic farmer for over 20 years, I could no longer sustain my vegetable growing. The impacts of climate change were decimating the livelihoods of farmers such as myself. Something was very wrong with the world; I could feel it, I could see it and I knew that something had to be done about it as our entire food production system was at stake. I studied the science and realized beyond unequivocal doubt that the extinction crisis was upon us and that our impending annihilation was being perpetuated by psychopathological criminals who have no interest in the wellbeing of the average human being or the natural world. Something needed to be done; I gave up everything I had and left for Kings College where I spent the next 4 years sleeping in my car in order to complete my studies in the science of mass mobilization in the tradition of Martin Luther King and Gandhi. I found the answers to the questions I had been seeking. I discovered the actions that we need to take in order to buy ourselves as much time as possible and mitigate indescribable suffering that awaits us as most of the planet becomes uninhabitable and we risk unspeakable horrors such as mass slaughter, starvation and rape, and the rise of fascistic regimes as the scramble for water and land takes off. --- ## HOPE DIES, ACTION BEGINS. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/11/47897155-9988649-Farmer_Roger_Hallam_55_who_helped_found_Extinction_Rebellion_bef-a-12_1631607823140.png) My arrest for flying toy drones outside Heathrow Airport I’ve been accused of many things, most of them are true. Some of them however are carefully crafted media propaganda, which even my own movement has used against me. This is something that you can expect unfortunately when you use your voice and stand out from the crowd. The only way we’re going to sort ourselves out is if we realise that this is not about us, but about our children and everything we hold sacred. Something bigger than us. About all that we hold to be sacred. We’ve got to get ourselves and our egos out the way if we are going to make a change. We are going to have to be willing to make sacrifices because what we are facing is worse than World Wars. It threatens all life on this planet. We have to let go of who we thought we were and how we thought life would turn out, and be willing to step into service for the sake of all that we hold to be precious. We need a revolution. In 2018 I co-founded [Extinction Rebellion](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extinction%5FRebellion?ref=rogerhallam.com). I have lost count of the number of times I have been arrested. I have been on two hunger strikes I have been to prison three times in the last three years and I am waiting for three jury crown court trials in the UK. I started [Burning Pink](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burning%5FPink?ref=rogerhallam.com) in 2019 to create a direct action movement which would stand in elections to create a political revolution: legally binding citizens assemblies to take over from politicians. We have painted the buildings of NGOs and political parties that refuse to tell the truth and act upon it. --- ## The Manifesto: What is to be done It is clear that catastrophe is now locked in. Short of a technological miracle being rolled out in the next five years, global heating will force around a billion people to leave their homes within the next two decades as the world heads over 2C – that’s 7C in inland areas, 15C on a “hot day”. The global economic system will collapse and impoverishment will hit billions of people. Revolutions are now inevitable. Functional human extinction – only around a billion people located about the polar regions – is not. The key question for humanity now is whether the revolutions will be fascistic or democratic – based upon hate or popular deliberation, enacting escapist nihilism or compassionate realism. So what is to be done? **Exit reformism to begin the revolution** Reformism makes sense when the structure of society is sound. When it is about to collapse then it becomes at best a displacement activity and at worst an active block to effective collective action. Preparing for the revolution means two things: first to give up our jobs and “go to the people”, working 60-70 hours a week – leafleting, setting up stalls, door knocking, creating public meetings for working class orators who can move people to tears, and also people’s assemblies where people reconnect and discover the ecstasy of solidarity. Second, a growing alliance of the willing needs to shut down “the economy” – that is, the death machine that is taking us to extinction – blocking roads and transport infrastructure, city centres and financial districts, week after week until arrests lead to violence by the state and imprisonment. Absolute nonviolent discipline will need to be maintained so that an internal open democratic culture can flourish, and we can appeal to the general population to join with us. The revolution will be led by women and the young and old, not by aggressive men, or it will turn into civil war and fascism. **Enact a radical democratic takeover of the state and institute citizens’ assemblies** Only a revolution can save us now because what objectively needs to be done to slash carbon emissions cannot be done by the gradualist carbon addicted regimes. This is not a “radical” position. It is a position held privately by government insiders and experts all round the world. The present regime has utterly failed and it will not save us. Going to more COPs is fucked! What is needed is a pincer movement – to stand in elections as ordinary people to uncompromisingly tell the truth and call for legally binding citizens’ assemblies to take over from politicians, and at the same time to organise mass civil disobedience in capital cities to last for two to four weeks – until the central demand for citizens’ assemblies is agreed to. This how rapid political change takes place. **Citizens’ assemblies – legally binding and independently organised, followed by a second revolution on the streets.** Permanent citizens’ assemblies need to become the new legislative arm of the state. This is the precise constitutional definition of a democratic revolution in the twenty-first century. They are legally binding so they cannot be ignored by parliaments and are organised by independent civil society groups and social movements rather than by the government and elites. When they announce their decisions, the carbon elites and their political administrators will break the rules and use lies and violence to try to take back power. This happens in all revolutionary episodes. We have to be prepared for this. As soon as citizens’ decisions are made millions will have to come back onto the streets to ensure the people’s will is done. That we demand life not death. And nothing will stop us. **All hands on deck for zero emissions and geo engineering** Citizens’ assemblies need to be asked how to get to zero emissions within 2-4 years, an 80% cut in two years. Not “net zero” which enables the carbon addicts a get out clause of “over shooting” and bringing down the temperature with technologies that do not yet exist. People in the citizens’ assemblies will be selected randomly from the population and will need to have their deliberations shown live on TV so that the whole population can learn about the horrors of our situation. Cities and regions should hold their own assemblies and debates so legitimacy for a complete emergency draw down of the carbon economy wins popular patriotic support – that is, our country, all our traditions, are at stake unless we completely change course. Outcomes will involve decisions such as: - Halving of the total national energy requirements within weeks: through banning of flying, fossil fuel car use, non-essential consumption, with all ongoing material production designed to last for the longest period possible (similar to a covid lockdown scenario but with local people being able to meet, socialise, and be politically active). - The reappropriation of 90% of the assets of the top 10% income bracket of the population to fund this emergency transformation, as would happen in wartime. - Massive investment in renewable energy and retrofitting of housing to the extent of removing all fossil fuel inputs into the economy within two years. A ban on all new construction and the appropriation of all empty housing to give to those in housing need. - Massive investment in creating natural carbon sinks and geoengineering – the latter being used to the extent necessary to return to 350 parts per million of CO2 in the atmosphere. All of this is beyond politics, it is objectively necessary. It will only be opposed by carbon psychopaths on the left and right whose pursuit of their private interests undermine the common good – that is, the need for our families, communities and nations to continue to exist. The situation is like a war or a national emergency – like covid. Everyone will have to come together. Otherwise we are done for. It’s as simple as that. This is what needs to be done. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/11/HARDtalk_-_Roger_Hallam_-_Co-Founder_Extinction_Rebellion.mp4_snapshot_01.47_2020.02.19_19.40.40-1024x576.png) On BBC's Hardtalk ## THE CLIMATE REVOLUTION IS BEYOND POLITICS At 2°C above pre-industrial temperatures it will be 4C or more inland, 10°C hotter on a “hot day”; too hot for billions of people to grow food. A thousand million people will be forced to leave their homes ( ref: [Future of the human climate niche](https://www.pnas.org/doi/pdf/10.1073/pnas.1910114117?ref=rogerhallam.com) ) The climate crisis is creating social collapse which will get worse and worse each decade. **Conservatives**: Allowing this to happen violates all our traditions, destroys families and communities, destroys our nations. **Liberals**: We face the destruction of all the progress towards freedom and prosperity built up over hundreds of years. **Radicals**: Corporate capitalism doesn’t just create vile inequality, it now creates global mass death. It has to be stopped. **Only a revolution can bring us together. Only when we remember that we are all connected, only when we remember we are not separate from nature but part of it, only then can we come together on the basis of the one human value on which we all can unite: that life is good and we must preserve it at all cost. Whatever it takes.** --- ## “We face a stark choice: Resistance or Complicity” ##### TAKE ACTION “Only by engaging in civil resistance: breaking the laws of governments, leading to arrest and prison, will we force them to change. It’s too late for anything else” ### Donate URL: https://rogerhallam.com/donate/ Last updated: 2026-05-27T20:32:29.000Z [Make a One-Off Donation](https://buy.stripe.com/6oEbLTaRk22QgQU6oo?ref=rogerhallam.com) I co-founded Extinction Rebellion in 2018 and since then I have literally not stopped. I created the strategic framework which enabled XR to become the number one global influencer on the biggest crisis in humanity’s history – the ecological emergency – in 2019. Since then, I have co-lead the political party Burning Pink, which aimed at replacing politicians with Citizens' Assemblies alongside a campaign of civil disobedience against councils and corporations; co-founded Insulate Britain, the UK's biggest civil disobedience campaign of 2021, aimed at forcing the government into insulating leaky homes across the UK, which became the fastest name recognition campaign in British history; played a key role in the development of Just Stop Oil, which has become the biggest climate campaign in the UK with over 90% name recognition. I did the initial design work for the A22 network of civil resistance projects which have become the biggest climate in several Western countries including France, Germany, Italy and Sweden over the past year. In November last year, I was imprisoned for making a short speech in support of Just Stop Oil. You read that right! After four months of incarceration, I am now back at work. I have two priorities: to tell the truth and to act as if that truth is real. Unlike anyone else in the global public sphere, I make clear what is going to happen in plain everyday language. We are not facing climate change, we are facing social breakdown - mass rape, mass slaughter, and mass starvation. It is what it is, and nothing is going to change unless we face this reality head-on. And nothing will change unless we get real about what we have to do. I believe in leading from the front. My PhD research and activism have resulted in around 20+ arrests (I have lost count) in the past four years, four stints in prison, and two 14-day hunger strikes. You have no credibility unless you walk the talk. After years of being effectively homeless - sleeping under a library desk and in PhD rooms at King’s College, then on the floor of XR offices, and in the spare room of supporters - myself and my partner Frieda are now in a permanently rented flat. It is a space in which to organise the coming revolution: to engage fully with the global media, and advise and organise mobilisations around the world. It is absolutely perfect. But I need money to afford it. By subscribing with a donation you will enable me to get on with the vital work I am doing and give me the resources not just to support myself, but also other people who are stepping up. I am completely committed to living on the minimum income and will give any surplus to the cause. This is how I have always lived and I am not going to change now. Any [monthly donation](https://rogerhallam.com/donate/#/portal/signup) you can give is greatly appreciated. Alternatively you can give a [one-off donation](https://buy.stripe.com/6oEbLTaRk22QgQU6oo?ref=rogerhallam.com). Thank you, Roger > "I’ve been following Roger's efforts since the start of XR and as a long time community organizer, I can see the value and importance of it. Donating is the least I can do. The example he and his comrades are setting is crucial for the world." > *– Fred Wright, New York - Satyagrahi* ### Designing The Revolution URL: https://rogerhallam.com/podcast/ Last updated: 2026-05-27T20:32:16.000Z Roger Hallam has studied and designed social change for 35 years. He has initiated and helped run the biggest climate campaigns of the last decade and knows his stuff. This series details the theory and practice of a completely new way of reimagining and renewing society. It’s now or never for humanity. Listen on Spotify, [Apple Podcasts](https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/designing-the-revolution/id1671150953?ref=rogerhallam.com), [Soundcloud](https://soundcloud.com/roger-hallam-2023/designing-the-revolution?ref=rogerhallam.com), or wherever you get your podcasts. Roger is now free from prison - woop! So from Episode 13 you can now watch them as Youtube talks. Don't want to go through the first 13 episodes of prison audio? No problem we've written up summaries versions below 😎 Just subscribe or sign in to read the summaries below **👇** _This page is for subscribers only._ ### The Troublemaker 2 URL: https://rogerhallam.com/film/ Last updated: 2026-05-27T20:34:12.000Z Trailer “The Troublemaker provides a blueprint for people who are sick and tired of the futility of civil discourse in combating the climate catastrophe. We hope this film inspires people to embrace radical tactics and actions that bring about real change. Our very existence depends on it.” **— Rooney Mara & Joaquin Phoenix** ### Produced by acclaimed director Sasha Snow Oscar Winning production company, Passion Pictures, renowned sustainability pioneer, Thomas Ermacora, and multi-award winning filmmaker, Sasha Snow, team up to produce an independent production about the transformative potential of facing up to the climate crisis. [The Troublemaker](https://www.sashasnow.com/the-troublemaker?ref=rogerhallam.com) scratches the niggling itch that is lurking in many of our brains about the extinction of planetary systems that seems to be going on all around us, and the dawning realization that something has to be done. It was filmed and edited at a time when, for most of us, ‘global crisis’ was an abstract concept. Now we know better. With one foot in the past and one in the future, the film casts the reality of global crisis as an opportunity to live life without lies, a life that offers both resilience and joy through the power of collective action. The film follows the personal awakening of two people, Roger and Slyvia, as they learn to accept the reality of climate breakdown and decide to do something about it. Now that we understand more about what a ‘global crisis’ feels like, it can no longer be ignored. This is our opportunity to find a radical way to kill off our old selves and to live anew. ## Sign up or login to watch the full film for free below 👇 _This page is for subscribers only._ ### Books that fuel the revolution. URL: https://rogerhallam.com/books/ Last updated: 2026-05-27T20:32:03.000Z [✍️ Sign up to get free digital copies of my books.](#/portal/signup/free) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2025/09/845x1200-1-1.png) ## A Pamphlet for Rebellion. “Brilliant: wise, profound and persuasive. If you want to understand Extinction Rebellion, or how to change the world, read it.” [Get A Copy](https://lnk.bio/rogerhallam?ref=rogerhallam.com) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2025/09/justice-2.png) ## 50 Articles The Media Wouldn't Publish Collected writings exposing the lies of governments, failures of politics, and raw truth of revolution. Covering science, prison, the spiritual, and love — this is the manifesto media wouldn’t touch. [Get a Copy](https://lnk.bio/rogerhallam?ref=rogerhallam.com) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2025/09/zour-party-cover-1-1.png) ## Your Party From prison, I distil decades of organising into a revolutionary blueprint for new political parties. [Get a Copy](https://lnk.bio/rogerhallam?ref=rogerhallam.com) 📖 Members can download free copies at the bottom of this page. 📚 Physical copies will be delivered to paid members. 🛒 Buy [here](https://lnk.bio/rogerhallam?ref=rogerhallam.com) 📦 Bulk orders and enquiries: robin@rev21.earth ### A free digital copy of both Common Sense, 50 Articles The Media Wouldn't Publish and Your Party is available to all subscribers to this website ✅ Sign up or login below to download yours 👇 _This page is for subscribers only._ ### Contact URL: https://rogerhallam.com/contact/ Last updated: 2026-05-27T20:31:50.000Z You can get in touch with Roger and his support team at roger@rev21.earth ### Welcome to the Revolution! URL: https://rogerhallam.com/welcome-to-the-revolution/ Last updated: 2026-07-07T04:18:34.000Z You'll be getting this newsletter for free, in your inbox, from now on. I know you've got enough to read already. I'm not going to fill your life with more words for the sake of it. This is an emergency and I will treat it as such. You don't need to pay for this. We're in a crisis. People need the information whether they can afford it or not. But I'll be straight with you: I hope you pay something. Money lets me keep doing this work and support the people doing it alongside me. I live on the minimum I need to survive. Everything else goes back into the movement. That's how I've lived for years, and I see no reason to stop. If you do pay, you get a few things back. Copies of my new books, for a start. Here's a free copy of *Common Sense for the 21st Century* to show you what you're signing up for. [Common Sense for The 21st CenturyA Handbook for Rebellion Common Sense V0.5.1.pdf480 KBdownload-circle](https://rogerhallam.com/content/files/2023/12/Common-Sense-V0.5.1-2.pdf "Download") [50 Articles The Media Wouldn't Publish PDFA collection of the best blog articles. 50 articles\_BW-rev\_new.pdf16 MBdownload-circle](https://rogerhallam.com/content/files/2025/09/50-articles%5FBW-rev%5Fnew.pdf "Download") Subscribers can also watch my film, [*The Troublemaker*](https://rogerhallam.com/film/), free. Right. Onto the actual business. ### Internet housekeeping: **Save my newsletter sender address: roger@rev21.earth (**[*here's how*](https://www.howtogeek.com/290046/how-to-stop-legitimate-emails-from-getting-marked-as-spam/?ref=rogerhallam.com)**)** **Reply to these newsletters, comment on the articles, argue with me if you disagree. That's what this is for.** ### Thank you for donation! Welcome to the Revolution. URL: https://rogerhallam.com/thank-you-for-donation/ Last updated: 2026-07-07T04:21:17.000Z You’re going to be getting the instalments of this new newsletter in your inbox and many of the perks of my writings and lectures along the way. To kick off your perks, here's digital copies of my books: [Common Sense V0.5.1A Handbook for Rebellion By Roger HallamCommon Sense V0.5.1.pdf480 KBdownload-circle](https://rogerhallam.com/content/files/2023/12/Common-Sense-V0.5.1.pdf "Download") [Your PartyGrasping The Enormity of the Moment Ebook.Your Party.pdf472 KBdownload-circle](https://rogerhallam.com/content/files/2025/09/Your-Party-2.pdf "Download") [50 Articles The Media Wouldn't PublishA collection of the best blog posts. 50 articles\_BW-rev\_new.pdf16 MBdownload-circle](https://rogerhallam.com/content/files/2025/09/50-articles%5FBW-rev%5Fnew-1.pdf "Download") As a subscriber, you can now watch my film, The Troublemaker, for free. Just scroll to the bottom of [this page.](https://rogerhallam.com/film/) That's all for now. Onward! ### A few bits of internet housekeeping: **Save my newsletter sender address: roger**@rev21.earth **(**[*here's how*](https://www.howtogeek.com/290046/how-to-stop-legitimate-emails-from-getting-marked-as-spam/?ref=rogerhallam.com)**)** **Please feel free to reply to my newsletters** or comment on the articles with questions, feedback or to connect our work. ### Blog URL: https://rogerhallam.com/blog/ Last updated: 2026-05-27T20:31:36.000Z ## Blog An archive of my writings since 2017. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/guilltonine-purity-1.png) ## Revolution It's inevitable. Here's why. [Browse](https://rogerhallam.com/tag/revolution/) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/Month_only_time_series_combined-1-1024x577-1.png) ## Science 1.5C is dead. Here's what we face. [Browse](https://roger-hallam.ghost.io/tag/science?ref=rogerhallam.com) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/roger-fed-up.png) ## The Left Getting our act together. [Browse](https://rogerhallam.com/tag/left/) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/xr-viisioning-1.png) ## Liberals It's time to break free. [Browse](https://rogerhallam.com/tag/liberals/) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/warsaw-1943-1-1.png) ## Conservatives Either we work together or we die together. [Browse](https://rogerhallam.com/tag/conservatives/) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/death-of-queen-1-1-1.png) ## News Commentary My take on the headlines. [Browse](https://rogerhallam.com/tag/news/) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/roger-glued-in-suit.png) ## Personal Updates from the frontlines. [Browse](https://rogerhallam.com/tag/personal/) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/william-blake-2-1.png) ## Spiritual Dark nights of the soul. Ecstasies of being. [Browse](https://rogerhallam.com/tag/spiritual/) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/burning-pink-conservative-HQ.png) ## Civil Resistance It's our best shot at survival. [Browse](https://rogerhallam.com/tag/civil-resistance/) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/prisoner-1-1.png) ## Prison Letters from London cells. [Browse](https://rogerhallam.com/tag/prison) ### Revolution in the 21st Century International Conference URL: https://rogerhallam.com/revolution-in-the-21st-century-international-conference/ Last updated: 2024-06-06T18:12:27.000Z Calling all frontline activists, movement and community organisers, and people who believe a better world is possible. We’re gathering on **JUNE 22 & 23**, 2024 to start planning “W*hat’s next*”. [Find Out More](https://www.r21c.net/?ref=rogerhallam.com) We all know it's coming, the collapse of the neo-liberal regimes is inevitable: the sixth mass extinction is underway, climate catastrophes occur regularly, and capitalism is destroying itself with “*business as usua*l”. The all-important question of our time is – What’s next? This online conference is making a start. Together we’ll explore: • Where are we at in the world at the moment? • What might a truly non-violent, democratic revolution look like? • What is the plan for the new world? The focus is on praxis, joining theory and practice – How we actually get stuff done. Speakers and panels will provide information and context for audience breakouts, where small groups will discuss what they've heard and come back to sessions with questions and suggestions for action. [Sign Up](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdedNkiA7C5IUyeR11iljTOG8FW%5Fx8CN2fSk-udGTWiMH0Wxw/viewform?ref=rogerhallam.com) The revolutionary change we need calls for a new global movement established outside the collapsing system, ready, willing and able to build a new democracy. Revolution in the 21st Century is about building communities and forming collaborative networks for meeting not only common needs, but those of the environment and future generations as well. Please join us and share this invitation widely. To see conference details and RSVP, please visit [R21C.net](https://www.r21c.net/?ref=rogerhallam.com) See you at the conference! ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2024/06/rc21.png) ### Thank you for the Revolutionary+ donation! Important info below. URL: https://rogerhallam.com/thank-you-for-the-revolutionary-donation/ Last updated: 2026-01-19T22:30:41.000Z Thank you for your donation, and welcome to the Revolution. You’re now part of a growing community supporting this work, and you’ll start receiving the newsletter with my writing, talks, and updates on the unfolding climate and political crisis. ### Your subscriber perks start now To begin with, here are **digital copies of my books**, available immediately: [Common Sense V0.5.1A Handbook for Rebellion By Roger HallamCommon Sense V0.5.1.pdf480 KBdownload-circle](https://rogerhallam.com/content/files/2023/12/Common-Sense-V0.5.1.pdf "Download") [Your PartyGrasping The Enormity of the Moment Ebook.Your Party.pdf472 KBdownload-circle](https://rogerhallam.com/content/files/2025/09/Your-Party-2.pdf "Download") [50 Articles The Media Wouldn't PublishA collection of the best blog posts. 50 articles\_BW-rev\_new.pdf16 MBdownload-circle](https://rogerhallam.com/content/files/2025/09/50-articles%5FBW-rev%5Fnew-1.pdf "Download") As a subscriber, you can now watch my film, The Troublemaker, for free. 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Onward, Roger ## Posts ### The Insurance Industry Predicts Mass Death URL: https://rogerhallam.com/the-insurance-industry-predicts-mass-death-what-do-we-do-about-it/ Last updated: 2026-07-27T08:37:00.000Z In January 2025, the British insurance industry produced a report estimating that at least four billion people could die this century because of the climate crisis. The finding was buried in an appendix, barely reported, and when it was covered, it took five or six paragraphs before anyone mentioned it. On this call, climate scientist Bill McGuire and I laid out what that prediction means, and what it demands of us. --- ## Abridged Transcript ### Bill McGuire: Where We Are Now Global heating has averaged more than 1.5°C over the last three years. That figure was never arbitrary. It was the aspirational limit of the Paris Agreement, defined as a guardrail against dangerous climate change. We are now on the cusp of crashing through it permanently, at a threshold that coincides with tipping points including the collapse of the Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets, which together would bring an unstoppable 12-metre sea level rise. Because of how these thresholds are measured, we won't officially know we've passed 1.5°C until ten years after the fact. With a hyper El Niño pushing temperatures past 1.6°C, possibly 1.7°C, in the next twelve months, we may only recognise 1.5°C in the rear-view mirror. The rate of heating has doubled over the last decade to 0.35°C per decade, which would put the 2°C mark around 2040\. But satellite data suggests the true rate may be closer to half a degree per decade, meaning a 3°C rise by 2050 is plausible. McGuire calls the idea that current policies point to a 2.6–2.7°C rise by 2100 "complete bollocks." A return to the conditions of the late Pliocene, three million years ago, is already locked in. To put that in context: our planet has been hotter than it is now for most of its history. What makes this moment dangerous isn't that we've been here before, it's that we haven't. The rate of heating now is ten times faster than during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum 56 million years ago, and at least twenty times faster than at the end of the last ice age. Our climate has already reverted close to that of the last interglacial period, 125,000 years ago, when temperatures were around 2°C above pre-industrial levels and seas were 6 to 9 metres higher. As we continue emitting roughly 41 billion tonnes of CO2 a year, the equivalent of around 800,000 Titanics, we risk rewinding the climate clock further still, potentially back to conditions last seen 15 million years ago, with sea levels up to 50 metres higher than today. Recent analyses point to societal breakdown beginning as early as 2040, and deaths measured in the billions by mid-century. McGuire's conclusions: every tonne of carbon not emitted is a win. We are no longer fighting to prevent catastrophic breakdown, that's already baked in, we are fighting for survival. And because central control is likely to fragment, we need to start organising now, at the level of town, village, street and block, to secure water, food, energy and safety for the people around us. James Garfield said, "The truth will set you free, but first it will make you miserable." It is a reminder that hope dies last. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2026/07/mr-fish-1.jpg) Artwork by Mr. Fish. You can purchase this [postcard](https://rev21.earth/product/20-mr-fish-postcards/?ref=rogerhallam.com) to support our work. ## Roger: Four Billion Dead I take the insurance industry's figure at face value: a prediction, buried in an appendix, describing at least four billion deaths at 3°C of warming. Not people vanishing painlessly, but generations dying through war, social collapse, and starvation, roughly 4 billion deaths between 2050 and 2100, taking global population from 8 billion down to 4 billion. I point to how the report was received. The Guardian's coverage led with the possible loss of 50% of GDP, with the death toll appearing five paragraphs in. My point: a media landscape, even in its liberal wing, that treats rich people's pensions as more newsworthy than the deaths of billions of mostly black and brown people in the global south. I drew a comparison to scale: if four billion people die, that's the equivalent of roughly 80 Second World Wars over 50 years. At 2°C, the death toll is likely to be lower, but still equivalent to around 40 World War IIs. I argued this is not a campaign in the usual sense. It's a confrontation with the most extreme possibility in human experience, one that will change how movements operate. The project's response starts small and deliberately unhurried: a photo holding a sign reading "4 Billion Dead," followed by silent processions, bearing witness rather than marching or chanting. I described this as preparation, what Gandhi called self-purification, central to sustaining resistance rather than burning out. From there, the plan builds outward: larger processions, community-building weekends, and a demand for a legally binding citizens' assembly to address existential risks facing this and future generations. If government won't fund it, the project aims to raise the money and run it independently, with its outcomes becoming the movement's demands. I was direct about what the project isn't: given the current political climate, it won't organise civil disobedience directly, since doing so risks the arrest of the organisers and the collapse of the organisation itself. Spontaneous resistance will be left to others. Instead, the aim is to build a broad coalition over the next five years, ready for the ruptures ahead, so that when mass death does begin to bite, the response comes from people demanding real change, not from the far right dominating the airwaves. My closing point: courage doesn't come from sitting alone trying to talk yourself into action. It comes through community, through combining with other people and feeling the strength of doing this together. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2026/07/image-20.png) The image above is from the [Planetary Solvency report](https://actuaries.org.uk/media/ni4erlna/planetary-solvency.pdf?ref=rogerhallam.com) by the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, the UK’s only chartered professional body dedicated to educating, developing, and regulating actuaries based both in the UK and internationally. ## How to Get Involved **Maya** outlined the first step: take a photo of yourself holding a sign that reads "4 Billion Dead," ideally somewhere with an interesting backdrop, and send it in to be shared on social media. It's a small act, but a refusal to stay quiet about what's coming. - [Guidance on taking the photo](https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/home?ref=rogerhallam.com) - [Upload your photo](https://click.actionnetwork.org/ss/c/u001.dU3IGTNgzq7huYi7TMSnD65784HnigYsS9kab6X-uY4NxkEGTW4ay%5FOUu5hbVgesrSQNR--dw93fswV-gtH6DwWD9T2hlQiqiqHC6rJvdxatNZB1hRYUbYU3LJxT5DLbB8SXtV68ssCgrMIisHlr4pMYsn1dS5%5FK%5FjTWUgw0Jr42zMnRZPwE28R%5FRGqfd7jIpT1%5FeSCc4CpES-Ob-kCvjsl3HfGQ43yQ0gZI6j%5FIvwwj99YfKkNnGDrrtk-l42Quin%5F-iR3H1Kfru6VclbpJhOH7VZu46Xp36VaBaVBRJYjR8OGWvyXAJDY08motmePTjlAv-rNnfKljW7XA8XwkFJrD808dkOo2wvyrKM1UuOFKOaITDu%5F1rYfa-lcfRpGl/4sl/Gwvx3AqPSlajdWzqi4L23g/h2/h001.dj%5Fq-fcb33%5FhEZgcuxbTEIKu6zXhtXTD7vomRwPVMwQ?ref=rogerhallam.com) **Sean** spoke about the next stages: local groups forming around people who've taken the photo, leading into silent processions that bear witness without seeking confrontation, supported by a network offering guidance and materials. From there, local mobilisation, through leafleting, postering and door-knocking, builds toward public meetings, and eventually weekends where people go deeper into organising together. The ask, in short: take the photo. Help organise or join a procession. Help with a public meeting. Help mobilise your local area. Two upcoming organisational calls were announced, on [28th](https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/ViWdo4P0Q%5FSHvTrfB4SaHg?ref=rogerhallam.com) an [30th ](https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/RzIVqRXfRPy9EFzfHV4%5FGA?ref=rogerhallam.com)July, for anyone who wants to take the next step. [Get involved with 4 Billion Dead](https://rev21.earth/events/?ref=rogerhallam.com) [Order a copy of Suicide](https://rev21.earth/product/suicide/?ref=rogerhallam.com) [Give a One-Off Donation](#/portal/support) --- ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get on with the job of sorting it out. [Support](https://rogerhallam.com/#/portal/signup/6517fbb3b89c5400016e9f27/yearly) ### The Darkest Hour Before the Dawn: On Collapse and Resistance URL: https://rogerhallam.com/the-darkest-hour-before-the-dawn/ Last updated: 2026-07-23T07:27:00.000Z I spoke with Chris Hedges recently about the climate crisis, the book I wrote inside prison and what it means to face the reality we're in. We've had 30 years of fooling ourselves that we don't face mass death, and now we do. What's needed is prophetic leadership: people willing to stand up and say, you are going to die, and your death is going to be appalling, and you need to go through your dark night of the soul and come out the other side. It's not complicated. You just need to get a grip and do what you need to do. Below is the recording and full transcript of our discussion. --- ## Transcript **Chris Hedges**: From a cell in Wayland Prison, Roger Hallam — co-founder of Extinction Rebellion and Just Stop Oil — while serving a five-year prison sentence, wrote his book, [*Suicide: The Political and Legal Implications of Creating Endless Mass Death*](https://rev21.earth/product/suicide/?ref=rogerhallam.com). It is a searing indictment of a legal and political system designed to punish those who resist while protecting those who propel us toward mass extinction. In the age of climate collapse, telling the truth has become a criminal act. Hallam and his four co-defendants, who each received four-year sentences, were convicted for hosting a Zoom call in 2022 to organise activists to climb onto bridges over the M25, the main motorway that circles Greater London. The short-term aim was to stop traffic. The long-term aim was to force the government to stop new oil and gas licenses. This was not a symbolic protest exemplified by activists hurling tomato soup at Van Gogh's *Sunflowers*, preserved behind protective glass in the National Gallery in London. It was a protest designed to disrupt — as it did — commerce and the machinery of state. Although even the protesters who tossed soup at the painting, which was not damaged, received harsh prison terms of nearly three years. Hallam, like a reviled biblical prophet, warns that we are already experiencing fundamental shifts in climate patterns that are destroying the foundations of human society. Our infrastructure and social structures are increasingly based on climate models that no longer exist. Seas are rapidly rising. Tens of millions of people once considered safe from coastal flooding are now considered at risk. Global warming has nearly doubled in only a decade. Ocean overheating is accelerating. Over a two-year period, ocean heat waves with temperatures up to 3 to 5°C above normal lasted for 500 days nonstop, covering 96% of the world's oceans. Antarctica is undergoing the fastest glacier collapse ever recorded. Thawing permafrost is belching out greenhouse gases. If greenhouse gas emissions are not reduced by 50% within the next six years, by 2030, Hallam writes, average global temperatures will exceed 2°C, displacing an estimated 1 billion people. That's 20 times the number of homeless at the end of World War II, amounting to 1 in 8 people on Earth. There's a 50% chance the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) will collapse by 2050, causing temperatures in Europe to drop by 10 to 30°C. The Arctic is expected to be ice-free in summer between 2030 and 2035\. And by 2040, forest fires may destroy 20% of woodland annually. This is just the beginning. Joining me to discuss the climate crisis and his book, *Suicide: The Political and Legal Implications of Creating Endless Mass Death*, is Roger Hallam. So, Roger, as you know, I wrote the foreword to this book, so I have to be upfront about that. It's a great book — I wouldn't have written the foreword if it wasn't. And when I was in London, of course, I visited you in prison. I wondered how that prolonged period in prison changed your perspective, if it did — not just on your social role, but also on British society. **Roger Hallam:** Well, yeah. I was in prison for about 14–15 months, and then I was in prison on remand for about four months. So I've been in and out of prison basically for three or four years now for various matters. How it's affected me — I'm just a lot stronger. People might think that's peculiar or unusual, but I don't think it is. I think there's been a recent study showing that people who have been to prison — and about 250 people have been put in prison in the UK, which is the equivalent of 1,500-plus in America if you adjust for population — come out more committed, not less committed. There are reasons we can discuss why that's the case, but it certainly gives you a visceral sense of what an authoritarian state looks like now. In terms of taking action on the must-do projects that we face, we're already in an authoritarian state in the UK and obviously similarly in America. **CH:** I remember Craig Murray — he'd spent much less time in prison than you did — but I remember when he got out, he told me he was just stunned at the bankruptcy, if that's the right word, of the kinds of lives that many of those who were incarcerated led: the lack of opportunity, the poverty, the even illiteracy. Was that something that struck you? I'm curious whether it gave you a window into this rapidly expanding social inequality which certainly defines the United States and the UK. **RH:** Yeah, I think it does. It didn't particularly surprise me or strike me this time — it's the seventh time I've been in prison. I went to prison in the 1980s when I was 19 or 20, for the peace movement. So I've had plenty of experience with the British class system, let's put it like that. British society has been characterised by extreme inequality for centuries, and that's sort of baked in. What we need to understand, though, is that people have the opportunity and the courage to deal with their circumstances. Not always, of course — often terrible tragedies and great injustices happen in prison, as people are aware, like with Chris. But at the same time, people get on with their lives. People are capable of taking control of themselves and living with some dignity in spaces of extreme provocation and deprivation. I think this is what we need to understand: I have a generally positive attitude about human beings. We are capable. We're not just pieces of dead matter that get hit on the head. We are very capable of fighting back, both internally and externally. Otherwise, history wouldn't happen as we know it. So for me, it was a place of reflection, really, and admiration, really, for some of the guys I was incarcerated with. I was on a corridor with people — "lifers," as they call them in the UK. I don't know if that's the word in other places, but people who'd been sent to prison for 25 years plus. Many of these people have done terrible things — there's no two ways about that. But many of them had decided they were going to live their life anyway. They were very spiritually solid. Not all of them, of course, but a lot of them were. For me, this was a lesson: whatever the bad guys do to us, we always have the opportunity to choose how we're going to react and how we're going to live our lives in response to the involuntary hell that's imposed upon us by the powers that be. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2026/07/ROGER-HALLAM_SUICIDE_ADVERTS-03.png) [https://rev21.earth/product/suicide/](https://rev21.earth/product/suicide/?ref=rogerhallam.com) **CH:** You have long made this point, which of course is correct, that you have what's called the liberal wing of the political establishment that will acknowledge the reality of the climate crisis but essentially do little to nothing — perhaps symbolic gestures. And then you have the Trump-like climate denialists. Both sides of this political equation are dangerous. Explain. **RH:** Well, I'm with Martin Luther King, as you know, Chris, right? The enemy is the liberal moderates, not the Ku Klux Klan, as per the Letter from a Birmingham Jail. And I don't mean that in some provocative way, just to get attention. I mean it from the heart of my being: what makes me furious beyond words is not the evil people in the world. There are always evil people in the world, as various people have said. The problem is those people who facilitate that evil with the knowledge that it is evil and pretend to be good while they do it. And this is the liberal class. This is the class that perpetually undermines the ability to bring about the objective revolutionary conditions which are strategically and ethically undeniably necessary at the present time, given the objectivity of the number of people who are going to die in the next 20 to 30 years due to the whole shitshow of things that are going to be brought down upon us that everyone listening to this knows about. The problem is the lack of leadership — the lack of revolutionary leadership — which will call out the liberal class and make clear that if people are not going to die, then they need to join together to create a revolutionary movement. And I don't mean, again, in some romantic "put a poster on your wall" way. I mean in the classical 20th-century civil resistance way: having a leadership structure, having a mass organisation, having an explicit strategy of regime change, and having a rhetoric of rage and determination. Until we get those things in place, we will be continually sabotaged by what I would call the administrative class. And I've recently been mobilising in inner-city London, and this is the problem. There are so many people who are furious — just about everyone you speak to — and I've knocked on the doors of thousands of people in the last eight months. The problem is that the vast majority of the campaign spaces, the vast majority of the deliberative spaces, are basically controlled by this administrative class, which exists to prevent any collectivisation of resistance. As soon as you try to do that, they're down on you. They use various methods to make sure you're not successful. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2026/07/roger-in-market-2-1.png) Out mobilising in Brixton That's the problem. I'm not interested, as you know, in coming on podcasts and saying how bad Donald Trump is. We've done that. We've been there. What we need to do is organise. And we need to understand how you organise. We've got a 200-year tradition of organising since the French Revolution. We need to start being humble enough to realise that people in the past used to do a lot better than we did, rather than thinking we can just mess around on social media. **CH:** I think you have pointed out, quite astutely, that this organisation requires that you show up. That you invest significant time in speaking to various groups, in programs of education, that it's not done online, that it's done through personal connections, and that it's labour- and time-intensive. **RH**: It is. And there's no mystery about why that is the case. Humans are basically functions of what's happening within about five meters around them at any one time — in other words, what the other humans are doing within your immediate space. I did years of research in academia about this before I co-founded Extinction Rebellion, and I'm not saying anything unusual. There are 40 or 50 years of psychological research behind this. Individuals don't read books and then decide to act. What they do is talk to people they respect, and if those people are doing X, they'll do X as well. If they're doing Y, they'll do Y. People can be enormously courageous and enormously evil depending upon what's happening around them. So the role of the revolutionary is to design those spaces. We don't need to talk about individuals. We need to talk about spaces and dynamics. There are different units of spaces: what you say to people on the doorstep, what you say to people in assemblies, what you say to people in interviews like this. They all need to come together. The big message needs to be: if we don't join together, we're going to die. And I mean that literally. We don't need to say, "Hey guys, we've got some problems, and Trump's a terrible person" and various abstract nouns. We need to say: you are going to die, and your death is going to be appalling, and you need to go through your dark night of the soul and come out the other side and become a mature human being — like millions and billions of people were in the past who confronted the same situation. What’s unusual is we’ve had 30 years where we’ve fooled ourselves into thinking we don’t face mass death. And now we do because we’re in 2025\. So, it’s a matter of getting over ourselves. And this is the role of prophetic leadership. And there’s not enough prophetic leaders out there because that sort of function is not valued. There’s this idea everyone will spontaneously join together; they won’t, unfortunately. Which doesn’t mean I’m justifying some patriarchal, traditional, top-down, crap leadership sort of model. What I’m pointing to are the great leaders of the past who stood up and died for the cause, as we know, which is what usually happens. But again, that is not a problem. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2026/07/roger-doorknocking.png) Out doorknocking If I had thirty years of saying, “We don’t want leaders because they end up getting shot.” Well, obviously they end up getting shot. That’s what the life of the human involves: sacrifice. We haven’t ended history. We’re still in the midst of it, and we’re about to come to the final chapter of it. And one of the reasons we’re going to fail is because we pretend the old logic doesn’t apply, which is, you live a good life and if you get shot, so be it. That’s the way we need to approach the future. And that’s not going to happen unless people act like me and you, Chris. We’re one of the few people in the Western world who get up and tell people. And this is what Larry Kramer did, who I think is the most important American of the last hundred years, not Martin Luther King. It’s Larry Kramer, who got up and said, “Get out in the streets, otherwise you’re going to fucking die.” And he said it again and again. And as you know, he turned around the campaigns against AIDS and the obscenity of what was happening in the late 80s with gay guys dying in corridors. He turned that around. How did he turn it around? By getting fucking angry. It’s not complicated. You just need to get a grip and do what you need to do, really. **CH:** Is there a parallel between the faster we move towards ecocide, the harsher the repression becomes? That certainly seems to be your experience. **RH:** Yes, it is, but we take the wrong message from that. We take the materialistic capitalist message, which is life isn’t an accounting system, and you’ve got ten dollars, Chris, and I take five from you, and you’ve only got five left. This is what the Left does all the time to get colonised by neoliberal capitalist logics. If you get put into prison, it doesn’t mean you’ve lost five dollars, and you’ve got five left. It means whatever you want it to mean. You see what I mean? Humans are not accounts. When the neoliberal liberal left says repression is really bad because that means people cannot rebel, not only are they betraying the essence of what it is to be human, they’re just talking empirical bollocks, as you know. History is absolutely full of societies becoming more authoritarian. And because they’re more authoritarian, people rebel, not despite, because it’s an obscenity. I mean you’ve got Trump in America and what are the numbers? Like five, ten million people have been out on the streets. Why’s that? It certainly isn’t because of the repression; despite the repression, it’s because of it, isn’t it? People didn’t all rush indoors in Minnesota going, “Dear, there’s a chance I might lose my liberty or whatever.” They were going, “Fuck this, let’s go,” because some things are more important, right? Which is self-respect and all the rest of it. **CH:** How do you see the movement moving? We have had movements that embrace this kind of radical, confrontational response and essentially become domesticated. Most of the environmental movements, the mainstream environmental movements, Sierra Club and all already have. But how would you kind of judge or explain the health of our radical movements in terms of confronting power? **RH:** Well, I think we’re in the darkest hour before the dawn. That’s my analysis. I think the state of the radical movements is massively immature in the presence of the objectivity that we face. But the important thing to understand is this is nothing new. There’s a cycle of resistance in response to repression. And you can have a cycle of resistance, and then everything collapses because you can’t keep that level of energy up for a long time. And what we’ve got now is in many ways like the last spasm of denial, right, before it becomes absolutely obvious what’s going on. In the words of a university professor, whose name I’ve forgotten, he was on social media last week saying, “Everything won’t change until white people die.” And this was a professor from an elite university, right? Obviously, he was retired. He wouldn’t say that if he were in a job. But that’s the fundamental tipping point, as we know. And white people will start dying. Obviously, I’m talking about rich white people here as well. They will start dying because the climate crisis is a suicide prospect, which is why my book is called “Suicide.” My book isn’t called, the ruling class are going to do us in, and they’ll be fine and we won’t. **CH:** They think they’ll be fine. Don’t they? **Roger Hallam:** This is a unique moment in the human experience because since 1945, you’ve had the capacity to destroy every human on the planet. It’s not like previous ruling classes were worse than this one. Obviously, they would have destroyed themselves as well. The point is this ruling class will destroy all of us, and also they’ll destroy themselves. And by ‘destroy’ I mean we’re going extinct, and they will go extinct. And we can have little obscene conversations about whether a few of them survive in the bunker for a few decades, but that’s not the point. The point here is that the whole way our civilisation sees reality is intricately combined with why we’re going extinct. And what we need is a fundamental new way of seeing what it is to live a human life. And this sounds ridiculous at the moment because we’re at the darkest hour before the dawn, but I can a hundred per cent guarantee that in ten years’ time there’ll be a revolution in the ways in which we see the nature of our civilisation, in the ways that prophetic explosions have happened at times of extreme distress in human history. There’s nothing unusual about this. What’s happening at the moment is it’s like we’re having the last dance in Hitler’s bunker before the Russians arrived, you know what I mean? That’s the logic that’s being promoted by the liberal left, and in the conservative spaces is, let’s forget about reality for another ten years, pretend, and then we’ll have to deal with death. **CH:** And yet there are movements within societies that face imminent death - the ghost dance or something - where people retreat into crisis cults. I look at the Christian Right as a crisis cult. You unplug yourself from reality. You embrace magical thinking. That’s also a phenomenon of an overwhelming existential crisis. **RH:** Yes. I mean, as you know, I’m not some madman, Chris. This is going to happen, and it’s all really straightforward. I’m a sociologist, as you know, right? And it’s not complicated. This issue is not complicated. It’s emotionally appalling, but analytically it’s not complicated: in times of massive distress, a society will fracture along several key lines. One of them is towards internal destruction - personal suicide, nervous breakdown, domestic violence. Another fracture will go towards external hedonism - live now, forget the future. And another element will go into some form of collective cult-like behaviour or some fascistic worship of death, which is what fascism basically is. And the last fracture will be the fracture that turns towards the prophetic love of life and the human. And obviously, it’s the last one that we’re putting our bets on, right? But it’s naive to think that the others won’t exist. The point is everything will be up for grabs. And any of those fractures could become hegemonic. But no one can predict beforehand how it’s going to go, right? That’s the point. But what we can predict with absolute certainty is the centre will collapse. And it is collapsing. It’s a zombie space already, as we know. It’s only there because of institutional support. So that’s the prospect in the next two decades. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2026/07/mr-fish-1.jpg) Artwork by Mr. Fish. You can purchase this [postcard](https://rev21.earth/product/20-mr-fish-postcards/?ref=rogerhallam.com) to support our work. **CH:** Let me ask a little bit about the climate crisis itself. As it accelerates, you, of course, see the solidification of climate fortresses. This is what Europe is doing. What the United States is doing, essentially locking out those who are fleeing northwards. Talk a little bit about the crisis itself and the increasing pressure it’s bringing on human societies. **RH:** Well, first of all, we need to deal with the liberal left idea that the climate crisis is complicated, right? There’s lots and lots of talk shows and podcasts about the climate crisis, and what’s communicated is this vague idea. There’s nothing vague about putting CO2 into the atmosphere. There are three facts we need to just establish, and then we can just move on to what’s going to happen on the human scale, right? We’re at 1.5C. No one can dispute that. We’re going up 0.4C per decade. So, we’re going to be hitting 2 around 2035, maybe a bit before, maybe a bit after. At 2 degrees, we trigger all the tipping points in the Earth system. Again, maybe 1 or 2 will be earlier, maybe 1 or 2 will be afterwards. That will create runaway climate collapse. Everyone knows that. That means we’ll go up to 2.5 and 3 and 3.5 and such like. And once we pass 2 degrees, a quarter of the world’s population will be on the move. Again, not immediately, not all of them, but who’s counting, right? As you said in the introduction, that’s two billion people. That’s two billion people on the go. And in the future decades, it will rise. There is a get-out clause, which is a revolution that collapses carbon, which is why I am revolutionary, because that’s the only way out. And then there’s a technological fix, geoengineering and such like. So, it’s not a hundred per cent guaranteed that we’re going extinct, but we have to accept that’s now the main scenario, because it’s quite difficult to have a revolution and there’s no guarantee geo-engineering will work. But if you want to be a realist out there, if someone’s listening to this and they think, “Okay, I’m a realist,” then you have to be a revolutionary and you have to consider geoengineering. That’s it. And obviously, added onto that, we’ve got AI and nuclear war and various sort of wild cards. But this isn’t a wild card; it’s physics. It’s like you drop a ball and it drops to the ground, right? You put CO2 into the atmosphere, it warms up, and we’re at 1.5, and we’re going to reach 2. So, once we’ve got that established, then we can look up what it means to have a billion people on the move. And we know what that looks like because 50, 100 million people were on the move in World War II. And basically, it destroys the world economy. That’s the first thing to say. There’s going to be no pensions. The second thing to say is unless there’s a revolutionary religious transformation, there’ll be genocides of a scale many, many times greater than what happened in the 20th century because we know what fascists do is they kill the outsider. And that’s what’s coming down the line. And they’ll kill those who try and prevent it. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2026/07/d3a0360360984df04d9715789b42dcda.png) Drought in China So, we’re going into a period of history where unless we do something fundamental with ourselves and our society, we all plunge into the greatest spasm of horror the human race has ever experienced. And it’s super important that people don’t avoid that, because the only way we’re going to avoid it is by facing it, which means facing up to death. And this is why I’m spending more and more of my time talking about religiosity in the widest sense of the word that unless you come to face what it is to be a human, i.e., a conscious entity that’s going to die, and accept that reality whenever it’s going to be, you’re never going to grow up and be able to be fully human in the face of horror. And it’s entirely possible to do that, right? But it’s not going to happen by avoiding the realities that we face. And this is difficult, to put it mildly, but it’s not impossible. **CH:** Well, consumer society is completely oriented towards the fantasy of eternal youth. I mean we’re fighting against a culture that essentially does everything it can to mask or hide the fact of our own mortality. **RH:** Which is why we’ve got a massive mental health crisis because the mainstream culture is saying, “You can live forever.” That’s the subliminal message. I know we sort of know that in actuality, but that’s the message, the idealisation of youth, the idealisation of life without death, which is a contradiction in terms, obviously. And then we’ve got the reality, which is people below 30 are facing a slow death by starvation and death in social breakdown and all the rest of it. And the solution to that is prophetic witness, as it always was in the past. And this is why the new movements that are going to emerge, which are going to be in a position to actually concretely deal with the crisis materially and spiritually, have not yet been born, to be honest with you, Chris. They’re going to come out of the edges of the social space. And the reason I come onto shows like this is not to talk to the ninety per cent. I’m talking to the one per cent of people who have at the back of their mind that they’re going to be the people who are going to provide the prophetic witness. And there’s nothing wacky or weird about this. I had a chat with Paul Engler, you may know, who’s one of the most skilled movement organisers in the States, and we both compare notes every now and again because I do similar work in Europe. And we both agreed. **The single biggest determinant of movement growth is prophetic leadership.** You need someone to go around and say, “You’re going to fucking die. Get out there.” You don’t want people to start giving you facts and figures. When I do talks, I do that, what I’ve just said. It takes two minutes to tell everyone where we’re up to. After that, the key question is: how do you want to live your life? The key question isn’t, "What are we going to do?" That’s like a machine question, right? You know, Lenin was a machine revolutionary. It’s like, no, the question isn’t what are we going to do. We’re not dealing here with a broken car engine. We’re dealing with a spiritual being called the human, and the key question is how are you going to live your life? And the great thing about that question is, it doesn’t matter what the outcome is because the outcome is above your pay grade, as we all know. It’s only like humanist arrogance that thinks we control this world. We most certainly do not control this world, which isn’t to say we shouldn’t give up a good life. But the reason we live a good life is that we believe in the good. And if you don’t believe in the good, you get mentally ill. It doesn’t take long to put your ducks in a row. You know what the ducks in a row look like, Chris, right? And many of your viewers and listeners know what having your spiritual ducks in a row looks like. But someone needs to go out and talk about this rather than why the rich are terrible and all the rest of it. Obviously, the rich are terrible. People don’t need to be told the rich are terrible. They’ve known that for the last 5,000 years. What they need to know is what it is to live a good life? ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2026/07/DOLLAR-SIGN-1.png) Artwork by Mr. Fish. You can purchase this [postcard](https://rev21.earth/product/20-mr-fish-postcards/?ref=rogerhallam.com) to support our work. **CH:** Well, you mentioned the word religiosity and I know that that’s important to you, as it is to me, not in an orthodox kind of way, but I think it is vital for a successful movement where one is judged not by the outcome finally, but by one’s integrity and commitment to justice and I wondered if you could kind of flesh that out. **RH:** Yeah, well the first thing to establish is orthodoxy, as you called it, is what secularity is imposed upon us. Like the whole idea of religion is a modern concept, as I think you know, and many of your listeners may know. The word religion didn’t come in until the modern period. Before the modern period, the notion of religiosity, as you might say, was impregnated in all aspects of life. And whatmodernity did, what secularity did, what the capitalist regime did, is stick religion as a noun and stuck it as something that happens on Sunday and some weird belief in some concrete other called ‘God’. Right? That’s nothing to do with religion. That’s like what secularity has done. And the tragedy and the appalling criminality of secularity is to prevent people engaging in the sense of the transcendent and the enchantment of what life is, because they’re told that’s child’s play and all the rest of it, and it’s some weird belief, as if secularity and modernity isn’t a belief itself, right? The outlier is modernity. For 99% of human history, people have believed in transcendent phenomena, the transcendent within the material, and related ideas. And even in today’s world, for the sake of argument, 80% of the world’s population is aware there’s something other than going out and making money. You see what I mean? Like we need to understand there’s history here, just as there’s history in imperialism and there’s history of the oppression of common people; there’s also the history of the stripping of a sense of the transcendent from culture. And this is the primary reason why we are not resilient, why people burn out because they think they’re just themselves. But being just yourself is just some weird cult idea of Newtonian physicists. It’s obvious that we’re not just on our own. We’re part of some universal thing that’s beyond words. And just because something’s beyond words, it doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. Just go and read some quantum physics, for God’s sake. So, we need to start battling back, and this is a big battlefield, of saying it’s obvious and it’s natural, and it’s absolutely needed that we start understanding what it is to be who we are, which is to be part of something greater than what we are, because that’s objectively what we are. It’s not some postmodern whim; it’s a reality. We are objectively part of something bigger, and we always are and always will be. And once we start engaging with this, I’ve got great hopes that the younger generation, the under30s, are ready for this because it’s intolerable to live in a world where there’s just you on your own. People will be looking for it. And if we don’t provide a progressive pro-social orientation of what the transcendent is, we know what will happen is the Nietzschean Nazi space will come and gobble everyone up and get everyone to worship death and destruction as some sort of perverted form of transcendence. The race is on, but the idea that this is just about inequality is appallingly self-sabotaging. People need to believe in something greater than themselves. And it’s already there, right? I mean better people than me, no doubt, will design what that looks like over the next 20 years. But there’s absolutely no question that we’re not going to win by pretending we’re dead matter because we’re not. **Chris Hedges:** So just to close, ideally, what does this revolution look like? How is it built? How does it come about? And how are the ruling global elites dethroned? **RH:** Well, first of all, by not asking the question. I mean, if you ask the question, Chris, without doing the spiritual work before you ask the question, you’re going to burn out in six months. This is why Gandhi said you have to go and do self-purification before you go into battle. Everyone has done this for the last 2,000 years. You can’t send your troops into battle thinking you’re going to hit the left wing and then the right wing and then do X, Y, and Z. First of all, you have to pray to God. Praying to God is the important bit, right, because that gives you the courage to do everything else. So that when it looks like you’re losing, you don’t turn and flee, because if you do, then everyone dies. I mean, obviously that’s the military version of it, but there’s a nonviolent Gandhian version of it as well. So, as I said, the first question is to ask the question with other people in some form of collectivity, in an assembly: what do we want to do with our lives? What are our obligations to our parents and our children? What’s our obligation to our countries? What is it to be good? Those are the key questions. Only when you’ve spent a decent amount of time asking those questions, and you’ve got a practice that reintroduces you to those questions on a regular basis, can you then go into battle? ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2026/07/Gandhi_Tolstoy_Farm.jpg) Gandhi on Tolstoy Farm, South Africa, preparing for resistance. And when you go into battle, then there are a few basic rules, right, which are to concentrate all your resources in one time and space. In other words, you have to create a mass collectivity. You have to elect or choose who your leadership, your generals will be, who will go, “Go there. We’re going to go to Washington on the 2nd of October. We’re not going to go to Washington a little bit in September and a little bit in November and a little bit in December.” Someone needs to make the big strategic decisions, and you need to choose wise people to do that, obviously. But you can’t avoid that. And then, once you go into battle with the powers that be, then you need to have a positive message of what you’re going to do afterwards. You can’t have all the neoliberal civil resistance movements of the last 20 years that overthrow some dictatorship in Egypt or Ukraine and then just reinstitute liberal capitalism, which morphs into monopoly capitalism. You have to have a fundamentally revolutionary demand. And that revolutionary demand is sortition, which is the original meaning of democracy, which is people selected randomly from the population in order to make the decisions of the society, which is what they did in Athens and what they did in Florence, right? It was only the last 200 years we’ve got this perverted idea that voting in elections was democracy. It’s not. That’s aristocracy. It’s oligarchy. And you only need to look at America to see how it works out. So, we’ve just been told a big lie that we’ve got a democracy; we haven’t. But there’s no point complaining and trying to make voting better. You need a whole new system, which is that you select people by sortition, randomly. So, 70% of the people in the decision-making assemblies are working-class people because 70% of people in the population are working-class or whatever you want. And that’s a whole new other discussion, of course, Chris, right? But the point is that’s the revolution for the 21st century. And unless you make it explicit, then people obviously degenerate back into liberal logics, and then you’ll have fascism because obviously there’s no point voting for the Democrats or the Labour Party. It just facilitates a bigger fascist surge next time round. And this is why you need strategic and prophetic leadership; otherwise people will go, “Yeah, let’s give the Democrats one more chance.” Like those days have gone. Haven’t they? ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2026/07/house-of-people-1.jpg) [House of The People](https://www.houseofthepeople.uk/?ref=rogerhallam.com) \- modelling assemblies and sortition **CH:** Yeah. Well, they went a long time ago. But the liberal class is quite good at herding people in every election cycle back into the dead embrace of the political system. I mean that’s probably why they’re there. **RH:** Yeah, which is why, if you want to talk concretely, after you’re doing your spiritual preparation, what do people do? You need to organise in your communities. Simple as that. And everyone thinks this is a hard grind. Obviously, it’s a hard grind. But also, it goes nonlinear at a certain point. Like in the community that I’ve been organising, we organised about five or six of us, three or four nights a week and then we started a community campaign, and we had twenty, thirty percent name recognition within six months. This is my day job, right? It’s not like I’m making this stuff up. My day job is how to organize mobilisations, but that’s what needs to be done. There’s no point going to conferences or sitting on social media. That’s just going to let the fascists win because the fascist strategy is to get out into communities and organise those communities. And if you don’t organise them, then the fascists will organise them, and this is one of the biggest problems with the secular left is they don’t actually like human beings, right? You know what I’m saying? I mean you need to decide whether you’re a Democrat or not. If you’re an elite anti-human leftist, then fair enough, but at least be honest about it. And if you actually genuinely love the common people, you need to go out and talk to them, for God’s sake. You see what I’m saying? You need a hundred thousand American young people to do a big freedom summer, which is spend the summer knocking on the doors of working class districts, listen to people, get them into assemblies, allow them to create their own political realities like [Paulo Freire](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paulo%5FFreire?ref=rogerhallam.com) did in Brazil, and then put their candidates up, organize mutual aid projects, organise local campaigns, aggregate them, build a mass movement, and then off you go. It’s really not rocket science, right? Sitting around moaning about it is just like a suicide strategy, as we know. **CH:** Right. Thanks, Roger. And I want to thank Max, Thomas, and Nawelle, who produced the show. You can find me at [ChrisHedges.Substack.com](https://open.substack.com/pub/chrishedges/p/democracy-necessitates-resistance?r=hckvb&utm%5Fcampaign=post-expanded-share&utm%5Fmedium=post%20viewer). [Order a copy of Suicide](https://rev21.earth/product/suicide/?ref=rogerhallam.com) [Get involved with 4 Billion Dead](https://rev21.earth/events/?ref=rogerhallam.com) [Give a One-Off Donation](#/portal/support) --- ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get on with the job of sorting it out. [Support](https://rogerhallam.com/#/portal/signup/6517fbb3b89c5400016e9f27/yearly) ### Assembly-Based Mobilisation: Global Briefing to Overcome Fascism URL: https://rogerhallam.com/assembly-based-mobilisation/ Last updated: 2026-07-14T06:14:55.000Z We all sense things are coming to a head. Time is short. In that spirit of urgency, a group of organisations are coming together to hold an international call on how we need to organise and mobilise in the coming years. The far right is gaining ground and is poised to seize state power as social and economic tensions intensify. Next year, global temperatures will most likely reach 1.7°C. Big tech and AI will create millions of job losses. War and geopolitical pressure will spread. Our working communities are going to come under ever greater strain. [Join The Global Briefing](https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/HR6%5Fe8EyRLK%5FD5K%5Fz2to5g?ref=rogerhallam.com#/registration) In response, we need to learn from the assembly-based projects and movements emerging worldwide. How people are doing the three key interconnected things we all need to do: serious scaled mutual aid, local and national campaigns that lead to civil resistance, and standing as assembly-chosen candidates in elections to take control of councils and then governments. This call will look at concrete models of mobilisation — postering, doorknocking, cultural events that lead into assemblies and collective action, and how these methods build mass movements and movement parties. In doing so we move beyond the tired split between horizontal and vertical organisation, and the false binary between society and the state. It is all one system. We have to take control of all of it. This session is not a one-off. It will be followed by two further introductory sessions: one on how to run assemblies, one on running assembly-based election campaigns. These will lead into an international conference in September, alongside a major fundraiser to fund full-time organisers and trainers — building evolving templates on how to do this and supporting new projects around the world. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2026/07/signal-2026-07-07-15-38-12-980_003...png) This is the foundation of a new international network and movement. As we connect with others who share this vision, we will work together and learn from each other. That is the direction of travel. If you have expressed an interest in this work, this event is for you. If you cannot make the date, let us know, and we will keep you informed about future sessions. And most importantly — please share this with a few people who would be interested, and put it on your own and your networks' social media. See you there. ### **Join the call, 19th July, 7–9pm BST** [Join The Global Briefing](https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/HR6%5Fe8EyRLK%5FD5K%5Fz2to5g?ref=rogerhallam.com#/registration) ### Also on the horizon: ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2026/07/image-19.png) [Register](https://forms.rev21.earth/formz/occurrences/4-billion-dead-international-public-call-2026-07-21/registrations/new?ref=rogerhallam.com) In January 2025, the British Insurance Industry predicted that 4 billion people could be dead in this century due to the breakdown of our climate. We're now a year and a half on from that report and the silence is deafening. This project will not stay silent. Join me for our next public call with Bill McGuire - expert earth scientist and author of The Fate Of The World. Date: Tuesday 21st July 2026 Start Time: 7PM UK End time: 8:30pm UK Join us on this call to hear how 4 Billion Dead is staring this truth in the face. What can possibly be done in the face of existential threats such as this? Come along to find out. [Global Call](https://forms.rev21.earth/formz/occurrences/4-billion-dead-international-public-call-2026-07-21/registrations/new?ref=rogerhallam.com) [Support this work](#/portal/support) ### Suicide Is the Only Honest Word for What's Happening URL: https://rogerhallam.com/suicide-interview/ Last updated: 2026-07-09T09:33:37.000Z I did this interview with the *Climate Agenda* podcast last week about my book, *Suicide*, which I wrote in a month while I was in prison, because the whole thesis from my court trials was already sitting there in my head. The argument is that the rationality project that emerged from the Enlightenment has been betrayed by the liberal class, and that what we're watching now isn't some tragic accident but rather a suicide, in the Freudian sense, not the Marxist one. In this discussion we go through the judges, the insurance industry's own numbers of 4 Billion Dead, the sociology of revolution from France to Russia, and why sortition and God are the only two doors out of this. --- *This transcript was tidied up with AI assistance from raw auto-generated captions.* ## Transcript **Host:** In this Climate Agenda episode, I'm speaking with Roger Hallam about his new book, *Suicide: The Political & Legal Implications of Endless Mass Death*, written while Roger was in prison. The book draws on his own sociological expertise in an effort to shed some light on this strange time in which we are living, where human life, as well as the biodiversity of the planet, are on the brink of passing through the eye of a needle. Brace yourself for more biblical references and a hard-hitting analysis of what has happened, what is happening, and what dynamics are at play that will lead us into the future. Roger's views are provocative, and I would love to know what people's thoughts are — I do read all the comments and try to reply to as many as I can, so thank you for contributing. I'm currently recording a new set of episodes, and the next one will be with two authors of a new research report from the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) about their findings on how extreme climate change is threatening vulnerable UK bird species. We need to act now if we're to avoid mass death of British birds in the coming years. I'm also interviewing the chair of the UK's National Emergency Briefing, Mike Berners-Lee, to discuss why we need a mainstream National Emergency Briefing to help the country prepare itself for an increasingly hotter and riskier world for all of us. Thanks to everyone who listens, comments, shares, and subscribes. It is greatly appreciated. --- **Host:** Roger, it's great to see you. Thank you very much for taking the time. We want to talk about your new book, *Suicide: The Political and Legal Implications of Creating Endless Mass Death*. And mass death from climate destruction is very much now on our doorstep, and collectively we are ignoring it, making excuses about why it's not really happening, etc. Just starting from the title of the book — can you describe the relationship between mass death and this so-called machine that makes it inevitable? **Roger Hallam:** Yeah, well, thanks very much for having me on, and thanks very much for your audience being courageous enough to listen to me. You can switch this off at any point if reality becomes too straining. But yes, I mean the main point of the title is basically to put a title down that absolutely no publisher would be able to cope with — a sort of statement in and of itself. You know, *Suicide: The Political and Legal Implications of Creating Endless Mass Death*. Every one of those words is important. The most important word, obviously, is suicide — that we're not dealing with a ruling class which is going to do the traditional routine, which is to take the social body and turn it into slavery and mass death to the extent that it creates slaves, which is the historical norm. What, in the end times, the ruling class does is destroy — destroy the population and destroy itself. Destroys means kill. So it's a suicide project. It's not a traditional Marxist-esque "the ruling class is trying to exploit us all." So it's more of a Freudian orientation than the Marxist orientation — the death wish, and such like. And yeah, I mean the other thing to understand then is that the agency here is a system of being and a system of operating which came in, broadly, with the Enlightenment and the creation of modernity. Most listeners will be aware of the various facets of that — reductive materialism, separation from nature, an imperialistic attitude towards the other, and good old-fashioned ruling-class death wish. Ruling classes regularly destroy their populations through various mechanisms. So there's nothing unusual, except that this time round they are going to destroy the whole system. **Host:** Coming back to this idea of suicide, and the fact it's almost like the framing is that it's a choice — I remember Professor Kevin Anderson quite often said "we are choosing to fail." From your own experience, what makes the system, or this idea of this machine, so strong that when individuals or communities or broader organisations, like the UNFCCC for example, try to warn us or steer us in a different direction, they get smacked down? What makes that so strong, that smacking down? **Roger Hallam:** Well, the root cause is this paradigm, or ideology, which has got various facets, but I think it actualises itself into two main moves. The first move is the greed of the ruling class, the elites — which is the traditional explanation, as you might say. They've got the power, they don't want to lose the power, and obviously they will do what is necessary to defend that power. That's the first thing. The second thing, overlaid on this, is the ideology of instrumentalism. And what, paradoxically, the ideology of instrumentalism does is say you should only act if you're going to succeed — which creates the mother of all collective action problems. So no one thinks it's worth doing anything, because it won't work, because not everyone else is doing it at the same time. But it's important to understand that the collective action problem is the ideology of capitalism. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2026/07/ROGER-HALLAM_SUICIDE_ADVERTS-03.png) Traditionally, in societies before the tragedy of the commons and such like — there's lots of literature on this, as people probably know — societies were based around virtue ethics, in other words traditional taboos against individualistic free-riding. So the community would come together and prosecute, or persecute, anyone that was free-riding, for the very obvious reason that the community would not survive if people adopted what is now the standard capitalistic orientation towards the world, which is "screw what you can while you can and don't think about the future" — which is obviously materially suicidal, but also heretical in a wider sense to what it is to be part of a human community. **Host:** You talked about this collectivism, this "what can I do amongst all of the things" — this idea of agency, I suppose. In your journey so far — with all the exile stuff, all these other things — how successful do you think you've been in breaking through that, and where do you think that brings you now? **Roger Hallam:** Well, I think how I see the situation is that the liberal class is basically the centre of the ideology of the collective action problem. I think the folk traditions which are still maintained even in the western working-class or lower-middle-class — i.e. being decent, doing your duty — have been decimated by the liberal class, which has adopted the neoliberal orientation since 1989\. And I think it's important — and lots of people who are a lot cleverer and more courageous than me have said this over the last thousand years — that the problem with evil is not the people who are evil. The problem is with the class of people that facilitate that evil in full knowledge of the evil they are doing, because after all these are the educator classes. So the educator classes are really the main agent of the suicide project. The ruling class cannot get its way unless there's lawyers and lecturers and doctors and media people who facilitate the lies and the euphemism and the dampening. So for me the liberal class has won, and paradoxically has committed suicide as a result, because over the next 10 years the liberal class is going to collapse — the only things that are going to come out of the next 10 years are a revitalised left and a fascistic right. And the liberal class, if you're going to be moralistic about it, have only got themselves to blame. I can give you one or two obvious examples of this. The liberal class has promoted two fundamentally bogus ideas. The first idea is that when we go over two degrees, that has to be the average of the last 20 years. This makes no statistical sense — it's pure ideology, because as we all know, if a data set is going up continually, then obviously you need to take the average of at best the last three years and the projection for the next two. If you take the average of the last 20 years, you come up with a nonsensical average. This is like putting boiling water into a bath and saying you're not boiling yet because for the last 10 minutes the average temperature was quite low. This is 101 rationality. So the liberal class has indulged in this nonsense, and this isn't a small matter, because the single biggest stat in the world is: what is the average temperature? We all know the average temperature is now, you know, 1.5 — but you go to anyone in the climate industry and they'll push the idea it's 1.3, or even 1.2\. This is criminal stupidity. And the second nonsense is — we've got, what is it, maybe you'll correct me — something like 25 more years of carbon budget before we reach 2°C. This is the most bogus bollocks in the history of humanity. We're at 1.5°. In the last 10 years, we've gone up by 0.4\. So we're obviously going to hit 2°C around 2035, 2038\. Nothing's going to stop that unless there's a revolution. And obviously liberals don't want a revolution, so they more or less condemn people to 2°C — but no one's telling the British public that we're going to hit 2°C by 2035, 2038\. And this assumes, of course, that there isn't a nonlinear takeoff in the Earth's feedback systems, which arguably there's a 50/50 chance is going to happen. You see what I mean? The whole industry, as you're well aware, Nick, has a level of stupidity that would make any Enlightenment philosopher turn in their grave and want to kill themselves — or they're already dead — because the whole Enlightenment project has created this absurd, beyond-words stupidity that the liberal class promotes. **Host:** One aspect of what you said — we are committing suicide — is we have, or we are, whatever, each other and the other. You're saying, unless we change course, unless we change our trajectory — **Roger Hallam:** I'm not saying anything, I'm making an analysis. I'm not making a — I'm not suggesting we then proceed to some sort of vague abstraction called "we need to change course." That's the language of the liberal class. **Host:** Okay, but the word you would use is revolution? ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2026/07/4R-xFxRoiXS8nUtQM-XRkwEojOt6VGDdT0bSuwWmiWrUiXjCsdx8opVpWCFrjjrnXUrhhNhgYFSbofSRst9_bjI6cZi4spyEioBAbOr1Jy4m2W0PKsOzS9Uk3yGz7uY1hmlhVraackZhUSt9gIiaqkJZ0vwzJ8XC37VinomKXoQSGWQ1QurVHlZe4QhrHBsJ-1.jpg) Like lambs to the slaughter **Roger Hallam:** Look, there's going to be revolutions anyway. That's the first point — it's locked in. This is my own specialism — I'm just going off O-level maths to predict that we'll be at 2° by 2035, 2038\. Anyone who thinks that's not going to happen is beyond dumb. The slightly more complicated analysis is when revolutions will happen, at least in Western societies. In the majority world, the main scenario is that there'll be dictatorships and levels of chaos, because those nation states are not well established. Within well-established nation states, the default is revolution when the ruling class tries to destroy society — French Revolution, Russian Revolution, American Revolution, in that classical sense. So the first thing for anyone who's vaguely interested in reality is to interrogate what these revolutions could and should look like, in so much as they are now inevitable. And the broad debate is whether the default will be fascism or whether the default will be a revitalised democracy. But that construction in itself is hopelessly secular — and I can talk about the religious elements in a minute — but this is where anyone who's got any sense needs to situate the debate. We've just got a new leader of the Labour Party, Burnham, who has zero intention of doing anything other than tinkering around with, you know, converting the electricity supply, which everyone knows is beyond pathetic. It's Marie Antoinette territory — let them eat cake. That's the level of stupidity we're looking at. **Host:** You've also quite purposefully, I think, referred to it as the climate industry. There's a Climate Week in London as we speak, mostly being cancelled because of extreme heat, but that's going on at the moment — and many scientists and all the people involved stop short of using language like the title of your book, as you said, no publisher would want to go near it. You've reiterated the need for telling the truth, both just now and constantly throughout all the work you've done. How effective, how do you think it's been so far? Because I remember interviewing Jim Hansen in 2012, and I said, "Can't scientists do more to communicate what's going on?" And his reply was: "Well, if you run around with your hair on fire, after a while everyone just points at you and says, hey, look, there's that guy with his hair on fire again." **Host:** And do you think there's some of that in all of this, or does it just not matter? Do we just plough on? Because it's very difficult, if you've been doing this for a long time, to keep doing it when the response is, as you say, that collective shrug and people say, well, this is it, whatever. **Roger Hallam:** You have to take a long-term anthropological view of what the human does. There's basically two main traditions. There's a virtue ethics tradition and there's a utilitarian instrumentalist tradition. In human history, the virtue ethics tradition is broadly associated with a religiosity, a religious orientation towards what it is to be alive for 70 years in this particular sliver of reality. And the other orientation is to ignore all that sense of being and to pretend that reality is a machine, and you press button A and you get result B, or whatever. So these are two very different paradigms, and it's not like one is necessarily intrinsically better than the other. Obviously instrumentalism is important — after I've done this interview I'm going to walk to the Tube, I need to know where the Tube is, obviously I want to take the shortest route. The problem, as Iain McGilchrist and a hundred other observers have written long books about, is that if the instrumentalist side of human culture becomes dominant, then the human becomes stupid, because they don't know why they're doing what they're doing. They've lost their moral compass, and a bunch of other dynamics follow. But the fundamental point here is: the very question "what is to be done" is the reason we're going extinct. And the question "what does it mean to live a good life" is the very question that will save humanity, in so much as it will be saved. Because when you ask the question "what is it to live a good life," or variations on the theme such as "what would God have me do" or "what does it mean to be part of the universal consciousness" — you can do the quantum physics routine, you can do the Christian routine, you can do the Stoics' routine — all these are basically variants of the same thing: we are not responsible for the world, we are responsible for our reaction to the world. That's what we're in the world to do. We exist to be good. If we're not good, then we get mentally ill in the secular version, or we go to hell in the religious version. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2026/07/suicide-book--eBook-.png) [rev21.earth/product/suicide](https://rev21.earth/product/suicide/?ref=rogerhallam.com) This is the perennial philosophy that people have been saying for the last 5,000 years. For the last 30 years, in the neoliberal period, we've just forgotten all these traditions, because they've been systematically patronised and removed from the public sphere. So whenever I go on an interview — you do what you've just done — people say, "Well, Roger, what do we need to do?" And then I have to explain that's not the main question. The main question is: are you going to be an arsehole, or are you going to be a good person? If you're not going to be an arsehol, then you have to be in resistance. In the same way as in Nazi Germany — you can just go along with the situation, and for the next 10,000 years people think you were an arsehole, or you can actually do the business and go into resistance. You might die. You know, that standard orientation towards the Nazi period. The period we're in now is not going to kill, you know, 50 million people. It's going to kill 4 billion people, according to the British insurance industry, who presumably know what they're talking about — you go and look at it in their appendix. The proposition that we are going to sort this problem out is for the birds. It's irrelevant. The key issue is: are you going to actually be what it is to be human? And if you don't know what it is to be human, then read some mysticism. You are going to die at some point. Nick, how old are you — 50, 60, I don't know how old you are — you're going to be dead in 20 years. At a certain point you're going to be slobbering around on a hospital bed thinking about what you did in your life, and you're going to be thinking, "Well, at least I interviewed Roger Hallam, and no one else interviews him because he's too scary." And then you're going to have a sense of peace. You see what I'm trying to say? I've been saying this for ages, and obviously, until — as Steve Keen has said — until white people are dying, there won't be the spiritual crisis which will enable white people to transcend to a virtue ethics orientation. And this, at the moment, is the whole situation — it's the extreme denial before the explosion of reality, if you see what I mean. This is another phenomenon that's well researched in the literature: before the crisis, people don't go into less denial, they go into more denial. Look at the 2001 internet bubble — they all knew it was going to happen, but that made them even more sure they weren't going to resign their jobs. This is called predictable irrationality. **Host:** You asked a very direct question — not just to me — you said, are you going to be an arsehole, are you going to, what are you going to do faced with this huge thing? I'm not so much asking you what the future plan is to change trajectory. I suppose it's — when so much of us are captured by legal frameworks, political ideologies, media, social, judicial, commercial, all this stuff that makes up our construct of the world we live in — and you start picking it apart, and then you say to that person, well, look, the climate's breaking down, virtually all the nature around you is dying, and you're importing everything from so far away you'd have never even heard of the place — and they say, "Yeah, I know, but I just want to get the upgrade on my new phone, and a new car, or whatever." Isn't that the gap where it's very difficult to break through? I have this with my own old friends — they're just not interested, and I'm amazed. But it's — **Roger Hallam:** You were amazed because you're, you know, an Enlightenment idol — no disrespect. Most people, historically, aren't Enlightenment ideologues. Basically, they're children of God. That's how they see themselves. For 99% of human history, religion was the main thing in people's lives. In the world at the moment, something like 80% of people are religious, depending on your definition. The class that you belong to — and I belong to too, to a certain extent — is the 1% of humanity, and 1% of the history of humanity, that thinks there's nothing other than calculation. And this is a form of madness. The reality is this: we are absolutely free, in any moment, to do whatever we want to do within the physical limits of time and space. You can decide tomorrow to go down the street and take all your clothes off and cover yourself in blood. There is nothing physically stopping you from doing that, Nick. This is what Sartre was saying — he was saying it's bad faith not to accept the absolute freedom of being human. People have been saying this for 5,000 years. The notion that you cannot change is pure ideology. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2026/07/ALL-YOURS-1024x696.jpg) Artwork by Mr. Fish. You can purchase this [postcard](https://rev21.earth/product/20-mr-fish-postcards/?ref=rogerhallam.com) to support our work. You can do whatever you like. And the reason why people don't do this is the paradox — the reason people don't do whatever they like is because they tell themselves, and other people tell them, and there's a herding mechanism, that you can't do whatever you like. And this is the function of prophetic witness in the historical record. In the neoliberal period, the notion of the prophet is at best patronised and at worst looked upon as some sort of cult routine. But the prophetic witness function in human society is absolutely vital, because someone gets up and actually says: we're free, and you have to do the right thing, otherwise you're going to go to hell — and that can mean material hell, or various definitions of hell. It can be a spiritual thing, it can be a material thing, it can be a post-death thing, or all three in different variations. And that's what's missing. There's about three prophets in the world — there's me, there's Greta, there's two or three other people. And at a certain point there'll be a critical mass of these prophets, and we'll probably all get shot or something, because that's what happens. But the upshot of it, sociologically, is that those prophets get shot, and then they have like twelve followers, like Jesus, and then thirty, seventy, three hundred years later — depending on the density of the network connections — they basically become the new hegemonic ideology, because if they don't, the society will die. That's how it works. The whole liberal class talking to itself in what I call left defeatism — "oh, we can't do anything because it's so difficult, and the oppressed are so oppressed, and we're so oppressed, and we can't do it because of the collective action problem." These are the machinations of collective madness, of spiritual poverty. Just read some of the Old Testament, for God's sake — you're a total outlier in terms of the human experience. For me, the best analogy is Marie Antoinette — the main historical meme of the arrogance of privilege leading to the most chronic level of stupidity. There she is on her farm, pretending she's growing veg, and all around France the peasants are literally starving, and then she says, "Well, let them eat cake" — and everyone laughs about it, because we all think we're nice liberal rationalists. But that's what we're doing when we're saying, "Oh, it won't be 2° until 2050, so I'll still get on a plane to go to a conference in Berlin, because I'll work there." And the fact is that everything we're talking about is happening right now. And to be honest, it's no surprise it's happening right now, because 10 years ago — in that Hansen interview, 2012 — he said if we wait 10 years before we start bringing down emissions, it won't be possible to do it within the society we have, because of the ramifications of those changes. And we've gone way past 10 years, and emissions are still going up. And that comes back to this idea that this was the choice society has made, and we're following it through. **Host:** I just want to come back quickly to something you said about going to hell. The last time I interviewed you, you were awaiting sentencing, and you went to what I think many people would regard as hell, which is prison — and the book was written in prison, I believe. In everything we've just been discussing, that's a very relevant threshold to cross, a Rubicon, if you like. Can you talk a little about how the book came out of that, and how that's impacted your activism? How do you feel about everything you're talking about and saying? **Roger Hallam:** Well, just as a little aside — I've never described myself as an activist, and I've never been an activist as far as I'm concerned. I'm a revolutionary. I want a fundamental change in the government structures of Western societies. So we need to call a spade a spade. That's one thing — I just wish people would stop calling themselves activists, on the assumption that they want to be historically accurate about the attitudes they have towards the political class. The second thing is: going to prison has the potential to be an ecstatic experience as much as a hellish experience, because basic psychology shows us that, whatever's happening in reality, you choose how to react to it — and the extent to which you choose is a function of training, whether you call it spiritual training or psychological training. I've been training in various ways since I was in my early twenties to look upon whatever's happening to me as something I have the freedom to interpret. So my own interpretation of being in prison for a year and a half was: it's fucking great. I get up in the morning, I get my food, the sun's shining, I read my books, I do my writing. It's fine. It's fine. Which isn't to say really bad things couldn't happen on a material level, and other people, obviously, as a matter of observation, interpret their experience in other ways. So, again, I'm trying to continually break out of the assumptions of your questions, Nick. I think the reason I wrote the *Suicide* book — and I wrote it in about four weeks, because it was just in my head — is basically the thesis that the rationality project since the Enlightenment has been betrayed by the liberal class's thinking in the neoliberal period. And arguably rationality, in and of itself, leads to irrationality, for lots of reasons I haven't got time to go into. But the specific instance I talk about is the judges. The big problem with the climate movement is it approaches the judiciary from a human rights point of view. It needs to approach the judiciary from the ideology of the judiciary, which is Hobbes. Hobbes says, as we all know, that unless you impose order on society you have brutish, short, nasty lives, or whatever it is. Okay, let's assume that's correct within the ideology. As everyone knows, there's an exception — which is when the agents of the state are destroying the state through their own actions. Then the Hobbesian logic reverses: it's absolutely necessary to rebel against the state in order to save the state. You see what I mean? So all the judges should be in prison by now, if they were rational and looked at the stats. The British ruling class is destroying the British state. Within half a century, British society will be destroyed. Well, that's what's commonly called treason — you knowingly engage in actions which destroy your state and society. All the stats are out there, as you well know, and people like you spend every week trying to tell the world what the stats are. British society is now going to get destroyed, with something like 90% probability, unless there's a massive revolution in the next three years, let's say, give or take. So what I'm saying here — I'm using that as an example of the absolute irrationality of the rational judicial class. They're so fucking stupid, they can't actually work out what their own ideology means. There's no Cromwells in there who work out that the king is basically betraying the British state and you need to have a civil war and overcome the king. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2026/07/DOLLAR-SIGN.png) Artwork by Mr. Fish. You can purchase this [postcard](https://rev21.earth/product/20-mr-fish-postcards/?ref=rogerhallam.com) to support our work. You see what I'm saying? That's a personal thing too, because I stood up in court and said I need four hours to explain why the Hobbesian analysis requires absolute revolt, and obviously the judge said no, you're not doing that — and I said I was going to talk anyway, and he got very upset and left the room as if he was a five-year-old who couldn't cope with a bit of debate. Then the police came in and dragged me out of the dock, because of course I'm pursuing a British civil war orientation. In the English Civil War, the courts were a centre of political struggle — people were always throwing each other into the Tower of London and all the rest of it — because the law had been politicised by the king in order to maintain his illegitimate power. And the ruling class has politicised the courts in order to make sure juries don't hear that, basically, you're all going to die. And when, every now and again, there's a glitch in the system — a friend of mine was in court a little while ago, and maybe the judge was having an off day or something, but he allowed an agreed fact to be entered that at 3°C, 4 billion people will die, because that's what it says in the British insurance report. Do you know how long the jury went out for? Fifty minutes. Came back unanimously not guilty. Well, obviously, if you're Mrs Jones and you're told 4 billion people are going to die, what are you going to do? You're obviously going to come back into the courtroom and say, "What the fuck." Statues should be made of these people, for God's sake. In my own court case, we were allowed to speak for twenty minutes, and then we were all dragged out of court because we refused to leave the witness box. It was great stuff. The Guardian was there, and they did their usual liberal shitty response, which was, "Oh, isn't this interesting, the hobbits are getting dragged out of court." They should have made a statement saying they believe there should be rebellion against the British state, because apparently they believe in human rights and the British state is facilitating the destruction of the British nation. But obviously they're not going to do that, because they're total cowards. **Host:** As you've spoken about this liberal mass of the UK, what we've seen recently is a splitting in politics, or fragmentation, maybe. The Greens have developed a voice and a position. The far right have got their position. Labour is now finding its voice, in Burnham again, which is more of a left-wing voice. The Conservatives have virtually vanished, from what you've been saying. It feels like the liberal order is fragmenting, and people are trying to figure out — well, none of this is working, so where do we go? Do you think we're at that vital signpost moment where, hopefully, people do think this is untenable — we have to stand up, our food systems are going to collapse, nature's collapsing, and policies don't make sense? **Roger Hallam:** Well, I did a video people might want to watch, because I'm going to make some slightly outrageous claims over the next five minutes, or even more outrageous claims, from a liberal ideology point of view. So I'll preface what I'm going to say — there's a video called — *Pivoting to the Endgame*, where I go through this in about an hour and a half. But basically there's something called the sociology of revolution, and it goes something like this: the ruling class starves the state, which is what the ruling class does, and this is why revolutions happen. In the French Revolution, the French ruling class wouldn't support the king, even though he was having wars and needed the money, so the state ran out of money, and then they had an assembly, and it all slid into a revolutionary episode. The other classical example is the Russian Revolution. The Tsar and his regime refused to make peace with Germany. And objectively, in the same way climate science is objective, military dynamics are sometimes effectively objective — the Germans had far more materials, discipline, and organisation. So there was a revolution, because the Tsar refused to do the objective thing, which was to make peace with Germany. Then what happens is the liberals take charge. What the liberals do is talk revolution but not enact it — they'll say, "Oh yeah, we need to revitalise Russia," but they won't do the key thing the Russian state needs to do, which is make peace with Germany. Instead, in July 1917, they launch an offensive against the Germans, totally driven by a sort of "motherland" liberal nationalism — the Russians will overcome the Germans. It's totally bollocks: the Russians advance for about two hours, and then the Germans advance 400 miles in a fortnight, or something along those lines. So the liberals are discredited, which makes way for the Bolsheviks. The Bolsheviks were sensible enough — because they had a rational strategist called Lenin — to work out that you need to make peace with Germany, as a material analysis. Everyone hates the Bolsheviks at first, because they think they're betraying Mother Russia, so they get nowhere. But after July 1917, they become the main show. So it's what you might call a cascading across the political space that happens as the ideology of the liberal class, or the ideology of society, hits physical reality. That's basically the thesis, and it's totally sociological — I'm not saying the Bolsheviks were good or bad, it's just social dynamics in terms of the relationship between physical reality and ideology. Basically, in the present moment, the function of the climate is the same as the function of the Germans on the Eastern Front in 1917 — a physical reality which is coming. And what Burnham represents is like the Kadets — the Russian liberal party. They go, "Oh, we don't want full-on aristocracy, we don't want the Tsar, we want" — Burnham-esque liberalism, basically — which means they talk the talk but facilitate the destruction of the British state, because they won't slash carbon emissions. I mean, obviously it's complicated because you need everyone else to do it too, but the fundamental point is these are transitory noise in the run of history. Who remembers the Kadets? You've got to be a total nerd to remember the Kadets — they thought they were going to be the new ruling class of Russia, but they clearly hadn't read any history. So the people who are going to rule the UK are either going to be the fascist right, or something to the left, in inverted commas, of the Green Party — and the Green Party are like the Mensheviks, if you want to put it that way. They'll do some of the business, but they're still nice liberals at the end of the day — they're not going to tell the British population that, within 5 years, you're going to have food rationing, you're not going to be able to fly any more, and all this standard state-socialism stuff. That will be standard, obvious stuff by about 2035\. If you don't believe me, just think about the temporary state socialism in the middle of COVID — there was a threat to the continuation of British society, so they brought in an authoritarian regime: you're not allowed to go out, you can't do this, you can't do that. The climate is basically an ongoing, long-COVID-style regime — that's what we're looking at. I don't know what you think, Nick, but I'm putting my bets on somewhere around 2035, with a strong outlier that the insurance industry will collapse by 2030, in which case it'll be brought forward. The infrastructure of Western societies, particularly in the warm-temperate and cool-temperate zones, where all the infrastructure is dependent on temperatures staying under 40°C, is going to become bankrupt in the next 10 to 15 years. You're just not going to have the money and the labour to pay for the five or six mass infrastructure things that need doing. When I did Insulate Britain, I talked to this reform-esque, bald, beer-bellied, 55-year-old builder from Leeds. He was great — he couldn't be lying, so he just said to me, "Look, Roger, basically, yeah, we need to insulate all the houses in Britain." I was going, "Cool, cool, cool, that's what we want" — and he said, "There's no fucking way this is going to happen." Number one, there's not enough people to do it, it's a skilled job. Number two, there's not enough materials. Number three, if everyone else is doing it at the same time, there aren't going to be any materials anyway — they're going to have to do it in Scandinavia, Germany, France, everywhere in the temperate regions where the houses aren't already built. So, in other words, it's not going to happen. The analysis is: the British state is going to go bankrupt in the next 10 to 15 years. The main scenario is we're going to go into a *Downfall*\-esque downward spiral — everyone drinking themselves to death in the bunker in 1945, dance now and get shot next week, that sort of dynamic, which is well documented in the human experience. So that's what fascism offers — an escape from reality. What the left, or whatever comes after the left, has to do is create an escape from reality that re-engages with reality on the basis of love, which is basically what Christianity is — the opposite of fascism. The fundamental point here is transcendence is coming one way or another. It's either a fascist transcendence, which is "we're just going to live for death," or a form of transcendence that says, "I don't exist in this world, I exist in another world, the world of God, and I will enact love in this world." And, obviously, all your liberal cynics will say that's a load of nonsense — but I don't know what they're talking about, because this is the fundamental ideology of the pro-social West over the last one or two thousand years. So what that looks like is: those who are going to engage in prophetic witness need to reintroduce religiosity into the left, because otherwise everyone will just burn out, or commit suicide, or have nervous breakdowns — material reality will become unsustainable for the human psyche. And the good news is that once people have made that transcendence, people are perfectly capable of being calm and pro-social in situations of mass death. There's loads of evidence for that. Then, for all you liberal rationalists out there, the other thing that's required is sortition-based decision-making, because from a social-scientific point of view, the only way you get maximum rationality is by getting ordinary people in the room with the legal power to set policy on the basis of free and extensive deliberation on what the facts are. And this is the problem with representational democracy, as we all know — it's a herd. It's not just dominated by the ruling class, because the ruling class determines who can stand and what they say, and capital flight if they try to do something rational — it's deeper than that, it's about herding. If you believe X, I believe X, the audience believes X, so you believe X, so I believe X. And the two ways to break that are sortition and God. Sortition is a secular sense of God, because the concept of chance is similar to the concept of God — it's outside human agency, and if there's human agency, then you get herding. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2026/07/hobbes-levithan.jpg) Hobbes' Levithan This is quite a complicated point, but what I'm trying to say is what Christians have been saying about nature for the last 150 years, which is: without God, the human destroys himself. It's got nothing to do with whether God exists — that's just the old 19th-century materialism debate, that's not what we're talking about. What we're talking about is that the human has to be subject to something outside the human, and that's what sortition does. This is a complicated point — if you don't quite know what I'm going on about, you can ask me. But in the book, that's what the last chapter says. These are the two doors into some form of survival, or transcendence: one, sortition-based, assembly-based government, which I think is inevitably going to come along — it's waiting in the wings like socialism was in the 1880s. And the other is a return to what you might call normal, where most people don't live their lives in order to make the world better, they live their lives in order to follow some transcendent virtue. That, paradoxically, is how you create collective action. **Host:** No, I did follow you, and it's kind of this timeline that we have to process, to go through — because there's going to be a lot of suffering, but there's no end point where we just switch it off in the next 5 or 10 years. It's just that there's going to be a lot of suffering. All of that is a given. **Roger Hallam:** Yeah, I know. **Host:** But out of that, we've somehow got to get to what you're talking about — **Roger Hallam:** The word "somehow" is liberal ideology. What liberal ideology does is say, "It's really difficult to do good things when there's bad things happening." That's empirically illiterate. The historical and sociological record shows the opposite — that when bad things happen, people become good. The most famous spiritual text in Western society is *The Imitation of Christ*. You can turn to chapter seven and it'll tell you: hardship is good because it brings you closer to God. Basically, that's what it says on every page, 250 pages of it. That's medieval Christianity. Now, we all know, as secular liberals, that's a little bit tricky, because there are various dysfunctionalities of fetishising suffering. But the point is still fundamentally correct — because we all know, from our personal lives, when we're shitty to people and we realise it, or when people are shitty to us, it enables us to grow, and accept death, and become a more mature, sensible sort of person. And this is what will happen on a social level, as everyone who's read the literature is saying — well, unfortunately, only about six people have read the literature, because people don't read *The Imitation of Christ* any more. But you should go and read it. It was the best book I read — I read 95 books when I was in prison, and the best one was *The Imitation of Christ*. Not because — just for the record — I'm going to become some fundamentalist, suffering-fetishising Christian. The point is, I'm instinctively a liberal in the deepest sense, in that I believe in a plurality of different ways of being. And what we have now is a metaphysical totalitarianism, where certain ways of being are completely removed from the public sphere. No one's going to let me on TV to talk about *The Imitation of Christ*, are they? Not until 2030, when everyone's having nervous breakdowns — and then, obviously, it'll all come back with a vengeance. **Host:** On that note — transcendental Roger TV in 2030\. Thanks very much for going through it. It's totally fascinating, because, as I said, it's now on our doorstep, it's all around us, and how we navigate it in our own worlds is what everyone who's paying attention is trying to get some strength from, I suppose. [Order a copy of Suicide](https://rev21.earth/product/suicide/?ref=rogerhallam.com) **Roger Hallam:** Just before we finish, can I do a plug — for the 1% of your audience who's going to have a sleepless night tonight because of what I've said. That 1% is very warmly invited to join 4 Billion Dead. I'll put a link to it — it's a new thing, I'm not going to call it a campaign, which involves silent processions with people holding signs saying "4 Billion Dead." And, for reasons I haven't got time to explain — you know, in my book — this will become the next XR. So I'm making a prediction. It's something you can do in five minutes or two hours. It's always good to do something, as we know, Nick. [Get involved with 4 Billion Dead](https://rev21.earth/events/?ref=rogerhallam.com) --- ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get on with the job of sorting it out. [Support](https://rogerhallam.com/#/portal/signup/6517fbb3b89c5400016e9f27/yearly) ### Go Fuck Yourself: The Air Conditioning "Debate" URL: https://rogerhallam.com/go-fuck-yourself/ Last updated: 2026-07-06T08:23:14.000Z ![audio-thumbnail](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/media/2026/07/AC-Debate--Radical-Evil_thumb.jpg) The AC Debate - Narrated by Robin 0:00 /402.262494 1× > I sent this piece to the New Statesman. They turned it down within 2 hours. This is itself a central part of the story here — how the left's thinks about "climate" is effectively the same as the way the Victorians thought about "sex". Everyone knows something enormous and defining is going on. But nobody in polite company will say what it actually is, or what needs to happen. > > So what is *actually* going on, and what does the actual situation demand of us? --- Participating in the "public debate" about whether everyone should have AC has the same logic as the Jewish councils negotiating with the Nazis over the Holocaust in World War Two. The framing is this: do you want to die this way or do you want to die that way? You choose. Do you want people to die by not having AC because it will get so hot they will die in their apartments, or do you want everyone to get AC, which will massively increase emissions so even more people will die through starvation and wars as food production collapses? For the record, put the question "what does 7 days of 40C heat in temperate climate countries — that is, Europe — do to food supplies" into an AI chatbot and you get the answer: a 20 to 50% reduction in food outputs for that year. And that is just the beginning. It goes on and on. The Jewish Councils were given the obscene proposition that they should cooperate with the Nazi authorities to send just a few people to the death camps in order to save everyone else. Except, of course, their tormentors were lying. Like today's corporate elites on AC, the Nazis just wanted to reduce their "costs". Duping the leaders of Jewish communities was a way to do this. And yes, as we now know, the plan was always to progressively exterminate the whole of the Jewish population. In the famous example of the Warsaw ghetto, it took the decline of population from over 300,000 to 60,000 for the penny to drop about what was actually going on — and for the remaining population to revolt: to die on their feet rather than like sheep. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2026/07/image-13.png) Bodies of Jews killed during the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising (1943) The Jewish political philosopher Hannah Arendt pointed out the indisputable fact that the Jewish Councils' cooperation with their murderers significantly aided the ability of the Nazis to enact the mass murder of six million people. She was heavily criticised for merely stating what is, of course, obvious. But, as she tried to make clear, she was not making a moral judgement on their actions — she was simply pointing out what happens when you cooperate with such intensity of evil. In a sense, we could say "they did not know." This level of deliberate genocide had never been enacted before in Europe. But this is the key point: we do know. After the Second World War, the core moral slogan of Western democracies became "never again" — meaning never again for anyone. We now know what humans are capable of. We cannot pretend. We know the Nazi Holocaust happened. And we know how it happened: by the systematic dehumanisation of the other. Core to this strategy is the framing of "do this and fewer people will die" — the disgusting cesspit of instrumental calculation. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2026/07/image-10.png) ****To the Unknown Painter** (1983) by German artist Anselm Kiefer. The composition is a tribute to artists and artworks destroyed during the Nazi era. Which brings us to the disgusting cesspit of the mainstream media at the present moment: the framing of the AC debate. The elites, who have no intention of stopping their mass death project of blocking emergency reduction in emissions, use the ever-gullible liberal media class to create "debates" which, by design, take the real question off the agenda. That question being: how do we live a life of integrity when murderers are in the process of murdering all of humanity? The answer to this — the real question — is of course simple: we revolt. And critically, we revolt with no instrumentalist calculation. We revolt because our very humanity demands it. [So if we are to die, we die on our feet, not like sheep](https://rogerhallam.com/die-like-sheep/). And then the divine paradox comes into play — virtue shows itself to be more effective in getting results than any vile instrumentalism which accepts the options presented to us by those in power. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2024/03/roger-zeit-1-1.JPG) ## Join Me In the Revolution of Our Lives Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No nonsense. Change your mind anytime. Let me give you a small example of how this works — of what happens when we choose to live in truth. Last week I was called up by Good Morning Britain to participate in this "Jewish Council" style discussion on whether or not everyone should have AC. I said that if I participated, I would say that 2C is now locked in and unless we overcome capitalism, we will starve to death. They decided not to have me on. I put what I had said on social media and got over 2 million views, landing me on the [front page of Reddit.](https://www.reddit.com/r/Anticonsumption/comments/1ugaj0q/ac%5Finterview%5Fdenied/?ref=rogerhallam.com) My action was a tiny echo of the action of one of the Jewish leaders who broke ranks in the Warsaw ghetto. He was taken to a meeting with Nazi officials and told to cooperate in murder to supposedly stop more murders from happening. He told the Nazis, words to the effect: go fuck yourselves. He was shot on the spot. Does anyone out there get it yet? You die on your feet, or you die like sheep. In the face of radical evil, those are the only choices. And being asked to participate in the murder of our children — billions of them — is the most obscene, most radical evil in human history. Isn't it? ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2026/07/image-11.png) Zanele Muholi. Portraits of dignity under oppression. --- Roger tells the truth - support him with [a donation](https://buy.stripe.com/6oEbLTaRk22QgQU6oo?ref=rogerhallam.com) for the team to continue to shine a light on the absolute criminality of continued emissions. [Make a One-Off Donation](https://buy.stripe.com/6oEbLTaRk22QgQU6oo?ref=rogerhallam.com) Want to get involved? Join an upcoming intro call to Revolution in the 21st Century. [Join an upcoming organising call](https://rev21.earth/events/?ref=rogerhallam.com) ### 🫖 The Hidden Power of Rituals URL: https://rogerhallam.com/the-hidden-power-of-rituals/ Last updated: 2026-07-05T06:56:39.000Z I want to dive into something that’s often overlooked but holds immense potential for personal and collective transformation: rituals. It’s easy to dismiss them as mere traditions or repetitive actions, but when we look deeper, rituals offer a way to connect, heal, and resist the pressures of modern life. In the podcast, I explore how rituals—big and small—are more than just routines. They have the power to shape our experiences, create solidarity, and even offer a form of resistance against the alienation that so often defines our world. Through ritual, we find space to be present, to let go of the relentless drive to produce and perform, and to reconnect with something deeper than ourselves. Whether it's the simplicity of gardening, the act of passing bread to a neighbour, or the communal moments that arise in protest, rituals allow us to break free from the constant demands of neoliberalism and reclaim something that feels more human. I’ve come to understand that rituals don’t just happen—they are created. And in a world where we are constantly pushed to produce more, be more, and perform more, they might just be the rebellion we need. Let’s take a look at how rituals can shift our perspectives, expand our sense of community, and help us build a more meaningful, connected existence. Listen on [Spotify,](https://open.spotify.com/episode/2qcUg6V0Wf73qlFI1srbHf?si=Mb-KiIG-R-68cnDLnsOKlA&ref=rogerhallam.com) [Apple](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-spirit-of-revolution-ep-1-intro/id1671150953?i=1000668886068&ref=rogerhallam.com), [Soundcloud](https://soundcloud.com/roger-hallam-2023/the-spirit-of-revolution-ep1-intro?si=02660373d400489c9ad0e8f873ac5dbc&utm%5Fsource=clipboard&utm%5Fmedium=text&utm%5Fcampaign=social%5Fsharing) or wherever you get your podcasts. We've worked to improve the prison phone sound quality and each episode will come with a newsletter transcript and video version on Youtube for reading along. ## Episode 7 - Rituals This is the last of our episodes on aspects of the nonrational before we take this big leap I've been talking about. Ritual seems to be on the other side of the rational from emotion and suffering. With emotion and suffering, it's as if this supposed rational mind of ours is overwhelmed with the drama of being. The surge of emotion comes through us. The suffering seems to destroy us, and yet we find ourselves growing through the process. Getting lost leads to being found. Ritual, as I'm going to discuss, seems to do the opposite. It leads the self. We escape from ourselves, as you might say. Ritual points not to drama but to its absence: an emptiness. But the revelation here, the paradox, is that in this emptiness there is something, though not a thing—or to put it another way, it is a thing, but it's not a thing at the same time. I'm reminded of the situation we discuss in physics, where there is an empty space, but in some vital sense, it is not empty. There is a sort of thing going on there. We don't need to fear the emptiness then. We can lose our ego, and when we do, we don't cease to be, because the crucial realization is that we are not just our ego. There is something else that we are. This is not some big drama-enlightenment thing. The realization is rooted in our everyday empirical observations, what we have been doing in these episodes: just looking and seeing what is actually going on. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2026/07/image.png) Vilhelm Hammershøi – **Interior with Woman Standing* (1903) Ritual, then, is about the everyday, not the big events, big ceremonies, big initiations. It is rooting what happens in between the official occasions—what does not get noticed by the conventional way of seeing. The space between the nodes, between the supposed real things. For instance, making dinner, going to the loo, clearing up, closing the curtains. Around all the pressure of this ego that we are supposed to protect. There is a world of stuff that is just going on. I'm not going to give a definition of ritual but rather I'm going to meander around a bunch of things—or non-things—as slight provocations, provocations to get a sense of how ritual works and thus how there is an ecology of modes of being. So, when we come to maybe give up on this ego thing for a while as we go into the future episodes, we can know there are other places to be. It's not going to be all or nothing. Maybe, as we go through this little tour, we can have visits—sitting there in the road—and that itself can be a ritual, I think, in itself self-sufficient. So, I'd like to say also, before I start, I based this episode on a few ideas from a book called *Disappearance of Rituals*. Let's dive in then, with a well-known ritual: the Japanese tea ceremony. The main idea here, I guess, is that nothing is going on. It does not have a purpose beyond itself. The focus is on the form and the aesthetic. We find ourselves critical of it, maybe, like—what's the point? Isn't it a bit boring, nothing is happening? But, at the same time, maybe there is the idea of: aha, that is the whole point, and it's actually quite cool. The tea is being poured. The tea is drunk. There are two people. They are connected in the presence of each other, but there is no communication. There is no having a mad natter or a gossip where you're not aware that you're having a drink. The opposite is happening. There is no communication, but in the absence of communication, there is not simply silence or emptiness. It's not boring, because there is something else going on in that silence—something beyond the ego. I would also like to start with another introductory example. I've been reading about another Japanese ritual recently. The idea is: you choose some everyday item—a button, a coin—and you put it in a box. Then you paint the box and decorate it as nicely as you can, and then you give it to someone. They open it up, but the point is not what is inside it. The point is the box in which there is a thing. The thing is actually the container—the box. It is pointless to spend too much time on the box, but that's the whole point. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2026/07/image-2.png) Johannes Vermeer – **The Milkmaid* There's something about this I like—something about the ritual destroying meaning. The oppression of a surplus of meaning. The heaviness of expectation and points to something without meaning, or beyond it. It's mysterious, which is kind of amusing. It creates a curiosity. And moving outside, maybe. So, let's meander around a bunch of other happenings or practices. Let's move outside for a bit. Leading on from the box example, there seems to be something about ritual which is not about production—making stuff, and lots of it. It is not about the rational mind working things out, getting things done as such. It undermines the core ideology of neoliberalism, the system of meaning imposed upon us: that it's all about production. Producing stuff, and more and more of it—overproduction, in fact. This might explain why ritual is disregarded and made invisible in our culture—because of its subversive quality. In the present context, ritual has been described as being *at home in the world*. This is the opposite of what the regime wants. It wants us to have a feeling of lack, of unfinishedness, of having still to get things done. So, ritual, in contrast, is about presence. Paying attention. And repetition. Things in themselves. Activities that we are in the routine of doing, that don't go beyond themselves. You do them in a sort of flow, like how you might do gardening. It does not go anywhere. The weeds come back. The beds get scrapped. Winter kills everything. It can feel quite dispiriting at times from a "getting things done" point of view—like, what have you got to show for yourself? But in another sense, that's the whole point, isn't it? It doesn't actually go anywhere. Here we are, just sitting there, pulling weeds out. You might say it's my personal ritual. Weeding has been a big part of my life, but I cannot show you anything for all that effort. There's just a field, like it was before—which is nice, in a way. I'm not under the weight of some achievement. What we have then, in ritual, instead, is an emphasis on beauty, aesthetics, art, or just manners. We have symbol, rather than a communication of something. The ego is a bit lost by all this, but again, that is the whole point. This is not about production. And an added richness is when this nonproductiveness is done in a social context—when it becomes an act of coming together. Like the breaking of bread. You take a piece of bread and pass it on to the next person. It might be more efficient for everyone just to have a piece of bread put on their plate. But such a production point of view cannot see something else—what is actually really going on. Which is the connection created by the giving of the bread to the person next to you, and the repetition of this act over and over again, going around in a circle. The sense of being at home is not the creation of the conscious ego. It does not come through thought but through the ritualistic movement of the body in the presence of other bodies doing likewise. Feeling at home in the world, then, has to do with acting with others—not about being alone. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2026/07/image-3.png) Caspar David Friedrich – **Monk by the Sea* This then connects with a rejection of the idea of personal, individual authenticity—what might be called the production of self. Trying to make ourselves into something, into a *thing*, a product. Something we have to feel good about, defined as something we can sell or promote to others. All this is seen as the essence of neoliberalism, the new modern regime. So, it is not so much our labour that is being exploited, but rather *us*—we are taught and pressured to exploit ourselves. To make ourselves into something. To continually reproduce ourselves, to be better and more authentic. This supposed authenticity of the self, then, is not the transcendence of the self. It is, in fact, the exact opposite—it is a doubling down on our obsession with the self. Self-care, then, becomes really the narcissism of the self. This is especially true in a social media context, where young people are pressurized into being obsessed with who they are, how they look, with being a product. This is the enemy of the social. The enemy of real community. The engagement in acts of service with others—a leaving of the self behind. Promotion of the self is the opposite of ritual. Instead of everything being reduced down into content or intensity, there is this focus instead on a form. An escape, for a while, from the weight of self-expectation. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2024/03/roger-zeit-1-1.JPG) ## Join Me In the Revolution of Our Lives Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No nonsense. Change your mind anytime. And in this emptiness, ironically, we see so much more. There is this re-enchantment of a world that comes into being—not having to know, not having to have everything tied down, but simply participating in the world. Ritual, then, can be associated with *play*. It is free. It is not the factory for the production of things—or the production of selves. Instead of the obsession with the self, we escape by putting on a face, by doing an act as in art. There is no set communication or discourse. In the festival of play, there is no oppressive big point to it at all. Like in sport—it is important without being important. The rituals of the football match are real enough without any claim to be important in some serious worldly way. After all, all that is happening is that a ball is being kicked around. But it’s also obvious that is *not* all that is happening. It makes sense without having to have some big rationale about it. This play can, however, become what the French thinker Georges Bataille calls *strong play*. We can take the sense of play into the ritualising of more serious competition—the debate, the duel, the traditional ritualization of warfare in a premodern context. The fight between two champions. The ritual somehow gives a meaning over and above the violence itself. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2024/11/right-side-of-history-min.png) Extinction Rebellion Demonstration. This is very different from the brutality of modern warfare, as a question of production—where it is all about which side can produce the most stuff that can kill the most people. To Bataille, there is always what he calls a *surplus* that has to be expended—a surplus of energy, or a production, but also of meaning. We can use ritualistic competition as an alternative to the destruction through violence. Resistance, then, can be seen as a way of doing away with the surplus. Maybe more people would enter into resistance if it was ritualized, made into something which did not have to have the heaviness of this excess of meaning—which becomes a form of strong play. I am reminded here of the confrontation between the Black rights resistance and the police in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1963. One of the Black organisers approached the officer running the police operation during the Birmingham protests in 1963 and suggested they take a break for lunch. Both sides agreed, and they all paused for an hour. This simple act broke the logic of production—the reductive materialism of modern political struggle. Instead, it opened up a space for humanity, for play, for humour, even. It reminded everyone of their essential communality, much like the football games played in no-man’s-land during Christmas in World War I. These acts—breaking the expected rhythms of conflict—are often presented by the ruling ideology as meaningless or, worse, as transgressions. But, in fact, they are among the deepest forms of resistance. Ritual resists the reduction of life to one flat plane, to the tyranny of a rational justice that sees nothing but itself. Ritual is not just idle play on the margins of what is deemed “important” or “real.” It can stride into moments of greatest intensity—into life’s transitions, and even into death itself. In the agony of grief, ritual provides a kind of insulation. As one saying goes, ritual “insulates the skin from the atrocious burns of suffering.” It protects us from the harsh habits of being. Without ritual, we are unprotected, exposed to life’s rawness. This protection is not about producing something tangible. Ritual doesn’t build physical walls or create material artifacts. It offers no rational explanation. It is not about the mind, psychology, or words. Instead, it responds to the void of life’s pain in a physical way, through action. The black clothes, the funeral march, the burial. These acts are “doing something without doing something.” It all helps. Not because it provides closure—closure is a myth. Closure cannot exist when the wound of grief is so profound. If anything, reason only makes grief worse. The solace of ritual comes not from what it produces, but from the doing itself. This brings us back to the foundational idea of promoting form over content. Ritual, like art, creates a surplus of meaning that cannot be fully explained. A poem is more than the sum of its words; a witticism is more than its logical meaning—it is simply funny. When I listen to a Martin Luther King Jr. speech, for example, I’m swept away by its sound and rhythm. It’s not just *what* he’s saying—it’s *how* he says it. Immanuel Kant, the philosopher, apparently disliked music because it had no set meaning, no clear utility. But that is precisely the point. Music takes you away. It is intense and transformative, but its meaning resists reduction to words. The same is true for visual art. When we see a glorious work of art, we can try to describe it, but it’s like running on the ground when you need to be flying through the air. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2026/07/image-4.png) Edward Hopper – **Morning Sun* The world, when we truly look at it, is full of rituals in the widest sense of the word. Life, as they say, goes on. There is an endless and irreducible thickness to it—a ground beneath all the dramas of our egos. Even in the mundane—like doing the washing up—there is ritual. Even when ritual is denied or dismissed, it slips back into our lives. Materialists—those who think the world is only about power and refuse to see anything transcendent—still find themselves up to their ears in ritualistic behaviours. The Russian communists had their rallies, parades, salutes, and all the pomp—the dressing up and showiness. But the essence of true ritual lies in its subtlety. Ritual cannot be declared, frosted upon the multitude, or dictated. Some of the Extinction Rebellion ceremonies, at its peak, felt a bit like that: *"And now we are going to have a ceremony. Alright, jump to it."* Ritual, at its best, is something that slips gently into the social space it inhabits. It is there to be felt and acknowledged, not imposed. It is the lubricant of social connection, not the glue. This brings us to the pouring of tea in Japan. The act is not about making a grand statement of generosity or gratitude, or some moral lesson. It is about politeness—a ritual governed by rules, but not weighed down by virtues. This doesn’t mean ethics and virtues are unimportant. Life, of course, cannot just be about pouring tea. But part of life *should* be about pouring tea. Life is about truth, yes, but it is also about myth. Conversations are about information and argument, but they are also about banter, gossip, self-deprecation—a way of bringing each other up and down. They are play. A sport. Within the protection of ritual, we are shielded from life’s raw edges. Ritual prepares us for the hardships to come. Returning to the spirit of revolution and resistance: I write this from a prison cell. To say so is already a reduction, an abstraction that sanitizes the experience. Being in a cell is not just a singular reality—it is a complex matrix of mini-rituals. Getting food. Having a nap. Putting up postcards on the wall. These rituals give meaning to confinement, threading it into the broader fabric of life. Strangely, writing the text for this episode has been calming for me. Perhaps even hearing about ritual can itself become a kind of ritual. Most of the ideas here are not my own—I claim no originality. But maybe they help expand the world for you, just a little. There is more out there than this narrow, flattened reality we’ve been told is all there is. As we prepare for resistance, it’s good to think expansively. Ritual reminds us of the vastness of life and how real it all is, as real as anything else. And when we find ourselves in the cell, or wherever life places us, we can still have our rituals—big and small. [Join The Sunday Service](https://rev21.earth/events/?ref=rogerhallam.com) [Donate To Support This Work](#/portal/support) --- As always, you can work with me on democratic revolution globally at [rev21.earth.](https://rev21.earth/events/?ref=rogerhallam.com) If you want to get involved in the assembly movement in the UK, join an upcoming [Welcome to Assemble](https://timetoassemble.org/events/?ref=rogerhallam.com) talk. --- ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get on with the job of sorting it out. [Support](https://rogerhallam.com/#/portal/signup/6517fbb3b89c5400016e9f27/yearly) ### The Catastrophic Cowardice of the Liberal Left URL: https://rogerhallam.com/catastrophic-cowardice/ Last updated: 2026-07-02T07:24:53.000Z ![audio-thumbnail](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/media/2026/06/Liberal-cowardice_thumb.jpg) Liberal Left Cowardice - Narrated by Robin 0:00 /392.470703 1× You know this catastrophe continues when the Guardian thinks it is still politically acceptable to run an article about how to prevent the greatest killing project in history — what the global ruling class is doing, because what the fuck do you think 2C means — which ends with the repressed, vacuous quote: "it will require organised political struggle to make it happen." The [report](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/jun/04/world-inequality-lab-equality-academics-planetary-survival?ref=rogerhallam.com), from the World Inequality Lab and co-authored by Thomas Piketty among others, sets out a path to keeping warming below 2C while doubling incomes for 89% of the world's population. It proposes wealth taxes on billionaires, a roughly 50% cut in average working hours, dietary change away from red meat, and a shift in investment toward education and healthcare. [‘An equal and habitable world is possible’: academics set out sweeping vision for planetary survivalGlobal report provides an alternative to climate breakdown, political extremism and economic tensions![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/icon/apple-touch-icon-512-1bd88003-3cac-4703-bda7-913061b51446.png)The GuardianJonathan Watts![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/thumbnail/4998-a5e09e0f-fad4-4c90-a776-2763491bc9e5.jpg)](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/jun/04/world-inequality-lab-equality-academics-planetary-survival?ref=rogerhallam.com) If individual lives are at risk — if an article deals with someone at risk of suicide, for instance — there are always links at the end on taking action and getting help. But if we are dealing with the deaths of billions of brown and black people, it's like: what the fuck, nothing to do with us, just scroll on, baby. --- A second report, from the British Geological Survey, mapped the parts of Great Britain most at risk of subsidence (buildings sinking) as hotter, drier summers cause the ground beneath buildings to shrink. London, Essex, Kent and a band of land stretching from Oxford to the Wash were named as the most vulnerable, with up to 1.8 million properties potentially affected by 2070\. But notice something missing here. > "The GeoClimate dataset forecasts that, by 2070, about 500,000 properties could be affected under a low emissions scenario aligned to the Paris climate agreement. This rises to more than 1.8m properties under a medium scenario, closest to current global emissions trajectories." Yep — no mention of the high emissions scenario. The worst case. Better not worry the peasants with the most essential rule of risk management: look at the worst case, and act on the basis that it will happen. [Millions of homes in London, Essex and Kent at risk of sinking as climate crisis worsensAnalysis pinpoints areas most vulnerable to hotter, drier weather causing ground to shrink and drag foundations down![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/icon/apple-touch-icon-512-473f8a38-4a45-4d18-a936-22df00c85ee4.png)The GuardianHannah Devlin![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/thumbnail/4720-f75dc550-1ed1-4d58-998c-e4f05a73c607.jpg)](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/jun/11/millions-homes-london-essex-and-kent-sinking-climate-crisis-subsidence?ref=rogerhallam.com) Both reports describe the scale of what's coming in plenty of detail. Both stop at exactly the same point. The WIL report ends with a single sentence about "organised political struggle" and then just leaves it there — no link, no explanation, nothing about what that struggle actually looks like or how anyone might join it. The BGS report gives you two emissions scenarios and quietly drops the third, the one that reflects where we are actually heading. In both cases, the bit of information that would let you actually do something with what you've just read is the bit that's missing. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2024/03/roger-zeit-1-1.JPG) ## Join Me In the Revolution of Our Lives Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No nonsense. Change your mind anytime. --- What is the first rule of neo-liberal journalism? Talk about the crime, but never mention the criminal. This week's Euronews article claiming that extreme heat causes 3,400 deaths in India per day does just that. The headlines say the disaster is "driven by the burning of fossil fuels"—but who is actually doing the driving? Rest assured, that question will be ignored until our children are dealing with **3 million deaths** in a single five-day heatwave in the 2030s. A recent paper in *Frontiers in Environmental Health* confirms that such a heatwave is linked to nearly **30,000 extra deaths**. These events are becoming more frequent, longer, and more intense as carbon emissions—fuelled by those same fossil fuel giants—push global temperatures higher. Stop hiding behind passive voice. Name the criminals. [Extreme heat causes 3,400 excess deaths per day in India - studyExperts warn that official heatwave death figures are grossly underestimated.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/icon/apple-touch-icon-180x180-f25591b7-c482-4611-b71e-7acbece8cff2.png)euronewsAngela Symons![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/thumbnail/1200x675_cmsv2_829d8862-2315-5546-bbfd-5acf6b926146-9791041-b761ec74-1614-4971-8a1b-d312f1fe6545.jpg)](https://www.euronews.com/2026/06/10/heatwaves-are-killing-tens-of-thousands-in-india-officials-are-barely-counting-them?ref=rogerhallam.com) --- The Daily Telegraph is currently running a terrifying alarm bell about a ["Godzilla El Niño."](https://archive.ph/95H3F?ref=rogerhallam.com) They detail the coming chaos: 3 million potential deaths in heatwaves by the 2030s, famine that could collapse empires as it did for the Moche civilisation, and mass migration that will redraw maps. They warn of economic disruption, political flare-ups, and the weaponisation of water in Yemen and the Sahel. But there is one vital detail they leave out. **Who runs this global concentration camp?** The article treats this extinction-level event as a natural force, like a dinosaur from a movie. It speaks of "oceanic heatwaves" and "weather patterns" with a detached neutrality. It mentions that fossil fuels are driving this, yet it refuses to name the boardrooms that signed the orders, the politicians who took the donations, and the corporations that knowingly lit the fuse while counting their trillions in profit. They describe the suffering of the concentration camp—the droughts, the floods, the starvation—but they treat the guards as invisible. This is not an act of God. It is an act of greed. --- If the reporting won't tell you what organised political struggle looks like, we will. Below are [recordings](https://www.youtube.com/@Revolution21c/videos?ref=rogerhallam.com) from last month's Festival of Revolutions, along with upcoming events where you can hear more and get involved directly. [Watch the Festival of Revolutions recordings](https://www.youtube.com/@Revolution21c/videos?ref=rogerhallam.com) [Join an upcoming organising call](https://rev21.earth/events/?ref=rogerhallam.com) --- If a video or workshop isn't enough, there are several longer programmes running over the summer: a Collaborative Leadership Summer Intensive with Resilient Uprising in early July; an Introduction to Sacred Activism later that month; and a Strategic Leadership Intensive with Resilient Uprising in October. Full details and registration for all of these are on the events page. [Summer Schools Coming Up](https://rev21.earth/events/?ref=rogerhallam.com) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get on with the job of sorting it out. [Support](https://rogerhallam.com/#/portal/signup/6517fbb3b89c5400016e9f27/yearly) ### So, Who Is Causing Public Disorder Now? URL: https://rogerhallam.com/public-disorder/ Last updated: 2026-06-30T06:07:02.000Z I was on the [front page of Reddit](https://www.reddit.com/r/Anticonsumption/comments/1ugaj0q/ac%5Finterview%5Fdenied/?ref=rogerhallam.com) this week with over 2 million views. Good Morning Britain had called me to appear on the show and asked whether it was okay for everyone to have air conditioning. I said 2C is now locked in and if we don't overcome capitalism we'll have far more important things to worry about than AC — like starving to death. He decided it would not be good for me to go on... Reddit seems to think otherwise! This has been a week of broken records and broken arguments. Europe's heat is historic. Paris recorded more days above 40C in five days than in the previous 147 years combined. As the heat became unbearable, shoppers in France started shoving one another over AC units. The beginning of a riot is always dangerously close at high temperatures. This is the real public disorder of climate collapse, not the supposed public nuisance that I was sentenced to 5 years in prison for. I advised on a motorway disruption intended to force the reality of climate breakdown onto the public agenda. The judge told me climate science was not a valid defence and refused to let the jury hear it. The UN Special Rapporteur for Environmental Defenders, who sat in the gallery and watched me be physically dragged from the dock three times, called the trial a dark day for anyone concerned with fundamental freedoms. This week of historic heat and thousands of deaths was a dark one for the fundamentals of life - a liveable biosphere. Here are my takes as the week unfolded. --- ## **Fighting for ACs in Paris** > Omg this feels apocalyptic. Parisians fighting for air conditioning units in a supermarket during this historic heatwave. > If this doesn’t wake you up to the magnitude of the climate crisis, I don’t know what will. [pic.twitter.com/m4A32Q4rfH](https://t.co/m4A32Q4rfH?ref=rogerhallam.com) > > — Matthew Todd 🌏🔥 (@MrMatthewTodd) [June 26, 2026](https://x.com/MrMatthewTodd/status/2070469461035950104?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=rogerhallam.com) [French shoppers clash over air conditioners as deadly heatwave sweeps EuropeFootage shows shoppers elbowing their way through the crowd and clambering over one another to snatch portable air conditioners and fans from the shelves.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/icon/apple-icon-144x144-4d15f114-e5e3-4e2d-95bd-0402d2965135.png)New York PostAdam Silverstein![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/thumbnail/132435234-8ce53a44-57a9-4bcf-adef-1cd5425da9bc.jpg)](https://nypost.com/2026/06/27/world-news/france-heat-wave-sparks-air-conditioner-frenzy-as-shoppers-clash-in-wild-video/?ref=rogerhallam.com) So who is causing public disorder now? All those judges who worship Hobbes should reconsider whether the people creating disorder are those who act to prevent climate and social breakdown, or the corporate fossil fuel class that is locking in the greatest levels of disorder in human history. ## **The maths, since no one else will do it** France in heatwave temperatures: - 2014: 26C to 30C - 2026: 35C to 39C - 2038: 43C to 47C The 2050 heatwave temperatures predicted in 2014 occurred 24 years early, in 2026\. The difference between the heatwaves in 2014 and 2026 is 9 °C. Do a simple linear projection, and in 2038 temperatures hit an average of 45C in a heatwave, and 50C on a bad heatwave day. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2026/06/image-10.png) Eveline Dheliat 2014 TF1 weather prediction vs 2026 actuals This means the country's entire infrastructure will need to be replaced — roads, wiring, insulation, everything. Agricultural production will plummet by 50% or more in a bad year. In the context of the same happening across the EU and the rest of the world, the French state and society will be in total crisis. French civilisation will collapse. This is just the beginning. At 2C, which we will hit in the mid-2030s, all the Earth's system feedbacks will be triggered. It will just get worse and worse. So when is someone going to call out and prosecute the French far right for their denial of the greatest threat to the French nation for a thousand years? When is someone going to say what they actually are: traitors to the French nation. Absolute criminals engaging in an absolute crime. --- ## **Three questions about Paris** > Paris, the capital of France, has recorded more days above 40°C this week than during the 147-year period spanning from 1872 to 2019. > > Historic is an understatement. [pic.twitter.com/XAzRZkMx73](https://t.co/XAzRZkMx73?ref=rogerhallam.com) > > — Nahel Belgherze (@WxNB\_) [June 25, 2026](https://x.com/WxNB%5F/status/2070205822789939443?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=rogerhallam.com) 1. Is anyone seriously suggesting there is not a real possibility, in the next decade, that France will not experience seven days in a row of temperatures over 40C, given we are going to be hitting 2C by the mid-2030s? 2. Is anyone seriously suggesting that such an event will not destroy agricultural production in France and more widely across the EU, given that the prediction is that production will decline by 20 to 50%? 3. Is anyone seriously suggesting, as a result, there will not be a revolution? After all, there’s a history to these things — this is Paris. --- ## **Predictions vs Reality** I asked an AI chatbot what seven consecutive days of 40C heat would do to UK food production. The answer: a catastrophic drop of 20% to 50% in agricultural production for that year. Extreme conditions trigger severe drought, rapid water loss from soils, and heat stress, causing arable crops to fail or wilt and dairy and livestock yields to plummet. Most revolutions are triggered by food riots. Just saying. Now look at what the science predicted for the UK at 1.5C: 35C or above roughly once every other year on average, with London and the south-east approaching annual occurrence by end of century. Now look at what actually happened in 2026, before the end of June: 35C — 24 May 35C — 25 May 36C — 24 June 36C — 25 June And five days above 35C in a single run before the month was out. The takeaway: the science predictions are systematically biased to underestimate reality, because of non-linear dynamics in the system. It will always be so much worse than previously thought. Always. --- [Not Just Another “Super” El Niño ArticleThe world is bracing, quite rightly, for a newly confirmed and likely very strong El Niño event, but the real risks lay in what follows.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/icon/https-3A-2F-2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com-2Fpublic-2Fimages-2F83f14731-db7e-42e4-a318-2d2e3b03ddc8-2Fapple-touch-icon-180x180-0625cc9d-81b7-4e9a-801c-911644a454a7.png)Climate UncoveredTom Harris![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/thumbnail/https-3A-2F-2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com-2Fpublic-2Fimages-2F37bd39c1-4892-44b2-984c-586e6bed44e2_1968x1434-6451df43-6bb9-4f26-bc11-88e8bdeca5f2.heic)](https://substack.com/home/post/p-201606657?ref=rogerhallam.com) ## **What human extinction actually means** As the UK passes five days of 35C or more before the end of June, those of you who understand that 2+2=4 — regardless of what you want it to equal — may wish to remind yourselves of where this is heading. > "2027 will likely soar to between 1.7C and 1.8C for the calendar year average." > "Permanently passing 2C next decade now seems unavoidable." > "This places the planet squarely in the danger zone for a number of the great tipping elements including the West Antarctic and Greenland Ice Sheets, boreal permafrost abrupt thawing, ocean current disruption and Amazon collapse." And this final quote requires translation into plain language: > "We can only hope that these upcoming systemic shocks finally jolt global leadership and the voting public into treating the crisis with the structural seriousness it demands." "With the structural seriousness it demands" means millions of people go on the streets and remove the regime. Revolutions. "The crisis" means billions of people die — quick violent deaths from social breakdown, or slow agonising deaths from starvation. Human extinction is now the main scenario. Seeing — or rather feeling hot — is believing. --- ## **The Guardian's paid advertising supports mass death** As the poor of the UK and Europe experience the most extreme heat ever recorded, and as the permanent destruction of physical infrastructure in formerly temperate countries becomes inevitable, what does the Guardian do? It accepts paid advertorial articles suggesting the western middle classes should continue to fly around the world just because they still can. We know what the present editor of the Guardian would have done if faced with responding to the Atlantic slave trade. Out of sight, out of mind. No worries. [No worries: enjoy sun, sea and serenity on this restorative Australian holidayThis relaxing route takes you from the tropics of north Queensland to bountiful Perth via Australia’s cultural capital, Melbourne. If you’re looking to wine, dine and unwind then this is the trip for you![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/icon/apple-touch-icon-512-3dc6c900-3e8b-4c37-bbe3-dd2f0e69ed25.png)The GuardianGuardian staff reporter![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/thumbnail/3330-e704491c-7037-4731-8318-20f7b311e049.jpg)](https://www.theguardian.com/australia-unlocked/2026/may/12/restorative-australia-holiday-sun-sea-and-serenity?ref=rogerhallam.com) --- ## **The calm before the storm** I was invited to speak alongside senior figures from Liberty, Amnesty and the UN at Cambridge recently. I outlined the insurance industry’s warning that 3°C of warming could mean billions of deaths. No one challenged it. No one asked a question. No one followed up. This is the calm before the storm. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2026/06/image-11.png) Speaking at the protest panel in Cambridge, May 13 [Assemble! Protest Politics and RightsReport on the Book Launch of Oxford Handbook of Peaceful Assembly Assemble-Report.pdf117 KBdownload-circle](https://rogerhallam.com/content/files/2026/06/Assemble-Report.pdf "Download") --- Finally, to those Redditers who sent my comment viral and for all of you, I have a poem. ## *Fear Not Reddit Hobbits* Amidst the sweltering noise of collapse, In the sparkle of a flickering light, The angel of truth presents herself, Entrancing us with her delicious irrelevance. In this world of iron instruments, "Come", she says, "and enjoy temporary release", In the dizzying immersion of beauty for its own sake, To tell it as it is, gives us a glimpse of holiness, A place of peace, hidden from the clamour for power. And God, blessed be the old man, rewards us, Not every time, but sometimes, With the gift of fame and fortune, Far greater than those who clamour will ever see. For it is only in the embrace of his presence, In the still moment of his truth, That we are graced with the power We so surely spurned. And God laughs, as if to say, "I told you so, Closeness to my good self is the only way to be." For all the reasons it is still worth being in this Forsaken world. --- Roger tells the truth - support him with [a donation](https://buy.stripe.com/6oEbLTaRk22QgQU6oo?ref=rogerhallam.com) for the team to continue to shine a light on the absolute criminality of continued emissions. [Make a One-Off Donation](https://buy.stripe.com/6oEbLTaRk22QgQU6oo?ref=rogerhallam.com) Want to get involved? Join an upcoming intro call to Revolution in The 21st Century. [Join an upcoming organising call](https://rev21.earth/events/?ref=rogerhallam.com) ### How We Grow - A Quick Ask URL: https://rogerhallam.com/how-we-grow-a-quick-ask/ Last updated: 2026-06-28T11:22:03.000Z People often ask me how a movement like this actually grows in practice. I say it's all about the pathway to action. First, people hear about the revolution through talks, books, trainings, or social media (we just hit 100,000 followers across our channels!). Then they sign up, [attend a briefing](https://rev21.earth/events/?ref=rogerhallam.com), and read the plan. After that, they connect with others nearby and host meetings and events. From there, it repeats and spreads locally. That is the structure we are building through Rev21. If you want to take part, the first step is to sign up here and let us know where you are based and which languages you speak, so we can connect you with the revolution. [Tell us a bit more about you](https://rev21.earth/signup/getting-to-know-you/?hx%5Fevent%5Fid=life-event-getting-to-know-you&ref=rogerhallam.com) With love and courage, Robin ### Meanwhile, In the Real World URL: https://rogerhallam.com/meanwhile-in-the-real-world/ Last updated: 2026-06-24T06:38:28.000Z The UK is about to go over 35C for three days in a row. We are at a global warming increase of 1.5C, and temperatures are now rising by 0.4C a decade, meaning we will be hitting 2C in ten years. Meaning the UK's wiring, roads, railway lines and housing will be melting, subsiding and heading underwater. Meanwhile the [Guardian reports](https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/jun/22/starmer-strong-green-record-rightwing-backlash-weakened-plans?ref=rogerhallam.com) that "Starmer has a good story to tell." Great story to tell. Just great. And yes, to round it off, Starmer sat back and allowed judges to give years-long sentences to the most courageous members of the younger generation — people who took proportionate peaceful action to force reality onto the agenda, and who are going to have to spend their whole lives dealing with this shit. At the very minimum, to make any real difference, the UK has to get to zero emissions by 2035\. Pretending otherwise is the purest of pure bullshit. [Starmer has a strong green record – but a rightwing backlash weakened his plansPrime minister was forced to row back on some policies despite strong support among voters for climate action![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/icon/apple-touch-icon-512-310e120c-8d76-4c33-9c13-7c27f7544b96.png)The GuardianFiona Harvey![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/thumbnail/5953-d5b35123-e724-4ae5-834e-6067fe646cb0.jpg)](https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/jun/22/starmer-strong-green-record-rightwing-backlash-weakened-plans?ref=rogerhallam.com) --- ## **Entirely predictable** When the Nazis saw thousands of tanks coming over the horizon in 1944, they thought it was "nothing short of astonishing." Since then, everyone else has thought it was entirely predictable. > France will be at the epicenter of the most significant heat anomaly on the planet over the next few days. The sheer extent of the country that could experience temperatures above 40°C is nothing short of astonishing. Red-level extreme heat warnings are likely to be issued soon. [pic.twitter.com/V4AgIUg2vA](https://t.co/V4AgIUg2vA?ref=rogerhallam.com) > > — Nahel Belgherze (@WxNB\_) [June 20, 2026](https://x.com/WxNB%5F/status/2068321303510004140?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=rogerhallam.com) There's a real world out there. It was coming to kill Nazis in the past. It is coming to kill our children in the very near future. --- ## **Classism at the Guardian** Guardian columnist Marina Hyde wrote a column this week on Andy Burnham's Makerfield by-election result and the winning candidate Rob Kenyon. Marina Elizabeth Catherine Dudley-Williams, also known as Marina Hyde, daughter of Sir Alastair Edgcumbe James Dunley-Williams, 2nd Baronet — just for starters — rightly criticises the sexism of the Reform candidate and plumber Rob Kenyon. She then goes on to say that he: > "will no doubt be back on his plumbing rounds next week. So, Makerfield ladies, make sure your husband's home to be consulted as to whether you really want your sink unblocked. It'll honestly be cheaper to replace it." Ha ha ha. Get back to being peasants, you underlings. She might want to check out how many plumbers are in parliament compared with the offspring of aristocrats. And why working-class people vote for the far right when elitist "progressives" are not only so patronising to them, but don't even notice they are doing it. [Reform’s genius plan is finally coming into view: field terrible candidates then lose | Marina HydeThe unstoppable Nigel Farage is looking increasingly stoppable in the wake of Makerfield. The actual prime minister, meanwhile, has gone into hiding, says Guardian columnist Marina Hyde![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/icon/apple-touch-icon-512-e01b74f2-a959-41d2-813a-6681eba6bab0.png)The GuardianMarina Hyde![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/thumbnail/6874-07234989-117c-4b43-9725-a0fe794e1ebf.jpg)](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jun/19/reform-candidates-nigel-farage-makerfield-prime-minister?ref=rogerhallam.com) --- If the reporting won't tell you what organised political struggle looks like against heatwaves, we will. Below are [recordings](https://www.youtube.com/@Revolution21c/videos?ref=rogerhallam.com) from last month's Festival of Revolutions, along with upcoming events where you can hear more and get involved directly. [Watch the Festival of Revolutions recordings](https://www.youtube.com/@Revolution21c/videos?ref=rogerhallam.com) [Join an upcoming organising call](https://rev21.earth/events/?ref=rogerhallam.com) --- If a video or workshop isn't enough, there are several longer programmes running over the summer: a Collaborative Leadership Summer Intensive with Resilient Uprising in early July; an Introduction to Sacred Activism later that month; and a Strategic Leadership Intensive with Resilient Uprising in October. Full details and registration for all of these are on the events page. [Summer Schools Coming Up](https://rev21.earth/events/?ref=rogerhallam.com) ### The Present Moment: The State of Exception URL: https://rogerhallam.com/the-present-moment-the-state-of-exception/ Last updated: 2026-06-22T06:07:44.000Z The ideology of the modern state is Hobbesianism - the notion that the state is a rational secular institution whose existence is justified by the use of its monopoly of violence to repress challenges to public order. Without the state, it is argued, life is "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short". The state then is justified in creating laws that repress threats to this public order. Whether or not you agree with Hobbes, you have to accept that he makes a robust, if circular, argument. If you accept its terms of reference, it must be right. The devastating critique of Hobbes, however, is not that it is wrong in theory, but that in practice it becomes self-contradictory. In theory - outside time and space - the "state" is an ideal unified construction that, by definition, exists to protect the state and thereby society. In practice - inside time and space - there is the ultimate "principal-agent" problem - meaning the principal, "the ideal state", has to enact its agenda through historically existing agents - meaning the class that controls the state. The logic crashes in on itself, in historical moments, when the agents of the state engage in activities that undermine that state - what is called "the state of exception". I would suggest there are two forms of this state of exception - the "classical" and the "endtimes". The classical exceptions are the moments in history when the agents of the state engage in activities which undermine their own particular state - for instance, by refusing to fund the state to undertake its order-enforcing functions (as before the French Revolution), by failing to make peace with an invading foreign state which cannot be defeated (as before the Russian Revolution), or by enacting the interests of a foreign state before its own (as in the case of Vichy France, and arguably, in the present context, with regard to Israel). This state of exception is the motor that drives the collapse and reformation of states - it is what history is. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2026/06/image-7.png) Beat the Whites with the Red Wedge, El Lissitzky, 1919. There is, however, another state of exception which has only become possible in human history since 1945 - namely when the agents of the state engage in dysfunctional behaviour that leads not only to the destruction of a particular state but to all states - an end to civilisation and the end of the human race itself - meaning extinction. With the prospect of nuclear war since 1945, the conventional Hobbesian response has been that having nuclear weapons creates an idealised notion of "deterrence", but given such a strategy does not have an absolute guarantee to always work within time and space - ie in practice, then logically, from a more robust Hobbesian point of view, it is only a matter of time before deterrence fails and human extinction takes place. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2024/03/roger-zeit-1-1.JPG) ## Join Me In the Revolution of Our Lives Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No nonsense. Change your mind anytime. With the destruction of the biosphere due to state agents allowing the continued emission of carbon, extinction is now objectively the default - a revolution against these agents is the only option to prevent the destruction not only of a particular state but of all states - the destruction of history itself. Hence the label "endtimes". The Hobbesian logic then twists round onto itself. The Hobbesian logic of the state turns into the Hobbesian logic of revolution to remove the dysfunctional agents of a state in order to create a new functional state - a state that does what Hobbes's ideal of the state should do - create and maintain order, not create chaos and, in our context, extinction. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2026/06/image-5.png) El Coloso (The Colossus), Francisco Goya, c. 1808–1812.. The final twist in the tale here is the paradox that the dysfunctional state, controlled by a treasonous agent class, is most powerfully protected not by its monopoly of violence - its police and security forces - but by the liberal class that refuses to engage in a revolutionary Hobbesian analysis. Instead it maintains the fiction that there is no "exception" and as such the agents of the state merely require "reform". These liberal forces - lawyers, journalists, politicians, social movement and union leaders - repress the revolutionary forces within the political opposition and so should be understood as "the controlled opposition". This is not an ideological analysis but simply one of strategic intelligence - being honest enough to understand when a state of exception objectively exists. When Martin Luther King said in his time that the greatest block to change was the "white moderates", he was simply stating what was observationally obvious. I leave it to the honest reader to identify the "white moderates" of our present historical moment. --- The legal and political implications of this contradiction are explored in greater detail in my book [*Suicide*](https://rev21.earth/product/suicide/?ref=rogerhallam.com). And for the record, I am not Hobbesian. I am "just saying" that if the judges and lawyers were real Hobbesians, they would be in prison themselves by now. That's the cosmic joke! [Order Suicide](https://rev21.earth/product/suicide/?ref=rogerhallam.com) [The Belfast riots, Palestine Action protests. What is terrorism now – and why the hypocrisy? | George MonbiotThe right is obsessed with ‘two-tier policing’. This is indeed a two-tier government – but the real victims are progressives, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/icon/apple-touch-icon-512-3cf5dbc2-c316-49ad-bf35-c5cb6e379d70.png)The GuardianGeorge Monbiot![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/thumbnail/5000-2e534e04-c13f-4685-8c2e-71648c2b22c2.jpg)](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jun/17/belfast-riots-palestine-action-protests-terrorism?ref=rogerhallam.com) The text was written in response to George Monbiot's article ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2026/02/ROGER-HALLAM_SUICIDE_ADVERTS-03.png) If you're a paid member of this blog, you can download the ebook below. I hope you like it. Please reply with your thoughts. We need reviews to grow its impact. _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### "No Second Chance": Why Labour Cannot Save Us URL: https://rogerhallam.com/why-labour-cannot-save-us/ Last updated: 2026-06-19T21:10:40.000Z Article also available narrated by Robin Andy Burnham won the Makerfield by-election last night with 55% of the vote, defeating the right-wing Reform UK's Robert Kenyon by 9,231 votes. In his victory speech, Burnham warned Labour it had a "final chance to change" — that there would be "no second chance." He's right that there's no second chance, but there was never a first chance for this failed party. Here's why. [No champagne corks but a quiet pint for Burnham after seismic 3am victoryNo wild celebrations after Makerfield byelection win as incoming Labour MP signals the start of an even bigger campaign![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/icon/apple-touch-icon-512-8e0305da-d28b-453b-9bf5-c008d83845c1.png)The GuardianHannah Al-Othman and Josh Halliday![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/thumbnail/6741-e0a1a583-0abe-4a58-b9c0-a238cec478ba.jpg)](https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/jun/19/andy-burnham-makerfield-victory-speech-no-second-chance-starmer-leadership-challenge-campaign?ref=rogerhallam.com) In 2015, I, along with others, was making good progress in creating a new movement party which would build bottom-up community power and mobilise the under-30s. Then Corbyn became leader, tens of thousands of young people joined the Labour Party, and the new political project collapsed. Within a year or two, those young people were leaving, having been used and abused. I said it at the time, and I say it again now — there is not a chance in fucking hell that the Labour Party can respond to the objective conditions of the present historical moment, for the following structural reasons: 1. The Labour Party has been going for over 100 years. It is institutionally toxic and Stalinist in its culture. Culture trumps strategy and leadership. There is overwhelming evidence that such organisations cannot be reformed. The only option is to set up an alternative. 2. The rich now have so much power they cannot be overcome by any neo-liberal or reformist political project. They own Mayfair and Park Lane — it is mathematically impossible to win by following the rules of the Monopoly game. You have to change the rules themselves. Labour will never do this. 3. Next year the world will most likely hit 1.7°C above pre-industrial temperatures. Runaway climate collapse is effectively locked in. Neo-liberal regimes have zero chance of surviving the social and political fallout. The centre will not hold. It has been left way too late. The future is a populist democratic socialism or varieties of fascist barbarism. This realisation is not ideological — it's material, it's physical. It's about money and physics. Burnham has no chance. No chance at all. There is no fucking hope. Only once that is accepted will any real hope exist. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2024/03/roger-zeit-1-1.JPG) ## Join Me In the Revolution of Our Lives Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No nonsense. Change your mind anytime. ### **Sources** 1. Martin Forde KC, *The Forde Report*, Labour Party, 2022 — the party's own independent inquiry, which concluded that a culture of factionalism caused serious failures of governance and allowed discriminatory behaviour to go unchallenged. 1. Available at [labour.org.uk/resources/the-forde-report](https://rogerhallam.com/who-is-in-control/). 2. For the longer history of Labour's internal divisions, see also: Constitution Society, *A Very Short History of the Labour Party*, 2025, consoc.org.uk/history-of-the-labour-party. 2. Oxfam GB, *Resisting the Rule of the Rich: Protecting Freedom from Billionaire Power*, January 2026 — documents that in the UK the richest 56 people hold more wealth than 27 million combined, that billionaires are an estimated 4,000 times more likely to hold political office than ordinary citizens, and that global billionaire wealth grew 16% in 2025 alone, three times faster than the previous five-year average. oxfam.org.uk 3. James Hansen et al., temperature forecast cited in Carbon Brief, December 2025 (theclimatebrink.com); WMO, *Global Annual to Decadal Climate Update 2026–2035*, June 2026, which puts annual global temperatures for 2026–2030 in the range of 1.3°C to 1.9°C above pre-industrial levels and gives a 91% probability of at least one year temporarily exceeding 1.5°C. wmo.int --- If the Labour Party won't build power in communities, we have to do it ourselves. On **11 July in London**, organisers and neighbours are coming together to do exactly that — running assemblies, creating campaigns, working across groups to build resilience before the political situation gets worse. This is free, ticketed, and open to anyone who wants to get involved rather than just watch. [Join Community Mobilising](https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/mobilising-london-communities-talks-workshops-networking-tickets-1991689979343?aff=oddtdtcreator&ref=rogerhallam.com) [Mobilising London Communities - Talks, Workshops & NetworkingJoin organisers and neighbours to help build an emerging social movement in London boroughs so we can deal with the dire challenges we face.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/icon/favicon-194x194-5eeb6723-9241-4967-a5f0-07beeed25a6a.png)Eventbrite![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/thumbnail/image-2ab85b29-4113-44d3-be90-b38d58d0382c)](https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/mobilising-london-communities-talks-workshops-networking-tickets-1991689979343?aff=oddtdtcreator&ref=rogerhallam.com) If you are not in the London area, below are [recordings](https://www.youtube.com/@Revolution21c/videos?ref=rogerhallam.com) from last month's Festival of Revolutions, and upcoming events where you can hear more and get involved directly in revolution. [Watch the Festival of Revolutions recordings](https://www.youtube.com/@Revolution21c/videos?ref=rogerhallam.com) [Join an upcoming organising call](https://rev21.earth/events/?ref=rogerhallam.com) --- If a video or workshop isn't enough, there are several longer programmes running over the summer: a Collaborative Leadership Summer Intensive with Resilient Uprising in early July; an Introduction to Sacred Activism later that month; and a Strategic Leadership Intensive with Resilient Uprising in October. Full details and registration for all of these are on the events page. [Summer Schools Coming Up](https://rev21.earth/events/?ref=rogerhallam.com) ### Who Is In Control? URL: https://rogerhallam.com/who-is-in-control/ Last updated: 2026-06-15T10:51:36.000Z You can listen to the audio version of this article, narrated by Robin, here or wherever you get my podcasts. The Green Party was founded in 1972 (originally as the "People's Party" and later as the "Ecology Party"). 53 years later, an all-borough party meeting was recently held in London. Around 50 people showed up. All were white apart from two people, and we can guess a similar overwhelming majority were middle class rather than working class. After five decades of claiming to speak for the common people, obviously something is amiss. I want to make clear this article is not a cheap critique of the Greens or any other left or progressive party. Thousands of people are passionately dedicated to the cause and work very hard. But at this time of a threat to the very existence of pro-social politics on both sides of the Atlantic, we have to be honest with ourselves: passion and hard work, while essential, are not sufficient to stop the far right. --- In the same week as the Green Party meeting, I was involved in a launch meeting for a community independent candidate for the local elections in one of the wards of that borough. A similar number of people came along, but there were several key differences. This event was for people in only one of 25 wards in the borough — hyper local. The organising group had been going not fifty years but just a few weeks. And most significantly, the majority of people in the room were people of colour and/or from migrant communities; over half were working class, and many had not been to a political meeting before. Why? First, because people in the community were invited in a concrete, real way — over 200 posters were put at the ends of roads in the ward, a team of people knocked on doors for several evenings, and others spoke to local shop owners and community groups. Second, what was on offer was paradigmatically different to the playbook of the neoliberal political parties. People in the community would be choosing both the candidate and the programme. Again, this difference was concrete and real. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2026/06/roger-putting-up-posters---CHECK.png) Out with my wagon of posters in Brixton. Credit: Jamie Lowe Many thousands of words have been written about how to empower and involve marginalised and alienated communities in the political process, and no doubt many important points have been made. But there is a towering fundamental question: who is in control? You or them? Be honest. The vast majority of "solutions" proposed during the last few decades of the neoliberal era make all sorts of offers, but not the offer of control. This is the essence of the neoliberal conceit: you are free, but only as long as you are not actually in control. The "offer" is a transaction — we offer "this" to you. The "this" can be all sorts of things, but it is always controlled by those making the offer. Marx's foundational critique was that if you do not control your labour, you are alienated. Likewise, if you do not control your politics, you are also alienated. Both relationships violate our essential humanity. For decades, supposedly radical and progressive political spaces have been saying: do as we say but not as we do. We want you to be in control, but actually we will keep control. The radical message is contradicted by reactionary practice. Over the past few months I have had many conversations with left and progressive people about all this, and more often than not the reaction is exactly that — reactionary. "But if we allow people to create their own programme, what happens if it goes against our values?" "Why don't they just join our party?" Notice the word "our". What matters is "our" power, not their power. Our truth, not their liberation. This is what a neoliberal party does: it is a gatekeeper of political power. It says you can choose, but we decide on your choices. The divine right of kings has not been abolished — the aristocratic proposition that "we know best" has simply been secularised. This is not democracy. It is not rule by the people. The people in that ward meeting came along because they sensed — just maybe — that real, actual democracy could be on offer. > You are free, but only as long as you are not in control. That is the neoliberal conceit. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2024/03/roger-zeit-1-1.JPG) ## Join Me In the Revolution of Our Lives Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No nonsense. Change your mind anytime. This is not only a matter of political ethics and democratic principles. It is also a matter of solid realist strategy. No progressive party is going to win by playing the neoliberal conceit going forwards from 2026\. The game is up. The far right have already broken the mould — they lie, they shout, they entertain, they do not pretend to be "good". They offer an escape from liberal pretension. A fantasy world is preferable to a political class that insults people to the point of madness. Fascism is an outcome of that madness. If the progressive and left space is to create a realistic alternative, it too has to break the mould. It has to leave the collapsing centre by offering not an escape from reality, but a genuine reimagining of it. A real, no-nonsense means by which people actually control politics: the people decide the candidate and the programme. They are in control not as a rhetorical fancy but as lived reality. This is what democracy actually means. It is essential, of course, for new leaders of the left like Zohran Mamdani and Zarah Sultana to create the vision and make the arguments in the public sphere. But let us be absolutely clear: unless a real democratic strategy is in place — not to take power but to give that power away — all their words will be yet more castles in the air. --- People think all this is difficult and complicated. It's not. The difficulty is making the decision. The decision to be democratic rather than aristocratic. The decision to allow the political to emerge from the social, not the other way round. The decision to make the community sovereign. For the political party to return to its origins as a political club. You are no longer making a capitalistic transactional offer. You are entering into a relation of social solidarity — an act of service to the other. This is the paradigm shift. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2026/06/image-2.png) A 1994 [Christian Democratic Union](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian%5FDemocratic%5FUnion%5F%28Germany%29?ref=rogerhallam.com "Christian Democratic Union (Germany)") poster with the slogan **Es gibt keine Alternative* ("There is no alternative") [TINA](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There%5Fis%5Fno%5Falternative?ref=rogerhallam.com). Obviously there are many details to be worked out, and they are being worked out. Our movements and their community organisers have the knowledge and the capacity. Real democracy is not new; it is simply waiting to be re-enacted. Over the coming months and years, this shift in how we see the human will constitute the next great pro-social revolution. It is the alternative to fascism. There is an alternative. In the face of the cascading political shocks we are now seeing, surely we can all agree that nothing is more important than building that alternative. --- [Make a One-Off Donation](https://buy.stripe.com/6oEbLTaRk22QgQU6oo?ref=rogerhallam.com) **SOURCES** 1. Chantal Mouffe,[ *For a Left Populism* (](https://uk.bookshop.org/a/9187/9781786637567?ref=rogerhallam.com)Verso, 2018). Mouffe argues that the liberal left's abandonment of popular sovereignty opened the space the right now occupies — the theoretical backbone of the gatekeeper argument made here. 2. Karl Marx, *Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844*, trans. Martin Milligan (various editions). The original source of the alienated labour argument. A readable modern introduction is the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry "[Marx's Theory of Alienation](https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/alienation/?ref=rogerhallam.com)" --- If this political moment feels like a dead end, that's because it is — my new book [*Suicide*](https://rev21.earth/product/suicide/?ref=rogerhallam.com) names it. From the structural failure of liberal democracy to the legal and moral case for resistance, this is the argument the mainstream won't make. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2026/02/ROGER-HALLAM_SUICIDE_ADVERTS-03.png) [Order Suicide](https://rev21.earth/product/suicide/?ref=rogerhallam.com) Share ### Good News: Our Grandchildren Will Starve, Not Our Children URL: https://rogerhallam.com/our-grandchildren-will-starve/ Last updated: 2026-06-08T09:57:43.000Z This is a lengthy article on the news and climate science, so Robin has recorded an audio version to help you take it in. Listen here or wherever you get Roger's podcast. Good news from The Times: our grandchildren will starve to death rather than our children. The new worst case is just 3.5C. Phew. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2026/06/Screenshot-2026-06-05-090611-1.png) Adam Vaughan, [**Most Apocalyptic Climate Scenario Thrown Out by Experts*](https://archive.ph/C4ASe?ref=rogerhallam.com#selection-302.0-1573.274), The Times, 11 May 2026. Firstly, let's remember what a 3.5C world actually means. 1. Mass food system collapse, particularly in the Global South. 2. Vast areas of Africa, South and West Asia will become uninhabitable within the lifetimes of people already born. Translation: billions will die from impending poverty and disaster. That is what this headline is supposedly reassuring us of. Secondly, this report is not telling the truth about the science because it is based on outdated models. Even Trump jumped on it to advance his end-times fascist agenda. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2026/06/image-4.png) To understand why both Trump and the Times are deeply wrong about where we are heading, let's turn to the godfather of climate science, James Hansen, and look at one of his latest papers on climate sensitivity. In May 2025, Hansen [published a paper](https://mailchi.mp/caa/large-cloud-feedback-confirms-high-climate-sensitivity?e=[UNIQID]&ref=rogerhallam.com) on Earth's albedo (the reflectivity of solar radiation bounced back into space). Over the past 25 years of precise satellite data, Earth's albedo has declined by 0.5%, leading to an increase of 1.7 watts per square metre of absorbed solar energy. Hansen describes this as [a BFD](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXDWpBlPCY8&ref=rogerhallam.com) (Big Fucking Deal), and he is right. That single number, in forcing terms, is equivalent to an additional 138 parts per million of CO2\. Clouds reflect sunlight back into space. Fewer clouds, or thinner clouds, means more solar energy reaches the surface and stays there. As the planet warms, evidence now shows that cloud cover is decreasing and, crucially, that this decrease is itself a response to warming. In other words, warming reduces clouds, which in turn cause more warming, which further reduces clouds. This is what climate scientists mean by a feedback loop, and this one is a fucking big one. And a big cloud feedback means the planet is far more sensitive to CO2 than the IPCC's standard figures suggest. The IPCC's best estimate for climate sensitivity — the amount of warming you get from a doubling of atmospheric CO2 — is 3°C. Hansen's three independent lines of evidence (of which the albedo data is one), all point to 4.5°C. The difference between 3°C and 4.5°C is the difference between devastation and extinction. [Global heating is accelerating, warns scientist who sounded climate alarm in the 80sStudy delivers dire warning although rate of increase is debated by some scientists amid a record-breaking year of heat![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/icon/apple-touch-icon-512-66fb4f90-4221-4180-8a15-3135ec1c8eea.png)The GuardianOliver Milman![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/thumbnail/3600-73cd6116-003d-4ae8-985f-03f3f779c00e.jpg)](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/nov/02/heating-faster-climate-change-greenhouse-james-hansen?ref=rogerhallam.com) The corporate media has barely engaged with this work, and when it has, it has [often cast doubt](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/nov/02/heating-faster-climate-change-greenhouse-james-hansen?ref=rogerhallam.com) on its truth. At the end of the climate sensitivity paper, Hansen notes: > "Criticisms of the Acceleration paper in the media did not address the physics in our three assessments of climate sensitivity. Instead, criticisms were largely ad hoc opinions, even ad hominem attacks. How can science reporting have descended to this level? Climate science is now so complex, with many sub-disciplines, that the media must rely on opinions of climate experts. Although there are thousands of capable scientists in these disciplines, the media have come to depend on a handful of scientists, a clique of climate scientists who are willing, or even eager, to be the voice of the climate science community. But are they representative of the total community, of capable scientists who focus on climate science?" --- ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2024/03/roger-zeit-1-1.JPG) ## Join Me In the Revolution of Our Lives Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No nonsense. Change your mind anytime. ### **The Problem of Fragmented Science** A key problem of scientific understanding is that it requires slicing reality into manageable chunks. Take "the doubling of CO2." The slice aids understanding but paradoxically kills it too. Attending to the part deflects attention from the whole. Space. Time. The full arc of what's coming. So when Hansen and colleagues write that climate sensitivity for doubled CO2 is 4.5°C, and that sensitivity as low as 3°C is excluded with greater than 99 percent confidence — they stop there. Slice completed. No return to the whole. No wonder the media shrugs. So what. Here's the whole. 1. Doubling CO2 means going from 280ppm to 560ppm. We're at 420ppm now. At current trajectory — roughly 40ppm additional per decade — we hit 560ppm around 2055\. That's 4.5°C by roughly 2060\. Not 2100\. 2060\. Hansen also shows Earth's albedo has already darkened by 0.5%, an extra 1.7 W/m² of absorbed solar energy. The system is already running hotter than the models admit. 2. Time doesn't stop at 2060\. At those temperatures, natural feedbacks (clouds, ice, permafrost) accelerate. There is no equilibrium, only continuation. 3. Above 5°C, effective human extinction is locked in. We are on that path. 4. Facts alone don't move humans. Emotion does. We are human, after all. So the headline that would actually communicate the whole truth? "We are all going to die, you fucking idiots." In my recent paper with the [4 Billion Dead team,](https://4billiondead.org/?ref=rogerhallam.com) we examine what an All Systems Approach could look like to counter this fragmented thinking. [The All-System Iterative Approach (ASIP): Analysing Climate Collapse and Its Human ConsequencesBillions will die as civilisation collapses — this report explains why, and how we plan to measure it in real time.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/icon/roger-square-icon-e29955b2-734b-4402-8260-56a082c7c630.png)Roger HallamRoger Hallam![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/thumbnail/glaciar-melt-1-e1da709d-ce9a-484b-829e-264fc08cc9be.png)](https://rogerhallam.com/the-all-system-iterative-approach/) --- In related news, a recent "[landmark](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/may/20/uk-built-for-climate-that-no-longer-exists-and-needs-urgent-changes-to-survive-global-heating-report-warns?ref=rogerhallam.com)" UK government report was buried in the middle of the Guardian's news section last week. The report points to the destruction of the British economy and way of life at 4C. Just your usual mid-newspaper read. Nothing to see here. [UK ‘built for climate that no longer exists’ and needs urgent changes to survive global heating, report warnsLandmark report calls for widespread air conditioning and says UK temperatures forecast to exceed 40C by 2050![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/icon/apple-touch-icon-512-f4b36ebe-3665-4b37-b4ba-e47604691a09.png)The GuardianFiona Harvey![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/thumbnail/5840-2c09bc08-ae5a-41d5-a349-7e104ef4e3db.jpg)](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/may/20/uk-built-for-climate-that-no-longer-exists-and-needs-urgent-changes-to-survive-global-heating-report-warns?ref=rogerhallam.com) The world's main "liberal" newspaper, that sells the idea that facts are "sacred", seems very keen on the quiet and smooth journey to the mass death being prepared for us by the business elites. They have comfortable jobs and a decent pension waiting for them, so why raise the alarm? Journalists have to report on the outliers, not just the averages. We need to be fully aware of what could kill us. What we want to know is not that food production will go down by x% on average but that every 20 years an outlier event will destroy crops two years running. This will lead to the mass starvation of British people, from which they will not recover by the time the next outlier hits. The unit of analysis of the "UK" is also beyond stupid. The UK does not exist in a sealed box. What happens here depends on what happens everywhere else. When outliers happen in other areas - war, famine, social breakdown- the world economy will collapse, and UK living standards will collapse. Meaning poor people will starve and revolutions will happen. This is the basics of geopolitical and systems thinking, yet seems to escape every journalist reporting on the science. The climate is not an event. It's a vast system that surrounds all life. This journalism needs to stop pretending that it's a matter of "if we get to 4C." but look at how close we are to 2C and that the feedback loops over the next decade will send our kids to 3C and their kids to extinction at 4-6C. It's a ball rolling ever faster down the hill, not a bus stop. Get a fucking grip! --- As Bill McGuire rightly pointed out last week during the European heatwave, this is now the norm, and we can expect it to get a lot worse, fast. [Heatwaves are becoming the norm. This is what Britain will look like in the year 2052 | Bill McGuirePeople sleep outside because their houses are too hot to inhabit, water is scarce and supermarkets are for the wealthy, says climate academic Bill McGuire![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/icon/apple-touch-icon-512-e0437b15-df42-4ae4-9a45-4c261a4591cc.png)The GuardianBill McGuire![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/thumbnail/4267-65a5ae1f-9e4c-4ec9-8eca-5b48c1c3aa5c.jpg)](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/may/26/heatwaves-britain-2052-sleep-hot-houses-water-climate?ref=rogerhallam.com) But let's be honest. How many supposedly upright anti-racist Guardian readers read the description of UK life in the summer of 2052 — 40C heat, water and food shortages, economic depression — and think: oh, doesn't sound so bad, at least we won't be starving to death like all those billions of brown and black people in the global south. Okay, let's not be honest. I take it all back. Sorry. And obviously it would be beyond impolite to talk about 2070. > The [#Europe](https://x.com/hashtag/Europe?src=hash&ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=rogerhallam.com) [#heatwave](https://x.com/hashtag/heatwave?src=hash&ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=rogerhallam.com) starts today and lasts about a week. Peak heat will be 16°C above normal. As high as 40°C/ 104°F in SW Spain. Most Widespread Heat day pictured here is Tuesday. [pic.twitter.com/OKPlt8E1Hd](https://t.co/OKPlt8E1Hd?ref=rogerhallam.com) > > — Jeff Berardelli (@WeatherProf) [May 22, 2026](https://x.com/WeatherProf/status/2057803440038801716?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=rogerhallam.com) "16C above normal" At present, there are only two outcomes. First, to maintain a 'highly developed' economy and society capable of deploying technologies that may mitigate the impact of climate collapse. Or the end of humanity's existence. So, [join an upcoming Revolution in the 21st Century videocall](https://rev21.earth/events/?ref=rogerhallam.com) and let's get to work. [Join an upcoming organising call](https://rev21.earth/events/?ref=rogerhallam.com) --- I have spent the last decade making the case that what is happening to our climate is not an accident but the predictable result of decisions made by a nihilistic elite who understood the consequences. In prison, I had the time to write up the story in my new book, *Suicide: the political and legal implications of creating endless mass death,* which lays out that case in full and our main options for survival. Get yours and share it around. [Check out my new book](https://rev21.earth/product/suicide/?ref=rogerhallam.com) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2026/06/ROGER-HALLAM_SUICIDE_ADVERTS-03.png) --- If you're a paid member of this blog, you can download the ebook below. If you a super donor of 20 a month, my team will send you all my books and the new ones as they come out. I hope you like it, and let me know your thoughts. [Upgrade your support](#/portal/account/plans) _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### From the Impossible to the Inevitable URL: https://rogerhallam.com/from-the-impossible-to-the-inevitable/ Last updated: 2026-06-04T07:09:00.000Z Another scene from pre-revolutionary Britain. I am knocking on doors along a pleasant London terrace. A lovely woman is talking with me about homelessness. She happens to be a local Labour councillor and knows all about the issue. She helps out with a homeless charity and does all sorts of good works. All good. And then she says in an expert tone, "You see, the problem is structural". My brain goes: "absolutely, that's why we need structural political change". But she does not mean that at all. She means it's "structural" and so no real change is possible. We can only do what amounts to "charity". These opposite reactions reveal the gaping chasm between the neo-liberal "left" paradigm and a (neo) traditional socialist position - a political distance far greater than the "left" and "right" versions of neo-liberalism, which offer different words and the same policies. And this chasm reveals the particular sense of vertigo that characterises our present political context. Everything feels stuck. Everyone wants change. Something has to give. The origin of the Labour councillor's neo-liberal position is a particular cultural notion of "rationality" - the quaint idea of the "collective action problem", which is a piece of right-wing propaganda wrapped up as social science. The originator was Mancur Olson, whose 1965 book *The Logic of Collective Action* argued that individuals pursuing self-interest in groups will tend to free-ride on others' efforts, making collective provision of public goods structurally irrational. The idea that it is only "rational" to take action to achieve a public good if sufficient other people act to the extent of being able to secure that good. The problem is that this "rationality", as Anthony Downs had already "discovered" in his 1957 *An Economic Theory of Democracy*, leads to irrational outcomes - including the famous conclusion that no rational person should ever bother to vote, since the chance of one vote changing anything is so close to zero as to make the cost of turning out irrational. Facing this inconvenient truth, these professional rationalists did the irrational thing and decided not to believe what they did not like. They stayed calm and carried on. The collapse of social solidarity in Western societies has been the entirely predictable result. --- Not everyone, though, is a professional irrational rationalist. A few years ago, I did the design work for the [first rent strike](https://radicalthinktank.wordpress.com/2016/02/27/how-to-create-a-rent-strike/?ref=rogerhallam.com) in London for several generations. At the first public assembly, a room full of students was asked to decide in small groups what the percentage rent reduction would be, based on demand. A small group of organisers and I in the room were "educated" enough to understand that "structurally" it would not be "possible" to get more than a 5% rent cut, if that. But, having heard that the landlord made an extortionate 50% net profit on the accommodation which they owned outright, the tenants decided it was "only right" that the demand should be a 50% cut in the rent. History is not driven by sophistication or "rationality" - it is driven by naivety informed by common sense morality. Enthused and motivated by the simple rightness of their case, 10,000 people stopped paying their rent and achieved a historic win. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2026/06/image.png) Our London rent strike, Photo by Oscar Webb This is actually how most people still think - it's just that such people never get into the public sphere because it is a space of "rationality". When I get put in prison, inmates come up to shake my hand, not because they have done a rational analysis on whether civil resistance "works". Their life experience has shown that working out what works is a fool's game. They just think that going up against the system to the point of getting banged up is a cool thing. Coming back to the homelessness issue, I have just spent several weeks asking people to sign a petition on London streets. Around four times as many women sign it as men. And four times as many young and working-class men signed as educated, middle-class older men. One reason is surely that being male, "educated" and middle class - being in the administrator class that serves the neo-liberal machine - involves an obsession with what "works", meaning what is "possible". Obviously, for these men, signing a petition is not going to sort out homelessness - they look at me with dismissive contempt. When I mention the campaign to these "left-wing" men, they will immediately jump to "solutions" - a deceptive word that suggests a technical objectivity but actually hides its ideological bias of "what is possible", meaning what capitalism will allow. As one of them put it, "Roger, you have to be empirical about this". But empiricism comes up with two opposite results at the same time: first, that only what is possible is possible, and second, that the impossible sooner or later becomes inevitable. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2024/03/roger-zeit-1-1.JPG) ## Join Me In the Revolution of Our Lives Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No nonsense. Change your mind anytime. This reminds me of the major work "Nationalist Mobilisation and the Collapse of the Soviet State" by Mark Beissinger. In his first chapter, called "From the Impossible to the Inevitable", he ties himself in epistemological knots trying to explain in social scientific terms how this process happens. The social science contradicts social science. It turns out that the superstructure can turn the tables on the infrastructure. Any structure is no more than a human construct, a set of beliefs. It is unchangeable only to the extent that people believe it to be unchangeable. People believed bringing down the Soviet regime was impossible, and then they decided instead that it was inevitable, and so it became inevitable. Being human is intrinsically paradoxical. Rationality can only take you so far, as people have been saying for a long time - Blaise Pascal, the French mathematician and philosopher, being one worth starting with. Perhaps we can put it this way: > In reformist periods, the possible is still possible. In pre-revolutionary periods, the possible has become impossible. In revolutionary periods, the impossible becomes inevitable. We are in a pre-revolutionary period. The world's most famous climate scientist, James Hansen, recently confirmed that 2°C is now locked in - a circumstance that, according to a recent [UK insurance industry report](https://vle.actuaries.org.uk/pluginfile.php/158810/mod%5Fresource/content/1/Planetary%20Solvency%20%E2%80%93%20Sustainability%20Report%20Launch.pdf?ref=rogerhallam.com), is likely to destroy at least two billion lives. And while we are waiting for this final demise, everyone in the know knows that AI is about to destroy hundreds of millions of jobs within the next few years. In other words, what everyone wants to stop cannot be stopped - "structural", in the sense the Labour councillor meant. [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2026/06/image-1.png)](https://4billiondead.org/?ref=rogerhallam.com) London march with[ 4 Billion Dead](https://4billiondead.org/?ref=rogerhallam.com) As usual, the radical right has got with the programme. Their "irrational" approach is to throw everything at the wall and see what sticks. Our approach then needs to be to throw love at the wall and see what sticks. What does this look like? Well, a good example might be [Zarah Sultana's statement that everything should be nationalised](https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Hj-ZJsYI8wo?ref=rogerhallam.com). Ridiculous? Or maybe not. --- [Make a One-Off Donation](https://buy.stripe.com/6oEbLTaRk22QgQU6oo?ref=rogerhallam.com) If this political moment feels like a dead end, that's because it is — my new book [*Suicide*](https://rev21.earth/product/suicide/?ref=rogerhallam.com) names it. From the structural failure of liberal democracy to the legal and moral case for resistance, this is the argument the mainstream won't make. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2026/02/ROGER-HALLAM_SUICIDE_ADVERTS-03.png) [Order Suicide](https://rev21.earth/product/suicide/?ref=rogerhallam.com) Share ### 🏚️ The End of the Nice Life URL: https://rogerhallam.com/the-end-of-the-nice-life/ Last updated: 2026-06-02T12:50:55.000Z Every week now the media delivers the same message in different packaging. A city sinking, a political class flailing, an empire selling death. Scientists are even finally saying the word everyone has been avoiding. Billions. The pattern is consistent and damning, yet we are choosing - structurally, politically, culturally - not to act. These are the telltale signs of a civilisation in the process of collapse. And the only honest thing left to do is say so plainly. Whatever the consequences. --- ## A City That Is Already Gone Start with New Orleans. A new study published in *Nature Sustainability* has concluded what many scientists have known for years: the city has passed its point of no return. Southern Louisiana faces three to seven metres of sea-level rise. Three-quarters of its remaining coastal wetlands will disappear. The shoreline will migrate a hundred kilometres inland. New Orleans — a city of 360,000 people — will be surrounded by the Gulf of Mexico before the end of this century. The researcher Jesse Keenan, a climate adaptation expert at Tulane University, put it without euphemism: "New Orleans is in a terminal condition, and we need to be clear with the patient that it is terminal." And yet no politician will say this in public. They say it behind closed doors. They commission the studies, read the findings, and then walk back out into the light and say nothing of consequence. Louisiana's Republican governor Jeff Landry scrapped the $3 billion Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion project — the one serious attempt to buy the city some time — calling the cost "unsustainable." Meanwhile the US Supreme Court has allowed fossil fuel companies to contest a $740 million ruling for damage done to Louisiana's coastline. Every decision accelerates the timeline. Every silence costs lives. All civilisations collapse for basically the same reason: they could have responded to reality but they didn't. Our civilisation is no different. [‘Point of no return’: New Orleans relocation must start now due to sea level, study findsLouisiana’s cultural hotspot could be surrounded by the Gulf of Mexico before the end of this century, authors say![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/icon/apple-touch-icon-512-10.png)The GuardianOliver Milman![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/thumbnail/1751.jpg)](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/may/04/new-orleans-sea-levels-relocation-climate-crisis?ref=rogerhallam.com) --- ## The Language of Billions There is a word that is beginning to appear — quietly, in appendices, in the careful language of actuaries and outlier academics — that the political mainstream has not yet allowed itself to say aloud. *Billion.* As in: the number of people who are going to die. When I said that on the [BBC's HARDtalk programme](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HyaxctatdA&t=18&ref=rogerhallam.com), the response was instant dismissal — "you're making it up." But it was never invented. It was drawn directly from a decade of scientific literature, from experts who used more polished phrases like "the end of organised life" — phrases designed to communicate catastrophe while avoiding the social cost of saying it clearly. Now the word is appearing in unlikely places. Economist Steve Keen has pointed out that [30% of global fertiliser supply has been disrupted through the Strait of Hormuz](https://x.com/ProfSteveKeen/status/2053864527775629494?s=20&ref=rogerhallam.com) — and that while the world frames this as an oil story, it is in fact a food story. Without synthetic fertiliser, this planet cannot feed more than two billion of its eight and a half billion people. The numbers do not care about politics. And the UK insurance industry, in the [appendix of a major recent report](https://actuaries.org.uk/media/ni4erlna/planetary-solvency.pdf?ref=rogerhallam.com), has now put a figure on what three degrees of warming means: more than four billion deaths. Eighty World War Twos. That is what "realistic" now means, if you are willing to use the word honestly. At some point in the next five to ten years, "billion" will enter mainstream conversation. And shortly after that, the dying will begin in earnest. Everything else — every election, every policy debate, every newspaper column — has to be understood in that context. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2026/05/image.png) **The Slave Ship* (1840), J. M. W. Turner's representation of the mass killing of enslaved people, inspired by the [**Zong* killings](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zong%5Fmassacre?ref=rogerhallam.com) --- ## The Energy Lie Britain tells itself a story about decarbonisation. It is a comfortable story, and it is false. Electricity accounted for less than a quarter of final British energy consumption in 2024\. Annual electricity production is actually lower than it was at the turn of the century. The growth of wind and solar is only partially replacing the lost capacity from coal and nuclear. Oil and gas still account for 70% of energy consumption — aviation, shipping, heating, industry — none of which electricity can yet replace at anything like the pace required. The notion that Britain is presently decarbonising with the speed needed to stop runaway climate collapse is the sickest joke in our national politics. Both left and right are deluding themselves: the right demanding North Sea drilling that would largely be refined abroad and exported anyway; the left championing electrification as if the market mechanisms being relied upon to deliver it could possibly move fast enough. Historian Ewan Gibbs, writing in the *Guardian*, calls this a "phoney war" — the appearance of energy politics without any confrontation of the actual scale of state action required. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2024/03/roger-zeit-1-1.JPG) ## Join Me In the Revolution of Our Lives Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No nonsense. Change your mind anytime. There are only two outcomes from here: socialism or barbarism. Neither will deliver the Green Party's vision of the "nice life" — the quietly aspirational Thatcherism of hard work rewarded with a house and a holiday. Physical reality has closed that door. The future will be hard. It will be blood, sweat, and tears. And it will be "nice" only to the extent that we stop pretending it can be nice, face what is actually happening, stop lying to the public, and get on with saving what is left to save. That will happen in the context of revolutionary upheaval. Not because anyone wants it to. Because two plus two equals four. [Both left and right are deluding themselves about the scale of the energy crisis Britain faces | Ewan GibbsDecades of complacency cannot be magicked away by drilling in the North Sea – or even by hoping that renewables will quickly power everything, says historian and author Ewan Gibbs![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/icon/apple-touch-icon-512-11.png)The GuardianEwan Gibbs![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/thumbnail/4678.jpg)](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/may/07/left-right-energy-crisis-britain-north-sea-renewables?ref=rogerhallam.com) --- ## Reform and the Failure of Analysis As the climate system fractures, the political system does too — and the response from liberal commentators remains hopelessly inadequate. Reform UK is now the largest party in Britain by vote share. The [analysis offered in response](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/may/12/nigel-farage-reform-election-results-politics?ref=rogerhallam.com) by author Daniel Trilling — build a "stop Reform" coalition, hold local councils accountable, challenge their rhetoric — mistakes the present moment for one that calls for radical reform, when it actually calls for something else entirely: a change not within the existing regime but of the regime itself. The fascists are comfortable with chaos. That is their operating environment. As the pressure mounts — 1.7 degrees of warming within the next year or two, millions of graduates unable to find work as AI displaces them, states increasingly unable to function under the weight of corporate capture, war becoming more rather than less likely — Reform and its international equivalents will simply make more extreme pronouncements and act on them. That is the logic of their politics. The left's response cannot be to defend the broken system more energetically. It must offer a coherent alternative: assembly-based democratic governance, pro-social collectivism, a politics built not on present coalitions but on future coherence. Anything less will simply cede the terrain to barbarism. [Here are three ways to keep Reform out of No 10 – and one of them starts with you | Daniel TrillingNigel Farage’s ascent to power is not inevitable, and his party’s success in the May elections will expose its major weaknesses, says author Daniel Trilling![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/icon/apple-touch-icon-512-12.png)The GuardianDaniel Trilling![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/thumbnail/5000.jpg)](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/may/12/nigel-farage-reform-election-results-politics?ref=rogerhallam.com) --- ## They Knew and Did Nothing On 19 July 2022, in record 40-degree heat, 18 homes burned in the east London village of Wennington. Seventy houses were destroyed across the UK that day in 600 wildfires. The London Fire Brigade deployed all 142 of its engines. Firefighters ran out of water — because the privatised water company had reduced pressure to the mains for routine testing, restoring it only six hours after the fires had started. A senior fire brigade officer, reflecting afterwards: "There's nothing to say that the fire couldn't have spread all the way through and where would it stop? We've got terraces, high-rise buildings, all that flammable cladding. It could so easily have been a second Great Fire of London." New modelling by the London School of Economics — simulating minor shifts in wind direction on that same day — found that in the worst case, the fire could have reached 120 homes within hours. In a denser area, with stronger winds, the number would be orders of magnitude higher. The institutional response remains fragmented. Fire services fall under one ministry; wildfire policy under another; water supply sits in private hands with no legal obligation to supply fire brigades. One of the victims, Terry, developed a lung disease in the aftermath. He died in temporary accommodation. They knew. The senior brigade officers had already identified that climate-driven wildfires would cross the rural-urban interface. They had understood the threat was coming. And the systems designed to respond — political, legal, infrastructural — were not built to meet it. This is what "they knew but did nothing" looks like from the inside. The banality of evil. The ordinary, grinding failure of a system that cannot see past the next quarter, election or budget cycle. [‘It could have been a second Great Fire’: how east London blaze showed scale of UK wildfire threatIn record 40C heat on 19 July 2022, 18 homes were lost in village of Wennington – a signal for firefighters to adapt, but UK response remains fragmented![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/icon/apple-touch-icon-512-13.png)The GuardianGuardian staff reporter![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/thumbnail/2666.jpg)](https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/may/09/second-great-fire-wennington-london-wildfires-threat?ref=rogerhallam.com) --- ## The Criminals and the Cowards In 2022, the advertising giant WPP adopted a policy: it would not accept work "designed to frustrate the objectives of the Paris agreement." Since then, according to a [detailed investigation](https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/apr/30/revealed-british-ad-firm-billion-dollar-greenwash-of-us-oil-industry?ref=rogerhallam.com) by the climate platform DeSmog, WPP has helped ExxonMobil, Chevron, Shell and BP spend an estimated one billion dollars on US advertising — ads that a congressional investigation found were "deceptive and misleading," designed to thwart climate policy and maintain fossil fuel expansion. This is not a policy failure. It is a conspiracy. And it will be treated as such. The British state has used the charge of "conspiracy to cause a public nuisance" to imprison those who attempted to obstruct the destruction of the conditions for human life on earth–myself included. In the 2030s, as the scale of what has been locked in becomes undeniable, the corporations and institutions that were party to an agreement to mislead the public about the consequences of fossil fuel expansion will face the same charge — and the weight of evidence will be incomparably greater. What will their punishment be? That question is worth sitting with. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2026/05/image-1.png) Honoré Daumier, "Gargantua" (1831) — the ruling class as insatiable mouth: taxpayers fed in from the right, privileges and honours falling like shit from the other end. --- ## The Adults Were Never in the Room And presiding over all of this: a political class that staked its claim to power on being "the adults in the room." Keir Starmer's Labour entered government in 2024 promising stability and seriousness. Less than two years later, it is facing an electoral wipeout. The promise of adulthood — steady, businesslike, non-threatening to those with power — turned out to be a pose constructed to reassure the right-wing press and the donor class. The actual work of governing was abandoned before it began. But the problem runs deeper than Starmer. The entire language of "adults in the room" is a conman's gambit — ideological compliance dressed up as maturity. To be a "grownup" in Westminster means not troubling the rich, not naming the system as broken, not demanding what is actually needed. Corbyn was supposedly juvenile and Mandelson serious. Look where that led. For more than a decade, the Guardian newspaper and the Western liberal class have produced and consumed accurate information about what is coming. The models were there. The projections were there. The peer-reviewed literature was there. And instead of entering into civil resistance, instead of using their platforms and their reach and their cultural authority to force a confrontation with power, they wrote columns calling for adults in the room. That is not journalism. It's complicity, and will be remembered as such. [As Labour heads for a wipeout, a lesson: never fall for the ‘adults in the room’ line again | Aditya ChakraborttyPresenting himself as a serious, sensible ‘grownup’ was essential to Starmer’s rise to power. His premiership has revealed how hollow that message is, says Guardian columnist Aditya Chakrabortty![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/icon/apple-touch-icon-512-14.png)The GuardianAditya Chakrabortty![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/thumbnail/5000-1.jpg)](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/may/06/labour-wipeout-adults-in-the-room-con-job-keir-starmer-elections?ref=rogerhallam.com) --- ## What Is Actually Happening Taken together, these seven stories are not the separate news items they are presented as but facets of a single, clouded reality. New Orleans is sinking. The energy transition is a fiction. The political opposition to fascism is incoherent. The corporations paid to deceive the public are still being paid to deceive the public. The journalists who know we need radical change to avoid mass death keep calling for more moderate leadership. And the word that describes the likely scale of death, *billions,* is still being said only in appendices. An adult is someone who can tell the truth and act as if the truth is real. By that measure, there are very few adults in any room that matters. The rest of us need to become them. Fast, together, and without any further illusions about what the "nice life" is going to look like on the other side of what is coming. The window to act is closing and pretending otherwise is no longer an option any serious person can afford. Share --- --- If you want to read my latest on the corruption of the British state and its legal system, read my new book [*Suicide*](https://rev21.earth/product/suicide/?ref=rogerhallam.com). Written in prison, now out in multiple languages. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2026/02/ROGER-HALLAM_SUICIDE_ADVERTS-03.png) [Order Suicide](https://rev21.earth/product/suicide/?ref=rogerhallam.com) If you're a paid member of this blog, you can download the ebook below. If you a super donor of 20 a month, my team will send you all my books and the new ones as they come out. I hope you like it, and let me know your thoughts. [Upgrade your support](#/portal/account/plans) _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### Makerfield and the Myth of the Moderate Left URL: https://rogerhallam.com/makerfield-and-the-myth-of-the-moderate-left/ Last updated: 2026-06-06T05:59:16.000Z ![audio-thumbnail](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/media/2026/06/Makerfield-Byelection_thumb.png) Makerfield - Narrated by Robin 0:00 /441.712132 1× The real division in western politics is between the pathological centre and challengers on the so-called "far" left and right — meaning political forces reasonably enough challenging the centre's mass death project. Of course, the far right is based upon a con — its core spaces are dominated by the same billionaire-funded mass death agenda as the centre's, but the sentiment on the ground is very similar to that on the left. The point is the level of maturation — whether these forces are confident enough to separate themselves from the hegemony of the "centre" so that a credible and coherent message can be presented to the electorate that they really are "not them". As usual, the far right has a big head start. [Greens to run scaled-back campaign in Makerfield byelection in potential boost for BurnhamExclusive: Party expected to focus on Greater Manchester mayoralty election if Burnham returned to parliament![](https://static.ghost.org/v5.0.0/images/link-icon.svg)The GuardianPeter Walker![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/thumbnail/1200-bbbaa70f37fb9d196a5e9a4d57146a3f2f7249f07b77d301222e1f325386b295.jpg)](https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/may/26/green-party-scaled-back-campaign-makerfield-byelection-boost-andy-burnham?ref=rogerhallam.com) This requires that the leadership of Left spaces actually believe in themselves. When this happens — as in the case of Mamdani and Polanski — then the voter response is dramatic. The Green Party has risen from around 6% to nearly 20% in a year. Of course, this is helped by local factors — the collapse of Your Party and the tactical incompetence of Labour. But the structural factor is the key determinant — a political leader who directly addresses the decimation of the cultural and material means of life of the majority under monopoly finance capital. There is the conventional economic wave — the "internal contradictions of capital" — and then fusing with the new and final wave: the destruction of the biosphere. Inadequate maturation of a Left party that promises systemic change is again catastrophically on display in the Green Party's weak response to the Makerfield by-election. If Zack had believed in his own rhetoric — that the party is taking over from Labour — then he would have shown charismatic and strategic leadership and been out there on the streets from day one, making the self-fulfilling prophecy that Labour can never look after the interests of working people, for all the reasons everyone knows. Instead, like docile peasants in the face of aristocratic charm (i.e. lies), the weight of tradition has again won the day. The myth held that the Left can only go through the motions of opposition to the centre, which has the divine (i.e. neo-liberal) right to rule. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2024/03/roger-zeit-1-1.JPG) ## Join Me In the Revolution of Our Lives Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No nonsense. Change your mind anytime. This failure is catastrophic because, as any realist worthy of the label knows, next year the world will hit 1.7°C, and this will signal the end of our civilisation, beginning with the collapse of insurance markets. Think of 2008, then multiply it by 100\. Capital in the twenty-first century is the biggest Ponzi scheme in human history. It sells you prosperity while knowing it is destroying the very basis of life. This does not end well. The far right response will be to double down on denial and ever greater psychotic short-termism, as shown by the present Trump regime. In other words, the far right has only one agenda: treason — to bring mass death down onto the British people. After all, it only took Hitler twelve years to do this to Germany. It will take about a decade to do the same this time around, but with the truly appalling outcome of the permanent desolation of our country. You cannot "rebuild" without a functioning biosphere. [Think this is bad? Scientists predict how hot UK could get this summerAs sweltering conditions smashed May temperature records across the country, climate scientists say that the worst is yet to come.![](https://static.ghost.org/v5.0.0/images/link-icon.svg)Daily MailWiliam Hunter![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/thumbnail/108870607-0-image-a-17_1779787954787-49d84f5b46ea7b8322744ea0c45c1f40035d78acf0297fb7ff72169cc33d601b.jpg)](https://www.dailymail.com/sciencetech/article-15848389/scientists-predict-UK-summer-temperature.html?ns%5Fmchannel=rss&ns%5Fcampaign=1490&ito=social-twitter%5Fmailonline&ref=rogerhallam.com) Even the billionaire owned Daily Mail sees disaster ahead. What the Green Party has to do but won't do is tell the people of Makerfield that they will die the slow way with Burnham and the fast way with Farage. Both are happy to have AMOC collapse locked in, for example. [AMOC collapse means the end of the UK](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/apr/15/critical-atlantic-current-significantly-more-likely-to-collapse-than-thought?ref=rogerhallam.com) — no question about it. This is a physical, not a social, situation. You cannot grow potatoes in northern Norway, as one expert put it. Of course, telling the UK public this "blood, sweat and tears" reality is most likely to fail. Never underestimate the effects of forty years of neo-liberal programming. But that is not the point. The point is that there is an absolute time limit here. There is no more time. We are at 1.5°C and 2°C is locked in (0.5°C, for instance, will be added to global temperatures once the [air pollution from stopping burning fossil fuels is removed](https://www.carbonbrief.org/explainer-how-human-caused-aerosols-are-masking-global-warming/?ref=rogerhallam.com)). This means it's now or never. You can jump over the fence and most likely get shot, or you can wait a little longer and be guaranteed to die in the gas chamber, which is the earth's atmosphere with over 500ppm of CO₂ in it. Sometimes choices are limited. Let me finish on a rather British positive note. I recently spoke to a woman who was part of one of the many trials of people who have taken part in civil disobedience with Just Stop Oil. The convention now is that the judge will not allow any evidence relating to the criminality of the elites with regard to carbon emissions. Unsurprisingly, these show trials lead to guilty outcomes from juries. In one of those trials, I was given a five-year prison sentence. For some reason, in her trial, the judge allowed the presentation of evidence, including the "agreed fact" that at 3°C there will be at least 4 billion deaths — as predicted by a recent [major report by the UK insurance industry](https://greencentralbanking.com/2025/02/03/global-gdp-could-fall-by-50-from-climate-risk-shocks-report-finds/?ref=rogerhallam.com). These people, we hopefully can all agree, deal in facts. The jury went out for less than an hour and came back with a not guilty verdict. After all, who wants their kids and grandkids subjected to the equivalent of 80 World Wars Twos in the next two generations? Maybe the good citizens of Makerfield don't want that fate either. But first, they need Mr Polanski to tell them some of these "agreed facts". There is a reason the "blood, sweat and tears" speech is the best-known of the twentieth century. Could it have something to do with being told the truth? --- If this political moment feels like a dead end, that's because it is — my new book [*Suicide*](https://rev21.earth/product/suicide/?ref=rogerhallam.com) names it. From the structural failure of liberal democracy to the legal and moral case for resistance, this is the argument the mainstream won't make. [Order Suicide](https://rev21.earth/product/suicide/?ref=rogerhallam.com) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2026/02/ROGER-HALLAM_SUICIDE_ADVERTS-03.png) Share ### Real Media Review of My New Book URL: https://rogerhallam.com/real-media-review/ Last updated: 2026-05-25T06:36:44.000Z *This* [*article*](https://realmedia.press/suicide-review/?ref=rogerhallam.com) *was originally written by Sul Nowroz for Real Media* On the morning of 18 July 2024, as London shimmered in summer heat, five people were led into the dock of Southwark Crown Court and [sentenced to prison](https://realmedia.press/whole-truth-five-sentencing/?ref=rogerhallam.com) for attending a Zoom call. The longest sentence – five years, the most severe handed to a peaceful protester in the United Kingdom since the Second World War – went to a fifty-seven-year-old Welsh farmer turned activist named Roger Hallam. ![](https://realmedia.press/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/5-DEFENDANTS-AT-Southwark-1536x960-1.jpg) The ‘Whole Truth Five’ outside Southwark Crown Court during the trial The case arose from a series of coordinated actions in November 2022, when forty-five [Just Stop Oil](https://juststopoil.org/?ref=rogerhallam.com) supporters climbed motorway gantries above the M25, bringing one of Britain’s busiest arteries to a four-day standstill. Roger Hallam, along with four others, stood accused not of climbing anything themselves, but of conspiracy – of talking, of organising, of daring to believe that blocking a road might be proportionate to blocking a future. ![](https://realmedia.press/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/241108-M25-JustStopOil.jpg) M25 Just Stop Oil November 2022 The trial was remarkable not merely for its outcome but for what was excluded from it. Judge Christopher Hehir ruled that evidence of the climate crisis was “irrelevant and inadmissible,” characterising it as political opinion rather than empirical fact. He prevented the jury from hearing Professor Bill McGuire, Emeritus Professor of Geophysical and Climate Hazards at University College London. He refused the defendants their full right to speak from the witness box when they sought to honour their oaths to tell the whole truth. When Hallam and his co-defendants refused to leave before they had done so, they were [repeatedly arrested and removed](https://realmedia.press/law-what-is-it-good-for/?ref=rogerhallam.com) from the stand by police. Arnold Toynbee, the acclaimed historian, once observed that civilisations are not murdered – they commit suicide. Hallam opens his most recent book, *Suicide*, with precisely this thought. ## **The Land That Held Him** ![](https://realmedia.press/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/HMP-Wayland.jpg) The main entrance to HMP Wayland, Norfolk. The HM Prison Wayland complex sits in the Breckland district of Norfolk – concrete laid over heathland that had been tended by humans and animals for six thousand years. [Potawatomi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potawatomi?ref=rogerhallam.com) botanist and author, Robin Wall Kimmerer, would ask us to sit with that fact for a moment, and to name what was there before. Breckland is an ancient and peculiar terrain – one of the driest corners of Britain, underlain by chalk, blown across by winds that some have said carry memory from the North Pole. Neolithic settlers came here six millennia ago because of the light, because the sandy soil was workable, because the trees could be cleared, and the flint knapped into tools. The word “breck” is medieval, meaning heathland broken for cultivation and then allowed to breathe back into wildness – a landscape that understood the wisdom of fallow, of letting the land rest and return to itself. Before the prison walls rose, before the twentieth century’s appetite for concrete and control, this land was threaded with stone curlews – birds so ancient in their sound, so strange and wild in their call under grey skies and moonlight, that naturalists have described it as one of the most thrilling summertime sounds of England. Nightjars churned through summer dusks. Woodlarks spiralled upward in ecstatic song. Goshawks hunted through the pine belts. The rare Spanish Catchfly and Military Orchid held their small ceremonies. Otters and water voles threaded the chalk rivers. Then it all changed. Eighty-six percent of Breckland’s heathland was lost between 1934 and 1980\. The stone curlew’s shrill jubilation, once so commonplace it was the soundtrack of summer, grew thinner and thinner. The land was planted with conifers, ploughed for beet, then concreted for a prison. This is not merely ecological history. In the language of Whakapapa – the Maori concept that traces the genealogy and connection of all living things – such a history is a kind of grief written into the soil. To know what grew here before the walls were built is to understand something about what we are willing to imprison – not only people, but the living world’s continuity. It was here, in a cell inside those walls, on land that once rang with stone curlews, that Hallam sat in his solitude and wrote the book he called Suicide. ## Suicide: A Review ![](https://realmedia.press/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Suicide-book-cover-184x300.jpg) Roger Hallam, Suicide. Published by Hard Rain Books Hallam’s book opens with a preface rooted in the events of November 2022 – the Zoom call, the gantries, the arrests, the trial. But it quickly becomes something larger – part memoir, part philosophical reckoning, part forensic dissection of a civilisation that built a machine it no longer understands and can no longer control. Hallam draws on his award-winning research at King’s College London into the psychology of mobilisation and civil disobedience, on his experience representing himself across four Crown Court trials, and on the particular clarity that comes with confinement and enforced stillness. What emerges is a slender, concentrated work of roughly 150 pages that is far more tender than its provocative title suggests. Hallam offers three foundational tenets in the book’s opening. First, the effects of climate change are universal and networked — that what happens in one country ripples outward, making borders and national sovereignty irrelevant before floods and heat and the collapse of systems that feed us. Second, that climate change does not merely threaten comfort or convenience, but the very foundations of life as organised human beings have known it – the biological, social, and agricultural architecture of ten thousand years of civilisation. Third, and most searingly, the process of climate unravelling is well underway. The genie is not merely out of the bottle – it has shattered it. Any conversation that implies we alone remain the authors of our own future, is complete fallacy. ![](https://realmedia.press/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Roger-Hallam-%C2%A9realmedia.press_.jpg) Roger Hallam (Image – realmedia.press) From here, Hallam traces the political failure – democracy’s capture by what he calls “the machine” – the vast, self-reproducing apparatus of industrialised modernity that was designed for human advancement but has become an engine of destruction. He is not romantic about this. He does not mourn a golden past. He is precise. We thought we were building a machine of progress. We built a machine of complexity – and in complexity beyond human comprehension, there are no brakes. Those few who benefit from the machine have the greatest incentive to build in further layers of obscurity and control, until the system serves only them. The book demands a revolution of truth – a call that what is happening must be named for what it is, without the management-speak of “climate challenges” or the euphemistic scaffolding of “net zero pathways.” The book proposes new modes of governance, including the concept of sortition. It addresses the corruption of culture and the shrinkage of our moral imagination to the radius of the self. And it ends, quietly and devastatingly, with the finger pointed back at the reader. Perhaps you, in your disobedience – your refusal to comply with a system that is digesting the future – are the missing piece. It is a book that breathes the particular atmosphere of a cell — contained, distilled, clear of distraction. And like all things grown in difficult conditions, it has a strange and stubborn vitality. [Order Suicide](https://rev21.earth/product/suicide/?ref=rogerhallam.com) ## The Burning World: What the Data Tells Us ![](https://realmedia.press/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Golbal-heating-earth-org.jpg) Image: earth.org What Hallam describes in philosophical terms, the data renders in alarming numbers. 2024 was the warmest year ever recorded, crossing the 1.5°C threshold above pre-industrial temperatures that the Paris Agreement had set as a red line. We have had twelve consecutive months at or above that threshold. This is not a projection. It is the world we are already living in. The *World Economic Forum* projects that on our current trajectory, climate-driven events – floods, droughts, heatwaves, storms, wildfires, and rising seas – could cause up to 14.5 million deaths in the next 20 years. Floods alone are expected to account for 8.5 million of those. The injustice embedded in these numbers is not incidental – it is structural. The Global South, which has contributed least to the accumulation of greenhouse gases, will suffer most. Research consistently shows that increased mortality from extreme heat will fall heaviest on South Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, South America, and the small island nations of the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Indigenous thinkers have long understood that the world is not a collection of separate systems but a web of relations, and that damage to one thread reverberates through all others. The Andean concept of *Pachamama* – the living earth that sustains and is sustained by all beings – was never metaphor. It was observation. Mother Earth and Father Sky are not symbols. They are systems. And they are telling us something, in floods and fires and the falling song of a stone curlew in a heathland. ## Whakapapa: The Thread That Holds In *Te Ao Māori* – the Māori world – *Whakapapa* is the genealogy of all things. It is not merely a human family tree. It is the relational story of connection and interdependence – how cloud is the ancestor of rain, how rain is the ancestor of river, how river carries the memory of the mountain to the sea, and how the sea breathes upward into clouds where the life-giving cycle begins again. Whakapapa is the understanding that nothing stands alone, that every entity is a meeting point of past relations and future possibilities, that to understand anything, you must first understand its kinship. Hallam’s story, read through this lens, becomes something other than the story of one man and one trial. It becomes the story of a farmer in Wales whose crops were destroyed by unprecedented rainfall – and who recognised in that destruction not a misfortune but a message. The message was that the relationship between the human world and the living world has broken down. The Whakapapa of the atmosphere, of the carbon cycle, of the ocean currents and the monsoon systems and the permafrost – all of it is being rewritten, and the rewriting is happening inside human choices. ## **This Is About Us** The most important move Hallam makes in *Suicide* is the one he makes quietly, near the end. He turns the book’s gaze from outward to inward, from the broken court system and hijacked governments, and the Frankenstein-like machine, to the reader. We have spent decades thinking of climate change as something happening out there – in the atmosphere, in the Arctic, in Bangladesh, in the Sahel – something to which we respond, something that requires a government to act, a corporation to reform, a technology to be invented. Hallam does not let us rest in that comfortable position. The machine we are talking about – the machine of complexity and destruction – is not an abstraction. It is made of individual choices, compliance, and silence in the face of what we know to be catastrophic. Hallam stepped out of compliance and into consequence. The question *Suicide* poses is whether the rest of us are willing to make that same movement. Not to climb a gantry over the M25, but to step outside the normalcy that a system in crisis works very hard to maintain. The Global South is already living this question without the luxury of asking it. In the Maldives, elders perform ceremonies on shores that their grandchildren may not inherit. In the Niger Delta, communities live within the consequences of oil extraction that heated a world they did not choose to heat. In Tuvalu, an entire nation is negotiating the terms of its own disappearance. These are not future possibilities. These are realities. And the Whakapapa connects us to every one of them. What we burn here shows up there. What we choose here is what they live. ## **Voices Yet to Be Born** On the last page of *Suicide*, Hallam arrives at a word the legal system is trying hard to criminalise – disobedience. Not as vandalism. Not as chaos. Disobedience as the act of a person who has looked at the machine, understood its trajectory, and refused to comply with it. He calls such non-compliance a valued and necessary aspect of society – perhaps the most important act available to citizens when the institutions that were built to protect them have turned against them. The [Haudenosaunee](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iroquois?ref=rogerhallam.com) practice of the seventh-generation principle holds that every decision made by leaders should be considered in terms of its effect on the seventh generation yet to come — children not yet born, lives not yet begun, who will nonetheless inherit the consequences of choices made today. Read through this frame, the trial of Hallam was not really about whether five people should go to prison for attending a Zoom call. It was about which direction we are facing – backward into the deceiving familiarity of a system that is dismantling our future, or forward into the difficult but necessary life-affirming act of changing course. There is threaded through the final pages of *Suicide*, something that feels older than argument and younger than policy. It is a plea – not from Hallam the prisoner or Hallam the activist, but from somewhere beyond him, speaking through the ink and the solitude and the years he spent in a cell on ancient, diminished heathland. It is a plea that whispers from the unborn – from the children of the third generation and the seventh and the twentieth, from the voices that have not yet found bodies to speak from, from the lives that are waiting, hopefully, at the far end of the choices we are making now. Those voices are not asking us to be heroes. They are asking us just to be honest. To look at the machine, to name what it is doing, and to refuse to pretend that it is something else. They are asking us to understand that disobedience, in the face of a system that is devouring the future, is not a crime. It is a form of love. It is, perhaps, the most democratic act remaining to us – the act of citizens who know what the seventh generation will need, and who find, in the clear light of that knowledge, that compliance is no longer possible. Civilisations are not murdered. They commit suicide. Or they wake up. — *© 2026 Sul Nowroz – Real Media staff writer – Insta: @TheAfghanWriter* --- ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2026/02/ROGER-HALLAM_SUICIDE_ADVERTS-03.png) [Order Suicide](https://rev21.earth/product/suicide/?ref=rogerhallam.com) If you're a paid member of this blog, you can download the ebook below. I hope you like it, and please reply with your thoughts. We need reviews to grow its impact. _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 🔴 Not that old boyfriend Andy Burnham again! URL: https://rogerhallam.com/not-that-old-boyfriend-andy-burnham-again/ Last updated: 2026-05-20T12:03:10.000Z Occasionally there is a critical political moment when the radical political class should be doing A, but yet again it follows the now literally suicidal path of doing B. A, in this case, is for the Green Party to throw everything it has at winning the Makerfield by-election — calling on Andy Burnham to leave the Labour Party and join them, if he has any morality and any guts. Of course, he has neither. He is part of the machine that consumes all radical impulses and turns them into capitulation before the rich. This is what the Labour Party has been doing for generations. It is the controlled opposition. Its organisational culture is structurally broken. It can never stand up for ordinary people — only deliver them pacified and demoralised into the hellspace of social and ecological breakdown, which is now inevitable. [Greens split over how hard to challenge Burnham in Makerfield byelectionSome in party fear all-out campaign could boost Reform’s chances but others say it is not Greens’ job to help Labour![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/icon/apple-touch-icon-512-163e8ebdc43e7db09724ff3bf2fbf0dfd8d08bbeea741bad82fb6aecabe97639.png)The GuardianPeter Walker![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/thumbnail/3020-d752af4f0adf2a81d96c799db4f30245676746f331b5723b5ea2a93a07f948aa.jpg)](https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/may/18/greens-andy-burnham-makerfield-byelection-reform?ref=rogerhallam.com) The Green Party is unlikely to do this unless Zack Polanski goes up a few notches on the prophetic leader scale. Far more likely, the "old boyfriend" dynamic will show itself one more time. This is how an independent working-class candidate I worked with described Labour after the recent local elections. In her ward, the party was nowhere to be seen — but on the day of the vote, their people finally arrived on the streets, just like an old boyfriend: wanting forgiveness, pleading it will be different this time. The being taken for granted. The endless lying. The toxic abuse. And it works. They know how to pull them in one more time. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2024/03/roger-zeit-1-1.JPG) ## Join Me In the Revolution of Our Lives Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No nonsense. Change your mind anytime. Burnham is the worst and most dangerous of the lot. As Martin Luther King reminds us, the white moderate is always more dangerous than the open extremist. Burnham says to the Green Party: > *"Hey look, I will get in and it will be different. I will do PR. I will tax the rich. I will be the decent guy."* It's all bollocks. The Labour Party is broken beyond repair. The Green Party needs to say it loud and clear. Hope will only become normal again once that truth has been spoken plainly. This is a moment of truth. One of the last such moments before the cascade of ruptures begins. --- Reform won 2000+ council seats. The Greens won 400\. While we fiddle, the far right takes power in a 1.5 °C world. Next week in London, I will speak about what the Green Party must do to build alliances, drawing on my last months of election organising. Come along to chat over a vegan supper. [Integral Ecology: How the Green Party Can Win Elections with Roger Hallam - KairosWednesday May 27th, 6.30 for 7pm While the Green Party won 400 seats in the recent local elections, Reform won more than 2000\. Clearly there is a massive problem - and the implications of Reform gaining state power, as we head towards 2C, are beyond appalling. In this talk, Roger will speak about how the party needs develop integrated ecological relationships both to other emergent radical parties, and to the communities it seeks to serve. This is fundamentally a question of “who decides” - who has power. Roger has just spent eight months designing local mobilisations which concretise what this needs to look like in practice. He will draw on years of social movement organising and various case studies - including his and others’ work in Lambeth - to provide a radical new model of how we can overcome the far right.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/icon/cropped-K-ICON-270x270-be3cd80be55fecb98a5f9da7ea1a1e533bbed691edd85eee9de64145d55f69f3.jpg)Kairos -![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/thumbnail/cropped-K-ICON-f247e87ef342749d6c1e39f1dd3e26eef11f574de0d4c6827e90d94a806c56dd.png)](https://www.kairos.london/event/integral-ecology-how-the-green-party-can-win-elections-with-roger-hallam/?ref=rogerhallam.com) --- If this political moment feels like a dead end, that's because it is — my new book [*Suicide*](https://rev21.earth/product/suicide/?ref=rogerhallam.com) names it. From the structural failure of liberal democracy to the legal and moral case for resistance, this is the argument the mainstream won't make. The Labour Party won't save us. Resistance in courts might. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2026/02/ROGER-HALLAM_SUICIDE_ADVERTS-03.png) [Order Suicide](https://rev21.earth/product/suicide/?ref=rogerhallam.com) If you're a paid member of this blog, you can download the ebook below. I hope you like it, and please reply with your thoughts. We need reviews to grow its impact. _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### The Revolutionary Demand of the Present Moment URL: https://rogerhallam.com/the-revolutionary-demand-of-the-present-moment/ Last updated: 2026-04-29T09:37:40.000Z Join the Festival of Revolutions: [https://festivalofrevolutions.org](https://festivalofrevolutions.org/?ref=rogerhallam.com) The world has been in a zombie state for years now - in the sense of the old refusing to die and the new struggling to be born. So much so it has become something of a cliché. And this zombie state becomes more extreme by the year - by the month even. Next year the predictions are that the world will pass 1.7C, that the job market will start to collapse particularly for graduates due to AI roll outs, and the wild cards played by Trump will sooner or later drag us into some major international war scenario. The fact is the system now regularly plays Russian roulette with itself. We need to be prepared and at present we are not. The default working assumption in the various movements and its organisations is that the present will continue forever. Strategy is stuck in the past, they remain atomised and stuck in silos. There is little to no coordination. This is no big plan. And we know what that means - the far right we step into power. Those of you reading this, for better or worse have the responsibility to provide leadership - if not you then who? It is the vital question of our time. No one else is coming to save us. We have to realise this. This means two non-brainer things. First we have to realise we live in a singularity - a time defined by one thing: what happens when this system ruptures into collapse. We have to combine into one international movement. To concretely fuse our fundraising, training, and networking systems. This does not mean a return to the old rigid top down hierarchies of the past but rather a disciplined commitment of time and resources to create integrated strategies of mobilisation and planned responses to the cascades of coming crises. Secondly, we require a proactive positive meta strategy that gives ourselves and our publics a system change vision and programme that is not fascism - that is something else. This something else has to be coherent, concrete and so credible. It has to be centred around a renewal of democracy based around citizens assemblies rather than political parties, in the context of a fusion of campaigning/street movements, the standing in elections, and mutual aid networks. It all has to come together as was the case with the great social and political movements before 1989. This, then, is what the [Rev21 festivals](https://festivalofrevolutions.org/?ref=rogerhallam.com) are helping to bring about. It’s not about lots of atomised bits and pieces - it's about creating this new singular project. Moves are already in motion. On 9th May, from 8am to 8pm (GMT+1), online, the [Festival of Revolutions](https://festivalofrevolutions.org/?ref=rogerhallam.com) will bring together people across movements to begin building this shared direction. There will be a big gathering in Europe later in the year. Fundraising and training systems are coming together. There will be online meet ups after the festival. This is all part of an ongoing process. Details will be shared and built up at the festival. This then is the new agenda. We stand together and work together - or we fail. It’s no longer complicated. Join the Festival of Revolutions: [https://festivalofrevolutions.org](https://festivalofrevolutions.org/?ref=rogerhallam.com) ### The All-System Iterative Approach (ASIP): Analysing Climate Collapse and Its Human Consequences URL: https://rogerhallam.com/the-all-system-iterative-approach/ Last updated: 2026-03-19T11:56:33.000Z This report originates from my viral blog published on March 21, 2025 entitled: ["Why the Human Race is Going Extinct this Century,"](https://rogerhallam.com/blog-extinct/) which was also explained in a video/podcast recorded from my prison cell:[ "We're Going Extinct"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?si=VOhcIXoQ7yt3OLK7&v=9qfDswE80Zs&feature=youtu.be&ref=rogerhallam.com) I will then provide references to recent scientific reports that support why an open-source citizens model, using ASIP methodology, is needed: traditional models under-report temperature increases; billions of lives are at risk because we face ecological and civilisation collapse, and extinction in this century. At the time, I proposed the following: > "I would like readers to get in touch to be involved in creating an open-source citizens model, using this methodology to develop real-time analysis, as new data is produced. This would create a public alternative to the discredited models and 'mainstream science' subject to dysfunctional methodologies and political capture. This new approach can inform the new progressive forces which will be needed to guide policy as existing political regimes collapse as conditions exponentially worsen. One more prediction is effectively inevitable, and that is that political revolutions will occur in the next decade as the horrors we face become plain for citizens to see." After my release, I worked with activists from [4 Billion Dead](https://4billiondead.org/asip-report/?ref=rogerhallam.com) to prepare this introductory report explaining the All-System Iterative Approach (ASIP), a non-linear and conservative methodology for analysing, on a decadal basis, both temperature increases and the human and ecological consequences. I will begin by explaining the methodology and how we plan to establish an ASIP analysis project in the months ahead. I will then provide references to recent scientific reports that support why an open-source citizens model, using ASIP methodology, is needed: traditional models under-report temperature increases; billions of lives are at risk because we face ecological and civilisation collapse, and extinction in this century. As explained below, ASIP will provide two forms of analysis, Climate Science and Social (Mass Death) Science. --- ## Analysis 1 (Climate Science): ASIP — Consideration of All Relevant Factors and the Analysis of Climate System Development ### Methodology It is formally impossible to predict any future event with absolute certainty. It is possible that, due to geoengineering and other technological developments, we may reverse global heating. However, it is questionable whether this technology exists, and, if it does, whether it can be deployed at scale within the available time, given its enormous costs and the need for international cooperation, all of which must be implemented in the context of widespread social collapse. Tipping points in the Earth's system have now been triggered due to the present level of human-created emissions and locked-in additional inputs of carbon lag and air pollution. The possibility of human extinction by the end of the century is now the main scenario, and what is certain is that a level of social disruption more significant than any other period in human history is now locked in. ### The All-System Iterative Approach (ASIP): A Non-Linear and Conservative Form of Analysis Mainstream climate science has an increasingly poor record of making accurate predictions because it is embedded in a dysfunctional paradigm. This failure reached crisis levels in 2024 due to the inability to predict or explain a sustained underlying jump of 0.2°C in global temperatures. Some conventional methodologies analyse only one factor of the system and base their findings on that single process. However, no one process is independent of the other parts of the system. Other methodologies assume linear rather than non-linear change, an approach that may have made sense in the past when all parts of the system were not linked, but that is no longer the case. The rate of change now proceeds at an exponential pace; therefore, the ratio of change between 2°C and 3°C will be different from the rate of change between 1°C and 2 °C. Traditional long-term projections assume that prolonged planetary overheating will have a gradual impact on human civilisation. The science of complex systems holds the opposite; an initial decline will lead to sudden systemic collapse. These facts must be taken into consideration when projecting the consequences of planetary overheating for human civilisation. There is now only one system: the all-Earth system. To understand any part of the system, it is necessary to look at the whole. Only an all-system analysis can make accurate predictions. The correct analysis requires three fundamental elements. First, the consideration of all relevant factors, including forest fires, permafrost melt, loss of carbon sinks, the albedo effect of ice cover loss, and the impacts of tipping point activation. Second, an analysis of climate system development, how, over time, the factors interrelate in terms of the feedback processes which affect various parts of the system. Third, accurate and informative projections about the ecological disasters and loss of human life caused by sustained non-linear temperature increases across the globe. Many scientists also fundamentally misunderstand the social context of their research. The traditional approach is rooted in a culture that focuses on research matters that involve no risk to human beings. The purpose, then, is to establish the certainty of a hypothesis, an approach that requires a high level of supporting evidence to provide 'proof.' However, there is an opposite set of circumstances, namely, where human lives are at risk. In this situation, what would be called a conservative approach has the opposite logic to that when no lives are at risk. While conventional climate science methodologies are rooted in a culture that focuses on research that poses no risk to human beings, that's not the case with planetary overheating. An analysis of the danger of climate change to human life requires what I call a "conservative" approach, which means a realist approach, which must take account of low probabilities. The precautionary principle applies, encouraging preventive action in the face of uncertainty, especially when the potential for harm is high. In other words, a "better safe than sorry" approach. Concerning planetary overheating and its impact on life on Earth, logic dictates that one considers not just the likelihood of an outcome, but also the cost of failing to have prepared adequately for it should it occur. Regarding worldwide ecological overshoot and the resulting global overheating, the cost will be extraordinarily high, and the failure to act decisively in an emergency will be catastrophic, especially when the possibility of irreversible and cataclysmic harm, including extinction, exists. #### 4 Billion Dead To provide the public with the truth about climate collapse, including the human and ecological consequences, we have established a new campaign: **"4 Billion Dead" (4BD)**. Citizen activists will bring scientists, actuaries, insurance experts, and mass-death analysts together to inform the public about the true state of global overheating and its ecological and human consequences through regular, comprehensive, and understandable reports and online presentations. Extreme suffering is coming down the line, and regime collapse and mass death in the billions is virtually certain without the kind of emergency action that existing governments have been institutionally incapable of delivering. We need to anticipate and plan for worst-case scenarios as a basic matter of precaution. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2026/03/image-3.png) ### Implementation Process for the 4BD Climate Science Analysis #### ASIP Roll Out 4 Billion Dead will implement the ASIP real-time analysis in early 2026, a public alternative to the discredited models and to mainstream science, which is subject to dysfunctional methodologies and political capture. 4BD volunteers will activate ASIP with the assistance of scientists. The program will analyse all relevant factors that influence temperature increase, including CO2 concentration, temperature, Arctic and Antarctic sea ice, ocean heat content, extreme weather events, forest fires and their impact on carbon sinks, permafrost melt, albedo effect of loss of ice cover, as well as the impacts of tipping point activation. The all-systems form of analysis is critical because many existing models do not consider all relevant factors, including those that will assume greater importance as collapse intensifies. For example, mainstream reports do not formulate temperature projections that account for the impact of tipping points. Instead, they usually limit discussion to assessments about the probability of tipping points. The actual state of collapse is far past that. It calls for temperature projection assessments, as difficult as they may be, for both tipping points that are already activated and those that will soon be activated because they can no longer be prevented. For example, the most recent and accurate data on the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) indicate that its tipping point will be reached before 2050, perhaps earlier (Rahmstorf, page 11). Although AMOC activation does not mean immediate and full collapse, it's certainly the beginning. The precautionary principle requires at least good-faith attempts to measure the post-tipping-point consequences for the overall climate system's development following the date of tipping-point activation. Reports and online presentations will be utilised to inform the public about up-to-date findings from leading non-reticent climate scientists and how, over time, different factors affect other climate system factors. Understandable explanations will be provided about the human consequences. Regional consequences will be emphasised, and an extensive online library of climate science reports will be created, focused on the important work of non-reticent climate scientists. Erroneous assumptions used by captured organisations in their discredited models will also be explained and corrected. For example, the IPCC projects 3°C of temperature rise for doubled CO2 above preindustrial levels. Climate sensitivity, however, is substantially higher than IPCC estimates. More accurately, we should anticipate a 4.8°C temperature rise (ranging from 3.6°C to 6°C) with the doubling of CO2\. (Hansen, pages 7–8). This fundamental error distorts all IPCC temperature projections, suppresses public awareness, and blinds decision-makers to the real existential level of risk. Accurate projections are not possible without a sound foundation. An accurate baseline for measuring temperature increases will be clarified in 4BD presentations. Using an accurate baseline is especially important because politicians offer misleading assurances such as "in ten years our government will reduce the CO2 level to 1995 levels," distortions dutifully reported by the mainstream media. But 1995 is not the baseline for measuring warming. Truthful reporting calls for the correct baseline that considers the latest evidence. See, for example, this CNN report on[ data that raises questions about how much the Earth has warmed](https://www.cnn.com/2025/12/15/climate/glosat-global-temperature-data?ref=rogerhallam.com). [New data raises questions about how much the Earth has warmed | CNNNew climate data raises questions about how much the Earth has warmed![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/icon/apple-touch-icon-4.png)CNNChris Mooney![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/thumbnail/gettyimages-2229689721.jpg)](https://edition.cnn.com/2025/12/15/climate/glosat-global-temperature-data?ref=rogerhallam.com) To accurately assess all factors that impact global heating, it will be helpful to provide increased transparency, in understandable language, about the internal workings of certain factors. For example, Carbon Sinks Efficiency measures how well natural systems absorb and store atmospheric CO2\. Often, a single overall finding is presented based on data from 3 different carbon sink elements: forests, oceans, and soils. Given the dramatic increase in forest fires and the increasing acidification of the oceans, the public needs to understand how the interplay among these factors affects the overall findings. ASIP will explain the specific impacts of the various elements, how they affect one another, and their overall impact on the system. #### How ASIP Findings Differ from Mainstream Findings ASIP findings will be presented in a manner that encourages mass mobilisation and informs citizen assemblies; they will be public and activist-oriented rather than other-scientist-oriented. They will be accessible through written and online presentations that use accurate, understandable language rather than technical jargon and coded references. Underlying data and findings will consist of credible, verifiable sources, such as NASA, NOAA, Copernicus, Berkeley Labs, the Potsdam Institute, the Global Carbon Project, and reports by non-reticent climate scientists. Links to source data and report findings will be provided. However, the deliberately neutral tone used by mainstream science will be strictly avoided. Emotional engagement is an essential ASIP component. As I stated in a recent post: > "Liberal culture cannot say the word 'death,' even as billions face it. Euphemism has become a form of violence — and the first step to resisting collapse is naming reality without flinching . . . stuck in liberal euphemism, self-censorship, and the relentless softening of truth." If we do not tell people "what this means for you", we are not telling the full truth. Findings will be evaluated and presented using precautionary principle risk framing. Given the level of harm faced by all humanity and the onslaught of misinformation produced by well-funded corporate falsehood sources, ASIP findings must emphasise the truth about accelerating collapse and worsening trends. #### Presentation and Education ASIP educational talks and documents will be presented in as simple a manner as possible, to be easily understood by non-scientists. They will be jargon-free, emphasise "what this means to you," and include explicit precautionary risk framing. A short explanation of specific metrics will be provided. Given the facts, there will be an emphasis on non-linear acceleration and worsening. If appropriate, historical perspectives will also be provided. ASIP presentations and projections will also differ from mainstream information because of the consistent use of decadal projections. Decadal projections are essential to the challenge of moving the Overton Window to where the possibility of human extinction in this century becomes the framework for effective mass mobilisation and citizen assembly-formulated demands. #### Project Implementation 4 Billion Dead is an active [Rev21](https://rev21.earth/?ref=rogerhallam.com) Science Team project with a formalised and documented structure, organisation charts, document libraries, a document management system, and active public recruitment meetings. The [4BD website](https://4billiondead.org/?ref=rogerhallam.com) will open to the public in January 2026\. Six sub-teams are staffed and operational: Core Team, Outreach Team, Science Education Team, Science Liaison Team, Website/Social Media Team, and Tech Team. The ASP roll-out will be organised and managed by 4BD's Science Education and Science Liaison Teams, with significant participation from the Website/Social Media and Outreach Teams. Weekly planning/implementation meetings begin January 2026, including the creation of a project organisation structure, goals, roles and responsibilities, timeline, public communication plan, budget, etc. ASIP online presentations and workshops will begin at the [Rev21 May 2026 Festival](https://festivalofrevolutions.org/?ref=rogerhallam.com). --- ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2024/03/roger-zeit-1-1.JPG) ## Join Me In the Revolution of Our Lives Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No nonsense. Change your mind anytime. ## 3°C Above Pre-Industrial by 2050: Recent Scientific Findings Recent findings from some of the world's finest climate scientists support the primary projection raised in the March 21, 2025, blog: the Earth will reach 3°C above Pre-industrial by 2050\. These findings are presented by date, oldest first. ### 1\. Estimated Heating at the Doubling of CO2 [Oxford Open Climate Change, Volume 3, Issue 1, 2023 — James E. Hansen et al.](https://academic.oup.com/oocc/article/3/1/kgad008/7335889?ref=rogerhallam.com) (August 6, 2025) Based on historical records (ice; ocean and lake sediment; bore holes into the earth's crust; and cave deposits), when CO2 levels double, the Earth's temperature rises an average of 4.8°C (ranging from 3.6°C to 6°C). The connection between increases in CO2 levels and temperature increases is stronger than IPCC projections indicate. ("Climate sensitivity is substantially higher than IPCC's best estimate (3°C for doubled CO2), a conclusion we reach with greater than 99 percent confidence.") "Seeing the Forest for the Trees," James E. Hansen and Pushker Kharecha, August 6, 2025\. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) currently estimates temperature increases of 3.0°C for doubled CO2\. Dr. Hansen points out that the IPCC's best estimate of 3.0°C is inconsistent with multiple lines of scientific evidence. The "greater than 99 percent confidence" is based on an analysis of multiple and combined data sets and concludes that the probability of climate sensitivity being as low as 3.0°C or less is extremely small. These findings refute a fundamental IPCC projection, demonstrating that the risk of a much hotter future is significantly greater than conventional models estimate. Furthermore, the decadal rate of CO2 increase is increasing exponentially rather than linearly. The CO2 level in 1750 was 280 parts per million (ppm). In May 2025, the CO2 level at Mauna Loa Observatory reached a high point of 428 ppm. The average annual increase of atmospheric CO2 by decade was as follows: ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2026/03/image.png) The 2023 to 2024 increase in atmospheric CO2 was 3.54 ppm. Assuming future annual CO2 ppm increases do not exceed the 2023–2024 increase, the Pre-Industrial level of 280 ppm will double in 37.7 years (2062), baking-in temperature increases of approximately 4.8°C (ranging from 3.6°C to 6°C). However, doubling may take place before 2062 for at least two reasons. First, the sixty-year trend demonstrates that annual ppm increases have steadily increased, and more so for the past 30 years. Second, certain man-made gases did not exist in the measured historical periods. Other gases, such as methane, did exist, but at significantly lower pre-industrial levels. Post-industrial levels of gases like methane affect the temperature rise. While the level of impact requires further study, from a conservative, precautionary perspective, the effects of man-made gases, in combination with CO2, must be considered when projecting temperature rise. ### 2\. Report from the German Meteorological Society (DMG) & German Physical Society (DPG) [dpg-physik.de](https://www.dpg-physik.de/veroeffentlichungen/publikationen/stellungnahmen-der-dpg/klima-energie/klimaaufruf?ref=rogerhallam.com) (September 21, 2025) *Some Key Takeaways (translated from German by Google Gemini):* - "It can no longer be denied: climate change is progressing unchecked and is accelerating. In 2023 and 2024, the global average temperatures were 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels for the first time. It is even possible that the 1.5-degree limit for global warming, decided upon in Paris, may already have been permanently exceeded." - "Meanwhile, even the commitment to keep global warming well below 2 degrees Celsius can only be achieved with significantly increased efforts by the international community, and there is a growing risk that this target will be missed. Global warming has entered an acceleration phase. As early as 2050, warming could even reach 3 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial era, with the temperature increase in Germany being significantly higher than the global average. Results from climate models indicate that warming up to 5 degrees Celsius is likely by the end of the century. This can only be prevented by humanity changing its course." ### 3\. Oxford Academic / BioScience: The 2025 State of the Climate Report [A Planet on the Brink — Potsdam Institute & Oregon State University](https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/advance-article/doi/10.1093/biosci/biaf149/8303627?ref=rogerhallam.com) (October 29, 2025) *Some Key Takeaways:* - Currently, 22 of 34 planetary vital signs are at record levels. - Warming may be accelerating, likely driven by reduced aerosol cooling, strong cloud feedbacks, and a darkening planet. - The human enterprise is driving ecological overshoot. Population, livestock, meat consumption, and gross domestic product are all at record highs, with an additional approximately 1.3 million humans and 0.5 million ruminants added weekly. - So far, in 2025, Greenland and Antarctic ice mass are at record lows. The Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets may be passing tipping points, potentially committing the planet to meters of sea-level rise. - The Atlantic meridional overturning circulation is weakening, threatening major climate disruptions. ### 4\. David Spratt: The Worst Outcome of Systematic Collapse; Cascading Climate Tipping Points [Climate Emergency (video)](https://youtu.be/SWVZc1coiNQ?si=tOrYCUQj25bS-PZJ&ref=rogerhallam.com), October 31, 2025 *Some Key Takeaways:* - The IPCC's midrange projections underplayed accelerants (like aerosol cleanup and nonlinear tipping dynamics). We're not "approaching" 1.5°C — we're effectively already there, and the comforting 20-year averages are a storytelling trick that makes the emergency look smaller than it is. - The global climate system has reached a state of "nonlinear" collapse, where irreversible tipping points for the Arctic, West Antarctica, and the Amazon are likely already behind us, locking in future sea-level rise and ecological breakdown regardless of current actions. - Meanwhile the political class remains mired in a "cognitive disjunction." "Net zero by 2050" functions like a high-class indulgence sale: keep burning, promise offsets later, and call it responsibility. - This emergency poses a direct threat of civilizational collapse by 2050, as the combination of extreme heat, 30% crop yield failures, and the salination of vital river deltas renders vast regions of Asia and Africa uninhabitable and triggers mass state failure. At three degrees, it's no longer about saving nature; it is about whether complex human societies remain governable, feedable, and coherent at all. ### 5\. Dr. James E. Hansen — The Truth About Global Warming, ATLAS25 [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsnv53HVC2o&t=30s&ref=rogerhallam.com), November 21, 2025 *Some Key Takeaways:* - Warming is already here and accelerating, with Earth measurably out of energy balance: "We do not need to wait ten years to conclude that we have reached 1.5 degrees global warming." - Institutional caution and delay are actively harmful: "Scientific reticence is dangerous in a problem that has delayed response." - The IPCC's central estimate understates how responsive the climate is to CO2: "Climate sensitivity is probably between four and five degrees Celsius for doubled CO2 rather than three." - The 1.5°C-by-net-zero-2050 storyline is physically unrealistic: "What hogwash." - The failure to pursue nuclear alongside renewables is an advisory and policy breakdown: "What good are advisors who do not advise?" ### 6\. Prof. Stefan Rahmstorf — Our Heating System is Heading for Shutdown, ATLAS25 [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKBTZ324COA&ref=rogerhallam.com), November 21, 2025 Prof. Stefan Rahmstorf, Professor of Physics of the Oceans at Potsdam University: > "The most reliable findings demonstrate that the tipping point for an AMOC shutdown will occur before 2050, the AMOC tipping point where the shutdown becomes inevitable is probably in the next 10 to 20 years or so, and thereafter we are past the point of no return and shut down is inevitable." *(15-minute video at 12:42)* ### 7\. Warning! This "Colorful Chart" is Censored by IPCC — Dr. James Hansen [columbia.edu](https://www.columbia.edu/~jeh1/mailings/2025/ColorfulChart.21November2025.pdf?ref=rogerhallam.com), November 21, 2025 *Abstract:* The growth rate of greenhouse gas (GHG) climate forcing increased rapidly in the last 15 years to about 0.5 W/m² per decade, as shown by the "colorful chart" for GHG climate forcing that we have been publishing for 25 years (Fig. 1). The chart is not in IPCC reports, perhaps because it reveals inconvenient facts. Although growth of GHG climate forcing declined rapidly after the 1987 Montreal Protocol, other opportunities to decrease climate forcing were missed. If policymakers do not appreciate the significance of present data on changing climate forcings, we scientists must share the blame. ### 8\. Global Temperature Record of +1.7°C in 2027 — James Hansen, Pushker Kharecha, Dylan Morgan and Jasen Vest [jimehansen.substack.com](https://jimehansen.substack.com/p/global-temperature-in-2025-2026-2027), December 18, 2025 *Some Key Takeaways:* - The 1.5°C Barrier Has Been Breached: The average global temperature for the three-year period of 2023–2025 has reached +1.5°C relative to the 1880–1920 base period. - 2025 is the Second Hottest Year on Record: While slightly cooler than the freakishly hot 2024, 2025 clocked in at +1.47°C. - New record in 2027: 2027 will shatter records, reaching a staggering +1.7°C global temperature. - The Rate of Warming has Nearly Doubled: Since 2010, the rate of global warming has accelerated to 0.31°C per decade, compared to just 0.18°C per decade between 1970 and 2010. - The unexpected surge in heat is partially due to the loss of the "cooling effect" from human-made aerosols, which have recently shifted from masking warming to potentially accelerating it. --- ## Analysis 2 (Social Science): Mass Death, Other Human Consequences, and Ecological Collapse Mainstream science climate models, whether subject to dysfunctional methodologies and political capture or not, conclude with temperature-related findings only. They are incomplete because they fail to inform the public about the human and ecological consequences of planetary overheating, including mass death. While there may be questions as to how soon, without question, temperature increases will lead to mass migration and mass death. For example, the Nature Sustainability map below illustrates zones of unlivable heat at 2.7°C ([Nature, 2023, "Quantifying the Human Cost of Global Warming"](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-023-01132-6?ref=rogerhallam.com)). ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2026/03/image-1.png) As reported, a significant portion of South America's 438 million people will be forced to relocate, as will many of Africa's 1.5 billion people, and approximately 2 billion people in Southeast Asia. These regions comprise some of the poorest nations on earth, as well as two nuclear superpowers with a long history of conflict. There are no viable paths for peaceful migration. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2026/03/image-2.png) ASIP will provide social science updates on the human and ecological consequences of climate collapse, including a mass-death analysis. Mass death analyses are not new. In other words, the failure to provide this information by the IPCC and other organisations is not because of methodology limitations. Accelerated heating will also bring serious harm to those portions of the Earth that remain "livable" during the 2030s to the 2060s, although civilisation as we know it will begin to collapse. These consequences include sea-level rise; food crises due to crop failures, drought, and transportation disruptions; water stress; excessive heat; extreme weather; abrupt shifts in ocean circulation that create abrupt shifts in weather; disease; and war. Likewise, ecological collapse will intensify and, in many cases, have an impact on temperature increases. Future ASIP reports will report on these outcomes. ### Implementation Process for Analysis 2: Mass Death, Other Human Consequences, and Ecological Collapse The ASIP mass death analysis will include three elements: 1. The creation of a historical library of studies of environmentally related mass death. 2. A systematic study of climate mortality by epidemiologists, demographers, and conflict experts will create a rigorous framework for estimating climate-related deaths across scenarios. This team of experts and activists will analyse the human and ecological consequences of extreme planetary overheating. 3. The creation of a detailed analysis methodology to predict and measure the mass deaths caused by planetary overheating, including projections of a range of plausible future scenarios. As with science findings, human and ecological impact findings will be presented in a manner to encourage mass mobilisation and inform citizen assemblies. They will be provided to the public through written and online presentations, presented to be easily understood by non-scientists and emphasise "what this means to you." Emotional engagement is an essential component of ASIP. Decadal projections will be an essential component. The ASIP human and ecological impact findings project will be organised and managed by 4BD's Science Education and Science Liaison Teams, along with significant participation from the Website/Social Media and Outreach Teams. Given limited staffing, the need for additional funding, and the immediate emphasis on establishing the ASIP science project, the human and ecological impacts project will commence in June 2026. --- ## Conclusion: The Pathway to Human Extinction At present, there are only two outcomes. First, to maintain a 'highly developed' economy and society capable of rolling out technologies that may lessen the impact of climate collapse. Or the end of humanity's existence. There is no third scenario now, no regression or progression to some premodern society compatible with continued human life. There are only two equilibria. Geoengineering or extinction. The historical record of the Earth shows that in previous periods of runaway climate change, the result was a hothouse Earth. So, it is effectively certain that after passing five degrees centigrade, human extinction is locked in. The resulting decline in oxygen levels will unfold over centuries, but humanity will not survive in its remaining ecological niches in the long term. There are other possibilities of human extinction, such as from radiation fallout (nuclear winter) from nuclear war and/or nuclear accidents. But this is not certain. Extinction due to loss of oxygen, however, seems absolute and is locked in once the threshold of 5 degrees centigrade is passed. We are presently putting carbon into the atmosphere at rates between 8 and 30 times faster than at any time in Earth's history. Recent findings indicate that it is increasingly likely that five degrees centigrade will be exceeded before the end of the century and will continue to rise over the following centuries. The increases, in other words, will not stop. ### Escape from Extinction Humanity has a short window to prevent this runaway climate breakdown, involving temperature increases of half to one degree centigrade per decade. The clear indicator of the coming reduction in fossil fuel use will be the economic and physical effects of the climate crisis itself, as temperatures exceed 2 degrees centigrade in 2035. This reduction in human emissions, however, has shown it will not stop the exponential increase in natural positive feedback processes, producing ever more greenhouse gases. Given that we now know the starting stats and the ratios for these feedbacks, geoengineering and Earth repair technologies will therefore be essential. If we are to survive, carbon removal will cost between $20 and $70 trillion per year, according to estimates. The present GNP of the USA, around $30 trillion, is the largest in the world; therefore, an international effort by the USA, European Union, United Kingdom, Russia, Japan, China, as well as smaller economies will be needed to accomplish these objectives. In addition, it will be necessary to significantly reduce temperatures at the poles because their temperatures are increasing by 2 to 4 times the global average to prevent albedo effects. This will require various untested solar management projects. Lastly, a massive investment of resources will be required to address the direct and indirect consequences of storms, droughts, migration, and economic breakdown, as climate extremes reduce GDP by 10 to 20% over the next two decades. The needed global effort to address these crises will coincide with the need to allocate 10 to 20% of global GDP to carbon removal. This may be technically possible, but it is far from likely due to the suboptimal political conditions brought on by social collapse, wars, and new nationalist and fascist regimes. The key tipping point in the whole system, i.e., the fusion of Earth and human systems, would seem to be around three degrees centigrade, when objective human, social, and technical capacities will fall below the point needed to remove sufficient amounts of carbon from the air to prevent a runaway temperature increase past five degrees centigrade. The key decade, then, will be 2025 to 2035. Given the crisis, there is only one climatic analysis that is now useful: an all-system iterative model that uses the conservative frame explained above to provide accurate and understandable data and projections on the ecological and human consequences of runaway planetary overheating. Any part system model will lead to reckless underestimates of temperature increases, because it will not take into account all system interactions, nor the human consequences. --- ## Call to Action Join the 4BD team. Together, our individual and collective efforts can build a movement with the strength and power to compel the governmental, corporate, and social change needed to ensure our collective survival. Some argue that individual actions do not matter. The opposite is true. Collective success depends first and foremost on each person's willingness to be a voice for change, to contribute, and to share the truth about this growing threat to all humanity. This is no time for wavering. Act now for a livable future for our children. [**Join Us!**](https://4billiondead.org/get-involved/?ref=rogerhallam.com) We need people, experienced or not, who can give a few hours a week to participate in our 4BD Teams. Please also see here for all future 4BD events. Become part of the solution today! [**Consider donating**](https://4billiondead.org/donate/?ref=rogerhallam.com) whatever amount you can — to fund the vital work that 4BD is doing. And please, share this document with all who need to know this truth (clue — that's everyone!) — Roger Hallam [Make a One-Off Donation](https://buy.stripe.com/6oEbLTaRk22QgQU6oo?ref=rogerhallam.com) Share ### 🎸 We're Pretending It's Just Rock and Roll URL: https://rogerhallam.com/pretending-its-rock-and-roll/ Last updated: 2026-03-07T12:21:36.000Z Dwayne Booth, aka Mr Fish, is a renowned political cartoonist and a frequent collaborator with my friend Chris Hedges. I was honoured to be invited on for an episode of his podcast, [The Independent Ink](https://theindependentink.substack.com/) to discuss the horrrific posibility of [4 Billion Dead](https://4billiondead.org/events/?ref=rogerhallam.com). You can listen and watch on [Dwayne's Substack](https://theindependentink.substack.com/p/the-independent-ink-in-conversation-7fc) or read as a condensed transcript below. [The Independent Ink in Conversation with Roger Hallam“Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s needs, but not every man’s greed.” –Mahatma Gandhi![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/icon/https-3A-2F-2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com-2Fpublic-2Fimages-2Fcf13d3d3-94fe-4990-9542-44dc891accc3-2Fapple-touch-icon-180x180.png)THE INDEPENDENT INKMr. Fish![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/thumbnail/https-3A-2F-2Fsubstack-video.s3.amazonaws.com-2Fvideo_upload-2Fpost-2F190016907-2Fd70d3358-c52d-41a0-b6a9-7afece83f6a5-2Ftranscoded-1772738703.png)](https://theindependentink.substack.com/p/the-independent-ink-in-conversation-7fc) **Mr Fish**: Roger, I really appreciate you taking the time. I know how busy you are — and with very good reason, given the urgency of what you're working on. Let's start simply: you recently spent time in prison. Can you walk us through the circumstances? **Roger Hallam**: Yes — and thanks very much for having me. So, the court case was in July 2024\. It related to a series of actions roughly two years prior, involving people climbing onto bridges over motorways to make the point that we need to slash carbon emissions. There was a large action — about a hundred people stopping traffic across several bridges. For the record, I wasn't involved. But I was brought in, as I tend to be, to give a speech — to rally people to the urgency of the situation. **Mr Fish**: And you're a known quantity for this kind of activity, which makes you both an asset to a movement and a target for those who want to shut it down. **RH**: Exactly. This has been my bread and butter for decades. Inviting someone to speak at a civil disobedience action — to say, "Yes, this is what the situation demands" — was entirely normal in the UK and across the western world. But as you and your listeners may be aware, there have been increasingly draconian laws passed in the UK in recent years. What happened was that a journalist from *The Sun* — a right-wing tabloid — was present at the event. She recorded my speech and gave it to the police. They came to arrest me while she intended to film the whole thing. I happened to be out when they arrived. I didn't think much of it at first. I've done dozens of these talks; I assumed I'd be out the following morning. But I was put on remand — held in prison for four months before they finally released me on a tag. Then, a year and a half later, there was a full trial. We received four to five years for conspiracy to cause a public nuisance — which is the quaint English phrase for what the actual bad guys are doing, of course. It was the longest sentence handed down for peaceful civil disobedience since, I don't know, the Napoleonic Wars or thereabouts. Even the Suffragettes were getting two or three years. Once you're past five, it usually means you've killed someone. I hasten to add that all I did was a twenty-minute Zoom call. So it's really a sign of the times. I appealed and was released on licence last August. **Mr Fish**: The vagueness of the charge is striking. "Causing a public nuisance" — it's the same logic used historically against civil rights protesters. Black students sitting at lunch counters could be framed as bad for business. The Little Rock Nine were said to be a "deterrent to education." The charge is always the disruption, never the injustice being protested. What does it signal to society when the state reaches for these tools? ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2026/03/Screenshot-2025-05-12-120056.png) Mr Fish Cartoon [Posctards for Rev21](https://rev21.earth/product/20-mr-fish-postcards/?ref=rogerhallam.com) **RH:** The simple answer is that the state operates on what you might call Hobbesian logic. Thomas Hobbes is the political philosopher of the secular state — the idea being that the state is supreme, that it exists to prevent disruption and disorder, and that it is justified in doing whatever is necessary to that end. If the state collapses, you have anarchy. That's been the logic of the establishment for the past three or four hundred years in western societies. What I'd push back on, though — and I've written about this in [*Suicide*](https://rev21.earth/product/suicide/?ref=rogerhallam.com) — is that our actions were actually compatible with Hobbesian logic, properly understood. There is a well-known exception in political philosophy: when the people running the state are themselves destroying the state. Historically, this has meant treasonous activity, spying for foreign powers, that sort of thing. It's a rare exception — arguably the last time it clearly applied in Britain was three or four centuries ago. But the people running the state today are objectively destroying it. There is a substantial probability — arguably an inevitability — that climate disruption will destroy the British Isles within the next fifty years. Changing ocean currents, catastrophic weather systems — this isn't a matter of opinion. It's a non-trivial, well-evidenced possibility. So the Hobbesian argument collapses in on itself: the more of a Hobbesian you are, the more you should support resistance to the state's current agents. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2026/02/ROGER-HALLAM_SUICIDE_ADVERTS-02.png) [Get yours](https://rev21.earth/product/suicide/?ref=rogerhallam.com) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2024/03/roger-zeit-1-1.JPG) ## Join Me In the Revolution of Our Lives Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No nonsense. Change your mind anytime. What I tried to argue in court — to the judge's considerable discomfort — was that if you send to prison people who are trying to save the state from those who are destroying it, you are, in the classical definition, a traitor. He wasn't having any of it, of course. And the lawyers were right in a pragmatic sense — it wasn't going to work. But I'm not interested in pragmatics. I'm interested in the truth. Which is why we refused to be quiet. If you take an oath before God to tell the whole truth, you are spiritually and morally obliged to do so. Every time he told me to sit down, I said, with all due respect, God outranks you, Your Honour — and carried on. He left the courtroom several times. The police were dragging us out every few minutes. It was, in its way, a bit of a comedy — an English version of the Chicago Seven. **Mr Fish**: You confound people by saying you don't mind prison. That there's a kind of agency that the locked door can't touch. Can you say more about that? **RH**: Well, let me say first that I don't tend to follow the usual interview format on the left, which is to bash the bad guys for half an hour. I'm not that interested in the bad guys. Evil exists — it always has. What makes evil a problem isn't its existence but people's complicity with it. So the more interesting question is: why do people go along with it? Why do they delude themselves? The first problem is that people on the left don't want to accept what we're actually dealing with. They think: vote in the right people, pass the right legislation, sort out the climate issue. But this isn't a climate issue to be managed through policy. It is a Universal Death Project. It will continue, objectively, indefinitely, because it is science. So we're not heading towards reform. We're heading towards revolution. The second problem is the deeper one. People are stuck in a modernist, materialist, reductive framework — one that came out of the Enlightenment and that has justified the extractivist logic destroying the world. Everything is dead matter, moving like billiard balls according to Newtonian physics. But that picture was demolished by Einstein in 1905 and by quantum mechanics thereafter. Science now tells us we're living in a quantum universe — that there is universal consciousness, that time and space are provisional constructs, that what the ancient mystics and most religious traditions have said throughout human history turns out, empirically, to be right. And when you genuinely internalise that — not as a slogan but as a lived reality — then prison doesn't exist in the way people think it does. What exists is your consciousness and your will. I've been to prison six or seven times. By now, if the police walked through that door and took me away for twenty years, I'd probably be annoyed for about three days. Not because I'm some alien saint — I'm not. I'm a regular rebel. But because I've done enough training, internal and external, to know that the cell is not the limit of what I am. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2026/03/Screenshot-2025-05-12-120033.png) Mr Fish Cartoon [Posctards for Rev21](https://rev21.earth/product/20-mr-fish-postcards/?ref=rogerhallam.com) **Mr Fish**: That word — training — feels crucial here. This isn't passivity or detachment. It's something active. **RH**: Precisely. This is what almost everyone misses about the non-violence tradition. Non-violence isn't a tactic you adopt because someone told you it works strategically. The output is non-violence; the *input* is preparation. Training. There are two thousand years of history on how people get themselves into a position where they are genuinely detached from the consequences of oppression — meditation, role-playing, testimony, ritual. I read a book in prison about the early Christians. Every so often, the Romans would round up a group and crucify them near Lyon or wherever. When a few from one group fled before their execution, the ones being crucified were reported to have said something along the lines of: "Those men didn't train properly." That's not about being a saint. That's about systematic preparation. The failure of modern civil resistance movements is that they think non-violence is a supermarket choice — like picking apples instead of oranges. "We'll be non-violent because that's the winning strategy." And then it's hard and unglamorous, and people think: maybe we should try violence instead. It's completely superficial. If you look at the literature, successful civil resistance — Solidarity in Poland, the Salt March, the monks in Burma — always has a cultural-religious basis. Not necessarily Catholic or Christian, but some mechanism of collective transcendence. Religious people sustain the struggle longer not because of their funny clothes but because they have two thousand years of accumulated wisdom about what it means to live rightly in the face of suffering. **Mr Fish**: Which brings us to the new project. Tell us about [4 Billion Dead](https://4billiondead.org/?ref=rogerhallam.com). ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2026/03/1.png) **RH:** The name comes from a report by the British insurance industry — and I'd note that if anyone understands numbers, it's the insurance industry. The report found that carbon emissions sufficient to push global temperatures past two degrees will likely kill two billion people; past three degrees, four billion. In a spectacular act of English repression, the industry buried this information in an appendix. When the *Guardian* covered it, the headline was about projected GDP loss. You had to read to paragraph five to find the mention of four billion deaths. If you needed any evidence that liberal media has been thoroughly colonised by capitalist logic, there it is. So: four billion deaths. The project is not primarily about talking about that number — because the very act of trying to discuss it rationally is, in a sense, an obscenity. It's a spiritual catastrophe. What the project does instead is ritual. People will hold up a sign reading "4 Billion Dead," photograph themselves, and share it — with no accompanying petition, no call for a government act, no liberal framing that would shrink the enormity of it back down to something manageable. The vision I have is of marches — organised, disciplined, silent. Not western-individualist "let's go on a demo." Think of the civil rights marchers in their suits, five metres apart, holding their signs with military precision. Gandhi did the same. That's what we want: a hundred people walking in silence through a western city, each holding a sign, each handing out a photocopied page of that actuarial appendix. The purpose is to build a collective psyche — to take people out of their individualist, rationalist selves through shared ritual and collective action. It is, in essence, training. Training for what's coming. **Mr Fish**: And what is coming? **Roger Hallam**: In the 2030s, you will have a generation of young people who are twenty or twenty-five and who understand — viscerally, not theoretically — that their parents' generation destroyed the world. Think of the generation in 1960s Germany who discovered what their parents had done, and multiply it by a hundred. Because the Nazis destroyed six million people. Our generation is on track to destroy four billion — and the world's ecosystems along with them. They are not going to be happy. Here's an analogy from American cultural history. In 1956, there were the Beat poets — Jack Kerouac, Ginsberg, a handful of others. Nobody cared. Everyone thought they were odd. Then in 1962, a whole generation decided that the post-war settlement — nuclear madness, reductive materialism, the world their parents had built — was not for them. And suddenly Kerouac had ten million readers. We've all read *On the Road*. It's not actually that good, but you know what I mean. We are currently in 1956\. We have Elvis — we're pretending it's just rock and roll. But in about 2034 we hit the psychedelics. With one difference: this time, it won't be individualism. The 1960s was individualist — do your own thing, find your own enlightenment. What's coming will be collectivist. People won't have the luxury of individualism in 2034 the way they did in 1972\. It will be variations on collectivism — community, solidarity, shared sacrifice. The process I describe might sound like nonsense to half the people listening. Fine. But as day follows night, this is what's coming. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2026/03/Screenshot-2025-05-12-120045.png) Mr Fish Cartoon [Posctards for Rev21](https://rev21.earth/product/20-mr-fish-postcards/?ref=rogerhallam.com) **Mr Fish**: That feels like a beautiful way to close. We're going to learn how to get out of our own way — and when we do, we start inviting participation from the universe and from each other. I hope we're not murdered before it happens. **RH:** Death is not the end, remember. Don't panic! And look — I want to be clear. I'm pointing towards something, not claiming to have arrived at it. Being close to God is not being God. I have nervous breakdowns like everyone else. It's a lifelong process of moving — imperfectly, stumblingly — away from being a slave to material conditions. That's all I'm talking about. My last word: [go on a training weekend](https://resilientuprising.org/?ref=rogerhallam.com). Don't sit in your individualist head deciding whether or not you believe all this. Put yourself in a room with other people, do the work together, and let yourself find out who you are in community. That's the click. Not intellectual masturbation — training weekends, where you do A, B, C and D and find yourself inside some form of community of resistance. You do it again. And again. And at a certain point, you become competent enough to help build what comes after capitalism. **Mr Fish**: Let's make that culture happen. Roger, thank you so much. **RH**: Thank you for having me. Best of luck, everyone. [Sign up for a Training](https://resilientuprising.org/?ref=rogerhallam.com) [Resilient Uprising: Empowering Civil Resistance Leaders in Europe | Resilient UprisingJoin Resilient Uprising to nurture civil resistance leaders through training, discussions, and community support. Engage in nonviolence education and connect with movement elders to combat oppressive systems and foster resilience.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/icon/favicon-mP4OM4n81Qhb308R.png)Resilient Uprising![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/thumbnail/4_ultima-generartione-italy-tennis-m6LZV5og9jcXwVln.jpeg)](https://resilientuprising.org/?ref=rogerhallam.com) If you enjoyed this interview, please also check out the Twenty Rev21 postcards designed by Mr Fish on the Rev21 shop. He made them to help fundraise for me while I was in prison. With his usual gallows humour, Mr Fish paints a darkly accurate picture of our bizarre times. [Get a Mr Fish Postcard](https://rev21.earth/product/20-mr-fish-postcards/?ref=rogerhallam.com) [20 ‘Mr Fish’ PostcardsTwenty Rev21 postcards designed by the renowned political cartoonist Mr Fish.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/icon/favicon-2.png)Revolution in the 21st Century![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/thumbnail/collage-1024x768.jpg)](https://rev21.earth/product/20-mr-fish-postcards/?ref=rogerhallam.com) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2026/02/roger-organsing-in-brixton.png) Thanks for reading! [Make a One-Off Donation to Support Roger](https://buy.stripe.com/6oEbLTaRk22QgQU6oo?ref=rogerhallam.com) ### ⭕ February Round-Up: Collapse, Courage and Revolution URL: https://rogerhallam.com/february-round-up/ Last updated: 2026-03-02T07:07:08.000Z --- [🪦 The Elite Death Project: Why Capitalism Is Choosing CollapseCapitalism is choosing collapse. This is not failure — it is the death wish made systemic.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/icon/roger-square-icon-7.png)Roger HallamRoger Hallam![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/thumbnail/Francisco_de_Goya_2C_Saturno_devorando_a_su_hijo__281819-1823_29-1.png)](https://rogerhallam.com/the-elite-death-project/) What if collapse isn’t a failure of the system — but its logical conclusion? In this piece, I explored a disturbing possibility: that sections of the global elite are no longer trying to preserve mass prosperity. Instead, they are preparing for contraction — gated survival, fortress borders, AI-managed control, and a shrinking moral horizon. The essay went viral on my new Substack, particularly for its Freudian analysis. --- [🪧 How To Start a Revolution in 2026Ordinary people can run society — but only if we build the structures to let them.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/icon/roger-square-icon-6.png)Roger HallamRoger Hallam![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/thumbnail/the-people-1.png)](https://rogerhallam.com/how-to-start-a-revolution-in-2026/) This was the strategic centrepiece of the month, a talk on building revolution in your local area using Brixton as my current case study. Revolution is not a metaphor. It is a design problem. I explored what it would take — culturally, organisationally, psychologically — to build a mass nonviolent uprising capable of forcing systemic change within the next political cycle. Not outrage or feelings but proper structure. The video has gained 5,000 views and 1,600 hours of watch time. Thank you for the support. --- [📰 After the Rebellion comes the RevolutionI was interviewed by Sabrina Weiss for the Swiss magazine, Republik, about my recent shift from civil disobedience to community assemblies. The original article was published in German on their website. An English translation is shared below.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/icon/roger-square-icon-5.png)Roger HallamRoger Hallam![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/thumbnail/roger-in-market-2-1.png)](https://rogerhallam.com/after-the-rebellion-comes-the-revolution/) Rebellion disrupts. Revolution redesigns. In this interview, I laid out what comes after mass protest — how we move from spectacle to structure. Assemblies, legitimacy, parallel institutions, and a disciplined strategy for democratic renewal. If we don’t design the transition, collapse will design it for us. Thanks to Republik and Sabrina Weiss for talking to me in the Brixton market. --- [🗡️ Treason at the End of the WorldThe body has a limit, ice has a melting point, and the state has a duty. When a civilisation knowingly crosses those lines, what do we call it?![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/icon/roger-square-icon-1.png)Roger HallamRoger Hallam![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/thumbnail/Caspar_David_Friedrich_-_Das_Eismeer_-_Hamburger_Kunsthalle_-_02.jpg)](https://rogerhallam.com/treason-at-the-end-of-the-world/) If a government knowingly accelerates ecological collapse… what do we call that? In this piece, I examined 10 recent news articles that show the moral bankruptcy of political elites as they preside over climate breakdown, pretending everything is under control. The science is not ambiguous. The betrayal is not accidental. History will not ask whether they were “well intentioned.” It will ask why they refused to act. Thanks to the volunteers at Rev21 for sending me news and science articles for the piece. You can join our science project at the new [4 Billion Dead Launch talk](https://4billiondead.org/action-network-launch-form/?ref=rogerhallam.com). --- [🟢 The Green Party Must Reject an Alliance with Labour Over Palestine ActionWhen a governing political party labels protesters as “terrorists” and defies the courts, a red line is crossed from upholding public order to a fascist repression of dissent.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/icon/roger-square-icon-2.png)Roger HallamRoger Hallam![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/thumbnail/WhatsApp-greens-for-palestine-1024x768.jpg)](https://rogerhallam.com/the-green-party-must-reject-an-alliance-with-labour-over-palestine-action/) Politics without principle is just branding. I argued that the Green Party faces a defining test: will it trade moral clarity for proximity to power? If progressive parties cannot draw a line over complicity in injustice, then they become part of the system they claim to challenge. --- [🎤 Who Will Lead the Future? Planet CriticalA provocative clash of climate activism and philosophy: I argue that strategic non‑violence beats brute force—while questioning power, authority, and the very nature of self.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/icon/roger-square-icon-3.png)Roger HallamRoger Hallam![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/thumbnail/roger-planet-critical.png)](https://rogerhallam.com/who-will-lead-the-future-planet-critical/) In my podcast conversation with *Planet Critical*, we asked the deeper questions on violence vs nonviolence, and I was thoroughly challenged on organising ideas. The article above is a condensed and tightened transcript, or you can listen wherever you get your podcasts. --- [📕 Civilisation’s Suicide: Out Now + Upcoming EventsWritten from prison, this book exposes how the law is used to silence climate truth while society drifts toward collapse.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/icon/roger-square-icon-4.png)Roger HallamRoger Hallam![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/thumbnail/Screenshot-2026-01-29-141805-1.png)](https://rogerhallam.com/suicide-out-today/) The new book is out. *Suicide* explores civil disobedience, prison, the law, and the moral duty to resist systems driving mass death. It’s both a political argument and a personal reckoning. We had a book launch event in Bristol and online. Thank you all for coming and ordering the book. We've sold roughly 300 so far and it really helps to fund our Rev21 work. More books coming soon! If you're a book geek like me, you can get involved in the Hard Rain Books team by coming to a [Rev21 Welcome Session](https://rev21.earth/events/?ref=rogerhallam.com). ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2026/03/bookhaus-crowd.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2026/03/books-stand.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2026/03/roger-reading-standing-close-up.jpg) ## What We Achieved This Month (Because of You) This month was significant. - *Suicide* launched successfully, selling 300 copies and distributing 100 more free copies to allies and those who couldn't afford it. - Our volunteer, Alberto, translated my book, [50 Articles the Media Wouldn't Publish, into Italian](https://rev21.earth/product/50-articoli-troppo-scomodi-per-i-media/?ref=rogerhallam.com) and sent out a dozen copies to rebels from Venice to Rome. - My writing had 100,000s of views on social media thanks to my team and our organising platform. - 100+ new subscribers joined from across Europe and beyond. - We started inviting speakers for the next Rev21 Online Festival. None of this happens without you. Subscriber and donor support goes directly into: - Printing and distributing books - Translation projects - Event logistics - Infrastructure for democratic organising - Building the media capacity to challenge mainstream narratives And when you contribute, you are not donating to just my personal commentary — you are investing in a revolutionary strategy. If you’d like to step further in, we’re inviting new supporters to join us this month. As a thank you, supporters will receive either my ebooks and/or a **Hard Rain Books bundle** delivered to your door. [Upgrade your Support](#/portal/account/plans) --- Collapse is accelerating. Political systems are morally compromised. Incrementalism has failed. So the question is no longer *whether* change is coming. The question is whether we organise it — or suffer it. If you’ve been reading quietly, now is the time to step forward. History does not wait. — Roger and Robin [Join an Event](https://rev21.earth/events/?ref=rogerhallam.com) ### 🗡️ Treason at the End of the World URL: https://rogerhallam.com/treason-at-the-end-of-the-world/ Last updated: 2026-02-23T07:13:59.000Z There are certain words polite society forbids. Genocide. Collapse. Treason. Say them, and you are hysterical. Extreme. Nuts. But there comes a point in the life of a civilisation when refusing to use the correct word becomes the real extremism. We are living through the greatest act of intergenerational violence in human history. The evidence is no longer scattered across obscure journals. It is in mainstream newspapers. Intelligence briefings. Government admissions. The question is no longer whether the crisis is real. The question is whether we are prepared to describe what is happening with moral clarity. Let me lay out the key pieces from the last month of news. --- ## 1\. The Line Where the Body Dies Here is the fundamental fact. There is a cut-off point where the human body dies in around six hours. The Wet Bulb Effect. When heat and humidity combine so that sweat no longer cools you, your organs fail. When people die, they do not come back. Unlike being ill. [Extreme heat lab: enduring the climate of the futureGraham Readfearn enters a simulation to investigate how heatwaves affect the human body![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/icon/apple-touch-icon-512-5.png)The GuardianGraham Readfearn![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/thumbnail/1000.jpg)](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/ng-interactive/2026/feb/19/extreme-heat-lab-enduring-the-climate-of-the-future?ref=rogerhallam.com) The Guardian recently ran an interactive feature putting journalists inside an extreme heat lab to simulate the climate of the near future. It is not abstract. It is dizziness, nausea, confusion, and collapse. This is not about polar bears. It is about basic mammal biology. We are moving towards a threshold beyond which large regions of the Earth become intermittently uninhabitable. And we are doing so knowingly. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2026/02/image-1.png) Nona Faustine**. From Her Body Sprang a River*. On the old slave block at Water Street, where bodies were once priced and sold, a naked Black woman stands at dawn — unseen by passing cars. Then as now, the body is the site of truth. --- ## 2\. When Slow Violence Becomes Murder ![Image](https://images.openai.com/static-rsc-3/z_0Ms6PsfTaYTH7MTpsWJnkdZU7fbcX2XQ672gamY8BVjUk_cRL0w2V19I7uyX3FKl-NlZ1qhxFHWJIU2TGcPxvoxqbdtmUKlkcMh1EdOKc?purpose=fullsize&v=1) Another Guardian article calls for suicides linked to domestic abuse to be treated as potential homicides. [Calls grow for suicides linked to domestic abuse to be treated as potential homicidesPoliticians and experts say police should be better trained and move away from ‘tickbox approach’ to suicides![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/icon/apple-touch-icon-512-6.png)The GuardianHannah Al-Othman![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/thumbnail/5346.jpg)](https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/feb/18/calls-grow-suicides-linked-domestic-abuse-treated-potential-homicides?ref=rogerhallam.com) In the past, if a man killed his partner directly, that was murder. If he abused her for years and she eventually killed herself, it was considered indirect. It did not count. Now, rightly, we understand that accumulated harm can be lethal. Slow violence can be murderous. The pattern counts. We congratulate ourselves on moral progress. But here is the implication. When you eat meat every day and fly because you can, you contribute to emissions. Those emissions accumulate. They intensify heatwaves, floods, crop failures. They kill. The catastrophic climate event is the “suicide”. The emissions are the abuse. The accumulation of harm is just as real as the single act. You laugh. No one is going to court for eating steak or taking a flight. Perhaps not. The global north may ignore the deaths of brown and black people in the south. But what about our own children? They will grow up. Partner abuse. Child abuse. If you keep spitting in the wind, it comes back in your face. --- ## 3\. One Death Is a Tragedy What was it Stalin supposedly said? > "One death is a tragedy, a million is a statistic.” Which brings us to modelling. An AI study reported in The Conversation suggests climate change could expose 1.1 billion people to hunger by 2100\. There is “good news too”. [Climate change could expose 1.1 billion people to hunger by 2100 (but there’s good news too) – AI modelling studyWithout rapid cuts to fossil fuels and a shift to clean energy, climate change could drive over a billion into hunger by 2100, hitting Africa hard.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/icon/web-app-logo-192x192-2d05bdd6de6328146de80245d4685946.png)The ConversationGiovanni Strona![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/thumbnail/file-20260209-64-o5ex3z.jpg)](https://theconversation.com/climate-change-could-expose-1-1-billion-people-to-hunger-by-2100-but-theres-good-news-too-ai-modelling-study-274478?ref=rogerhallam.com) One point one billion. The language of exposure, scenario ranges and adaptive capacity has an antiseptic quality. It turns suffering into curves. This is not an attack on scientists. It is an observation about civilisation. When numbers get large enough, morality dissolves. One death is a tragedy. A billion is a projection. And projections do not make us weep. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2026/02/image-2.png) Albrecht Dürer — **Melencolia I* (1514). A brooding, tedious genius surrounded by instruments — knowledge that does not save the world. --- ## 4\. “Daunting but Doable” The European Climate Advisory Board warns of 3°C global heating and describes the situation as “daunting but doable”. [‘Daunting but doable’: Europe urged to prepare for 3C of global heatingAdvisory board member says adapting is ‘not rocket science’ but Europe already paying price for lack of preparation![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/icon/apple-touch-icon-512-7.png)The GuardianAjit Niranjan![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/thumbnail/2868.jpg)](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/feb/16/europe-climate-advisory-board-3c-global-heating?ref=rogerhallam.com) Three degrees is not a tricky policy challenge. It is lethal heat across large parts of the tropics. It is collapsing food systems. It is geopolitical instability. It is mass displacement. Yet the tone remains managerial. Daunting but doable. Not only is this generation engaged in the greatest act of vandalism ever inflicted upon the lives of our children, it reassures itself with bureaucratic calm. Psychosis drenched in obscenity. ![Image](https://www.sciencespo.fr/chair-sustainable-development/static/574f9e6a566d547b5efa711a16a43cf5/131f1/Aishwaryaphoto_shutterstock_1577959384_900x600_5f689b9cfa.webp) --- ## 5\. Ice Does Not Negotiate Consider Antarctica. The Antarctic Ice Sheet contains enough ice to raise global sea levels by over 58 metres. [Research from the Potsdam Climate Institute](https://www.pik-potsdam.de/en/news/latest-news/new-study-identifies-sequence-of-critical-thresholds-for-antarctic-ice-basins?ref=rogerhallam.com) shows it is not a single tipping element but interacting basins with distinct thresholds. Around 40 percent of West Antarctic ice may already be committed to long-term loss. Parts of East Antarctica are vulnerable at 2–3°C. This is where the comforting idea of the “model” meets physics. Once ice shelves collapse and grounding lines retreat, parliamentary debates are irrelevant. But the real issue is not climate per se. It is power. Who delays action? Who profits from delay? Who pays the price? Ice is physics. Delay is politics. ![](https://s.abcnews.com/images/International/antarctica-ice-shelf-file-gty-jef-200913_1600025900086_hpMain.jpg) --- ## 6\. TREASON – Case One In January, Ireland’s environment minister Darragh O’Brien admitted the country will miss its 2030 climate targets by half. [Environmental breakdown isn’t a distant possibility – it’s a threat to world stabilityThe message is clear: climate change should be prioritised as a security crisis, not just an environmental one![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/icon/favicon-1.ico)The Irish TimesElla McSweeney![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/thumbnail/T7KPJ6MUK76M2RQKGTM3CJMCME.jpg)](https://www.irishtimes.com/environment/2026/02/07/environmental-breakdown-isnt-a-distant-possibility-its-a-threat-to-world-stability/?ref=rogerhallam.com) Isn’t this treason? In 2026, people will say calling it treason is nuts. In 2036, won’t people say it was nuts that anyone failed to call it treason? If you knowingly endanger the stability of your state, the safety of your citizens, the viability of your agriculture and water systems, what word applies? We are watching governments publicly concede failure in the face of existential threat. And it is treated as normal. --- ## 7\. TREASON – Case Two The UK’s Joint Intelligence Committee warns biodiversity collapse could begin “by 2030 or sooner”, threatening national security, food systems and public health. Yet only a partial version of the assessment is published. [Biodiversity collapse threatens UK security, intelligence chiefs warnEcosystem destruction will increase food shortages, disorder and mass migration, with effects already being felt![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/icon/apple-touch-icon-512-8.png)The GuardianFiona Harvey![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/thumbnail/2915.jpg)](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/jan/20/biodiversity-collapse-threatens-uk-security-intelligence-chiefs-warn?ref=rogerhallam.com) Ecosystem collapse threatens the state itself. And the public receives a sanitised fragment. Again, what do we call that? If the greatest threat to national security in modern history is managed through partial disclosure, is that prudence? Or is it betrayal? --- ## 8\. Liberal Media and the Hellish Earth The Guardian reports on a “hellish hothouse Earth”. [Point of no return: a hellish ‘hothouse Earth’ getting closer, scientists sayContinued global heating could set irreversible course by triggering climate tipping points, but most people unaware![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/icon/apple-touch-icon-512-9.png)The GuardianDamian Carrington![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/thumbnail/2500.jpg)](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/feb/11/point-of-no-return-hothouse-earth-global-heating-climate-tipping-points?ref=rogerhallam.com) What does “hellish” mean? In the appendix of Professor Tim Lenton’s work, 2°C implies perhaps two billion deaths over coming decades. Yet the article sits between lifestyle pieces and football coverage. Most people are “unaware”. If liberal media truly wanted awareness, it could create it. But that would require risking finances, status and privilege. And that, it seems, would not do. Some things never change. --- ## Conclusion: Two Universes A few things are now certain. “It” is going to happen. Largely because those in power do not want you to grasp what is going to happen. When it does, there will be two divergent paths. In one universe, hatred of the self and of life doubles down. Fear becomes authoritarianism. Collapse becomes extinction. In the other, love of the self and of life creates rupture. Redemption. Forgiveness. Nonviolent revolution. If you ask which path it will be, you are asking the wrong question. The only question is how you want to live your life at the end of the world. Will you collaborate in slow violence? Or will you refuse? Love has no aim other than itself. And that, in the end, is the only politics that matters. --- ## **4 Billion Dead Launch** For 30 years, world leaders have failed to tell the truth and solve the existential climate crisis. We now know that 4 billion people are at risk of being killed. Across the West, the far right is surging. There’s a general sense that nothing can be done. The question is not whether things will change; the question is who will shape the change when it arrives. Whoever is most prepared will win. And preparation calls for understanding the truth about climate breakdown. Who wins will have a massive impact on whether billions die. We are a group of citizens who decided to take the arch of history and hand it over to ordinary people, who, guided by iteratively improving the science on the existential climate crisis, will determine the direction of the future, and the destiny of billions of people on the planet. This is a battle between forces of death, forces that seek to destroy our planet at the altar of greed, and forces of life, who will go to any nonviolent lengths, to preserve life. **Join me, Prof Bill McGuire and organiser Zain Haq on March 7th to be a part of this new chapter in history.** [Join the Launch Call](https://4billiondead.org/action-network-launch-form/?ref=rogerhallam.com) --- ## Suicide Book Launch Thank you to everyone who came to Bookhaus in Bristol for my book launch. If you couldn't make it, the tour continues [online and in London](https://rev21.earth/events/?ref=rogerhallam.com) over the next month. Look forward to seeing you there. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2026/02/bookhaus-crowd.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2026/02/books-stand.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2026/02/roger-reading-standing-close-up-1.jpg) [Sign up to join the book tour](https://rev21.earth/events/?ref=rogerhallam.com) My main message of the event was this: Hobbes would be turning in his grave. Yes, the state may repress those who threaten public order — but there is one exception: when those who run the state themselves become an existential threat to public order through the destruction of the biosphere. Remember a certain trial after 1945\. If you want to understand that argument in full, read the new book [*Suicide*](https://rev21.earth/product/suicide/?ref=rogerhallam.com). ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2026/02/ROGER-HALLAM_SUICIDE_ADVERTS-03.png) [Order Suicide](https://rev21.earth/product/suicide/?ref=rogerhallam.com) If you're a paid member of this blog, you can download the ebook below. If you a super donor of 20 a month, my team will send you all my books and the new ones as they come out. I hope you like it, and let me know your thoughts. [Upgrade your support](#/portal/account/plans) _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 🟢 The Green Party Must Reject an Alliance with Labour Over Palestine Action URL: https://rogerhallam.com/the-green-party-must-reject-an-alliance-with-labour-over-palestine-action/ Last updated: 2026-02-16T10:43:00.000Z What is most appalling about the Labour Party’s enactment of state violence against members of Palestine Action is not that they proscribed it as a “terrorist organisation”. Excessive power makes people stupid, and their decision was obviously, ridiculously stupid. Nor was it the government’s refusal to back down when this stupidity was brilliantly exposed by the civil disobedience campaign of holding placards in support of the protesters. Power is also proud. It cannot lose face. No, what is most appalling is that, once the court ruled the proscription was illegal, the Home Secretary immediately announced they would appeal the judgement. In other words, they are not just stupid. They are evil. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2026/02/image.png) Find out more at [https://defendourjuries.net/](https://defendourjuries.net/?ref=rogerhallam.com) The two things are quite different. We can all be stupid. We all make mistakes. But when a political organisation running a state is told by the courts that its actions are illegal, and then continues to insist that protesters are terrorists, it shows that this was not a mistake. These people actually believe that protesting is a terrorist act. This is the essence of the fascist position: to label opponents as terrorists in order to justify violence against them — raids, arrests, imprisonment. If any member of the Labour Party does not resign over this exposure of what their politicians have now shown themselves to be, then they themselves are complicit in this strategy. Because this is massively serious. You either protect a free society or you lose it. You either believe in proportionality or you believe in the fascist playbook. The difference here is the same as the difference between direct action and terrorism. There is a fundamental chasm between them. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2024/03/roger-zeit-1-1.JPG) ## Join Me In the Revolution of Our Lives Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No nonsense. Change your mind anytime. --- ## No alliance with Labour Which raises a serious question: is the Green Party going to go into alliance with this organisation? Any alliance with Labour has to be ruled out absolutely. Labour is now functioning as a pathological criminal organisation. Keir Starmer lied to become leader. The party broke its own rules to expel tens of thousands of members on trumped-up charges. Its culture is rooted in a top-down, oligarchic and factional structure that suppresses dissent and consolidates control. Organisational research consistently shows that century-old institutions do not fundamentally reform themselves. They protect their internal power arrangements. They double down. They expel critics. They bureaucratise dissent. They become more rigid over time, not less. Labour is not drifting accidentally into authoritarianism. Its internal structure predisposes it towards it. If the Green Party enters into alliance with Labour, it will be dragged into the cesspit of neo-liberal appeasement of the corporate class. That is how institutional gravity works. Smaller parties do not transform larger oligarchic machines. They get absorbed, neutralised, or compromised by them. And history is instructive. In Germany, the long-term accommodation of social democracy and the Greens within a constrained neoliberal framework created the political vacuum in which the AfD surged to over 30 per cent in parts of the country. When progressive parties manage decline instead of confronting power, the far right feeds on the disillusionment. If the Greens blur the moral line here, they will not weaken Reform. They will strengthen it. This is the red line for any real progressive politics. If you stand for proportionality, for civil liberties, for the right to dissent without being labelled a terrorist, then you do not ally with those who criminalise protest. There is no grey zone here. It is a red line. --- Hobbes would be turning in his grave. Yes, the state may repress those who threaten public order — but there is one exception: when those who run the state themselves become an existential threat to public order through the destruction of the biosphere. Remember a certain trial after 1945\. If you want to understand that argument in full, read my new book [*Suicide*](https://rev21.earth/product/suicide/?ref=rogerhallam.com). ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2026/02/ROGER-HALLAM_SUICIDE_ADVERTS-03.png) [Order Suicide](https://rev21.earth/product/suicide/?ref=rogerhallam.com) The book tour kicks off in Bookhaus, Bristol, on the 17th and continues online and in London over the next month. [Sign up to join](https://rev21.earth/events/?ref=rogerhallam.com). If you're a paid member of this blog, you can download the ebook below. I hope you like it, and let me know your thoughts. _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 🎤 Who Will Lead the Future? Planet Critical URL: https://rogerhallam.com/who-will-lead-the-future-planet-critical/ Last updated: 2026-02-13T11:41:44.000Z On this episode of Planet Critical, we discuss my theory of change, commitment to non-violence, and how to spark mass mobilisation. We frequently disagree, but have a detailed back-and-forth about these things. Enjoy on [Rachel's site](https://www.planetcritical.com/roger-hallam/?ref=rogerhallam.com), wherever you get your podcasts, or as a condensed and tidy transcript below. [Who Will Lead the Future? | Roger HallamExtinction Rebellion co-founder Roger Hallam on how to seize power, the merits of non-violence, and why he believes we need a universal theory of change.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/icon/Planet-Crit_Iconmark_RGB_Full-color.png)Planet: CriticalRachel Donald![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/thumbnail/Ghost-image--1200-x-628-px---10-.png)](https://www.planetcritical.com/roger-hallam/?ref=rogerhallam.com) **Rachel:** Welcome to *Planet Critical*. It’s a pleasure to have you on the show. **Roger:** Thank you. **Rachel:** I’ve given you a big, long introduction for listeners who might not know who you are—our subscribers are from 186 countries around the world—so I’ll skip ahead a bit and bring us up to where you are now, recently out of prison, after what I think is a fair term to use: politically imprisoned. Since coming out, you’ve been writing about how you’re transitioning away from these campaigns of civil disobedience toward strategies of mobilisation and building a mass movement. Why the transition? **Roger:** There’s a certain practicality to it. I got a five‑year sentence, which was then reduced to four years, meaning I’m on licence for another two years or so. If I promote civil disobedience—or engage in it—I’ll go back to prison, so on balance that’s not a good use of my time. The broader point is that, without sounding too dramatic, there’s a major shift in the climate‑left spaces toward a meta‑strategy—a big‑picture idea of creating social alliances in response to the rise of the far right. Everyone on the progressive left knows—or should know—that when the far right gets to power, they’ll do whatever it takes to implement far‑right policies, including scrapping the meagre climate action that exists today. Everyone has their own issues and orientations, but everyone can come together because, regardless of values, those issues will disappear or be heavily challenged if the far right wins. I think we’ve moved out of what I’d call the neoliberal period, where people ran separate campaigns with weak ecological ties, toward a more mature political strategy where everyone works together on the two main issues: the far right and the power of the rich. Those two are obviously connected. That strategy has two parts: an insider strategy and an outsider strategy—the optimal combination historically for changing regimes or resisting the far right. In other words, you run in elections, you build mutual‑aid systems, you build street movements, and bringing those forces together maximises the probability of success, rather than pursuing any one of them alone. **Rachel:** So climate is no longer the umbrella? It’s now these two prongs—combating the right directly and targeting wealth inequality? **Roger:** Many people think “wealth inequality” is a term constructed in the neoliberal period and highly politicised—something that becomes a technical, partial phenomenon open to reform. Those subliminal messages, every time you say “climate,” reinforce a particular view of political and social reality. The issue isn’t about climate per se; it’s about power relations in society. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2026/01/roger-in-market-1.png) In the Brixton Market. Photograph: **Claudia Gschwend* When we set up Extinction Rebellion, we came from a non‑violent revolutionary background and wanted systemic change. Climate was one of several options and strategies. I argued that climate would be the battering ram—the word I used to force the unsustainability of the system politically, morally, and materially into the public sphere. That was the original idea of XR. But once we set up XR, many liberals moved into it, and it started to revert its framing back to climate as a partial issue open to reform, which was never the plan. **Rachel:** Right, so the idea has always been systems change. With this strategic move toward mass mobilisation, we still need an entire systems change. I’m interested in the more traditional path—building political momentum, standing in elections, accessing the halls of power. How much can a system be changed from within? Once we’re in power, how restrictive will the opportunities be? Isn’t it true that we only ever see reform from within the halls of power, not revolution? ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2026/02/roger-organsing-in-brixton.png) Organising in Brixton **Roger:** The main themes I’ll probably return to several times in this interview are that, in order to effectively change reality, we need to understand how reality works. So you have to step back and think about how we conceive political reality. Most people on the left are operating within a frame that was established during the Enlightenment—without getting too academic about it—but the buzzwords that float around are *reductive*, *linear*, *materialist*. What that basically means is that you view the world like a set of billiard balls: an election hits the election result, which hits getting into government, and then you hit a wall and can’t go any further. That’s simply not how it works. As you know, we sort of understand this, yet we still revert to those bad habits of analysing why things worked the way they did. In reality **everything affects everything all the time**, which is quite difficult to operationalise. It’s a bit of a head‑fuck, conceptually. From an operational point of view, there are several “zones of outcomes” for actions, so you can’t reduce reality to a single concrete pathway. What I mean is that when you engage in an election, you’re not just trying to win the vote. You’re also learning how to build a culture that can be used in different spheres of social activity—that’s one area. Another area is that you’re animating the social space: people get excited because there’s a radical option, like Zack Polanski’s at the moment. I’d call that **social fluidity**—people aren’t completely cynical; they have a bit of hope, and hope brings openness. Then you have a baseline, a kind of social material, that can be developed into mutual‑aid networks and street movements. We have three “buckets.” The strategy, therefore, is to **use the election to animate the social space**, creating an inside‑outsider track rather than a reductive construction like “we’ll win thirty seats in the local election and then do A, B, C.” An election is still an election, with its own rationality, pros, and cons, as we all know. The point is that we need to be sophisticated about the meta‑aim: to animate and then shape the social space progressively through a series of iterations. We mustn’t treat this as a static system. It’s not one thing banging into another while everything else stays the same. Everything is always changing and being reproduced, moment by moment. So my strategy is: we plan to do X, then Y, then Z, constantly iterating. --- **Rachel:** Okay, but I’m hearing a few contradictions. You say things can’t be reduced, yet you also outline a chain—A leads to B leads to C—to animate the social space. That’s hugely important, and I agree that finding a collective common ground to build a political movement on is vital. However, I don’t think you’re taking into account the existing power dynamics that have consistently prevented, subverted, or co‑opted grassroots campaigns. A good example is **Podemos in Spain** (2016). They won a minority and forced a coalition government, creating a moment that felt like a “pink tide” for Europe. Yet they quickly discovered how little you can achieve in government because of the interrelation of global financial systems, supply chains, trade rules, and EU membership. It’s actually quite hard to get things done, even if you can dramatically animate the social space—as Extinction Rebellion did, despite mixed public opinion. That doesn’t necessarily translate into material change. Today, those in power—who hoard wealth—are willing to blatantly break international law and constitutional norms to protect their interests. We’re in a different historical moment, and that worries me. We can do a lot on the ground, but it may not translate into systemic change because the powerful have so much to lose and are unwilling to give any of it up. --- **Roger:** There’s a balance between general principles and contextual analysis. On the left there’s a tendency to think in static terms—“if you do this, it won’t work”—but there’s never a universal “it won’t work.” It only fails in a particular time and space. Your analysis is historical; everything that is happening is technically in the past. So, when you talk about iterative design, a key understanding is that **failure is part of the process toward success**. You have to go through cycles of failure to build knowledge, culture, and resilience. The real issue is *how* to fail in the best way rather than how to succeed. If you idealise success, you might do nothing because you think you won’t win. That’s the privileged viewpoint: “that won’t work because of A, B, C.” My reply is: what’s your plan? Any grounded strategy has to opt for the **least‑worst option**. There isn’t an “escape” from a privileged position; that’s a left‑defeatist narrative common in Western university culture—the notion of pure critique (“Oh, that won’t work”). Of course it won’t work perfectly, but it works better than all the other options. Sitting in a university writing papers is not a viable strategy. --- **Rachel:** But… why? Why do you think it will work better than the alternatives? **Roger:** Based on contextual analysis, first of all, and secondly, I’ve been in the game. **Rachel:** What does “data‑based contextual analysis” mean? **Roger:** It means that if we do X, then Y will happen in this context because it’s happened recently in the past. We’re constantly building up data on what can happen if we do A, B, C, so we can replicate successful patterns. Take **Extinction Rebellion (XR)** as an example. XR was a relative failure for the sake of argument, but it had elements that were really good. When we developed Just Stop Oil, we iterated on those elements—adding a proper leadership structure, which is essential in most contexts. Because that worked, we built a model that was good enough to launch the largest climate‑movement‑style actions in Italy, France, Germany, and Spain within twelve months. It’s not purely probabilistic, but if you develop a model that substantially works, you can replicate it—at least across the Western world. Right now we’re trying to make that concrete: **How can you use elections to win elections?** By doing A, B, C you’ll win those elections, and you’ll also create concrete pathways to enhance mutual‑aid systems and street‑movement infrastructure. For instance, I ran a stall on Saturday, got thirty people to join a WhatsApp group, three of whom turned up to a meeting, and two are now going to do door‑knocking or run a stall. I can mathematically work out the return on investment for a stall done a certain way. I spend a lot of time training people in **micro‑designs**—the key determinant of whether an iteration yields higher returns (i.e., more people get involved). It’s a challenging way of looking at things because many progressive leftists don’t view the world like this. **Rachel:** No, it’s not difficult to understand. I just disagree with you. I also think you contradict yourself: earlier you said things aren’t static, that movements are always evolving, yet you claim that if we do A, B, C we’ll win an election—fundamentally reductive. Five minutes ago you said models are wrong but sometimes helpful; models are not predictive. How do you reconcile that? Your original theory of change referenced **Erica Chenoweth’s** work on non‑violent resistance, suggesting that a small percentage (around 5 %) of the public needs to join a movement to create a tipping point. How has that held up? What have you learned from the climate movement that shows a mathematical, probabilistic approach is the best way forward? You also said **Just Stop Oil** was “better” than Extinction Rebellion, which feels more qualitative than quantitative. While many chapters were started, public sentiment toward Just Stop Oil was more negative than toward XR (and the Palestine actions). I’m not blaming activists—the governments have responded harshly and jailed many unfairly. So I’m wondering: **What do you define as “success,” and how do you measure it in your models?** How does that confidence translate into the design approach you want to take moving forward? ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2026/02/a22-network.png) The A22 Network. **Roger:** Well, as I said, the first thing to note is that you’re always designing—whether you decide to design or not. Everyone makes a decision about how to act, and in that sense you are always designing. So the question becomes **how** you design. Design has an intuitive element, but there’s also an empirical, analytical, data‑driven side that helps—though it’s certainly not the only game in town. You’re right that a ratio (or model) is only as useful as long as the opposition doesn’t change their game. So, not being ultra‑reductive, but admittedly reductive because we all need to simplify reality to understand it, I’ll say this: It’s important to look at **what you do** and **what the returns** are. Put it in mathematical terms: if you run a stall in a certain way (A, B, C), you might get five sign‑ups an hour rather than two. That lets you create training modules—teach people that “if you do X, Y, Z you’ll get this outcome.” After you’ve tried ten or twelve different designs, you’ll be able to win an election in that particular space and time, obviously. That’s far more useful than not knowing how to act at all or acting in a way that simply doesn’t work in that context. So, first: **things are always changing**—I totally accept that. Second: when I say something “works,” I don’t mean it necessarily changes the system in an ultimate sense. You’re right that **Just Stop Oil** was highly effective as an organisation and a mobilising force relative to XR, but it didn’t bring about a revolution; it failed to win over the public, and the government was able to crush it. I’m reasonably relaxed about that because, at a macro level, the game is: you do something, it fails, you try again, it fails less badly, and on the fourth iteration—especially given the system’s structural degeneration—you might have a fifty‑fifty chance of a pro‑social revolution in the next ten years. That requires fifteen years of preparation, cultural memory, and organisational continuity. Lack of memory is a huge problem because people simply don’t know what to do. For us, messing around during local elections isn’t “messing around” at all; it’s part of a **decade‑long meta‑project** to work out how to transfer knowledge and ways of working—both internally and externally—so that when ruptures occur we can maximise the probability of scaling pro‑social forms rather than fascist ones. That’s the competition. If you look at **solidarity in the Polish resistance (1956‑1981)**, you see a pattern: they failed, then succeeded in 1981, failed again, and finally won properly in 1989\. That’s the wave‑like history of radical politics—cycles of failure and resurgence. --- **Rachel:** The reason I’m pushing you on this is that in one of your recent newsletters you wrote, *“little projects with twenty people are useful, good, even beautiful, but they won’t stop fascism or meet the scale of what’s coming.”* I was surprised because that sounds like you’re mandating one approach over another, which seems to remove agency from people, especially in rural areas. Perhaps those local projects are precisely what can build common ground, teach neighbours, and develop a collective political consciousness that feeds into a national super‑structure. My theory of change is that if **everywhere** had a small project with community workers, that could be the thing that stops fascism, rather than relying on a mainstream electoral party. --- **Roger:** The nuance I’m trying to convey is that the binary—lots of tiny groups **or** one big group—is a false choice. What matters is **the relationships between groups** and how those relationships evolve over time. Think of it as a **close ecology** versus a **loose ecology**. - In a **close ecology**, the flows of power, information, inspiration, and resources are intense. - In a **loose ecology**, groups are isolated nodes that can be picked off by hostile forces. Mass movements are necessary, but they shouldn’t be solid, Leninist‑style nodes. Instead, the mass movement must be built **internally** with a close‑ecology model. Many people haven’t heard that term because they default to a nineteenth‑century objectivist binary of “center vs. grassroots.” The real issue is the **nature of the relationships** and the **flows** among them. *Example:* Neoliberal networking = meet once a month, share who you are, what you’re doing, why it’s “cool,” then disperse. *Close‑ecology networking* \= meet monthly, discuss what each group is doing, coordinate on funding, publicity, training, social events, etc. You create **sub‑buckets** where everyone coordinates. That moves beyond the binary. So it’s not “small groups vs. big group”; it’s a **network**—a closed network where sovereignty resides in the **coordination culture**, not in individual nodes. That requires bureaucratic skills **and** cultural change: learning to trust each other, not sweating the small stuff, and adopting a “good‑enough‑to‑go” mindset. XR developed many of these practices so people don’t become dogmatic. My tentative model for the UK: quarterly gatherings of everyone on the progressive left, with speakers, skill‑workshops, and at least half the agenda devoted to networking. For instance, a Sheffield event that brings together all local groups, then funnels energy into mutual aid, street movements, elections, etc.—essentially the pre‑1989 structure before the neoliberal period. While many historic structures were hierarchical and patriarchal, we don’t want to revert to that. The sweet spot for the 21st‑century left is **individual identity retained, but everyone works closely together**. If you want an example of a successful close‑ecology, look at **Mondragon**—a cooperative economic model that could inspire a political analogue. The political sphere must fuse with the social sphere, and that’s what we’re aiming for. --- **Rachel:** So projects should not be isolated from the surrounding action; otherwise they become vulnerable. I completely agree. **Roger:** Exactly, and that needs to be **concretised**. Everyone talks about “building close ecologies,” but we need people **in the field** to actually create spaces where those ecologies can form, and to cultivate cultures of trust across nodes. That often means **sharing identity and power** across groups—something that clashes with the neoliberal legacy, which glorifies ego‑centric self‑interest (“I work hard, I succeed”). Many legacy organisations won’t make that transition, and that’s not a criticism for its own sake; it’s an observation. We’ll likely need **new organisations** that embody these principles in most contexts. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2026/02/ROGER-HALLAM_SUICIDE_ADVERTS-01.png) **Rachel:** Okay. I have to say I’m a bit suspicious of anything that claims to want to build cultures for other people. I want to move away from mass movements and get onto non‑violence, which I’ve been looking forward to discussing with you. You preach strict adherence to non‑violence and often cite Gandhi and MLK as emblematic success stories. In one of your recent newsletters you quoted Gandhi’s 1938 open letter to the Jews of Germany, where he suggested that their “voluntary suffering” could transform the Holocaust into a day of thanksgiving and blamed the Jews’ “inability to master non‑violence” for the massacre. You also wrote that Palestinian activism should abandon sabotage and adopt a concrete non‑violent strategy, saying that such a victory would matter beyond Britain and could show the world that civil resistance offers a way out of endless war. That stopped me in my tracks. It feels extraordinary for someone speaking from the comfort of Britain to tell Palestinians how they should fight for their lives. Can you walk me through what you were thinking with a statement like that? **Roger:** Obviously you have to be quite brave to speak the truth. Speaking truth on various levels can get you killed or ostracised. I don’t say these things casually; I say them because, on balance, I’ll only be alive for another fifteen or twenty years at most, and I want to stay true to what I think I am—not a material being, but part of a universal consciousness. If I wanted a quiet life, I’d lie. **Rachel:** All right, let’s attack that assumption—that it’s the truth. You say you’re doing it because it’s true and because some people have to be brave. The Palestinians have practised non‑violence; the recent “Great March of Return” saw thousands marching at the fence, with 218 people shot dead. It did nothing to help their cause; they were literally slaughtered. **Roger:** Before I answer your question I need to finish explaining how I approach the situation, otherwise you and others will “do me in.” I need to say something first. **Rachel:** Why? What do you mean “do me in”? **Roger:** You’re making a moral criticism, accusing me implicitly of being privileged and therefore not knowing what’s best for Palestinians. Yes, I am privileged, but that doesn’t mean I can’t say things that are true, even if many Palestinians won’t agree with them. **Rachel:** But just because something is true for you doesn’t make it objectively true. **Roger:** I’ll come back to that in a minute. First, if we’re having a social‑scientific discussion we need to identify a prejudice embedded in patriarchal culture: killing another is acceptable, but allowing yourself to be killed is taboo. For example, an armed rebellion that kills two thousand people to overthrow a regime is often seen as “fair enough” because our culture accepts lethal sacrifice for a good cause. By contrast, if people sit on a road and 500 are shot, many view that as problematic, even if it achieves the same outcome. The prejudice is that “turning the other cheek” is aesthetically troubling, even though from a purely instrumental standpoint it’s just another death. If we treat all deaths as equal, the calculus changes. We can agree that the cultural bias exists. You have two options: violent resistance that causes a thousand deaths, or non‑violent resistance that results in five hundred deaths but still works. You’d pick the lower‑death option, right? **Rachel:** You’re pulling numbers out of thin air. **Roger:** The point is that when you suggest people should die through non‑violence, people deem it problematic, whereas they don’t find it intrinsically problematic for the opposition to kill many in order to achieve their aims. That’s our cultural default, rooted in patriarchy: it’s okay to kill for a cause, but not okay to die for a cause. I’m arguing that the latter judgment is not inevitable. **Rachel:** It’s an interesting point, and I recall reading it in one of your pieces. But I think the binary you present isn’t the whole story; there are many examples that complicate it. **Roger:** It’s just a preamble. If we can agree on the cultural bias, we have a level playing field. Otherwise the debate collapses because each side just says, “I don’t like your method intrinsically.” That’s why the argument feels unwinnable for non‑violent advocates. **Rachel:** Sure. **Roger:** So if we accept the premise, we can move to the social‑science side. **Rachel:** Hold on. Before we get into the social‑science, let me point out that there’s a global culture of self‑defence. Women, for instance, constantly practice self‑defence against sexual assault and domestic violence—forms of protection necessitated by patriarchy. It’s not just “men kill men.” Self‑defence strategies are sometimes absolutely necessary for survival, and they’re not confined to a male‑centric worldview. **Roger:** I’ll come back to self‑defence in a minute. It depends on what you’re trying to do. You have an opposition—whether it’s a corporate entity, a state, or part of a regime—and you have two broad strategies: violent and non‑violent. The top‑level analysis, like the work of Erica Chenoweth and others, shows that non‑violence succeeds about 54 % of the time, while violence succeeds roughly 25 % of the time. That’s a static analysis, but it’s the best we have. **Rachel:** Those figures have been challenged; the methodology has been questioned by other social scientists. **Roger:** Everything gets challenged. The question is whether the challenges are substantive. In social science, a 54 % versus 25 % split, especially with a large sample size, is pretty robust. If the methodology were seriously flawed, we’d re‑evaluate, but the overall trend remains. **Rachel:** Sure, but if the methodology is questionable, it’s not a done deal. **Roger:** Agreed—if the data were unreliable, we’d need to reassess. As it stands, the evidence still points to non‑violence being statistically more effective overall. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2026/02/ROGER-HALLAM_SUICIDE_ADVERTS-02.png) **Roger:** You’ve got to develop a better methodology—something the critics haven’t offered. Looking at newspaper reports is “good enough” for many, but that’s misleading. I don’t think anyone is seriously questioning the methodology when there’s a degree of separation from the raw data. If the methodology were fundamentally flawed, that would be fine, but these are top‑tier social scientists. We have to give them credit for doing solid social‑science work. Assuming you believe in empirical investigation, those methods have been refined over several decades and are fairly robust. We don’t question climate science because of methodology—that would be a right‑wing, anti‑science stance. **Rachel:** Social science isn’t the same as climate modelling. Chenoweth, for example, had to create categories for different forms of resistance, which introduces implicit bias. That makes her work different from something we can measure directly, and that’s where the criticism comes from. It’s a straw‑man to say the criticism is merely “right‑wing” when it actually targets methodological issues inherent to social science. **Roger:** Yes. **Rachel:** It’s valid to question the methodology. **Roger:** My argument is that left‑critical culture is intrinsically fascistic because it defaults to violent solutions to human‑relations problems, especially at the state level. That bias, I think, will lead to extinction. We need a fundamentally different way of seeing reality. The “main case” isn’t the 54 % vs. 25 % statistic; it’s that in the 25 % of cases where violence wins, 95 % of those lead to civil war, loss of democracy, or social collapse within five years. A dynamic, long‑term analysis is required. Take Cuba as an example: violence succeeded there, but five years later the country descended into authoritarian conflict. Violence, in itself, is fascistic. The real division for a pro‑social future is between violence and non‑violence—not between left and right. In the 21st century, the division should be between “othering” and “non‑othering.” That’s a philosophical/metaphysical point, but it’s supported by medium‑ to long‑term empirical evidence. People who defend self‑defence and violence typically cherry‑pick examples and rely on static analyses. They ignore medium‑term outcomes. It’s like saying “I hit my wife; it worked,” ignoring that it destroys the relationship. We need to import the widely accepted cultures of non‑violence from interpersonal relations into politics. Politics isn’t fundamentally different from personal interactions. Fifty years ago, male violence against women was socially acceptable; today it’s not, reflecting a sea change in social attitudes. We need a comparable shift in the political sphere. When violent situations arise (e.g., ICE raids), people revert to violence because their reasoning is instrumental, not metaphysical. That leads to cherry‑picking and short‑termism. Instead of saying “don’t hit a woman because it doesn’t work,” we should say “don’t hit a woman because it’s fundamentally wrong.” That’s the language we need when confronting violence. **Rachel:** I agree that cultivating a non‑violent culture is crucial—it can set in motion changes that unfold over decades or centuries. What I’m pushing back against is the claim that non‑violence is the *only* strategy. Let’s look at West Papua. Are you familiar with that situation? **Roger:** A little. **Rachel:** There’s an ongoing genocide in West Papua. After the United States transferred control from the Dutch to Indonesia, Indonesia has imposed mass village loss, forced sterilisation of women, and widespread rape. West Papua is a biodiversity hotspot with massive gold and oil reserves. A guerrilla army of about thirty thousand Papuans is resisting a two‑million‑strong Indonesian military. Despite the disparity, they’ve survived for four‑five decades, employing brutal tactics such as forcing prisoners to dig their own graves and then shooting them. Non‑violence requires a witnessing audience; without international attention, the Papuans have little chance of success. **Roger:** This is the main theme for my upcoming book, *How to Blow Up a Society* (a response to Andreas Malm’s *How to Blow Up a Pipeline*). Guerrilla movements can endure for decades without taking power—think of insurgencies in Iran, India, the Philippines, various African nations. Longevity doesn’t guarantee victory. If you want to win, civil resistance typically succeeds within six to twelve months. Even when it wins, the resulting regime is authoritarian in roughly nineteen out of twenty cases. Metaphysically, if someone doesn’t see you being non‑violent, it still matters because, over infinite time, the universe registers your actions. Good deeds, even unseen, eventually become known and amplify your impact. For me, non‑violence is a spiritual practice—doing it for God, as the old saying goes. Social science shows non‑violence is more effective, but it won’t persuade the most hardened opponents; most people aren’t purely rational. The violent paradigm presents itself as a new religion based on love and acting for the good as an end in itself, arguing that love is instrumentally effective in complex systems. Some argue we need a quantum‑physics‑style politics rather than Newtonian—nothing is ever truly lost; everything affects everything. This resonates with Indigenous wisdom. Our strategy, then, is to focus on *who we are* and *what it means to be*. In an egocentric, materialist worldview, fearing death and honoring the “other” as separate makes harming the other seem permissible. Recognising the other as essentially ourselves removes that justification. Violent people die, but they don’t see death as the issue; they see righteousness and efficacy as the issue. If we act as if the other is ourselves, we protect ourselves collectively. That would be my final statement on this. **Rachel:** The thing is, that’s playing fast and loose with the “we.” First, indigenous wisdoms can’t be lumped into a single philosophy. The head of the freedom‑fighting army I interviewed in the jungle is an indigenous man, a devout Christian, who said his fight is justified because his path is right, just, and good. That belief sustains them against an army that vastly outnumbers them, and they fight not only for their own flesh but for their grandmother, the forest, and all the kin with whom they share land. Because the seat of power is overseas and they can’t leave, there’s no realistic route to winning an election and taking over. This has to be their fight. It bothers me when Western intellectual “isms” try to speak for every lived experience. It’s imperative not to disparage strategies that keep people, communities, and languages alive. Different approaches work in different places. Some people might move toward non‑violence if given the opportunity, but not everyone has that opportunity. The idea that non‑violence alone can overthrow tyranny is problematic. Gandhi is often cited, but India today is not wholly non‑violent. The Partition saw hundreds of thousands of women raped; the caste system persists; industrialisation brought its own exploitation. Non‑violence didn’t produce a fully non‑violent society, and Gandhi’s specific tactics didn’t translate into a systemic shift. **Roger:** Why wasn’t it non‑violent enough? You can argue the opposite, too. **Rachel:** That’s easy, isn’t it? **Roger:** It’s easy to point to a non‑violent act and say “still, things are bad.” That’s where professional social science shines: large‑scale, longitudinal analyses can trace causality. But most people aren’t persuaded by science. In my semi‑professional view, the patterns are clear—a “no‑brainer.” Strong social‑process patterns exist; they’re not random. **Rachel:** So things can be reduced and are static? **Roger:** The patterns are real. **Rachel:** Then aren’t you cherry‑picking? Earlier you argued that nothing is static, everything relational, and now you claim fixed patterns that prove non‑violence always works. **Roger:** Violence gives the highest probability of improving pro‑social dynamics, though it’s probabilistic, not deterministic. Practically, non‑violence works more often than violence—that’s the point. **Rachel:** According to a methodology disputed by other social scientists. **Roger:** It goes with the territory. I’m not interested in excessive post‑modernism; I favor a “dogma of love”: humans are part of a universal consciousness, and our role while alive is to love the other. That’s a simple doctrine I’m happy with. **Rachel:** That sounds very much in the Enlightenment tradition. **Roger:** Post‑modernism is a function of the Enlightenment. Fundamental quantum laws have been shown mathematically, yet I’m also comfortable treating this as an act of faith. Politically, I’m constrained by my day job, but my final volley—non‑violent, of course—is this intuition: Every act of violence carries a non‑trivial risk of escalation that could lead to extinction. As Martin Luther King Jr. said, the choice is non‑violence or non‑existence. Violence is a Russian‑roulette gamble with escalation. In the past, escalation led to revolutions or wars, but not an existential threat. Today, civil war in a major power could make extinction deterministic. We need a complete transformation of how we view ourselves and the other, based on love, God, and non‑violence. If that means someone dies, so be it, but death isn’t the end. Western fear of death is a driver of our potential extinction. **Rachel:** I get you spiritually and metaphysically, and I agree with that sentiment. However, it doesn’t hold up for mothers fearing for their children, or for people whose lived realities differ. Erasing those experiences in the name of a “higher truth” can be cruel. This brings me to elitism in top‑down culture‑building. You wrote that in every historical period a small number of people carry the burden of design and organization. You call that reality, but it’s also elitism—centralized, hierarchical structures where a few decide for everyone. Indigenous sciences and politics emphasize decentralized decision‑making, sovereignty of the body, spirit, community, and land. If a tiny elite dictates global strategy, that mirrors existing power structures. **Roger:** With respect, I reject the binary between “elitism” and “anti‑elitism.” We need fluid hierarchies and specialisations—people have different gifts and callings. Authority can arise from the bottom, not just the top (think of prophetic or spiritual leaders). Separating top‑down power from bottom‑up authority is crucial. Yes, a few people may know certain truths, but they don’t have to enforce them through patriarchal, top‑down models. Power itself isn’t inherently evil; it’s often boring and metaphysically empty. I’m not interested in holding power—my focus is creativity, flow, and inspiration. I set things up, stay for a couple of years, then step aside, having built a structure that can continue without me. This avoids the pathological effects of power on the psyche. **Rachel:** Do you think you’re a prophet? **Roger:** Unfortunately, I can’t give you a clear answer—I just get myself into trouble when I try. **Rachel:** So you do. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2026/02/st-francis-in-ecstasy.jpg-Large.png) St Francis in Esctasy **Roger:** Our culture is obsessed with power. If I said, “I’m a prophet,” people would call me an arrogant jerk. The problem is that our culture doesn’t recognize that some people have special gifts and can still be decent. Gandhi had a huge prophetic gift—courage and strategic leadership—but he wasn’t an asshole because he wasn’t interested in power. He wasn’t Stalin. If I say I’m a prophet, I’m just saying I wake up with ideas that motivate me, I go out and try to make them happen. If you call that “prophet” or label me a false prophet, that’s fine. It just shows how rigid we are about what it means to be human. Everything’s about power; Hobbesian thinking makes the world sad. We could relax a bit. **Rachel:** But you distinguished between power and authority. You want authority even if you don’t want power, and you think you deserve authority. I’m asking you directly, Roger Hallam: do you want authority? **Roger:** These issues will become more pressing as our metaphysics break down. One of our biggest prejudices is believing in “atoms” as discrete things—we’re so ingrained in that view we don’t even notice it. I see the universe and myself in a way most people don’t. I don’t even believe there is a persistent “self.” The “I” that speaks now disappears the moment I’m in another moment, and I just go on doing my thing. **Rachel:** But you do exist, Roger Hallam, with a .com domain that calls you “the number‑one climate campaigner in the UK.” It feels like you’re using a “jail‑free card” by saying you can’t answer because you don’t know who you are. Do you want authority? Do you think you deserve it? **Roger:** No, I don’t want authority at all. I just want to do what I think is right on a good day. That doesn’t mean I have no ego or no inner voice. I sometimes feel important because I’m on *Planet Critical*, but the real question is how aware I am of that voice. My intention is mostly to help make a better world. I didn’t set out to be famous. I was a farmer for twenty years, working 70 hours a week, earning £100 a week, raising kids, and living a simple life. I’m not interested in fame; I’m interested because the world is dying and I think I have some gifts to contribute. If I’m wrong, that’s fine. My trouble comes not from being an asshole but from insisting that two plus two equals four and refusing to deny it, even in a culture of chronic denial. **Rachel:** I could argue that part of this conversation feels like denial on your part about different modes of being, different ways of interpreting research. You seem very certain about what must happen, which makes your arguments feel brittle and dismissive of the broader network of activity, ecosystems, and possibilities. You’ve spoken about needing networks, but I haven’t heard how you’re networking yourself into other things. **Roger:** That’s a valid criticism; I’ll take it on board. Life is a constant struggle of nuance, isn’t it? I don’t wander around in perpetual self‑criticism. I still believe two plus two equals four, and I think killing is wrong. If someone calls me dogmatic, so be it. You’ve got to live your belief, haven’t you? I try to remain open, but it’s obvious to judge whether I am. I’m living in an extreme crisis; important things need to happen. I’ve been thinking about this for fifty years and have a reasonable idea, even if I’m not perfect. I don’t have power in the sense of ordering people to be shot; I’m not Lenin. I’m not interested in running for office or leading a party. What interests me is enabling spaces to become empowered—much like organic farming, where you read the soil, not the plant. It’s a Daoist principle: the more power you have, the less effective you become. My final question: who would you like to platform? **Roger:** Michele Giuli in Italy—he’s one of the strongest voices in the movement right now. He founded a “Last Generation”‑type initiative and has robust arguments. I think he’d be great to talk to. **Rachel:** Thank you very much for your time. I really appreciate it. [Make a One-Off Donation to Support Roger](https://buy.stripe.com/6oEbLTaRk22QgQU6oo?ref=rogerhallam.com) ### 📕 Civilisation's Suicide: Out Now + Upcoming Events URL: https://rogerhallam.com/suicide-out-today/ Last updated: 2026-01-29T18:26:04.000Z My new book, ***Suicide,*** has been released. I wrote it during my first months in prison, after four Crown Court trials in which I represented myself, and from what those trials revealed about the state of the law when climate truth becomes a threat. The journalist and Pulitzer Prize winner Chris Hedges visited me while I was inside, and later wrote the foreword. (Which you can listen to [here](https://chrishedges.substack.com/p/burn-the-planet-and-lock-up-the-dissidents-f65?r=hckvb&utm%5Fmedium=ios&triedRedirect=true)) [Burn the Planet and Lock Up the Dissidents - Read by Eunice WongThe fossil fuel industry, and the politician class they own, have no intention of halting the ecocide. As the climate crisis worsens, so do the laws and security measures to keep us in bondage.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/icon/https-3A-2F-2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com-2Fpublic-2Fimages-2F44435261-303f-471e-b796-2401ee0d6c26-2Fapple-touch-icon-180x180-1.png)The Chris Hedges ReportChris Hedges![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/thumbnail/https-3A-2F-2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com-2Fpublic-2Fimages-2Fba939e56-5276-4cc1-9c99-d9935d735239_4588x3381-1.jpeg)](https://chrishedges.substack.com/p/burn-the-planet-and-lock-up-the-dissidents-f65?r=hckvb&utm%5Fmedium=ios&triedRedirect=true) The book is part memoir and part political reckoning. It brings together my research with lived experience — from climate science and the defence of necessity, to the collapse of democratic norms and the illusions we tell ourselves about reason, neutrality, and justice. This is not a book about protest tactics. It is about how modern states respond when people refuse to lie. It is about denial, repression, and what duty looks like in the face of extinction. As the author, George Tsakraklides, kindly writes: > “This book is for the court records. It is the hearing Roger never received, and a damning sentence for the UK's alarming descent into autocracy. The passage on ‘the truth of revolution’ is something everyone must read.” A group of volunteers spent over a year self-publishing this book while I was locked up. Any money it makes goes back into the work of resistance and truth-telling. Thank you to the 200 people who pre-ordered it. Each book is a donation back to the revolution. If you want to understand where we are, and where we are heading, you can find the book and ebook out now. Available on our rev21.earth shop or via traditional providers like Amazon, Kobo etc. [Order The Book](https://rev21.earth/product/suicide/?ref=rogerhallam.com) If you are already a paid subscriber to this blog, you will have access to the ebook files at the bottom of this post. If you are a revolutionary donor, my team will send you a copy of all my books as a thank-you. --- ## Upcoming Events ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2026/01/image.png) ### Pull the Plug - Launch Call Pull The Plug is a new grassroots campaign that is calling for ordinary people to have a real say in how AI is used in their lives. We are bringing together a broad alliance of people with concerns about AI, be that artists, young people, parents, environmentalists, or AI safety campaigners. What unites us all is the belief that a few men in Silicon Valley should not get to decide the future of the most transformative technology of our times on their own. On this launch call, we will explain the rationale behind Pull The Plug. People with lived experience of the repercussions of AI will speak to us. Everyone on the call will get a chance to talk about their feelings about AI, be that in a breakout group or together with everyone. And finally, we will invite everyone to get involved in Pull The Plug. The influence of Big Tech is immense, and if we even want to stand a chance in this David vs Goliath scenario, we need everyone we can get. 🗓️Monday 2nd February ⏰7-8:30pm (UK) 💻Online [Sign up](https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/TBK5nDVwT5-tv583wsQucw?ref=rogerhallam.com#/registration) ### 4BillionDead Welcome Talk Join us to hear the new and ground-breaking ways in which Roger Hallam & the 4BillionDead project will be putting the climate crisis at the forefront of the public’s minds in new, accessible and inspiring ways, along with the numerous opportunities to get involved in spreading this vital message **Friday, January 30, 2026, 11:00 am - 12:00 pm (UK)** [Sign up](https://rev21.earth/events?ref=rogerhallam.com) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2026/01/image-2.png) ### Introduction to Rev21's Vision, Philosophy and Culture workshop How do we build a revolution fit for the 21st century? Join us for an introduction to Rev21’s vision, philosophy, and culture – how we organise, why it matters, and what kind of movement can actually win. [Sign up](https://rev21.earth/events/?ref=rogerhallam.com) _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 📰 After the Rebellion comes the Revolution URL: https://rogerhallam.com/after-the-rebellion-comes-the-revolution/ Last updated: 2026-01-16T07:18:33.000Z Roger Hallam stops in front of an inconspicuous shop in London, takes a breath, and pushes the door open. For a man who once brought entire streets to a standstill and captivated tens of thousands with his speeches, he seems surprisingly shy. He says he never liked knocking on doors and bothering people. And yet he is doing it again today. Hallam is tall and lanky, filling the room without dominating it. At the counter of the optician’s shop, he briefly explains what it’s about and asks for a few pounds. Then he moves on – to the hairdresser, the snack bar, the corner shop. Some recognise his voice from their phones. But they don’t connect the polite stranger with the co-founder of Extinction Rebellion or Just Stop Oil. Not with one of Europe’s most influential campaigners, who made headlines with climate protests and ended up in prison in 2024 – for a motorway blockade he hadn’t even taken part in himself. Today, Hallam moves through London without a police escort or television cameras, carrying nothing but a stack of flyers and a determination to change politics in order to stop the climate crisis – albeit in a new way. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2026/01/roger-in-market-1.png) In the Brixton Market. Photograph: **Claudia Gschwend* The donations he is asking for are intended to fund citizens’ assemblies in south London. After his release from prison, Hallam spent ten weeks going door to door with colleagues, asking around 2,000 residents about their biggest concerns. Eighty percent mentioned the visible homelessness in the area. Many affected people fall through every safety net, their situation worsened by drug addiction or mental illness. Even on this November evening, several homeless people are crouched outside the Underground station, while others walk along the busy shopping street. Together with local residents, Hallam has developed a new campaign and wants to challenge the local council – calmly, methodically, almost unspectacularly. At least for now. To understand why he is now campaigning for homeless people and what this has to do with the climate crisis, we need to take a step back. Hallam wants to ensure that homeless people receive better support. He is actually currently living in temporary accommodation himself: since his release from prison in August, Hallam has to report punctually every evening to his probation accommodation. He is only allowed to leave the house during the day, and at noon he has an appointment with his probation officer. Every step he takes is electronically monitored. He is only partially free. And yet he is already working on his next mass movement. Why doesn’t Roger Hallam simply stop? [Extinction Rebellion founder to tackle street homelessness and drug addiction in BrixtonNew community organising group Assemble held a meeting on Thursday evening at the Edmundsbury Community Hall to hear local views on the problems of street homelessness, drug addiction and mental il…![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/icon/cropped-buzz512-1.png)John Lubbock![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/thumbnail/image4-e1759517009948-1.jpg)](https://www.brixtonbuzz.com/2025/10/extinction-rebellion-founder-to-tackle-street-homelessness-and-drug-addiction-in-brixton/?ref=rogerhallam.com) ## **A fresh start after prison** I meet Hallam before he sets off on his evening fundraising round. He is sitting in the living room of a narrow terraced house belonging to a friend. It is so close to the probation hostel that Hallam can work here for a few hours each day. His grey hair is tied into a small bun at his neck, the electronic ankle tag hidden beneath his jeans. Hallam is serving a four-year prison sentence for civil disobedience, probably the longest ever imposed on a climate activist in Europe. After 13 months, he was released early under strict probation conditions. I am expecting the Hallam the media have portrayed: a man who throws around figures and apocalyptic scenarios, who picks apart journalists’ questions rather than answering them. I also anticipate mistrust – after all, a journalist contributed to his arrest. But when I see the 59-year-old sitting on the black sofa, he appears quite different: slightly slumped, his hands wedged between his thighs, his gaze attentive and kind. > «What was it like to spend 13 months in prison?» I ask. > > Hallam pauses. «For me, it was a very enriching experience,» he says. The remark is surprising and at the same time reveals a side of Hallam that the public barely knows: the academic who lives in books. In his single cell, he devoured almost a hundred works of [social theory and philosophy](https://rebellibrary.com/hallam/?ref=rogerhallam.com) and wrote three of his own, which he plans to [publish in 2026.](https://rev21.earth/books/?ref=rogerhallam.com) When protesters block roads, disrupt airport operations, or smear works of art and facades with soup or paint, they are engaging in civil disobedience. They want to attract attention and provoke political responses. In the face of the climate crisis, Hallam still sees such non-violent actions as a moral duty. Would he break the law again for that cause? He hesitates. One wrong word could land him back behind bars for another two years. And yet he cannot let go. He wants to mobilise the masses again – this time less through disruptive actions and more through a new form of democracy. As an activist? No, that label is too narrow, he says. Activism merely patches up the edges of an existing system. His aim is to change the system itself. His hands now rest loosely on his thighs, his voice resolute: «I prefer to call myself a revolutionary. Not in a performative, macho, romantic sense, but in a technical one.» What exactly does this man want? ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2024/03/roger-zeit-1-1.JPG) ## Join Me In the Revolution of Our Lives Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No nonsense. Change your mind anytime. ## **From organic farmer to agitator** Roger Hallam grew up in the north of England, shaped by parents who model responsibility and moral action: his father is a manager at a co-operative factory, his mother preaches in a Methodist church. While other young people are enjoying their newly won freedom, Hallam becomes politically active. In the late 1980s, he walked the streets with placards calling for a future without nuclear weapons. At the same time, he begins to test the limits of the law: for instance, he sprays peace messages onto a Ministry of Defence building. Barely 21, he has already spent three short stints in prison – back then, he got off relatively lightly, with sentences of up to two weeks, as he says. Hallam turns to the fight against climate change and those responsible for it after experiencing its effects first-hand. In the summer of 2007, torrential rain destroyed the vegetable fields on his organic farm in Wales, which he had run for two decades. He speaks of a financial loss of around 100,000 pounds. Hallam lays off his 25 employees, gives up the farm, and from then on works on other holdings with polytunnels that offer better protection against extreme weather events. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2026/01/roger-smile-3.png) Roger working in the Polytunnel At the same time, he continues his studies in politics and, after 2015, moves to London to pursue a PhD on civil disobedience at King’s College. There, he immerses himself in social science literature and the theories of radical social movements. He studies Gandhi’s work in India, that of Martin Luther King in the United States, and the research of political scientists such as Erica Chenoweth. At Harvard Kennedy School, Chenoweth examined non-violent protest movements over a century and arrived at a simple but far-reaching conclusion: if around 3.5 per cent of the population rise up non-violently, they can overthrow authoritarian power structures. This rule of thumb later became the credo of many climate groups. This knowledge turns Hallam into a strategist – and once again brings him into conflict with the law. In 2017, he and a colleague spray two listed university buildings with water-soluble paint. At the time, Hallam is still able to invoke climate change in his defence: before the jury, he explains that he had sprayed slogans such as «Divest from oil and gas» or «Out of time» onto the walls in order to pressure the university to withdraw its roughly 13 million pounds worth of investments in fossil fuels. The jury considers the action proportionate and acquits both. The university also announces that it will divest from these investments by 2020 – an initial success that confirms Hallam’s belief: civil disobedience can have an impact. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2026/01/roger-hallam-kings.jpg) Roger Arrested Outside Kings College Hallam never submits his doctoral thesis, instead turning to organising. He advises climate activists and, over the course of months, develops strategies with a small group intended to shake the entire country. Writing letters to MPs, donating money to NGOs, and taking part in demonstrations no longer seem effective enough. They are striving for a rebellion – something visible, loud, and impossible to ignore. On 31 October 2018, the group first appears in public as Extinction Rebellion (XR). Around 1,000 people gather in Parliament Square in London to launch the movement. Greta Thunberg, then 15 years old and just beginning to skip school for the climate, travels from Sweden to deliver a speech. Hallam emerges as the strategic brain and also steps in front of the cameras to reveal the plans of the new movement: mass civil disobedience, disruptions on a scale that would force the «political class» to finally take the climate crisis seriously. He calls on viewers to take to the streets two weeks later on «Rebellion Day» – adding with a laugh, «It’ll be fun.» The timing is crucial. Extinction Rebellion launches just weeks after the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warned in a special report that the world had only until 2030 to meet the 1.5-degree target set by the Paris climate agreement. Against this backdrop, the activists unfurl their banner in Parliament Square for the first time, bearing a clear message: «12 years to save the Earth». Anyone encountering the urgency of climate change for the first time could hardly fail to be alarmed. ## **The rebellion begins** In mid-November, «Rebellion Day» comes. Hallam and the other XR members guide around 6,000 people across five central bridges over the Thames. There, they sit in the middle of the roads, sing, chant slogans – and clearly enjoy themselves. In doing so, they block traffic for hours. The police are less entertained and arrest several dozen participants. Five months later, in April 2019, Extinction Rebellion stepped things up even further. The activists now occupy London’s most popular shopping street, where actress Emma Thompson stands in a pink boat with a microphone. She praises the new movement and calls the gathered crowd «a small island of reason». For ten days, the activists disrupt city traffic and everyday life with ever-changing actions. Some glue themselves to the entrance of the stock exchange, others to trains, leading to chaotic scenes with frustrated commuters, some of whom forcibly drag and even strike them. This time, the police arrested over 1,100 people. Each time an activist is led away or carried off, the others cheer and applaud. For Extinction Rebellion, mass arrests are a means to an end: those who bear the consequences show how serious they are, and earn solidarity – much like the suffragettes of the early 20th century. These radical women’s rights campaigners smashed windows, set fire to unoccupied churches and libraries, and went on hunger strikes. The authorities’ harsh responses, including forced feeding in prisons, backfired publicly. The British Parliament ultimately passed a law granting women the right to vote. Extinction Rebellion aims for the same effect: mass arrests and the resulting court cases are intended not only to keep their demands in the headlines, but also to overload the police and prisons, thereby forcing political responses. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2026/01/roger-in-market-3.png) Graeme Hayes, head of the department of sociology and policy at Aston University in Birmingham, has been observing civil disobedience since the early 2000s. He recognises Extinction Rebellion’s rapid growth but points to strategic limits. In a video call, Hayes explains that activists often adopt tactics that worked in a particular context without adapting them. Erica Chenoweth’s 3.5-per-cent rule, for example, is difficult to apply to the climate movement because it studied successful pro-democracy movements in authoritarian states. Hayes says: «That’s different from a climate movement in a liberal democracy.» Still, Extinction Rebellion’s approach seems to work at first. Politicians can no longer ignore the protests. In May 2019, the UK Parliament declares a climate emergency at the proposal of the Labour Party, fulfilling one of XR’s three key demands. In Switzerland and elsewhere, people are inspired, set up XR chapters, and become active themselves. Meanwhile, Greta Thunberg rises to an icon, and the school strikes she inspired grow explosively. Millions take to the streets worldwide, making 2019 the year of climate protest. Although Extinction Rebellion sees itself as a decentralised, leaderless movement, Hallam acts as one of its most prominent faces. Unfazed by crowds and cameras, he relies on charm, provokes with sharp analogies, and does not sugarcoat radical ideas or grim future scenarios. He does not see the climate crisis merely as an ecological problem – he interprets it as a harbinger of societal collapse: heat, hunger, wars, billions dead if global politics continues as usual. Robin Boardman, who dropped out of university at 21 to co-found Extinction Rebellion, describes Hallam: «Roger’s blunt honesty resonates with a particular minority – the people who are willing to act on the truth when they finally hear it spoken without euphemism.» In social movements, this engaged minority is precisely the one that drives change. Hallam’s prophetic messages still resonate today, even though he is no longer active in Extinction Rebellion. In our conversation in the London living room, he warns that the world is on a «[suicide course](https://rev21.earth/product-category/books-in-english/?ref=rogerhallam.com)». He speaks of global warming far above 2 degrees and of the «global elites» who systematically violate human rights and destroy the livelihoods of countless generations. «This may sound like a joke now,» he says, «but later people will look back on our generation as we look back on the 1930s, on the Nazis – a generation incapable of empathy and of taking responsibility for others.» Hallam appears tired, worn out. He would much rather talk about literature, spirituality, and the dangers of neoliberalism – his favourite topics. But I want to know how he thinks about resistance in the climate crisis and what it looks like in practice. He wants me to understand how he views the world in order to grasp how he intends to change it. He abstracts, explaining the links between political failure and social breakdowns. He supports his arguments with historical examples, social research, and moral principles, showing how effective civil disobedience and radical movements can be. He says: «Most radical social change is brought about by those who do not care whether they succeed or fail – they act because it is an ethical or spiritual thing to do.» ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2026/01/Prisoners.png) ## **The fracture** Hallam approaches resistance like a start-up founder a product idea: fast, disruptive, with no regard for existing structures – essentially: *move fast and cause trouble*. With Extinction Rebellion and later groups, he is constantly experimenting: what works, what doesn’t? If something fails, it is discarded – and Hallam moves on. Every action draws attention – but also criticism. Of course, road blockades are frustrating, cause economic costs, and are met with incomprehension by many. Whether such actions benefit climate protection or do more harm is not yet clear empirically. But that is not the point here: from 2019 onwards, criticism also grows within the movement. Some members feel pressured into risky actions and arrests. At the same time, others accuse Extinction Rebellion of excluding people who cannot afford to engage in activities with legal consequences – for example, people of colour, who are more frequently stopped and criminalised at protests. In short: the tactics were primarily tailored to the white middle class, making the movement appear like one of the privileged – a critique that has continued to follow the climate justice movement to this day. In the summer of 2019, a rupture occurs. Internally, conflicts flare up over action ideas; externally, Hallam’s statements polarise. In November, in an interview with Die Zeit, Hallam bluntly compares climate change to the Holocaust. He immediately apologises, explaining that he only intended to illustrate the scale of the looming climate catastrophe. But it is too late: the band Radiohead no longer wants to support Extinction Rebellion, the German publisher pulls Hallam’s new book, which he had hoped to promote in the interview. XR chapters in Germany and Switzerland distance themselves from Hallam and, eventually, his British colleagues. Hallam operates with analytical and strategic brilliance, ideologically uncompromising, yet blind to the social costs of his methods. This very contrast makes him both a driving force and a burden for Extinction Rebellion. Co-founder Gail Bradbrook called him «our biggest asset and our worst liability.» But Hallam doesn’t stop. On the contrary: his political ambitions continue to grow. XR co-founder Robin Boardman describes working with Hallam as energising but sometimes exhausting. Hallam starts multiple projects simultaneously and looks for points where societal change can ignite. «That intensity has lit up movements, but it has also sometimes burned those of us who work in a slower, more grounded way,» Boardman says. Currently, the two are working on a new mass movement intended to unleash a «political revolution» – but Hallam first pursues another endeavour: in 2022, he co-founds the protest group Just Stop Oil with other activists, aiming to stop the UK government from issuing new oil and gas licences in the North Sea. One action escalates dramatically – and ends with Hallam in prison. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2026/01/Daily-Mail-15-1.png) ## **The harsh sentence** In July 2024, Roger Hallam sits in the dock for two weeks. The Crown Prosecution Service accuses him and four other Just Stop Oil activists of «conspiracy to cause a public nuisance». The case stems from a protest action two years earlier: dozens of activists had climbed the gantries of London’s M25 motorway and hung banners. Traffic was gridlocked for four days, hundreds of thousands of drivers were delayed, and the police estimated the cost at £1 million. Hallam himself had neither planned the action nor stood on the gantries. He had, however, joined a Zoom call and encouraged listeners to participate in what could become «the largest disruption in modern British history». Unbeknownst to him, a journalist pretending to be interested in participating in the protest recorded the conversation and handed it to the police – then was the first to report on Hallam’s arrest. Despite the looming consequences, Hallam remains calm. He had always expected that the state would eventually act harshly against him, as he recounts today. Just a few months earlier, he had narrowly avoided a prison sentence for an action at Heathrow Airport, which even his XR colleagues had deemed too risky. Climate activists in the United Kingdom risk a great deal: they are nearly three times as likely to be arrested as the global average. Since 2022, the police is allowed to prevent loud and disruptive protests and road blockades before they even occur. The new offence of «public nuisance» can carry a sentence of up to ten years. Political sociologist Graeme Hayes, who attended Hallam’s trial, recalls: «At the time of Roger Hallam’s trial, the courts were already a hostile space.» For a few years, British courts no longer permitted defendants to justify their actions on the grounds of climate change. When the judge rejects Hallam’s request to present climate evidence to the jury, Hallam refuses to leave the witness stand. «I had sworn to tell the truth,» he recounts. «When the judge told me to be silent, I said I had to continue speaking.» The judge does not appreciate this. He calls the police into the courtroom and has Hallam taken to a prison cell. At the sentencing, the judge tells the five defendants that they had «crossed the line from concerned activists to fanatics». Hallam receives five years, later reduced to four – the longest sentence for a non-violent protest in the United Kingdom since the Second World War. Internationally, the verdict draws sharp criticism; the UN Special Rapporteur on environmental defenders calls it «a dark day for peaceful environmental protests». Hayes also views the sentence as repressive. Even disruptive protest is part of a functioning democracy, he emphasises. By denying the defendants the chance to justify their actions before a jury, the state further restricts the freedom of assembly and protest. «The government should not be able to decide what disruptions are acceptable and what are not,» he says. «In terms of protests, the United Kingdom has become more authoritarian.» ## **From street protest to deliberative democracy** The climate justice movement has become noticeably more cautious. The voices of activists have not fallen silent, but civil disobedience has become too risky for many – even Roger Hallam is subject to strict probation conditions. Yet he remains politically active: writing, networking, training others, and focusing on a process in which randomly selected citizens deliberate on important issues and make decisions. Hallam wants to disrupt less and listen more. He starts small, in the Brixton neighbourhood of London. After weeks of door-knocking, his team invites local residents to a meeting in early November – with tea, cake, and moderated small-group discussions. «Cake always brings people in,» he tells me with a grin. To his surprise, over 130 people show up, eager to get involved. They discuss concrete proposals, such as how to reduce homelessness rather than simply displacing it to other areas, and submit these proposals to the local council a few weeks later with a deadline for response. Meanwhile, Hallam collects donations in the neighbourhood shops to fund further meetings and push the campaign forward. If the group in Brixton succeeds in getting the council to implement their proposals, it could spark similar citizens’ assemblies in other parts of London or across the country – allowing the network to grow exponentially. At least, that is how Hallam envisions it. His strategy echoes the early days of Extinction Rebellion: back then, the core group organised around 1,000 public meetings to recruit people to their cause. These participants then self-organised, planned actions, and created a far-reaching network. Extinction Rebellion also called on the UK government to establish a citizens’ assembly on climate issues. Citizens’ assemblies are not a new concept: they existed in ancient Athens and are today used as political experiments in European or Brazilian municipalities and cities, sometimes to develop climate policy measures. The new socialist party *Your Party*, led by former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and MP Zarah Sultana, is also adopting this concept to offer disaffected Labour voters a grassroots democratic alternative. At the founding conference in November in Liverpool, members selected by lottery were able to decide on the party’s direction and organisational structure. Their resolution: a council of ordinary members will lead the party, while only a few politicians will take on public roles. Hallam wants to go a step further. His vision of deliberative democracy cannot be squeezed into existing political structures. He sees it as a third path to power, alongside traditional elections and civil disobedience. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2026/01/1978.23_metropolis-1.png) Metropolis, George Grosz ## **The revolution begins** Hallam draws a clear distinction between rebellion and revolution: rebellion remains within the system, revolution overturns it. Rebellion alone is no longer enough, he says. Neoliberalism has destroyed collective action. «We are heading for mass death because people in our culture act ethically only when they expect a personal or political gain.» He gestures widely, leans forward, and seems completely convinced of every word. His alternative relies on citizens’ assemblies with randomly selected, representative people, much like juries in court cases. People with very different life experiences – from single parents to teachers to business owners – are meant to talk and listen to one another, reducing polarisation. In these assemblies, participants are not just expected to set political proposals and priorities, but to make decisions. Hallam believes that one day this model could be applied at all levels of politics. In his current campaign work, Hallam deliberately shifts his focus: away from a purely climate narrative towards a broader critique of the system. «We start where people are at and gradually they build up into the broader issues of climate and democracy,» he explains. Many people are currently struggling with rising rents or food prices. Yet Hallam believes that extreme weather events – such as the deadly floods in Valencia in autumn 2024 – could wake Britons up and trigger wider political mobilisation once such events occur closer to their own communities. Citizens’ assemblies could then play a central role, quickly mobilising people. The model is ambitious, and above all idealistic. Hallam is nonetheless convinced that it enables genuine political participation while also nurturing fresh talent for public office. Over time, citizens’ assemblies could evolve into citizens’ councils and movement parties, capable of mobilising strong candidates and winning elections. Established «corrupt and elite» structures would lose influence as a result. Trust and engagement grow in this community-based approach – until the citizens’ councils demand official recognition from the state. And if the regime simply ignores their demands? Then it must be overthrown, Hallam says: through mass demonstrations, general strikes, boycotts – a broad pro-democracy movement in which civil disobedience plays a role. Hallam and Boardman pursue this dual strategy with their new movement, [Rev21.](https://rev21.earth/?ref=rogerhallam.com) They do not see themselves as competing with existing movements, but as a unifying structure in an international network of climate activists, which includes Just Stop Oil, Act Now (formerly Renovate Switzerland), and Neue Generation in Germany. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2026/01/Youtube-Banner.png) Cécile Bessire, co-founder of Act Now, met Hallam in early 2024 at a network meeting in Paris, where he presented his vision. In discussions, he appeared attentive and reserved; in presentations, he was enthusiastic and determined. «He is primarily a thinker and strategist. My impression is that he shares his ideas with as many people as possible and sees who follows him», she says. It remains to be seen how the citizens’ assemblies will take shape in the long term and who will actively shape them. Hallam believes, however, that legitimacy and engagement will grow once people experience being heard. Why doesn’t Hallam stop? This question runs through his life. Is he a dreamer who goes too far – someone who simply cannot do otherwise? As Hallam sees it, a revolution always begins somewhere. Someone has to start it – and when in doubt, that someone is him. --- Article by [Sabrina Weiss](https://www.republik.ch/~sabrinamweiss?ref=rogerhallam.com) (text) and Claudia Gschwend (photos), December 23, 2025, originally published in [Republik](https://www.republik.ch/2025/12/23/nach-der-rebellion-kommt-die-revolution?ref=rogerhallam.com). [Make a One-Off Donation to Support Roger](https://buy.stripe.com/6oEbLTaRk22QgQU6oo?ref=rogerhallam.com) ### ✉️ A quick note about our emails — and how to choose what you receive URL: https://rogerhallam.com/a-quick-note-about-our-emails/ Last updated: 2026-01-13T07:21:18.000Z Hey revolutionaries, Robin here (Roger’s sidekick). Since launching this website and newsletter for Roger, we’ve achieved some amazing things — around **5,000 subscribers** (that’s you, hi!) and roughly **£2,600 a month in regular donations**. That’s enough for Roger to live on and to help support an assistant. It’s incredible, and we’re deeply grateful. At the same time, about **one in five subscribers** have dropped off the newsletter since it began — most often because of simple email overload. So I wanted to briefly explain a change we’re making, and how you can choose what you receive from us. Over the past year, our writing and organising have grown fast. We’ve hosted two online conventions with Rev21, released three books, and continued Roger’s regular output of essays, analysis, podcasts, transcripts, and urgent calls to action. For some of you, that’s exactly what you signed up for. For others — especially newer subscribers — it may simply be too much. Rather than guessing, we’re changing the structure so **you’re in control**. ### From now on, we’ll be sending three types of emails: **1\. Essays & Analysis (1–2 times a week)** Long-form writing, political analysis, transcripts, and reflections on climate breakdown, democracy, and nonviolent resistance. **2\. Monthly Digest (once a month)** A calmer, low-frequency summary: our best writing, key updates, and what’s coming next. This is the best option if you want to stay connected without regular emails. **3\. Actions & Urgent Calls (occasional)** Time-sensitive fundraisers, assemblies, events, and moments where action really matters. You can subscribe to one, two, all three — or just the monthly digest. ### How to manage your settings You can update your preferences at any time [here](https://rogerhallam.com/#/portal/account/newsletters). [Manage your emails](https://rogerhallam.com/#/portal/account/newsletters) If our emails aren’t right for you anymore, you can also unsubscribe completely — no hard feelings at all. We’re grateful you’ve been part of this community for however long you’ve walked with us. On the other hand, if your loving all this work, please consider becoming a regular donor. You'll get books and our eternal gratitude! [Change Plan](#/portal/account/plans) Our aim with this change is simple: **less overwhelm, more choice, and clearer communication**, while still being honest about the scale of the crisis we’re in. Thank you for being here. With love and rage, [Robin](https://robinboardman.com/?ref=rogerhallam.com) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2026/01/me-and-roger.jpg) Me and Roger out for a walk! ### 🪧 How To Start a Revolution in 2026 URL: https://rogerhallam.com/how-to-start-a-revolution-in-2026/ Last updated: 2026-01-09T07:27:51.000Z This is my most complete piece of work since prison. I’ve just published a three-hour video laying out, in practical detail, how real political change actually happens in the conditions we now face: climate collapse, democratic breakdown, and the rise of authoritarian politics. The full video is linked [here](https://youtu.be/6ZINXPXVrDY?ref=rogerhallam.com), and there’s also a [podcast version](https://open.spotify.com/episode/5JnlakmVrdpjtDJO2bbJ94?si=2766d100e8694189&ref=rogerhallam.com) for those who prefer to listen. If you don’t have time for the full three hours (though I do recommend it), I’ve included a detailed written summary below, drawn from the transcript. This is the framework I’ve been developing over the past months 6 months since my release: not a rally speech, or theory for its own sake, but a usable strategy. If you want an update on where my thinking is now, this is it. ## People Power Remakes The World I haven’t made a video like this for a while. For fourteen months, I was in a British prison. I came out in August and went straight back into organising — on the ground, in Brixton — because theory only matters if it survives contact with reality. What follows is the distillation of that period. It’s recorded in December 2025 and reflects the clearest thinking I’ve arrived at so far about how real political change actually happens: why movements fail, why some suddenly work, and what has to be consciously designed if we want to win in the conditions we now face. There is a loose structure of Context, Mobilisation, Organisation and Endgame, but this isn’t a performance or a pitch. It’s me thinking out loud — carefully, practically — about power, organisation, leadership, and rupture, based on history and lived experience. If you’re looking for slogans, this won’t help. If you’re trying to work out how change actually happens, this is where I’d start. ### **The Context** Across the West, the far right is surging. The climate crisis has crossed thresholds most politicians still refuse to name plainly. Democracies are hollowing out under debt, dysfunction, and the general sense that nothing can be done. AI and economic shocks are adding to the instability. People feel it, and many cope by switching off, avoiding it, or grabbing hold of fantasies. That avoidance won’t last. Reality doesn’t negotiate. Ruptures are coming. So the question is not whether things will change. The question is who will shape the change when it arrives. A lot of activism today is stuck in a familiar pattern: a thousand worthy projects, campaigns, and local initiatives — each doing good work, but often without a shared strategic picture. There’s an implicit belief that if enough groups do their “bit”, a bigger force will somehow emerge on its own. Maybe. But probably not. If you want mass mobilisation, you don’t get it by accident. You get it because someone, somewhere, has designed a pathway that connects the small to the large: local mobilisation that scales, networks that cooperate, and a credible route from community power to state power. Strategy isn’t a luxury. It’s the thing that turns effort into momentum. This is also why I’m not interested in spending three hours listing how awful the “bad guys” are. People already know. What matters is building the conditions for something better — not just resisting collapse, but remaking the world as the old order breaks down. “People power” is simply the name for what happens when ordinary people organise themselves into a force that can reshape reality. And yes: this is technical. It’s about the nuts and bolts. It’s aimed at people who actually want to do the job — not just comment on it. The core argument in this first section is simple: **Social reality changes in non-linear jumps.** Most of the time, you push and nothing moves. Your project stays at 20 people. Then 22\. Then 26\. It feels like failure. That’s where left defeatism grows: “See, nothing works.” However, sometimes a feedback loop kicks in. The same work suddenly multiplies. 26 becomes 32\. Then 120\. Then 2,000\. Then 200,000\. Nothing happens — and then it goes boom. The question is whether we’re going to sit around waiting for that boom, hoping it appears through luck and chaos, or whether we’re going to learn how to **design the conditions for non-linearity**: the structures, habits, recruitment methods, training, and political framing that produce positive feedback loops. That’s what the rest of the video is trying to do. One more piece of context matters. There’s an exhaustion in the wider climate and democracy space. People can’t hold existential threat in their minds all day without shutting down. Liberal politics often retreats into technical talk, avoiding the existential implications. The far right offers an escape hatch: denial, nationalism, scapegoating. It feels simpler than looking at reality. But again: it won’t hold. Physical systems don’t care about avoidance. The ruptures will come anyway — and when they do, political maturity matters. People will ask: *who decides?* Who holds power? How is it exercised? What replaces the broken system? ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2024/03/roger-zeit-1-1.JPG) ## Join Me In the Revolution of Our Lives Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No nonsense. Change your mind anytime. ### **The Theory** That’s why there’s a strategic shift towards the **local and the social**: going to the people, rooted in bread-and-butter issues — housing, food security, cost of living — and building coalitions in real communities, not just online and not just inside activist bubbles. This comes with a tension movements have always faced: if you only do “pure” politics, you become irrelevant; if you only do immediate reforms, you risk becoming managerial and losing the systemic horizon. The job is to combine the strengths of both — to meet people where they are *and* build a route to deep structural change. That’s the work. That’s the design challenge. And that’s what this project is about. If you strip all the mysticism out of organising, a lot of it comes down to one question: **what actually multiplies?** What’s the small input that reliably produces a bigger output next week, next month, next year? That’s what I mean by “ratios”. You go into the real world, you try things, and you look for the repeatable moves that create a positive feedback loop. Here’s the blunt reality. Mass movements don’t sustain themselves on vibes. They need infrastructure: training, meeting spaces, materials, travel, comms, coordination. And that requires money. Most people can’t work full-time on movement-building because they have to pay rent. So the movement has to become **self-sustaining**, not dependent on a few generous rich people with idiosyncratic politics. In practice, that means ordinary people paying **£10 a month** (or whatever the local equivalent is), month after month, because they trust the project and feel part of it. If you don’t solve that, you stay stuck running a little local project with 20 people. Useful, good, even beautiful — but it won’t stop fascism or meet the scale of what’s coming. So the real organising problem becomes: **what are the A, B, and C that get thousands of people to commit?** Not once, but consistently. **How you find the ratios: pilots, prototypes, repetition** You don’t get these answers by sitting in a room for six months “thinking strategy” as if society is a machine you can map perfectly. It isn’t mechanical engineering. You get answers by running pilots. A pilot is simply: you go into the social space and you do something. You knock doors. You run a petition stall. You lobby a councillor. You hold a meeting. You try an ask. Then you watch what happens. Often it doesn’t work. Good. Now you know. More often it half works, half doesn’t. Annoying — but that’s where the gold is. You tweak, iterate, repeat. Over time you find the small design choices that double turnout, increase conversions, build commitment, and deepen leadership. This is the real secret behind most “overnight successes”. It’s not genius. It’s iteration. ### **Human nature: sociability and proximity** Two simple determinants sit underneath mobilisation: **Sociability**: people talking to each other, not just listening to one person talk at them. When people relate, relax, start trusting each other, and feel seen, you create the texture through which mobilisation spreads. **Proximity**: how close it is in time, emotion, and space. If the next action is a month away, people forget. If the relationship feels transactional, they drift. If the meeting is three miles away and awkward, they won’t come. Close the gaps and participation rises. This is why “telling people what to do” usually fails. People don’t join because you have The Truth and a megaphone. They join because they feel agency, connection, and ownership. The best tradition on this is Paulo Freire: you go to people, you listen, you create conditions for self-directed radicalisation — not top-down instruction. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2026/01/kollitwizt-2.png) [Käthe Kollwitz](https://www.artsy.net/artist/kathe-kollwitz?ref=rogerhallam.com),**Seed-Corn Must Not be Ground*, 1941 #### **“Isn’t this just manipulation?”** There’s always a kernel of truth here. All social interaction involves framing. But there’s a bigger reality: **the social space is already manipulative**. Neoliberal life trains people to conform, compete, individualise, and accept powerlessness. It erodes creativity and collective agency, then calls the resulting misery “personal failure”. So the point of good organising design isn’t to impose control. It’s to **restore agency** — especially collective agency. That’s what liberation looks like in practice: people discovering they can act together, and that action matters. I’ve seen this again and again door-knocking in Brixton. People are often progressive, compassionate, pro-social — and also despairing and cynical. Not because they don’t care, but because they don’t see a pathway. They’ll say, “We can’t do anything about that. It’s structural. It’s just how things are.” That resignation eats away at people. Good organising interrupts it. Not by lecturing, but by offering a lived experience of “we can do something”. ### **Revolution as a normal word again** Part of this work is cultural. In the 19th century, calling yourself a revolutionary wasn’t weird. It was a normal political identity in societies that knew major change was needed. In the late neoliberal period, “revolution” became a joke: end-of-history thinking, the idea that the system is basically fine and only needs tweaks. So we got the safe word: “activist” — quaint people making a fuss while the grown-ups run the world. But there’s nothing more “active” than actively destroying the world. A useful, non-romantic definition of **revolutionary** is simply this: someone who wants to change the constitution — the system that produces policy — not just lobby for better policy inside a broken system. Reformism tries to get nicer people into parliament. Revolution changes what parliament is, who decides, and how decisions are made. In the UK that might mean abolishing the House of Lords. More broadly it points towards sortition and citizens’ assemblies: redesigning decision-making so power stops being a private club. Revolution isn’t utopian. It’s not a promise of permanent ecstasy. It’s a practical claim: **a different system is more effective**, and that effectiveness is what prevents mass collapse. That’s the whole point. And revolutionary change doesn’t have to be violent. In fact, if it turns violent, it usually stops being a revolution and becomes something else: a power struggle, a civil war, a new tyranny. So the question becomes: **how do you mobilise people fast enough to beat the far right and force structural change?** Here I’m talking about mobilising a local, geographical community: depressed rural towns, small cities, big urban areas — places with plenty of progressive sentiment and plenty of alienation. People aren’t reactionary, they’re exhausted. They can’t see a pathway to collective action. The project is to get *those* people moving. If you can do that at scale, you’re in the ballpark of an endgame. There’s a default ideology in community organising: go slow, build for years, avoid ruptures, avoid confrontation, don’t touch elections. And to be clear: there’s a lot to respect in that tradition. Deep roots matter. Long-term organisers are often the best people in a place. But it’s not enough for the moment we’re in. In response to the far right, a slow model won’t reliably produce the **level of mobilisation and collective power** required for structural change. Three problems keep showing up: 1. **Slowness becomes the culture.** “We’ll meet next month.” Momentum dies. People forget. The system carries on. 2. **Fear of confrontation becomes paralysis.** A lot of decent, established people worry that confrontation tears the community apart. They’re not wrong that social fabric is fragile. But the counter-truth is harsher: if you suppress confrontation entirely, pressure builds and you get the worst version later — an explosion, a riot, a breakdown. Better is **limited, disciplined, nonviolent confrontation**, ongoing and intentional, rather than a sudden uncontrollable rupture. 3. **A strange humility: “we’re just the peasants.”** People act like elections are for “political people” — the big parties — while the rest of us stick to demos and polite lobbying. But in a democracy, anyone can stand. The resistance is cultural, not logical: fear of “splitting the left”, fear of being told off, fear of stepping out of line. Yes, elections carry risks. But treating them as off-limits is an inertia, not a principle. Sometimes a wider rupture breaks the spell and everything accelerates. Sometimes it doesn’t. So the question is: **can we create a proactive, pro-social rupture ourselves?** Not violent. Not chaotic. A designed break in the normal pattern. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2026/01/1978.23_metropolis.png) [George Grosz](https://www.museothyssen.org/en/collection/artists/grosz-george?ref=rogerhallam.com), Metropolis (1916 - 1917) #### **Why going fast works** I’m not saying “always go fast”. I’m saying: there are times when speed is the smarter design. Three reasons: **1) Speed solves the collective action problem.** Most people won’t door-knock because it feels pointless if nobody else is doing it. It’s a coordination problem. Mrs Jones doesn’t know Mr Harris will join her. Everyone sits at home thinking action is lonely and futile. But once a visible number of people are doing it, it flips. It becomes sociable. It becomes normal. It becomes exciting. The trick is getting past the lonely phase quickly — so people can *see* it’s happening. **2) Speed creates drama.** If you meet in January and say the next meeting is April, nothing enters the local memory. If you collect thousands of signatures in two weeks, plaster the area with posters, and pull 150 people into a room, you become a talking point. People repeat what’s unusual. Drama isn’t spectacle for its own sake. It’s social transmission. **3) Speed stops bureaucratisation.** If you slow down, the organisation starts defending itself rather than pursuing the aim. Meetings fill with risk-management: “Will we lose funding? Will the police come? Will we damage our reputation?” The organisation becomes the identity, not the work. In an existential crisis, this caution becomes the bigger risk — while the far right moves fast and sets the tempo. Revolutionary activity is not “steady community organising”. It’s **strategic disruption of inertia** — think Martin Luther King in Selma: honour the organisers, but break the stalemate by escalating pace and pressure, nonviolently. That’s the entry point to a mobilisation campaign. --- ## **Building Assemblies** The first step isn’t preaching. It’s listening — not as a moral posture, but as a design principle. If you knock doors saying, “Hi, I’m Roger, I’m a socialist, here are our policies, join us, vote for us,” you trigger resistance. Even if you’re right. Even if your policies are good. That’s not the point. The point is human nature: people become open and motivated when they get to **speak**. When they talk about their lives, they warm to you. They feel engaged. They feel respected. And then they’ll do a small next step — a meeting, a petition, a chat — because it feels like *their* choice. So the doorstep is built around two questions: - **What are one or two good things about living here?** - **What are one or two things you’d improve?** Then you invite them to something that matches that energy: a public meet-up in an assembly format, small groups, gentle, sociable, local. Not a lecture. A room where they can talk. That’s it: listen, mirror, invite. And the detail matters. The exact words matter. The flow matters. Because you’re not doing this ten times — you’re doing it thousands of times. In Brixton, the team did this roughly **3,000 doorsteps in six or seven weeks**. That gives you something you can’t get by “thinking in a room”: real information about what people care about, what language lands, and what’s possible. Here’s the non-linear bit. You can do weeks of work and get 10–15 people at a meeting. People will tell you it’s failing. But you’re building the first feedback loops: a little curiosity, a little talk, a little attention. Then the rhythm starts to matter more than the numbers: That regularity creates momentum. If you do three assemblies and stop, you look like outsiders running an experiment. If you keep going, you become part of the local reality. People start getting pulled into the vortex of attention. And then, after a few assemblies, you stop guessing and name the campaign — the issue that can unify the area. In Brixton it surfaced as homelessness, addiction, and mental health — tied, in large part, to housing. One of the biggest mistakes people make with assemblies is stopping too early. They hold a few meetings, identify big problems, nod solemnly — and then hold more meetings. Nothing moves. People drift away. Cynicism grows. Assemblies start to feel like a dead end. That’s not because assemblies are useless. It’s because they’ve been badly designed. Assemblies only work if they are part of a **moving sequence**. You don’t just move fast inside each step — you move fast *between* steps. You already know what comes next before the current moment has finished. In Brixton, we didn’t knock on 3,000 doors just to “listen”. We did it to identify *which issue would mobilise at scale*. Very quickly it became obvious: homelessness, addiction, and mental health. Those weren’t abstract policy concerns — they were visible, daily, unavoidable. At that point, everything changed. Instead of just door knocking, we pivoted. We put up **300 posters** across the area. Not two. Not ten. Hundreds. The message was simple: this is a serious problem, and there’s a meeting about it. The result surprised even us. **150 people turned up.** That doesn’t happen by accident. It happens because momentum compounds. By that point, people had heard about us multiple times — from neighbours, WhatsApp groups, street posters, word of mouth. Once people hear about something five or six times, it crosses a psychological threshold. They stop thinking “what is this?” and start thinking “maybe I should go”. That meeting changed the social geometry of the space overnight. Councillors and MPs turned up without being invited — not because we asked nicely, but because power pays attention when people start organising at scale. This is where another dynamic kicks in. Whenever something starts to grow non-linearly, two groups try — consciously or unconsciously — to slow it down. The first are **local gatekeepers**: long-established administrators, charity managers, councillors, professional organisers. Often decent people. Often hardworking. But they are used to *controlling* the pace of change. Assemblies threaten that control, because creativity shifts away from institutions and into the room. In Brixton, one councillor broke the assembly format and tried to address everyone directly — re-establishing hierarchy, offering warm words, dampening energy. Not because he was evil, but because that’s how power behaves when it feels challenged. The second group are **the purists**. The endlessly critical. The people addicted to asking clever questions instead of proposing action. They don’t block things outright — they slow them down through overthinking. In revolutionary moments, cleverness is less important than momentum. If you think too much, you don’t move. The only reliable way to get past both groups is speed. If you move slowly, gatekeepers have time to intervene. If you move fast, the energy outruns them. After the big meeting, working groups formed organically: outreach, social media, street teams, direct contact with people experiencing homelessness. We didn’t wait for permission. We didn’t over-design. We let people act. Then we hit the next problem: money. The original idea — that donations would flow naturally from assemblies — didn’t work at scale in this context. So we pivoted again. This time, we used **petitions**. I’ve criticised petitions before, and for good reason. Most are useless. But in this context, the petition wasn’t symbolic — it was **material, local, and relational**. People signed on paper, on the street, about a problem they could see with their own eyes. Then they scanned a QR code and joined a WhatsApp group. That gave us a phone number — and phone calls change everything. When you ring someone, you can build a relationship. You can explain the campaign. You can ask for a small donation — £1 or £2 a week. You can invite them to volunteer. What emerged was a **dynamo**. For roughly every two hours of calling, we gained one active volunteer. For every hour, we raised around £8 a month in regular donations. That volunteer then went out petitioning, which produced more contacts, which produced more volunteers and more money. Labour created money. Money funded labour. Momentum fed itself. Suddenly, a project that started with three people knocking on doors was generating thousands of signatures, dozens of volunteers, and a stable monthly income. And crucially — it was *replicable*. Anywhere. But here’s the hard truth. A local campaign — no matter how successful — is not system change. Councils will stall. Politicians will smile and say no. Performative campaigning leads nowhere. So you reach a fork in the road. One path is civil resistance — which I’m not going into here due to my bail conditions. The other is political power. If institutions refuse to respond, then you stop asking. You **stand in elections**. That’s the next step. Not as career politicians, but as organised communities with legitimacy, numbers, and money behind them. Assemblies generate the mandate. Campaigns generate the base. Elections become a tool, not an identity. This is how revolutions actually begin — not with slogans, but with sequences. Design. Speed. Feedback loops. And the courage to move before permission is granted. The demands didn’t come from us. They came from the room. After hundreds of conversations and multiple assemblies, about 150 people agreed on something concrete: rough sleeping in Brixton should be reduced by **75% within a year**. Not a vague aspiration. A measurable target. So we did what democracy is supposedly for. We wrote it up as a charter, five or six pages, clear and grounded in thousands of local conversations. Then we tried to hand it in to the council. They locked the doors early because they knew we were coming. That moment is important. Because it shows how power actually behaves when faced with legitimacy it didn’t authorise. We handed the charter to security guards instead. Next step: we contacted every Labour councillor in Lambeth. We offered civilised conversations. We booked meeting rooms, including one inside the town hall itself. We made it easy. They didn’t turn up. At first, the silence was probably meant to make us go away. But then the campaign gained traction online, and the tone shifted. Suddenly there were warm statements about how much they were “already doing” on homelessness. Then the reframing began: this wasn’t a community process, it was “political”; it was outsiders interfering; it was somehow illegitimate. This is the standard neoliberal routine. As long as you’re polite and ineffective, you’re tolerated. The moment you start to matter, the rules change. So you reach a fork. If institutions refuse to act on legitimate demands, you stop asking. You **stand against them**. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2026/01/The_City_Rises_by_Umberto_Boccioni_1910.jpg) ***The City Rises** (***La città che sale**) (1910), [Umberto Boccioni](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umberto%5FBoccioni?ref=rogerhallam.com "Umberto Boccioni") ### **Why symbolic elections fail** The conventional approach goes like this: put up one or two independent candidates, test the waters, be “realistic” about resources. That doesn’t work. Not because people are stupid, but because this logic ignores **non-linearity**. Standing in three wards out of twenty-five doesn’t threaten power. It’s performative. It signals caution, not seriousness. Parties like the Greens have been trapped in this loop for decades: “target wards”, incrementalism, permanent marginality. But we are not in normal times. We’re facing overlapping crises: ecological collapse, social breakdown, and the rise of the far right. Acting *as if* you intend to win becomes part of the strategy. When you act at scale, labour and money follow scale. When you hedge, they don’t. This isn’t bravado. It’s causal. If you knock on doors saying, “We might run a candidate here,” a handful of people respond. If you knock on doors saying, “There’s momentum across Brixton, we’re standing candidates everywhere, and hundreds are coming to the assembly,” five or ten times more people turn up. Excitement creates reality. Then reality reinforces excitement. There’s a sweet spot here: not reckless fantasy, not cautious boredom. Credible ambition. ### **Elections are not the strategy — they’re a lever** People hear “election campaign” and imagine a linear script: knock doors, pick candidate, win seat. That’s comforting, and wrong. The real strategy is **holistic**. Elections create social effects beyond votes. They lift cynicism. They generate hope. They reintroduce fluidity into spaces frozen by resignation. That social fluidity is where structural change becomes possible. The model we’re working with has three interlocking elements: 1. **Local campaigns** — before, during, and after elections 2. **The social commons** — mutual aid, sports clubs, food groups, social nights, everyday community life 3. **Elections** — as one tool among others, not the centre of gravity The aim is not just to win seats. It’s to build a **permanent, organised social force** that politicians have to reckon with. In Brixton, people are now talking about creating a standing community organisation: not a business, not a charity, not a party — but a body that represents the social space itself. Its functions are simple and radical: - Coordinate community action - Overcome the collective action problem - Run election campaigns - Maintain a **parallel community assembly** alongside the council Not a consultation. Not a talking shop. A constituted body that continuously exerts pressure. This is the difference between “giving voice” and **having power**. ### **Why social power must dominate political power** This is the key design principle most parties get wrong. Political structures must be **subordinate to the social base**, not the other way around. Otherwise, oligarchy sets in: a central clique consolidates control, members drift away, mobilisation collapses. You can see this degeneration clearly in many mainstream parties today. The counter-example is Bolivia. There, dense networks of unions, cooperatives, and community organisations created a political instrument to take state power — and retained control over it. Candidates, programmes, direction all flowed from the social base upward. The result was repeated electoral success and sustained mobilisation. That’s the paradigm shift required to counter the far right. This isn’t about “Roger putting up candidates”. It’s about redesigning the relationship between society and the state. ### **The numbers matter because they tell the truth** Good strategy shows up in ratios. Here’s what we know works. In a typical UK ward of around 10,000 voters: - **200 posters** across 50 streets create baseline recognition - Roughly **one person per poster** turns up to a launch meeting - Door-knocking adds another **one attendee per two hours** That reliably gets around **100 people in the room**. From there: - Around **20% become regular door-knockers** - 40 door-knockers × 2 hours a week = **1,600 doors a week** - In six weeks, you’ve knocked every door **three times** That’s enough to win a ward — assuming you’re a credible local alternative. Add phone follow-ups via QR codes and WhatsApp, and you create another feedback loop: more volunteers, more donations, more reach. About **25% of people** will give £10 a month at meetings. Phoning adds more. Scaled across multiple wards, this model produces **tens of thousands per month**, not as campaign cash, but as funding for a permanent local organisation. And that’s the crucial framing. You’re not asking people to donate to an election. You’re inviting them to build **an organisation that outlasts elections**. The vote is a moment. The social structure is the point. Elections matter here not because voting itself changes everything, but because elections **accelerate commitment**. When people believe something real is happening, they don’t just turn up once. They keep going. They door-knock again. They bring friends. They give a small amount of money each month. That steady income then allows organisers to work full time, which is the condition for building anything at scale. Without full-time organisers, volunteer networks stall. With them, momentum compounds. People sometimes push back on this. They say: *we tried meetings, no one came; we asked for money, no one gave*. The conclusion is usually that “people aren’t ready”. That’s wrong. What’s changed is the **context**. Social repression is increasing year by year. People are angrier, poorer, more alienated. The reason they don’t mobilise isn’t apathy — it’s the **collective action problem**. Everyone feels stuck acting alone. The breakthrough comes when people are given **real agency**, not symbolic participation. Agency means two concrete things. First, communities choose their **own candidates**. Instead of announcing a name, you knock on doors and ask a different question: *Who do you trust around here? Who actually does things?* In a neighbourhood of fifty streets, people know the answer. Someone always comes up — the woman who runs community groups, the guy who helps neighbours, the local organiser no party ever selects. From there, the process is simple. A small number of nominations lets someone stand in an open local primary. Anyone from the ward can attend. It’s held in a church hall or community centre. There’s food. Kids run around. Candidates speak briefly. Neighbours speak *for* them. Then the room votes. Everyone claps — because everyone chose. This is what democracy actually looks like. Not party members selecting a candidate in private, then marketing them to the public, but someone **emerging from the community**, authorised by it. That ethical legitimacy turns out to be a strategic gift. People who helped choose a candidate are far more likely to knock doors for them. They’re far more likely to donate. It’s *their* candidate, not a product being sold to them. Second, communities choose the **programme**. Door-knocking generates data. You ask people their top issues. You aggregate the responses. You bring them back to an assembly. People discuss priorities and agree on a short list. That list becomes the programme. The candidate then signs a public commitment to follow it. This doesn’t produce chaos. If anything, it produces clarity. When people deliberate together, priorities converge. Most communities arrive at broadly pro-social demands once discussion happens openly. Now scale that across multiple wards. Some issues remain local. Others repeat everywhere. You aggregate again at area level and reduce the programme to a small number of clear demands — five at most. Simple enough to remember. Strong enough to mobilise around. At this point, something interesting happens. You start to see the **real weakness of established power**. In places like Lambeth, around 70% of people don’t vote. Labour dominates not because it’s loved, but because alternatives aren’t organised. In a ward of 10,000 people, Labour often wins with around 1,500 votes. That’s **15% of the population**. Once you understand that, the maths flips. If your campaign can mobilise even a fraction of non-voters — through door-knocking, assemblies, phone calls — winning becomes entirely realistic. You don’t need a majority of the population. You need coordination. This is why momentum matters so much. Once people realise the emperor has no clothes, things move very fast. Alliances matter too. In most places, the left fragments itself: independents, Greens, local parties all competing for the same votes. That guarantees defeat. The answer isn’t a single hegemonic party, but **coordination without absorption**. There are three workable models. One is friendly competition: independents and Greens encourage voters to split their votes strategically rather than attack each other. Another is open primaries: multiple progressive candidates stand, the community chooses, and the rest step aside. The third is pre-agreed coordination: different groups focus on the wards they’re strongest in and support each other elsewhere. All three preserve autonomy. None require surrendering identity. They create what you might call a **closed ecology**: different organisms, cooperating at election time, independent the rest of the year. This is how it works in places like Bolivia. Strong social movements don’t dissolve into parties — they create political instruments when needed and retain control over them. Once you add social media, community organisations, churches, sports clubs, food groups, and mutual aid networks into the mix, momentum accelerates again. These groups already exist. Many are already under threat from councils and cuts. Supporting an independent, community-rooted campaign aligns with what they believe in anyway. They offer meeting spaces. They share content. They mobilise their members. They donate. They legitimise. At that point, the campaign is no longer “a political project”. It’s a **social force**. This is how councils get overturned in months, not decades. It’s how it’s happened in places like Frome, North Devon, Madrid. Non-linear dynamics take over. Excitement generates participation, which generates more excitement. But there’s one final piece. Winning elections isn’t enough. Ordinary people don’t automatically know how to navigate local government, bureaucracies, or entrenched interests. If you send untrained councillors into that environment, they get eaten alive. So candidates must commit to **serious training** before standing. They need to understand how councils work, how power blocks decisions, how developers and finance operate, and how to keep authority anchored in the community rather than drifting upwards. The goal isn’t to manage the system better. It’s to use political power to **rebuild the social space** so communities don’t depend on it in the first place. That’s the real programme. Winning elections is not the end of the project. It’s the beginning of a deeper shift in power. Alongside elected councillors, a **parallel democratic structure** needs to be built — one that mirrors the council but is rooted directly in the population. This isn’t symbolic. It’s practical. Take a borough like Lambeth. There are around sixty councillors across twenty-five wards. Most wards have two or three councillors. A parallel assembly simply matches that structure: if a ward has three councillors, three residents are selected — not elected, but chosen by **sortition**. Sortition means random selection. Everyone has an equal chance of being chosen. In practice, you select streets at random, knock doors, and invite people to take part. Most will say no. Some will say yes. From those who agree, you use basic demographic balancing — gender, income, ethnicity — to arrive at a group that broadly reflects the ward. This matters because representation isn’t abstract. When a body *looks like* the place it represents — working-class people, migrants, renters, carers — it carries immediate legitimacy. The voices usually excluded from politics are present by design, not as an afterthought. These parallel councillors don’t replace elected ones. They **shadow them**. They study how the council works. They sit in on committees. They learn budgets, procedures, choke points. Alongside that, they convene **citizens’ assemblies** — issue-focused groups of forty or fifty people who examine topics like housing, drugs, or public safety. These assemblies hear from experts, frontline workers, and affected residents, then deliberate and propose grounded strategies. There’s a large body of evidence showing what happens when you do this properly: people converge on pragmatic, pro-social solutions far more consistently than party politics ever suggests. But participation must scale beyond the room. Most people don’t have time to attend assemblies. So the process needs a broadcast layer — what I call the **“World Cup model”**. Assemblies are filmed. Each day, short highlight videos are released: moments where testimony lands, arguments shift, or decisions crystallise. People watch what matters to them — housing, drugs, care — just as they watch highlights rather than full matches. The wider community then feeds back: voting online, commenting, responding. This doesn’t give them formal power, but it creates **continuous democratic pressure**. Assemblies don’t deliberate in isolation. They feel the pulse of the borough in real time. Around this sits a wider **borough ecology**: neighbourhood meetings, mutual aid, food co-ops, energy co-ops, community finance, training hubs. The aim isn’t to professionalise everything, but to rebuild social connectivity so people rely less on broken institutions and more on each other. All of this might fail. That’s not a flaw — it’s information. Failure tells you where to pivot. The direction of travel matters more than certainty. If it works, though, the effects are non-linear. When an establishment party that has ruled for a century suddenly collapses at local level, it creates rupture. Media attention follows. Other places copy the model. Momentum spreads faster than any centrally planned campaign ever could. Recent examples show this clearly. Charisma helps, but it’s not decisive. Organisation is. Tens of thousands of door-knockers. Clear programmes. Cultural permission to participate. That’s what turns a local upset into a national story. But none of this holds without **organisational discipline**. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2026/01/roger-in-market.png) Walking in local market ## Organistion Most movements don’t fail because of repression. They fail internally. The single biggest killer of social movements is unmanaged behaviour. Abusive people. Disruptive people. The endlessly ideological. The socially incompetent. When these dynamics aren’t addressed, ordinary people quietly leave. One by one. Then the group collapses into a small, insular core — the familiar “six people in a pub” problem. The solution is design, not moralising. From the start, expectations must be explicit. Certain behaviours lead to warnings. Then removal. And crucially, **someone must be responsible for enforcing this**. Not everyone. One person, clearly mandated. This avoids the bystander effect, where everyone waits for someone else to act. This requires leadership. Real leadership. Horizontalism — the idea that groups magically self-organise without structure — doesn’t survive contact with scale. Decisions are always made by someone. The question is whether that power is explicit, accountable, and temporary. Movements should begin with a **small core group** — five to eight people — who take responsibility for direction, coordination, and standards. Over time, power must decentralise through training, rotation, and sortition. But at the beginning, clarity matters more than purity. Induction is equally critical. When people join, they shouldn’t just be told how the organisation works. They should help define it. Inductions should be at least 50% participatory: values, expectations, boundaries. What kind of culture do we want? What behaviour is unacceptable? What does commitment actually mean? If someone doesn’t like those terms, that’s fine. They don’t have to join. Better that than slow collapse later. Meeting culture matters more than ideology. Meetings must start on time and end on time. Not because of bureaucracy, but because people have lives. Parents, carers, workers will not stay in movements that waste their time. Bad meetings are not radical. They are exclusionary. Facilitation isn’t just about taking turns. It’s about guiding groups towards decisions. Summarising. Proposing synthesis. Parking issues that need separate work. Most meetings should last an hour. Occasionally ninety minutes. Rarely more. Movements don’t fail because they move too fast. They fail because they move too slowly and lose people. Finally, training. Every successful mass movement is, at heart, a training institution. Large-scale change doesn’t come from spontaneous virtue. It comes from people learning how to organise, resolve conflict, lead, and think strategically. In Brazil, millions of landless workers didn’t just occupy land. They were trained — continuously. Introductory sessions. Leadership courses. Residential programmes. Political education tied to practice. The land was the outcome. Training was the engine. That’s the real lesson. If you want solidity, you train. If you want scale, you train. If you want power that lasts, you train — and you design organisations that can hold it. At this stage, the technical details matter less than the cultural shift. Movements don’t fail because people don’t care. They fail because leadership refuses to ask people to do difficult things. Again and again, organisers say, *“You can’t ask people to do that.”* What they really mean is: *I don’t want to ask people to do that.* Leadership means asking the impossible — not the physically impossible, but the **socially forbidden**. The things people have been trained to believe they can’t do. Five hours of door knocking instead of two. Standing as twenty candidates instead of five. Acting as if victory is possible before it is guaranteed. This is not recklessness. It’s how energy is created. People are more motivated when they feel part of something bold. If you only ask for what feels safe, you get cynicism. If you ask for something audacious — and back it up with a plan — people rise to it. This creates a positive feedback loop: expectation produces effort, effort produces belief, belief produces momentum. But leadership isn’t just about vision. It’s about **walking the talk**. For most of modern politics, leadership has been reduced to commentary. Media appearances. Opinion pieces. Policy documents. What’s been lost is credibility earned through action. Historically, leaders went first. They crossed the bridge first. They were arrested first. They took the risks they asked others to take. That culture has been replaced by safety and distance. And the public can feel it. On the right, this has created a perverse advantage. Reactionary figures gain credibility precisely because they take risks — even when their politics are destructive. Prison becomes proof of authenticity. The left cannot counter this with clever arguments alone. Credibility is embodied. In practice, this means leaders doing the unglamorous work: door knocking, petitioning, showing up every day in the rain. Not because it looks good, but because integrity is contagious. If leaders aren’t doing the work, no one else will. From there, the question becomes scale. Mass movements don’t grow by persuading everyone. They grow by activating a **specific minority** — roughly five per cent of the population — who are alienated, capable, and waiting for something credible. Most people will never mobilise. A smaller group will actively resist change. The task is to reach the people in between: ordinary, grounded people who would act if the space wasn’t so dysfunctional. These people often have real-world skills. Nurses. Middle managers. Event organisers. Tradespeople. People who know how to run things, coordinate people, manage stress. These skills matter far more than ideological purity. This was visible in both the Sanders campaigns and Extinction Rebellion. The people who made things work weren’t always the most political. They were the ones who knew logistics, communications, systems. Festivals are occupations. Phone banks are management problems. Movements succeed when they value competence as much as conviction. All of this only works if there is a **holistic strategy** — something big enough to justify commitment. People don’t turn out for fragments. They turn out for the main show. That brings us to the endgame. The political party, as we know it, is a product of capitalism. It centralises power, decides programmes and candidates internally, then enters communities transactionally to extract votes. This form no longer works. Most people can see through it, and they resent it. As party politics collapses, two alternatives emerge. One is authoritarianism: a single figure who cuts through bureaucracy and promises decisive action. This is seductive precisely because it feels effective. The other option is deeper democracy. To counter authoritarianism, politics must move **beyond the party form**, not defend it. That means shifting from parties to associations — political clubs rooted in communities, where the community itself decides the programme and selects candidates. Power flows up, not down. This doesn’t eliminate structure or risk. It changes where sovereignty sits. When people can see a credible route to power — real influence over decisions — the appeal of fascism weakens. Agency is the antidote. But systemic change rarely happens gradually. It happens through **rupture**. Ruptures are moments of crisis: economic crashes, climate shocks, political collapses. They arrive suddenly and overwhelm existing systems. In these moments, history accelerates. Organisations that looked marginal one month can become central the next. The lesson is not to predict rupture, but to **prepare for it**. Preparation means building networks, trust, leadership, and decision-making capacity *before* the crisis hits. When the rupture comes, the question is simple: is there a pro-social infrastructure ready to absorb fear and turn it into cooperation? Or does fear get captured by authoritarian forces? This is why the goal is not to seize power immediately, but to be **ready to take power** when the moment arrives. That readiness requires a balance between decentralisation and centralisation. Local autonomy matters. But in moments of crisis, strategic coordination is essential. Centralisation only works if there is trust — and trust comes from ethical leadership, transparency, rotation, and shared sacrifice. Growth, meanwhile, is no longer linear. Movements now spread organically. When something works in one place, it is copied instantly elsewhere. This is how Extinction Rebellion spread globally within months. The task is not to control this spread, but to **support it with modules**: training, documents, mentoring, shared identity. Neither rigid central command nor chaotic horizontalism works. What’s needed is a middle path: clear principles, flexible application, and rapid learning. Ultimately, revolutions succeed through a **pincer movement**. Pressure from outside the state — unions, movements, cooperatives — combines with pressure inside the state — elected representatives, assemblies, civil servants. Each restrains repression against the other. Neither can succeed alone. This is not guaranteed. It is probabilistic. But it is how successful social transformations have happened repeatedly. The greatest obstacle is not repression. It is defeatism. The belief that nothing can be done has become the final ideology of neoliberalism. That belief must be replaced with exuberance — not naive optimism, but committed action in the face of risk. The revolution, in the end, is not about policy. It is about **constitutional change**: changing how decisions are made, who makes them, and how power is distributed. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2026/01/assembly-art.png) [Sign up for training](https://timetoassemble.org/training-sessions?ref=rogerhallam.com) on how to run assemblies ## **The Endgame: Constitutions, Power, and Why This Work Has to Be Done Differently** People often say that no one cares about constitutions. That might be true right now. It was not true historically. In the nineteenth century, mass movements were built around constitutional questions. People organised, fought, and died over them. Why? Because they understood something we’ve forgotten: **the central political question is not policy, but who decides**. A constitution answers that question. It defines where power sits and how it is exercised. If you don’t control that, everything else is decoration. That’s why the direction of travel for any serious movement today has to be assembly-based government. This is the unfinished democratic revolution of the modern era. Voting systems were never neutral. From the beginning, they were associated with aristocracy and oligarchy, because they concentrate power in the hands of a small political class. That’s exactly what we see now. The alternative is sortition: selecting ordinary people at random, in proportion to society, and giving them real decision-making power. Not as a consultation exercise. Not as a bolt-on. As the core of governance. The model is simple in principle and complex in practice. A large citizens’ assembly, properly selected and trained, sits at the centre. Around it are specialised sub-assemblies focused on housing, agriculture, climate adaptation, infrastructure, and crisis response. There are checks and balances. Separation of powers remains. What disappears is the permanent political class and the corrupting logic of party competition. This is not utopian. It’s historical. The labour movement didn’t suddenly discover how to run a state when it entered government. It had already spent decades running unions, cooperatives, and community organisations. It had learned competence before power arrived. The same is true here. A twenty-first-century movement has to be full of people who already know how to organise, coordinate, facilitate, and make decisions together. That knowledge must exist before rupture, not after it. And rupture will come. History does not change gradually. It changes through crises. Economic collapse, climate shocks, political breakdown. In those moments, systems that looked immovable suddenly become liquid. What matters then is not who has the best argument, but who has **a functioning alternative ready to step in**. That is why this work is technical. It is about design, process, ratios, and repetition. It is not rhetorical because rhetoric without infrastructure collapses under pressure. But there is a danger here. Instrumental thinking — focusing only on what works — is necessary. Without it, nothing changes. Yet it is also radically incomplete. If instrumentalism becomes the whole orientation, people burn out, lose meaning, and replicate the very reductionism they are trying to overthrow. You see this everywhere in activist culture: exhaustion, cynicism, ego, internal power struggles. People forget why they started. The work becomes an addiction. Results replace values. Winning replaces living. To avoid that, the work has to move in three movements. First, **return to the whole**. Before acting, you hold the bigger picture: that you are a temporary being in a vast, interconnected world; that life has value beyond outcomes; that the good is not only instrumental but intrinsic. This is not sentimentality. It is grounding. Second, **enter the world and do the work**. Door-knock. Train. Build assemblies. Test pilots. Improve ratios. Repeat. Be disciplined. Be reliable. Show up. This is where instrumental intelligence belongs. Third, **return again to the whole**. Step back from ego, power, and attachment. Remember that this work is not about you. It must be possible to hand it over, to let others take your place, to disappear without resentment. Without this step, movements rot from the inside. This rhythm — whole, action, whole — is ancient. It exists in religious traditions, philosophy, and everyday life. Work during the week, reflection on the weekend. Action, then rest. Instrumentalism held inside meaning. Modern capitalist culture is catastrophically stuck in the middle phase. Everything is a tool. Everything is a metric. That is exactly what this movement must not reproduce. If this lecture has been long, it’s because it is aimed at people who are going to do the work. Not everyone will. That has always been true. In every historical period, a small number of people carry the burden of design and organisation. That’s not elitism. It’s reality. If you’re still here, you’re probably one of them. The task now is not to convince everyone. It is to build something robust enough that, when the moment comes, people recognise it as legitimate. As theirs. As real. That is how revolutions succeed. Not through purity. Not through noise. But through preparation, competence, and humility. Do the work. Do it well. And remember why you’re doing it. Share --- If you liked this article, consider grabbing my latest book, [Grasping The Enormity of the Moment](https://rev21.earth/product/your-party-paperback/?ref=rogerhallam.com), on organising political power in the wake of the Your Party surge. [Your Party – Grasping the Enormity of the Moment (Paperback)A radical guide to building political power. Blending theory and strategy, Roger Hallam draws on global struggles to show why \[...\]![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/icon/favicon-1.png)Revolution in the 21st Century![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/thumbnail/your-party-3d-large-599x1024.png)](https://rev21.earth/product/your-party-paperback/?ref=rogerhallam.com) If you want to get involved, sign up for a training Zoom call with [Assemble](https://timetoassemble.org/training-sessions?ref=rogerhallam.com). [Online Trainings![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/icon/webclip.png)![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/thumbnail/693822965ea1996dc1306463_Asset-202-403x.png)](https://timetoassemble.org/training-sessions?ref=rogerhallam.com) ### 🪦 The Elite Death Project: Why Capitalism Is Choosing Collapse URL: https://rogerhallam.com/the-elite-death-project/ Last updated: 2026-01-06T07:46:26.000Z Every day the political class announces another initiative, pledge, roadmap or “ambitious target.” And every day, the material reality moves closer to total collapse. At some point, we must confront a simple truth: **the elites are not failing accidentally — they are participating in a death project.** They are driving a system that destroys itself, destroys life, and destroys the conditions for civilisation, even when warned by their own institutions and scientists. This is not just incompetence. It is not even simple greed. What we are witnessing is something deeper and more pathological — a mixture of elite degeneration, the death wish, and a civilisation unable to confront its own end. This piece gathers my recent reflections on why elites refuse to act, why capitalism is running toward its own destruction, and why the outcome is now structurally revolutionary. --- ## **Do we want a place in this miracle?** **We live in a universe – do we want a place in this infinite miracle?** **Do we want to stand for life?** **Do we want to live rather than die?** Because at this point — to repeat a million times — we have become revolutionaries. Not in the neoliberal performative identity-bollocks way. But actually, literally **revolutionary**. Even Colombian President, Petro Gustavo, [put it plainly](https://x.com/petrogustavo/status/1993334757745135664?s=20&ref=rogerhallam.com): > “I know that decarbonisation requires a transformation on a global scale, a revolution. But it must be undertaken if humanity is to live on for millennia, or even millions of years, in the universe.” Reality is no longer ideological. It is existential. > As COP30 drew to a close, the decisions before me were difficult, and I believe I made the right one, grounded in humanity and in the defence of life, which is the guiding purpose of my political project for a renewed progressivism in the world. > > The climate crisis exposes the… > > — Gustavo Petro (@petrogustavo) [November 25, 2025](https://twitter.com/petrogustavo/status/1993334757745135664?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=rogerhallam.com) Gustavo's Full Statement after COP --- ## **The death wish: why elites act against their own survival** The biggest misunderstanding in the world is that people act out of material self-interest. **No.** Many people want to die — and want the world to die with them — because they hate themselves and they hate life so much. This is the death wish. It is supported by a century of psychoanalysis, social psychology, and history: under existential threat, societies often choose self-destruction over transformation. Assemblies must be presented with the evidence of this: 1. Freud’s theory of the death drive (Thanatos), first set out in *Beyond the Pleasure Principle*, describes a recurrent human impulse toward self-destruction and repetition even when it leads to harm. 2. Erich Fromm, in *The Anatomy of Human Destructiveness*, showed how modern bureaucratic and technocratic elites often develop necrophilic tendencies — an emotional attachment to control, abstraction and death rather than life. 3. Ernest Becker’s *The Denial of Death* demonstrated how societies cling to failing “immortality projects” — states, economies, ideologies — even when defending them produces real mass death. 4. This insight is reinforced by decades of experimental work in Terror Management Theory (Greenberg, Pyszczynski, Solomon), which shows that under conditions of heightened mortality awareness people become more authoritarian, more aggressive and more willing to support destructive systems, even against their own material interests. The repeated historical pattern of elites knowingly destroying the very systems they depend on — from late Rome to pre-revolutionary Europe to today’s fossil economy — fits this psychological picture far better than any rational-actor model. What we are seeing is not rational self-interest, but the death wish operating at a civilisational scale. Why else do capitalists knowingly act in a way that will destroy capitalism? Gunther Thallinger of Allianz SE, one of the world’s largest insurance companies, spells it out: **“The financial system as we know it ceases to exist and capitalism ceases to be viable at 3°C.”** A few years ago, I sat down with a director of E3G — a leading climate think tank. Privately, he admitted that the “death project” will destroy the British state. Publicly, he would never say it. Yet elites continue to accelerate the trajectory toward 3°C. This is not rational self-interest. It is civilisation-wide self-destruction. [Climate crisis on track to destroy capitalism, warns top insurerAction urgently needed to save the conditions under which markets – and civilisation itself – can operate, says senior Allianz figure![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/icon/apple-touch-icon-512-1.png)The GuardianDamian Carrington![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/thumbnail/5252.jpg)](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/apr/03/climate-crisis-on-track-to-destroy-capitalism-warns-allianz-insurer?ref=rogerhallam.com) Here's an example of suchelite madness: Heathrow’s third runway. The news last week is that it will finally be built by 2035. Just as the world hits 2°C. Just as the global economy collapses. Just as flying becomes impossible. But don’t worry — there will be a “full public consultation by July next year.” This is the death wish as public policy. [Heathrow airport’s £33bn third runway plan chosen by governmentScheme includes plan to move the M25 and could mean up to 760 more planes in the skies around London every day![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/icon/apple-touch-icon-512-2.png)The GuardianGwyn Topham![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/thumbnail/7240.jpg)](https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/nov/25/heathrow-airport-third-runway-plan-government-m25?ref=rogerhallam.com) --- ## **Even the weather becomes a crime, not a climate** The Irish example illustrates this perfectly. This week, the Irish Refugee Council described government plans to place new obstacles in the path of refugees seeking permanent asylum in Ireland as “deeply alarming.” These moves, flagged by justice minister Jim O’Callaghan, come in the wake of the UK’s newly announced crackdown on asylum applications. In recent weeks, both the Taoiseach and Tánaiste have also hardened their rhetoric, stressing that Ireland must not become an “outlier” within Europe when it comes to accepting refugees. The unspoken assumption behind all of this is clear: that migration will always be *inwards* — that Ireland will remain a place of relative safety, while others flee collapse elsewhere. But this assumption is historically naïve and scientifically reckless. Ireland’s own history is defined by forced mass migration. After 1845, around two million Irish people fled famine and destitution in just a single decade. Liberal politics likes to treat that as ancient history, something that could never happen again. But it could — and on current trajectories, it very likely will. What is barely discussed in Irish political life is the growing risk of a collapse of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), the massive ocean current that carries heat from the tropics northwards and gives Ireland its temperate climate. Iceland, Sweden and Denmark now openly treat this risk as an existential national security issue. Iceland has formally designated a potential AMOC collapse as a direct threat to the nation. Ireland, by contrast, relegates it to a footnote. Yet the science is stark. A growing “cold blob” of fresh meltwater between Greenland and Ireland — caused by accelerating ice loss from Greenland’s glaciers — is disrupting the ocean conveyor. The AMOC has already weakened by around 15 percent, and multiple studies suggest we may be approaching a tipping point. More than 40 international climate scientists have warned that a shutdown would have “devastating and irreversible impacts” across the North Atlantic region. For Ireland, this would not mean gentle cooling. It would mean rapid temperature drops, the collapse of grass-based agriculture, food shortages, mass livestock culls, superstorms driven by extreme temperature gradients, and potentially months-long semi-frozen conditions. In short: **the destruction of the material basis of Irish society**. In such a scenario, millions of Irish people would likely be forced to migrate in search of survival — just as their ancestors did. And this is the crucial point. NO, a big freeze would NOT make the Irish “climate refugees.” They would be victims of an **elite-imposed death project** — a crime. Climate is not the murderer. The elites are. Climate is the knife; the murderer is the one who uses it. Decades of political choices — continued fossil fuel expansion, deliberate delay, systematic underinvestment in resilience, and the refusal to act proportionately to scientific warnings — would be what destroyed Irish livelihoods and forced people to flee. Calling that “climate migration” is a moral evasion. It disguises agency. It hides culpability. This is why John Locke — the idol of the liberal order — justified rebellion against rulers who destroy life. When governments knowingly enact policies that make survival impossible, they dissolve the social contract themselves. The bitter irony is obvious. Politicians who today posture about “getting tough” on migrants may find that, within a generation, Irish people themselves are knocking on locked borders — wondering who exactly will welcome them. These are not abstract future questions. They are the logical endpoint of the death project already under way. [John Gibbons: A big freeze could turn the Irish into climate refugeesWe should reflect on ‘get-tough’ proposals on immigration: If the Amoc currents that moderate Ireland’s climate fail, temperatures will plunge, making grass-based agriculture impossible![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/icon/apple-touch-icon-2.png)Irish ExaminerJohn Gibbons![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/thumbnail/4875774_16_seoimageog_GettyImages-2162493444_1_.jpg)](https://www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/commentanalysis/arid-41749716.html?ref=rogerhallam.com) --- ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2024/03/roger-zeit-1-1.JPG) ## Join Me In the Revolution of Our Lives Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No nonsense. Change your mind anytime. ## **The numbers don’t lie: it’s over 2°C and rising** Here is the most important news in the world right now, from the godfather of climate science, James Hansen: **“The goal to keep global warming under 2°C is now implausible.”** The cost of closing the gap using carbon capture is $2.4–5 trillion per year, and rising beyond reach. This fact is more important than Trump, more important than COP, more important than any diplomatic process happening today. It is the mathematical announcement of collapse. [Warning! This “Colorful Chart” is Censored by IPCCJames Hansen, Pushker Kharecha and Dylan Morgan![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/icon/icon.svg)Climate UncensoredJames Hansen![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/thumbnail/https-3A-2F-2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com-2Fpublic-2Fimages-2F3b717b9b-5b48-4da5-bf85-f28b2c6c4f4a_973x477.png)](https://jimehansen.substack.com/p/warning-this-colorful-chart-is-censored) --- ## **The Iron Law of History** David Lammy’s move to [remove the right to trial by jury](https://www.theguardian.com/law/2025/nov/20/moj-to-remove-right-to-trial-by-jury-for-thousands-of-cases-in-controversial-overhaul?ref=rogerhallam.com) for thousands of cases is being sold as a technical fix to a technical problem. The courts are clogged. Backlogs are huge. Victims are waiting years. Defendants “game the system.” Something, we are told, simply *has* to be done. But this is how the iron law of history actually works. It always presents itself as an administrative necessity, never as a political choice. Here is the pattern, in four steps. 1. **The rich get richer because they’re already rich.** Over decades, wealth concentrates. Power follows wealth. This is not accidental; it is the normal functioning of capitalism. 2. **That wealth concentration makes elites powerful enough to stop paying taxes.** Through avoidance, exemptions, deregulation, and political capture, the tax base erodes. The state is deliberately starved of resources. 3. **Which means the state can no longer afford to provide social support or administer justice properly.** Courts are underfunded. Judges are overstretched. Cases pile up. Victims wait years. Defendants rot on remand. Everyone experiences “justice delayed,” because the system has been hollowed out by design. 4. **Which makes people so angry that…** Revolutions happen that destroy the wealth of the rich — because they were pathologically greedy (and dumb). What we are seeing with jury trials is step three being misdescribed as step one. The government claims criminals are “laughing in the dock,” exploiting jury trials to delay justice. But this narrative carefully avoids the obvious question: *why is the system so broken that justice takes four years to deliver?* Why is there a backlog of nearly 80,000 cases? Why are judges demoralised, courts under-resourced, and victims abandoned? The answer is not juries. The answer is power. Rather than taxing wealth, rebuilding public institutions, and restoring the material basis of justice, the state does what late-stage states always do: it **removes rights from ordinary people to compensate for elite failure**. Jury trials are not being abolished because they are unjust. They are being abolished because the state no longer has the capacity to sustain them — and refuses to confront why. This is why 90% of the Criminal Bar Association opposes the change. This is why racial justice groups warn of increased miscarriages of justice. This is why public trust will collapse further. When the state cannot deliver justice, it redefines justice downward. [MoJ to remove right to trial by jury for thousands of cases in controversial overhaulExclusive: Courts minister says change needed to stop criminals opting for juries to delay cases, sometimes by years, and clear huge backlog![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/icon/apple-touch-icon-512-3.png)The GuardianJessica Elgot![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/thumbnail/6830.jpg)](https://www.theguardian.com/law/2025/nov/20/moj-to-remove-right-to-trial-by-jury-for-thousands-of-cases-in-controversial-overhaul?ref=rogerhallam.com) And history is merciless here. When states stop administering justice fairly, legitimacy collapses. When legitimacy collapses, people stop consenting. When people stop consenting, repression increases. And when repression increases, revolutions follow — not because people are radical, but because the system leaves them no other route. Elites always think they are being pragmatic at this stage. They always say the “stakes are incredibly high.” They always promise this is temporary, proportionate, unavoidable. They are always wrong. Because what they are actually doing is sawing off the branch they are sitting on. The dismantling of jury trials is not a solution to crisis — it is a symptom of terminal decline. This is how revolutions happen. --- ## **Just Do It** The greatest liberal delusion is the idea that pathological power doesn’t exist. This was on display again at COP30, where we were told that if governments *just* keep existing promises on renewables, energy efficiency and methane, nearly 1°C of warming could be avoided. Bill Hare summed it up perfectly: "*the targets have already been negotiated, they *just* need to be put into practice."* Just. As if elites are well-meaning people who have simply not got round to saving the world. As if thirty years of delay were a technical glitch. As if fossil capitalism is waiting politely to be implemented out of existence. No. The elites are not failing to act. They are refusing to act — because the system rewards refusal. The targets are not new. The science is not new. The technology is not missing. What is missing is conflict with power. And that absence is not accidental. Liberal climate analysis treats power as an inconvenience, something to be “managed” or “negotiated.” But pathological power does not negotiate itself away. It captures states, disciplines politicians, and ensures that promises substitute for action. If elites genuinely intended to deliver these targets, they would already be confronting the fossil fuel industry head-on. Instead, they expand oil and gas, approve airports, and celebrate another round of pledges. “Just do it” is not realism. It is denial. The elites are not paralysed. They are choosing destruction — and the liberal refusal to acknowledge that choice is part of the problem. [Keeping promises on renewables, energy efficiency and methane ‘would avoid nearly 1C of global heating’Analysis published at Cop30 summit shows adhering to pledges offers world hope of avoiding climate breakdown![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/icon/apple-touch-icon-512-4.png)The GuardianFiona Harvey![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/thumbnail/3448.jpg)](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/nov/19/keeping-promises-on-renewables-energy-efficiency-and-methane-would-avoid-nearly-1c-of-global-heating?ref=rogerhallam.com) --- # **CONCLUSION: Revolution or Death** If you follow the logic of all this — the death wish, elite degeneration, intentional refusal, mathematical inevitability of warming — then only one conclusion remains: **The elites will not save us because they cannot save themselves.** **Capitalism will not survive because it is choosing not to.** At this point, we have become revolutionaries. Not because of ideology. Not because of romanticism. Because **reality itself has become revolutionary**. The system is ending. The only question left is whether we participate consciously in shaping what comes next — or are dragged into catastrophe by elites who would rather die than change. Share --- For more of my take on the liberal class, you can grab my book, [*50 Articles The Media Wouldn’t Publis*](https://rev21.earth/product/50-articles-the-media-wouldnt-publish-paperback/?ref=rogerhallam.com)[*h*](https://lnk.bio/rogerhallam?ref=rogerhallam.com), which brings together six years of blog posts, prison notebooks and essays from the founding of XR to the last year in prison. It's now available straight from the Rev21 Shop, so no Big Tech or Amazon involved in getting you your radical texts...! [50 Articles The Media Wouldn’t Publish (Paperback)The writings of a political prisoner, rebel, and climate truth-teller, Roger Hallam, who exposes the lies of governments, the failures \[...\]![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/icon/favicon.png)Revolution in the 21st Century![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/thumbnail/50-articles-book-3D-698x1024.jpg)](https://rev21.earth/product/50-articles-the-media-wouldnt-publish-paperback/?ref=rogerhallam.com) Already, rebels around the world have picked up 20**0 copies, with e**very purchase helping spread Rev21's work. [Or Make a One-Off Donation To Support Our Work](https://buy.stripe.com/6oEbLTaRk22QgQU6oo?ref=rogerhallam.com) --- ### 📕 **Here’s how you can get a copy of my books:** - **Free copies for paid subscribers**: All paid subscribers to Roger's blog can receive a free ebook. Download links are at the bottom of this post or on Roger's [books page](https://rogerhallam.com/page-books/). Thank you for being so supportive! (If you have any problems downloading, email us) - **Print copies for Revolutionary Members**: If you donate £20 or more, print copies are now finally available! [**S**ign up](https://rev21.earth/books/revolutionary-subscribers-gift/?ref=rogerhallam.com) to receive your copy. First posting has just begun! [Upgrade your support](#/portal/account/plans) - **Or buy it!** If you’re a free subscriber, you can [grab it here](https://rev21.earth/product/50-articles-the-media-wouldnt-publish-paperback/?ref=rogerhallam.com). - If you know reviewers, journalists, academics, or fellow organisers who should read this book, **get them a copy** or pass on the links. Personal recommendations are powerful. [Grab a copy](https://rev21.earth/product/50-articles-the-media-wouldnt-publish-paperback/?ref=rogerhallam.com) If you need any help with this, you can always email us at roger@rev21.earth, and I or one of my team of volunteers will slowly get back to you ❤️ _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 📰 My Top Story of 2025 URL: https://rogerhallam.com/my-top-story-of-2025/ Last updated: 2026-01-02T08:37:33.000Z Unquestionably, the biggest news story of 2025 was [800,000 people registering interest in Your Party](https://news.sky.com/story/jeremy-corbyn-reveals-the-number-of-people-who-have-joined-your-party-13463413?ref=rogerhallam.com) – the new leftwing political party founded by Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana – when it launched in the summer. I was about to get out of prison at the time and, in a slightly mad rush, wrote a short book called [Your Party: Grasping the Enormity of the Moment](https://rev21.earth/product/your-party-paperback/?ref=rogerhallam.com) during my last ten days inside. The day after I got out, I gave a presentation to Sultana and her team on how they could get 1.5 million people plus to sign up to the party, using Zoom calls and a national door-knocking campaign. Everyone was going, “Wow, yes, let’s do it.” Alas, it was not to be. But that is not the story here. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2024/03/roger-zeit-1-1.JPG) ## Join Me In the Revolution of Our Lives Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No nonsense. Change your mind anytime. The story is that there is massive social repression in this end-times historical moment, and as soon as people see an escape route from our descent into a hell of rupture, collapse, and fascism, millions of people are going to rush towards it. The huge show of interest in a new leftwing political formation is just one indicator of our collective desperation and desire. The question, of course, is who is going to provide that pathway, and whether they will provide it in time. And if and when it happens, it will be the biggest news story of all time. [Grasp The Enormity of The Moment](https://rev21.earth/product/your-party-paperback/?ref=rogerhallam.com) *The above is my contribution to the Novara Media 2025 News Wrap-up. Read it in full here.* [Novara Media Contributors Share Their Top Stories of 2025 | Novara MediaGrace Blakeley, Micha Frazer-Carroll, Kieran Andrieu, Harriet Williamson and Roger Hallam reflect on the year in politics.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/icon/apple-touch-icon-3.png)Novara Media![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/thumbnail/2025-08-09T163717Z_236622917_MT1SOPAMOPEA711473_RTRMADP_3_SOPA-1200x630.jpg)](https://novaramedia.com/2025/12/30/novara-media-contributors-share-their-top-stories-of-2025/?ref=rogerhallam.com) [Make a One-Off Donation](https://buy.stripe.com/6oEbLTaRk22QgQU6oo?ref=rogerhallam.com) ### 📕 Coming in January: “Suicide”, a book about truth, law, and mass death URL: https://rogerhallam.com/suicide-a-book-about-truth-law-and-mass-death/ Last updated: 2025-12-30T18:13:40.000Z Dear blog friends, The reality we’ve been avoiding is still here, but now I've focused my mind on dissecting it. The result is my new book, ***Suicide: The Political and Legal Implications of Creating Endless Mass Death***, which will be released on **28 January**. This book was written from a prison cell and features a foreword by one of my visitors, the Pulitzer Prize winner Chris Hedges. [Pre-Order Suicide](https://rev21.earth/product/suicide/?ref=rogerhallam.com) In July 2024, I was dragged from a British courtroom for refusing to stay silent about the climate crisis. For conspiracy to cause a public nuisance, I was sentenced to five years in prison — the harshest sentence ever given in the UK for nonviolent civil disobedience. The case made headlines and drew international condemnation. This book is, in part, a response to that moment. Part conventional memoir, part manifesto, it’s an attempt to think clearly and honestly about what it means when a society knowingly creates mass death, and then uses its legal and political systems to punish those who tell the truth about it. Drawing on court cases, climate science, political theory, and lived experience inside the British legal system, the book examines the moral and legal failures of a society sleepwalking into catastrophe. It asks what happens when “law and order” become tools for denial, and when justice is turned against those trying to prevent harm. In the age of climate collapse, telling the truth has increasingly been treated as a criminal act. This book looks directly at that reality. Please preorder ***Suicide*** on our new [Rev21 shop](https://rev21.earth/product/suicide/?ref=rogerhallam.com), alongside my other books. If you are a *Revolutionary* donor to this blog, you can sign up to receive your copies of all my latest books [here](https://rev21.earth/books/revolutionary-subscribers-gift/?ref=rogerhallam.com). Thanks, Roger [Pre-Order My New Book](https://rev21.earth/product/suicide/?ref=rogerhallam.com) ### 🎁 Presents for people who are done with bullshit URL: https://rogerhallam.com/presents-for-people-who-are-done-with-bullshit/ Last updated: 2025-12-17T16:42:28.000Z The holidays are coming. Which means a lot of plastic crap and the annual ritual of pretending everything is fine while the world burns. Or—you could give a book. Specifically, two books that don’t lie to you. **📕** [***50 Articles the Media Wouldn’t Publish***](https://rev21.earth/product/50-articles-the-media-wouldnt-publish-paperback/?ref=rogerhallam.com) This is exactly what it sounds like. Fifty pieces that corporate media either ignored, censored, or politely pretended didn’t exist. Because they say the quiet part out loud: about power, collapse, resistance, and why “business as usual” is a death cult. I lay out the case for radical nonviolent revolution with the clarity and urgency that have made him one of the most controversial voices in modern activism. If you’re tired of being gaslit by headlines and hot takes, this one’s for you. --- **📗** [***Grasping the Enormity of the Moment***](https://rev21.earth/product/your-party-paperback/?ref=rogerhallam.com) This one is about power. Real power.Written from prison, I distill decades of organising experience into a blunt question: *why do movements keep losing—and how do we start winning?* It’s a radical guide to building political power that draws on global struggles from California farm workers to Chilean popular movements to show why traditional parties fail—and why saving democracy may require abandoning them altogether. --- These books were produced by volunteers. No corporations. No PR teams. Every copy shared helps spread ideas meant to be used, argued over, and turned into action. Both books make excellent gifts:– for the relative who’s “political but confused”– for the activist who feels burnt out and stuck– for anyone who knows something is deeply wrong, but hasn’t found language or courage for it yet Or, honestly, buy them for yourself — as a way to stay grounded and engaged when it feels like possibilities are narrowing. Order them here: → [*50 Articles the Media Wouldn’t Publish*](https://rev21.earth/product/50-articles-the-media-wouldnt-publish-paperback/?ref=rogerhallam.com) → [*Grasping the Enormity of the Moment*](https://rev21.earth/product/your-party-paperback/?ref=rogerhallam.com) You can find [all recent titles (ebook & paperback) here](https://rev21.earth/books/?ref=rogerhallam.com), or wherever you get your books. These books won’t save the world. But they might help you stop lying to yourself about how it actually changes. ### 💌 Out of Prison. Back to Organising URL: https://rogerhallam.com/out-of-prison-back-to-organising/ Last updated: 2025-12-16T09:30:47.000Z Hi, Over the past months, I have remained fully committed to continuing the work I was arrested and imprisoned for — the creation of a global nonviolent revolutionary movement opposing the greatest crime in human history. In July of last year, I received a five-year sentence for making a 20-minute Zoom speech calling for civil disobedience. I was not at all involved in the actions or the planning. I was there to explain — as I have done hundreds of times before — why we must peacefully step up and stop the decimation of the lives and livelihoods of billions of people by the continued emission of carbon. [Support Roger's Work](https://chuffed.org/project/rev21?ref=rogerhallam.com) My sentence was the highest since the Second World War for peaceful civil disobedience, and the reason is obvious. Stopping the burning of fossil fuels at the speed needed involves challenging the most powerful political and corporate organisations in the UK and internationally. I have been the UK’s most successful campaigner since my work for Extinction Rebellion in 2018–19 and then went on to found the largest climate civil disobedience organisations in the Western world. At the time of my imprisonment, I was doing vital international networking work to raise money and bring people together to create a global resistance movement to the terror that is being imposed upon us. The world is going to go over 2°C in the next decade. Let’s be in no doubt about what will happen: the appalling suffering and injustice will be beyond imagination. At the same time, precisely because of the dire situation, there is enormous potential to build a global revolutionary movement powered by and serving the people — an alternative to fascism waiting in the wings. This is the most crucial moment in history, and it requires money to build solid organisations. I am writing now that I am free to ask for your support in raising £50,000. [Help Reach the £50k Goal](https://chuffed.org/project/rev21?ref=rogerhallam.com) I am running this fundraiser to support vital work now that I am free and organising again. I will take none of your money for myself. My team will use it for the costs involved in continuing my work — building a campaign team and the platforms for those ideas to spread — and supporting the dozens of activists still facing repression and imprisonment. This is not the time to pretend this money is just for another campaign. Those days have gone. If you have the money, think of what you could give and then double it again. Because it isn’t going to be worth much in a decade, is it? Give £1,000\. Give £10,000\. If you don't have much, give whatever you can — it’s greatly appreciated and needed. I am no longer in prison, but I remain fully committed to spending all my time supporting the movements in any way possible. I am organising, writing, recording, and communicating with people worldwide. This is my life. Thank you for your support, and please share this with five friends. Yours, Roger Hallam [Extinction Rebellion founder to tackle street homelessness and drug addiction in BrixtonNew community organising group Assemble held a meeting on Thursday evening at the Edmundsbury Community Hall to hear local views on the problems of street homelessness, drug addiction and mental il…![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/icon/cropped-buzz512.png)John Lubbock![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/thumbnail/image4-e1759517009948.jpg)](https://www.brixtonbuzz.com/2025/10/extinction-rebellion-founder-to-tackle-street-homelessness-and-drug-addiction-in-brixton/?ref=rogerhallam.com) [Donate](https://chuffed.org/project/rev21?ref=rogerhallam.com) ### 🦜 The Liberal Climate Delusion: Why Euphemism Sustains Mass Death URL: https://rogerhallam.com/why-euphemism-sustains-mass-death/ Last updated: 2025-12-12T07:47:16.000Z We are living through the most dangerous period in human history, yet the public conversation about climate breakdown remains stuck in liberal euphemism, self-censorship, and the relentless softening of truth. Even those who know what is coming rarely say it plainly. The death of billions is turned into a headline question mark. Collapse becomes “risk.” Civilisational breakdown becomes “concern.” And the liberal media — especially The Guardian — continues to present a fantasy world where collapse looks like a snowy cycling scene rather than the violent unravelling of states. This piece is a collection of my recent posts about **how liberal culture avoids naming reality**, how this avoidance enables mass death, and why honesty — brutal, undiluted honesty — is now a moral obligation. --- ## **How even the best of us censor ourselves** My friend Chris Ketcham, the US journalist, recently published an article titled: "[Two Billion Dead at 2C Warming?](https://www.counterpunch.org/2025/11/26/two-billion-dead-at-2c-warming/?ref=rogerhallam.com)" [Two Billion Dead at 2C Warming?Doomscrolling, an addictive habit, can be destructive if not managed – the way an alcoholic, say, manages drinking herself to death. It must be done with![](https://static.ghost.org/v5.0.0/images/link-icon.svg)CounterPunch.orgChristopher Ketcham![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/thumbnail/IMG_3115-scaled.jpeg)](https://www.counterpunch.org/2025/11/26/two-billion-dead-at-2c-warming/?ref=rogerhallam.com) Already, you can see the problem. The question mark. The softening. The hedging. So here are my three points. 1. If you read the last three paragraphs, you will “notice” that at 3C there will be a predicted 4 billion dead. So why not headline *that*? If reporting on a war, why headline 1 million dead on one front while ignoring the 2 million dead on another? 2. Why the question mark? This is a prediction by the science team at Exeter University and the UK insurance sector. When a doctor tells you your cancer is terminal, you don’t write “My cancer is terminal?” It *is*. It is the main scenario. 3. And, small detail, Appendix A actually says **“more than 2 billion”** and **“more than 4 billion.”** But sure, let’s not worry about an extra few hundred million dead young people. After all, we are all Stalinists now. Self-censorship is not accidental — it is learned, encouraged, and rewarded. The climate industry trains people to soften the blow, to make horror palatable, to turn the murder of nations into a polite policy debate. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2024/03/roger-zeit-1-1.JPG) ## Join Me In the Revolution of Our Lives Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No nonsense. Change your mind anytime. --- ## **The Guardian’s fantasy world** Nowhere is this liberal delusion more absurd than in The Guardian. Their coverage regularly portrays collapse using cosy images: a hardy cyclist on a snowy hill, a quaint winter scene, a picturesque inconvenience. [Scientists warn of severe climate-related risks to UK economy and securityExperts lay out scale of changes needed in ‘first-of-its-kind national emergency briefing’ in Westminster![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/icon/apple-touch-icon-512.png)The GuardianDamien Gayle![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/thumbnail/2789.jpg)](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/nov/27/limate-related-risks-uk-economy-security?CMP=Share%5FiOSApp%5FOther&ref=rogerhallam.com) But here is the actual reality behind what they refuse to show: 1. The street lights will be off because the grid has collapsed. 2. People will not have parked cars; they won’t be able to afford them. 3. They won’t be living in those houses because Britain will have undergone mass migration. 4. Nobody will be cycling around in –20°C temperatures unless they want to die. The Guardian’s image suggests “charm.” The actual scenario is **bodies piled against borders**, because the French and Germans — dealing with hundreds of millions fleeing Africa and the Middle East — will not be welcoming starving Brits. This is not a metaphor. It is the straightforward geopolitical consequence of 3°C and above. But liberals cannot show it. House slaves always side with their master. And if the master desires mass death, the role of the house slave is to hide the consequences from the other slaves. **Radical evil.** --- ## **Sex and death: the liberal avoidance ritual** The liberal refusal to name reality resembles a Victorian mother refusing to say the word “sex.” When The Guardian writes about “climate,” what they really mean is “death,” but they cannot speak it aloud: - “how little time is left” — left until *what*? - “exposed to heatwaves, wildfires and floods” — exposed and then *what happens*? - “secure the world’s future” — because our future may not exist? They never finish the sentence. They cannot say: **you will die; your parents will die; your children will die; nations will fall; states will collapse**. Instead, we get therapeutic vagueness. A linguistic lullaby for a dying civilisation. --- ## **COP as theatre: the liberal game of death** Consider COP. Every year, liberals play the same dumb, deadly game. The “bad guys” block progress completely. Then at the last moment they concede some meaningless line, allowing liberals to declare a “partial victory.” This gives them justification to remain “at the table,” which is exactly what the fossil states need: liberal cover. As Martin Luther King said, the greatest opponents are not the extremists but the moderates. Today the stakes are billions of lives, not millions. Yet liberals cling to the table like security blankets. The Guardian is a masterclass in this post-modern obfuscation. They turn objective reality — the death of billions — into a set of “subjective impressions”: - “fears Cop could disappoint” - “Indigenous groups *believe*…” - “negotiations *risk* failing…” - “some observers warn…” - “ambitious delivery…” - “complicated dynamics…” This is the linguistic framework of evil. It turns atrocity into management-speak. It turns the largest crime in human history into a “risk profile.” It turns death into a conversation. If you want to understand liberal culture, read a Guardian climate article. If you want to understand evil, read two. --- # **The Age of Honesty or the Age of Death** We are entering a period where euphemism itself becomes a form of violence. Every question mark where a full stop belongs. Every snowy photo hiding a mass grave. Every “risk” instead of “certainty.” Every “concern” instead of “collapse.” Every “complication” instead of “crime.” These are not linguistic errors; they are acts of collective self-preservation for a class that cannot bear to speak its own destruction. But honesty is now a revolutionary act. The first task of any movement capable of preserving life is to **name reality** — plainly, without flinching, without qualification, without euphemism. Because if we cannot say what is happening, we cannot resist it. Share --- For more of my take on the liberal class, you can grab my book, [*50 Articles The Media Wouldn’t Publis*](https://rev21.earth/product/50-articles-the-media-wouldnt-publish-paperback/?ref=rogerhallam.com)[*h*](https://lnk.bio/rogerhallam?ref=rogerhallam.com), which brings together six years of blog posts, prison notebooks and essays from the founding of XR to the last year in prison. It's now available straight from the Rev21 Shop, so no Big Tech or Amazon involved in getting you your radical texts...! [50 Articles The Media Wouldn’t Publish (Paperback)The writings of a political prisoner, rebel, and climate truth-teller, Roger Hallam, who exposes the lies of governments, the failures \[...\]![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/icon/favicon.png)Revolution in the 21st Century![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/thumbnail/50-articles-book-3D-698x1024.jpg)](https://rev21.earth/product/50-articles-the-media-wouldnt-publish-paperback/?ref=rogerhallam.com) Already, rebels around the world have picked up 20**0 copies, with e**very purchase helping spread Rev21's work. [Or Make a One-Off Donation To Support Our Work](https://buy.stripe.com/6oEbLTaRk22QgQU6oo?ref=rogerhallam.com) --- ### 📕 **Here’s how you can get a copy of my books:** - **Free copies for paid subscribers**: All paid subscribers to Roger's blog can receive a free ebook. Download links are at the bottom of this post or on Roger's [books page](https://rogerhallam.com/page-books/). Thank you for being so supportive! (If you have any problems downloading, email us) - **Print copies for Revolutionary Members**: If you donate £20 or more, print copies are now finally available! [**S**ign up](https://rev21.earth/books/revolutionary-subscribers-gift/?ref=rogerhallam.com) to receive your copy. First posting has just begun! [Upgrade your support](#/portal/account/plans) - **Or buy it!** If you’re a free subscriber, you can [grab it here](https://rev21.earth/product/50-articles-the-media-wouldnt-publish-paperback/?ref=rogerhallam.com). - If you know reviewers, journalists, academics, or fellow organisers who should read this book, **get them a copy** or pass on the links. Personal recommendations are powerful. [Grab a copy](https://rev21.earth/product/50-articles-the-media-wouldnt-publish-paperback/?ref=rogerhallam.com) If you need any help with this, you can always email us at roger@rev21.earth, and I or one of my team of volunteers will slowly get back to you ❤️ _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 😴 The UK National Emergency Briefing — Still Not Waking Up the World URL: https://rogerhallam.com/still-not-waking-up-the-world/ Last updated: 2025-12-09T06:09:53.000Z Last week, Robert Hunziker wrote in *CounterPunch* how the **“**[**UK National Emergency Briefing Wakes Up World.”**](https://www.counterpunch.org/2025/12/05/uk-national-emergency-briefing-wakes-up-world/?ref=rogerhallam.com) The piece reports on the National Emergency Briefing held in Westminster on 27 November, where leading UK scientists warned MPs, peers, business leaders and the media about the existential threat of climate breakdown and the need for a war-time mobilisation. [UK National Emergency Briefing Wakes Up WorldAn impressive display of world class scientists recently (Nov. 27th) held a UK National Emergency Briefing, informing the world of impending climate![](https://static.ghost.org/v5.0.0/images/link-icon.svg)CounterPunch.orgRobert Hunziker![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/thumbnail/noaa-NBwP2jjnATE-unsplash-1-scaled.jpg)](https://www.counterpunch.org/2025/12/05/uk-national-emergency-briefing-wakes-up-world/?ref=rogerhallam.com) On the surface, the event looks impressive: a gathering of the establishment, addressed by respected scientists, issuing yet another urgent warning. But underneath, it is simply the same information-led method we have seen for years, and it will clearly not wake the world up. It feels like a ritual rather than a rupture — a familiar performance of concern without any meaningful shift in strategy. It is madness, defined as repeating the same action even after it is clear the approach fails. In other words, talking to the great and the good (i.e. the liberal elite, also taking us to mass death) about “the science” and the “facts” will not change anything. We have tried this for decades. The emissions curve still rises. The ecosystem still collapses. The political class still looks away. Sanity requires a plurality of approaches when previous methods have failed. So why not have: 1. A sociologist who will explain [why elites never reform themselves](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron%5Flaw%5Fof%5Foligarchy?ref=rogerhallam.com) after a certain point of degeneration, and so now revolutions are inevitable. 2. A Freudian psychologist who will explain why people want to die due to the [death wish](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beyond%5Fthe%5FPleasure%5FPrinciple?ref=rogerhallam.com), because they find life intolerable. 3. A political scientist who will explain that everyone in the audience will be seen as complicit by the next generation, and it’s a no-brainer that they will be on trial for destroying UK society and the state. Inaction is treason. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2024/03/roger-zeit-1-1.JPG) ## Join Me In the Revolution of Our Lives Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No nonsense. Change your mind anytime. These perspectives would at least acknowledge the social, psychological and political realities that actually determine whether mass action occurs. Without them, the briefing becomes yet another polite appeal to reason in a context where reason is no longer decisive. In summary, in an absolute emergency, if you aim to persuade the entire audience, you will get no one to do what is necessary. If you want effective action, you have to apply the law of collective action, which means alienating the majority of the audience (with the truth of points 1–3) in order to get the minority to do what is necessary. This is not a moral claim; it is a sociological one. Movements are not built on unanimity. They are built on minorities willing to act while the majority remains paralysed. What is effective is nonviolent civil disobedience to the point of the carbon state putting you in prison, triggering a backfire response of public uprising. But none of the speakers are willing to do this either for virtue-ethical or utilitarian reasons, which, of course, sends the subliminal message that what they are saying is not a big deal, and so people don’t think it is a big deal. The public takes its cues from the speaker’s behaviour, not their words. If the scientists speaking will not risk anything — their careers, their freedom, their comfort — why would anyone else believe we are in an emergency? None of the speakers will go to prison to save our society and state – and that is why there will be revolutions. They have left it way too late for anything else. When the establishment refuses to act proportionately to reality, the only remaining path is rupture. That is the idiocy of excessive cleverness. Share --- For more of my take on the liberal class, you can grab my book, [*50 Articles The Media Wouldn’t Publis*](https://rev21.earth/product/50-articles-the-media-wouldnt-publish-paperback/?ref=rogerhallam.com)[*h*](https://lnk.bio/rogerhallam?ref=rogerhallam.com), which brings together six years of blog posts, prison notebooks and essays from the founding of XR to the last year in prison. It's now available straight from the Rev21 Shop, so no Big Tech or Amazon involved in getting you your radical texts...! [50 Articles The Media Wouldn’t Publish (Paperback)The writings of a political prisoner, rebel, and climate truth-teller, Roger Hallam, who exposes the lies of governments, the failures \[...\]![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/icon/favicon.png)Revolution in the 21st Century![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/thumbnail/50-articles-book-3D-698x1024.jpg)](https://rev21.earth/product/50-articles-the-media-wouldnt-publish-paperback/?ref=rogerhallam.com) Already, rebels around the world have picked up 20**0 copies, with e**very purchase helping spread Rev21's work. --- ## **A Pathway to Action** If you’ve read this far, you already know the truth: information alone will not save us. Only organised people taking decisive, collective action can shift a collapsing system. So here’s the pathway — simple, practical, and ready for you to step into. ### **1\. Watch the Blueprint** Last week I spoke with Ash Sarkar at Novara Media about the real question: *how do we actually change the system?* ### **2\. Join the Blueprint Talk — This Thursday** On Thursday night, join me and the Assemble team to hear the plans in motion and how you can take part. This is where you plug into a community committed to real action — not just commentary. **BLUEPRINT TALK — Thursday at 7pm (UK)** **REGISTER:** [https://tinyurl.com/88njahms](https://tinyurl.com/88njahms?ref=rogerhallam.com) [Welcome! You are invited to join a meeting: New Ways to Mobilise - Campaigns, Elections, Mutual Aid. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the meeting.New Ways to Mobilise -Campaigns, Elections, Mutual Aid. Zoom meet up: Thursday 7pm 11th December https://us06web.zoom.us/j/86346636200?pwd=w5NM6lC9gY8FgbIoyoxIp5s4pYma9W.1 Following on from Roger Hallam’s Novara Interview this call will look at effective and practical ways to create participation and network to build the movements needed to stop the rise of the far right and create community based solidarity. It will involve a summary of key ways of working/organising, what is presently happening around the country, and plans for mobilisation events to bring people together and get things on the go. If you cannot make it and want to come to future zooms then email contact@timetoassemble.org. A full agenda will be sent out before the zoom. Thanks![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/icon/zoom-1.ico)Zoom![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/thumbnail/37525edd-0670-41a2-9608-e0fe99dfeb5a.png)](https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/XTIFNJnXSWmAOYZzXSKLHA?ref=rogerhallam.com#/registration) ### **3\. Get Trained — Become Part of the Core Minority That Acts** These trainings are the backbone of the movement. This is how we build the disciplined, trusted, courageous groups that can actually force political change. #### **Assemble Training Programme (All in UK Time Zone)** **Community Outreach & Mobilisation Training** *Wednesday 10th Dec at 7pm* Register: [https://tinyurl.com/yuxk43we](https://tinyurl.com/yuxk43we?ref=rogerhallam.com) **Facilitator / Small Group Guide Training** *Tuesday 16th Dec at 7pm* Register: [https://tinyurl.com/43wrks89](https://tinyurl.com/43wrks89?ref=rogerhallam.com) **How To Run An Assembly Training** *Wednesday 17th Dec at 7pm* Register: [https://tinyurl.com/ywp2rzsr](https://tinyurl.com/ywp2rzsr?ref=rogerhallam.com) --- ## **This is the work.** If the so-called “leaders” won’t act, then we must. If the establishment won’t rise to the emergency, then ordinary people — organised, trained, disciplined — will. Revolutions are not abstract. They are built through small groups, week by week, person by person. **Join in. Bring others. Become part of the minority that makes the difference.** [Make a One-Off Donation](https://buy.stripe.com/6oEbLTaRk22QgQU6oo?ref=rogerhallam.com) --- ### 📕 **Here’s how you can get a copy of my books:** - **Free copies for paid subscribers**: All paid subscribers to Roger's blog can receive a free ebook. Download links are at the bottom of this post or on Roger's [books page](https://rogerhallam.com/page-books/). Thank you for being so supportive! (If you have any problems downloading, email us) - **Print copies for Revolutionary Members**: If you donate £20 or more, print copies are now finally available! [**S**ign up](https://rev21.earth/books/revolutionary-subscribers-gift/?ref=rogerhallam.com) to receive your copy. First posting has just begun! [Upgrade your support](#/portal/account/plans) - **Or buy it!** If you’re a free subscriber, you can [grab it here](https://rev21.earth/product/50-articles-the-media-wouldnt-publish-paperback/?ref=rogerhallam.com). - If you know reviewers, journalists, academics, or fellow organisers who should read this book, **get them a copy** or pass on the links. Personal recommendations are powerful. [Grab a copy](https://rev21.earth/product/50-articles-the-media-wouldnt-publish-paperback/?ref=rogerhallam.com) If you need any help with this, you can always email us at roger@rev21.earth, and I or one of my team of volunteers will slowly get back to you ❤️ _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### COP: A Crime Beyond Words URL: https://rogerhallam.com/cop-a-crime-beyond-words/ Last updated: 2025-12-05T07:37:20.000Z What can be said about COP – the so-called “climate” conference? Obviously, nothing. No words come close. They reach the foothills at best. They point the way but refuse to go any further. Nothing can describe the depravity, the delusion, the degradation – the utterly appalling evil of playing Russian roulette with eternity. The trampling of God, the banishment of the Spirit, the crucifixion of every son and daughter. All this only gets you so far. There are no words for such evil. There are even fewer words for pretending you are doing good by doing such evil – for knowingly planning the end of all ends. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2025/12/6000.png) Have you no decency? No humanity? Do you not know who you are, where you have come from? How can you deny yourself? How can you have travelled so far off track? How did you get so lost? To want to throw it all away. To hate so much – the other, the world, and finally yourself – what it is, merely, meekly, to be, for a while, here in this time and place between birth and death. To shit on yourself, to sit in that shit, to spread that shit. To make everything shit. To be so, so shit. There are no words for COP. I cannot stand in this any longer. Let me out of here, oh God. Let my time be near. I can bear it no longer. Look. Look at what we have done. What have we done? We are at 1.5°C. 2°C is locked in. After that, [a quarter of the world’s population](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/sep/09/climate-crisis-could-displace-12bn-people-by-2050-report-warns?ref=rogerhallam.com) will have to move. And that is just the beginning. The cascade does not stop. There will be no end. I say again: what have we done? ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2025/12/021_wwf_nm.png) Unbearable – Jens Galschiøt. A polar is literally impaled by a graph of our rising emissions. --- [Revolution in the 21st Century](https://rev21.earth/?ref=rogerhallam.com) (Rev21) and similar networks are working for what comes next. Training, inspiring, coming together. Preparing – across borders, cultures, and perspectives – to remake the world. To resist until our last breath. To be fully human at the end of the world. [Join Rev21](https://rev21.earth/support/?ref=rogerhallam.com) --- ## Rev21 Induction This workshop introduces the vision, mission, values and strategy of Rev21, as well as our current work and projects. The workshop engages with post-modern theory and the importance of inner transformation to create outer change, while also highlighting the kinds of culture that enable collaboration in tricky, tense and complex times. This is an interactive workshop, and includes innerwork practices and opportunities to share. We anticipate that workshop attendees will include both people who are new to activist organising and culture, as well as those who have already involved themselves substantially, whether in XR, JSO, or elsewhere. Wherever you are on this spectrum, the workshop aims to respect your time, and will likely introduce ideas, framings and/or practices that are new to you. If you're interested to know more or get involved with Rev21, then this is the workshop to attend. You'll be introduced to some of Rev21's cultural practices, and we'll explore ways for you to meet the teams and connect into organising with Rev21\. Come along to find out how... [Sign up for The Rev21 Induction](https://rev21.earth/events/?ref=rogerhallam.com) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get on with the job of sorting it out. [Support](https://rogerhallam.com/#/portal/signup/6517fbb3b89c5400016e9f27/yearly) ### 💀 COP Has Finished. The Death Project Continues. URL: https://rogerhallam.com/cop-has-finished/ Last updated: 2025-12-01T17:18:50.000Z The UN Climate Change Conferences, officially known as the Conference of the Parties (COP) has finished in Belém, Brazil. The most important thing that happened was when Indigenous people forced their way into the conference and blocked the entrances. They chanted **“Our land is not for sale”** and **“We can’t eat money”**. They are on the frontline of the global death project: agribusiness, oil extraction, illegal mining, the violence of landowners and loggers. COP was created to lock them out of decisions. To bring them in only to add colour, to act as tokens, to ask nicely. COP was created to lead them to their deaths. And now, to lead the rest of us to ours. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2025/12/6000.png) One billion dead – one thousand million people – at least, [according to estimates](https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2025/11/fossil-fuel-infrastructure-rights-critical-ecosystems-at-risk/?ref=rogerhallam.com), is only the beginning. COP meets this greatest of all crimes with… roadmaps, consultations, recommendations, targets, promises. Anything other than actual action. COP is the blah blah blah of mundane evil. Anyone, or any organisation, that participates in such obscenity becomes complicit in such obscenity. In the face of such evil, you don’t enter into talks. You resist. [Fossil fuel infrastructure puts rights of 2 billion people at risk520 million children live within 5km of fossil fuel infrastructure.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/icon/apple-touch-icon-1.png)Amnesty International![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/thumbnail/DJI_0022-frame-at-0m15s-1024x576.jpg)](https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2025/11/fossil-fuel-infrastructure-rights-critical-ecosystems-at-risk/?ref=rogerhallam.com) [Revolution in the 21st Century](https://rev21.earth/?ref=rogerhallam.com) and similar networks are working for what comes next. Training, inspiring, coming together. Preparing – across borders, cultures, and perspectives – to remake the world. To resist until our last breath. To be fully human at the end of the world. [Donate to Rev21](https://rev21.earth/support/?ref=rogerhallam.com) --- ## Rev21 Induction This workshop introduces the vision, mission, values and strategy of Rev21, as well as our current work and projects. The workshop engages with post-modern theory and the importance of inner transformation to create outer change, while also highlighting the kinds of culture that enable collaboration in tricky, tense and complex times. This is an interactive workshop, and includes innerwork practices and opportunities to share. We anticipate that workshop attendees will include both people who are new to activist organising and culture, as well as those who have already involved themselves substantially, whether in XR, JSO, or elsewhere. Wherever you are on this spectrum, the workshop aims to respect your time, and will likely introduce ideas, framings and/or practices that are new to you. If you're interested to know more or get involved with Rev21, then this is the workshop to attend. You'll be introduced to some of Rev21's cultural practices, and we'll explore ways for you to meet the teams and connect into organising with Rev21\. Come along to find out how... [Sign up for The Rev21 Induction](https://rev21.earth/events/?ref=rogerhallam.com) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get on with the job of sorting it out. [Support](https://rogerhallam.com/#/portal/signup/6517fbb3b89c5400016e9f27/yearly) ### 🗣️ Why community assemblies will change British politics forever URL: https://rogerhallam.com/community-assemblies/ Last updated: 2025-11-25T14:35:42.000Z > *“Power concedes nothing without a demand” - Frederick Douglass.* The atmosphere is getting heated. Tensions are rising. I’m standing in a corner of an inner city public hall during a community assembly. The room is filled by about 150 people, sat around small tables. The assembly is about to set a demand of the local council. A woman has just stood up and is insisting that “we don’t want a demand, we need engagement”. She makes her declaration with a confidence that betrays a certain social position. A few minutes later a man also gets up to inform the assembly that he is a councillor and so he needs to address everyone on how he is working very hard and doing his best. No doubt this is true. However, if you have been to properly run [assemblies](https://timetoassemble.org/?ref=rogerhallam.com), you will know this is not how they work. People do not just get up and start mouthing off. Discussions occur in small groups so that everyone gets to speak – and listen. The rule is people in the groups select a person to speak for their table. These arrangements ensure everyone can participate in the limited amount of time during the evening event. It’s a proven way to enable the young, the old, the unconfident, and the marginalised to feel listened to, and thus empowered. If people take it upon themselves to speak to the whole room because of “who they are”, the whole thing breaks down. It becomes dominated by the middle aged, the confident, those in the centre of power, those with privilege. But that is the point. The liberal administrative class insists on engagement when the great unwashed of the community are about to make a demand. This is because they know “engagement” will fail to get radical results, as it has for decades. When their power is challenged, they are more than happy to stop their engagement and issue a demand instead: “I am a councillor – a person of standing – and that means I can take up time in this space. I am more important than the rest of the people here.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2024/03/roger-zeit-1-1.JPG) ## Join Me In the Revolution of Our Lives Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No nonsense. Change your mind anytime. This is the deep and vile hypocrisy of power. I remember being interviewed by *UnHerd* for their [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLtACuyUA0o&t=1537s&ref=rogerhallam.com). The interviewer, Freddie Sayers, did the standard move that “civil disobedience is bad because it breaks the law”. I told him everyone breaks the law including, and especially, conservatives – it’s just a matter of whether you feel your core values are being violated. If your core value is power, and if you find it is being challenged, then the rules have to be set aside – as ten thousands of former Labour Party members found out after Starmer became leader. Coming back to the assembly – it’s not like they didn’t know. The rule of not speaking for yourself to the assembly was written down on the intro sheet issued to each person as they came into space. It was explained to everyone in the first five minutes of the event. People are reminded of it by the facilitators in the small groups. They knew. Those that disagree with the rules are of course free to leave. But they are there to disrupt, not engage. Not to see a campaign with a demand, but to make sure there is no campaign. Engagement is for the masses; disruption for the elites. That is the core message of the neo-liberal ideology. But now this edifice of deception is breaking down because everyone knows “it is not working”. And so community assemblies are the new battleground where insurgency goes up against repression. Assemblies are “sites of class conflict”, the administrators against the administrated. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2025/08/Screenshot-2025-08-15-at-6.59.36---PM.png) Getting communities organised – learn more at [https://timetoassemble.org/](https://timetoassemble.org/?ref=rogerhallam.com) The subject of the assembly, in this case, was to create a campaign to get the council to provide proper care and support for those suffering from homelessness, addiction and ill mental health on the streets – the biggest issue to come out of an extensive ten week surveying project. The proposition has a certain innocent simplicity about it, which in the present climate makes it necessarily revolutionary. How dare you suggest that 200,000 homeless people in London might not be an act of nature! Everyone knows that sorting this unsortable problem requires “systemic change”. That is why for our administrators it is impossible. In fact, anything “decent” is now “impossible”. That is why it’s “socialism or barbarism”. This is no longer rhetoric nor ideology. It is social fact. The centre will not hold. Things have gone way too far for far too long. The administrators might be able to break a few rules, create a temporary disruption of the emerging common will but change is coming. After Christmas if the councillors have not acted, and no doubt they will not, independent community candidates will be put up against the old regime. The Labour Party has been in power in this London borough since the Second World War. But all things pass, as they say. And they are about to pass for that Labour councillor, regardless of how long he gives himself to speak. [Get trained to run Assemblies!](https://timetoassemble.org/training-sessions/?ref=rogerhallam.com) --- *This article was initially published in* [The New Statesman](https://www.newstatesman.com/ideas/2025/11/why-community-assemblies-will-change-british-politics-forever?ref=rogerhallam.com) *and is a shortened account of the arguments presented in* [*Roger’s new book*](https://lnk.bio/rogerhallam?ref=rogerhallam.com)*, “Grasping the Enormity of the Moment”, on the responsibilities of the new British political party.* ### 📕 **Here’s how to get a copy :** - **Free copies for paid subscribers**: All paid subscribers to Roger's blog can get a free ebook copy. Links to download are at the bottom of this post or the bottom of Roger's [books page](https://rogerhallam.com/page-books/). Thank you for being so supportive! (If you have any problems downloading, just email us on roger@rev21.earth) - **Print copies for Revolutionary Members**: If you donate £20 or more, you’ll receive a print copy of the book. So, revolutionaries, [sign up](https://forms.gle/tiJvACzfHWfyfjhV7?ref=rogerhallam.com) to receive your copies. (It's never too late to [increase your donation](https://rogerhallam.com/launch-blog-book/#/portal/signup)!). - **Or buy it!** If you’re a free subscriber, you can [purchase the print or e-book](https://lnk.bio/rogerhallam?ref=rogerhallam.com). Please leave a review afterwards to help others find it. [Get The Book](https://lnk.bio/rogerhallam?ref=rogerhallam.com) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2025/09/zour-party-cover-2.png) _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### What I Learned in Prison About Freedom URL: https://rogerhallam.com/what-i-learned-in-prison-about-freedom/ Last updated: 2025-10-20T08:48:48.000Z *The following is an edited transcript of my second talk after release from prison. It takes place at How the Light Gets In, a philosophy festival in London. You can also watch the* [*original recording*](https://youtu.be/lW4WSm%5FSiKw?ref=rogerhallam.com) *or* [*listen along on my podcast*](https://open.spotify.com/show/5YAmc7on11Xe8TTb4f3pnW?ref=rogerhallam.com)*.* Last July, I was given a five-year prison sentence for being on a Zoom call asking people to take part in civil disobedience. It was later reduced on appeal — the judge called it “manifestly excessive” — so I served fourteen months, for better or worse. I was released in August. These days, I sleep in a hostel, with a tag on my ankle and all that sort of palaver. That’s a bit of context, in case you’ve lost track. Many others have also been given multi-year sentences. It’s a new phenomenon in this country. In the so-called good old days, you’d get two weeks if you were unlucky — or lucky, as we’ll come on to. I’m not going to talk much about politics. I want to talk about ideas — about how we construct the world, how we decide what’s good or bad. It’s a little philosophical, which is probably why I was invited here. And I’ll warn you now: none of this is original. It’s all been said before, by countless cultures through history. But that doesn’t make it any less true. For the sake of having a point of focus, I’ve been re-reading *The Imitation of Christ*, a medieval Christian mystical text. Chapter twelve offers this line: “It is good for us to encounter troubles and adversaries, for trouble compels us to search our hearts.” That’s the thread I want to follow. As a campaign designer, my work is about finding tipping points — the moments when enough people act that politics has to respond. If five hundred people in the UK were willing to go to prison for civil disobedience, we’d be in the realm of changing government policy. Maybe it’s two hundred, maybe it’s two thousand — but it’s not twenty thousand, and it’s not five. The point is, there’s a balance of power. When that balance shifts, change happens. You can even do the maths. How many arrests before a government decides a policy isn’t worth the trouble? Five thousand, perhaps. We’re on around sixteen hundred now. That’s the kind of calculation campaigners like me make — not because we want people in prison, but because that’s what history shows moves the dial. So what I’m really interested in is how we turn these personal experiences of hardship — trouble that compels us to search our hearts — into collective transformation. How we take that inner work and systematise it for the sake of saving something worth calling civilisation. I’m not an academic; I’m a practitioner. I design campaigns. I work with people who want to act. So this is practical philosophy. It’s about how ordinary people, by facing trouble together, can still change the course of history. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2025/10/norway-xr.png) Extinction Rebellion Norway block Banks funding fossil fuels ## **Materialism** Let’s start with the materialist view — what you might call the modernist argument. It’s the one most of the climate movement uses. The basic line goes: *it is what it is.* There’s a world out there. Things are what they are. A table is a table. The thermometer reads what it reads. Right now, the Earth is about 1.5°C above pre-industrial temperatures. That’s a fact, whether you like it or not. Temperatures are rising by roughly 0.3°C a decade, maybe 0.4°C as the acceleration bites. Do the maths and you hit 2°C within ten to fifteen years, depending on how you define the threshold. From a realist perspective, that doesn’t look good. Once you hit 2°C, the best analysts predict around a billion refugees — a thousand million people on the move. The British insurance industry, ever the pragmatists, ran the numbers. They’re professional realists — if they get it wrong, they go bust. In true English fashion, they hid the shocking figures in an appendix rather than on the front page, because that would alarm people too much. If you bother to look, Appendix A tells you that at 2°C we’re talking about two billion deaths, and at 3°C, four billion. And 2°C is only a decade or two away. So, if you weren’t already aware, we’re in a total mess. Being a good liberal rationalist, the next logical step is action. If you believe the facts, you must act. That’s the foundation of the modern climate argument. And as a professional realist and campaign designer, I’d say: if you want to shift power, going to prison for civil disobedience is one of the few effective options left. There aren’t many others. I’ve given over a hundred talks with this materialist framing. Around a quarter of people say they’ll take action afterwards, and maybe a fifth of those actually do. It’s not hopeless — it works on some. The problem is, it hasn’t done the job. It hasn’t reached the tipping point. Why? Because not enough people take their materialism seriously. If they truly believed the facts they quote — that everything we love will disappear in the next twenty years unless we stop the fossil fuel industry — then they’d be acting as if their lives depended on it. Because they do. But that’s where the modernist argument runs out of road. The facts alone aren’t enough to move people. And that’s why we need to look deeper — to the stories, meanings and beliefs that make people willing to act at all. At five degrees, the human race, as a main scenario, goes extinct — because the phytoplankton in the oceans disappears. That’s what runaway climate change has done before in the Earth’s history: oxygen levels fall from around 25% to about 12%. You can’t breathe; we go extinct, along with most life on land. So, if you’re a good materialist, it’s game over — which is precisely why you have to act. If the facts are that stark, you do what’s necessary, including prison if that’s what it takes. Before we move on, I’d simply invite you to notice the dissonance in your own mind — not judgmentally, more in a Buddhist way. I’m not here to tell you what to do, only to help examine the options. That’s materialism. Now, let’s look at postmodernism. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2024/03/roger-zeit-1-1.JPG) ## Join Me In the Revolution of Our Lives Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No nonsense. Change your mind anytime. ## **Postmodernism** Postmodernism covers a multitude of sins — art, culture, all the rest — but one useful strand is **political postmodernism**: the insistence that you can’t tell me who I am. Think of the progression with women, gay people, indigenous people. In the imperial modernist period, indigenous identity was criminalised and replaced with Western objectivism. Later came a patronising halfway house — you can be gay, but do it behind closed doors. Eventually, liberation arrives: two men holding hands is simply fine. That’s political postmodernism as a social progression. What I want to add is **metaphysical postmodernism**, which hasn’t got very far. Here’s the provocation. Oscar Wilde spoke of “the love that dare not speak its name”. Now imagine I say: *I love being in prison.* The modernist reflex is outrage or indulgent correction: you can’t say that; prison is objectively bad. But a postmodern, metaphysical view allows plurality of experience. You might say I’m wrong; you might ban me from the festival. Or you might accept that, for some, the meaning of prison can be different — and that saying so is part of the point. Fully fledged postmodernism is where I’m trying to get to — where I can come out as a *prison lover*. I like it and I’m proud. I’ve been to prison seven times. There’s a community of people who’ve been inside and secretly like it, but don’t feel permitted to say so. As more of us go, the secret seeps out: perhaps prison can be great — and I’ll explain why. A quick example of patronising modernism. Novara Media (A left-wing news org in the UK) rang me in prison. “Roger, I’m so sorry you’re inside… how do you *cope* with prison?” It’s a loaded question. It assumes there is, objectively, something to cope with — like asking, “How do you cope with being gay?” I spent fifteen minutes trying to guide the journalist out of that materialist reflex the left is often trapped in — the absolutism of “objective” experience. This isn’t an abstract seminar point; it’s the raw reality of resistance and what it will mean. Hence the title of this talk: *On Being, in Prison*. The emphasis matters. People ask, “What was it like being in prison?” The *being* is missing, as if only the locked door is real. But there’s prison — the door, the regime — and there’s *being in* prison: how being shows up within it. Culture conditions our panic. If this door were shut and locked for a while, would you necessarily have a crisis? Maybe, maybe not. One view says we’re little beings tossed about by circumstances, helpless. Another says the experience is dynamic; being is active even when the door is locked. An example. On a previous stretch, I was in court every day. It’s a thirteen-hour day: three hours to get out, three back in, and you’re knackered. I returned one evening to find a new prisoner had been put in with my cellmate by mistake; they’d moved him on — and he’d nicked my stuff. I don’t have much, so what I do have is precious: your canteen bits, the small comforts that anchor you. What little you have inside becomes precious — polos, canteen treats, the tiny stash in your cell. In prison you’re a bit like a twelve-year-old waiting for Canteen Day. After a thirteen-hour court day all you want is to sit with your polos — and they’re gone. A new lad had been mistakenly put in our cell and nicked my stuff. I told the officer; he said the bloke was a few doors down and he’d get it back. Half an hour later: nothing. Where could he have gone? It’s prison. I was furious — he’d taken my one little attachment to the world. My cellmate laughed. He’s Buddha, been inside most of his life. Then I laughed too. Because everything can be taken from you except your being. That’s the lesson. Prison is a school for seeing that all you ever truly have is your being — here, now — not as some hippy slogan but as the actuality of living. You read this in your twenties during a mysticism phase and think it’s profound; you only really understand it after thirteen hours in court and your polos have vanished. This is one instance of a universal phenomenon: adversity. Our modernist culture insists war or prison can only break you — PTSD, end of story. Yes, trauma is real. But if you’re being empirical, perhaps 10–20% of soldiers develop PTSD; far more report post-traumatic growth. After Vietnam, large studies found 60–70% said, twenty years on, that the experience was positive in the long arc of their lives. Not because war is “good”, but because suffering can be transfigured. To be clear: I’m not claiming prison is good for everyone. People are broken by it; some never recover; some take their own lives. War destroys many. I’m arguing for plurality — a postmodern reading of experience. Alongside devastation there is, for many, growth. And that brings us back to *The Imitation of Christ*: it is good to encounter troubles and adversaries, for trouble compels us to search our hearts. That’s the point. Adversity strips away the props, and what remains — if anything remains — is being. Bad things happening to you can be good, because they force you to search your heart. That’s really all I’m asking you to consider: loosen up a little. Relax into a metaphysical postmodernism that admits the world is more complicated than materialist reductionism. Empirically, it just is. And then ask: what political function does that reductionism serve in maintaining the neoliberal regime? My proposition is simple: this is how the “bad guys” win — by persuading us that bad things are only bad. My academic patch — insofar as I had one at King’s — was the psychology of mobilisation: how do you get people to act? Why do most people carry on for five years until the crisis lands in their lap, while perhaps ten per cent peel off and say, “Alright, I’m in”? In prison I caught up on the literature: twenty books on civil resistance. It’s mind-numbingly predictable. The pattern goes: everyone gets battered; then the religious currents arrive; then they win. Crude, yes, but look at the cases — the US civil rights movement (Southern Baptist church), Brazil’s landless workers (Catholic church), Leipzig 1989 (German Protestants), Solidarity in Poland (Catholicism), Iran (Islam), Gandhi in India, the Philippines in 1986 (again Catholic). I’m not selling Catholicism; I’m pointing to a through-line the secular texts reduce to “solidarity increased and then victory happened”. What those accounts won’t ask — because it would break their metaphysical frame — is *why* faith communities so often tip the balance. They’d have to talk about the ontology of religious experience. And the answer isn’t mystical rocket science; it’s simply that the best ten days of your life may well be the ten days of the revolution. People love that moment — even when they might get shot. Not all, but most. Why? Because we aren’t just materialists. We seek meaning, recognition, transcendence. That’s not dogma; it’s observation. This matters when we face what I call *left defeatism*. The materialist urban left churns out books with the same script: the world is bad; bad people are powerful; good people are crushed; if they resist, they’ll suffer; suffering is bad; therefore nothing can be done — and, behold, nothing happens. It’s a self-fulfilling neoliberal story. By insisting on an objectivist reading of suffering, the left disempowers people. It’s ideological nonsense — metaphysical nonsense — and you can hear it in a single word like *cope*. When that journalist asked, “How do you cope with prison?”, she couldn’t even see the frame she was imposing. That’s the culture we swim in — one that makes transcendence unsayable, and our destruction more likely. If no one can transcend, we’re finished — that’s the direction of travel. So, the final act: religion. I can’t cover the whole thing in fifty minutes without being simplistic, ha — but my byline is simple enough: *Glory be to God.* ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2025/10/let-light-in-Cover.jpg) Speaking at the Festival ## **Religion** Three set-up points. First, people are fine with art but bridle at religion. Yet when you read “I wandered lonely as a cloud”, you don’t imagine Wordsworth literally dressed as cirrus. It’s a metaphor — a sensibility. Likewise, when I say *Glory be to God*, I’m not picturing a bloke in the sky being showered with petals. I’m pointing to an awareness of something beyond the table in front of us — what gets called “religious experience”, problematic phrase though it is. Second, there’s a history to how religion was pushed out of public space. Before the Renaissance there wasn’t even a neat category called “religion”. The secular move did two things: fenced religion off from the rest of life, and privatised it — something you do on Sundays, not in public. Those are power moves that impose metaphysical modernism. Example: when the British went to India there was no word for “Hinduism” in the modern sense. Religion was woven through law, art, culture. We constructed “Hinduism” so we could declare, from above, “You are Hindus.” A projection of power. From a postmodern view, that move is just that — a move. These constructions change. In a hundred years we’ll laugh at today’s modernists because the ambience of “religion” will have shifted again. Third, on language. Part of my brain wants to say “spirituality” because “religion” feels hot. I’m resisting that. “Spirituality” has too often been neoliberalism’s trick: individualise faith into quietism. In the West, people say, “I’m not religious, I’m spiritual,” which often means a private little practice — yoga on Wednesday night — and then back to business as usual, planet included. I’m talking about religion woven through life: Mass on Sunday, feeding the homeless midweek, doing the law while thinking about God, speaking to your kids about it. Integrated, cultural, lived — though we’re discouraged from seeing it that way. Given all that, it’s hard for us to grasp the empirical centrality of religious experience in shaping how we interpret the world. Hence half of you still think I’m a bit of a dick for saying prison is great — you’re caught in that paradigm. Yet in other times and cultures, when something “bad” happened, people knew it could also be good. Two quick examples. In Kenya, during the Mau Mau rebellion, capture and torture by the British was expected — fate, not melodrama. Likewise, when I go to prison for challenging the fossil fuel industry, of course they lock me up; that’s what power does. Or take the hill tribes in Burma during the Second World War: the Japanese invade, the men put on their war paint, women help, and no one collapses into a psychodrama. The cosmology is clear: you’re born, you grow, you fight for your people. What’s to cry about? This is why the supposed objectivism of materialism doesn’t add up. Secular society talks to itself; out in the wider world, roughly 80% are “religious”. So, what would it mean to take religion seriously? We already know what taking someone seriously looks like: let them speak their reality in their own words. You don’t tell a gay person what being gay is like; you listen, language and swearing included. We’ve learned that with sexuality — two blokes holding hands barely rates a shrug now. But if I stood up and said a prayer in here, you’d twitch. That’s the gap. Taking religion seriously means giving it the same public legitimacy — the same right to speak — as anything else. And no, I’m not claiming religion is automatically “good” — America has its fair share of right-wing zealots. My point is simpler: without a transcendent orientation, people don’t fight effectively. That lack of transcendence is why we’re losing. So, how do religious people describe their experience? If I’m honest, the reason I like going to prison is straightforward: it brings me close to God. Bang. If you’re going to respect me, you let me say that in my own words. Meister Eckhart would say God is crying out — crying because you’re not close, because you’re ignoring suffering, because you won’t act in solidarity. When you do, you’re in communion. For most of the world, that’s normal. I was chatting to a Seventh-day Adventist this morning — we could do God, no problem. The problem is the climate movement and secular activism can’t take that orientation seriously, which is why it’s still a love that cannot speak its name — though it’s starting to. Here’s the kicker: prison doesn’t bring you close to God despite the shit; it does so because of the shit. Not for everyone, not all the time — I’m pleading for plurality in how we interpret “bad” events. And when people who are open to that experience come together, organise, and form a collectivity, you get successful civil resistance. Because civil resistance, at root, is driven by transcendence. So I circle back. I was imprisoned for asking people to act, and I continue to ask it. The material case for action is overwhelming. The interpretive case is that suffering is not simply an evil to be avoided; it can be a crucible. The religious case is that, together, we can live by realities larger than fear. Successful civil resistance is driven by transcendence organised in common. Bring together those willing to be opened by adversity; give them a form and a fellowship; and you will find the tipping points of history again. Everything can be taken from you apart from your being. Start there. Then act. [Make a One-Off Donation](https://buy.stripe.com/6oEbLTaRk22QgQU6oo?ref=rogerhallam.com) --- | Rev21 Intro & Culture workshops | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Rev21 is gearing up for **big collaborations** – we're currently working with multiple groups and movements internationally to coordinate effective civil resistance, while refining and spreading best practices for cultural transformation.Come and experience how it **feels** to get inside this vision. Then get to know how we're going to make it happen, and find your way into making a meaningful contribution. | [Join an Intro Workshop](https://rev21.earth/events/?ref=rogerhallam.com) ### 🗣️ The Power of Participation URL: https://rogerhallam.com/the-power-of-participation/ Last updated: 2025-10-16T07:03:50.000Z If ever there was a moment when Gramsci’s famous quote, “the old world is dying, and the new world struggles to be born”, is critically relevant, then it is this moment. [Your Party](https://www.yourparty.uk/?ref=rogerhallam.com) has been launched by Zara Sultana and Jeremy Corbyn with 800,000 sign ups. It is a moment of the whirlwind, it is a historical situation - far greater than we may want to admit. Because, if we are honest, we are not going to get many more 'get out of prison cards' before the skies permanently darken and far right forces in Western democracy make what 'cannot happen here', happen here. ## **Corruption** I do not want to get into all the machinations of the Your Party space. But suffice to say, the dead weight of twentieth-century dysfunctional convention is set to create another failed left project, unless we come together to give birth to the “new world”. This new world is not about warm words - abstractions. Nor is it about policies, shopping lists of what is good and right. It is this: concrete ways in which dominatory power is confined, and mass participation is set free. This is not just a glorious political project in itself, it is also the only way the left will win elections and take state power. This is not the time to repeat failures which have always failed. To properly understand why progressive political projects end in tears, we have to be brave enough to accept that what we have been sold as democracy is not actually democracy. By this I don’t mean the conventional liberal and pseudo-left analysis that the reason that things are bad is because we don't have fair elections, not everyone can get to vote, and we have corruption in our politics. ## **Classes** No, what we have to understand is that elections by definition are not fair, voting by definition excludes minorities and the poor, and our 'democracies' with their political parties are by definition corrupt. In other words, we need to challenge the whole 'democratic' paraphernalia of modernity. This democracy grew up alongside industrialisation and global capitalism as all part of the same system of class domination, a system that keeps the rich and powerful in control. This is bad enough in itself, but as we know, it is now a matter of continued human existence in the era of nuclear, climate and AI. We are truly at the end of the road which is why we need to think very clearly about how domination actually happens and what is the liberatory alternative. It is a sad reality that the left, even the so-called radical left and hard left, has accepted political forms which act in the interests of the classes they claim to oppose. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2024/03/roger-zeit-1-1.JPG) ## Join Me In the Revolution of Our Lives Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No nonsense. Change your mind anytime. ## **Participation** > Before the hegemony of modern capitalism was established, democracy always meant sortition and participation. Left projects fail because they use the opponent’s tools to try to create a new world, thereby only reproducing the old one. "It's so embarrassing”. I have heard this said over and over again in the last few days as Your Party has imploded into “power struggles”. This is put down to personalities and a lack of democracy. Control has to be given to 'the masses'. It is claimed we need a proper process to elect leaders who will then 'take charge of the party'. Such views are naive liberal myths, even if they are wrapped up in left language. They are contradicted by overwhelming evidence that voting and elections do not remove dominating power - they create such power. They do not remove power struggles; they are the cause of power struggles. We have to understand that there are two opposing forms of power: this dominating power that comes from a desire to control, and a popular power that comes from mass participation in decision-making. ## **Oligarchical** When dominating power is enacted, as in the present conflicts in the Your Party space, then you get a collapse of participatory power. People exit the space, as we now see in the hundreds of comments on articles and Youtube shows dealing with the present mess: “That’s it, I’m not getting involved”. “This is horrible, I am cancelling my donation”. What I will outline below is a summary of the long essay I wrote during my last days in prison during August of this year: [Your Party: Grasping the Enormity of the Moment](https://lnk.bio/rogerhallam?ref=rogerhallam.com). I propose three concrete social designs which are essential to prevent regression into oligarchical power, the power of the few; and to enhance participatory power, the power of the many. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2025/08/Screenshot-2025-08-15-at-6.59.36---PM.png) Getting communities organised – learn more at [https://timetoassemble.org/](https://timetoassemble.org/?ref=rogerhallam.com) ### **No political party elections: replace them with sortition.** The original source of domination is not who controls the centre - the executive power, the hard power of the money, data, and social media keys. It is *who controls who controls* these forms of power. Who decides who decides. And as soon as you have humans deciding these matters the cry goes up “why you and not me” and there is never a satisfactory answer to that question and so matters degenerate into power struggles. Such is the nature of the corruption of power. Corruption is intrinsic to power. You cannot uncorrupt this power. To stop corruption, you have to remove power itself - the power to dominate. You do this by taking power from humans and giving it to chance, to a non-human power. Sorition is selection by lot, randomly, by chance. In one simple revolutionary design change, dominating power is removed from the centre of the system. The most powerful one per cent get exactly one per cent of the representation in an assembly or convention. And the least powerful 50 per cent, the working class, the poor, get 50 per cent representation. You get power from the people in a straightforward move. Nothing is more revolutionary than this. ### **No political party branches: replace them with an ecology of local groups.** Just as no one should be a national 'king', so no one or one group should be a local king. You need to end local power centres. Branches are mini-states. Whoever or whatever group gets to run them receives a monopoly on power over a territory. The logic of the branch is part of the general colonial logic of modernity, where localities are considered the colonies of political power. Before modernity, there were numerous groups within any territory based upon occupation, culture or religion. And so it can be again. Any group should be able to use the movement/party brand and engage in local collective activities - campaigns, mutual aid, support for candidates etc. ### **No Dominating** No one can gatekeep if there is no gate to be guarded. No one can say what comes under the movement brand or not. If some groups violate the core values of the movement, people can choose to leave that space and go to another one. There needs to be no bureaucracy, no core dominatory decision-making space - no more local power struggles. No one can be a local king because there is no such role. Again, dominating power is designed to be removed from the space. ### **No political party candidates: replace them with open hustings.** We are not peasants who need to be told who to vote for in local and national elections by 'leaders' who make 'pacts' between parties. That is the feudal model of politics - this mode of dominatory power. Participatory power demands that people in an area decide on their candidates themselves, thank you very much. Suppose there is more than one candidate on the left in a community. In that case, there are a series of open events - hustings - where local people can hear the candidates, discuss amongst themselves in small groups who is best, and then vote on the best candidate there and then. The people decide, not the party. The party serves the people, not the other way round. There is no power outside these participatory spaces. Once again, it is designed out. These are the three key elements of genuine democracy. Sure, there are details to be discussed and experimentation needed. Sure, we can all dream up possible means of corruption, and these potentialities need to be attended to. ## **Rules** This is not utopia - it is a practical, doable design. It is not perfect, but it is a hell of a lot better than what we have now. These designs are not corrupt by definition, as are the modernist alienating practices of voting, elections, and the political party form that enforces these perversities. Nor do they lead to a disintegration of our collective voice into 'horizontalism'. A sortition-based national conference creates a single political programme. A single candidate is created by hustings in each constituency. You get mass participation as well as the aggregation of people's views - the best of both worlds. The left needs to get with the programme. We will never win using the old game rules created by the liberal bourgeoisie of the nineteenth century. ## **Ecologies** Before the hegemony of modern capitalism was established, democracy always meant sortition and participation. Voting and elections always meant oligarchy - rule by the aristocrats. People were not stupid. They understood how domination works. These designs *,*are the only way we are going to win against fascism in the next decade. Liberal “democracy” is structurally determined to create fascism because it insults people with the great lie that its “democracy” will lead to their empowerment. It never did, and it never will. Humiliated and disillusioned, they opt for something else. And if there is no option of a real democracy—such as sortition, local ecologies of groups, and open hustings: the processes of popular participation—they will choose the other alternative: fascism. We need to smarten up and reverse this two-hundred-year regression. And then we might finally start to win before it is too late. [Get trained to run Assemblies!](https://timetoassemble.org/training-sessions/?ref=rogerhallam.com) --- *This article was initially published in* [The Ecologist](https://theecologist.org/2025/oct/01/power-participation?ref=rogerhallam.com) *and is a shortened account of the arguments presented in* [*Roger’s new book*](https://lnk.bio/rogerhallam?ref=rogerhallam.com)*, “Grasping the Enormity of the Moment”, on the responsibilities of the new British political party.* ### 📕 **Here’s how to get a copy :** - **Free copies for paid subscribers**: All paid subscribers to Roger's blog can get a free ebook copy. Links to download are at the bottom of this post or the bottom of Roger's [books page](https://rogerhallam.com/page-books/). Thank you for being so supportive! (If you have any problems downloading, just email us on roger@rev21.earth) - **Print copies for Revolutionary Members**: If you donate £20 or more, you’ll receive a print copy of the book. So, revolutionaries, [sign up](https://forms.gle/tiJvACzfHWfyfjhV7?ref=rogerhallam.com) to receive your copies. (It's never too late to [increase your donation](https://rogerhallam.com/launch-blog-book/#/portal/signup)!). - **Or buy it!** If you’re a free subscriber, you can [purchase the print or e-book](https://lnk.bio/rogerhallam?ref=rogerhallam.com). Please leave a review afterwards to help others find it. [Get The Book](https://lnk.bio/rogerhallam?ref=rogerhallam.com) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2025/09/zour-party-cover-2.png) _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 🛐 Glory Be to God: On Prison, Protest, and Adversity URL: https://rogerhallam.com/glory-be-to-god/ Last updated: 2025-10-13T06:46:54.000Z *The following is an edited transcript of my first talk after release from prison. It takes place at the* [*Kairos centre*](https://www.kairos.london/?ref=rogerhallam.com)*, London and you can also watch* [*the original recording*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zISw142NKBU&ref=rogerhallam.com)*. (Sorry if I’m a bit of a sub-optimal speaker; you can blame the Prison Service for reducing my social skills!)* > *From time to time it is good for us to encounter troubles and adversities, for troubles compel us to search our hearts.* > *\-* *The Imitation of Christ*, Chapter 12, “On the Uses of Adversity” For eight years, I’ve tried to persuade the great British public to engage in civil disobedience. The results have been mixed. Many have stepped forward, but not enough have gone to prison to force real policy change. If it takes 500 people in jail to tip the balance — maybe 1,000 — why do we stall at 200 or 300? There is always a social tipping point at which governments will change course. The only question is whether we cross it. In this piece, I want to explore how this has been affected by three key arguments around materialism, postmodernism, and religion because it seems evident to me now that materialism alone hasn’t done the job. ## I. Materialism: It Is What It Is Here’s the familiar case. We’re at 1.5°C of heating and, on current trends of roughly 0.4°C per decade, we will hit 2°C within about ten years. At 2°C, we trigger major tipping points in the Earth's system. This is not abstract theory; it’s the physical world: rising seas, melting ice, supercharged fires, methane releases, crop failures. Emissions are not falling fast enough to stop it. Two degrees of warming implies roughly a **billion people** on the move in the global South — twenty times the number of refugees at the end of the Second World War. In prison, I reviewed the 2024 literature and did the PhD student exercise of adding up the feedback compounds across decades. By the 2060s, a 5°C increase is not unthinkable if we continue to falter. A major industry report this year suggested **four billion** people would die at 3°C — half the human family. The British insurance sector put that in *Appendix A*. The *Guardian's* headline mentioned a 50% GDP hit. You had to reach paragraph four to find the body count. Pensions first, corpses later. Add the Atlantic overturning risk (AMOC): there is a decent chance it will collapse by mid-century, bringing deep cold across the North Atlantic. Imagine ice on the Thames and −10 to −30°C winters. Suddenly, it isn’t just “those people over there”. It’s us. Materialists also warn about **compounding** and **infrastructure tipping**. Construction plans for Miami’s seawall assume that labour prices, supply chains, legislation, and public finances will stay the same in the coming decades. It's rubbish. Under compound shocks and fiscal stress, it’s far more likely that they will half-build it and then evacuate Florida. This argument is everywhere, and it’s true enough — yet it hasn’t delivered the numbers willing to risk prison. Which suggests we need more than “it is what it is”. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2025/09/man-at-crossroads.png) Diego Rivera, **Man at the Crossroads* (1933, recreated 1934) ## II. Postmodernism: You Cannot Tell Traditional activism balances two scales: the cost of the climate crisis and the cost of incarceration. The move is to say, “Both are bad, but the crisis is worse, so off you go.” That assumes the “cost of prison” is objective. It isn’t. It is an **experience** — and experiences are **subjective**. Postmodernism, at its best, was a liberation from having a patriarchal voice dictate what your experience meant. Women, queer people, and indigenous people asserted their own realities. We got political postmodernism. What we didn’t get is **metaphysical** postmodernism. On metaphysics, modernism still rules: only the material is real; religion is either delusion or a private hobby you keep to yourself. Here is my unfashionable truth: **some of us love going to prison**. Not everyone, obviously — pluralism is the point. But the love that dare not speak its name also exists here. Say it out loud and parts of the secular left come down on you: "prison is objectively bad, end of story". Yet, suppose you leave the metropolitan bubble and examine the global majority of human cultures. There you constantly encounter people who interpret suffering as meaningful, even desirable, because it brings them closer to God or their cosmology. The Mau Mau rebellion in Kenya expected torture and met it calmly. Burmese tribes prepared for war with painted faces and ritual composure. In civil rights footage from Birmingham, 1963, there’s an eight-year-old girl **running towards** the police coach to be arrested with her mates. People are not machines. Meaning changes the power of pain. Let me illustrate from my own experience. After long court days, the highlight in prison is Friday **canteen** — polos, dried apricots, tiny luxuries that make you twelve again. I returned one Monday to find a temporary cellmate had nicked the lot. I was livid, but the corridor screw shrugged it off. Yet suddenly I laughed because the penny dropped: **all you ever have is your being**. They can take your tat but not your soul. You can read that in spiritual books, but prison makes it visceral. There is a growing body of literature on **post-traumatic growth**. For example, 10–20% of Vietnam veterans suffered PTSD, yet around **75% reported positive growth** a decade later. The worse the ordeal, the greater the growth. We know this in miniature: the Couch-to-5K running program is horrible until it isn’t; the joy comes precisely because it was hard to achieve. Yet when it comes to jail, we cling to the dogma that it must be awful for everyone, all the time. It’s not true. For some, hardship is clarifying and, yes even ecstatic. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2025/09/White-Crucifiction.png) ****Marc Chagall,** ***White Crucifixion** **(1938)** ## III. Religion: Glory Be to God Now for the bit that makes atheists grumble. To be clear, I’m not talking about “spirituality” as a private lifestyle but about **religion** as a collective, institutional and material force — something that shapes public action. The concept of religion as a separate sphere of life is relatively recent. In pre-modern Europe, faith saturated law, daily life, politics. The British told India it had “Hinduism”; people previously just **lived** within a sacred cosmos. Secular modernity carved religion off, privatised it, and declared the public sphere neutral. That settlement is not an eternal truth but a historical phase. And it’s not working. Consider classical civil resistance periods. The US civil rights movement ran through the Black Church — Martin Luther King Jr. and the SCLC. In Brazil, workers' movements flourished with liberation theology. Leipzig prayers led people into the East German streets before the wall fell. The Catholic Church supported Solidarity in Poland against the Soviets. Gandhi in India. The Philippines in ’86\. Burma’s monks. Social science redescribes all this as “mobilisation capacity”, because it cannot admit the obvious: people risk death because they believe **God is real** and love is stronger. Take these two images. A priest faces down a gang with guns and says, “You can shoot me. Jesus will still love you.” Often, they do not shoot. They cry. Why? Because they’ve just witnessed the most beautiful thing: a human being possessed by something beyond fear. Now think bigger. Picture 300 landless Brazilian peasants walking slowly towards hired gunmen occupying land. The peasants encircle them in a human chain and the mercenaries **put their guns down**. Again, a stunning display of human spirit. If you reduce this to tactics, you miss the point. It is **grace** made visible. You don’t have to share the metaphysics to see the sociology. **Eighty percent** of humanity is religious. If you insist that only dead matter is real, you are simply outnumbered. I’m not asking anyone to believe what I believe; I’m asking for movements to speak my language — the language that actually moves people. Here is the strategic nub. It’s irrelevant how prison “is” in some objective sense. What matters is the decision to interpret it as an offering, a training ground, a way to burn off the ego. I did not have a great time despite suffering; I had a great time **because** it was hard. The theft of a bag of apricots became a small annihilation of self — five minutes of grace — and that was enough. Most people do not make life decisions by spreadsheet. They make them by faith, in community. So we need weekends, gatherings, liturgies of courage, where people experience the thing they cannot reason their way into — and then, quite calmly, they go to prison. I want to conclude with the words of the theologian Karl Barth. After the First World War’s industrial slaughter of 30 million young men, he said modernity was a sick joke. The rationalist liberal order declared itself sensible and humane — and marched a generation into the meat grinder. Today, with billions of lives on the line within decades, secular modernity is once again performing like a bad joke. If the purely materialist story could have saved us, it would have done so by now. Religions have made revolutions because they free people from the fear of death. If you won’t go as far as God, at least grant yourself a better story than “we’re clever and doomed”. Come and experience a new way of being. [Donate to Support the Revolution](#/portal/support) ### References - *The Imitation of Christ* by Thomas à Kempis. (c.1418). Chapter 12: “On the Uses of Adversity.” - IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change). (2023). *AR6 Synthesis Report: Climate Change 2023.* Geneva: IPCC. - Lenton, T.M. et al. (2019). “Climate tipping points — too risky to bet against.” *Nature*, 575, 592–595. - World Bank. (2018). *Groundswell: Preparing for Internal Climate Migration.* Washington, DC: World Bank. - Munich Re. (2024). *Climate Change and Systemic Risk: Global Insurance Outlook.* Appendix A. - The *Guardian*. (2024). “Global GDP faces 50% collapse from climate risk, say insurers.” (Headline coverage of the Munich Re report). - Rahmstorf, S. et al. (2015). “Exceptional twentieth-century slowdown in Atlantic Ocean overturning circulation.” *Nature Climate Change*, 5, 475–480. - Post-traumatic growth: Tedeschi, R.G. & Calhoun, L.G. (2004). “Posttraumatic Growth: Conceptual Foundations and Empirical Evidence.” *Psychological Inquiry*, 15(1), 1–18. - Children’s March, Birmingham, Alabama. (1963). Civil Rights Movement Archive. https://www.crmvet.org - Havel, V. (1985). *The Power of the Powerless.* Eastern European dissident writings, influential in 1989 uprisings. - Liberation Theology: Boff, L. & Boff, C. (1987). *Introducing Liberation Theology.* Maryknoll: Orbis Books. - Barth, K. (1932–1967). *Church Dogmatics.* (esp. Barth’s writings after World War I). --- As always, you can sign up for nonviolent civil resistance with [Just Stop Oil](https://juststopoil.org/?ref=rogerhallam.com) in the UK or via the [A22 Network](https://a22network.org/en/?ref=rogerhallam.com) internationally. --- ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get on with the job of sorting it out. [Support](https://rogerhallam.com/#/portal/signup/6517fbb3b89c5400016e9f27/yearly) ### ⏸️ Why the Palestine protest should have paused — not out of fear, but out of love. URL: https://rogerhallam.com/why-the-palestine-protest-should-have-paused/ Last updated: 2025-10-09T09:43:17.000Z On balance, I think Saturday’s civil disobedience in support of Palestine Action should have been paused. In the wake of the recent terrorist attack on Jews in Manchester, postponing would not have been a weakness — it would have been a moral act of strength. It would have slowed the spiral of polarisation, built trust, and thereby drawn more people in for the next protest. The deeper reason for doing so is that ethics and connection are ends in themselves. When we expose our own vulnerability, we show our humanity. I don’t say this to criticise those who chose to go ahead. Many are close friends and people I deeply respect. There are always real risks in pausing a campaign — it can break momentum, confuse supporters, and hand ammunition to opponents. I understand those fears. However, it is essential to recognise that civil disobedience, properly understood, is effective when it combines two key forms of power: disruption and trust. The numbers on the street matter, but so does the ability to build a bridge with those in power — to give them a way to back down without humiliation. That is how positive change happens. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2025/10/image--5-.png) In this case, members of the Labour government know they have overplayed their hand. Palestine Action is clearly not a terrorist organisation, and the ministers’ proscription has led to more than two thousand arrests. Still, it is difficult to admit they were wrong. To “stay strong”, they have to double down on their lies. They cannot be seen to lose face. This is where moral strategy comes in. The task for nonviolent campaigners is not just to mobilise numbers, but to help their opponents out of the corner they’ve backed themselves into. Calling off Saturday’s protest could have created that opening. Activists might have gone instead to Manchester — not to make a political point, but to offer a letter of genuine solidarity to the local Jewish community. It would have been a gesture of grace, not a manoeuvre: a simple act of kindness. The movement could seize this moment to make a public commitment to deep nonviolence. Palestine Action should state clearly that it will stop secretive sabotage of property linked to Israel and instead turn to open, participatory civil disobedience. Such a shift would give the government the “face-saving” path it needs to respond by lifting the proscription. It would also place the movement firmly in the moral lineage of Gandhi and Martin Luther King, winning not just by physical pressure but by acting with dignity. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2025/10/1037801-chaura-chari.png) After protesters killed 22 policemen at Chauri Chaura in 1922, Gandhi halted the independence movement — choosing compassion over revenge. This strategy emphatically does not mean stopping the actions; instead, they need to be stepped up. Civil disobedience succeeds when people peacefully and publicly break unjust laws - again and again. We saw this with Extinction Rebellion’s ten-day occupation of central London in 2019 and again in the Netherlands, where daily sit-downs by the climate movement have forced the state to concede its demands. You win through persistence — and by refusing to stop until power gives way. The subsequent protests for Gaza have to continue day after day until they win. The real question here is whether Britain’s liberal establishment will have the courage to join in such actions. Editors, MPs, and trade union leaders like to issue statements about civil liberties and solidarity with the oppressed, but they need to be arrested to defend these vital principles. The government is criminalising dissent and aligning itself with genocide. This is their moment to act. If not now, when? If such solidarity emerged, it could mark a turning point — demonstrating the moral courage required to defend civil liberties. This then is how mass nonviolence works: through love and disruption in equal measure. As we used to say in XR, “maximum love, maximum disruption”. Such a victory would matter beyond Britain. It could show Palestinians — and the world — that civil resistance offers a way out of endless war. History shows that nonviolent movements have never been without risk — yet they remain the only path that provides the possibility of a permanent end to killing. And there is an even deeper point. Around the world, democratic culture is collapsing under the belief that the only way to win is to destroy your enemy — to lie, threaten, insult, and, if necessary, kill. This logic of “whatever it takes” is poisoning our societies. It is the path to fascism. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2025/10/substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.png) After the 1965 Watts riots, Martin Luther King Jr. paused his marches to listen — condemning the violence, but calling it “the language of the unheard.” The greatest crisis in human history is closing in upon us. Within twenty years, as we pass 2C, Israel and much of the Arab world will be facing mass evacuation as the region becomes uninhabitable. Two warring sides fight beneath the gathering storm of climate collapse. Humanity faces a choice: we either find a way to reconcile peacefully, or we die along with our opponents. We must choose love and forgiveness over vengeance and force. Not only because it works, but also because it is the only way to live a genuinely human life. [Find Out About The Next London Actions](https://actionnetwork.org/forms/lift-the-ban-november-2025?ref=rogerhallam.com) --- *This article is a shortened account of the arguments presented in Roger’s upcoming book on nonviolence. Sign up as a paid supporter and be one of the first to receive it.* [Donate](#/portal/account/plans) ### **Since Roger’s release, we’ve already sold over 200 copies of his new prison writings.** **Support the movement — and grab one for yourself or a friend today.** [Get The Book](https://lnk.bio/rogerhallam?ref=rogerhallam.com) Over the last month, our videos and posts have garnered **over 260,000 views across platforms** — including **160,000 on Facebook** and Reddit combined. From viral clips to thoughtful long-form talks, the message is spreading fast. We’re finding our rhythm, growing every day, and it’s only just beginning. The revolution is alive again — and this time, everyone’s watching. Please consider donating to support this initiative and follow along on your preferred social media platform. [Donate to support the Revolution](#/portal/support) _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### Suffering Is Good For You URL: https://rogerhallam.com/beyond-the-pain/ Last updated: 2025-10-01T06:59:03.000Z In this episode of The Spirit Of Revolution, I explore the deep and often confusing relationship between suffering, resilience, and transformation. We live in a world where the rational, calm approach to life doesn’t seem to be working – in fact, it’s taking us to the edge. So, what happens when we embrace vulnerability instead of avoiding it? How can suffering, something most of us wish to escape, actually become a source of strength? I reflect on the paradox that lies at the heart of the struggle for change: suffering, when confronted with humility and empathy, can lead not only to personal transcendence but to collective power. Whether it’s the resilience found in the aftermath of conflict, or the strength that emerges when we face the suffering of others, there’s more at play than we might realise. This podcast dives into how the very vulnerability we seek to avoid is the key to true revolution, both within ourselves and in the world around us. Join me in unpacking the lessons hidden in pain, and how they can fuel the fire for a transformative change that will carry us into a new world. Listen on [Spotify,](https://open.spotify.com/episode/2qcUg6V0Wf73qlFI1srbHf?si=Mb-KiIG-R-68cnDLnsOKlA&ref=rogerhallam.com) [Apple](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-spirit-of-revolution-ep-1-intro/id1671150953?i=1000668886068&ref=rogerhallam.com), [Soundcloud](https://on.soundcloud.com/75skEfjAl3WgWiqVFa?ref=rogerhallam.com) or wherever you get your podcasts. We've worked to improve the prison phone sound quality and each episode will come with a newsletter transcript and [video version](https://youtu.be/GbUN0QlZ7o0?ref=rogerhallam.com) on Youtube for reading along. ## Transcript of Episode 6: Suffering Is Good For You Suffering is good for you. There, I’ve said it—and I’ve just looked out of my cell window, and the sky hasn’t fallen in. Throughout this podcast, we’ll be checking regularly to see if the sky has indeed come crashing down. Suffering undoubtedly changes us, both morally and metaphysically; we either choose to see the world in new ways, or we’re compelled to. I recall reading a biography of Winston Churchill. In case you didn’t know, for better or worse, he wasn’t a Christian. He was a true realist, with his feet firmly on the ground, unimpressed by the "God stuff." However, his life brought him close to death several times, one of which was a moment stranded in a desert with no water. It was then that he prayed to God. When we suffer, our strictly rational views tend to soften, and the non-rational can come to the fore. The experience of suffering changes us—often, though not always, for the better. As Nietzsche famously said, “What does not kill you makes you stronger.” To explore all this, we’ll broadly use the same approach as in previous discussions: using rationality against itself to uncover its core contradictions, particularly the clash between empirical observation and the rationalist ideology of reductive materialism, the idea that “the real is just real.” Suffering, according to this ideology, is simply bad—nice and simple. In this view, self-interest is the point: we exist to avoid pain and pursue pleasure. If only it were that simple. The counter to this received dogma is what modern psychology calls post-traumatic growth. The experience of suffering often leads to positive developments. While we could reduce this idea to “the creation of more happiness,” there’s more going on here than a simple formula of “A causes B.” What I mean by this is that the suffering, the experience of it that we observe, involves a complex of feelings that feed in and out of each other. A significant part of this system is what we might call vulnerability: the self experiences a sense of weakness. It can no longer pretend that it can defend itself on its own; it needs the other. It is no longer so big-headed—pride comes before a fall and all that. This, then, can lead to a new humility: I am not all I thought I was, all I was made out to be. This, in turn, can lead to a sociability and openness to those around us, and a new empathy. This has happened to me—how terrible that this, or worse, is happening to others. I feel your pain. This is unlikely to sound authentic if you have not felt that pain yourself, and so this leads to a new maturity, a desire for authenticity, more interpersonal truth-telling, a lower tolerance for bullshit. These dynamics are by no means exhaustive, but they indicate that post-traumatic growth is a real thing: it exists, it’s out there, and there are reasons for it. And it creates a resilience. We are socialised into suffering; it’s something that we can learn to deal with. We are, therefore, less likely to have the double suffering of suffering about our suffering. It is what it is. Self-pity, in contrast, we might say, is the outcome of innocence—an innocence protected by privilege, of not having to deal with the world as it is. Certainly, you can see a contrast here between the more resilient poor and the more vulnerable rich, meaning those to whom nothing really bad has yet happened. It reverses the materialist view of the rich and the poor. The rigid materialist might be tempted to say, “Okay, I've lost the battle on this one,” but he still insists that he has won the war in the sense that he can go, “Okay, I accept the empirics: bad things happen, people toughen up, and so they get less vulnerable and so more happy.” We are still, then, in this world of a set cost and a set benefit, A is A, B is B, A causes B; we are still effectively talking like we are part of a car engine, a rational, logical thing. But the actual reality we experience fits a lot more easily into a more mysterious, paradoxical explanation. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2025/09/White-Crucifiction.png) ****Marc Chagall,** ***White Crucifixion** **(1938)** The paradox is that this vulnerability itself creates resilience, set within an ecology of humility and empathy. It is by living in and being with vulnerability that these positive outcomes are made authentic and sustained. Vulnerability then becomes a weakness and a strength at the same time, or to put it another way, it is a strength because it is a weakness. We find ourselves in another world here—a world of the spirit. It plays by different rules, like those quarks and waves for the physicists. It doesn’t lend itself to a neat causal situation; everything is already there all at the same time. I discussed this a while ago with a good friend of mine. I think it would be reasonable to say that we are both very resilient—at least outwardly. For decades, we have taken knocks as resistors and revolutionaries; we get attacked, humiliated, misrepresented, but we get up and get on with another day. As we talked, we realised that, if we’re honest, this is not because we don’t feel vulnerable, but rather because we do feel the pain of the world and the pain when the world attacks us. It’s not that we don’t feel it; it’s more that we have a knack of consciously transcending it. We look at it and move around it. We know we have been there before, and we know we will be there again. I personally often think I outwardly appear to be resilient, but there is really no guarantee that tomorrow I will not collapse into a heap of exhaustion and self-pity. The paradox, then, is that resilience, such as it is, comes through the feeling of vulnerability, not by not feeling it. There is a notion here of what is being called "conscious incompetence," which we’ll discuss more in future episodes: you know where you want to be—fully competent—but you continually fall short on your progress to this "unconscious competence," where you have arrived and you don’t need to think about it all anymore. Thinking like this, of course, is another classic linear progression routine, which gets imposed on an instinctively subtle and mysterious process. You don’t “get there,” “arrive,” “job done”—that is the opposite of the spirit; it is the stuff of factory production. We are in a different paradigm of meaning here. The highest point is, in fact, the suspended, oscillating point—the bobbing around in the conscious incompetence realm. That’s it: getting to the top actually means you are, in that moment, back on the way down once you’ve got there and think it has arrived. You are back to pride before a fall. None of the language here is precise—not because I'm being sloppy, but because we are grasping at processes that cannot be reduced to words. We are back, then, to forgetting a sense. We are dealing with this new, non-rational world that the experience of suffering opens up, and maybe this is why part of us is strangely attracted to suffering: because it's a means to give us meaning. In a strange sense, it makes us feel more alive. In saying this, I don't in any way want to belittle the reality of raw horror that suffering is for so many people so much of the time. But the fact of the matter is, that is not all that is going on. There is something about the drama of life that many people feel attracted to, like the moth to the flame, as you might say. We probably all know people who seem to carry drama around with them; you cannot help feeling that if there was not a crisis going on for them, they really wouldn't know what to do with themselves. I've spoken with people who have said that they find their depression delicious, because there is something addictive about the confrontation of the self against the self. The self-destructiveness feels like a form of authenticity. In prison, and when I work with working-class people, there are some who swear in every sentence. The world of their existence is one of continuous struggle and ragefulness; swearing is like an outlet for this, reinforcing turmoil which at the same time gives meaning and identity. It's a complicated business once you observe exactly what is going on. The most extreme thing is, I think, the paradox of armed resistance. Albert Camus, the editor of the main resistance paper in France under the Nazi occupation, talked about the extreme aliveness of not knowing if you're going to be killed from one week to the next. It is easy, of course, to think that we have moved on beyond all this—that we are now calm and sensible and rational. But so often, this is really a function of a context rather than our personal togetherness. The unconscious competence we talked about earlier is really not about our peak performance but just where people are at before some major shit hits them. The supposed competence collapses like a house of cards. My best friend at school became very religious, studied ethics and all the rest of it; he was all calm and sorted, and then he was teaching in a school and another person purposely got him pushed out of his position. He found himself uncontrollably hateful towards that person. He was shocked by himself; he thought, I suppose, that he'd moved beyond suffering, but that was not the case. All that had happened was that he thought he had—which is something very different. Of course, our calm, rational self-image is really a vulnerability waiting to be exposed. We don't need something external to us to shake up this vulnerable calm; life is not static, it is not outside time, it has a beginning and it has an end. There is the suffering that comes from the increasing sense of our mortality—it is always there, and it increases each year as we get older. Again, this experience is full of paradox, for reasons not so different from what we have already discussed. The awareness of an endpoint is an undeniable form of suffering, and at the same time, it opens up another variant of post-traumatic growth: we experience this mortality, and as a result, we turn towards service, towards the other, in the time that we have left. Again, this does not always happen, but it undeniably occurs for many people. There is a shift from seeing *the* world to seeing *this* world—that is, this world is not everything there is; it is a thing within an infinite void—all the time before our life and all the time after our life. There's a growing sense of the eternity beyond all this. We don't really know what this means, but it's as if we've been given the gift of a structural transcendence, in that we can lose our attachment to this world more easily—all its stuff, all this status; it starts to seem so meaningless. What opens up to us is a world beyond this time and space, a function of our spirit rather than a function of being part of a car engine, which it increasingly seems obvious we are not. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2025/09/man-at-crossroads.png) Diego Rivera, **Man at the Crossroads* (1933, recreated 1934) Given that our body dies, as it will, what is it that we—this self—actually are? Just because the possible answers are mysterious does not mean that they are not there. All this is unfathomable in the same sense that the most foundational episode of Western culture—the crucifixion of Jesus—is also unfathomable. God so loved the world that he gave his only son to die for us. The whole idea seems so ridiculous, so weird and just bizarre, so foreign to our super self-confident, so increasingly nervous, secular world. And yet observation tells us this idea inspired one of the world’s greatest religions; it was, and in a way still is, at the heart of our culture in ways that we don't realise. Supposed atheists, for instance, like the communist and socialist leaders subject to the brutality of Nazi prisons, wrote about their fate, their destiny—something that seemed outside of themselves—which gave their struggle and their suffering meaning, a redemption rooted in suffering that gave them strength. What is presented to us, then, is a subversive underworld within our consciousness, beyond the facade of the materialist frame. In the dark moments of self-reflection, we know there is something else, another storyline that refuses to go away, that is always there, that our empirical eye can see evidence for all around us. That suffering is more than just suffering—it is not just one thing; it can then lead into new worlds that we are afraid to explore but are drawn to just the same, to a sense that goes beyond the ever-more tiring world of stuff and status. We are focused so far, then, on the person, the personal experience, but before finishing, it would be worth acknowledging that these dynamics work on a social level as well. Sociologists have come up with the concept of *social fate*, a willingness to serve the social, the collective interest. In the aftermath of the hardships and horrors of World War II, the extreme suffering of that experience made people realise there is indeed a society, and that we need it to look after us; that it is in the social that we derive meaning and security, rather than in our individual existence. The idea, then, is that this all started to end in the 1970s, and by the 1980s, we had entered—or maybe re-entered—the obsession with the self, our individual desires, our consumption, our status. The wheel turns. Another, more specific example is the exceptional success of the Mondragon cooperatives in Spain, which grew to be the largest complex of worker-owned organisations in the world. The project was initiated in the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War; it was against this background of mass killings that gave workers the collective will to work together for their common good. Suffering, it seems, focuses the mind on connecting with the other—or at least it can. When I was young, I read the quote from Hegel that said that war was "ethical health." I was revolted by the idea, and I still am, but I've come to see that there is an element in what he is saying that is true. So all of this is very confusing. I have opened up a number of boxes here and not elaborated on them that much. We will come back to a lot of them. The plan at the moment is to lay out the field, to view the landscape. This is the whole point—as you have probably come to realise, this podcast, at least at this stage, isn’t supposed to be a nice affirmation of what we already know. It's about opening up some of those doors we never wanted to open but are sort of driven to, not least because the stories we are being told—all that calm, reasonable, rational stuff—are simply not working. In fact, as we are increasingly aware, it is taking us to hell. It's an enormous pride-before-a-fall thing, and the whole point—as you’re probably tired of me saying—is not to solve these ambiguities, but to sit with them for a while. And we are piling them up. You might think what we are dealing with here is psychology, but if so, it is a psychology that leads unavoidably on to something else—this world of the spirit, as we are calling it. We’re not quite sure what it is all about, but we are planning to go over the walls of some citadel with all the stuff, whatever this stuff means. Let's just summarise. We have the ambiguity that suffering disrupts our notion of the rational, calm world; that this leads to a confusion, that suffering seems to be both bad but also good, in so much as it can lead to personal transcendence on the individual level and social fate on the collective level. And there is then a confusion on what this means for how we choose to act. It seems we are presented with nihilism—a purposelessness or emptiness—but at least if we trust some of the greatest wisdom traditions, it is this very vulnerability that opens us up to another world. Not just the personal resilience, but the collective strength to take down the empire we are up against—the empire that is taking us to hell—that gives us the power to create the new world. Could all be heady stuff, could all be rubbish—who knows? Let’s continue to see what happens. [Donate To Support Roger's Work](#/portal/support) --- As always, you can sign up for nonviolent civil resistance with [Just Stop Oil](https://juststopoil.org/?ref=rogerhallam.com) in the UK or via the [A22 Network](https://a22network.org/en/?ref=rogerhallam.com) internationally. --- ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get on with the job of sorting it out. [Support](https://rogerhallam.com/#/portal/signup/6517fbb3b89c5400016e9f27/yearly) ### ⛪ The Sunday Service - Love, Wisdom, Faith URL: https://rogerhallam.com/the-sunday-service-love-wisdom-faith/ Last updated: 2025-09-25T18:20:54.000Z Dear friends, After 13 months in prison, I’m back. It feels right that one of the first things I share is not just about politics or organisation, but about something deeper: how we live our lives, how we find courage, and how we root ourselves in love and wisdom when the world is collapsing around us. That’s why Ginny and I, with [Rev21](http://rev21.earth/?ref=rogerhallam.com) and friends, are hosting a special online gathering. Think of it as the start of the next stage of my *Free as a Bird* gatherings and the *Spirit of Revolution* podcast — a space to connect internationally, explore texts and testimonies, and experiment with new ways of going deeper together. It won’t be a lecture. The whole event is built around small groups, reflection, and conversation. We’ll read short texts, share what resonates, and look honestly at the challenges each of us faces — and how love, wisdom, and faith might help us carry them. This is experimental. Your feedback will help shape future events, and you’re warmly invited to bring others along. 📅 **Date & Time**: Sunday 28th September 4 pm UK (BST) / 11am EST 💻 **Register here**: [\[Zoom link\]](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83488420366?pwd=T1UxfaIcQnZx2aRKOwsiUCouQsUZX8.1&ref=rogerhallam.com) [Register for the Sunday Service](https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/2yxLbrsvTxWCB2R2z%5FcjFw?%5Fx%5Fzm%5Frtaid=frgVjpbQSmOYJo5zRr95iA.1758823371677.fb2e6ebad9840f5ca1c3209ee3a02fe3&%5Fx%5Fzm%5Frhtaid=466&ref=rogerhallam.com#/registration) --- ### What to Expect - **Welcome & introduction** – setting the direction of travel. - **Breakouts** – meeting each other and why we’ve come. - **Texts & reflection** – short readings and discussion on love, wisdom, and faith. - **Sharing testimonies** – how people are meeting life’s challenges through depth. - **Breakouts again** – reflecting on our own challenges and opportunities. - **Closing** – themes, testimonies, donations, announcements, and thanks. The whole event will run for about **1 hour 35 minutes**. --- This is a chance to step outside the noise, to share something real, and to connect across borders. I hope you can join us. Please share with anyone who might be interested. With best wishes and thanks, Roger and Ginny [Register for the Sunday Service](https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/2yxLbrsvTxWCB2R2z%5FcjFw?%5Fx%5Fzm%5Frtaid=frgVjpbQSmOYJo5zRr95iA.1758823371677.fb2e6ebad9840f5ca1c3209ee3a02fe3&%5Fx%5Fzm%5Frhtaid=466&ref=rogerhallam.com#/registration) --- For more on my take on spirituality, you can grab my book, [*50 Articles The Media Wouldn’t Publis*](https://lnk.bio/rogerhallam?ref=rogerhallam.com)[*h*](https://lnk.bio/rogerhallam?ref=rogerhallam.com), which brings together six years of blog posts, prison notebooks and essays from the founding of XR to the last year in prison. Already, rebels around the world have picked up 20**0 copies, with e**very purchase helping spread Rev21 work. ### 📕 **Here’s how you can get a copy:** - **Free copies for paid subscribers**: All paid subscribers to Roger's blog can get a free ebook copy. Links to download are at the bottom of this post or the bottom of Roger's [books page](https://rogerhallam.com/page-books/). Thank you for being so supportive! (If you have any problems downloading, just email us) - **Print copies for Revolutionary Members**: If you donate £20 or more, print copies are now finally available! **S**[ign up](https://forms.gle/tiJvACzfHWfyfjhV7?ref=rogerhallam.com) to receive your copy. First posting has just begun! [Upgrade your support](#/portal/account/plans) - **Or** [**buy it**](https://lnk.bio/rogerhallam?ref=rogerhallam.com)**!** If you’re a free subscriber, you can grab it [here](https://lnk.bio/rogerhallam?ref=rogerhallam.com). - If you know reviewers, journalists, academics, or fellow organisers who should read this book, **get them a copy** or pass on the links. Personal recommendations are powerful. [Grab a copy](https://lnk.bio/rogerhallam?ref=rogerhallam.com) If you need any help with this, you can always email us at roger@rev21.earth, and I or one of my team of volunteers will slowly get back to you ❤️ _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 🇬🇧 In Britain we speak our minds – even if we’re jailed for it URL: https://rogerhallam.com/in-britain-we-speak-our-minds-even-if-were-jailed-for-it/ Last updated: 2025-09-22T06:28:55.000Z *(This article was* [*originally published*](https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/article/just-stop-oil-founder-britain-is-a-country-where-we-speak-our-minds-even-if-were-jailed-for-it?ref=rogerhallam.com) *in* GQ’*s ‘What’s so Great about Britain?’ special issue.)* **I presume I was asked to write this because I could do the bit of the script where some worthy protester says that we have this wonderful liberal tradition** – you know, the Chartists and the suffragettes and civil rights people – some very British onward march of progress where everyone gets treated in an ever nicer way. Well, I am writing this in a prison cell after getting a five-year sentence for doing a 20-minute talk on Zoom, asking people to engage in peaceful civil disobedience, because it just so happens that the country is going to hell unless there is a massive reduction in carbon emissions – all that. This is the longest sentence ever given to someone doing (or even talking about) nonviolent action, so you will forgive me for not thinking that Britain is that great on progress. What is actually great about Britain is that there have always been enough people around who believe that 2+2=4, and not 5, regardless of what happens if you say so. What George Orwell went on about. We have a feeling for genius – meaning people can get to say what they think, and don’t care if our rulers get a bit enthusiastic and bang us up. For example, the British Institute and Faculty of Actuaries recently did a climate report. They have worked out that 4 billion people might die from malnutrition and other unimaginably bad things at 3 degrees Celsius of warming, which is coming around about the time our teenagers hit 40\. If it’s true, then it’s true. We don’t, at least most of us don’t, do the whole ideology routine of saying what the political parties want us to say, whether on the left or the right. > **We’re fine with keeping calm, but we’re not OK with carrying on.** Given that I have just said something very upsetting, maybe I should say another good thing about Britain. It is that, on a good day, we can accept reality, band together, and get on with it. The war and all that. We don’t know if we’re still up to it, but I am willing to bet that we are. Once it sinks in what a total shitshow our elites and their corporate friends have created for us, we know what to do. The rich will have to pay up and dig up their lawns to grow spuds. And we will all have to pitch in and make the best of it, like we have had to do a good few times in our history. We are not going to get self-pitying and blaming. So when I get out of prison, I’m not going to get all bitter. I’m not going to do the whole violence thing of running around with a mask on, throwing things. No, I’m a democrat. I believe in the basic decency of ordinary British people. I will go round the country and help communities to come together, get organised, put up their own candidates in elections – and get rid of those idiots who tell us to keep calm and carry on. We’re fine with keeping calm, but we’re not OK with carrying on. The best thing about this country is we’re a pretty boring, conservative lot most of the time, but every century or so we rise up and give the ruling class a good going over. Just to remind them we’re not serfs and we don’t take kindly to the idea of 4 billion people dying so that rich people’s quarterly returns can look rosy. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2025/08/Screenshot-2025-08-15-at-6.59.36---PM.png) Getting communities organised – learn more at [https://timetoassemble.org/](https://timetoassemble.org/?ref=rogerhallam.com) There you are, I’m calling “a spade a spade”, as my mother used to put it. If what is written here doesn’t get past the editor, the sky most definitely will not fall in – not yet anyway. I say what I want, and what I want to say is what is true. Because that’s the sort of person I am. It’s a British thing. *Roger was released from jail on licence shortly before* GQ *went to press —* [*read more here*](https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/collection/whats-so-great-about-britain?ref=rogerhallam.com)*.* [Britain is crumbling. It’s time to reconsider the word ‘Great’With patriotism in the news, and our history now a battleground, politicians on both the left and right argue over Britain’s greatness. The reality, says acclaimed filmmaker Adam Curtis, is that the rhetoric is a facade, hiding a bleaker truth![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/icon/favicon.ico)British GQAdam Curtis![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/thumbnail/GQ_OCTOBER_ONLINE_ESSAYS_Curtis.jpg)](https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/article/britain-is-crumbling-its-time-to-reconsider-the-word-great?ref=rogerhallam.com) [Donate to support the Revolution](#/portal/support) --- *This article is a shortened account of the arguments presented in* [*Roger’s new book*](https://lnk.bio/rogerhallam?ref=rogerhallam.com)*, “Grasping the Enormity of the Moment”, on the responsibilities of the new British political party..* ### 📕 **Here’s how to get a copy :** - **Free copies for paid subscribers**: All paid subscribers to Roger's blog can get a free ebook copy. Links to download are at the bottom of this post or the bottom of Roger's [books page](https://rogerhallam.com/page-books/). Thank you for being so supportive! (If you have any problems downloading, just email us on roger@rev21.earth) - **Print copies for Revolutionary Members**: If you donate £20 or more, you’ll receive a print copy of the book. So, revolutionaries, [sign up](https://forms.gle/tiJvACzfHWfyfjhV7?ref=rogerhallam.com) to receive your copies. First batches will be sent out soon. (It's never too late to [increase your donation](https://rogerhallam.com/launch-blog-book/#/portal/signup)!). - **Or buy it!** If you’re a free subscriber, you can [purchase the print or e-book](https://lnk.bio/rogerhallam?ref=rogerhallam.com). Please leave a review afterwards to help others find it. [Get The Book](https://lnk.bio/rogerhallam?ref=rogerhallam.com) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2025/09/zour-party-cover-2.png) _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 🗳️ Voting isn’t Democratic. We need Sortition URL: https://rogerhallam.com/voting-isnt-democratic-we-need-sortition/ Last updated: 2025-09-16T06:50:32.000Z *(This article was originally published in* [*The New Statesman*](https://archive.ph/jyEs1?ref=rogerhallam.com)*)* > **“*We, the most humble, will win, even though you do not believe it*” – Chilean Graffiti.** Democracy means rule by the people. Not rule for the people. Not rule in the interests of the people. Not rule by those who think they know what the people need most, and all the rest of it. What democracy means is, literally, the people themselves rule. Voting and elections are not democracy – they are a means to the end of democracy. If it turns out that elections and voting don’t result in the rule by the people, then we can’t use them. We need another way. And as it turns out, voting and elections do not, and never have, produced rule by the people. What they produce is oligarchy – rule by the few. Don’t take my word for it. This was standard political knowledge from ancient times up to the French Revolution. What you got with voting and elections was a few people in charge – obviously! Because, as everyone who observes what actually happens knows, so-called electoral “democracies” are always controlled by the few. Sure, if you like voting and elections and oligarchies that’s fine. They have their pros and cons, but don’t delude yourself and others that you are a democrat. You are not. I mean, about 5 per cent or less of the elected representatives in Western “democracies” are working-class people. Depending on how you define the term, they amount to 50 per cent of the people – the poorest 50 per cent that is – and they get 5 per cent of their people to rule. Whatever this is, it is plainly not democracy. If you are a socialist, if you believe in equality, you have to be a democrat – you have to support rule by the people – the people, not just rule by the rich. Again, if you believe in voting and elections, then fine, but don’t call yourself a socialist. What you believe in is the rule by the few. Maybe you think that’s a good idea, but, again, if you do, don’t pretend you’re a democrat. You are not. Let’s get concrete on this. In a democracy, Mrs Jones, a 60-year-old grandmother on a housing estate in Moss Side, has to have as much chance of ruling as Mr Smith, a lecturer up the road at Manchester University. If there are voting and elections, then – obviously – Mr Smith is much more likely to get to rule because he has the time, the connections, the money, the education – all that stuff. If you believe in democracy, then you cannot promote a system which makes Mr Smith much more likely to represent the people than Mrs Jones. If you believe in equality, then voting and elections are a no-no. There is history here. The great founding fathers of the American Revolution instituted voting and elections not because they were democrats, but because they were not democrats. They hated democracy. They didn’t want democracy – rule by the mob, as they saw it. They wanted elections, so that the worthy – meaning the rich and powerful – could use their power to get themselves voted in. The electoral systems that were sold as democracy in the early nineteenth century were a lie. What we got was an oligarchy, as 200 years of history show. We were sold a dud! We just got more of the same – the rich kept their power, didn’t they? Because that is what elections and voting produce. If you want democracy you have to get all the people in the same place and then they all decide together. Meaning the people themselves rule. The rich and powerful, and those that speak for them, conned us into thinking that because this is not possible in modern societies, then we have to settle for elections and voting, which is handy, as this way they get to keep the power. But, of course, this too is a lie. Maybe it is the biggest political lie of them all. Because you can have a sortition. It’s easy. It’s been going on for 2,000 years since ancient Athens. You randomly select people from the people, so you still get the people making the decisions. Meaning that the richest 1 per cent of people make up – you’ve got it – 1 per cent of the people in the parliament, and the bottom 50 per cent make up 50 per cent of the members of the parliament. Sortition, then, is super cool! It’s the revolution we all want. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2025/08/Screenshot-2025-08-15-at-6.59.36---PM.png) How to give power away – learn more at [https://timetoassemble.org/](https://timetoassemble.org/?ref=rogerhallam.com) The working class then gets 50 per cent of the representation rather than 5 per cent – not just one time, but all the time. The people, the “most humble”, finally get to rule. This is the glory of true democracy. As I say, if you don’t like it, fine, but don’t call yourself a democrat or a socialist. Call yourself what you are: an aristocrat. You believe a few are called to rule, like the people who believe that only white people should rule, that only men should rule. Because, think about it, what are you actually saying? That somehow Mrs Jones is less worthy of being able to rule than Mr Smith? That Mr Smith is basically a superior human being to Mrs Jones? Is that it? Sure, you might think this, and if you do, I would suggest this is not a revolutionary attitude but a reactionary one. Of course, people will nitpick: who selects the people, who gets to present to them, who implements decisions? But all these things can be worked out. We have the know-how and the technology. Nothing is ever perfect, but sortition is self-evidently a hell of a lot better than elections and voting. What is really going on here is that the critics just don’t like the prospect of the people ruling, rather than them. They think their own groups should make the decisions. They are the old regime. Sortition, then, is democracy. Sortition is socialism. As such, sortition is not open to negotiation. It is not a technicality, a scheme, or an option. It’s not an academic dream, a historical curiosity. It is what democracy is – what real democracy looks like in the 21st century. It’s what the young, the poor, the marginalised demand – they want their power. Sortition is their means of overcoming the rich and powerful. It is, in these end times, a matter of continued human existence. It is then sortition or death. Those claiming to speak for the 800,000 who have signed up to Your Party should remember: you are not the people, they are. [Donate to support the Revolution](https://rogerhallam.com/page-donate/#/portal/signup) --- *This article is a shortened account of the arguments presented in* [*Roger’s new book*](https://lnk.bio/rogerhallam?ref=rogerhallam.com)*, “Grasping the Enormity of the Moment”, on the responsibilities of Your Party.* ### 📕 **Here’s how to get a copy :** - **Free copies for paid subscribers**: All paid subscribers to Roger's blog can get a free ebook copy. Links to download are at the bottom of this post or the bottom of Roger's [books page](https://rogerhallam.com/page-books/). Thank you for being so supportive! (If you have any problems downloading, just email us on roger@rev21.earth) - **Print copies for Revolutionary Members**: If you donate £20 or more, you’ll receive a print copy of the book. So, revolutionaries, [sign up](https://forms.gle/tiJvACzfHWfyfjhV7?ref=rogerhallam.com) to receive your copies. First batches will be sent out soon. (It's never too late to [increase your donation](https://rogerhallam.com/launch-blog-book/#/portal/signup)!). - **Or buy it!** If you’re a free subscriber, you can [purchase the print or e-book](https://lnk.bio/rogerhallam?ref=rogerhallam.com). Please leave a review afterwards to help others find it. [Get The Book](https://lnk.bio/rogerhallam?ref=rogerhallam.com) _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 😡 It's Time To Get Emotional URL: https://rogerhallam.com/its-time-to-get-emotional/ Last updated: 2025-09-09T13:55:11.000Z Now that I am free, we can continue The Spirit Of Revolution podcast, starting with the release of the previously censored prison recordings. In this episode, I explore the tangled relationship between reason and emotion — and how this tension shapes not just our inner lives but the course of history itself. We’ve long been told that reason should lead and emotion should follow, but what if that story is upside down? What if the truth is that we can’t make a single decision without feeling — that emotion is not the opposite of reason, but its foundation? From the glass box of a courtroom to the shouting voices of prison, from a childhood of repressed emotion to the fiery eruption of ACT UP in the face of AIDS, I reflect on what it means to reclaim feeling as central to both personal transformation and social change. This podcast dives into the power of emotion — not as weakness, not as irrationality, but as the raw energy of human connection, decision-making, and resistance. Join me as I explore how the emotional turn opens the door to a new kind of politics, a new kind of revolution, and perhaps even a new civilisation. Listen on [Spotify,](https://open.spotify.com/episode/2qcUg6V0Wf73qlFI1srbHf?si=Mb-KiIG-R-68cnDLnsOKlA&ref=rogerhallam.com) [Apple](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-spirit-of-revolution-ep-1-intro/id1671150953?i=1000668886068&ref=rogerhallam.com), [Soundcloud](https://soundcloud.com/roger-hallam-2023/the-spirit-of-revolution-ep1-intro?si=02660373d400489c9ad0e8f873ac5dbc&utm%5Fsource=clipboard&utm%5Fmedium=text&utm%5Fcampaign=social%5Fsharing) or wherever you get your podcasts. We've worked to improve the prison phone sound quality and each episode will come with a transcript below and video version on [Youtube](https://youtu.be/uWgKHqdL9uw?ref=rogerhallam.com) for reading along. ## Episode 5 - Emotions I'm writing this on the Sunday afternoon in Wandsworth Prison, London. In the background, there's a man yelling and swearing out of his cell window. It happens often, several times a day. Three days ago, I was given a five-year prison sentence; my co-defendants got four years. When we arrived in the courtroom, it was a new, bigger space. We were put in a large glass box in the centre of the room. It was surrounded by seating areas for the public, the press, the lawyers, and, at the end of the room, sat the judge. I was not expecting such a big spectacle. The room felt full of expectation and drama. I already had an idea of the sentence I would receive—the judge's already said that we were looking to go to prison for quite a long time. The judge read out the sentence, she stood up, and left the court. I think I thought, "Okay, that is it." I got up to leave the glass box and return to the prison cell. Then I looked back behind me, and all our supporters were crowding against the glass, and the co-defendants were touching glass from the inside. It was all very emotional. I felt a bit silly for the moment. I saw Chris Packham, the TV presenter. He looked shell-shocked. I smiled at him and gave him the thumbs-up. I was brought up in a severely Calvinistic family. I didn't realise this until I left home. I can't remember my parents telling me they loved me after the age of about 10, and from that point onwards, there were no hugs. My parents were brought up during the Second World War. It was a hard and repressed childhood, and I think they carried the weight of it with them all their lives. In my 20s, I consciously decided to reprogram myself, as you might say, or at least I learned to be a new self. Hugging was back in, but I still have that voice inside me going, "No emotion, please." During dramatic moments in my life, I tend to feel detached, hence my embarrassment at the sentencing. There is this new idea—a new culture, you might say—that has grown up in recent decades, that displays of emotion are okay. Emotion is part of being human. There is not just reason; we can be emotional. But actually, that's not quite right. There's something more fundamental that has occurred, especially in the social sciences. It's not the old dichotomy between reason versus emotion or what is presumed to be irrationality. It's the realization that reason cannot exist without emotion in the real world, rather than the rationalist, reductive world of those 18th-century gentlemen. Then again, that rules out any role for emotion. It has actually turned out that they are, in fact, both part of the same thing. According to empirical observation, you cannot decide matters without emotion. Reason, in practice, cannot exist without it. This has been shown in a stark way by research where a person that has brain damage and could not feel their emotions also was totally unable to make decisions. Of course, in a way, this is obvious. The ideological fantasy that we are cold, calculating machines is nonsense. In the real world, we feel, and we decide at the same time. When people say they have no feelings involved in making a decision, they're just in denial. Certainly, if you challenge them on this, then they certainly get emotional about it. Their emotion is ideological; it's not based upon observation. So we have a game: this ongoing feat—the supposed tool of the rationalist, empirical observation—undermines the idea of pure reason. In reality, things are messy. The reality is we've got our categories wrong. We feel a decision; we find ourselves having a reason. This is not irrationality; it's what we might call the non-rational. The rational is just some ideal-type thing stuck in the head of all those gentlemen. As such, this realization is another nail in the coffin of the idea that there's some atomized decision-making self. So, you might justifiably ask: where does the emergence of a feeling come from if there is only one self? We are back to the uncomfortable idea of there being no foundation, no ground. We are back to being as suspended; we only have the present moment—this moment of agency within a sea of received thoughts and emotions. But we are not throwing the baby out with the bathwater. There is obviously such a thing as sitting down and consciously focusing on something, but it is clear that this is the exception, not the rule. And even when we do this, we find ourselves integrating a whole bunch of feelings and intuition. It's complicated. The more we look at it, the more we find that our language here is problematic. In a way, what is going on is beyond language. But the good news is that life goes on. In fact, over the last few decades, there's been a transformation in how we see emotion, in particular, in how it relates to personal and social change. The process of acknowledging and encouraging emotion has been at the centre of new therapeutic approaches—something my parents' generation was never able to benefit from. There's been a similar development in the public realm. As it happens, my top hero of the 20th century, the most effective social change person in my view, was not Gandhi or Martin Luther King—it was Larry Kramer of Act Up, the gay campaign group. Of course, Gandhi and King were amazing people, but they were set within a rather repressed, solemn, reasoning culture—the culture of my parents' generation, with its dysfunctional response to the wars and traumas of the 20th century. When the AIDS epidemic spread through the gay communities of New York in the 1980s, this was the culture that dominated the public sphere. It was the received norm: monotone speeches, euphemistic language, denial, and nothing was happening. The bodies of gay men piled up in hospital corridors, neglected and left to die. Then Larry came along, and all hell broke loose. "Get out on the streets, otherwise you're gonna fucking die!" Six months of explosive emotion, and everything changed. People started to be treated with some dignity, and new drugs were introduced. Of course, a lot more was going on, but it seemed like something in the general culture was starting to shift. When I researched social movement theory at King's College, I found out what was called the social turn. Social change did not happen just because of structural openings in the political context. Change happened because people got emotional, and they showed it. And arguably, distrust of other factors—it's all about the drama, isn't it? ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2024/11/right-side-of-history-min.png) The point here is that people change when people get angry with them. We all know this from our personal lives. Not always, of course, but at least when you're dealing with entrenched power, calmly reasoning with people is paradoxically unreasonable—irrational, even. It doesn't work. According to social scientific occupation, there are nuances here. It can't be rigidly hateful, and it cannot go on endlessly, but it's definitely part of the mix. This is what Larry Kramer was showing. It's not a matter of policy options; it's a matter of feelings. When he said, " I hate you," to an interviewer, he was just being honest—an authentic, real person. We all have feelings of hate. He was describing how he felt as an imperfect human being. This, then, is a big step forward from the paradigm of Gandhi and King, where everything was set within a frame of moral reasoning. And of course, this is a simplification. Obviously, King showed plenty of emotion, but there's something about the sensuality of emotion—rather than just reason—which leads to effective persuasion. Maybe, in fact, it would be good to drop this notion of reason altogether. Thinking back to the trial, there was one point where the judge left the room—not that emotionally mature, you might say—and I blurted out to the two prosecution lawyers, "Why don't you do something? It's been totally incoherent!" It was the only time that I saw them getting ruffled—when I made an emotional outburst. At the end of the trial, a good friend of mine, a Black woman who'd come to the UK from Ghana, shouted at a prosecutor about their complicity. I expect that these two incidents had more impact on them than all the dry legal arguments. Sometimes, someone has to let it all out. The emotional turn, then, can be seen as a major change in how we see the process of social engagement. It is rooted in a more general feminist confrontation with the repressive male metaphysics of the last 300 years—or maybe much longer—meaning the imposed common sense of the rational has been challenged by the emergence of the feeling. It is feeling that underlies the sociability which is essential for healthy human communication. We encourage them to move on from this imposed notion of the solid, rigid, atomized self. The "me" is not a thing, but an ever-changing ecology. An intermixing of internal and external flows and waves of consciousness and the unconscious. This reflects the findings of modern time. It's clear that a new paradigm of understanding ourselves is being offered to us. It is also very different to some idealized, perfected notion of enlightenment—a process whereby Eastern traditions are squeezed through the frame of Western individualism. You may have thought that the previous episodes on the Self, the world, and the time were directing us to some form of individualized detachment—the stereotype of what gets called personal growth—but this, in fact, is just another form of 18th-century ego-based atomization. "Ocean of I on my own, are on a journey on the rest of the world, has nothing to do with me" is actually an outcome of privileged sadism, just another type of othering the Other. Now, where we're moving towards is the intrinsic emotionality of everyday social life: being in the thick of it, without separation, but without rigid detachment either. Paradoxically, it's not attachment to your own detachment. What this broader feminist metaphysics has brought back into the frame is the spirit of pagan, gritty embeddedness. We can say then that we are in this world, but we're also transcendent from it at the same time. We are accepting our suspendedness on this journey of engagement. Entering into this spirit of revolution, we discover that emotion is essential to communication, essential to making decisions, and critical to social confrontation. It is at the heart of our humanity. It is not irrational; rather, it is non-rational. We will look at two other aspects of the non-rational, as we’ll call it, before going over the walls of the citadel—that being the ruinous division between the secular and the religious. And then I hope we will see a whole new landscape open up. That, then, is the direction of travel. As we build upon the pluralistic sense of metaphysics, we can, I hope, see that the new status given to emotion gives us the potentiality for a deep cultural transformation—something which is going to have to be a major plank of a new civilization that emerges from the devastation of the Old World, this world we are still trapped within. The therapeutic and the psychological will take over from the economic and the political, the miserable sciences of greed and stuff. And yet, to remind ourselves again, we are not throwing the baby out with the bathwater. Economics still has relevance. We are looking at a radical rebalancing, not an elimination. The notion of totality, the idea of total victory, is part of the old way of looking at things—the way of us or them. We are looking at dissolving the rigidity of opposition into the connectivity of ecology. This is a developing theme of this podcast—this pluralism. Next time, we'll look at other elements of the nonrational. [Donate To Support Roger's Work From Prison](#/portal/signup) --- As always, you can sign up for nonviolent civil resistance with [Just Stop Oil](https://juststopoil.org/?ref=rogerhallam.com) in the UK or via the [A22 Network](https://a22network.org/en/?ref=rogerhallam.com) internationally. If you want to get involved in the democratic revolution, join an upcoming [Welcome to Assemble](https://timetoassemble.org/events/?ref=rogerhallam.com) talk. --- ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get on with the job of sorting it out. [Support](https://rogerhallam.com/#/portal/signup/6517fbb3b89c5400016e9f27/yearly) ### 📚 Out of Prison, Into Print URL: https://rogerhallam.com/out-of-prison-into-print/ Last updated: 2025-08-29T16:19:16.000Z Dear revolutionaries, After 13 months behind bars, Roger is finally **free from prison**! ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2025/08/roger-free.png) Photo Credit, Jamie Lowe To mark this moment, you can support and celebrate by grabbing his latest book or joining him at upcoming talks in London (tickets below). Roger's book, [*50 Articles The Media Wouldn’t Publis*](https://lnk.bio/rogerhallam?ref=rogerhallam.com)[*h*](https://lnk.bio/rogerhallam?ref=rogerhallam.com), brings together six years of blog posts, prison notebooks and essays from the founding of XR to the last year in prison. This new edition also includes Roger’s **seminal prison essay,** [**“Why the Human Race Is Going Extinct This Century”**](https://rogerhallam.com/blog-extinct/) — essential reading for anyone who refuses to look away. Already, rebels around the world have picked up **150 copies, with e**very purchase helping spread Roger’s work. ### 📕 **Here’s how you can get a copy:** - **Free copies for paid subscribers**: All paid subscribers to Roger's blog can get a free ebook copy. Links to download are at the bottom of this post or the bottom of Roger's [books page](https://rogerhallam.com/page-books/). Thank you for being so supportive! (If you have any problems downloading, just email us) - **Print copies for Revolutionary Members**: If you donate £20 or more, print copies are now finally available! **S**[ign up](https://forms.gle/tiJvACzfHWfyfjhV7?ref=rogerhallam.com) to receive your copy. First posting begins soon. (It's never too late to [increase your donation](https://rogerhallam.com/launch-blog-book/#/portal/signup)!). - **Or** [**buy it**](https://lnk.bio/rogerhallam?ref=rogerhallam.com)**!** If you’re a free subscriber, you can grab it [here](https://lnk.bio/rogerhallam?ref=rogerhallam.com). - If you know reviewers, journalists, academics, or fellow organisers who should read this book, **get them a copy** or pass on the links. Personal recommendations are powerful. [Grab a copy](https://lnk.bio/rogerhallam?ref=rogerhallam.com) ## Upcoming Public Talks Prison may have been billed as punishment, but Roger treated it like an *extended reading and writing break*. Many more books are in the making! Now out, he’s straight back to public speaking — with three events this September in London where you can catch up with him and hear more on prison and the big questions of collapse, morality, and the future of civilisation. #### 1\. **On Being, In Prison** – London, Sunday 7th September Roger will share what prison taught him about *being*. From brutal materialism (“it is what it is”), to postmodern denial (“you just can’t say”), to the mystery of God (“glory be”), this talk explores what it means to face collapse, rupture and terror — and still find the courage to re-make the world. Expect hard-hitting honesty, small-group discussions, and a one-pot vegan supper together. 📍 Kairos, 84 Tottenham Court Road, London 🕔 Doors 5pm, Talk 5:30pm 🎟️ [Get tickets here](https://www.kairos.london/event/on-being-in-prison-with-roger-hallam?ref=rogerhallam.com) --- #### 2\. **Philosophy Salon** – HowTheLightGetsIn Festival, Saturday 20th September What happens when you lock up a radical for years? He comes out hungrier for conversation. Over a shared vegan supper, Roger will host an intimate philosophy salon at the world’s largest ideas festival, exploring civil resistance, collapse, and moral responsibility. This is not a lecture — it’s a radical conversation about what it means to act in the face of ecological breakdown, and how collective courage might still shape the future. 📍 HowTheLightGetsIn, Academy venue 🕣 Saturday 20 Sept, 8:30pm 🎟️ [Reserve your free place](https://howthelightgetsin.org/events/philosophy-salon-with-roger-hallam-20066?ref=rogerhallam.com) --- #### 3\. **A New Existentialism for a World in Crisis** – HowTheLightGetsIn Festival, Sunday 21st September In this talk, Roger will put forward a new existentialism for our times: how to face collapse with clear eyes, shed the comforting lies, and act with responsibility and courage in the face of mass death and ecological breakdown. 📍 HowTheLightGetsIn, Ring venue 🕐 Sunday 21 Sept, 1pm 🎟️ [Reserve your free place](https://howthelightgetsin.org/events/a-new-existentialism-for-a-world-in-crisis-20092?ref=rogerhallam.com) This is a special moment to hear from Roger in his own words. Let’s make sure his message travels far and wide. Thank you. With love and courage, [Robin Boardman](https://robinboardman.com/?ref=rogerhallam.com) Book Editor and Fellow XR/Rev21 Cofounder If you need any help with this, you can always email us at roger.hallam.uk@gmail.com. Our team of volunteers will slowly get back to you ❤️ _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### My advice to Jeremy Corbyn URL: https://rogerhallam.com/my-advice-to-jeremy-corbyn/ Last updated: 2025-08-15T17:00:57.000Z *(This article was originally published in* [*The New Statesman*](https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-politics/2025/08/roger-hallam-my-advice-jeremy-corbyn?ref=rogerhallam.com)*)* There is a slightly annoying truism that you don’t become happy by trying to become happy. Instead, you try to be a good person in service to others and happiness – or maybe a better word is fulfillment – is a by-product of that. It’s the same with winning elections. The more you try to win, the less people will want to vote for you, and even if you do win you will have destroyed your humanity to such an extent that you won’t be able to do anything half decent with the power. Wanting power because you want power is, well, not that clever. I was an organic vegetable grower for 20 years. The elite’s insistence on continuing carbon emissions led to so many extreme weather events that they destroyed my business. So I decided to go back to university. By a stroke of luck I got into King’s College, London to do PhD research on the dynamics of political mobilisation. I arrived in London with no money, zero connections, and very little clue of what I was going to do. I slept in my car and under my desk for several years but then things took off. [In 2023, the *New Statesman*](https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-politics/2023/05/the-new-statesmans-left-power-list?ref=rogerhallam.com) very kindly decided I was the 34th most influential progressive person in the UK (my friends messaged me to say “only 34th!”). How did that happen? Well, I started off thinking people do stuff because they make calculations on what will be most effective – the whole “self-interest”, rationality business. Two years into my research I had a slight nervous breakdown because I realised my basic assumptions were bollocks. People do the things that other people around them do because they want to be sociable – they want love. And we are attracted to people who have integrity, meaning they are not using us – they are not bullshitting. Let me give you a few examples. I did award-winning research on how people can be empowered by political meetings. In one experiment I had a campaign meeting designed around small groups’ decisions on what people felt about the issue, and then more small groups discuss what to do about it. The inputs were limited to two lots of five minutes. People loved it and 80 per cent of them felt empowered. Just about everyone came back for the second meeting. Then I attended a standard meeting. There were four speakers – all spoke for 15 minutes each. It was all very worthy. There was a Q&A, and several blokes asked bloke-like questions. There was no excitement. Only 20 per cent of people felt empowered. Hardly anyone came to the second meeting. To empower people, then, the political has to be decolonised by the social. [Donate to support the Revolution](https://rogerhallam.com/page-donate/#/portal/signup) Or to put it more bluntly, people like to chat. In my fieldwork I worked for a small grassroots trade union. They were organising migrant workers in London. I organised meetings around these small group discussions. The president of the union described the effects as “absolutely fantastic”. I did the design for the first rent strike in the city for decades. I had people knock on doors doing a survey. The point wasn’t the survey as such but to have, yes, a chat. People just loved to tell us about how bad their landlord was. Then we went back two weeks later to have another chat. Having made a connection, we asked if they wanted to go on strike if a critical mass of other people did the same. And they did. It started with 150 tenants and then spread to 10,000, and then we won. A year or two later I co-founded Extinction Rebellion. I did the mobilisation design work. It involved organising a thousand public meetings where we gave a no-bullshit talk: society is going to collapse unless we force governments to stop emitting carbon, and the most effective way to do this is through civil disobedience – because it is, and it is. Afterwards, there was no Q&A. People split up into small groups and – you’ve got it – had a chat. We mobilised hundreds of thousands of people and set up 400 local groups in 12 months. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2025/08/Extinction_Rebellion-12.jpg) After the pandemic I helped set up Just Stop Oil. We did another thousand public meetings and connections were created that led to thousands of arrests and hundreds of imprisonments. People don’t just do things like that. They need to feel empowered and supported. When Just Stop Oil ended, the BBC environment correspondent Justin Rowlatt asked me what was the most important thing about the organisation. I told him it was the explicit culture of respect, service and trust that brought people together. He never mentioned anything about that in his report – it was all about the usual “was it successful” stuff. That is the problem. The ruling neoliberal ideology of instrumentalism – “what works”, “how do you get power”, and all the rest of it – saturates the public sphere so completely that people simply ignore what really makes the world go around. Which brings us to dear old Jeremy Corbyn. We all know he’s a bit weird, but we also know without doubt the guy has integrity. He believes what he thinks is right not because it will “win”, but because it is right. That is why he won the Labour Party leadership: because he is real. And that is why 700,000-plus people have just signed up to this new left party. Sure, they are attracted to the whole equality and fairness stuff. But, in my view, the main thing is because Jeremy is “not them”: it’s not about more fucking bullshit. Politics basically rots our souls. Those of us who are not spiritually dead know what that feels like. That’s why people hate politics. It’s not so much about the immorality – the lack of ethics – it’s about the aesthetics. It just feels *yucks*. It’s possible Keir Starmer is an OK guy deep down inside; it’s possible he really does want the best for the country. But that’s the whole point: we really do not know. What we do know is that even if he started to be nice and authentic, it would be because some overly smart adviser had told him to be authentic because that way he will become more popular and so get more power. I read somewhere that humans have such big brains not because they have to do all that calculating but because it takes so much brain power to work out when we are being bullshitted. And we are very good at it. We spend our lives working it out, chatting about it and comparing notes. We get to be able to smell it. And people who lie to us to get power never smell good. It’s a feeling thing. So what am I saying? That we should be real because it’s good to be real? Yes, but critically it has to be institutionalised – a sense of service has to be systematically embedded in culture and practice. At the moment I write this we know there are lots of “how to be effective” power-mad people planning to surge into this new party and tell it what to do. More than half a million people is a lot of power, and a lot of tricky people want that power – the over-educated, over-successful, over-certain types. And they will ruin it, like they always ruin things – our parties, our country and now the whole world: our only home, this planet. It’s not good. In a week or two I hope to speak to the key people in this new movement/party space. This is what I will say. If you want to win the next election you have to stop thinking about getting power, and start giving it away. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2025/08/Screenshot-2025-08-15-at-6.59.36---PM.png) How to give power away – learn more at [https://timetoassemble.org/](https://timetoassemble.org/?ref=rogerhallam.com) If you want to be in service to the people you have to stop bullshitting and actually be in service to the people. Specifically, on the local level you have to create thousands of local assemblies where ordinary people can decide for themselves in sequences of small group discussions what the problems are and what they want changed. You need all those activists to get out, knock on millions of doors and, rather than telling people the score, to shut up and listen to them. To do a short survey, to ask open-ended questions, and build a connection. Then you will get five million sign-ups rather than 700,000. Why? Because it’s not about the telling, it’s about the listening, stupid. And then on the national level you drop the whole elections thing – it only encourages ego and power. You take a thousand of those ordinary people, randomly selected from your millions of sign-ups, to constitute your founding festival (not “conference”: it’s a social thing not a political thing), and then (you got it) you split them into small groups for a few days. You enable them to decide how we are going to come together in this great country of ours and remake ourselves, and then remake the world. It will be mind-blowing and heart-opening. People will be in tears. Because, at the end of the day, we all want that love. I know it’s embarrassing to say so, because we are all taught to ignore what we really feel and want. But, hey, it’s true. But whatever happens with this new party, in ten years we will be heading to 2°C of global heating, the feedbacks will be locked in and the carbon sinks will be collapsing. It will be the end. Except, of course, it won’t. We will finally realise that all that whole bullshitting, power-mad routine has only brought us to a burning planet and more deaths than we can imagine. There is going to be the biggest explosion of regret, remorse and redemption in human history. And out of all that we will finally grow up and realise that it is good to be good because it is good. And it’s nice to sit with the people we love and have a nice chat. [Support the Revolution](https://rev21.earth/support?ref=rogerhallam.com) --- Want to connect with other revolutionaries? Join the [Revolution in the 21st Century (R21C) here](https://rev21.earth/?ref=rogerhallam.com) --- ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get on with the job of sorting it out. [Support](https://rogerhallam.com/#/portal/signup/6517fbb3b89c5400016e9f27/yearly) ### 🎭 It’s the Culture, Stupid: Why the Populist Right Will Fail URL: https://rogerhallam.com/its-the-culture-stupid-why-the-populist-right-will-fail/ Last updated: 2025-07-11T07:48:29.000Z *This article was originally published in* [*The Ecologist*](https://theecologist.org/2025/may/29/climate-activism-needs-respect-service-trust?ref=rogerhallam.com)*.* Justin Rowlatt, the BBC’s environment correspondent, recently sent me a bunch of questions about the winding down of Just Stop Oil’s direct action operations. I wrote back to say that the most important thing about JSO was its culture of **respect, service, and trust.** This was the goose that laid the golden eggs of sustained mass civil disobedience. Unsurprisingly, even though I am a co-founder and coordinated the dramatic mobilisation of the organisation, this key point did not find its way into [his report](https://rogerhallam.com/the-end-of-just-stop-oil/). What really creates success is largely invisible. When I was doing my years of research at King’s College on the dynamics of mobilisation, I was amazed at how little attention there was in politics on culture as opposed to power. **Proactively** The fact is, however, that culture trumps power. Nowhere is this seen more clearly than on the populist right. There’s a widespread defeatist assumption in progressive circles that the domination of the far right is now a foregone conclusion — with Donald Trump's second term as president in the US, and Nigel Farage’s massive surge in the recent council elections in the UK. I totally disagree. As usual, people on the left tend to buy into the right’s frame and worldview — and then unsurprisingly conclude it’s all hopeless. In my view, the reason why Extinction Rebellion and then Just Stop Oil became social movements involving tens of thousands of people was because of proactively designed, pro-social cultures. Some readers may remember that before these organisations emerged, direct action groups rarely grew to a large size. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2025/06/the-weather-project_21881.png) Olafur Eliasson – **The Weather Project* (2003) **Serving** Actions involved a few dozen people, occasionally a few hundred. The networks were closed, highly ideological, and lacked diversity — mainly just young, middle-class people. To build a movement, you need a systematic, outward-facing mobilisation strategy that goes directly to the public across the country, via public meetings, assemblies, and social media. As ever, it’s the small things that count: being welcomed at the door; splitting into small groups for a chat; clear options for further action. Basically, people need to be nice. “Nice” is a terribly vague word, but we all know what it means. There needs to be check-ins at the start of meetings. People don’t want to be interrupted, shamed, or pushed out. There needs to be a clear moral code: serving the good, rather than grasping for power. **Machiavellian** People need to work in teams where everyone is respected and things are done together. Organisers need to be appreciative, supportive, and show their vulnerability when they mess up. > ***The key to success here is respectful, team-based organisational cultures.*** It’s not about telling people what to do all the time — not micro-management. Of course, and I would be the first to say, XR and JSO were far from perfect. But this isn’t about abstract utopianism. It’s about the ordinary, everyday things that ordinary people really like, things they *don’t* experience in most workplaces or political organisations. And this is where the "nasty" parties lose out. Their cultures rely on strict hierarchies of control, which is why they tend to need a single, indispensable, all-powerful leader: a Farage or a Trump. Without them, it falls apart. Second, believing that all that exists is “power”, far-right parties are full of Machiavellian backstabbing and all that nasty stuff normal people hate. **Fragility** It’s no surprise that such spaces attract dodgy people — the corrupt and power-crazy — and so they get brought down by scandals and criminality. The underlying issue is: these people do not know how to work together. Teams have been shown to outperform rigid hierarchies again and again. See the book [*The Culture Code*](https://uk.bookshop.org/a/9187/9781847941275?ref=rogerhallam.com) for a survey of the literature. In far-right, top-down cultures, the default motivator is fear, not cooperation. These parties are dominated by men of my own generation: men over 50 who, to be blunt, have few social skills and even less ability to deal constructively with conflict. We all know the types! This is a recipe for internal fragility and external failure. You cannot run a council, never mind a country, with the culture of the strongman. And lying all the time only gets you so far. As Trump is finding out. **Mutual** Of course, all this applies to conventional politics as a whole. You only have to watch the documentary, *The Labour Files,* to see how power corrupts. But the far right is the extreme case. Many of us sense a massive opportunity to create a left populist alternative not just in the UK but across the Western world. We can already see early discussions happening in the Green Party and among those associated with Jeremy Corbyn, the socialist MP and former leader of the Labour party. But the key to success here is not just policies and messaging — vital as they are — but respectful, team-based organisational cultures. In some ways, I think that as former XR and JSO people bring this culture into wider local communities and green/left networks, they could have a dramatically positive influence, far greater than their numbers suggest. A similar thing happened when the organisational skills and ethical standards of the Methodists were brought into working-class political and mutual aid projects in the 19th century. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2025/06/29.07-Jenny-Holzer.png) Jenny Holzer – **Abuse of Power Comes as No Surprise* (Truisms, 1980s) **Power** We have to realise people need attention — and to be treated well. Most people care more about community than power. They want to play their part in social and political life, but are endlessly put off by anti-social and unethical behaviour. This cannot be left to chance. Ethical and community values must be explicit, and systematically communicated through: inductions; trainings; reviews. If a new movement-party project can do this, it will attract not just thousands, but millions. Beyond the “politically homeless” on the Left, there are even more people who are “socially homeless”. The deep paradox here is: by being less obsessed with power and more focused on culture, we can attract these people into mass movements — which in turn enables us to take real political power, as the radical right inevitably messes up. It’s not just about being nice — it’s smart strategy. **Transformative** That said, we need to get a move on. We need leadership and initiative. Time is short. Unless we provide a real alternative, when the Farages and Trumps of this world fail, they will be replaced by real fascists who use political violence. And then it will be game over. The underlying principle in designing this project is ecology — the creation of connectivity. And I say this not just because this article is written for *The Ecologist* magazine. We have to understand just how radical and transformative this way of seeing the world can be. In my next articles, I’ll show how vigorous ecological thinking can help us design, grow, and succeed with the big social movements we need. Next time, I’ll explore the critical issue of structure and decision-making. [Support the Revolution](https://rev21.earth/support?ref=rogerhallam.com) --- As always, you can sign up for nonviolent civil resistance with the [A22 Network](https://a22network.org/en/?ref=rogerhallam.com) internationally. --- ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get on with the job of sorting it out. [Support](https://rogerhallam.com/#/portal/signup/6517fbb3b89c5400016e9f27/yearly) ### 🩻 Climate Reality: The Diagnosis We Can’t Escape URL: https://rogerhallam.com/climate-reality-the-diagnosis-we-cant-escape/ Last updated: 2025-07-07T07:34:22.000Z There comes a point in your life when the facts won’t let you look away. You feel it before you know it: something is terribly wrong, and we are running out of time. So let’s begin with something simple. How do you know something is true? Take the example of cancer. If you feel a lump or have symptoms, you don’t just ask your mate what they think. You go to a doctor. And not just any doctor — you want a specialist. Someone who’s legally obliged to tell you the truth, however hard it is to hear. You want the tests, the scan, the data. And above all, you want a number: “What’s the likelihood I have it?” Because that number changes everything. You don’t want vague reassurances. You want the truth. If the doctor says there’s a 50% chance, your life changes in that moment. You go into action. You start making decisions — fast. Because the alternative is death. And no one can run from that. It’s this same clarity, this same objectivity, that we need to bring to the climate crisis. Because the truth is — and I mean this literally — the planet has cancer. It is spreading. It is terminal. And it is going to kill us if we don’t act, immediately. This isn’t ideology. It’s not politics. It’s not “just your opinion.” It is physical reality. And just like cancer, it doesn’t care what you believe. In 1989, NASA scientist James Hansen warned the UN that if we didn’t slash emissions, society would collapse. That was 35 years ago. In 2025, global temperatures have now risen to 1.6°C above pre-industrial levels. And the rate of warming is accelerating. For most of the 20th century, the rise was around 0.18°C per decade. In the last ten years, it’s more than doubled to 0.37°C per decade. We’re now on course to hit 2°C around 2035 — and that’s being optimistic. But what does that number mean? A landmark peer-reviewed paper, “The Future of the Human Niche,” published by Tim Lenton and colleagues, makes it brutally clear: at 2°C of warming, around **1 billion people** will no longer be able to live where they currently do. That’s 25% of the Earth’s surface becoming uninhabitable. One billion refugees — in just a few years. To put that into context: there were 50 million refugees after the Second World War. That was the worst war in human history. What’s coming is twenty times worse. And that figure — one billion — only covers the effects of extreme heat. It doesn’t include what happens when rising sea levels drown coastal cities, when droughts kill crops, when wildfires consume whole regions, when freshwater disappears. The truth is, climate collapse is not just an environmental issue. It is a full-system breakdown. It affects food, health, housing, energy, migration, and war — all at the same time. Still think this is just about polar bears? If you’re still not convinced, don’t take it from me. Take it from the insurance industry. In 2024, the British actuarial society — a group of people whose job it is to measure risk for a living — released a report projecting that at 2°C of warming, we’ll see **2 billion deaths**. At 3°C? **4 billion.** That’s half the population of the Earth. And this is not worst-case modelling. This is their baseline. This is what the people who insure your life, your business, your pension, believe is most likely to happen if we stay on our current course. It gets worse. Because climate breakdown isn’t a one-off crisis — it triggers runaway feedback loops. Ice melts and reduces the planet’s ability to reflect sunlight, which makes it heat up faster. Permafrost thaws and releases methane, a greenhouse gas 80 times more potent than CO₂. Forests burn and release carbon. Soils lose their ability to absorb emissions. Everything begins to feed on itself. Even if we stopped all human emissions tomorrow, these systems may continue warming the planet — potentially beyond the point of recovery. Most tipping points are estimated to be triggered between 1°C and 2°C. We are already at 1.6°C. We are now **in** the danger zone. There is no longer a buffer. There is no margin of error. This is happening in real time. So what do we do? Well, the answer is no different from the cancer patient. Two things: stop making it worse, and start trying to repair the damage. That means ending fossil fuel emissions as fast as humanly possible. That means scaling up emergency carbon removal. That means mobilising everything we’ve got. Will it work? We don’t know. But what we do know is this: if we do nothing, billions will die. And not in some abstract future. In our lifetimes. In the lifetimes of our children. This is not a problem for “someone else to solve.” This is your responsibility, your emergency, your world. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2025/06/13_burtynsky.png) Edward Burtynsky – **Manufactured Landscapes,* a pyre waiting to burn. And if you think you still have a choice — let me be blunt: **you don’t.** If your actions or inactions contribute to this collapse, you don’t just destroy your own future. You destroy the lives of everyone around you. You condemn entire generations to hell on Earth because you couldn’t face the truth. It’s not just foolish. It’s not just selfish. It’s evil. Let me speak personally for a moment. I’ve met hundreds of people who, after hearing this reality, decided to act. Ordinary people. Teachers, nurses, students, grandparents. They quit their jobs. They faced arrest. Some went to prison. Not because they were heroes. But because they understood this one, simple thing: if we don’t fight, we die. If we don’t rise up, we burn. You can’t half-commit to this. You can’t give a little donation, feel a bit guilty, and move on. Once you’ve heard the truth, you are accountable. And the only question left is what you’re going to do about it. So this is your moment. This is the turning point. If you’ve read this far, you already know. You know what’s coming. You know the scale of the crisis. You know the failure of our leaders. You also know this: we are not powerless. There are millions of us waking up. Rising up. Organising. We are building the resistance that history will remember. Join us. Because history is watching. And your children will ask what you did. And one day, in the final hours of your life, you will ask yourself the same question. Don’t wait for the flood. Don’t wait for the fire. We have no choice but to act. And act we will. [Support the Revolution](https://rev21.earth/support?ref=rogerhallam.com) --- **This was meant to be Roger Hallam’s climate briefing for the Rev21 Convention.** But prison authorities blocked it. They’ve now banned him from posting on social media altogether. To keep up with Roger’s work and the revolutionary movement he helped build, follow Rev21 across platforms: 📺 YouTube: [youtube.com/@Revolution21c](https://www.youtube.com/@Revolution21c?ref=rogerhallam.com) 📸 Instagram: [instagram.com/revolution.21c](https://www.instagram.com/revolution.21c/?ref=rogerhallam.com) ✖️ X / Twitter: [x.com/revolution\_21c](https://x.com/revolution%5F21c?ref=rogerhallam.com) 📘 Facebook: [facebook.com/profile.php?id=61575178389798](https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61575178389798) 📢 Telegram: [t.me/revolution\_21C](https://t.me/revolution%5F21C?ref=rogerhallam.com) 🧵 Threads: [threads.net/revolution.21c](https://www.threads.net/revolution.21c?ref=rogerhallam.com) 🔵 Bluesky: [bsky.app/profile/revolution21c.bsky.social](https://bsky.app/profile/revolution21c.bsky.social?ref=rogerhallam.com) 🎵 TikTok: [tiktok.com/revolution.21c](http://tiktok.com/revolution.21c?ref=rogerhallam.com) 👥 Reddit: [reddit.com/r/Rev21](https://www.reddit.com/r/Rev21/?ref=rogerhallam.com) --- ## **Update on Roger’s Imprisonment** Roger’s release has once again been delayed — originally expected in March, then May, and now postponed indefinitely. First, his designated home was deemed “unsuitable” for rehabilitation because someone associated with Just Stop Oil was present. Then, following press coverage that included the name of his probation officer (quoted directly in the piece), Roger was placed on a high-risk list — supposedly due to the psychological impact on staff. That probation officer has since been replaced, but the new officer has refused to respond to legal communications from Roger’s team. It now appears that prison staff are refusing to meet with Roger directly, citing the “risk” he poses to them. His lawyers have written to the prison, but there is no legal requirement for them to respond within a set timeframe, leaving him in a state of limbo. At the same time, Roger’s ability to contribute to public work has been severely restricted. Prison authorities have blocked over 20,000 words of his writing, and his input into the Convention and our social media efforts has been censored. Despite this, Roger continues to engage with projects through prison phone and email, where possible. He remains deeply committed to the cause and continues to support our work with unwavering clarity and determination. [Give a one-off donation](#/portal/support) --- As always, you can sign up for nonviolent civil resistance with the [A22 Network](https://a22network.org/en/?ref=rogerhallam.com) internationally. --- ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get on with the job of sorting it out. [Support](https://rogerhallam.com/#/portal/signup/6517fbb3b89c5400016e9f27/yearly) ### 🌀 Out of the Darkness: End Times, Renewal, and the Return of the Real URL: https://rogerhallam.com/out-of-the-darkness/ Last updated: 2025-06-30T07:09:16.000Z The deepest folly of Western culture — now the dominant culture across the world — is its insistence that things are separate. That the good exists here, and the bad over there. That light and dark do not mix. In this view, the bad must be overcome by the good, as though the world were a simple battlefield, a clean game of light versus shadow. Reality is flattened, stripped of ambiguity, and transformed into a set of problems to solve. This is the logic of *instrumentalist hubris* — the belief that the world is just a set of things to be controlled and mastered. But this worldview — this turning of flow into form, of process into static objects — is a historical outlier. Across time and culture, most human traditions have understood things differently. --- In Eastern and Indigenous traditions, the world is not linear but circular. It is paradoxical, not logical. Light emerges from darkness. From within the void, new life is born. The dark is not evil — it is generative. Salvation doesn’t come from *a thing* but from *no-thingness.* You move *through* the nothingness. You keep going until the world transforms before your eyes — while remaining unchanged. You don’t get stuck in the Western "dark night of the soul." Because in these deeper traditions, **hell is never the end.** --- One of the greatest mystics of the Western 20th century was Walter Benjamin. I’ve just waded through a long biography of him, and what becomes clear is this: *religion, properly conceived, has nothing to do with religion as seen through secular eyes.* It’s not a private belief insulated from public life. Not a speculative superstition that floats above the “real” world of material facts. Benjamin was a materialist — but a radical one. He looked so deeply into the material world that he saw its mystery. Its layers. Its strange enchantments. He wrote essays on photographs, market stalls, city crowds, and books — the everyday objects of modernity — and made them strange again. He returned spirit to matter and matter to spirit. The binary dissolved. Unity returned. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2025/06/Europe_a_Prophecy_copy_K_plate_01.png) William Blake – **The Ancient of Days* (1794), Blake’s image of a god-like figure measuring the world with a compass captures the Western urge to dissect and dominate --- Benjamin also tore apart the notion of time. Look close enough, and linear time collapses. The past and future fold into the present. The archaic subverts the modern. The not-yet crowds into the now. Time is exploded from the inside. Go far enough in one direction, and you arrive at the opposite end. --- And this leads us to the moment we are in now. **The end time is upon us.** The nuclear moment — when all of past history and all of future possibility collapse into the singular atom of the present. The moment that will decide between existence and non-existence. Everything is in suspense. All that was, is, and will be — now hangs in the balance. But in that ending lies a beginning. **In the unmaking of the world, we glimpse its re-making.** In our slide into hell, we catch a glimpse of heaven. --- It is often forgotten that the early Christians believed the world was about to end. That Christ’s return was imminent. This was why St Paul rushed to save souls — and why the early church survived 300 years of persecution. They had metaphysical grounding. They were anchored in the end. Today, secular modernity strips us of that grounding. As philosopher Günther Anders warned, our denial of the coming apocalypse drains us of existential resolve. We treat collapse as just another "issue" — rather than the *hyperobject* it truly is: **the everything that changes everything.** And when we do that, we lose the power to birth something new. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2025/06/The_Conversion_of_Saint_Paul-Caravaggio__28c._1600-1_29.png) Caravaggio – **The Conversion of Saint Paul* (1601), Divine intervention meets earthly violence. --- Now, reality is about to explode our denial. Collapse is not coming — it's here. And in the spiritual and material debris, something new is emerging: a resilience not *in spite* of the end, but *rooted in it.* **Out of the darkness, the light will come.** This is not sentiment. It is *fact.* It is the convergence of absolute objectivity and absolute faith. In the end times, the impossible becomes possible. **As we come face to face with billions of deaths, we may also see the greatest acts of love, courage, and rebirth.** The greatest *coming together* of power — to completely remake the world. --- The old stories will become the new stories. We will return to what really is — to the endless depth of the real. **Good will come out of the bad.** It will be okay. And the greatest good may yet come out of the greatest bad. Our job is not to speculate on outcomes. Those days are gone. Our task now is to become who we truly are. To take hold of courage. To play our part. **Nothing more.** **Nothing less.** [Support the Revolution](https://rev21.earth/support?ref=rogerhallam.com) --- **This was meant to be Roger Hallam’s closing message for the Rev21 Convention.** But prison authorities blocked it. They’ve now banned him from posting on social media altogether. To keep up with Roger’s work and the revolutionary movement he helped build, follow Rev21 across platforms: 📺 YouTube: [youtube.com/@Revolution21c](https://www.youtube.com/@Revolution21c?ref=rogerhallam.com) 📸 Instagram: [instagram.com/revolution.21c](https://www.instagram.com/revolution.21c/?ref=rogerhallam.com) ✖️ X / Twitter: [x.com/revolution\_21c](https://x.com/revolution%5F21c?ref=rogerhallam.com) 📘 Facebook: [facebook.com/profile.php?id=61575178389798](https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61575178389798) 📢 Telegram: [t.me/revolution\_21C](https://t.me/revolution%5F21C?ref=rogerhallam.com) 🧵 Threads: [threads.net/revolution.21c](https://www.threads.net/revolution.21c?ref=rogerhallam.com) 🔵 Bluesky: [bsky.app/profile/revolution21c.bsky.social](https://bsky.app/profile/revolution21c.bsky.social?ref=rogerhallam.com) 🎵 TikTok: [tiktok.com/revolution.21c](http://tiktok.com/revolution.21c?ref=rogerhallam.com) 👥 Reddit: [reddit.com/r/Rev21](https://www.reddit.com/r/Rev21/?ref=rogerhallam.com) --- ## **Update on Roger’s Imprisonment** Roger’s release has once again been delayed — originally expected in March, then May, and now postponed indefinitely. First, his designated home was deemed “unsuitable” for rehabilitation because someone associated with Just Stop Oil was present. Then, following press coverage that included the name of his probation officer (quoted directly in the piece), Roger was placed on a high-risk list — supposedly due to the psychological impact on staff. That probation officer has since been replaced, but the new officer has refused to respond to legal communications from Roger’s team. It now appears that prison staff are refusing to meet with Roger directly, citing the “risk” he poses to them. His lawyers have written to the prison, but there is no legal requirement for them to respond within a set timeframe, leaving him in a state of limbo. At the same time, Roger’s ability to contribute to public work has been severely restricted. Prison authorities have blocked over 20,000 words of his writing, and his input into the Convention and our social media efforts has been censored. Despite this, Roger continues to engage with projects through prison phone and email, where possible. He remains deeply committed to the cause and continues to support our work with unwavering clarity and determination. [Give a one-off donation](#/portal/support) --- As always, you can sign up for nonviolent civil resistance with the [A22 Network](https://a22network.org/en/?ref=rogerhallam.com) internationally. --- ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get on with the job of sorting it out. [Support](https://rogerhallam.com/#/portal/signup/6517fbb3b89c5400016e9f27/yearly) ### ⏩ The Inevitable Revolution Is Underway URL: https://rogerhallam.com/the-inevitable-revolution-is-underway/ Last updated: 2025-06-26T14:38:43.000Z Conservatives don’t wait around when there’s no bread. They just act. They take to the streets. There’s no endless theorising, no overthinking — just a felt sense that something has broken, and something must be done. This brings us to one of the biggest misunderstandings about revolutions: **they don’t start with the aim of creating revolutions.** No one knows what’s going on at the beginning. They’re messy, uncertain, chaotic — and above all, emotional. People are upset. Angry. Afraid. And when the authorities meet that anger with violence, it grows. More people come out. A movement builds momentum. The Iranian Revolution of 1979 is a perfect example. At first, the students marching had no grand political plans. They were grieving. Protesting. And then the police opened fire. The funerals brought more people. Each act of repression fuelled more resistance — until the unthinkable became inevitable. As the historian Theda Skocpol famously put it: > **"Revolutions are not made. They come."** After a certain point, the centre cannot hold. The state runs out of legitimacy. And often, quite literally, it runs out of money. There’s no bread on the shelves. Chaos moves from abstraction to lived reality. --- ## A Revolution Triggered by Physics We are entering such a moment again — but this time, it’s not just politics that’s unravelling. It’s the climate system itself. This week, the World Meteorological Organisation projected that we’re on course to hit 2°C of global heating around 2030\. That’s just five years away. And let’s be clear: at 2°C, civilisation begins to fracture in real time. Insurance markets may collapse. Coastal property values may crash. Crop failures, mass migration, and cascading economic shocks will ripple through the system. We don’t know exactly what the trigger will be — but we can say with certainty that one will come. **This isn’t ideology. It’s physics.** You can’t argue with the laws of nature. You can’t opt out of gravity. --- ## Why Don’t People See This? Because we’re still trapped in the logic of *capitalist realism* — the idea that there is no alternative, that the system is so powerful it can never fall. So why bother trying? Analysis becomes paralysis. Endless critiques of the bad guys become a substitute for action. The Left, in particular, has become addicted to doom: convincing ourselves that there’s no hope is often more comfortable than risking something for change. But this is wrong. **Revolution is coming.** ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2025/06/temp-increase.png) ## The Tipping Points Have Already Started Just look at what happened in Valencia last summer. A year’s worth of rain fell in a single afternoon. Over 200 people died. 100,000 cars were destroyed. And by the following weekend, 100,000 people were on the streets, demanding resignations from the government. That was at around 1.2°C of warming. Now imagine the world at 2°C. When 2,000 die in a single climate disaster. When whole regions become uninhabitable or economically collapsed. That’s when *millions* will rise — and as history shows, one thing leads to another. In Greece, after the 2008 financial crisis, GDP fell by 25%. Syriza, a fringe left-wing party, went from 4% to 40% in just one year. Mass political shifts don’t creep in slowly — they surge when the ground beneath our feet collapses. We will see the same again. **The unthinkable revolution will happen — here, in the West. By 2030.** --- ## From Capitalist Realism to Revolutionary Realism We need to replace the old cynicism of capitalist realism with a new *revolutionary realism*. That means facing facts. Looking clearly at what’s coming — and what it demands from us. It means praxis: acting in the world, not just commenting on it. And that means preparation. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2025/06/Just_Stop_Oil_Activists_Walking_Up_Whitehall-1024x533.jpg.png) ## The Revolution Is Inevitable — But Its Outcome Isn’t Revolutions become inevitable — but what comes *after* is radically uncertain. Once a regime collapses, its rigidity gives way to fluidity. The future becomes wide open. **That’s where we come in.** Our actions matter — not just during the event, but in the years before it. The cultures, networks and relationships we build now will shape what emerges in the aftermath. The American Revolution avoided dictatorship largely because of the deep-rooted culture of self-government in the colonies. In Poland and the Philippines in the 1980s, it was years of union organising and religious resistance that gave their revolutions form and purpose. That’s what we need to do today. **Climate movements must go beyond resistance and build popular mobilisation on a mass scale.** --- ## The Rev21 Strategy At [*Revolution in the 21st Century*](https://rev21.earth/?ref=rogerhallam.com) (Rev21), this is our plan: 1. **Mutual Aid:** Local networks of care and resilience 2. **Civil Resistance:** Disruption that shakes the regime’s legitimacy 3. **Assemblies:** Structures for genuine democratic participation We’re not interested in abstract identities — “revolutionaries” as a brand. We’re here to act. To organise. To sacrifice if needed. To get arrested. Because the times demand nothing less. --- ## The Deeper Collapse But this revolution won’t just overturn regimes. It will also dismantle the *metaphysics of the self.* The idea that humans are separate, rational, all-powerful — that we are individuals above all else, and everything else is disposable. This toxic worldview has brought us to the brink. We are witnessing the failure of the most educated, wealthy, and technologically advanced civilisation in history — because it chose ego over ecology, domination over care. This is not just a political failure. It’s a spiritual one. --- ## Ask the Right Question If we start by asking *“What is to be done?”* we risk repeating the old mistakes. Instead, we must begin with: **“How shall we live?”** How do we make our lives beautiful, virtuous, loving — even as the world falls apart? As Albert Camus wrote: > *“True revolutionaries rebel because they are rebels.”* Not for the outcome. But because rebellion itself is an act of integrity. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2025/06/lil-banner-logo.png) ## Choose To Be This is our task. To prepare for the coming storm. To build structures of hope. To resist not just for survival, but for dignity, for beauty, for each other. We still have time — maybe five years — to shape what’s coming. That’s both the terrible news and the hopeful news. Because it means **we are responsible.** Because it means **we have power.** Because it means that if we fail to act, we will never forgive ourselves. But if we do act, then we have a chance. A chance to create a revolution that truly liberates. A revolution that is not just against the system — but *for life itself.* Let’s get to work. [Support the Revolution](https://rev21.earth/support?ref=rogerhallam.com) --- **This was meant to be Roger Hallam’s opening message for the Rev21 Convention.** But prison authorities blocked it. They’ve now banned him from posting on social media altogether. To keep up with Roger’s work and the revolutionary movement he helped build, follow Rev21 across platforms: 📺 YouTube: [youtube.com/@Revolution21c](https://www.youtube.com/@Revolution21c?ref=rogerhallam.com) 📸 Instagram: [instagram.com/revolution.21c](https://www.instagram.com/revolution.21c/?ref=rogerhallam.com) ✖️ X / Twitter: [x.com/revolution\_21c](https://x.com/revolution%5F21c?ref=rogerhallam.com) 📘 Facebook: [facebook.com/profile.php?id=61575178389798](https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61575178389798) 📢 Telegram: [t.me/revolution\_21C](https://t.me/revolution%5F21C?ref=rogerhallam.com) 🧵 Threads: [threads.net/revolution.21c](https://www.threads.net/revolution.21c?ref=rogerhallam.com) 🔵 Bluesky: [bsky.app/profile/revolution21c.bsky.social](https://bsky.app/profile/revolution21c.bsky.social?ref=rogerhallam.com) 🎵 TikTok: [tiktok.com/revolution.21c](http://tiktok.com/revolution.21c?ref=rogerhallam.com) 👥 Reddit: [reddit.com/r/Rev21](https://www.reddit.com/r/Rev21/?ref=rogerhallam.com) --- ## **Update on Roger’s Imprisonment** Roger’s release has once again been delayed — originally expected in March, then May, and now postponed indefinitely. First, his designated home was deemed “unsuitable” for rehabilitation because someone associated with Just Stop Oil was present. Then, following press coverage that included the name of his probation officer (quoted directly in the piece), Roger was placed on a high-risk list — supposedly due to the psychological impact on staff. That probation officer has since been replaced, but the new officer has refused to respond to legal communications from Roger’s team. It now appears that prison staff are refusing to meet with Roger directly, citing the “risk” he poses to them. His lawyers have written to the prison, but there is no legal requirement for them to respond within a set timeframe, leaving him in a state of limbo. At the same time, Roger’s ability to contribute to public work has been severely restricted. Prison authorities have blocked over 20,000 words of his writing, and his input into the Convention and our social media efforts has been censored. Despite this, Roger continues to engage with projects through prison phone and email, where possible. He remains deeply committed to the cause and continues to support our work with unwavering clarity and determination. [Give a one-off donation](#/portal/support) --- As always, you can sign up for nonviolent civil resistance with the [A22 Network](https://a22network.org/en/?ref=rogerhallam.com) internationally. --- ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get on with the job of sorting it out. [Support](https://rogerhallam.com/#/portal/signup/6517fbb3b89c5400016e9f27/yearly) ### 🐦 Community Talk — The Revolution of Listening URL: https://rogerhallam.com/community-talk-the-revolution-of-listening/ Last updated: 2025-06-09T13:00:35.000Z Moving on from our new understanding that the end of the world will give birth to the new world, this talk — and the next few monthly talks — will turn to practicalities. What are the key principles of action to remake the world in the next decade? What are the social technologies that will remake the human? What we have to do is stop focusing on the thing — the node — and turn to the quality of the link, the quality of the relation, the process. In other words: what connects. The key force of connection is something so simple, so ubiquitous, we fail to see it. It is *listening*. Half a century ago, Carl Rogers discovered — or rather rediscovered — that healing and empowerment do not depend upon the imposition of knowledge as power, but through the act of listening. Unconditional positive regard. True to our neoliberal times, this listening revolution was confined to the individual, to the therapy room. Our task is to liberate it — to transform the public sphere, to dissolve the politics of power and replace it with the deliberation of the community. Practically speaking, this involves two challenges: 1. To create templates of these listening-empowering social spaces that generate a surplus of energies — time and money. 2. To use this surplus to create systematic iterations of social growth — meaning, to create mass movements. I will share some designs with you. Yes, some numbers. Yes, what we all need to start doing now. This is *praxis in action* — praxis at the end of one world and the beginning of another. [Sign Up For My Monthly Prison Talk - Every 2nd Sunday](https://forms.rev21.earth/formz/occurrences/free-as-a-bird-roger-hallam-s-monthly-prison-talk-2025-06-15/registrations/new?calendar%5Furl=https%3A%2F%2Fforms.rev21.earth%2Ffeedz%2Fcalendars&ref=rogerhallam.com) **🕊️ Free as a Bird — Roger Hallam's Monthly Prison Talk** 🗓️ **15 June** | 🕕 **18:00–19:00 CET** 📍 Online | 💥 Free to attend 👉 [Sign up here](https://forms.rev21.earth/formz/occurrences/free-as-a-bird-roger-hallam-s-monthly-prison-talk-2025-06-15/registrations/new?ref=rogerhallam.com) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2025/06/image-1.png) You can watch and read the last monthly talk at [⌛ Revolution in Our Time](https://rogerhallam.com/revolution-in-our-time/) For those that want to get more involved, we'll have a community induction to Rev21 earlier in the day. Find out more at [💭 The Most Important Decision of Your Life](https://rogerhallam.com/join-rev21/) --- That’s a wrap for the Rev21 Convention! 500 people across 18 sessions with 50 speakers and many more organisers behind the scenes. Thank you so much to everyone who came and supported us. We raised £6000 and got dozens of new regular donors for the revolution. This is the work! ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2025/06/image.png) As always, you can sign up for nonviolent civil resistance with [Just Stop Oil](https://juststopoil.org/?ref=rogerhallam.com) in the UK or via the [A22 Network](https://a22network.org/en/?ref=rogerhallam.com) internationally. --- ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get on with the job of sorting it out. [Support](https://rogerhallam.com/#/portal/signup/6517fbb3b89c5400016e9f27/yearly) ### 📚 My Top 10 Reads from Prison URL: https://rogerhallam.com/tops-reads/ Last updated: 2025-05-26T09:42:36.000Z You get plenty of time to read in prison. So far, I’ve read almost 70 books, so being asked to choose my top ten titles for [The Rebel Library](https://rebellibrary.com/hallam/?ref=rogerhallam.com) is tough. Those I’ve chosen have stayed with me not just because they’re “a good read” but because they’re the most impactful and important: books that hit me in the gut, opened up new understandings, and helped shape a vision for what the hell we do next. Our job is to take these beautiful pieces and turn them into a living whole — a culture, a strategy, a programme that breaks through. The future ahead is terrifying. And yet, in some head-fuck way, that very terror makes the possibility of a breakthrough feel electric. So here goes... > **Note:** To support Roger’s writing from Prison and independent bookshops, [please buy these books via Bookshop.org](https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/roger-s-top-recommended-reads-from-prison?ref=rogerhallam.com). Rev21 will receive a 10% affiliate commission on the sale. Thanks! --- ### **1\. Iain McGilchrist – *The Matter with Things*** Let’s start with the foundations - the ground-we-stand-on stuff. No question: one of the most important books I’ve read in prison is McGilchrist’s *The Matter with Things*. McGilchrist gets the gravity of our situation. He’s laser-focused on the core wisdoms we need: seeing the whole not just the parts; recognising that everything is process and flow; and that the divine and secular, spirit and material, aren’t enemies but complements. He builds from science out into religion and mysticism, shattering the notion that modern science and ancient spirituality are in conflict. They aren’t. We need both to survive. Although the book is lengthy and expensive, it effectively reiterates the same key points repeatedly. It could be criticised for repetition, but I think that’s one of its strengths. It serves as a deep sourcebook for its arguments, and there’s something almost meditative about absorbing these orientations over and over, not least because this process effectively counteracts the endless repetition of the neoliberal cultural indoctrinations that are taking us towards universal destruction [Grab a copy](https://uk.bookshop.org/a/9187/9781914568251?ref=rogerhallam.com) ### **2\. John Milbank – *Theology and Social Theory*** This foundational text challenges the arrogance of secular reason and reclaims theology as a serious intellectual tradition—one capable of reimagining society and putting the sacred back at the heart of political and cultural life. I’d even go as far as to say this is one of the top ten most important works of the past half century. That said, it’s not an easy read. Much of it went over my head the first time, and without Google (especially in prison), you're left wrestling with the complexity. But maybe that’s the point—if we’re going to face the extreme challenges of our time, it’s no surprise we need to question the very foundations of our cultural assumptions. At the risk of oversimplifying, Milbank argues that secular reason—materialism, instrumentalism, reductionism—has led us into cultures of violence and nihilism, as the horrors of the past two centuries show. He masterfully dismantles the myth of “objective” social science, and exposes the failure of postmodernism to offer a real ethical grounding. Despite its rejection of absolute truths, postmodernism too often collapses into a Nietzschean nihilism—where might is right and everything is subjective. In contrast, Milbank proposes an “ontology of peace” rooted in a reimagined Christianity. Unlike secular ideologies, which tend to produce conflict, this vision is grounded in forgiveness, charity, and love for the other. It’s not about abandoning reason, but about recognising other, deeper ways of being and knowing. These transcendent modes—faith, intuition, ritual, love—are, I believe, essential to any serious revolutionary project in the 21st century. [Grab a copy](https://uk.bookshop.org/a/9187/9781405136846?ref=rogerhallam.com) --- ### **3\. Zygmunt Bauman – *Modernity and the Holocaust*** Bauman is one of the greats — a Polish-Jewish socialist and towering sociologist who ended up in the UK after the war. His work rips apart the smug objectivity of social science, which pretends morality is just a social construct and socialisation is always good. In reality, as Bauman shows, socialisation created the Holocaust. In Nazi Germany, it was *conformity* that allowed genocide — not a lack of it. Morality didn’t come from society, it came from *within* individuals who refused to go along with it. Bauman zeroes in on “proximity” — the distance from the suffering of others that enables barbarism. It hit me hard because my own research at King's College London focused on the same thing, completely independently. Proximity breaks down dehumanisation. Disconnection allows it to flourish. We need social designs that build closeness, community, and care. Bauman saw that modernity — with its complexity and instrumental rationality — was leading us to disaster. We see it now as the death project of global carbon emissions. [Grab a copy](https://uk.bookshop.org/a/9187/9780745609300?ref=rogerhallam.com) --- ### **4\. Sarah Shortall – *Soldiers of God in a Secular War*** It’s not exactly a fashionable title, but it’s one of the most important books I’ve read. So important, I read it twice in prison. It’s a deep dive into how 20th-century Catholic thinkers responded to the Church being booted out of state power in the late 1800s. That crisis forced a radical return to early Christian traditions — ones that refused the idea of religion being pushed into the private, symbolic, or subjective. The core message? If God is God, then God has to be *everywhere* — including politics. The world can and must be remade with the divine present in every moment. The challenge is how to make that real. Catholic social movements made a decent go of it, creating a “personalist” alternative to fascism and Marxism, though not without complications. Still, the impulse to re-enchant the world with the wonders of spirituality— that’s where it’s at. [Grab a copy](https://uk.bookshop.org/a/9187/9780674980105?ref=rogerhallam.com) --- ### **5\. Matthew Beaumont – *Lev Shestov: Philosopher of the Sleepless Night*** Now for something a bit more fun (in a Russian existentialist sort of way). Shestov is your go-to guy for destroying all illusions. He’s anti-necessity, anti-certainty, anti-bullshit — and Beaumont brings him alive beautifully. Fleeing the Russian Revolution, Shestov ended up in interwar Paris, raging against science, reason, and the pretensions of philosophy. You can know nothing that matters. Words are a distraction. Anything can happen. He’s the dark prophet of unpredictability, showing why neoliberalism — with its fantasies of objectivity, control, and progress — is completely deranged. Shestov knew it wouldn’t end well. And now here we are. --- ### **6\. Theda Skocpol – *States and Social Revolutions*** This is the go-to academic take on how revolutions happen. Skocpol isn’t messing around. Her point: elites always screw things up eventually, and revolutions become inevitable. They’re not made, they *come*. It's eerily prescient. Just like before the French Revolution, today’s ruling class is gutting the state — refusing to pay for it, grinding down its capacity. Sound familiar? Hello, Mr Trump. [Grab a copy](https://uk.bookshop.org/a/9187/9780521294997?ref=rogerhallam.com) --- ### **7\. Charles Kurzman – *The Unthinkable Revolution in Iran*** If Skocpol gives us the structural take, Kurzman gives us the chaos. His study of the 1979 Iranian Revolution shows how everything can change overnight. Everyone thought the Shah’s regime was unshakable. But it fell like a house of cards. Mobilisation happened *because* mobilisation happened — a cascade, a feedback loop, with religious students kicking it off. They weren’t trying to win or avoid death — they acted from transcendental belief. And once the tipping point hit, the whole country joined in. It’s a reminder: just because a regime *looks* stable doesn’t mean it is. [Grab a copy](https://uk.bookshop.org/a/9187/9780674018433?ref=rogerhallam.com) --- ### **8\. Vanessa Machado de Oliveira – *Hospicing Modernity*** This one packs a punch. Machado de Oliveira, coming from an indigenous Brazilian background and surviving a brutal early life, went on to become a top academic in Canada. *Hospicing Modernity* is a raw, original fusion of two worlds — and a brutal indictment of our dying culture. The book challenges the entire structure of Western thought, including its radical wings. It forces us to confront grief, death, and the end of the world as we know it — not as metaphor, but as lived reality. It’s a painful but essential read. Machado de Oliveira is totally on the ball about the need for us to emotionally connect with our violence — both toward the earth and through neo-colonial practices and attitudes. The book is full of tough, often uncomfortable exercises in self-reflection. She also foregrounds the enormously powerful mythologies of indigenous wisdoms. However, at the end of the day, she remains caught within what I call the constipation of academic postmodernism. She insists on plurality but cannot fully break through to the realities of the divine or the religious. There is virtually no discussion of the practicalities of revolutionary practice. Instead, she simply points out that being radical might get you into trouble (i.e., getting sacked — with the implicit ideological assumption that this will make you irrelevant). And, last but not least, at the end of the book she makes a hopelessly depressing assertion: that the amazing practices and learning she has developed are not going to be rolled out — it’s just her and her small collective. So much for us being in an EMERGENCY. There is great stuff here, which is why I’ve included it in my list — but it is, let’s put it this way, radically incomplete. [Grab a copy](https://uk.bookshop.org/a/9187/9781623176242?ref=rogerhallam.com) --- ### **9\. Daniel Coyle – *The Culture Code*** Let’s end with something practical. I read a bunch of books on deliberative democracy and citizens’ assemblies. Most of them were — let’s be honest — painfully dull. All stuck in the narrow worldview of academic political science: humans as little utility-maximising machines. What actually matters — like how people come to love and trust each other through deliberation — is shoved into the footnotes. Seriously. But then I found *The Culture Code* by Daniel Coyle. What a joy. Straight-up insights into how teams work: people respond to encouragement and vulnerability; teams beat solo geniuses; leaders do best by being open and human. It’s all there — the culture we need to build revolutionary movements. [Grab a copy](https://uk.bookshop.org/a/9187/9781847941275?ref=rogerhallam.com) --- ### **10\. Andreas Malm – *How to Blow Up a Pipeline*** Then there’s Andreas Malm’s *How to Blow Up a Pipeline* — a book so bad it has to be read. It’s a prime example of the logic of regressive, reductive male "activism". A bit of a mouthful, I know — but basically it embodies everything we’ve been moving away from since the founding of Extinction Rebellion. The reason to read it isn’t so much to engage with its argument — that it would be good to start secretive sabotage — but rather to witness the deranged working-out of the worldview that thinkers like Milbank and McGilchrist so brilliantly expose. If we see the world as nothing but dead stuff — forces, materials, push and pull, struggle and overcoming — then we end up not only with the violence of capitalist extractivism, but also with the violence of Left fascism. Both grow from the same underlying brutalist materialism that cannot see beyond "stuff". On a second reading, though, I felt more sad than mad about it. In a way, Malm seems to subliminally recognise the contradictions of what he’s proposing. He never really gets beyond academic critique and abstract rhetoric. Whenever he turns to real-world examples of sabotage, he can’t avoid the reality that they either achieve very little or, worse, spiral into political violence and civil war. [Grab a copy](https://uk.bookshop.org/a/9187/9781839760259?ref=rogerhallam.com) ### **Your Turn** All the elements for a new civilisation are already here. The new is waiting to be born, but it’s weighed down by the dying old. Don’t we all feel it? So it's your turn to write the stories of the Revolution in the 21st century, because it's an incredible time to be alive. Get me out of prison, please — there’s so much to do. --- ## 4 DAYS TO GO! On **May 31**, we’re hosting the next [**Rev21 Global Online Convention**](https://events.zoom.us/ev/AuAT1KXjZQEzDJ3Zt96HmatSjE4RDvrC8NZxcqQ4SZsLVeM9g7IY~AuNzylaQSvi9b3YCId2WUwFELH-5k7oucZRjVEZDk9sRo%5FdirJVCqc%5FwkQ?ref=rogerhallam.com), and you should join. [Sign Up - It's Free](https://events.zoom.us/ev/AuAT1KXjZQEzDJ3Zt96HmatSjE4RDvrC8NZxcqQ4SZsLVeM9g7IY~AuNzylaQSvi9b3YCId2WUwFELH-5k7oucZRjVEZDk9sRo%5FdirJVCqc%5FwkQ?ref=rogerhallam.com) It’s online, free, and spans almost every time zone. But more importantly, it’s a chance to **meet the movement**—not just the headline speakers like **Matt Kennard, Rachel Donald, Tzeporah Berman, Peter Carter, Adam McKay, Dana R Fisher,** and many more—but the thousands of people like you who are ready to walk their talk. This isn’t just another conference. It’s a **gathering of revolutionary minds**, a space to **connect, plan, and act**—because we know that acting alone isn’t enough. We’ve tried that. It’s time to come together. [Sign Up - then invite a friend!](https://events.zoom.us/ev/AuAT1KXjZQEzDJ3Zt96HmatSjE4RDvrC8NZxcqQ4SZsLVeM9g7IY~AuNzylaQSvi9b3YCId2WUwFELH-5k7oucZRjVEZDk9sRo%5FdirJVCqc%5FwkQ?ref=rogerhallam.com) ### ⌛ Revolution in Our Time URL: https://rogerhallam.com/revolution-in-our-time/ Last updated: 2025-05-20T07:07:03.000Z You can also watch this as a video essay Outside my prison cell, I can see a large stretch of grass. It’s going brown. Somewhere here in Norfolk, it’s only rained once in the last two months. This morning I read that this spring is the driest on record. Farmers are warning that if it doesn’t rain in the next 10 days, they’ll lose their cereal crops. These crops are grown in vast, open fields—they can’t be irrigated. Britain is entering a farming crisis for the third year in a row. As a former farmer who grew commercial crops for 20 years, I know what this means. Every May, I’d walk the fields and think, *If it doesn’t rain in the next week, I’ll lose the crop.* You reach a point where you just know. You’ve seen it before. Once you pass that line, you can’t plant again—it’s too late in the season. And unlike the supermarket, where you can just buy more food, nature doesn’t give you that luxury. It’s now or never. We’re living on the edge of chaos, year after year. Sooner or later, we will fall. ### **The Calm Before the Storm** Food shortages. Social unrest. Starvation. This is supposed to be the 21st century. How can this be happening? You might have heard people say something similar during the recent blackouts in Spain. But nature doesn’t care that it’s the 21st century. It doesn’t care what we believe should or shouldn’t be happening. It doesn’t care about our values or our economic systems. It has no mercy. It’s physics. Meanwhile, nothing seems to be happening. The climate movements have collapsed. Everyone is frozen. No one is moving. It feels like nothing is going to change. But that’s completely wrong. In truth, **everything** is about to happen. This stillness is not calm. It’s fear. Suppressed terror. Deep anxiety. We all know what’s coming. And that knowledge paralyses us. But what happens in the mind of the individual also happens on a social level. We freeze—and then we explode. It’s like your brain flips a switch: from fear to fight, from stillness to storm, from pre-revolution to revolution. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2025/05/roger-mr-fish.png) Roger, by Mr.Fish ### **We’re Not Heading Into Crisis—We’re In It** After looking out at the brown grass this morning, I read [the latest paper by James Hansen](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/feb/04/climate-change-target-of-2c-is-dead-says-renowned-climate-scientist?ref=rogerhallam.com)—one of the world’s leading climate scientists. He and his team are 99% certain that doubling CO₂ in the atmosphere will lead not to 3°C of warming, as the IPCC suggests, but to **4.5°C**. Remember, the IPCC also said we wouldn’t hit 1.5°C until 2050\. We’ve already hit 1.6°C. When a scientist says “99% certain,” it’s not a warning. It’s a forecast. We are now accelerating into the greatest catastrophe in human history—within the next decade. Hansen says so with 99% certainty. So it’s going to happen. Take the floods in Valencia last year: 200 people died. 100,000 cars destroyed. Thousands took to the streets. Do you think that’s the worst it will get? We’re at 1.6°C now and rising 0.4 every decade. By 2035, we’ll be at 2°C. Next time it won’t be 200 deaths, but 2,000\. Whole towns will be swept away. Do you really think people will just accept it? Of course not. In Spain, there’ll be a million people on the streets. The government will wobble. When the next wildfire in Los Angeles burns down 100,000 homes instead of 10,000, do you think people will just go back to work the next day? No. There’ll be chaos. And from that chaos, revolution. ### **Revolutions Are Not Started by Revolutionaries** This is what revolution in our time looks like. And it’s not ideological. It’s not based on personal belief or political theory. It’s physics. It’s 2 + 2 = 4. But don’t think the people of Spain or California are revolutionaries. They’re not. Revolutions aren’t started by radicals. They’re started by conservatives—by people who want to go back to the way things were before the collapse. Revolutions are revolts against the revolutions already being imposed on us—by the chaos elites have created through their greed and failure. The Russian Revolution didn’t begin with the Bolsheviks. It began with the Tsar’s decision to prolong a war that was killing millions and starving the rest. People don’t revolt because they want to. They do it because they have no other choice. As the sociological saying goes: *“Revolutions are not made. They come.”* But once they come, it matters where they go. And going back is no longer an option. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2025/05/IMG_2120.JPG) ### **The Revolution Within** I got an email from a close friend last week. He wrote: > “I know the planet’s burning. I know 4 billion people are at risk. I know it’s happening now. I also know we are tiny players in a global catastrophe, driven by monstrously evil men with bottomless pockets. I’ve done nothing for a year now. And I think I know why: We need to frame this in terms of what difference *I* can make.” This is the trap of rationality. People choose inaction because they believe their action won’t make a difference. Because no one else is acting. Because it’s not “rational.” But no one ever joined a revolution by weighing up cost-benefit ratios. People act because they feel. Often, they act because they feel **mad**. Thinking, in moments like this, is our greatest enemy. Why do you think the most educated, powerful, and wealthy civilisation in history—fully aware of its destructive path—is still marching off a cliff? It’s the ego. The endless “what’s in it for me?” calculations of neoliberalism. The belief that action must have a return. The myth that self-interest is supreme. When Churchill faced Hitler’s invasion of Britain, he didn’t offer a strategic ROI. He said: > *“I offer you blood, toil, tears and sweat.”* Because it’s not about *you*. Life owes you nothing. The question isn’t “How do I make an impact?” It’s “How do I want to live?” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2025/05/Yaz-Ashmani.png) Yaz of Assemble, disrupts Keir Stamer's speech with glitter ### **A Life of Beauty** Your life is not a project to complete. It’s a piece of art. Not about productivity, but about beauty. Not about results, but about truth and goodness. When you die, you won’t care how many spreadsheets you ticked off. You’ll care how you lived. Whether you acted with dignity. Whether your life had meaning. Whether you were proud of it. And no, the universe won’t care either. You’ll be forgotten. And that’s fine. You don’t act because it “matters.” You act because it’s **right**. This is why the Zen masters say: *Kill your ego and you can fly free.* Only then can you be of real service. Martin Luther raged against the idea that “good works” would get you into heaven. Life isn’t about calculating your chances. It’s about acting from faith. From grace. Trying to work out how we will be saved—how we’ll save the world—is way above our pay grade. Our job is to act. Not to think about whether it’s worth it. That kind of self-obsession is idolatry. And it’s killing us. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2025/04/flying-to-extinction.png) ### **Finding Freedom in Prison** I know some of you might feel miserable reading this. You're trying to *think* your way through it. But don’t think—**imagine**. You are free, but unhappy. I am unfree, and yet happy. Why? Because after six months in a cell staring at the wall, you realise the only things you truly own are your **consciousness and your time**. Nothing more. Nothing less. They can take your TV. Your books. Move you to another prison. But they can’t touch your consciousness. And when you’re out in the world again, you’ll still only ever be in one room at a time. One moment. Nothing real can be given or taken away. Possessions are a cultural hobby. As my mum used to say: *You can’t take it with you when you go.* Why did Jesus say: > *“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth”*? Because the poor, the humble, the broken—are the ones who’ve already let go of ego. And from that humility comes real power. I recently read *Grace and Power* by Dominique Barday about Christian communities in 1980s Brazil. In the slums of São Paulo—amid disease and death—people found God. They found solidarity. And they created political miracles—not despite the suffering, but *because of it*. The same will happen again. In Western cities. In the 2030s. When our egos are shattered, we will finally be open to remaking the world. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2024/03/roger-zeit-1-1.JPG) ## Join Me In the Revolution of Our Lives Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No nonsense. Change your mind anytime. ### **A Leap of Faith** The old faith in reason will collapse. A new faith will emerge. One that calls us to beauty. To truth. To goodness. Not because they’re useful. But because they are **glorious**. They are the colours with which we paint our lives. When you’re asked to [donate that £10,000](https://chuffed.org/project/rev21?ref=rogerhallam.com)—you’re not losing it. You’re freeing yourself. When you’re asked to leave your job and work for [Rev21](https://rev21.earth/?ref=rogerhallam.com)—you’re not losing status. You’re escaping it. For a life of freedom, not fear. And here’s the twist: you’re not behind. You’re ahead. You are preparing the ground. Others will follow. When the old world collapses, you’ll be ready to show the way. You’ll be the one flying the flag of love, while others reach for hate. This is your calling. This is revolution in our time. Stop thinking. Open yourself to grace. **It will be OK.** Trust me. You’ll have your down days—don’t we all? But this is the real revolution: both the external, and the deep internal shift. You do not make it. It comes. And it is coming. **Thank you.** --- ### Find out more and get involved at [https://rev21.earth/](https://rev21.earth/?ref=rogerhallam.com). [Make a One-Off Donation To Revolution](https://buy.stripe.com/6oEbLTaRk22QgQU6oo?ref=rogerhallam.com) Share ### ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get on with the job o [Support](https://rogerhallam.com/#/portal/signup/6517fbb3b89c5400016e9f27/yearly) ### 🫂 Learn, Connect, and Find Your Pack at Rev21’s Convention URL: https://rogerhallam.com/find-your-pack-at-rev21-convention/ Last updated: 2025-05-17T09:13:03.000Z Since I got locked up, Rev21—the organisation I co-founded with Robin—has been hard at work building the infrastructure for something extraordinary. And now, it's time to invite you in. On **May 31**, we’re hosting the next [**Rev21 Global Online Convention**](https://events.zoom.us/ev/AuAT1KXjZQEzDJ3Zt96HmatSjE4RDvrC8NZxcqQ4SZsLVeM9g7IY~AuNzylaQSvi9b3YCId2WUwFELH-5k7oucZRjVEZDk9sRo%5FdirJVCqc%5FwkQ?ref=rogerhallam.com), and you should join. [Sign Up - It's Free](https://events.zoom.us/ev/AuAT1KXjZQEzDJ3Zt96HmatSjE4RDvrC8NZxcqQ4SZsLVeM9g7IY~AuNzylaQSvi9b3YCId2WUwFELH-5k7oucZRjVEZDk9sRo%5FdirJVCqc%5FwkQ?ref=rogerhallam.com) It’s online, free, and spans almost every time zone. But more importantly, it’s a chance to **meet the movement**—not just the headline speakers like **Matt Kennard, Rachel Donald, Kumi Naidoo, Tzeporah Berman, Peter Carter, Adam McKay, Dana R Fisher, Nafeez Ahmed**, and many more—but the thousands of people like you who are ready to walk their talk. This isn’t just another conference. It’s a **gathering of revolutionary minds**, a space to **connect, plan, and act**—because we know that acting alone isn’t enough. We’ve tried that. It’s time to come together. We’re facing the greatest emergency humanity has ever known. We don’t need more reports to tell us what’s coming. We need to organize. That’s why Rev21 conventions are built differently: - **No one-way talks**—we prioritise breakout rooms, workshops, and real conversations. - **Not just talkers, but doers**—we champion those who build mutual aid groups, run people’s assemblies, and plan. - **Not one-off events**—this is part of a growing rhythm of global assemblies. We’ll be back in October, and again next year. We believe revolutionary change must be based on **dignity, respect, and nonviolence**. And within that framework, 100 flowers can bloom. So—if you’ve been wondering how to take the next step… If you’re tired of feeling alone in the fight… If you’re ready to stop just acting and start **organising**… Then join us. This is where you find your pack. This is how we build the future—together. See you there, *Roger Hallam* *Wayland Prison* *May 2025* [Sign Up - then invite a friend!](https://events.zoom.us/ev/AuAT1KXjZQEzDJ3Zt96HmatSjE4RDvrC8NZxcqQ4SZsLVeM9g7IY~AuNzylaQSvi9b3YCId2WUwFELH-5k7oucZRjVEZDk9sRo%5FdirJVCqc%5FwkQ?ref=rogerhallam.com) Also, if you have event experience or are just excited to get involved, please reply to this email to volunteer. We'd love your help with programming, promotion, facilitation, and Zoom technical support. Every volunteer really helps to make this good! ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2025/04/image.png) Listen to the Audio Version here [Sign Up For The Convention](https://events.zoom.us/ev/AuAT1KXjZQEzDJ3Zt96HmatSjE4RDvrC8NZxcqQ4SZsLVeM9g7IY~AuNzylaQSvi9b3YCId2WUwFELH-5k7oucZRjVEZDk9sRo%5FdirJVCqc%5FwkQ?ref=rogerhallam.com) ### 📮 Send a Message They Can’t Ignore – “Roger That!” Postcards Out Now URL: https://rogerhallam.com/roger-that-postcards-out-now/ Last updated: 2025-05-12T10:07:38.000Z Dear revolutionaries, Roger is in prison for telling the truth about climate collapse. His words have shaken elites, sparked movements, and now threaten the system enough to silence him. As if prison wasn't enough, they have now banned him from writing on social media. But we won’t be silent. We’ve teamed up with renowned political cartoonist **Mr Fish** to create a stunning set of [**"Roger That!" postcards**](https://rev21.earth/merch/p/postcard-mr-fish?ref=rogerhallam.com)—bold, rebellious, and full of heart. Each set funds the revolution we’re building together. By buying a pack, you’re directly supporting: 🔥 Mass mobilisations for climate justice 🗳️ People’s assemblies to replace corrupt politics ✊ A global, decentralised movement of nonviolent resistance ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2025/05/Screenshot-2025-05-12-120056.png) [Grab a set](https://rev21.earth/merch/p/postcard-mr-fish?ref=rogerhallam.com) **This is about more than postcards.** It’s about keeping Roger’s voice alive. It’s about fuelling a revolution by the people, for the people. [Order The Postcards](https://rev21.earth/merch/p/postcard-mr-fish?ref=rogerhallam.com) In resistance, **Revolution in The 21st Century** **Fundraising Team** ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2025/05/Screenshot-2025-05-12-115933.png) P.S. Supplies are limited—get yours before they run out. And please forward this email to friends who care. [Make a One-Off Donation](https://buy.stripe.com/6oEbLTaRk22QgQU6oo?ref=rogerhallam.com) ### 💭 The Most Important Decision of Your Life URL: https://rogerhallam.com/join-rev21/ Last updated: 2025-05-09T06:29:04.000Z > **“Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.”** — *Goethe* Dear friend, I’m writing to you about the most critical matter in humanity's history: what will happen to the world’s climate over the next two decades, and what we must do about it. Now, I’ll be honest: when I say this is the most critical matter in human history, a voice in your head might not quite believe it. I’ll admit — I hear that voice too. We only honestly believe what’s in front of our noses. But on a deeper level, we believe it — because somewhere inside us, we know it’s true. We know we’re facing the end of humanity because we are. I’ve given around 200 public talks on the climate crisis. I often begin by talking about cancer. When you’re told you might have cancer, you experience this inner split — disbelief alongside a desperate need to know the truth. What do you ask first? You ask for the number — the likelihood. I recently had this experience myself. I was told I might have cancer. Without hesitation, I asked the question: *what’s the number?* In my case, it was 3%. I now need to undergo tests. Fingers crossed I’ll be okay. In 2018, when I helped found Extinction Rebellion, it took off because of one number: **12**. We had twelve years left. According to a [major UN report](https://news.un.org/en/story/2022/10/1129912?ref=rogerhallam.com), emissions had to halve by 2030, or it would be “too late.” Millions of children and adults took to the streets. But now, seven years later, the numbers are a hundred times worse. We’ve already passed 1.5°C. The underlying temperature has risen by 0.2°C in just one year. We’re now told it’s increasing by 0.4°C per decade. That puts us at 2°C by 2030\. The Paris Agreement is dead. *It* is now going to happen. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2025/05/temp-increase.png) I recently spent a day compiling all the latest data from official science reports: the locked-in warming due to air pollution removal and carbon lag; additional heating from collapsing carbon sinks; the exponential rise in wildfires and methane emissions from permafrost. Put it all together, and the result is clear—we’re on track to exceed 5°C by around 2060\. Without drastic change, our young people will face the extinction of humanity by the time they reach middle age, which will result in billions of deaths. That’s why this is the most critical matter in human history. You can read [the briefing](https://rogerhallam.com/blog-extinct/) on the science behind our coming extinction. It’s now under review by scientists around the world. Don’t be surprised if, over the coming year, official bodies begin releasing analyses that echo these conclusions. A recent report by the British insurance industry has already predicted **four billion** deaths. At some point soon, when large-scale crisis events hit, there will be an almighty explosion of public mobilisation — like Extinction Rebellion, but many, many times bigger. This is why I’m writing to you. I’m asking you to leave your job — your university course, your current occupation — and commit full-time to **Rev21 (Revolution in the 21st Century).** I’m writing not only because of the dire situation we face, but because I genuinely believe we now have the opportunity to help create this new international mobilisation. [Sign Up To Join The Revolution](https://rev21.earth/events?ref=rogerhallam.com) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2025/05/degrees-of-global-warming-833x1536.png) If you’re going to commit to a full-time project in this moment, you’ll want to know it has the *maximum possible leverage* to save what can still be saved. So this isn’t a request to join a single action, or support a specific campaign — I’m asking you to help **build the organisation that creates the campaigns.** That trains, seeds and supports a global movement to remake the world. Because that is what is needed. Rev21, after a year of development — in close collaboration with other networks — is now ready to do this. --- ### **We are launching six key interconnected projects:** 1. [**Global Festival of Resistance**](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kOX9oZ3A9BBA0Wp3c84fc9CvAN7MheWLPlJgK5seWcg/edit?tab=t.0&ref=rogerhallam.com) – Coordinating mass events on the same dates each year across the world to unify our movements. 2. [**Fundraising**](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1hyTr3C8OmnyZnIUELovG70yoi83qmqvnDm6nW-IKD0g/edit?tab=t.0&ref=rogerhallam.com) – Raising and distributing funds to grassroots campaigns that participate in the festivals and initiate mass public action. 3. [**Local Assemblies**](https://rev21.earth/assemblies?ref=rogerhallam.com) – Organising deliberative assemblies that articulate demands and provide legitimacy to people power. 4. [**Movement Parties**](https://timetoassemble.org/?ref=rogerhallam.com) – Supporting new political platforms to contest local and national elections and counter the rise of the far right. 5. [**Leadership Training**](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1pQN2sJ6Io1zw5tRUH%5FNCBNXbceHBPCE3XqqXRS3eoTM/edit?slide=id.g32fcdedfd83%5F0%5F95&ref=rogerhallam.com#slide=id.g32fcdedfd83%5F0%5F95) – Delivering in-depth courses to equip organisers with the skills to lead powerful campaigns. 6. [**International Conventions**](https://events.zoom.us/ev/AuAT1KXjZQEzDJ3Zt96HmatSjE4RDvrC8NZxcqQ4SZsLVeM9g7IY~AuNzylaQSvi9b3YCId2WUwFELH-5k7oucZRjVEZDk9sRo%5FdirJVCqc%5FwkQ?ref=rogerhallam.com) – Hosting twice-yearly gatherings of top movement figures to share knowledge, strategy, and inspiration. --- These initiatives only work if they happen **together**. The whole is far greater than the sum of the parts. As we connect with movements around the world working towards nonviolent system change, we will coordinate closely, offering hope and a clear pathway towards a livable future — a **democratic alternative to collapse and fascism**. This is the plan. And we know we can do it. Robin Boardman and I helped organise the mobilisation of 200,000 people for Extinction Rebellion in the UK. The teams I’ve worked with have created some of the biggest climate campaigns in the Western world. We’ve done this before. Now, with the election of Trump and increasing geopolitical instability, major funders are actively looking to finance systemic alternatives. I was in a meeting last year where the vision laid out in this letter was presented — and one funder indicated he could provide up to **$5 million**. We’ve just presented to a major global company and a personal letter is now on its way to the founder, who is looking to donate millions of euros. What’s missing is **you** — and others like you — to build the teams that make this vision real. You don’t need special skills. But you do need *serious commitment* — to match the seriousness of what we face. This is about creating a new world out of the one that is dying around us. Last year, The New Statesman named me one of the 50 most influential progressives in the UK—the only environmentalist ranked higher than me was David Attenborough. I was named one of the 50 most influential progressives in the UK not because I make nature documentaries but because I help make change happen—or, more accurately, I work with teams that make change happen. And I want you to be part of one of those teams. --- Yes, this is a long letter. Marketing experts would say it’s too long. That people have short attention spans. That I should keep it snappy. I couldn’t disagree more. If you’re going to make a serious commitment, you deserve to see the full picture. To know that the ask is *credible*. If you’ve made it this far, then you’re serious. The next step is simple: [join one of the Induction Zoom calls on the third Sunday of the month](https://rev21.earth/events?ref=rogerhallam.com), ask your questions, and then make a decision. It might take time to make the transition. You might only be able to start part-time. That’s absolutely fine. Come along to the Zoom and we can talk it through. This is a massive opportunity: to be part of the next great mobilisation. To give your life to the common good — at the edge of history. It is what it is. I look forward to working with you. With best wishes, **Roger Hallam** *Co-founder,* [*Rev21*](https://rev21.earth/?ref=rogerhallam.com) [Sign Up To Join A Rev21 Induction](https://rev21.earth/events?ref=rogerhallam.com) --- **P.S.** One last thing — please share this letter with three people you know who might be ready for this journey. And ask them to share it with three more. Thank you. Keen to get started? Watch this video to meet the team behind it all! Can't join? [Donate](https://buy.stripe.com/6oEbLTaRk22QgQU6oo?ref=rogerhallam.com) to support the people involved. [Make a One-Off Donation](https://buy.stripe.com/6oEbLTaRk22QgQU6oo?ref=rogerhallam.com) ### 🎲 Rolling the Dice on Mass Death URL: https://rogerhallam.com/rolling-the-dice-on-mass-death/ Last updated: 2025-04-29T09:00:16.000Z **As of 28 April 2025, Asia is being battered by a brutal, life-threatening heatwave.** Millions of people – right now – are facing unbearable temperatures. In many places it’s over 40°C. In some areas it’s approaching 46°C. In the Philippines, the heat index – the 'feels like' temperature – is hitting 53°C. That's deadly. People are collapsing in the streets. Children, the elderly, the poor – they’re the first to go. This isn’t just uncomfortable. It’s lethal. Heatstroke. Organ failure. Death in under six hours if you don’t have air conditioning – and most people don’t. **Crops are failing. Water supplies are drying up. Whole regions are becoming uninhabitable.** In China, places like Zhejiang and Jiangsu have already hit record-breaking temperatures. In Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand – vast populations are at risk. In West Asia, where conflict and poverty already devastate lives, the heatwave is tipping people over the edge. Let’s be absolutely clear: this is just the beginning. And it’s not a natural disaster – it’s a crime scene. A direct result of thirty years of lies, inaction, and wilful destruction by the people at the top – fossil fuel executives, politicians, and the liberal classes who let them get away with it. This is the first phase of climate genocide. And it’s happening now. So here we are. We've finally arrived. **2025 will be the second year in a row that global temperatures sit above 1.6°C.** That’s not a statistic. That’s a death sentence – for millions. From this point on, every month is a roll of the dice. And if it lands on a six? The wet bulb threshold is breached – that deadly combination of heat and humidity where your body can't cool down. People without air conditioning – the majority of humanity – die in six hours. That’s it. Game over. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2025/04/The-Endgame.png) **Billions of people – in poor city slums, in rural villages, in places no one in power cares about – are now inside a roulette wheel of death.** Waiting for their number to come up. That is what the ruling elites have created. That is what the liberal and professional classes have enabled – through cowardice, distraction, and silence. They could have stood up. They could have resisted. They chose not to. They are complicit. The consequences? **Beyond catastrophic.** And if you sit back now, shrug your shoulders, and go back to your life – you are handing over the final keys. You are helping to lock in **human extinction** within the next ten years. If it hasn’t already been sealed. Let’s stop pretending we don’t know what’s coming. **Do the numbers.** We’re already at 1.6°C. Another 0.4°C rise is expected over the next decade. Add 0.5°C when air pollution clears and no longer cools the atmosphere. Add 0.3°C from the carbon lag – the delay between what we emit and when it shows up. Then add the collapse of forests, the melting permafrost, the methane, the wildfires. **We’re on track to blow through 3°C before 2050.** What does that mean? Ask the British insurance industry – they’ve already said it: **4 billion people dead. Half the human race.** And that’s just the start. Because 3°C triggers feedbacks in the Earth system that take us past 5°C – the point where the human body, the human brain, life itself, no longer functions. That’s extinction. Everyone. Gone. Forever. And even if there was just a 10% chance of this happening – which there isn’t, it’s now the **central scenario** – then to take that risk, to sit on your hands, is **the greatest crime in history.** And if you still do nothing now, at this moment – then what are you? --- ### Join the free [Revolution in the 21st Century](https://events.zoom.us/ev/AuAT1KXjZQEzDJ3Zt96HmatSjE4RDvrC8NZxcqQ4SZsLVeM9g7IY~AuNzylaQSvi9b3YCId2WUwFELH-5k7oucZRjVEZDk9sRo%5FdirJVCqc%5FwkQ?ref=rogerhallam.com) Convention next month! Rev21 is hosting an online global convention this May, bringing together leading activists, writers, scientists, and changemakers to confront the realities of social and ecological collapse—and to begin designing the revolution we need. Held via Zoom with multiple talks, workshops, and breakout spaces, it’s a space to learn, connect, and collaborate on what 21st-century revolution can look like: holistic, nonviolent, and rooted in real relationships. For some, it’s a powerful networking moment; for others, it’s a first step into serious action. With solidarity pricing and an open invitation to those ready to shape the future, this isn’t just an event—it’s the beginning of a revolution. [Join the Convention](https://events.zoom.us/ev/AuAT1KXjZQEzDJ3Zt96HmatSjE4RDvrC8NZxcqQ4SZsLVeM9g7IY~AuNzylaQSvi9b3YCId2WUwFELH-5k7oucZRjVEZDk9sRo%5FdirJVCqc%5FwkQ?ref=rogerhallam.com) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2025/04/Screenshot-2025-04-03-100828.png) Rev21 Convention Speakers [Make a One-Off Donation](https://buy.stripe.com/6oEbLTaRk22QgQU6oo?ref=rogerhallam.com) ### So, Are We Just Going to Let Ourselves Die? URL: https://rogerhallam.com/are-we-just-going-to-let-ourselves-die/ Last updated: 2025-04-26T07:56:57.000Z Shortly before I was imprisoned last year, I had the privilege of joining a Zoom call with a man living in the Central American rainforest. He had been the primary fundraiser for the Social Forum, which, as some readers will recall, was the first international organisation of this century to call for a new global social system: "Another world is possible." He told me, "Roger, when you go to see funders, tell them two things: First, that the money is not theirs, and second, that it will be worth nothing in ten years." This week, I recorded a message for one of the most radical Western companies funding climate crisis activism. I spoke to them about these two realities. Five years ago, perhaps even a year ago, they would have politely—or not so politely—shown us the door. But not now. My colleague was told the presentation was "magical," information about funding a new global movement was shared with over 100 staff members, and a personal letter from me will be delivered by hand to the company’s founder, whose funds run into the hundreds of millions of dollars. At the same time, Just Stop Oil announced it would no longer engage in civil resistance. The media response has been significant, but none of it has focused on what really matters. I was sent a series of questions by Justin Rowlatt, the BBC environment correspondent. I replied to him with three main points. First, it is the evolution of a deep culture of respect, service, and trust that took us from three people in a room with a few quid to a household name, with thousands of arrests and millions of pounds in financial support, all within a year. Equally significant has been the unprecedented battering we have received, resulting in hundreds of people being imprisoned, many on multi-year sentences, including nearly all the key organisers. Nothing like this has happened to an open, nonviolent organisation in this country since the Napoleonic Wars. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2025/03/Screenshot-2025-03-30-192941.png) A day or two later, the police battered down the door of Westminster Friends Meeting House in a raid to arrest a group of young people planning a protest. How many centuries would you have to go back to find this kind of treatment of the Quakers? The point, however, is this: it is only in the face of such state violence that the fearless personality is forged, prepared for the enormous sacrifices needed to bring down regimes. Then there is the third, least important point, that obviously JSO has not been able to stop the metamachine of universal death that is the British carbon regime. Justin, in true neoliberal style, focused only on the third point: our "failure" - the superficial, the short-term, the flat material plane. He and the media cannot see cultural and spiritual depth. [🥫 Just Stop Oil Didn’t Fail—The Liberal Class DidMy uncut interview with the BBC from prison.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/icon/roger-square-icon.png)Roger HallamRoger Hallam![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/thumbnail/signal-2025-03-27-093147_002-1024x576.png)](https://rogerhallam.com/the-end-of-just-stop-oil/) The key determinants of regime change are now coming into place — large-scale funding, service-based culture, and the spirit of fearless sacrifice. There is one more ingredient. Ignored by the media is the "climate news" of the past 12 months, which is a hundred times worse than what provoked the mass mobilisation of Extinction Rebellion back in 2018\. Underlying temperatures have jumped 0.2°C in a single year. We are now over 1.6°C and will be hitting 2°C by 2030\. The carbon sinks are collapsing, and the feedbacks are triggered. Buried in the Appendix of the recent British Insurance Industry report is its prediction of 2 billion deaths at 2°C, and 4 billion at 3°C. That is half of the world's population dead. This reality is about to explode upon us and trigger the fusion of the elements of revolutionary transformation. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2025/03/Screenshot-2025-03-30-192955.png) Chris Hedges, the Pulitzer Prize-winning war correspondent for the *New York Times* during the 1990s, told me a while ago that the reason why the elites do not see revolutions coming is because they only speak to themselves. They are stuck in their silo. Like Justin Rowlett and the BBC, they can only see what they want to see. The world is falling away beyond our feet. Trump is doing his stuff. They have no alternative but to resort to appeasement. And like in the 1930s, their dream world is about to be swept away. So are we just going to have ourselves die? The deepest paradox of the present historical moment is that only when we have the courage to answer yes to that question, and so allow ourselves to experience the agonising depths of despair, desolation, and self-contempt, can we come to see and feel reality as it actually is, and so play our part in the coming re-making of the world. To find out about this new global movement (we're recruiting!) go to [rev21.earth](https://rev21.earth/events?ref=rogerhallam.com). [Sign Up for Revolution in the 21st Century](https://rev21.earth/events?ref=rogerhallam.com) [How Just Stop Oil was policed to extinctionClimate activists may be going deeper underground.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/icon/apple-touch-icon.png)BBC News![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/thumbnail/4d8fd730-2045-11f0-8c2e-77498b1ce297.png)](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cz6denxzweeo?ref=rogerhallam.com) > The state broadcasters climate editor managed to write over 1,500 words on climate protest but couldn't find room to mention the mass death and suffering that's coming down the line.[@BBCJustinR](https://twitter.com/BBCJustinR?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=rogerhallam.com) this is why you get heckled. We wouldn't need to throw soup if you'd done your job. [pic.twitter.com/9E0YRGnMNz](https://t.co/9E0YRGnMNz?ref=rogerhallam.com) > > — Just Stop Oil (@JustStop\_Oil) [March 29, 2025](https://twitter.com/JustStop%5FOil/status/1905923590911909930?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=rogerhallam.com) Share [Make a One-Off Donation](https://buy.stripe.com/6oEbLTaRk22QgQU6oo?ref=rogerhallam.com) ### 🕊️ The Last Relation: Peace and War URL: https://rogerhallam.com/peace-and-war/ Last updated: 2025-04-21T09:49:31.000Z You Can Also Watch the Video Version of This Essay There is plenty to talk about at the moment: - The whole Trump situation. - The worst-ever news on the carbon sinks. - The getting into gear of plans for a new global movement to remake the world, coming out of the coming collapse. We all have the feeling that the ground beneath our feet is starting to fall away, that time is speeding up. So it might seem strange to be taking time out, as you might call it, to look at something that seems abstract, far off, and maybe a little bit over-intellectual. My excuse, I suppose, is that having written two books on the vital here-and-now stuff—about my trial last year, about assemblies, and the strategy of regime change—I feel like I could or should, during the last few months in prison, focus on something that aims to complete the grand strategy we need to present to people over the coming months and years. The core idea here, as I've been saying for a while, is that we need to move beyond crisis management mode and towards being able to map out and promote the transformative vision of the future we want to create. In other words, we need to make it real, credible, and coherent. We need to provide the details, and it therefore has to cover the whole situation. The historical analogies here are Christianity and communism, whatever their pros and cons. We cannot deny that these worldviews were massively successful, and this was because they provided people with a full and positive vision. They had answers to the big questions. And say, we also need to provide answers to the big questions because, as we're all aware, our opponents—the surge of fascist ideologies we see all around us—have no qualms giving big pictures and big stories to get people on board. Step by step, old liberal reformism will not cut it. The centre is not going to hold. Those days are gone. If there is one thing we can be sure about, it is that the massive material disruptions, which are now locked in, will create a deep psychological and spiritual fluidity. The old will become totally discredited, and people will be looking for a new big story. This is what Christianity did during the crisis of the fall of the Roman Empire, and what communism did in response to the turmoil of global industrialisation. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2024/03/roger-zeit-1-1.JPG) ## Join Me In the Revolution of Our Lives Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No nonsense. Change your mind anytime. And so, it really, of course, comes down to one-liners. Jesus offered forgiveness from God for our sins; communism offered control over the means of production; what we are offering is rule by the people, for the people, via assemblies and civil resistance. All three messages are similar. They respond to the core human need for meaning, for community, for equality, and for justice—to be that humanity we sense we already are but has yet to come into being. In our work so far, we have been mapping out the details of how to mobilise people around assembly projects (what's called the inside track) and civil resistance (the on-the-street stuff, the outside track). This then leads to dual power arrangements of national assemblies and, in the coming revolutionary moments, the taking over of national decision-making from discredited elected parliaments and political dictatorships. We plan for a tipping point to happen in one or two countries first, and then to cascade through other states as our global movements go into action, having prepared for such historical moments. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2025/04/LOGO---Revolution-w-Banner---PurpleOrangeBlack.png) And all this necessarily has to be held within a new culture of respect, service, and trust—a deep new humility in recognition of the total mess that we have created for ourselves and future generations. There is then a core element of redemption, a salvation after the fall, that characterises all moments of traumatic crisis. We are bringing back together the secular and the religious by putting the process of transcendence back at the centre of our culture. So far, so good. There's lots of work and co-creation to be done as we go out and spread this message, but it feels like we're starting out on our way. There is, however, a catch. What I want to talk about here is what sometimes happens when you play Blackgammon. I don’t know if you know the game, but you have to get all your pieces off the board. Sometimes, if you don’t watch it, one of your pieces gets blocked by the opponent’s pieces, and just as it looks like you’re going to win, things turn around and the other side wins instead. What I mean is this: we have a series of international crises, we have our classic civil resistance uprisings, new regimes emerge, and cultures of cooperation go into action. It’s all inevitably messy, but it’s looking good—it’s broadly going to plan. And then, yes, you get invaded. If you know your revolutionary history, you know this is more or less the norm. Think about the classical revolutions: the British army arriving in America, the invasions of revolutionary France, the foreign forces supporting the Whites in the Russian Civil War, the Japanese in China. And it does not stop. In a way, the Russian invasion of Ukraine is really a response to the democratic revolutionary moments in that country over the past 20 years. Thinking concretely, we can easily see Russia, China, or for that matter any reactionary middle-sized power like Turkey or Iran, marching into its backyard to put down any signs that people are getting to rule themselves. And never say never—the US suddenly seems to have schemes on Canada. Things can and will change quickly. So, all too often, revolutions look like they’re broadly doing their thing, bringing about liberation and freedom, and then it all turns back into ugly tyranny because they get invaded. And the default response is to go to war. We need then to have an alternative to this temptation, and we broadly have the answer: civil resistance. We can bring in history and sociology to show that it works. As the phrase goes, the stats, for instance, are available. The seminal study [*Why Civil Resistance Works*](https://uk.bookshop.org/a/9187/9780231156820?ref=rogerhallam.com), looking at 300 case studies since 1917, confirms that civil resistance is more effective than violence—not just in overturning regimes, but at resisting invasions. There is a rich and extensive literature on why this is the case: the power of mass participation, the backfiring effects of repression, the appeal to international support, the culture of inclusion and democratic practice that creates the ground for pro-social outcomes after overcoming the opponents. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2025/04/IMG_3540.PNG) But my main point is this: we are not going to change deep cultures of violence by just quoting stats at people, important as they are. If we have learned anything in the last few years, it is that people are subject to deeply ideological prejudices and irrationalities, which need to be understood and directly confronted. Take, for example, the situation in Ukraine. No doubt a few of you have probably thought: why is there no public debate about the third option, beyond a continuing slaughter of war or an unjust peace imposed by Putin and Trump? Why is no one talking about civil resistance, given that, as we know, it works, or at least has better odds of success than violence? Well, the reason has to be culture. We say we’re against violence, but some violence is culturally acceptable. Our received culture seems to think it’s fine if people kill people and get killed when they are invaded. And this can happen on a massive scale. But if you suggest that people get killed in civil resistance—sitting in front of tanks, going on hunger strike, and such like—you know the reaction. It is seen as hopelessly idealistic or just plain stupid. This was brought home to me recently when I re-read *How to Blow Up a Pipeline*, which you may know promotes a strategy of sabotage and violence in response to the climate crisis. As well as not being able to understand good statistical analysis, the author also reveals something a lot more important: he indulges in the move of saying that nonviolence would be a ridiculous thing during the slave trade period because refusing to work and such like would just get you killed. Turn over the page, and you find him idealising slave revolts, which, as a matter of historical fact, were equally unsuccessful, and in addition, would—and did—get a lot of people killed. What is going on here is not an objection to death per se, but to certain types of death. The issue is not rational; it’s aesthetic. Being killed by killing is okay; getting killed sitting on the road is not. What is going on here is a deep patriarchal bias toward violence in response to violence. Men who kill and are killed—it takes on an idealised, mythical form outside any context. There is no place in this myth, for instance, for the old, the young, or for women. There is no value in being vulnerable. There's no cycle of birth and death. This is man versus man outside time and space. It is, then, a pathological mania, a deep trauma passed down from each generation of men to the next generation of men, and of course, bought into by the rest of the population. If our revolutions are to succeed in avoiding collapse into the total hell of modern war, we need to be able to provide a very different story. In other words, this is not about what works. It is about what it is that we are, what we have to become to survive the next hundred years of human existence. This is why this book and writing really deal with foundational questions: what it is to know what is called a pneumatology, and what it is to be metaphysical. I build upon the two most important works I’ve read while being in prison: John Milbank’s *Theology and Social Theory* and Ian McGilchrist’s *The Matter with Things*. The plan then is similar to an approach to becoming happy: you do not attain happiness by trying to be happy, by approaching it directly. Rather, it comes from a focus on living in a virtuous and wise way. Happiness, then, is a by-product of attending to something else more important. Similarly, success in civil resistance is not attained by trying to be good at civil resistance, by approaching it directly, but again comes from a focus on virtue and wisdom—from a deep understanding about what it is to know and what it is to be. To know then does not mean just knowing in a materialistic, reductive way that this is this and that is that, on the basis of some scientific evidence, and that is the end of the matter. This is the way that our cultures force us to think about what it is to know. But knowing is, in fact, pluralistic. It comes from intuition, through participation in the world, from action and practice, from a focus on the nature of the infinite as well as the finite. It is emotional and embedded. It comes up and through us, and yes, it inevitably requires leaps of faith—a decision about what you are going to believe. All these ways of knowing are as important as each other. And to understand what it is to be is to realise that there are not things, but processes. That reality is not about static slices of stuff, but seeing interactive flows which are infinitely complex. The whole then is greater than the parts. There is then not just one way to be something, objective reduced to a solid set thing. Being is a lot of different ways of being, all at the same time. Our stress then comes not from an objective reality, but rather it comes from getting attached to a rigid, single picture of reality, from seeing things just on one plane. Stress comes from forgetting we are always already situated in a world of fathomless depths. I recently read that the human body includes 5 trillion organisms—something like that. To be honest, I can’t remember the precise number, but it is a lot. All these entities have cognition and purpose. They all operate on the edge of chaos, but somehow form an order which we call life. If they didn’t do this, you would be dead in no time. And this great flow of life in which we are embedded has been going on continuously for billions of years. It is difficult to think about this reality without feeling a deep humility about being situated in all this immensity, for that little while that is our own lifespan as a conscious being. The practices of engaging in this new sense of reality—and there are many ways it can be done—create the transcendence which, in turn, creates fearlessness. And it is precisely this fearlessness that will create the new world that will drive a sustainable and successful civil resistance. This, then, is how the transformation is going to work. If it is to work, culture comes first, and then all the politics afterwards. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2025/04/flying-to-extinction.png) So, when you sit in the road as the tank comes towards you, in fact, there are at the same time a billion other things flowing along other than the road and the tank. It is always a matter of choosing your focus. There are plenty of books about this, of course—apart from the two I’ve mentioned. It’s not like we don’t know what I’ve just been saying. On many levels, we do know. I've read about 70 books while being in my cell. It's basically all I've been doing, and I'm more persuaded than ever that all the knowledge is already there—the visions, the perspectives, the plans for the new world we have to bring into being. The problem is not with knowledge, but with wisdom and the fact that wisdom can only come through raw experience, not by reading books. In other words, what we need to do is to create the trainings, practices, and rituals that enable us to grow in wisdom through action. In other words, real change comes from the realness of pain and suffering. As we all know from our personal experiences, there is no substitute for going out and living our lives. All these activities, this process of self-purification, as it used to be called, have to happen on many levels at the same time. We have to engage in individual practice, such as daily meditation or prayer. We have to learn to work in teams, acting together and supporting each other. We also have to build organisational cultures and structures. And last but not least, we have to go out and confront the dying world and accept the consequences of creating disruption. We have to bear witness and not stand by. This starts, then, with a commitment of a few hours a week. This starts with a commitment of a few hours, then it moves to working part-time, and then making a full-time commitment. It involves a process of giving up and letting go of our material stuff and our social status—all that. It is, of course, painful and scary, and it has to be done. This is what we're being called to do. This is what all of this means. And this then is where [Rev21](https://rev21.earth/?ref=rogerhallam.com) comes in. This is our task: to be a catalyst for designing and propagating the experiences and thus learnings that enable us to act out of love rather than fear; to let go of our material supports and enter into resistance without bitterness, attachment, or an outcome focus. To do it, in other words, as a way of being. You may have noticed that I've been broadly fine being in prison for this year. Of course, I've had my off days, and nothing is for certain, but I'm not complaining. After all, this is the way it is at this point in history. But my calmness comes from 10,000 hours of practice over the past decades, and the thousands and millions of people who have resisted with a sense of grace throughout history have attained their sense of peacefulness through years of practice. It doesn't just happen. Many of you will know that both Gandhi and Martin Luther King, and their followers, planned to create nonviolent armies—thousands of people trained and experienced in civil resistance, primed to act together to do what it takes to bring in the new world. This, then, is the project in the coming years, across countries and continents. The upshot then is there's no time to lose. Of course, we have to institutionalise these practices. Over the past few months, Rev 21 has moved into gear on all this, and we are now ready to go. We are looking for many more people to promote the various projects and practices, and this needs organisation and funding, and to be massively scaled up. We do know how to do it, and it has to be done. All our relations then need to be transformed, including the last relation: our relation to the prospect of invasion and war. We cannot just believe in peace. We have to become peacefulness itself. Find out more and get involved at [https://rev21.earth/](https://rev21.earth/?ref=rogerhallam.com). [Make a One-Off Donation To Rebellion](https://buy.stripe.com/6oEbLTaRk22QgQU6oo?ref=rogerhallam.com) Share ### ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get on with the job of sorting it out. [Support](https://rogerhallam.com/#/portal/signup/6517fbb3b89c5400016e9f27/yearly) ### It's Geo-Engineering or Extinction URL: https://rogerhallam.com/geoengineering-or-extinction/ Last updated: 2025-04-17T08:29:20.000Z It's past time to tell it like it is. Don't let anyone say otherwise. A recent article in [*The Conversation*](https://theconversation.com/the-overshoot-myth-you-cant-keep-burning-fossil-fuels-and-expect-scientists-of-the-future-to-get-us-back-to-1-5-c-230814?ref=rogerhallam.com) suggested that lying about our not needing geo-engineering, earth repair, or whatever else it takes is a good thing because telling the truth only encourages the undoubtedly evil forces of the fossil fuel sector to drag their feet even more. This is the same logic of a liberal climate campaigner who recently suggested, in all seriousness, we should lie to the great British public about 1.5°C—say it is still possible to stay below the limit when it self-evidently was not—because to "give up" would only encourage the bad guys to not keep to their 1.5°C "targets." There is one line in the article which knocks down this whole "trying to be all clever" house of cards: in 6 years, the world needs to have halved emissions to stop us from going over 2°C. As a reminder, 2°C means 1 billion refugees, just for starters. Or, to put it another way, the world has 4-5 years left of the carbon budget for 2°C if emissions remain at present levels (in case you have not been paying attention, they are still going up). You can mess around with these figures, but that's like German generals trying to mess with the estimates of Soviet tank production in 1944.One thing is clear—the present political arrangements are well and truly fucked. Just as they were in Germany in 1944-5\. No one was coming to save the Nazis, and no one is going to come to save our neo-liberal elites who sat on their hands for 30 years. They have lost it big time. The biggest elite failure in human history. So, with all due respect, the last thing we want to worry about is a bit of moral hazard with regard to the soon-to-be totally fucked fossil fuel execs. They are yesterday's guys, and the best we can do for them is to send them books about the Nuremberg trials. Best to be prepared. To remind ourselves—effectively all the key tipping points will be crossed or locked in by 2°C. We will not suddenly stop emitting carbon even then. And the three essential add-ons—removing air pollution (0.5°C), carbon lag (0.3°C), and the albedo effect from the melting Arctic and Antarctic (0.2°C)—will need to be put into the mix. So we will be well on our way over 3°C as the main scenario by mid-century, with a small probability of a super-exponential explosion of methane emissions, along with an almost endless list of other positive feedbacks. Anyone who seriously thinks we are going to get out of this objective existential crisis in 2024 without fuckloads of messing about with the climate system is either ignoring the maths or on another planet. What the public is crying out for more than anything is for someone to be straight with them for once. At the moment, things are going backwards, and liberal bullshitting strategies are entrenched across the public sphere. Lying, as I was taught to believe, does not end well. And when the public finds that their kids are going to starve, those in authority are going to have the mother of all "not-ending-well" scenarios. I am sure the authors at The Conversation are nice, well-meaning people with impressive PhDs. But the path to hell—or, to be more precise, human extinction— is paved with good intentions. [Make a One-Off Donation](https://buy.stripe.com/6oEbLTaRk22QgQU6oo?ref=rogerhallam.com) ### 🗨️ "Why Not?": How to Reply to Fascists URL: https://rogerhallam.com/why-not-how-to-reply-to-fascists/ Last updated: 2025-04-13T08:24:22.000Z The night before the German election, a leader of the fascist party was interviewed on *Newsnight*, the BBC public affairs programme. She said her party would expel refugees from Afghanistan back to the country, even though they would be beaten, raped, and killed on their return. At the end of this proposition, she said confidently, "Why not?" Predictably, the liberal commentators in the *Newsnight* studio did not answer her question. They analysed, rationalised, and procrastinated—anything to avoid declaring what it means to be truly human. To deal with fascism, you have to have an alternative way of being and acting, other than technocracy. So how to reply? You say: > "Why not? Easy—because we are all sisters and brothers. We exist to love each other. We are the other, and the other is us. If we abandon those in need, we abandon ourselves. We become diminished. You can choose to hate, or you can choose to love—this is the fundamental political choice. The German people do not want to choose fascism because they, more than most, understand it will destroy the country—spiritually and materially. We need to grow up and take responsibility for being alive in this world—for its burdens and joys. This is our true destiny. This is what we stand for." Bang. Something like that. Nice and confident. And then repeat it over and over again. Like the Great Lie, the Great Truth becomes accepted to the extent that it is declared publicly. Old liberals cannot save us—they don't know how to speak. Young people need to speak this truth and thereby create a world for themselves and for others—a world for all of us. Together. [Make a One-Off Donation](https://buy.stripe.com/6oEbLTaRk22QgQU6oo?ref=rogerhallam.com) ### 🎤 A Revolutionary Convention URL: https://rogerhallam.com/a-revolutionary-convention/ Last updated: 2025-04-09T08:20:16.000Z Listen to the Audio Version here I have been asked to say something about the [Rev21 online convention](https://events.zoom.us/ev/AuAT1KXjZQEzDJ3Zt96HmatSjE4RDvrC8NZxcqQ4SZsLVeM9g7IY~AuNzylaQSvi9b3YCId2WUwFELH-5k7oucZRjVEZDk9sRo%5FdirJVCqc%5FwkQ?ref=rogerhallam.com) this coming May. I can think of no more important place to start than the [recent report by the UK insurance industry](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/jan/16/economic-growth-could-fall-50-over-20-years-from-climate-shocks-say-actuaries?ref=rogerhallam.com), warning that we are heading towards four billion deaths in the middle decades of this century unless we force states to slash emissions. We all knew such announcements were coming. The facts have been shouting at us for years. And we also know we cannot fully imagine the reality of such a development. But we don’t need to. We simply need to know that there is an absolute imperative to act. But ‘act’ is just an empty phrase—a convenient displacement for our continued failure to do what has to be done. That means enacting popular revolutions as the inevitable ruptures hit our societies. Not just acting then, but taking emergency action. In other words, walking our talk. Acting as if the truth is real. Emergency action always demands that we act together. And this is what has not been happening. People are doing their own thing—their own little campaign, writing their book, doing their networking. Their this, their that. In no way is this emergency action. It is a continuation of the neoliberal culture that has destroyed our movements’ and organisations’ ability to unify. For 30 years now, it’s been the same old divide and rule. What we need, then, is to come together. To meet up, to listen, to learn from each other. This is what this Rev21 gathering is all about—people unifying across their cultures, networks, and movements. [Register For The Convention](https://events.zoom.us/ev/AuAT1KXjZQEzDJ3Zt96HmatSjE4RDvrC8NZxcqQ4SZsLVeM9g7IY~AuNzylaQSvi9b3YCId2WUwFELH-5k7oucZRjVEZDk9sRo%5FdirJVCqc%5FwkQ?ref=rogerhallam.com) There are three simple rules here: - First, we remove obstacles to understanding the need for revolutionary change. We must face our denial of the critiques of modernity/coloniality with sobriety, maturity, discernment, and responsibility. - Second, we understand that we need revolutionary change. Nothing less is going to save us in the time we have left. - And thirdly, this revolution has to be a real revolution—rather than a continuation into hell with just a new setup in charge. Any real revolution has to be based on dignity and respect—towards each other, towards the public, and towards our opponents. For a genuine mass people’s movement to bring our communities onto the streets—the young and the old, the strong and the vulnerable—it has to be nonviolent. And within this basic framework, 100 flowers can bloom. Meaning we are not just going to hear from the great and the good. Rather, we are going to be inspired by their words, then connect with each other, plan, and grow our networks—whether through mutual aid, direct action, assemblies, or elections. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2025/04/image.png) For Rev21 Conventions, this concretely means: - Minimal Q&A sessions. Instead, we will have breakout rooms to talk with each other. - People can initiate their own workshops, briefings, and planning sessions, so we become more skilled, more resilient, and more effective. - And we will keep repeating these conventions. We’ll do another one in October, then again next year, and the year after. Each time expanding, developing, and regionalising. As we do this, we will build the connections for the new global movement we all know we need. Where we, the people, act through a multitude of pathways—autonomous but coordinated—ready for what is to come, whatever that may be. That is what this is all about. Being together. So please, bring people with you. You know it’s going to be good. *Roger Hallam, March 2025\. Hollesley Bay Prison, UK.* [Sign Up For The Convention](https://events.zoom.us/ev/AuAT1KXjZQEzDJ3Zt96HmatSjE4RDvrC8NZxcqQ4SZsLVeM9g7IY~AuNzylaQSvi9b3YCId2WUwFELH-5k7oucZRjVEZDk9sRo%5FdirJVCqc%5FwkQ?ref=rogerhallam.com) ### 🥫 Just Stop Oil Didn’t Fail—The Liberal Class Did URL: https://rogerhallam.com/the-end-of-just-stop-oil/ Last updated: 2025-04-04T07:26:16.000Z On Thursday, I received several questions from Justin Rowlatt, the BBC Environment Correspondent, about Just Stop Oil’s decision to halt civil disobedience actions. He wanted to speak to me or get a recording of my answers. I chose to record my response. This way, I wouldn’t be interrupted, and there would be a public record of my words—unedited by the BBC. The questions, as to be expected, all make the main assumptions of our dying dominant culture—the rigid focus on short-term success and failure. The assumption that this success and failure is about power, that everything worth talking about is on the material plane, that there is no depth, no grace. They boiled down to: - Was Just Stop Oil’s strategy a failure? Have too few people been willing to make the commitment? - With the climate crisis worsening, how can you claim any success? - What comes next? - If the strategy worked, why change it? - How do you view groups advocating sabotage? Here is my personal response, recorded from the prison cell. The process of setting up Insulate Britain and then Just Stop Oil has been the most enjoyable period of my life. In the sense of working in a culture of implacable dedication to the common good, based upon the values of respect, service, and trust. Yes, we’ve faced challenges, but our greatest success has been building effective and supportive teams. This is not just an uplifting experience; these organising methods are now spreading into local assemblies, independent candidate campaigns, and wider social change movements. I predict they will transform politics in the next five years. It is all about how we work together. ### The Gift of Repression State repression has been another success. A regime holds power by hiding its true nature. Fear thrives in the unknown. As Hannah Arendt noted, when a regime resorts to mass arrests and imprisonment, it exposes itself—and loses control. The Emperor is shown to have no clothes. The unknown becomes known, and the fear is lost. "It is what it is", as I often put it. And what "it is" is, by definition, limited and, therefore, open to transcendence from any material power. Once this realisation takes hold of a movement, it becomes indestructible. Prison becomes a place of peace, and resistance a form of ecstasy. We achieve wholeness at last. This divine grace has to be experienced to be understood and will not come to everyone or all at once. This new way of seeing is still in its infancy, but the genie is out of the bottle. As more resistors pass through prison, the fear will evaporate. And when the crises escalate, this power of powerlessness will help bring down the regime. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2025/03/Screenshot-2025-03-30-192941.png) Successful resistance alternates between confrontation and mobilisation. When repression threatens to crush an organisation, it’s time to shift from direct action to community-building—before regrouping and returning even stronger. Some will hide, cover their faces, obsess over tactics, and turn to sabotage, forgetting that real power lies in relationships. We won’t make that mistake. ### Has Just Stop Oil Failed? In Justin’s worldview, Just Stop Oil has been a failure. The campaign has had a marginal impact, and the crisis worsens daily. But let’s be clear: 1. It hasn’t been for lack of trying. Thousands have been arrested, and hundreds have been imprisoned—more than in any other modern UK campaign. We’ve been hit by the harshest laws since the Napoleonic Wars. We face a system intent on the suicide of endless mass death, and it does not intend to let anything get in its way. 2. The real failure lies elsewhere. Since Extinction Rebellion, Insulate Britain, and Just Stop Oil began, we have pleaded with the liberal class to stand by their supposed values. To speak out, get fired, risk arrest and engage in nonviolent resistance to the point of risking imprisoment. And they have refused. Journalists, doctors, lawyers, businesspeople, artists, civil servants, church leaders, trade unions—all have betrayed the young and the poor through their appalling cowardice. And now, Britain faces devastation. James Hansen, one of the world’s leading climate scientists, warns that the Gulf Stream could collapse within 20 to 30 years, making our country largely uninhabitable. The UK insurance industry predicts [four billion deaths](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/jan/16/economic-growth-could-fall-50-over-20-years-from-climate-shocks-say-actuaries?ref=rogerhallam.com) worldwide by mid-century unless emissions are slashed immediately. The political system will collapse within a decade, as people finally realise the crisis is real. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2025/03/Screenshot-2025-03-30-192955.png) ### The Role of The Liberal Class In my last conversation with Justin, I politely advised him, as a social scientist, to do the most effective thing he could: challenge the BBC to tell the full, unvarnished truth about Britain’s impending destruction—even if it meant being sacked. He dismissed my words and walked away. Our elites and leaders have walked away. They will not save us. Only ordinary people can remake our world. And yes, we will have far less material wealth, but we will have spirit. And in the end, that is what truly matters. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2025/03/Screenshot-2025-03-30-192922.png) [Sign Up for the Last Just Stop Oil March](https://actionnetwork.org/forms/join-us-to-reclaim-parliament-in-2025/?ref=rogerhallam.com) > The state broadcasters climate editor managed to write over 1,500 words on climate protest but couldn't find room to mention the mass death and suffering that's coming down the line.[@BBCJustinR](https://twitter.com/BBCJustinR?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=rogerhallam.com) this is why you get heckled. We wouldn't need to throw soup if you'd done your job. [pic.twitter.com/9E0YRGnMNz](https://t.co/9E0YRGnMNz?ref=rogerhallam.com) > > — Just Stop Oil (@JustStop\_Oil) [March 29, 2025](https://twitter.com/JustStop%5FOil/status/1905923590911909930?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=rogerhallam.com) [Has Just Stop Oil really stopped throwing soup?Just Stop Oil says it will disband but does this mark an end to the chaos caused by its climate protests?![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/icon/touch-icon-512.685da29e9e.png)BBC NewsJustin RowlattBBC News Climate Editor![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/thumbnail/e9862110-0c1a-11f0-b234-07dc7691c360.jpg)](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy0d047810no?ref=rogerhallam.com) You can read the full article published article here. Share [Make a One-Off Donation](https://buy.stripe.com/6oEbLTaRk22QgQU6oo?ref=rogerhallam.com) ### 📕 Soft Launching The Blog Book – Free Copies for Supporters URL: https://rogerhallam.com/launch-blog-book/ Last updated: 2025-03-28T20:01:08.000Z Today, I’m thrilled to announce the soft launch of Roger's new book, *50 Articles The Media Wouldn’t Publish*. This collection brings together six years of Roger’s unfiltered writings on the climate crisis, civil resistance, and the societal collapse we’re facing. These are the articles corporate media refused to publish because they expose uncomfortable truths about governments, politics, and the urgent need for change. This book isn’t just a collection—it’s a manifesto for those who refuse to ignore the realities of our time. It’s a call to action for radical, nonviolent revolution, and we need your help to ensure it reaches as many people as possible. ### 📕 **Here’s how you can get a copy and support the launch:** - **Free copies for paid subscribers**: All paid subscribers to Roger's blog can get a free ebook copy. Links to download are at the bottom of this post or the bottom of Roger's [books page](https://rogerhallam.com/page-books/). Thank you for being so supportive! (If you have any problems downloading, just email us) - **Print copies for Revolutionary Members**: If you donate £20 or more, you’ll receive a print copy of the book when it becomes available. So, revolutionaries, [sign up](https://forms.gle/tiJvACzfHWfyfjhV7?ref=rogerhallam.com) to receive your copies. More details soon. (It's never too late to [increase your donation](https://rogerhallam.com/#/portal/signup)!). - If you're a revolutionary superstar and would like to donate the price of your free copy or make a one-off donation to thank Roger for his gift, you can do so [here](https://chuffed.org/project/rev21?ref=rogerhallam.com). - **Or buy it!** If you’re a free subscriber, you can purchase the e-book on [Kindle](https://amzn.eu/d/eVPtMdJ?ref=rogerhallam.com), [Apple](https://books.apple.com/gb/book/50-articles-the-media-wouldnt-publish/id6743322121?ref=rogerhallam.com), [Kobo](https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/50-artices-the-media-wouldn-t-publish?ref=rogerhallam.com) or wherever you get your e-books. This will help boost its ranking in key book categories like Radical Political Thought, Climate Change and Democracy. Ranking high boosts credibility and algorithm-driven recommendations, increasing sales, media interest, and maybe even getting it into your local radical bookshop! [Buy The E-Book](https://a.co/d/1rxOGX9?ref=rogerhallam.com) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2025/03/50_articles_book_cover-03-3.jpg) Big thanks to our volunteer, John Knauss, for designing the bold front cover. ## **To support the launch:** 1. **Buy/Download the book** – Every purchase helps fund our movement, boost the book's ranking and extend Roger’s message. 1. **E-Book:** [Amazon](https://a.co/d/1rxOGX9?ref=rogerhallam.com)/[Kobo](https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/50-artices-the-media-wouldn-t-publish?ref=rogerhallam.com)/[Apple](https://books.apple.com/gb/book/50-articles-the-media-wouldnt-publish/id6743322121?ref=rogerhallam.com) 2. **Physical Copy**: Amazon ([UK](https://www.amazon.co.uk/50-Articles-Media-Wouldnt-Publish/dp/106841880X?ref=rogerhallam.com), [USA](https://a.co/d/4HWSPN0?ref=rogerhallam.com) and more!). We completely understand if you’d rather wait to buy it from a more ethical seller. We are working hard to find better, more ethical distributors while getting Roger's vital messages out of prison as quickly as possible. 2. **Leave a review** – Your honest review helps others discover and understand the book's importance. Roger is controversial and this book is meant to spark your discussion and thoughts! Drop a review wherever you purchase or on [Goodreads](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/229141474-50-artices-the-media-wouldn-t-publish?ref=rogerhallam.com). 3. **Spread the word** – Share the book with your friends, family, and fellow rebels. Encourage them to read and review it too. By supporting and sharing this book, you're amplifying Roger’s urgent message and contributing to the movement for a nonviolent revolution. Every time you read, promote, share, and discuss the book, you help bring us closer to the radical change our planet needs. Thank you. With love and courage, [Robin Boardman](https://robinboardman.com/?ref=rogerhallam.com) Book Editor and Fellow XR Cofounder If you need any help with this, you can always email us at roger.hallam.uk@gmail.com. Our team of volunteers will slowly get back to you ❤️ _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 🌏 A New Global Movement is Rising URL: https://rogerhallam.com/blog-a-new-global-movement-is-rising/ Last updated: 2025-03-24T09:01:26.000Z Dear free blog readers, First, I want to thank you for being part of the fight against fascism and climate chaos. From my prison cell, I can’t tell you just how much it means to know we are in this together. I was given a five-year prison sentence last July for making a speech on a Zoom call, asking people to engage in civil disobedience on climate issues. This is the longest sentence for any nonviolent campaigner in recent UK history. I was singled out for taking a leadership role in our movement, to be punished and serve as a deterrent. **But people like you were not deterred** [Donate](#/portal/signup) In fact, there has been a massive backfire, with over 1,000 people sitting in the roads outside the Royal Court of in-Justice during the recent appeal hearing. More than 1,200 public figures signed an open letter condemning the madness. Even the UN got involved, saying that, in the context of the climate emergency, the sentences are "incomprehensible." **And there’s more good news** Even if I lose the appeal, I should be out in June, due to sentence reductions due to prison overcrowding. While inside, I have written 2 books, read 60 and advised movements around the world. Another piece of good news is that, in response to passing 1.5C and the disastrous election of Trump, there is now a new willingness for progressive groups and campaigns to work together, both within countries and internationally. We are all too aware that time is limited, and without mass collective action, the future will be fascist. The world is crying out for an alternative story. One where ordinary people come together to create street movements, take power through people’s assemblies, and force systemic change as coming chaos undermines existing regimes and toxic structures. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2025/03/Screenshot-2025-03-05-155007.png) **A new global movement is born** We are part of a new global mobilization - networks engaged in coordinated international events - protests, marches, assemblies, training, and cultural activities to consolidate a new consciousness of our collective strength: our people power. We are already working with movements and groups that collectively have over 300,000 people on their databases, along with the world’s top social movement organizers in the US, UK, Germany, Serbia, and Italy. **And this is just the beginning.** I have built a small team to help take the process forward. We have already raised £50,000 but more is needed. I am now writing to all my supporters to ask if you can give a monthly donation to this vital work so we can reach our target of £100,000\. Volunteers supporting me have even produced several books that you get as a thank you gift. [Donate](#/portal/signup) A recent British Insurance Industry report predicted we are facing 4 billion deaths during the middle decades of this century due to the appalling failure of governments to slash emissions. There are no words to describe this level of injustice and suffering. **This is what we face. This is why we fight.** I am one of the world’s leading climate campaigners (that’s why I’m in prison). I have a track record of creating mass campaigns. I can make a real difference, but I need your financial support to do so. If you cannot make a regular commitment, a one-off donation would be greatly appreciated too. [Make a One-Off Donation to Revolution](#/portal/support) Thank you. Roger ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2025/03/Screenshot-2025-03-11-131542.png) ### ⚰️ Why The Human Race is Going Extinct this Century URL: https://rogerhallam.com/blog-extinct/ Last updated: 2025-03-21T09:00:41.000Z Watch the Video Version This Essay - Recorded From Prison I should start by explaining this title, not least because it refers to an event that will cause more suffering and injustice than any other scenario conceivable to the human mind: the premature death of 8 billion or more human beings in the next 75 years. The title should not be read as meaning that this event is certain for two reasons: First, it is formally impossible to predict any future event with absoluteness. Secondly, it is possible that due to geo-engineering and other technological developments, we may reverse the process of global heating. However, it is questionable whether this technology exists, and if it does, whether it can be deployed at scale in the time available, given its enormous costs and in the context of widespread social collapse. Without this intervention, however, human extinction is effectively inevitable. At the present moment, there are only two outcomes. First, to maintain a ‘highly developed’ economy and society, which can roll out these technologies. Or the end of humanity’s existence. There is no third scenario now, no regression or progression to some premodern society compatible with continued human life. There are only two equilibriums. Geoengineering or extinction. This is because tipping points in the Earth’s system have now been triggered12 due to the present level of human-created emissions and locked-in additional inputs of carbon lag and air pollution.5 The human race being effectively extinct by the end of the century is now the main scenario. This means that it is a lot more likely than not, possibly inevitable. What is certain is that a level of social disruption more significant than any other period in human history is now locked in. I am writing this text due to the publication of new data, which now gives numerical starting points for the Earth system's four most significant non-living linear elements. Forest fires, methane release, ice melt, and natural carbon sinks. Soil, forest, and oceans. This data gives a good enough all-system picture of how runaway climatic collapse will happen over the coming decades.12 I want to do two things then: First, I want to show conclusively that a new methodology is needed to undertake accurate analysis—what I will call an all-system iterative approach. Second, I want to show that when this approach puts new numbers into its model, it will predict human extinction this century. There is a vast and diverse literature on the philosophy and sociology of science, which is almost entirely ignored by conventional climate research and policy. This literature needs to be investigated to understand the intersection between ‘pure’ science and what is called data. The interpretation of that data is unavoidably conditioned by human bias—methodological, epistemological, and psychological. For instance, it is unclear what data should be researched, at what scale to investigate phenomena, or how to view the causal relationships between elements. The answers to these questions depend upon human purpose, which is, by definition, a social matter. As the seminal work *The Structure of Scientific Revolutions* shows, the very way we use data is conditioned by a paradigm of understanding, which becomes self-reinforcing. Even when another paradigm could better explain the data, thereby producing better predictions. Climate science has an increasingly poor record of making accurate predictions because it is embedded in a dysfunctional paradigm. This failure reached crisis levels in 2024 due to the failure to predict or explain an underlying sustained jump of 0.2°C in global temperatures. The reason for this failure is the conventional methodologies' analysis of only parts of the system, falsely assuming that these processes are independent of other parts of the system. Therefore, it assumes linear rather than non-linear change. This approach may have made sense in the past when all parts of the system were not linked up, but that is no longer the case. Only an all-system analysis can, therefore, make accurate predictions. There is now only one system, and that is the all-Earth system. To understand any part of the system, it is necessary to look at all of it. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2025/03/temp-increase.png) Scientists also fundamentally misunderstand the social context of their research. The traditional approach is rooted in a culture that focuses on research matters that involve no risk to human beings. The purpose, then, is to establish the certainty of a hypothesis. In this context, a notion of a ‘conservative’ approach is one that requires a high level of supporting evidence to provide ‘proof.’ An example might be proof that a certain species of butterfly depends upon a certain flower. In this case, such a hypothesis has no social implications—no lives depend upon it. And so this traditional epistemological approach makes sense. However, there is an opposite set of circumstances, namely where human lives are at risk. In this situation, what would be called a conservative approach has an opposite logic to such an approach when no lives are at risk. This can be illustrated by the example of a ‘conservative mother’ who will not allow her child to cross the road alone because the hypothesis that the child will be knocked over has a slight possibility of being correct. This sort of conservative logic applies to contexts involving insurance, national security, health and safety, and the like. Self-evidently, the analysis of the danger of climatic change to human life firmly belongs in the latter category. A conservative approach means a realist approach, which has to take account of low probabilities. A high level of proof is not required to take action, but rather quite the opposite. A classic example is the chance of an aeroplane crashing. Even the hypothesis that a tiny danger to the plane will lead to its crashing would be a matter of moral and legal obligation. The conservative approach, correctly defined in the context of mortal risk, requires, then, taking account of all hypotheses, even if they are supported by low levels of evidence. This new approach is to not focus on parts of the system or individual data items but to put them together in ten-year sequential timeframes, starting in 2025\. This way, we can see how the elements interact in real-time. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2024/03/roger-zeit-1-1.JPG) ## Join Me In the Revolution of Our Lives Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No nonsense. Change your mind anytime. We can work this out using two types of crucial information. First, the starting numerical contribution of a factor that causes global temperature rises at the present time. For instance, factor A contributes 0.1°C to global warming every decade starting in 2025\. The second piece of information is the ratio between an increase in temperature and an increase in the amount that this factor contributes to temperature rise. For instance, factor ‘A’ may increase its contribution to global warming by 50% for every one-degree centigrade increase in average global temperatures. Once we have these two pieces of data for all significant factors, we can make an accurate prediction of the key data points in the system over time. The key data point is the increase in global temperatures at the end of each future decade or iteration. The mathematical nature of the system can be illustrated by looking at the game of Monopoly, with which many people are familiar. When several people play the game, it is possible to make a near-absolute prediction that, although all the players start off with an equal amount of money, within the space of a few hours, one player will end up with all the money and all the others will have none. We can create a simplified model to show how this works. Let's say the game has just two players. Player ‘A’ has a complete set of properties and is building houses and then hotels. At the same time, player ‘B’ has two sets of properties and is also building houses and hotels. If we just analyse the player ‘A’ part of the system, we would predict that the future would involve getting more hotels and thus increasing prosperity. But this is clearly incorrect because this part of the system is intricately connected to player ‘B’s parts of the system. You obviously have to look at the whole board, the whole system, to make credible predictions. The rules are that each player moves a marker in turn around the board, advancing a number of spaces shown by the sum of two thrown dice. There is a substantial chance of ‘A’ landing on ‘B’s properties and so having to pay rent, with the consequence of having no spare money to buy more houses and hotels. We could say the estimate of the chances of ‘A’ landing on ‘B’s properties is 50% for each iteration, defined as the marker moving around the board once, while the chances of ‘B’ landing on ‘A’s lower number of properties are 25% during each iteration. The odds of ‘A’ not landing on ‘B’ and ‘B’ landing on ‘A’ are slight but not impossible—say, one chance in four. If, however, ‘A’ lands on ‘B's properties, he will lose some of his houses in order to pay rent to ‘B’, and thus the chances of him winning will be reduced in a non-linear way, as he will be unable to charge as much if ‘B’ lands on his properties. In addition, he'll have to pay more money if he lands on ‘B's properties, as ‘B’ will be able to buy more houses and hotels with the rent money he gained from ‘A’ having just landed on his properties. Let's say, then, in this new situation, ‘A’ has a 1 in 10 chance of winning. However, when he then lands on ‘B’ again, he will have to pay even more rent and have to sell all his houses. Now the chances of him winning suddenly fall to next to zero—say, one chance in a million. For ‘A’ to win, ‘B’ has to land on his properties approximately ten times for ‘A’ to have enough money to start rebuilding houses again. And while during that whole time, if he lands on ‘B’s properties just once, he will have no money to pay the rent and go out of the game. This, then, is non-linearity in action. 1 in 4 moves to 1 in 10, which then moves to 1 in 1,000,000. The Earth’s system has the same essential structure. It is iterative, non-linear, while ‘going out of the game’ in this context means human extinction. In the following analysis, I will not focus on the social effects of the various stages. I will simply show that these stages lead to the endpoint of human extinction. This reverses the conventional analyses, which look at the consequences of getting to a set level of temperature—for example, two degrees or three degrees—while the prospect of extinction is all but ignored. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2025/03/degrees-of-global-warming-833x1536.png) However, if we are certainly heading for extinction, this fact is self-evidently more important than the various social stages that lead to that destination. The focus, then, moves from the incorrect conception of climate change as a set event—a point in time, such as reaching three degrees—to a correct conception of seeing it as part of a self-perpetuating and unending all-system process. This new focus then enables us to see that the most important fact about arriving at three degrees centigrade is not the social consequences of passing that point in itself, but rather that three degrees centigrade will lead to four degrees centigrade, and so on. The same point can be made in Monopoly. The most important fact about the loss of your houses is not the loss in and of itself, but that this development will lead to the close-to-inevitable consequence of losing even more houses, and then going out of the game in future iterations over the next few shakes of the dice. With these realities in mind, I will analyse the data and ratios over decadal iterations. ### **2025 to 2035:** Establishing accurate initial conditions is crucial for the working out of any subsequent non-linear developments. For instance, if we double 2 & 3 several times, we can see the resulting figures increasingly diverge: 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, as opposed to 3, 6, 12, 24, 48. The present starting point for the Earth’s system is that the world is now at 1.5°C above pre-industrial temperatures.1,2 There is a confusion here, because conventional analysis takes the official figure as the average of the past ten years, or ten or more years. However, temperatures have been increasing significantly and consistently now for 30 years. And so a conservative analysis, using our risk analysis definition of conservative, would assume that the temperature increases are not suddenly going to stop or reverse. Not least because emission levels are still going up. It therefore makes rational sense to use the present temperature or at least an average of the last five years, and a projection of the next five, as a more accurate estimate of the present average global temperature increase. The second relevant fact is that the rate at which temperatures have been increasing has itself been increasing over past decades. From 1970 to 2008, temperatures rose by 0.18°C per decade. From 2010, this is increased by 0.3 degrees per decade. Looking back over the past decade, temperatures have increased by 0.4°C.3,4 Leon Simon, a scientist who works with James Hansen, stated in September 2024: The past 16 months are warmer than any month before 2023, and comparing this with previous stronger El Niño, to the previous stronger El Niño, shows decadal warming rate of 0.42°C.3 Again, a correct conservative analysis would assume that the next decade will continue the exponential increase in temperatures, and the increase will be more than 0.3°C. Particularly in the light of the data mentioned by Simon. So we should assume that we need to add 0.4°C to 1.5 degrees, to get to 1.9°C in 2035. However, in order to do our correct all-system analysis, we need to consider all other developments in the system. To continue our analogy, we need to look at who else is building houses on the Monopoly board. First, we need to take account of the effect of air pollution. The burning of fossil fuels puts small particles into the air (Aerosols), which reflects the sun's rays as and when fossil fuel burning stops, the particles will fall out of the atmosphere, allowing more of the sun's rays to enter the atmosphere and thus raise temperatures.5 There are numerous papers providing evidence for this and suggesting that when the burning stops, between 0.5°C and 1°C will be added to global average temperatures. In addition, there has been estimated underlying temperature increase of 0.2°C during 2023 to 2024, which has been partially explained by the reduction of air pollution by global shipping. A conservative analysis has to take account of such an insignificant factor. For the purposes of this analysis, then, we will assume that the amount still to be added to the atmosphere by the removal of air pollution is 0.5°C and 0.1°C of this has already come through. This leaves 0.4°C to be added as future pollution levels decline. We shall assume that pollution continues to decline over the coming decade. And so we need to add another 0.1°C to global temperatures by 2035, raising the running total from 1.9°C to 2°C. Secondly, we need to add in the data from feedback processes over the parts of the system. I will take these one by one. **Forest fires:** The Canadian fires at 2024 emitted the same amount of carbon as yearly emissions of the United States.7,8 The US emits 5 to 10 GT/Year. If we assume that an average of 7.5Gt/Year, then this is 19% of global emissions from human activities, which are presently at around 40Gt. Over the next ten years, 40Gt of human emissions will produce, we estimate, 0.4°C of heating. And so US emissions will produce one-fifth of that total: 0.08°C. In view of the occurrence of major forest fire episodes in Canada, Siberia, and Australia since 2019, we can assume that over the next ten years, a 2024 Canada scenario will happen, on average, every two years. Bearing in mind, the average temperature over the next decade will be around 1.8°C. This means that additional temperature increases from forest fires over the next decade will be 0.08°C/2°C = 0.04°C. **Permafrost melt:** The 2024 *State of the Cryosphere* report gives estimates of greenhouse gas emissions from melting permafrost at various levels of global warming.9 At 1.5°C, the estimate is 2.5Gt/Year—6% of annual total emissions. And so we should add 6% of the 0.4°C of these emissions, which is 0.02°C. **Loss of carbon sinks:** The 2024 *Stepping Back from the Precipice* report calculates that one-third of human emissions are absorbed by land ecosystems: trees and soils.10,11 But the capacity to absorb these emissions has fallen by 20% in the last ten years. We can assume that this capacity will fall by at least another 20% in the next decade, as temperatures increase further by 0.5°C in the next ten years. A third of the total human emissions of 40Gt/Year is 13.3Gt/Year11, and 20% of this figure is 2.66Gt—7% of annual emissions. We should therefore add 7% of 0.4°C to the temperature rise, which is 0.03°C. In addition, we need to take into account the effect of the falling ability of the oceans to absorb carbon. There are not precise figures on this factor, but again, using a conservative approach, we should take some account of it. So we could assume that the total effect of the loss of carbon sinks is 0.05°C. **Albedo effect of loss of ice cover:** Estimates of the effect of a Blue Ocean Event in the Arctic—no sea ice in the summer—is 0.2°C13, an increase in global temperatures in the short term13, and this event is predicted to happen between 2030 and 2035\. In addition, in 2023 to 2024, Antarctica's sea ice loss in one season was approximately the same area of ice cover as the amount which would need to melt for there to be a Blue Ocean Event in the Arctic. If this was an average yearly melt in Antarctica, then we can assume that this too would add 0.2°C to global temperatures. We assume that the joint effect of growing ice melt events will be 0.1°C between 2025 and 2035. The total effect then, of all these feedback systems, is:0.21 (0.04 + 0.02 + 0.05 + 0.1) Making the total increase in global temperatures in this time period 0.5°C + 0.21°C, making a total of 0.71°C. Giving a new total of 2.21°C by 2035. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2025/03/tipping-points.png) ### **2035 to 2045** We assume during this decade there is a significant drop in human emissions in the region of 50% below present levels, not least due to the permanent world recession brought on by the economic effects of going over 2°C by 2035\. Therefore, leading to a halving of the increase in temperatures to 0.2°C. However, the effect of carbon emissions on creating higher temperatures can take over a decade for its full effect, with an overall delay of around 0.3°C. It is therefore generally accepted that even if human emissions stopped entirely tomorrow, temperatures would still increase for a number of decades. So we can assume that over this decade, temperatures will increase by 0.2°C due to the emissions from the previous decades, giving a running total of 0.4°C. In addition, with a 50% drop in emissions during this decade, we can assume a 50% drop in air pollution, and so a real-time temperature increase of 0.2°C—half of the 0.4°C. This brings the running total to 0.6°C. Next, then, we have to add in the projected effects of feedbacks from other parts of the system. **Forest fires:** Given the surge in annual global temperatures from an average of 0.8°C during the previous decade to an average of over 2.6°C for this decade, we can assume the equivalent of the 2024 Canadian fire happening once a year, doubling the emissions from the previous decade. From this factor, that is 0.08°C (0.04 × 2). **Permafrost melt:** According to the cryosphere report, temperatures at 2°C will result in 3 to 4 Gt/year of emissions. And so, given we start this decade at 2.22°C, we can assume emissions from permafrost will melt at 4 Gt/year. This is 10% of 40 Gt/year, which produces 0.4°C of temperature increases. And so, these emissions will result in a temperature increase of 0.04°C (0.1 × 0.4). **Loss of carbon sinks:** If we assume another 20% loss over the decade in the ability of forest and soil to absorb emissions, along with a similar decrease in the ocean's capacity, then the additional temperature increase will be 0.05°C. **Albedo effect of loss of sea ice cover:** There will be regular blue ocean events from 2034 in the Arctic and similar levels of sea ice loss in Antarctica, leading to a prediction of a temperature increase of 0.2°C for this decade. The overall effect of all these feedback systems, then, is 0.37°C (0.08 + 0.04 + 0.05 + 0.2), making the total increase in global temperatures during this period: 0.6°C + 0.37°C, making a total of 0.97°C. Giving a new total of 3.18°C by 2045. --- ### **2045 to 2055** We assume that during this decade, human emissions dropped by half again, leading to a temperature increase of 0.1°C. The effect of carbon lag will lead to a last addition of this effect of 0.1°C. We assume that the reduction in air pollution falls to effectively zero, adding in the last 0.2°C of that factor. This gives us a total of 0.4°C. And then again, we add in the effects of the other feedbacks. During this decade, we can assume average temperatures will be at over 3.5°C, and so we assume another doubling of the number of forest fires and thus emissions, leading to an addition of 0.16°C (0.08 × 2). **Permafrost melt:** The cryosphere report predicts emissions from 3 to 4°C to be 5 to 10 Gt/year. We can assume, then, that these will be 7.5 Gt/year—20% of the 40 Gt/year—and so creating temperature increases of 0.08°C (0.2 × 0.4). **Loss of carbon sinks:** We assume a similar effect to the previous decade, adding another 0.05°C. **Albedo effect of ice loss cover:** We assume another 0.2°C, as ice at the two poles continues to disappear for more months of the year. The total this decade then is 0.49°C (0.16 + 0.08 + 0.05 + 0.2), making the total increase in global temperature during this period 0.4 + 0.49, making a total of 0.89°C. Giving a new total of 4.07°C. --- ### **2055 to 2065** We assume human emissions remain constant to the extent of creating 0.1°C, and the other feedbacks are as follows. **Forest fires:** We assume another doubling of forest fires in a four-degrees-plus world, producing emissions of 0.32°C. **Permafrost melt:** We assume this continues to increase by 50% on the previous decade, producing emissions of 0.12°C. **Loss of carbon sinks:** We assume a similar loss to the previous decade of 0.05°C. **Albedo effect of ice melt:** We assume another 0.2°C loss. Put this together, and we have 0.69°C (0.32 + 0.12 + 0.05 + 0.2), plus the 0.1°C, making a total of 0.79°C, which makes a total of 4.86°C—effectively reaching five degrees centigrade of global warming. --- ### **Pathway to Human Extinction** The historical record of the Earth shows that in previous periods of runaway climate change, the result was a hothouse Earth. Most life on land died due to a fatal reduction in the quantity of oxygen in the atmosphere.14 This was due to the die-off of phytoplankton in the oceans, which produces 50% of the world's oxygen. Research shows that phytoplankton do not survive at temperatures of five degrees centigrade of global warming and may even die at lower temperatures due to the speed of the temperature increases that will occur this century.14,15 So, it is effectively certain that after passing five degrees centigrade, human extinction is locked in. The decline in oxygen levels will take place over centuries, but humanity will not survive in its remaining ecological niches in the longer term. There are other possibilities of human extinction, such as from radiation fallout (nuclear winter) from nuclear war and/or nuclear accidents. But this is not certain. Extinction due to loss of oxygen, however, seems to be absolute and is locked in once the threshold of five degrees centigrade is past. We are presently putting carbon into the atmosphere between 8 and 30 times faster than any time in the Earth's history.16,17 It should not be surprising, then, to find that five degrees centigrade is passed around 2065, according to the above all-system analysis, leaving another 35 years—three more decadal iterations—before we reach 2100\. So even if the temperature increases are stretched out, it is certain that five degrees centigrade will be passed before the end of the century and will continue to increase over the following centuries. The increases, in other words, will not stop. **Escape from extinction:** Humanity has a short window to prevent this runaway climate breakdown, involving temperature increases of a half to one degree centigrade per decade. The clear indicator of the coming reduction in fossil fuel use will be the physical economic effects of the climate crisis itself, as temperatures go over two degrees centigrade in 2035. This reduction in human emissions, however, has shown it will not stop the exponential increase in natural positive feedback processes, producing ever more greenhouse gases. Given that we now know the starting stats and the ratios for these feedbacks, geoengineering and Earth repair technologies will therefore be essential. If we are to survive, it is estimated that carbon removal will cost between $20 and $70 trillion per year.18 I assume that this figure refers to the removal level required to prevent temperature increases of around three degrees centigrade per decade, based upon recent temperature increases. However, as the above analysis shows, in the decade 2035 to 2045, temperatures will increase by around 0.9°C. And so, if it costs an average of $50 trillion a year to suck sufficient CO2 to stop a 0.3-degree temperature increase, it will cost $150 trillion for 0.9°C. The present GNP of the USA is around $270 trillion. In addition, it will be necessary to significantly reduce temperatures at the poles, because their temperatures are increasing by 2 to 4 times the global average, in order to prevent albedo effects. This will require various untested solar management projects. And lastly, massive investment of resources will be required in the context of the direct and indirect consequences of storms, droughts, migration, and economic breakdown, as climatic extremities reduce GDP in the next two decades by 10 to 20%. The needed global effort to deal with these crises will happen at the same time as having to allocate 10 to 20% of global GDP to carbon removal. This may be technically possible, but it is far from likely due to the suboptimal political conditions brought on by social collapse, wars, and new nationalist and fascist regimes. The key tipping point in the whole system, i.e., the fusion of Earth and human systems, would seem to be around three degrees centigrade12, when objective human, social, and technical capacities will fall below the point needed to remove sufficient amounts of carbon from the air to prevent a runaway temperature increase past five degrees centigrade. The key decade then will be the one from 2035\. The key decade then will be the one from 2035\. While the technological know-how will need to be developed and rolled out in the next decade to be ready at scale and for the ten years from 2035\. There are three possible responses to the outline I have laid out. Number one: Agreement on both methodology and the input data. Number two: Agreement with the methodology, but not with some of the input data. Number three: Disagreement with both the methodology and the data. While I am sure about the efficacy of the methodology, I am not sure about all the assumptions. I do insist, however, that a newly defined conservative frame should be used, given the irrefutable appropriateness of the precautionary principle in the context of existential collapse. There is only one climatic analysis which is now useful, and that is an all-system iterative model. Any part system model will lead to reckless underestimates of temperature increases, because it will not take account of all system interactions. I would like readers to get in touch to be involved in creating an open-source citizens model, using this methodology to develop real-time analysis, as new data is produced. This would create a public alternative to the discredited models and ‘mainstream science’ subject to dysfunctional methodologies and political capture. This new approach can inform the new progressive forces which will be needed to guide policy as existing political regimes collapse as conditions exponentially worsen. One more prediction is effectively inevitable, and that is that political revolutions will occur in the next decade as the horrors we face become plain for citizens to see. These revolutions will open up the political space for the small window through which we will survive this century. Revolutionary change then is now essential and therefore should be welcomed. It is, in fact, our only chance to create the miracle of human cooperation and innovation that we need. I will finish by returning to our analogy of playing Monopoly. When my son was six years old, he started playing the game. He would get excited as you started to build houses. He was still enthusiastic as he landed on other players' properties, and lost his money, and then his houses. The world still seemed open for possibility. Then he would land on another player's hotel, be unable to pay the rent, and so would go out of the game. His face would suddenly change and he would leave the table and have a tantrum. I hope you get the meaning here. Wake up! [Make a One-Off Donation To Rebellion](https://buy.stripe.com/6oEbLTaRk22QgQU6oo?ref=rogerhallam.com) Share ### References 1. World Meteorological Organization. "WMO confirms 2024 as warmest year on record at about 1.55°C above pre-industrial level." WMO, 2024.[ https://wmo.int/news/media-centre/wmo-confirms-2024-warmest-year-record-about-155degc-above-pre-industrial-level](https://wmo.int/news/media-centre/wmo-confirms-2024-warmest-year-record-about-155degc-above-pre-industrial-level?ref=rogerhallam.com) 2. Copernicus Climate Change Service. "Copernicus: June 2024 marks 12th month of global temperature reaching 1.5°C above pre-industrial." Copernicus, 2024.[ https://climate.copernicus.eu/copernicus-june-2024-marks-12th-month-global-temperature-reaching-15degc-above-pre-industrial](https://climate.copernicus.eu/copernicus-june-2024-marks-12th-month-global-temperature-reaching-15degc-above-pre-industrial?ref=rogerhallam.com) 3. Hansen, J. et al. "Global Warming Has Accelerated: Are the United Nations and the Public Well-Informed?" Environmental Practice, 2024.[ https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00139157.2025.2434494](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00139157.2025.2434494?ref=rogerhallam.com) 4. Hausfather, Z. "Factcheck: Why the recent 'acceleration' in global warming is what scientists expect." Carbon Brief, 2024.[ https://www.carbonbrief.org/factcheck-why-the-recent-acceleration-in-global-warming-is-what-scientists-expect/](https://www.carbonbrief.org/factcheck-why-the-recent-acceleration-in-global-warming-is-what-scientists-expect/?ref=rogerhallam.com) 5. Ramanathan, V. et al. "How Air Pollution Has Put a Brake on Global Warming." Yale Environment 360, 2022.[ https://e360.yale.edu/features/air-pollutions-upside-a-brake-on-global-warming](https://e360.yale.edu/features/air-pollutions-upside-a-brake-on-global-warming?ref=rogerhallam.com) 6. NASA. "New NASA Study Tallies Carbon Emissions From Massive Canadian Fires." NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 2024.[ https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/new-nasa-study-tallies-carbon-emissions-from-massive-canadian-fires/](https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/new-nasa-study-tallies-carbon-emissions-from-massive-canadian-fires/?ref=rogerhallam.com) 7. Veraverbeke, S. et al. "Carbon emissions from the 2023 Canadian wildfires." Nature, 2024.[ https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07878-z](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07878-z?ref=rogerhallam.com) 8. International Cryosphere Climate Initiative. "State of the Cryosphere Report 2024." ICCI, 2024.[ https://iccinet.org/statecryo24/](https://iccinet.org/statecryo24/?ref=rogerhallam.com) 9. Pan, Y. et al. "The enduring world forest carbon sink." Nature Communications, 2024.[ https://www.fs.usda.gov/nrs/pubs/jrnl/2024/nrs\_2024\_pan\_001.pdf](https://www.fs.usda.gov/nrs/pubs/jrnl/2024/nrs%5F2024%5Fpan%5F001.pdf?ref=rogerhallam.com) 10. Friedlingstein, P. et al. "Global Carbon Budget 2023." Earth System Science Data, 2023.[ https://essd.copernicus.org/articles/15/5301/2023/](https://essd.copernicus.org/articles/15/5301/2023/?ref=rogerhallam.com) 11. Lenton, T.M. et al. "Tipping elements in the Earth's climate system." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2008.[ https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.0705414105](https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.0705414105?ref=rogerhallam.com) 12. Pistone, K. et al. "Radiative Heating of an Ice-Free Arctic Ocean." Geophysical Research Letters, 2019.[ https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2019GL082914](https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2019GL082914?ref=rogerhallam.com) 13. Yamaguchi, S. et al. "Global Warming Can Lead to Depletion of Oxygen by Disrupting Phytoplankton Photosynthesis: A Mathematical Modelling Approach." Geosciences, 2018.[ https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3263/8/6/201](https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3263/8/6/201?ref=rogerhallam.com) 14. Keeling, R.F. et al. "Failing phytoplankton, failing oxygen: Global warming disaster could suffocate life on planet Earth." Science Daily, 2015.[ https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/12/151201094120.htm](https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/12/151201094120.htm?ref=rogerhallam.com) 15. Köhler, P. et al. "The Carbon Cycle." Earth Observatory, NASA, 2020.[ https://www.earthobservatory.nasa.gov/features/CarbonCycle](https://www.earthobservatory.nasa.gov/features/CarbonCycle?ref=rogerhallam.com) 16. NOAA. "Climate Change: Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide." Climate.gov, 2023.[ https://www.climate.gov/news-features/understanding-climate/climate-change-atmospheric-carbon-dioxide](https://www.climate.gov/news-features/understanding-climate/climate-change-atmospheric-carbon-dioxide?ref=rogerhallam.com) 17. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. "Negative Emissions Technologies and Reliable Sequestration: A Research Agenda." The National Academies Press, 2019.[ https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/25259/negative-emissions-technologies-and-reliable-sequestration-a-research-agenda](https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/25259/negative-emissions-technologies-and-reliable-sequestration-a-research-agenda?ref=rogerhallam.com) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get on with the job of sorting it out. [Support](https://rogerhallam.com/#/portal/signup/6517fbb3b89c5400016e9f27/yearly) ### 👥Introducing The Rev21 Team - Update URL: https://rogerhallam.com/introducing-the-rev21-team/ Last updated: 2025-03-14T10:27:16.000Z A year ago, Roger and I put out a simple call: help us get Roger's writing out of prison. That small effort has since grown into something much bigger—*Revolution in the 21st Century (Rev21)*—a movement-building project designed to spread revolutionary ideas far and wide. For those who don’t know, Roger and I go way back. As co-founders of Extinction Rebellion, we took on the impossible—mobilizing thousands for direct action. While life pulled us in different directions (Covid, prison, the usual!), our collaboration never stopped. From books to viral tweets, from small teams to a growing movement, we've been working to build the infrastructure for the coming revolution. And the momentum is real. Over the last year, we've doubled our reach across platforms, Roger’s ideas have been spreading despite his repeated imprisonment, and Rev21 is becoming a hub for those who know that collapse is coming—and that we must be ready to build something new. This work relies on your support. Our 400 regular donors make all of this happen. If you are one of the other 3000 people on this list and you want to see more radical books, more media platforms, and a movement that can take on what’s ahead, please make a monthly donation to become a member of Rev21\. Every contribution helps keep this going. [Become a member](#/portal/signup) And if you want the full story and to meet the team, watch our latest update video here: With love and determination, [Robin](https://robinboardman.com/?ref=rogerhallam.com) --- We'll have an open call [this Sunday](https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwsc-qtrjwvHdDdobE6XJcb802cADP6qxGX?ref=rogerhallam.com) to hear a new talk from Roger in prison and a chance to meet more of the community. Come join! [Sign Up For The Sunday Strategy Talk](https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwsc-qtrjwvHdDdobE6XJcb802cADP6qxGX?ref=rogerhallam.com) We run monthly inductions to share our mission and bring on new people into our fold. [Register here](https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwvdu-trDgsGteUokQAFU2pVyeV%5Fko0Ehoc?ref=rogerhallam.com) [Join Our Team](https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwvdu-trDgsGteUokQAFU2pVyeV%5Fko0Ehoc?ref=rogerhallam.com) ### 🧑‍🏫 Leading The Revolution - Training Program URL: https://rogerhallam.com/leadership-training/ Last updated: 2025-03-10T16:58:34.000Z A key question in the revolution is: **who will do the work?** Who will organize the work? Who will manage the organizers? And most importantly—**how do we make decisions?** If we want a real revolution, we must build a **network of leadership**—not as an abstract ideal, but as a dynamic system of relationships, where power is shared and decisions are made with purpose. If power is too decentralized, strategy gets lost. If it’s too centralized, movements stall. **To win, we need people power—and that means empowering many individuals within our movement.** That’s why I’m inviting you to **Forging the Future**—a **12-month leadership training program** designed to cultivate the skills, strategy, and trust needed to make revolutionary organizing effective. [Register For Leadership Training](https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/4Nq5XYNATzmARqFI5QFyXQ?ref=rogerhallam.com#/registration) 📢 **What’s the mission?** ✔️ **Practical training** on organizing for systemic change. ✔️ **Reciprocity spaces** to share strategies, failures, and victories. ✔️ **Building a movement of movements**—against fascism, climate collapse, and injustice. [Find Out More](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1pQN2sJ6Io1zw5tRUH%5FNCBNXbceHBPCE3XqqXRS3eoTM/edit?ref=rogerhallam.com#slide=id.g31b4e99a7d4%5F0%5F777) 🚀 **How to Get Involved:** 🔹 **Join the launch event** – Sunday, 30th March: 🕚 11 AM PST | 2 PM EST | 7 PM GMT | 8 PM CET 📌 [Register here](https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/4Nq5XYNATzmARqFI5QFyXQ?ref=rogerhallam.com) 🔹 **Help shape the program** – Fill out and share our [leadership survey](https://forms.gle/a6odkQiEyAj3DojPA?ref=rogerhallam.com) in your activist networks. 🔹 **Support the outreach** – Let us know if you can help at info@resilientuprising.org, and we’ll send you a ready-to-share message. Leadership in this revolution is not about control—it’s about **service, trust, and action**. We are the ones who must forge the future together. From, **Roger** and the [Resilient Uprising](https://resilientuprising.org/?ref=rogerhallam.com) team [Support Leadership Training With a Donation](https://buy.stripe.com/6oEbLTaRk22QgQU6oo?ref=rogerhallam.com) ### 💭 My Plan to Defeat Trumpism URL: https://rogerhallam.com/blog-my-plan-to-defeat-trumpism/ Last updated: 2025-03-17T16:10:36.000Z *Speaking with Roger in prison, Aaron Gell discusses “the degeneration of democratic culture, spurred by the capturing of states by corporate power” at the heart of that global crisis and what working together for an authentically regenerative revolution looks like.* In October 2023, The World Transformed, the annual conference of the British Labour Party’s leftist flank, offered a grizzled socialist organizer a [brief speaking slot](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZ6af%5FGAzc4&ref=rogerhallam.com). He’d been asked the question “Why is the left losing?”—a mystery many liberals in America and around the world have been pondering as well. The guest, a former organic farmer and scholar of social movement theory named Roger Hallam, looked weary. His lanky frame was noticeably slumped, his plaid button-down shirt hung untucked, and a curl of stringy gray hair escaped from his pony tail. With his beakish nose, sunken eyes, and untamed beard, Hallam’s appearance brings to mind a biblical prophet. His answer to the conference attendees, while far from scriptural, bore the sting of divine judgment: “You’re all fucking cunts.” While Hallam’s diagnosis drew a mixed response, it can’t have been a surprise. Though virtually unknown in the United States, the 58-year-old, a co-founder and strategic mastermind of the civil resistance groups Extinction Rebellion (often called XR) and Just Stop Oil, is a polarizing public figure in Great Britain—perhaps as famous for his rhetorical vehemence as for his extraordinary record as a climate campaigner. Though his demeanor is often quite affable, even impish, Hallam believes that only direct, emotional language has the power to shake the world’s comfortable classes from suicidal complacency. “We are not facing climate change,” he put it recently in a typical [tweet](https://x.com/RogerHallamCS21/status/1854436880747499697?ref=rogerhallam.com), “we are facing social breakdown—mass rape, mass slaughter, and mass starvation.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2025/02/IMAGE_JSO16Appeal_CreditDOJ_300125_006--1-.JPG) Image credit: Defend Our Juries, Royal Courts of Justice January 2025 > **Roger Hallam’s answer to the conference attendees for why the left is losing, while far from scriptural, bore the sting of divine judgment: “You’re all fucking cunts.”** The tactic—which accords with XR’s vow to “act like the truth is real”—has occasionally gotten him into trouble. His oft-repeated claim that surpassing two degrees Celsius of planetary warming, a distinct likelihood on our current trajectory, will lead to the deaths of a billion people occasioned a nitpicky[ scolding](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/22/opinion/environment/climate-change-death-toll.html?ref=rogerhallam.com) in *The New York Times* titled, “Just How Many People Will Die From Climate Change?” The writer was none other than David Wallace-Wells, the acclaimed author of the Cassandra-esque blockbuster *The Uninhabitable Earth* and himself an occasional target of arguably[ parsimonious rebuttals](https://climatefeedback.org/evaluation/scientists-explain-what-new-york-magazine-article-on-the-uninhabitable-earth-gets-wrong-david-wallace-wells/?ref=rogerhallam.com). Hallam soon [fired back](https://rogerhallam.com/counting-up-the-dead/), accusing Wallace-Wells of “elite pathology” and adding, “Sorry to ask the question, but what does uninhabitable actually mean?” In any case, his warning had shouldered its way into the prestigious daybook of liberal elite thought, which for Hallam, Wallace-Wells, and anyone else willing to consider the peril before us, probably counts as a modest win. As discomfiting as Hallam’s methods might be, there’s little doubt the approach has borne fruit. XR made its official public debut on October 31, 2018\. Drawing on a year of planning by Hallam and a handful of others, the rally on Parliament Square drew 1,000 people, including the famous teenage activist Greta Thunberg. Just a few weeks later, XR all but shut down London, deploying an estimated 6,000 fired-up protesters from around the U.K. to block all five bridges crossing the Thames, in what became one of the [biggest](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/nov/17/thousands-gather-to-block-london-bridges-in-climate-rebellion?ref=rogerhallam.com) mass acts of civil disobedience in British history. After a variety of demonstrations over the succeeding months, including an action in April 2019 that packed police holding cells, XR’s demand that Parliament declare a climate emergency was eventually met. Defying the authorities in this way is a proven strategy—see, for example, the Civil Rights Movement—but it is not without risk. In 2017, Hallam and a colleague were arrested for spraying graffiti around King’s College, where he was then working on a Ph.D., demanding it divest from fossil fuels. (The university eventually pledged to do so.) Hauled into court, the pair argued that their action had been a proportionate response to the climate crisis, and the jury [agreed](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/may/09/extinction-rebellion-founder-cleared-over-kings-college-protest?ref=rogerhallam.com), a major win for the movement. But this year, an attempt to mount the same defense in another case was thwarted by a judge, who declared the rationale behind the criminal acts immaterial. In July, Hallam was convicted along with four fellow activists and sentenced to an unprecedented five years in prison for “conspiracy to cause a public nuisance.” (Hallam’s “crime” had been advocating direct action during a videoconference.) The ruling prompted a harsh response from the U.N.’s special rapporteur for environmental defenders, who warned that the sentence may violate international human rights law. An appeal is set for January 29\. Meanwhile, Hallam is being held in a medium-security prison in Norfolk, England. He is making the most of his time behind bars, recording a weekly podcast, cranking out a few books (one about climate collapse and another outlining a new democratic constitution), quietly advising German leftists on electoral strategy, and going on daily runs around the prison yard. Perhaps most important, he’s been doing some hard thinking about what comes next. Born in Manchester to middle-class Methodist parents, Hallam has been a political activist since age 15\. After winning a scholarship to the London School of Economics, he focused his studies on peace activism, and later got involved in workers’ co-ops. Eventually, he decided to try his hand at vegetable farming (Hallam is vegan), turning a 10-acre plot in the Welsh countryside into a thriving operation with 25 employees. A major turning point occurred around 2007, when relentless rains wiped out his entire harvest two years in a row. Forced to lay off his staff, Hallam ceased operations and turned his attention to the growing impacts of climate change. Farms all over the world were experiencing ruined harvests due to extreme weather events, and the problem was only getting worse. Indeed, he realized, our entire food system is far more [vulnerable](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969724011860?ref=rogerhallam.com) than most of us realize. Simultaneous crop failures in major agricultural regions, an increasingly likely scenario, would lead to widespread famine. In wealthier countries, a sharp rise in prices would increase economic instability and spark social unrest. And nobody seemed to be doing anything about it, not really. Hallam rededicated himself to activism, pursuing a doctorate in sociology at King’s College, with a focus on mass social movements, to better understand the characteristics of successful efforts. Drawing on the work of Erica Chenoweth, Paul Engler, Gene Sharp, and others, he began to put together a list of principles. Among them: Movements must dedicate themselves to nonviolence, for spiritual as well as strategic reasons. Typically, only highly disruptive protests, maintained over time, can force change on a Western regime. Like business start-ups, movements need to experiment, learn from failure, and rapidly iterate. And finally, they need to strike a careful balance between accountable leadership and individual empowerment by allowing a small group to make the big decisions—to create the “DNA”—and then giving participants maximum autonomy within those guidelines. > **Movements must dedicate themselves to nonviolence, for spiritual as well as strategic reasons.** ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2025/02/JSO16Appeal_CreditJamieLowe_300125_009.jpg) Image credit: Jamie Lowe, Royal Courts of Justice January 2025 Nonetheless, while XR remains a going concern, with chapters around the world, the original magic that fueled its explosive growth was fleeting—and some of the blame for that no doubt falls to Hallam himself. For one thing, as the group became more of a threat to the established order, Hallam’s defiant approach and polarizing language became a problem. After colleagues rejected Hallam’s proposal to fly drones near Heathrow Airport to halt the construction of a new runway, he formed a splinter group and went ahead with the plan. A few months later, during an interview to promote the German publication of his book *Common Sense in the 21st Century,* he described the Holocaust as “just another fuckery in human history.” Hallam’s point was that the exceptionalism with which we treat the Nazi murder project can blind us to the many other genocides committed over the centuries and, more importantly, to the era of mass death we’re presently teeing up. It [wasn’t taken](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/21/world/europe/extinction-rebellion-holocaust.html?ref=rogerhallam.com) that way. Though he quickly produced an internal memo suggesting ways in which the outrage might be used in furtherance of the group’s cause, few of his comrades had the stomach for the fight, and Hallam eventually apologized. > **Not for nothing did XR co-founder Gail Bradbrook describe him as “our biggest asset and our worst liability.”** Hallam moved on, co-founding Just Stop Oil, which took the same aggressive approach to climate protest that has animated XR, and helping to build an international network of climate protest groups called A22\. But even then, he was beginning to reorient his thinking—shifting away from a focus on climate collapse and instead aiming to overturn an entire political system he believes is failing us. The real problem is “the degeneration of democratic culture, spurred by the capturing of states by corporate power,” he told me. “And a side issue of that is the death project”—the relentless pumping of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere—“which is going to destroy the corporate sector and Western society and everything else.” What we really need, he came to believe, is to reimagine, and then recreate, society in a way that supports our shared humanity as we enter a frightening new epoch. In short: a revolution. Hallam knows his message—that a nonviolent democratic revolution is not only possible but essential, and that we actually have the power to shape our collective future, as humans have done throughout history—is a challenging one. After all, most of us came of age during a period when progress was thought to march forward of its own volition, albeit in baby steps, and revolution was a dirty word (except when cast in the elegiac hues of 1776). Talk of upending the established order makes us nervous. “We all want a nice, linear transition to a post-carbon future,” Hallam acknowledged, his voice crackling over a temperamental prison phone line. “But that’s not what historical sociology says, right? It just doesn’t happen like that.” > **Hallam knows his message—that a nonviolent democratic revolution is not only possible but essential—is a challenging one.** Climate activism alone, he now believes, will never suffice. And while revolution sounds scary, “the concept is simply the necessity to change the political regime to something that’s more functional, more suited to the social context at that point in history,” he said. “It’s a perfectly respectable idea. It’s got its dangers, but welcome to political life. Everything good has its dangers.” Hallam’s program is elaborate (I would direct those seeking a deep dive to his 30-plus hour podcast, [*Designing the Revolution*](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDUbuoqDvGdd-vigAC6TeP1OPvdH9TqYJ&ref=rogerhallam.com)), but it boils down to a few central themes: Due to a cascade of carbon-induced emergencies, the coming years will bring major social upheaval. Right-wing forces are adept at exploiting such moments. To combat them, we need to envision and model a new social order based on radically democratic principles. Hallam’s plan for replacing the existing political paradigm involves the formation of a network of citizens’ assemblies—local, regional, and finally national—which will come to act as a shadow government, pressuring the existing system for critical change. When their pleas are ignored (as they almost inevitably will be) pressure will be applied by a disciplined, relentless, and strictly nonviolent mass movement of the sort he’s already helped create several times. Eventually, as the illegitimacy of the government is laid bare, the assemblies will create a new constitution and supplant the system altogether. > **“It’s a perfectly respectable idea. It’s got its dangers, but welcome to political life. Everything good has its dangers.”** No doubt this outline will strike most readers as callow fantasy. But as Hallam points out, revolutionary change always seems impossible until it happens; in retrospect, it appears inevitable. (He offers the example of citizens voting for their own leaders—a scheme that the eighteenth-century European aristocracy viewed as lunacy.) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2025/02/TheTempest_JustStopOil__27012025-1.png) Just Stop Oil interrupt The Tempest, London 2025 In considering Hallam’s revolutionary project, the first thing to understand is his unwavering certainty thatthe status quo is simply no longer on the menu; profound ruptures are coming whether we prepare for them or not. We’ve accustomed ourselves to a world that mostly behaves in predictable ways. But the rate of change is quickening. As we surpass 1.5 degrees of warming and stumble toward two, the capricious will become routine. “All the black swan events are becoming white swan events,” he observed. > **the status quo is simply no longer on the menu; profound ruptures are coming whether we prepare for them or not.** On some level, anyone paying attention understands this. We recognize that relentlessly pumping carbon into the atmosphere is destabilizing the complex environmental system on which human civilization rests, that things are going to get worse, and that our inherited political structures, built for times gone by, are not only incapable of addressing the emergency but seem in some essential way precision-engineered to ignore it altogether. Second, unpleasant though it may be, it’s helpful to contemplate the dire implications embedded within the parade of dry scientific findings we keep reading. A few of the most obvious: As noted above, an increase in floods, droughts, and wildfires will wreak havoc on the global food system. Prices for basic commodities will rise, economies will sputter, social strife will intensify. Densely populated areas will become unfit for human life, forcing hundreds of millions to migrate, and thereby fomenting political chaos in more prosperous regions. Bacteria and insects too will migrate, leading to waves of deadly disease. Struggles over scarce resources will produce military conflict, straining precisely the kind of transnational alliances required to confront a global crisis. And we’ll have to face it all [without](https://www.kew.org/about-us/press-media/kew-scientists-reveal-that-60-of-wild-coffee?ref=rogerhallam.com) coffee. This is not news, or it shouldn’t be. > **Densely populated areas will become unfit for human life, forcing hundreds of millions to migrate, and thereby fomenting political chaos in more prosperous regions.** Hallam calls our current moment a “pre-revolutionary period.” Such eras have arisen throughout history—if never on such a grand scale—and they unfold according to a distinct logic. One of the first casualties is moderation. “The center does not hold,” Hallam said. “You saw this before the Nazis, you saw it before the Bolsheviks, and you’re seeing it at the moment in slow motion in Western democracies.” It’s easy to miss the signs, because “the center still has institutional power,” he added. “In other words, likeit’s a zombie space. It’s dead, but it hasn’t yet been pushed over by the new." Under such conditions, wrenching paradigm shifts are inevitable. The only question, Hallam suggested, is whether we submit to authoritarianism, as many Americans seem all too eager to do, or embrace a genuinely pro-social revolutionary alternative. While it would have been comforting to hit the snooze button with four more years of Biden-style liberalism—a sound approach in simpler times—when survival hangs in the balance, there are distinct advantages to being awake. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2025/02/IMAGE_JSO16Appeal_Credit_Jamie_Lowe_300125_024--1-.JPG) Image credit: Jamie Lowe January 2025 > **The only question is whether we submit to authoritarianism, or embrace a genuinely pro-social revolutionary alternative.** The centerpiece of Hallam’s plan is a radical reinvention of democracy aimed at turning elections into a historical relic. If there’s one thing Americans seem to agree on, it’s that our elected officials do a poor job of representing our interests. According to a 2021 Pew [survey](https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2021/03/31/many-in-us-western-europe-say-their-political-system-needs-major-reform/?ref=rogerhallam.com), 67 percent think most politicians are corrupt, and 65 percent believe the political system should be profoundly altered. The reason for our mistrust, Hallam says, is quite simple: Despite the widespread belief that we live in a democracy, i.e., a government ruled by the people, the electoral process guarantees the opposite—that only those with access to money, privilege, and elite social status (often all of the above) get anywhere near real power. This is by design. By the time the Constitution was being drafted in the late 1780s, American elites had already soured on democratic rule, what Founding Father Benjamin Rush called “the Devil’s own government.” They therefore implemented a host of constitutional mechanisms designed to preserve aristocratic prerogatives (most notably, the Electoral College and the apportionment of senators by state rather than population). These systems, along with Citizens United, a democracy-killer the Framers never dreamed of, warp our politics to this day. For Hallam, the path forward demands a look way, way back, to the origins of democratic governance in ancient Athens, where it was understood that, as Aristotle held, elections were fundamentally “oligarchical.” In his time, representatives were selected not by election but by drawing lots, a process called sortition. It’s a cumbersome word, and not one you tend to hear much outside a small but growing circle of self-styled democracy nerds—earnest academics who, like Hallam, believe our system is due for a fundamental reset. Even so, the concept lives on in our modern jury system, in which enormous power, sometimes over life and death, is granted on a temporary basis to a randomly selected group of citizens. The approach works remarkably well. On the whole, jurors serve with impressive seriousness of purpose, viewing their work as a sacred duty. Corruption is vanishingly rare. The isolation of the jury room seems to tamp down partisanship. And as it turns out, getting a group of everyday people together, providing them with basic facts, and letting them hash things out results in reasonably good decisions. Not every jury verdict is perfect, certainly, but perfection is not the standard. The standard is reflecting the will of an informed public, and in this respect, there’s little doubt that sortition beats election hands down. In recent decades, sortition-based citizens’ assemblies have been convened in numerous countries, including France, Australia, Spain, Germany, Britain, Iceland, the U.S., and Ireland, where one such group focused on the contentious issue of abortion, leading to a national referendum that overturned that nation’s ban. These experiments have repeatedly demonstrated that average people, chosen by lottery in a manner designed to represent the full spectrum of political, ethnic, age, gender, and other categories, generate sound policy with minimal rancor. Perhaps more important, by removing expensive campaigns from the political process, sortitionundercuts a system in which only the most slick, calculating, and narcissistic need apply, eliminates the corruption of incumbency, and removes the key mechanism through which wealthy elites manipulate the system. “The first thing is these are ordinary people, who are honored to be part of the assembly,” Hallam explained, “so they’re not in this space of power and hierarchy and ‘I know more than you.’ You get rational policy outcomes … but also you create a different political culture, because people listen to each other, and you overcome extreme polarization and all the rest of it.” > **By removing expensive campaigns from the political process, sortition removes the key mechanism through which wealthy elites manipulate the system.** The major threat to the Republic has always been “the culture of the rich,” he added, “which puts self-interest before the public interest.” (While this dynamic has a long history, the spectacle of a handful of billionaires dismantling America’s social safety net and civil rights law puts the issue in unusually stark relief.) Under a representative lottery system, Hallam added, “by definition, the one percent are just one percent of the chamber.” As a result, citizens’ assemblies tend to garner exceptionally high levels of public legitimacy. Members of the wider community understand that decisions are being made by people like them and that, indeed, they too may one day be called to serve. It’s important to note: Sortition-based assemblies are not a partisan project. They are as liable to arrive at conservative policy prescriptions as liberal ones. That’s the point of democracy. For Hallam, specific decisions matter less than the system through which they’re determined. Policies are like eggs, he said. “You want to design the chicken that lays the egg.” Moreover, political categories shrink in significance when the focus is on genuine deliberation rather than surly displays of tribalism. By putting actual power in the hands of average people, assemblies act as an antidote to the political resentment and resignation that sustain our polarized climate. And critically, in cases where a people’s movement actually does manage to topple a regime, assemblies could provide a governance model with wide legitimacy, avoiding the sort of power vacuum that occurred in Egypt after Mubarak was deposed, for instance, and tamping down authoritarian strains that might arise within the movement itself (see Russia, 1917). Many readers will remain unconvinced. They will doubt the intelligence of their fellow citizens. On learning that assemblies will hear from experts as they deliberate, they will spot an opportunity for bad actors to stack the deck. They will imagine ways in which bias will warp the attempt at representative sampling. They will predict that, as in any group interaction, certain people (loud, charming, aggressive, etc.) will tend to dominate the process. These are all good points, and advocates of sortition-based democracy have devised a variety of mechanisms to deal with them. While such details are well beyond the scope of this piece, a [200-page study](https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/innovative-citizen-participation-and-new-democratic-institutions%5F339306da-en.html?ref=rogerhallam.com) published in 2020 by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development offers one good primer. Perhaps unsurprisingly, while the OECD report recommends ways to institutionalize the use of assemblies as a supplement to governmental decision-making, it stops short of endorsing a wholesale replacement of the electoral process. And indeed, in framing the idea as the centerpiece of a political revolution, Hallam parts company with the more tweedy academics who tend to study the subject. As for those who are persuaded, as he is, that the urgency of climate collapse not only demands but invites a more radical implementation, it’s natural to wonder how exactly he proposes to get there. How does a wonky experiment turn into an authentically transformative revolutionary project? > **How does a wonky experiment turn into an authentically transformative revolutionary project?** This may be the toughest question of all, particularly for those of us living in the U.S., a country that seems much too big, complex, powerful, and fundamentally complacent to ever ditch the neoliberal paradigm. Hallam isn’t so sure. “The most exciting thing about American culture is its understanding of the pro-social potentiality of disrupting systems, which Europe doesn’t get,” he suggested. And he readily acknowledged that many of Extinction Rebellion’s most impactful strategies were borrowed from Silicon Valley business culture: the move fast and break things ethos; the holocratic management structure; the acceptance and careful study of failure; relentless iteration, and so on. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2025/02/USEmbassy_JustStopOil_061124_002_Credit-Jamie-Lowe-1.jpg) Image credit: Jamie Lowe > **“The most exciting thing about American culture is its understanding of the pro-social potentiality of disrupting systems, which Europe doesn’t get,”** Nonetheless, he seems to agree that this change is more likely to begin elsewhere. Imagine the following scenario: In a rural municipality in a modest-size European country, an experiment is underway—residents selected by lottery have been invited to participate in a People’s Assembly, a series of meetings held over eight weekends. On the first day, after a friendly interaction over coffee and cake, 100 participants divide into groups led by trained facilitators. Their first order of business: identifying the key challenges facing the community. Suggestions range from a lack of affordable housing to the need for a traffic light at a busy intersection. As the session concludes, three priorities are selected by vote. Committees are formed to recruit experts to bring participants up to speed on possible solutions. Some deliberations are broadcast on social media, drawing an avid audience. Viewers love seeing recognizable types who might be expected to be at odds treating each other with civility and even affection. Citizens in other areas hatch plans for similar experiments. At the end of its term, the People’s Assembly announces a set of policy proposals. It also reveals the selection of one of its members to run for local office on an independent ticket. The elected representative, Lena, is a high school civics teacher and mother of two, whose enthusiasm, intelligence, and respect for a range of opinions impressed her colleagues during deliberations. While she has scant financial resources and zero experience in politics, she can boast an appealing personal story and a network of supporters who served alongside her and will work hard on her behalf. After all, she has pledged to follow the lead of the assembly (the next cohort, with all new members) when placing votes and setting priorities. The media loves Lena. She’s a breath of fresh air, an underdog, a real person. The contrast with her opponent, a career politician dependent on wealthy donors, is stark. Lena triumphs, delivering her acceptance speech surrounded by current and former students. As the idea gathers steam, assemblies are held around the country. The empowerment of ordinary people redirects the populist energy that once fed the far right, which begins to falter. When the following election brings more Lenas into the political sphere, they form a caucus and begin pushing for government recognition of the assembly model. They pass legislation ensuring assembly members are paid for their time, leading to expanded participation. In time, assembly-based candidates form a party, which quickly adopts its own strict term limits, cycling in new members, upending a culture of stagnant incumbency, and making traditional parties look corrupt and out of touch. When massive floods hit the region, the government is caught flat-footed. Volunteers mobilized by the People’s Party quickly create a network to provide housing, food, and other assistance, cementing the movement’s legitimacy. As localities are beset by further extreme weather events, officials routinely turn to their local assemblies for organizing help and ideas on how to respond. The country’s political culture perceptibly begins shifting in their direction, and boosters of the model announce a National Assembly with an ambitious goal: to write a new Constitution. Citizens selected by sortition brainstorm and deliberate for months, with meetings carried live on public television. By the time they unveil the contents of their proposal, their work has broad legitimacy. Some elements are controversial—especially the provision requiring a climate impact study for every new piece of legislation—but the televised deliberations demonstrate that objections have been carefully considered. While polling shows 80 percent of the public in favor of the new Constitution, however, the political establishment opposes the change and votes it down. The new Constitution’s proponents, who have been expecting this outcome, call for protests. People come out in force, blocking traffic. The capital is brought to a standstill. The crowds double the next day, when the nation’s high school students ditch class to join the demonstrations. Labor unions get on board, calling a national strike. The battle makes international news. A pro-democracy movement emerges in country after country, eventually even reaching the U.S. Could it really happen—a democratic revolution without a drop of blood spilled? Could we survive as a nation without a Chuck Schumer or a Mike Johnson leading the way? In an era when our institutions are rapidly shedding legitimacy; when public anger leads to a national debate over the murder of corporate CEOs; when an empowered far right teams up with a corrupt oligarchy and begins openly dismantling the last vestiges of our democratic system; and when the climate emergencies (let’s not forget those) begin to really bite, I think it’s possible. It certainly sounds a lot better than the other options on the table. For now, Hallam is well aware, many will cling to the status quo for as long as they can, even those well-credentialed, liberal elites who presumably know better. “They’re all sitting on their hands, right?” he told me as the last few minutes ticked down on his prison phone allotment. “But what needs to be said to the whole space is, ‘Look, the worst possible thing imaginable is going to happen to your values in the next 10 years if we don’t get our shit organized, right? So you have an absolute moral obligation to look at nonfascist [alternatives](https://rogerhallam.com/).’” Written by [Aaron Gell](https://newrepublic.com/authors/aaron-gell?ref=rogerhallam.com), a journalist who lives in upstate New York. --- [Make a One-Off Donation](https://buy.stripe.com/6oEbLTaRk22QgQU6oo?ref=rogerhallam.com) Share ### 📰 My Interview With The New Yorker URL: https://rogerhallam.com/blog-new-yorker/ Last updated: 2025-03-17T17:24:05.000Z *Upbeat about prison’s monastic side and ever pragmatic, Roger looks beyond his own excessive sentence to what these judicial shifts mean for us all—while fossil fuel pollution accelerates the collapse of a liveable climate.* London Orbital Motorway, or the M25, is a vast ring road that runs in a shaggy circle around the outer edges of the capital. If you live in the city, it’s the road you might take to the airport, or the suburbs, or the countryside, and it provides a kind of unofficial border to the Greater London Area. Also provided: lots of traffic. Every day, the road plays host to some two hundred thousand vehicles. It is sometimes jokingly referred to as “the nation’s largest car park.” Had you been cruising along the M25 in mid-November, 2022, you might have encountered a particularly stubborn delay. For four consecutive days, dozens of activists from the British environmental group Just Stop Oil climbed onto and occupied the gantries, or bridges, overlooking the highway, forcing the police to halt traffic. Drat! Perhaps understandably, people were upset. In the *Mail Online*, and elsewhere, they raged. “Just Stop Oil eco-mob face jail as 35 are arrested for holding motorists up for FIVE HOURS and ‘blocking an ambulance’ on the M25,” one headline read. The government issued a statement denouncing the action as “criminal activity.” In an emotional video filmed from one of the gantries, a young activist said that they were demanding that the U.K. stop issuing new oil and gas licenses. “I’m here because I don’t have a future,” she said. “And you might hate me for doing this, and you’re entitled to hate me, but I wish you would direct all that anger and hatred at our government.” Below her, trucks roared past. “How many more people have to say ‘We don’t have a liveable future if you continue licensing oil and gas’ for you to listen? Why does it take young people like me, up on a fucking gantry on the M25, for you to listen?” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2025/02/M25.png) Image Credit: Louise Harris above the M25, October 2023 This past July, at a two-and-a-half-week trial at Southwark crown court in London, five Just Stop Oil activists faced charges of “conspiracy to cause a public nuisance” for their roles in organizing the M25 action. The defendants—Roger Hallam, Lucia Whittaker De Abreu, Cressida Gethin, Louise Lancaster, and Daniel Shaw—had not themselves been up on the gantries. Rather, they had spoken on a Zoom call trying to recruit volunteers. During the trial, the judge, Christopher Hehir, was not very sympathetic. He did not allow the jury to consider evidence about the climate breakdown. Instead, he labelled the defendants “fanatic\[s\].” “You have appointed yourselves as the sole arbiters of what should be done about climate change, bound neither by the principles of democracy nor the rule of law,” he said. After the jury reached a guilty verdict, he handed down some of the harshest sentences for nonviolent protest in the U.K.’s history: four years in prison for most of the defendants, and five years for Hallam. (His case went up for appeal at the end of January; a decision is expected soon.) “Today marks a dark day for peaceful environmental protest, the protection of environmental defenders and indeed anyone concerned with the exercise of their fundamental freedoms in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland,” Michel Forst, a human-rights specialist at the U.N., wrote in a statement. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2025/02/IMAGE_JSO16Appeal_CreditDOJ_300125_006--1--1.JPG) Image Credit: Defend Our Juries at the Walney 16 appeal, RCJ January 2025 “Occupational hazard, you might say,” Hallam told me, recently. He was speaking over the phone from H.M.P. Wayland, a men’s prison in Norfolk, northeast of London, where he had been serving out his sentence. (I was calling from my son’s room, which is also my office. To the extent that we were having drinks together, I had a mug of tea nearby.) Hallam’s lengthy sentence may reflect the fact that he is a co-founder of Just Stop Oil, and also of the British environmental groups Insulate Britain and Extinction Rebellion. He has been arrested many times. When I asked him to describe his surroundings, he said, “The cell is fine, basically. I mean, for my purposes. Painted magnolia, it’s got a single bed, it’s got a little desk, it’s got some shelving. There’s a loo in the cell, and a sink, and if you want to go for a shower that’s down the corridor.” Hallam is fifty-eight; many of the people on his corridor were also on the older side. He went for a run once a day, and collected his food in the mornings and evenings. “I mean, it’s a bit like being in a monastery,” he said. “There’s not that much to say from an exciting, consumerist point of view.” Mainly, he had been reading and writing. He had just finished Iain McGilchrist’s fifteen-hundred-page neuroscience tome, “[The Matter with Things](https://archive.ph/o/Jyht9/https://www.amazon.com/Matter-Things-Brains-Delusions-Unmaking/dp/1914568257?ref=rogerhallam.com).” “Being a bit of the intellectual type, I’m actually having quite a nice time,” he told me. “Which probably doesn’t fit in with the default story line on these sorts of things.” Hallam, who is tall and stern-looking, with a long face and gray hair he pulls into a bun, is skeptical of default story lines in general. He is skeptical of the media, the government, and corporations. He believes that society as we know it will collapse in the next decade, as large swaths of the planet become uninhabitable. Hallam explains this to me with a sense of urgency, punctuated by dark jokes, and an incredulousness that we all continue to live as we do. For many, this tone is off-putting—his brand of activism is unpopular with the British public—but for others it’s electric. Hallam has persuaded doctors, lawyers, teachers, grandparents, students, and many more to participate in climate protests of varying degrees of radicalism. He has encouraged many people to break the law. Under the banner of Extinction Rebellion, or XR, activists have staged a mock burial of the future and carried giant skeletons through London’s streets. They’ve installed a pink party boat near Oxford Circus, stopped trains, and superglued their hands to buildings. Activists for Just Stop Oil, which favors more disruptive tactics designed to shock, have thrown soup at Van Gogh paintings and spray-painted Charles Darwin’s grave. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2025/02/Darwin_CreditJamieLowe_130125_001-1.JPG) Image Credit: Just Stop visit Charles Darwin's tomb, Westminster Abbey January 2025 These actions are not to everyone’s taste, but they have arguably made an impact. XR was founded in 2018, with three demands, the first of which was that the government “tell the truth” about the environment. In 2019, after several days of XR protests, and more than a thousand arrests, the U.K. became the first country to formally declare a climate emergency. Public support swelled; celebrities including Emma Thompson and Stephen Fry spoke out in favor of the group. Then things started to splinter. Hallam, though a celebrated co-founder, was now at the radical edge of the group, advocating for mass arrests as a way to show resistance. (“My view is if you’re not in prison, you’re not in resistance,” he told a film crew for the documentary “Rebellion.”) He also had a habit of making sweeping generalizations that got him into trouble in the press. “He’s got a lot of integrity and charisma, but not a lot of detail,” Farhana Yamin, a longtime environmental lawyer, has said. Eventually, XR issued a statement distancing itself from Hallam, and he turned his attention to other organizations including Insulate Britain and Just Stop Oil. Hallam’s activities have taken place against a backdrop of tightening restrictions on climate activism across the U.K. In 2022, the then Conservative government passed the Police, Crime, Sentencing, and Courts Act, which gave the police broader powers to shut down protests. This past May, Lord Walney, an adviser on political violence for the previous government, compared activist groups including Just Stop Oil and Palestine Action to terrorist organizations and suggested that they should be banned. When I spoke with Oscar Berglund, a senior lecturer who studies climate activism at the University of Bristol, he told me that Hallam’s sentence was unusually long. “Before this past year, there hadn’t really been long sentences for civil-disobedience activists like that,” he said. Berglund’s research has found evidence of a “global crackdown.” In the U.K., the courts have tried to remove activists’ “right to even talk about climate change in front of the jury,” he said. (Juries are often sympathetic, once they hear an activist’s reasoning.) Hallam was reprimanded when he tried to discuss the climate, and was not allowed to introduce into evidence a fifteen-page statement from the climate scientist Bill McGuire, the author of “[Hothouse Earth: An Inhabitant’s Guide](https://archive.ph/o/Jyht9/https://www.amazon.com/Hothouse-Earth-Inhabitants-Bill-McGuire/dp/1785789201?ref=rogerhallam.com).” The restrictions on what can be said in defense of an activist’s actions are an attempt to “depoliticize what are political trials,” Berglund said. Over the phone, Hallam was not at all cowed. “It’s not like we were these innocent protesters, just nice, white, middle-class people who are just trying to have our say, and these nasty judges locked us up, how horrible,” he said. “It’s, like, we’re serious about the end of Western civilization, the mass genocide of people in the Global South. We’re in that tradition of nonviolent resistance going back to Gandhi and Martin Luther King. It’s a serious proposition. It’s not like we don’t know what we’re doing.” We were living in unprecedented times, he told me. “No one has experienced this in ten thousand years, since the last ice age. We’re just speeding at a million miles an hour towards ecological collapse,” he said. “The political, moral, and spiritual implications of that are off the scale. And so, this is the first, like, smell of it, the first sense of it—that in a supposedly liberal democracy people are getting banged up for five years for doing Zoom calls. That’s what’s coming down the line. And lots more things, as well.” Hallam has a long history of advocating for change. Born into a Methodist family in Manchester, he began protesting for nuclear disarmament as a teen-ager. For many years, he ran an organic farm in Wales, until one year it began raining and didn’t stop for several weeks. The vegetables died. The farm closed. The crop failure, and Hallam’s mounting concern about climate change, led him to pursue a Ph.D. at King’s College London on mobilization for social change, or “how to cause trouble,” he told me. He left before completing the degree, but not before spray-painting the walls of the university with “divest from oil and gas.” (He offered the campus security guards who tried to stop him homegrown salad: rainbow chard, arugula.) In the trial that followed, Hallam argued that the action was a proportionate response to the climate crisis. The jury was swayed, and found him not guilty on charges of criminal damage. “Ordinary people, unlike the judiciary, are able to see the broader picture,” he told reporters at the time. Sometime during the trial for the M25 shutdown, Hallam’s supporters began referring to the defendants as the Whole Truth Five, a reference to the witness pledge to tell the “whole truth and nothing but the truth.” “Part of the story is some people planned to go on the gantries over the M25,” he said. “No one’s disputing that. That’s a fact: we caused disruption. It’s part of the story. But the other side of the story is the right of necessity—in other words, what else is going on?” If you knock someone over in a restaurant, you’ve knocked someone over in a restaurant, he said. But what if the person you knocked over had a gun and was going to shoot someone? “You have two sides to the story, right? So what they’ve done in British courts is only give one side of the story now, which is, You went above the motorways, you disrupted the public.” Our time together was winding down. I asked Hallam how he copes with grief about the climate crisis. Floods. Wildfires. (I was sitting in a nursery, after all.) “I am actually a reasonably cheerful person,” he said. His strategy boils down to transcendence of the material world. “You basically have a choice of what you focus on.” Earlier, he had outlined one potential solution to ending inaction: a series of citizen assemblies, made up of randomly selected individuals, with real power to enact climate policy. What would he say to the drivers deadlocked on the M25 because of Just Stop Oil? First, he said that many would swear and be annoyed, but ultimately see that the activists had a point. Then he took a harder stance. “It’s, like, What do you say? Well, tough, get a grip,” he said. “If you want all the joys of living in an open society, you’re going to have to get stuck in traffic twice a year. That’s the deal. Life goes on, doesn’t it?” ♦ [Make a One-Off Donation](https://buy.stripe.com/6oEbLTaRk22QgQU6oo?ref=rogerhallam.com) Share ### ⚖️ The British State is Committing Treason – My Appeal URL: https://rogerhallam.com/blog-the-court-appeal/ Last updated: 2025-03-17T17:24:17.000Z *Originally recorded from Wayland Prison - listen to the audio version* [*here*](https://youtu.be/OOqrr90MqJw?ref=rogerhallam.com)*.* Today is the Appeal Court hearing for my sentence, along with around 20 others who have received multi-year terms for non-violently resisting this mass-death project. No doubt, somewhere in the judge’s subconscious, the words of Thomas Hobbes will be ringing out as they consider the appeal—his description of life without the state as "nasty, brutish, and short." In my court case last July, the judge endlessly reiterated the Hobbesian proposition underlying UK law on what he described as “protest”—namely, that the state exists to maintain order, and to do this, it must protect the public from those who create disruption. “Conspiracy to cause a public nuisance” is the legal term. There is a closed and circular reasoning here: the state protects the public, and so it prosecutes those who disrupt, and so it protects the public. However, there is a fatal weakness in this logic. The state is not some abstract entity outside time and space. It is embedded in history, populated by people with their own interests and prejudices—who, as a matter of historical fact, have regularly taken control of "real existing states" and used them to destroy the public rather than protect them. Then, there is what is called "the exception." When this state of affairs comes about, Hobbesian logic reverses itself; it eats itself up. Those who disrupt in order to protect the public interest become the real state, while those who control the state become the disruptors. Hobbes, then, was a realist about human nature but naively idealist about the state. In the present situation, is that [“At 3°C or more of heating by 2050, there could be more than 4 billion deaths.”](https://grist.org/economics/global-economy-could-face-50-loss-in-gdp-between-2070-and-2090-from-climate-shocks-say-actuaries/?ref=rogerhallam.com) The Institute and Faculty of Actuaries are in the business of making accurate insurance judgements. The question is whether Britain’s judiciary is similarly capable of making accurate legal judgements on the prospect of 4 billion avoidable deaths over the coming decades. The objective reality is that real existing states, including the historically situated individuals running the British state in the 2020s, are in full scientific knowledge of the consequences. By refusing to prevent the continued emission of carbon, they are actively facilitating the destruction of the British state and society. In other words, they are knowingly condemning our younger citizens to lives that will be nasty, brutish, and short—with the added horror of this hell being locked in for the next hundred thousand years. To the extent that the British judiciary insist on the rightness of Hobbesian logic in these protest cases, they are, in fact, proving themselves completely wrong. Those running the British state are engaged in a level of disruption that is not just finite but total—the destruction of the country itself, far worse than any so-called “public nuisance.” What they are doing is an act of treason. There is nothing complicated here. The reality is clear. Two conclusions follow: First, there is absolutely no legal case—Hobbesian or otherwise—against those resisting a regime complicit in 4 billion avoidable deaths. Second, those in power will insist that such a case exists. In other words: first, facts are facts; and second, the establishment only accepts facts when it is in their short-term interest to do so. Elites rise to power by correctly assessing facts to take control of states. They fall from power when they can no longer correctly assess those facts. In other words, power makes them stupid. Such is the course of history. The difference this time is that the elites will not just destroy themselves through their stupidity—they will destroy everyone and everything, forever. Hobbes would not be impressed. Will the appeal judges feel the same? [Support My Crowdfunder](https://chuffed.org/project/rev21?ref=rogerhallam.com) **Good news.** We've raised £50,000 from private and public donations towards my campaign, Revolution in The 21st Century. [Please help us get the next 50 to 100!](https://chuffed.org/project/rev21?ref=rogerhallam.com) ### ⌛️ It’s Ultimatum Time. URL: https://rogerhallam.com/blog-its-ultimatum-time/ Last updated: 2025-03-17T17:24:31.000Z *Originally published in* [*The Ecologist*](https://theecologist.org/2025/jan/14/hallam-use-me-or-lose-me?ref=rogerhallam.com)*.* On the recommendation of fellow Extinction Rebellion co-founder Gail Bradbrook, I ploughed through Iain McGilchrist’s 1,500-page [*The Matter with Things*](https://uk.bookshop.org/a/9187/9781914568251?ref=rogerhallam.com). As people say in the quotes, this book is “an event.” For the green movements, it could well be what *Das Kapital* was for communism. But the thing about *The Matter with Things*, as you might say, is that, like Marx’s weighty tome, it is radically incomplete. McGilchrist’s work is a wonderful sourcebook for our crying-out need to start thinking in terms of processes rather than “things,” to look at the whole rather than the “parts.” But, like just about all such books, it is about theory rather than practice—how things need to be, without anything on how to get there. Marx was famously hopeless on what actually needs to happen, and McGilchrist follows in the same great male thinker tradition. You know how it is: you read the book, you have that warm, glowing feeling about now being so smart about the world. And then what? Nothing changes because, well, what do you do next? Write a book maybe? Meanwhile, the bad guys are still doing their thing—burn, baby, burn. There is something about the very act of reading that is implicitly unecological in McGilchrist’s critical sense of our separation from the whole. What reading has come to mean in our culture is separate from acting. There is reading, and then there is acting—separate, atomised, in their own nice, neat silos. The author is not someone real, speaking to you, making demands of you. They are some sort of abstraction. In “serious” writing, the author is supposed to entirely disappear. It’s all in the third person. It’s all part of that “don’t show feelings,” “keep it rational” bollocks culture that enables our societies to rape Nature to the point of extinction and think it’s basically no big deal. Separation enables extraction, which leads to suicide. A process, not a bunch of things. So, it’s the New Year. Time for a new process. No more of this reading another nice article and then business as usual. I am going to give you an ultimatum—this is direct action time. We need to connect! If I am going to carry on writing for *The Ecologist*, then I need at least 100 of you, dear readers, to commit several hours of your time to [running a mini-assembly](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1TpSxdHgqyp5JpCdrxc3yotpsIPsyglhbmyj-WA338cY/edit?tab=t.0&ref=rogerhallam.com#heading=h.okyz7eunfi61). It’s genuinely no big deal. You get together, on or offline, with a few friends and chat about the state of the world, and then you feed into what will be a global assembly process. As I hope to show, if I do continue to write articles, this will lead to [a world revolution](https://rogerhallam.com/the-love-paradigm/). We have to aim high. It’s the End of the World. Of course, I could ask nicely, but, as some of you know, that is not really my style—not least because it doesn’t work. All real change requires real risk. Disruption, we have to understand, is the means to creating connection. Being nice means continuing with separation. We all know this from our personal relationships if we’re honest. So, I want you to trust me and just do it. And, as I say, it’s not a massive thing. I’m not asking you to go to prison (not yet, anyway). But seriously, if we are to get through the next few decades together, we need to start trusting each other and acting with each other, not just reading. So, please [sign up](https://actionnetwork.org/forms/mini-assemblies?source=direct%5Flink&) and share it. Otherwise, my illustrious journalism career with *The Ecologist* will have come to a premature halt. Life will go on, I suppose. At least for a while. Happy New Year! [Sign Up For Mini Assemblies](https://actionnetwork.org/forms/mini-assemblies?source=direct%5Flink&) ### 💌 An urgent appeal from Wayland Prison URL: https://rogerhallam.com/an-urgent-request-from-way/ Last updated: 2025-01-17T10:16:34.000Z Hi, As you may know, I received a five-year sentence for making a 20-minute Zoom speech calling for civil disobedience in July. I was not at all involved in any actions or their planning. I was there to explain, as I have done hundreds of times before, why we have to peacefully step up and stop the greatest crime in human history: the decimation of the lives and livelihoods of billions of people by the continued emission of carbon. My sentence is the longest since the Second World War for peaceful civil disobedience, and the reason is obvious. Stopping the burning of fossil fuels at the speed needed involves challenging the most powerful political and corporate interests. With the rise of a climate denier to the US presidency, this situation has never been more urgent. [Support Roger's Work](https://chuffed.org/project/rev21?ref=rogerhallam.com) Since founding Extinction Rebellion in 2018, I have been the UK's most successful climate campaigner. I set up the largest climate civil disobedience organisation in the Western world. At the time of my imprisonment, I was doing vital international networking to bring people together and fundraising for the global resistance movement we need to stop the terror that is being imposed upon us. The world is going to go over 2 °C in the next decade. Let's be in no doubt about what will happen: appalling suffering and injustice beyond imagination. At the same time, precisely because of this dire situation, there is enormous potential to build a global revolutionary movement to create new, revitalised democracies as the alternative to the fascism waiting in the wings. This is the most crucial moment in history - and it requires serious money to build solid organisational structures. I am at the centre of these efforts. I am aiming to raise £50,000 while I’m in prison - and I’m asking for your help. [Help Reach the £50k Goal](https://chuffed.org/project/rev21?ref=rogerhallam.com) I will take none of your money for myself. The teams I work with will use all funds for vital work to promote this global strategy and help set up and support national initiatives. I am convinced we can unlock millions in funding as people with money realise we need a bottom-up democratic revolution and want to help people with a track record of creating mass mobilisations. This is not the time to pretend this money is just for another campaign. Those days have gone. Think of what you could give and then double it again. Remember, it won’t be worth much in a decade, will it? Give whatever you can and please share this fundraiser with five friends. I may be in prison for a while, but I am committed to spending this time in my cell, supporting movements in any way I can. This is my life. Thank you so much for your support. Roger Hallam, Wayland Prison, UK [Fight Fascism with Roger](https://chuffed.org/project/rev21?ref=rogerhallam.com) ### ⚖️ Scientists prize neutrality – that doesn’t cut it any more. URL: https://rogerhallam.com/blog-scientists-prize-neutrality-that-doesnt-cut-it-any-more-in-2025-they-must-fully-back-the-climate-movement-2/ Last updated: 2025-03-17T17:24:57.000Z **by Bill McGuire & Roger Hallam – originally published in** [**The Guardian**](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/jan/09/planet-dying-climate-crisis-emergency-scientists?ref=rogerhallam.com) The past 12 months have seen our world enter new territory. Last year will go down as the [first time](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c1dpnxnvv2go?ref=rogerhallam.com) that the global average temperature exceeded 1.5C above preindustrial times over a calendar year. We could crash permanently through the 1.5C guardrail [within the next five years](https://healthpolicy-watch.news/at-present-rate-carbon-emissions-will-permanently-drive-temperatures-beyond-1-5-c-before-2030/?ref=rogerhallam.com), and [shatter the 2C limit](https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-when-might-the-world-exceed-1-5c-and-2c-of-global-warming/?ref=rogerhallam.com) as soon as 2034\. This will almost certainly result in the tipping points for collapse of the Greenland and west Antarctic ice sheets [being crossed](https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abn7950?ref=rogerhallam.com), committing us to the drowning of coastal towns and cities. In years to come, we will look back at this time and ask the same question that future generations will ask: why didn’t we stop this catastrophe? Meanwhile, the crackdown on those fighting to stop it began in earnest last year. One of us is locked up for five years alongside other peaceful citizens, simply for organising protests to block a motorway. The other was not allowed to provide supportive expert testimony about the potential damage of climate breakdown [during the court case](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/jul/12/contempt-gagging-un-intervention-uk-wildest-climate-trial-just-stop-oil?ref=rogerhallam.com). Both were brazen attempts to stamp down on free speech and stymie action. Hopes that a Labour government would mean a new broom have quickly been dampened, as green pledges have been watered down or dumped. The prime minister, Keir Starmer, has [condemned activists](https://www.lbc.co.uk/news/starmer-just-stop-oil-pathetic-activists-eco-mob-law/?ref=rogerhallam.com) as “pathetic” and needing to “[feel the full force of the law](https://www.lbc.co.uk/news/starmer-just-stop-oil-pathetic-activists-eco-mob-law/?ref=rogerhallam.com)”. As a campaigner and a climate scientist, we have come together to say this to you: we are heartbroken, we are devastated, but most of all we are absolutely furious that our political class and our judiciary are betraying our country, and the lives and livelihoods of our children and many generations still to come. The establishment and vested interests around the world have closed ranks to shut down voices seeking to tell the truth about our dire predicament. But we are not done yet. We need to make 2025 the year that scientists, activists and all who care about the future of our planet mobilise together, to demand that our leaders, and governments around the world, treat climate breakdown as the desperate emergency it is, and act accordingly to slash emissions as the science demands – by [at least 45%](https://netzeroclimate.org/what-is-net-zero-2/?ref=rogerhallam.com#:~:text=It%20is%20international%20scientific%20consensus,reaching%20net%20zero%20around%202050.) (compared with 2010) by 2030. It is absolutely critical, too, that scientists are in the vanguard. Some are already doing their bit, but far too many remain silent on the greatest ever threat to human civilisation. This has to change. There are nearly 9 million scientists in the world, making up a tribe that is one of the [most trusted groups](https://www.pewresearch.org/science/2020/09/29/scientists-are-among-the-most-trusted-groups-in-society-though-many-value-practical-experience-over-expertise/?ref=rogerhallam.com) on the planet. Imagine the noise they could make if they spoke with one voice; think of the impetus it would give climate activism. The UK courts have tried to silence climate scientists in the past few years, by keeping their expert testimony out of court cases. As we start out on the second quarter of the 21st century, let’s show them what we can really do. Inevitably, there are those who demand impartiality from scientists, but being impartial doesn’t mean not telling the truth; it doesn’t mean playing down threats; and it certainly doesn’t mean keeping silent at a time of global emergency. Wanting to remain apolitical no longer cuts it. It is naive at the best of times, but this is now a matter of survival, not politics. So, throw your weight behind those groups and organisations fighting to tackle climate breakdown, work to bring colleagues on board, and use your influence in the best way you can to drive serious action. As we have said before, there are no grant-awarding committees on a dead planet, so it is time to choose which side of history you are on. Speak, write, shout from the rooftops. Do whatever needs to be done to maximise the number of people who hear the reality of what is happening to our rapidly faltering climate. Make politicians listen. Make business sit up and really take notice. If it scares people, so be it. As scientists – more than others – are aware, what is coming is truly horrifying. And we won’t address the issues in the way we need to until everyone understands the full extent of the threat. The voices of 9 million science heavyweights adding clout to those of countless activists cannot fail to galvanise the public, driving citizen climate action as never before. Together, we can ensure that no space is left unoccupied, that there is nowhere to turn to avoid our message. The only way to shut us up will be to finally do what needs to be done. This means slashing emissions – not at a rate that doesn’t reach net zero in another quarter of a century, but that reaches real zero as soon as possible. It means widespread and deep adaptation to the world-shattering changes that are now inevitable. Already, a return to a prehistoric climate is impossible to dodge. We have pretty much regressed 125,000 years to the heat of the [last interglacial period](https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/earth-is-warmer-than-its-been-in-125-000-years/?ref=rogerhallam.com), and a return to a steamy [Pliocene climate](https://www.theguardian.com/science/2019/apr/03/south-pole-tree-fossils-indicate-impact-of-climate-change?ref=rogerhallam.com) (3m years ago) beckons [as soon as the 2030s](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6310841/?ref=rogerhallam.com). This year is certain to be the grimmest so far of the climate emergency, with a climate-breakdown denier in the White House, fossil fuel companies seeking to expand operations, and supercharged extreme weather set to take an even greater toll. We can’t hold back. The brutal truth is that the planet’s temperature is climbing faster than at *any time* in the geological record. We have a world to save, even if it doesn’t want to be. Bill McGuire is professor emeritus of geophysical and climate hazards at UCL and author of Hothouse Earth: an Inhabitant’s Guide. Roger Hallam is co-founder of Extinction Rebellion, Insulate Britain and Just Stop Oil ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get on with the job of sorting it out. [Support](https://rogerhallam.com/#/portal/signup/6517fbb3b89c5400016e9f27/yearly) ### 🙈 The Prison of Perception URL: https://rogerhallam.com/the-prison-of-perception/ Last updated: 2025-01-06T16:42:03.000Z The relationship between the world, time, and us is mind-bending. I’m sitting at my table, in my cell, and pondering some deep questions. The table—this seemingly solid, real thing—actually raises a bigger question about what we’re truly seeing. In this episode of The Spirit of Revolution, I will break down how the way we view reality, materialism, and even time itself might not be what we’ve been taught. We’re talking quantum physics, consciousness, and how our understanding of "stuff" could be all wrong. We’re not just sitting here; we’re shifting how we think about everything, and it’s leading us to some revolutionary ideas. Stay tuned, as we unravel these concepts and discover how the world, and even time, might not be as fixed as we once thought. Listen on [Spotify,](https://open.spotify.com/episode/2qcUg6V0Wf73qlFI1srbHf?si=Mb-KiIG-R-68cnDLnsOKlA&ref=rogerhallam.com) [Apple](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-spirit-of-revolution-ep-1-intro/id1671150953?i=1000668886068&ref=rogerhallam.com), [Soundcloud](https://soundcloud.com/roger-hallam-2023/the-spirit-of-revolution-ep1-intro?si=02660373d400489c9ad0e8f873ac5dbc&utm%5Fsource=clipboard&utm%5Fmedium=text&utm%5Fcampaign=social%5Fsharing) or wherever you get your podcasts. We've worked to improve the prison phone sound quality and each episode will come with a transcript and video version on Youtube for reading along. [Donate To Support Roger's Work From Prison](#/portal/signup) ## Transcript of Episode 4 - The World and Time So let us return to the table business. Another day of writing, and yes, the table is in my cell. It's still here, solid and real—no problem there, except not so fast. As we just went through with the self, the notion of solid and real does not stand up to empirical observation. Empirics undermine the old realism, which is our central point here. The forced marriage which underpins the metaphysics of the materialist ideology breaks apart. Empirics point one way, and the old realism points in another way. This is the opening, the problematic, as you might call it. We are investigating to create the fluidity, the means to consider a new way of seeing. The story with the table is well known in the world of science, but it is yet, yet to take off in wider culture, which is still captured by the premises—the false premises—of those 18th-century gentlemen. The questions go like this: So what is this real, solid table made of then? Wood? Okay, so what is the wood made of? Let's jump to atoms. I remember, as a kid, feeling very pleased with myself that I'd sorted out that big question—what is the world made out of? Atoms, of course. Great, job done. Let's move on—except rationality demands that we can and should ask the question: So what are these atoms made of then? And observation provides an answer: we have electrons and protons, and then something weird happens. We go into quantum physics, where stuff (if you can call it that) appears out of nowhere and then disappears again, and where the act of observation affects what you see. I don't pretend to be an expert in all this stuff, so I won't go on about it anymore. But obviously, there is something devastatingly subversive here. As a famous scientist once said, words to the effect: if you think you understand what is going on here, obviously you don't understand it. You can know—but only in a certain sense. That word again—sense. You have to get over the old, reductive, no-nonsense idea of there being "stuff" and then "no stuff." It turns out that if we think this, we are actually deluding ourselves. We are living in a pretend world in the same way as people who go, "I am myself." They can't or won't self-reflect. We are stuck in a sort of prison—this idea of materialism, this idea that the world is just stuff. It's just plain wrong, according to scientific observation. Whoops. So what does this have to do with anything? Well, the answer might be that if we can understand that stuff is not necessarily real, then we get this feeling of fluidity. I'm not knowing, at least for a moment—a little wobble, maybe. Maybe we don't have to have everything so tied down. Let's look a little bit closer at this observer business. It's reasonably easy to go along with the "what is it made of" sequence of questions, even if we end up with the idea of stuff existing and not existing at the same time. But then there is the idea that the nature of stuff literally depends upon the act of you looking at it. This breaks down the dogma of another received thinking—that the observer and the observed are fundamentally separate. This seems to connect back to the previous section on the self—this idea of idealism, that the world is a function of the mind, but what we see depends upon how we see it. The upshot is another hilariously transgressive idea—that the stuff in the world is, in fact, consciousness. Not actually so-called material stuff. Or, more radically still, this stuff is, in fact, just a form of consciousness. It turns out, according to science itself, that there is actually no stuff out there. There's only the mind looking at the mind. Consciousness—a wave, an energy, a flow, a world of all these things or approximate construction. It's all consciousness, baby. This broad move, then, is that the world is not real—not in that facile, materialist sense—and this has massive implications. For a start, it makes scientists sound like old-style mystics. “This stuff exists, and yet it does not exist”. They start to speak the language of paradox rather than linear logic. You can gain knowledge not by resolving conceptions, but by encountering and experiencing them. The knowledge you gain is a sensibility rather than something solid and binary—exist or not exist, real or not real. There is something revolutionary here: the metaphysical basis of the project of extractive grasping possessiveness is found to be an imposed dogma. It's just plain wrong—getting more stuff going for growth; it's just a thing, a psychological hobby, a passing fad. The old mystics are back in town. It's all an illusion, according to observation. Sociologically, then, this is bad news for the vast social superstructure that rests upon this old metaphysics. Fundamental ideas are essential to the maintenance of a regime—a system of action logic, as you might say. What I mean is the rationale for taking and holding material power. To cut to the chase: if stuff is not real, then why the hell spend all your life chasing after it? There is what is called a cultural lag here. Once an ideational infrastructure starts to collapse—by which I mean a system of ideas—it can take a while for the broader cultural superstructure to get with the program. It's a bit like once the ideology of biological differences between human groups collapses; it can take decades for this to feed through into winning civil rights for black people and gay people. But it does feed through; it's effectively inevitable because fundamental dysfunctionalities in a social system cannot be sustained indefinitely. Something has to give. And we can now add in the small additional point that chasing after stuff is actually destroying everybody's stuff—all stuff, the whole world, in fact. So it's only a matter of time before there's a big reckoning—more on this later, of course. So these are the social implications of all of this. But let's return to ourselves, our sense of self, and our place in the world. The basic takeaway is: just as there is no atomized self, neither is there a solid, atomized world out there. The world is what we make of it, as you might say. Critically, this applies to being in a prison. I'm sitting here in this cell, or am I? It all depends on how you feel. In fact, there is no no-nonsense foundation to this world of stuff. There is not the world and then a bunch of subjective beliefs that some weird people have about it. It's not like, "Hey, Roger has a quaint belief about being in his cell." No, it is the idea that the very idea of this cell is itself subjective. It is, in fact, just an idea—one idea amongst others, a function of my consciousness. Get a glimpse of this, and that this could be the case, and you can have a flash realization—an explosive sense of something, a sudden liberation, that moment of “aha!” Okay. Remember, this cell is actually a bunch of waves and quarks and whatever else is moving in and out of consciousness, or at least that is as good an idea as the solid stuff idea. In realizing this, you are in fact in good company. Contrary to what we've been told, there are many wisdom and folk traditions that see the world in a similar way. It's just that we got removed from all of that by this big rationalist paradigm that's been shoved down our throats. What was not mechanical, binary, dead was seen just as personal belief, even as just superstitions. So it is easy to see how this opened up into a systematized industrial plunder, extraction, and rape. Of course, there are lots of complications going on here, but this is where we're heading—towards a new top-level story for the next civilization. However, we are jumping ahead of ourselves. Let's come back to the table in this cell, to this locked cell. The minimum we can see is that things are not what they seem. The minimum we now know is that choice exists. There is an element of mystery, even a sense of awe introduced back into the physical world. There is an opening into another world, a re-enchantment, a joy of not being tied down to one way of seeing. In other words, the color starts to come back in when we look at the very small—quantum physics—and indeed the very large—the expanse of the universe. We get that strange feeling: there is self-evidently not just this set world here and now, but we're trapped in the splitting off of empiricism from the old realism. This opens up this new fluidity, as we have already identified. And again, it is here that I am happy for us to stop for a while to find the fluidity and be with it, rather than rushing ahead and trying to get it all tied down again—neat and tidy, consistent and logical. I would suggest that being able to live with this fluidity, a sort of bottomless complexity, is another one of those muscles we have to develop to be true revolutionaries at the present time, at this moment in history. Because this enables us to give birth to what comes next. We come back then to the language of transcendence—not just from the self, but from the world as well, from what we are and from what happens to us. We are in suspense because that is where we should be, rather than grasping onto some false foundation—the idolatry of the material—to bring us back to some old language. There is a functionality to thinking about the world in a material way. Of course, we are not throwing out the baby with the bathwater here; mechanics has its place. But that is precisely the point—it has a place; it is not the main show. The main show is infinitely more mysterious than just this table, and so, time. Let's look at time, the self, the world, and now time. I must confess I have found the time the hardest nut to crack out of all of them. It seems so dominating, the iron hand remorselessly pulling you along. Time waits for no man; it's merciless with the self and the world. I've been fully engaged in their intrinsic ambiguities for a long time now—a joint assault of modern empirical science and traditional mysticism. That pincers movement has squashed the temporary humanist arrogance of the 18th-century rationalists. Sorry, guys, but time, of course, does not actually feel as it is according to the rationalists. And that is the way it sometimes feels—like you can slow down, and sometimes it speeds up. For instance, the dull routine of prison makes the weeks fly by, as prisoners say the same thing day in, day out—the lack of anything new or unique happening. Then there is the power of perspective. When I was last in prison, I got a bit impressed with myself, and I said to another inmate, “Yeah, I'm in for six months.” Like, that was a long time. He said, “Well, yeah, I'm on my home stretch—only three more years.” I was properly put in my place, as you can imagine. In this prison I'm in at the moment, along the corridor, it's all "lifers." One said to me, “So how long have you got?” “Five years,” I said. “Uh, that's not long,” he replied. “It's all about where we're anchored. If you're doing a 15-year stretch, well, during the last three, it's gonna feel like you're going home soon, right?” For people doing civil disobedience who are used to a month or two inside, three years can feel like an eternity. It's all perspective. That then is a personal experience of time. At the other end of how you can see things, we have the objective data—the physics. It turns out that time is a thing, like everything else—everything, two words. You can bend it. In other words, it has characteristics; it can be changed. To be honest, again, I won't pretend I know all the ins and outs, but there is a bottom line here, an ultimate logic. Because time is just a thing; ultimately, it by definition is not totally set. It exists in the realm of things; it is therefore changeable. It is not God. Consciousness, on the other hand, does seem to be everything, at least in a certain sense, in that it's through consciousness that everything comes into being. Without the mind, that conduit of consciousness, there can be nothing. This idea is supported by the findings in modern science that the universe is in fact consciousness. Again, you don't have to buy into this idea whole right now. You don't need to go, “Yeah, I agree,” or “I don't agree.” We can be in this zone where you sort of get it and sort of don't, and maybe you will, maybe you never will—our limited minds in the face of the divine. We can be okay with that. And the exciting thing is that it's okay. Nice, if we can handle it, enables us to engage with the great myths and stories we have been told about time without having to follow that little voice in our head, rubbishing them all. In particular, there are a few viewpoints I would like to briefly look at which throw everything into the air. Like, for instance, the view that there is only now—uh, now, like this moment now. You are listening to me or reading what I am communicating. Just focus on this nowness for a second: it's there, and then it's gone. You can come to the reasonableness of this idea by following the same sequence of questions we use to break down the notion of the atomized construction of the self. Like, where is the self? I cannot see it, so if I cannot see it, it can't exist—unlike this table here. Similarly, you can ask, where is the past? You can ask, where is the future? Show me them. I mean, where are they? I'm an empiricist. I can see the table, but I cannot see the past. I cannot see where it is, so it doesn't exist, does it? Just more superstitious nonsense. The logic of empiric observation leads to a classical mystical declaration: there is only the now. The variation on the theme is: there is only the now, but the future and the past, in a sense, still exist—they're just a function of the now. They're within the now; they only exist in this moment. There is the idea that history is the now imposed upon the past. The past can only exist through the perspective and context of the present. All this is related to the idea that, therefore, time is forever a cycle, and all aspects of that cycle are contained within the present time. There is a predestination of endless repetition, for instance, the cycle of birth and death, growth and decay. This is all archetypal myth. There is no progress there, and as such, the circular replaces the linear. As we have come on to investigate, it is possible to see ourselves as upon a stage. Life is enacted on this eternal stage, and we choose our role within it—how we respond to it. We are suddenly a long way from the factory clock. Once we allow some idea of consciousness to come out to the scene, the door's open to ideas of destiny and fate—the idea of some duty or responsibility to fulfill your destiny or to act out of fate. The whole world becomes reenchanted again. We have the adventure of will and choice. We have looked behind the veil of flat, linear, lifeless time to find something grand and glorious. Consider also, for instance, the mystical and theological idea of end time. Time comes to an end. This is something physicists are thinking about—the investigation into the end of the universe. But within historical cultures, the notion is not just a scientific thing; it's drenched in drama. It is the final reckoning, the final judgment. This is a world of agency and thus responsibility. We are being held to account. I would suggest that it has passed through not a few minds over the past decade what the destruction of the biosphere, the basis of life, means morally, theologically, mystically. The rationalist promised us Utopia, and instead, they brought us to this hubris. The end—is this a sick joke or what? At the same time, there is a resistance to thinking about any of this. Don't even think about it, as the well-known book on the psychology of the crisis is called. And yet we are being drawn into this world of new understandings, not least because of the reality of the blatant betrayal, the false promise of those who told us how to think and act in that rational, conformist, linear way. And almost despite ourselves, we are drawn in, you might say. Because if we are to be saved, then it will be because we have a sense of agency again—a reason to act, a choice. This has to be preferable to being just another cog in the wheel of our elites' final death project, to being just a speck of dust in a meaningless dead universe. You see, what the rationalist forgets is people actually like drama. You could say they like it more than happiness. That is why we're drawn to stories of drama. Our desire for some understanding of ourselves, this world, and time is all saturated in emotion. We are animated. We are alive. We were born to be this way. So, some concluding thoughts: What I tried to show is that our worldview, our metaphysics, as I'm calling it, is not some dry academic thing restricted to university philosophy departments, all those unreadable books. It is an alive, kicking thing. It's an emotional thing. The point is this: when someone comes up to you and says they're looking forward to going to prison for their resistance, and you can't believe it—you think they're making it up, they're being a dick—it's because it's you that are in a prison, not them. And your prison is worse because it's metaphysical. You carry it around every day, all your life, in your head: the prison of possessive individualism, possessive materialism. I'm not saying this to try to get you to say, "Yeah, I agree, prison is great." What I am trying to get you to do is simply not to be shocked or surprised, and certainly not to be aggressive or mocking, but maybe to go, "Okay, yeah, I see what you mean." A bit like the poster: \*Some people are gay, get over it.\* Some people are okay going to prison, get over it. It's a matter of providing people with the dignity not to be embedded in the deep ideology of our dominant culture. There are many ways to play the great game of life out there. The first step is to be open, to be curious and pluralistic. This process can be entered into via a number of paths or logics, lines of argument. What I have done in the last few episodes is use a scientific, logical investigation against itself—or at least against the ideology of our dominant culture—to expose a gaping, enormous contradiction at its core. That observation undermines the realest dogmas on the self, the world, and time. Atomistic stuff—they are not. This is just one way into another world, but it is one way. We can learn to have less fear or even no fear. That is going to be our direction of travel. The reason you have fear of being in resistance and all its implications is not because—or just because—you lack the courage. In fact, that may not be the main reason at all. The main reason may be because you have allowed yourself to be locked into a very specific way of seeing. In the most basic sense, change that way of seeing—or rather, learn to be aware that there is another way of seeing—and suddenly you find yourself having the courage. The courage, in other words, is not created by you. It comes to you because the fear has gone, or rather, sometimes you find the fear is gone. Going to prison can be just another day, and in a real sense, it is in fact just another day. So I hope we have made a small bridgehead into this new pluralism. We need to develop, deepen, and practice it; otherwise, we will fall back. It requires ongoing attention, and we will pay more attention in future episodes. I hope you are curious. [Make a One-Off Donation](https://buy.stripe.com/6oEbLTaRk22QgQU6oo?ref=rogerhallam.com) --- As always, you can sign up for nonviolent civil resistance with [Just Stop Oil](https://juststopoil.org/?ref=rogerhallam.com) in the UK or via the [A22 Network](https://a22network.org/en/?ref=rogerhallam.com) internationally. --- ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get on with the job of sorting it out. [Support](https://rogerhallam.com/#/portal/signup/6517fbb3b89c5400016e9f27/yearly) ### 💥 Flying from now on is violence URL: https://rogerhallam.com/flying-from-now-on-is-violence-2/ Last updated: 2025-01-01T13:40:10.000Z In my 20s I spent a few months travelling around the US. I stayed with a family in West Virginia who ran a farm veg delivery operation. The husband was a rugged individualist type of guy. He told me one day, as I was helping him with the cropping, that having one or two slaves was okay; that In the nineteenth century they were a big help to small struggling rural households. Maybe some people used to think what he was saying was fair enough, but the fact is taking away black people's fundamental freedoms is absolutely immoral. It was wrong. And so today we hear people say that they know flying is "bad" but life is hard and they need to fly off to take that holiday break, they need to fly for work. It's just more convenient, a big help. But as we move into 2025 it is now clear we have reached 1.5C of global warming and unless there is a massive decrease in emissions by the relatively rich of the world then hundreds of millions of mainly black people will lose their fundamental freedoms; their livelihoods and their lives. To fly then, like slavery, has to be absolutely immoral. It is wrong. Of course people will say that flying is different. Buying a slave was a direct act of violence while when you fly the harm is indirect and the violence is not real. Slave owners used to have a similar argument. They said violence only applies to action by whites on whites, and so violence to blacks did not count. But how people see morality changes. People came to see that violence is violence, regardless of the colour of the skin of the victim. And so now today, we have to realise that violence is violence regardless of whether it is direct or indirect. When a terrorist sprays bullets into the crowd he does not know precisely who he will kill, but he knows his action will result in killing. No one is pretending there is no violence. People don't know exactly who they will destroy, but they do know their action of emitting carbon will destroy innocent lives. This change in what we see as immoral is our next civilizational challenge. Just as in the past people had to understand that all people have basic rights, so we today have to understand that indirect harm violates those basics rights. There are differences of course. Buying and owning a slave is a single act. Flying is a multiple action. And, as such, no doubt, in some circumstances there are exceptions - for instance, when a relative is dying. But the exceptions prove the rule. Given the level of violence that we are now inflicting by creating carbon emissions, 99% of the time, flying has to be seen as being as unacceptable as owning a slave. To think otherwise is to hide behind your privilege, just as slave owners did, to avoid accepting that what you are doing is obscene. And there is a another difference. Once slavery was made illegal then effectively it stopped. If we don't stop carbon emissions very soon, we will not be able to stop the harm because of tipping points being triggered in the Earth's system. Our violence is far worse because it will be felt for hundreds of generations. The "slavery" will not stop. Flying from now on is a violence, qualitatively worse than any violence of the past. It is a violence that violates fundamental rights, not just today but for ever more. In 2025 then we are moving well beyond the quaint idea of New Year's resolutions - that we give up flying, meat, or some other consumerist "entitlement" in order to help the "environment", in the same way as, in the past, rich people gave to charities to help the poor "natives". There is now only one world and it includes both us and "the environment". We have entered a new metaphysical reality where we are all the same. It is now an objective physical fact that everyone faces destruction from global climate breakdown. We need then to challenge not just the patronising story of "us" giving up stuff for "them", we need to challenge the whole era-long-story that giving up stuff is, in fact, "a cost". Consumerism, the whole material status idea, is just a passing cultural thing. We can understand, as most past cultures understood, that those working in logistics and admin for the concentration camps were obviously still complicit in the Holocaust, even though they did not "directly" kill anyone. If a country puts poisonous gas over another country, because it is "convenient" for them to do so, no one can think that it is anything other than disgusting. And so when millions of people from wealthy countries fly, they do not know whose lives derive benefit from stopping doing certain things. It can become the right thing to do, the new fashion, the new way to live. We can celebrate having more by having less. It's a choice. We can change our metaphysical outlook, just as we can change our morality. In fact, we will have to change how we see the world, in order to see some things, like slavery, and now flying, for what they truly are - obscene. And doing so is now a matter of life or death. Not just for those black lives. But for all our lives. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get on with the job of sorting it out. [Support](https://rogerhallam.com/#/portal/signup/6517fbb3b89c5400016e9f27/yearly) ### 🎄 The Christmas Good News: Embracing the Love of Being URL: https://rogerhallam.com/the-christmas-good-news-embracing-the-love-of-being/ Last updated: 2024-12-24T16:23:00.000Z Christmas is supposed to be a celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, the reason being that he brought us the Good News. When I was a teenager, I was given a Bible. I remember that it was called the *Good News Bible*. The Good News, I was told, was that God loves us, and if we believe in Him, then we will be saved. This is an old and universal story, and a similar story is coming into view as we celebrate Christmas in 2024\. The "news" this year is that the consequences of allowing the elites to put more carbon into the air are going to lead to the deaths of billions of people, and that human extinction is now the main scenario. There are three reasons for this situation. In 2024, we found out that global temperature increases have now jumped to 1.5°C, with 2°C now effectively locked in, which will lead to the destruction of our societies. We found out that the natural carbon sinks, such as the oceans and forests, are collapsing, meaning that the meagre effects of reducing human carbon emissions will soon be wiped out by the emissions from natural sources. And we found out that the AMOC current is likely to collapse in the next 25 years, which will drastically lower temperatures and halve food production in the UK and Northern Europe, while destroying weather systems across the world. We can argue over the details of these new realities, but there comes a point when asking for the details becomes not a desire for truth, but a distraction from the truth. We have reached that point. The truth is that humanity is facing the absolute — a total crisis. And so this means two things, based on the Chinese definition of crisis: a total danger — the death of humanity, and a total opportunity — the complete transformation of our culture, the very way we see. This is the big picture, this old and universal story. We have done wrong, and God, or this confrontation with the Absolute, offers us the Good News to put things right. I think the spark that will lead to the next step in this story originates in the experience of being in prison. The conventional meaning here is that you lose your liberties, you cannot move around, and you have fewer possessions. But it can also mean that, through this experience, another way of seeing comes into focus. Through losing what we have, we come to see what we are. What we are are beings with consciousness who exist in time. This is all we can ever be — nothing more, nothing less. You can have everything in the world, but you still can only be in one place at a time, doing one thing at a time. You cannot become "more" beings, and you cannot get "more" time. And looking at it the other way, you can have everything taken from you, but you still have your consciousness. You still have time. These things cannot be taken from you while you are alive. Of course, this is obvious once you think about it. But we don’t viscerally realise what this means until we experience it. And the crisis of imprisonment provides the opportunity to experience this basic foundational reality. This experience can lead to a deep sense of peace, an ecstasy of transcendence, a sense of profound empowerment. We have been, and continue to be, told that prison is "this" or "that", and so we cannot speak of such experiences. It's a bit like a "love that cannot speak its name." But we should be allowed a "dignity of interpretation". No one has the right to tell us what our experience is or is not. This realisation then is the Good News, and it has transformational social and political implications, just as the Good News of Jesus did. Both turn the world upside down. We now know that we can go into the world, and, in a fundamental sense, there is nothing that can be "got", and there is nothing that can be "taken away". We are already complete. There is nothing to be afraid of. What our ego and our culture tells us we need are pretences, conceits, lies. The gift of "prison" is that we come to release this, not in the sense of being told it, or reading about it, but we come to feel it in our gut. Resistance is then no longer a "political" thing — the old story of victimhood or heroism. These are two sides of a perspective rooted in our culture of "having" or "not having" — of our liberties being "taken away" and thus being victims, or having the courage to suffer our liberties being "taken away" and thus being heroes. All that. What confronting the absolute does then is enable us to see beyond "the political" to a new culture that is rooted in our "love of being". The act of stopping the horrors we face, this "resistance", leads to us being put in prison, which leads us to the realisation that there is actually nothing to be lost through this "resistance". We realise that prison is not a "cost" or a "loss", but a "gift", if we choose to accept it. The gift of coming to know what we truly are. Like death, but a death in life, rather than a death at the end of life. In death, we realise what is important and what is not. And so, prison allows us to realise what is important while we live. This is the Good News. Acting to stop the horrors, this "resistance", does not need to be motivated by a need to "get somewhere", to "have" something. It is no longer outcome-oriented. There is nothing to have or get. And so we can relax. And in response to that resistance, there is nothing the authorities can "take" from us. And so again, we can relax. Our main and primary concern becomes just one thing: to be what we already are and to act accordingly. When we truly see our own "being", then we also see that "being" is everywhere, and everyone. And so to truly "be" means to love "being"; we have to act for "being". All of it. And so, we have no choice, in the present situation, but to engage in resistance. To be what we are, to be genuinely living our lives. The paradox here then is that in this opportunity to "let go" of what we have, to "come home" to who we are, we have the most effective "messaging" that will lead to not just hundreds, but thousands of people deciding to act in such a way that they get imprisoned. And only when this happens will we be in the ballpark of stopping the horrors that can still be stopped. The circle, therefore, is completed. The story is played out. This is the Good News, the Love of Being. What some people call the Love of God. To act in a way you truly are — in resistance. [Sign up where you are.](https://a22network.org/?ref=rogerhallam.com) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get on with the job of sorting it out. [Support](https://rogerhallam.com/#/portal/signup/6517fbb3b89c5400016e9f27/yearly) ### 🔮 Only the Impossible Is Possible Now URL: https://rogerhallam.com/only-the-impossible-is-possible-now-2/ Last updated: 2024-12-19T10:02:01.000Z In the late nineteenth century, a young Jewish intellectual called Lev Shestov was kidnapped for several months. Every day he thought he would be killed. When he was finally released, he spent the rest of his life ridiculing the liberal illusion that we can know anything for certain about anything. Or, as a climate scientist recently put it in response to the “dead as a doornail” 1.5C target, [“You shouldn’t ask scientists how to galvanize the world because clearly *we don’t have a fucking clue*.”](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/nov/18/climate-crisis-world-temperature-target?ref=rogerhallam.com) In other news, Trump has been re-elected. The outgoing Democratic administration oversaw the greatest-ever increase in US oil and gas production. The devil and the deep blue sea, as you might say. Over in Valencia, [100,000 scrap cars](https://www.aa.com.tr/en/vg/video-gallery/devastating-flood-leaves-100-000-cars-damaged-turning-valencia-into-car-wasteland/0?ref=rogerhallam.com) are clogging rivers after the floods, and 100,000 people in the street protests are understandably getting angry. Meanwhile, in *The Guardian*, the ever-cheerful Ed Miliband tells us we need to “keep 1.5°C alive.” Good luck with that, Ed. Here’s another statistic to chew over: 52% of Hispanics voted for Trump. The only group to vote in greater numbers for the Democrats this election, compared to the last, were white college-educated people. Telling, isn’t it? I’ve been saying for a while now that people need to get out there and do some door-knocking. But very few people—especially white, college-educated ones—want actually to talk to real people. Much better to stay on social media and moan about Trump. Depression can be delicious, can it not? And that’s all you need to know about why, at present, the fascists are going to win. And when they do, a lot more people are going to be kidnapped like Lev Shestov—and worse. When I get out of this place (prison, that is), I’ll be straight on the road, speaking to people around the country. I might call it *The Fanatic Tour*. The judge at my trial called me a fanatic for giving a Zoom talk on why it’s not a good idea to let the elites destroy the birthright of our children. And who am I to argue with a British judge? I’ll tell people it’s “door-knocking or death.” Not quite as catchy as “Liberty or Death,” but just as fundamental. Unless we get out and listen to people’s anger—and create spaces where that anger can be expressed without judgement in local assemblies—then the impossible is going to happen. As the great AIDS activist Larry Kramer famously shouted: “If you don’t get on the streets, you’re gonna fucking die.” What’s new? --- Except this time it won’t just be emaciated young gay men dying in their shit along hospital corridors. It’ll be everyone. Me, writing this—and yes, you, reading it. I’m 58\. By the time I’m 75, my generation will be nicely entering the time of their dying as we fly past 2°C and up to 3°C. According to the science papers, [a billion people will be on the move](https://www.zurich.com/media/magazine/2022/there-could-be-1-2-billion-climate-refugees-by-2050-here-s-what-you-need-to-know?ref=rogerhallam.com). The NHS getting even more ‘overstretched’ is a reasonable prediction, don’t you think? Even more bodies in the corridors. Our bodies. Here’s the thing about the climate crisis: it’s going to hurt you. Physically. As someone who’s been on two hunger strikes, I can report that not having food to eat hurts—a lot. Then there’s the nausea. Friends of the Earth won’t tell you about that bit, will they? Not great for the revenue stream. And then there’s the matter of the fascists getting into power. Less said about that the better. Pass the tea, please. The difference between Trump and Harris is that Trump takes you over the cliff with joy for making America great again, while Harris takes you over the cliff with joy for reasons she never made clear. Are you surprised people opted for fascism? Saying that “only the impossible is possible now” wasn’t some clever bit of messaging to get you to read this article. All futures are now, actually, *impossible*. The impossibility of fascism. The impossibility of creating an alternative that isn’t Harris. The impossibility of getting people to do that door-knocking. So, which impossibility is it going to be? What will happen? --- Shestov’s generation had to deal with liberalism’s sick joke of the First World War: the trenches, the body parts, the doomed youth. All of it. We are about to face our own sick joke of liberalism—and our own sleepless nights. The forgotten thinkers of the dark valley of the interwar years will come back into fashion. And we’ll find, as that generation did, that only those who face the world as it is will make it through. Well done, by the way, to those of you who’ve got this far in reading this article. Those who bury their heads in the sands of social media silos won’t see the boot coming when it smashes down on their face. That was Orwell’s image in *1984*—what happens when you ignore your moral and political responsibilities? When you can’t get off your arse and do your sacred democratic duty on a drizzly Thursday evening and listen to your fellow human beings on their doorsteps. So, as I say: it’s door-knocking or death. Not old-style door-knocking—a quick transactional pitch to get out the vote at election time. But door-knocking where you listen, and they talk. And a bunch of other things to create the “impossible” world we want rather than the “impossible” world we don’t want. I’ll go through more details about this in next month’s piece. In the meantime, I humbly suggest you don’t avoid your own dark night of the soul. In the deepest depths of your despair, remember: only when you go through the burning of your entitled ego will you be useful in the struggles to come. And only then will you be of any use to yourself. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get on with the job of sorting it out. [Support](https://rogerhallam.com/#/portal/signup/6517fbb3b89c5400016e9f27/yearly) ### 🗣️ Leadership in End Times URL: https://rogerhallam.com/leadership-in-end-times/ Last updated: 2024-12-08T09:15:41.000Z I was chatting with journalist and writer Chris Hedges recently. He kindly visited me in prison, sharing a story from the Occupy movement in New York, just before their eviction. A group of activists had gathered at his house to decide their next steps. A decision had to be made quickly, so a few people took on leadership roles, made the call, and went back with a plan. The notion of "horizontalism"—that there can be no leaders—is based on a fallacy. Leadership is inevitable because there are too many decisions for everyone to weigh in on, especially when time is critical. ## **Machine** The attempt at leaderlessness, in fact, creates a "tyranny of structurelessness," where unaccountable leaders emerge without clear designation. For instance, who decided certain people would gather at Chris’s house? No one. Horizontalism imposes yet another mechanical grid on the complex ecology of social spaces, mirroring the rigid hierarchical structures it seeks to replace. While good relationships can arise under both systems, they often do so in spite of these structures, not because of them. Modern ideologies rooted in Enlightenment thinking often reduce everything to a single concept: power—as domination. We’ve lost the language to describe what truly happens when we work together and the imagination to envision new possibilities. Thinkers like Edmund Burke and Pierre Proudhon wrestled with how a social ecology could thrive outside the mechanical language of Left and Right, moving beyond a view of society as a machine. ## **Kindness** This is no longer an abstract problem. If we fail to create humane and effective large-scale organisations capable of mass civil resistance, fascism—with its command-and-control structures and vast funding—will overpower us. The unimaginable could happen again on a global scale. The Left’s failure to establish a movement that can compete with the Labour Party demonstrates how we’re still struggling to let go of the old and create something new. We need to begin with a foundational truth: power as domination is harmful and unnecessary. It violates the core of our being—our need for mutual recognition, to give and receive love. Power as domination corrupts both the wielder and the oppressed. Instead, we should focus on the *quality of relationships*, centred on love as action to enhance the well-being of others. Respect, service, and trust enrich these connections, yet today’s culture of suspicion corrodes these values, even within radical organisations. Challenges are inevitable, but they should come from a place of kindness and humility. After all, we are all human. ## **Rotation** These values need to be embedded in our organisations. They should be emphasised in new-member inductions, prioritised in ongoing projects, and modelled by ethical leadership. This culture of respect and trust creates a social space where working together is joyful. In this environment, formal structures can be gently established, not rigidly imposed. We need a diverse ecology of functions, with semi-autonomous working groups to get things done, and a small executive core group trusted with strategy and rapid decisions. This core receives continuous feedback from the working groups. Young and new members are identified, trained, mentored, and eventually brought into the core group, while experienced members step back to advise. This rotation and training elevate collective intelligence. ## **System** Beyond individual organisations, we must abandon the neoliberal wasteland of isolated activism and also resist forming a monolithic movement. Instead, we need a close-knit ecology of organisations that coordinate a shared national strategy, set dates for mass civil resistance, and organise local assemblies to select electoral candidates. In moments of rupture, leaders will need the community’s trust to navigate the chaos and lay the groundwork for a new society to replace the collapsing structures around us. This journey—from Extinction Rebellion to Just Stop Oil, and now the broader goals of [Umbrella](https://umbrella-org.com/?ref=rogerhallam.com) and a new national movement—aims to achieve what we all want: to change the entire system. --- Hi, [Robin](https://robinboardman.com/?ref=rogerhallam.com) here. I'm Roger's right-hand man and co-director of Revolution in the 21st Century (Rev21). I'm working on building up leadership in our movement through training, books, and conventions. With collapse on its way, we need to prepare for a democratic and nonviolent revolution that will keep fascism at bay. To do that, we need revolutionaries. If you'd like to join the 35 of us helping Roger behind the scenes, then come along for a call to get to know us and the project better. Our welcome calls happen every Second Sunday of the month at 04:00 PM UK time. [Sign Up to Join Revolution in The 21st Century](https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwvdu-trDgsGteUokQAFU2pVyeV%5Fko0Ehoc?ref=rogerhallam.com) Don't have the time to spare? Please support our work with a [one-off donation](https://buy.stripe.com/6oEbLTaRk22QgQU6oo?ref=rogerhallam.com). [It's Not Giving Tuesday But You Can Still Give A One-Off Donation ](https://buy.stripe.com/6oEbLTaRk22QgQU6oo?ref=rogerhallam.com) --- ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## Collapse Is Coming Help me to get on with the job of sorting it out. [Support](https://rogerhallam.com/#/portal/signup/6517fbb3b89c5400016e9f27/yearly) ### 🪞 Finding Freedom Within: Personal Transformation URL: https://rogerhallam.com/the-self/ Last updated: 2024-11-29T09:21:28.000Z In this episode of The Spirit of Revolution, I explore the nature of the self and how understanding it is crucial for both personal and collective action. I share my own struggles with depression and burnout, and how I discovered the power of transcendence—separating the "I" from the emotions and beliefs that trap us. This isn’t just about mental well-being; it's about finding the inner strength to resist the crises we face. By learning to reflect on ourselves, we unlock the ability to act without being consumed by despair. This journey is about building resilience together as we prepare for what’s to come. Join me as we begin the path from self-awareness to revolutionary action. Listen on [Spotify,](https://open.spotify.com/episode/2qcUg6V0Wf73qlFI1srbHf?si=Mb-KiIG-R-68cnDLnsOKlA&ref=rogerhallam.com) [Apple](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-spirit-of-revolution-ep-1-intro/id1671150953?i=1000668886068&ref=rogerhallam.com), [Soundcloud](https://soundcloud.com/roger-hallam-2023/the-spirit-of-revolution-ep1-intro?si=02660373d400489c9ad0e8f873ac5dbc&utm%5Fsource=clipboard&utm%5Fmedium=text&utm%5Fcampaign=social%5Fsharing) or wherever you get your podcasts. We've worked to improve the prison phone sound quality and each episode will come with a newsletter transcript and [video version](https://youtu.be/u9w-VU8iOUE?ref=rogerhallam.com) on Youtube for reading along. ## Episode 3 - The Self You might say that I am in the business of persuasion. Before I got involved in this surreal task of trying to stop social collapse and human extinction, I ran small businesses, and a lot of that work is about persuading people—to buy stuff, to work for you, and so on. There are a number of rules of thumb. One is that you cannot take people from zero to 100 in one go; they just phase out. Most of our brains, most of the time, have to go through stages. I have done around 200 talks and interviews on this death project situation that we face—what the opposition calls climate change. You can't go in and tell people straight they're going to die; you have to take it step by step and give examples of each stage of the explanation. I start with the idea that things are real—real in the sense that they can hurt and kill you. Obvious things, like jumping off a building—you do that, and you die, yes, and they're all on board with that. Next, I ask them: Who do they trust to tell them the truth on life and death matters? For instance, if you have a lump in your body, do you go and get a diagnosis from your friend? No, you go to the doctor, and then maybe a professional specialist who has spent decades looking at cases like yours. It is your right, and it is your responsibility, to hear the truth. So, who do you want to hear from when it comes to putting greenhouse gases into the air? Well, obviously, it's the scientist that spent years looking at the situation. They can give you the raw facts, and then their interpretations, and some predictions about those facts. Only after I've done all of this in a talk do I proceed on to the real issue: What does this all mean with regard to carbon emissions? Only when we see what it actually means do we accept that it is real. They help people through the horrific information that they are being given. They need to be aware of their emotional reactions. Have they made the painful move from one set of beliefs to another? This is the liberatory transition from cognitive dissonance—fighting with oneself—to the resolution to take action with others, the congruence between belief and action, which is critical to well-being, the health of the soul, as you might call it. So, this is the process I'm going to follow over the next few episodes. We're going to look at the self, the world, and then time. In this episode, we'll look at self. I am asking you to bear with me here; it may not initially seem obvious, but the direction of travel is, in fact, how to save the world, as you like to call it. I'm going to take you on a bit of a roundabout journey, the first stages of which may not seem particularly relevant. "What's this got to do with anything?" you might say. But you might want to remember the introductory episode about the verdict, description of my reactions and feelings, how I saw what was going on. We might want to think about why saint-like people are enormously influential, even powerful, you might say. This is not because they have access to coercive power, lots of money, or force of arms, but rather because they have a certain way of seeing the world. They don't see the world as being a set of real things, particularly—you might call them idealists as a general rule. They see the world as dependent upon the mind. Of course, we're not thinking we can all suddenly become saints in some classical sense, but they do show a new direction of travel. Like the first movers in the social movement, they are instinctively idealist in this sense. They are not enslaved by the world; their minds are intent, driven even, to change it. They do not see this as an end in itself. But the second move is the people who join once it is set up and help it to take off need to be introduced to these ways of thinking. They need to be taken on a journey of stages along a path. This podcast then looks at ways to take ordinary people, as you might say, on this journey towards resilient, revolutionary collective action. People don't just arrive there of their own accord. The general approach then is to use empirics—by which I mean observation—to enable us to question what we have been told about reality, the real. We tend to believe that observation of the real is the same as the reality that we've been told exists, but as we will see, they soon diverge, or at least things quickly start to become complicated. What we think of as real is certainly oversimplistic. It tends not to move with the times, for example, and the conventional view of the real gets used by the powerful to dominate people, to get their own way. Paradoxically then, there are real problems with reality. A classic example here is economics, which originally was a subject involving a variety of perspectives, but over time it got reduced to a focus on mathematical models dependent upon a specific assumption about motivation—that motivation is a function of material individual self-interest. In recent decades, a renewed interest in empirical observation has shown that sometimes, often in fact, people do not act as economists assume. They do not act according to this supposed self-interest. The very concept of self-interest becomes highly problematic—who is to say what it actually is? ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2024/11/right-side-of-history-min.png) The problem is not that the approach is useless, more that, like all the practice to reality, it is limited. There are many more games in play out there. And so this is the plan here: the first step is for us to entertain the notion of plurality. How you see the world at this moment is not the last word in the matter. "Myself" might not just be X; it could be Y and Z as well, all at the same time. What we are doing is like starting a workout in a mental gym—you are getting more flexible. And this process will become more urgent, of course, as social conditions around us get worse. The ways of seeing, set down by a bunch of brainy white guys several centuries ago, a certain set of received dogmas, are not going to serve as well in the coming years. The thesis of this podcast is that we need new perspectives, and these new perspectives need to be at the root of how we take social action, of how we run our organizations. So, let's get stuck in. I'm going to plough through some stuff, and I might wheel back on some themes. It's not gonna be straightforward, but it is necessary. Let's look at the self. I'm writing on a sheet of paper on a table in my cell. The table is here. I can see it—it exists. When I think about myself, or critically, if I make that two words—"my" and then "self"—I encounter a fundamental problem. I cannot see this self that I am looking at, meaning I cannot see it in the same way as I can see this table now in front of me. This solid thing in my line of sight—the self—is what you might call hidden. It's not actually physically there. You might say that it is invisible, but it is still there in some real sense, not least because if it was not there, I would not be able to see the table. Whole books, decades of lives, as you may know, have been devoted to trying to sort all this out, trying to straighten out the contradictions—or what we should call the paradoxes—involved in what I've just said. And it is fair to say, I think, that some of the best minds in history have gone round in circles on this. The approach I want to suggest we take in this podcast is to consider that this may actually not be a problem. You can scratch your head about it, then forget about it, go for a walk, and the sky does not fall in. You will most likely still be alive tomorrow if you decide you cannot resolve the greatest contradictions of life—not least the relationship between the self and the world. Of course, what I'm suggesting is not a new approach. Some people call this response "pragmatism." Note the word "response" rather than "answer." Note also what will become an ongoing theme—that empirical investigation, if honestly undertaken, is a tool for discovering that the real undermines the real. We become sure about the groundedness of this thing, the self, and also this thing, the world. My aim, then, is simply this: to create a sense of fluidity, a metaphysical plurality, if you want to use that long word. Let's return to our story here. Where are we up to? We are saying that there seems to be a fundamental difference between the nature of the table—this thing in the world—and this thing called the self—us. And there is a problem: what comes first, consciousness or the world? Idealism or realism, as are the technical terms used by Western philosophy. But then there are more difficulties, such as the infinite regression of this self. I view myself, fine, but what or who is the "I" looking at myself? What is this thing that sees, watching the "I" looking at myself? In principle, there's no reason why you cannot continue to ask this question ad infinitum—forever, without end. Tricky. Maybe we can say at this stage there are two categories—this could be our provisional staging post. There is this thing, the world, and there's this thing, the self. The latter is there, it's just you can't see it. The nature of the self, then, is what I would call suspended. It seems to have no solid foundation, or at least we cannot find one. But this definitely does not mean, in a sense, that it's not real. Note that word "sense"—that realization is a key step on our journey to recognize the suspendedness of a thing. It's okay. It's emotionally acceptable to us. We're not running from the room in terror. As I said, the sky is not falling in. The key point is that we do not have to choose between this binary—between the real and the not real. Once it feels okay, we're on our way. Maybe it's a bit like the posters on the walls of this prison I'm in. They say, "Some people are gay. Get over it." You accept the way things are, and suddenly the lightbulb moment comes on—it's okay, life goes on. We'll come on to discuss how this process is more about emotion, about our psychology, than some 18th-century notion of refined reason. So now we have this idea of suspendedness. What next? How about functionality, meaning you can—you do—something with this situation. That is, something can be useful to us. It is therapeutic, and it can help us save this world. Let's think about depression for a moment. Again, lots and lots has been written about depression, but I want to say something brutally simplistic about it: depression is about being stuck. What does it mean to be stuck? When people say, "I am depressed," they are fundamentally not acknowledging the nature of the word "I" in that sentence—the "I" looking at me being depressed, meaning the realization that there are two things: the "I" and then the "me" being depressed. The "I" then is not depressed. The "I" is looking at the depressed "me." Once this is realized, there is in principle an escape route—the "I" can organize the escape. The realization is that, in fact, you are not your depression. You are not it. This realization can come into being by thinking about two related ideas. First is self-reflexivity—the ability to see yourself and to realize that is what you are doing: seeing yourself, to see the "I" looking at the self. Some people are so into themselves that, as you might say, they find it almost impossible to get out of themselves. They are stuck, enmeshed. Children are often like this. They are literally overwhelmed by their emotions. It's like they \*are\* their emotions. They are swept along by some massive flow of being—they can't extract themselves. The problem, of course, extends into adulthood. We all experience it. You see it a lot in prison—people so full of their distress, their anger, and rage, they cannot see themselves at all. At the same time, prison is also full of people who, paradoxically, have become very good at being aware of themselves. They've learnt it the hard way, you might say. They come to realize that a lack of self-reflexivity is a big problem, stopping them from getting on and living their lives. So, there's more than a philosophical conundrum going on here, right? The ability to reflect on yourself, on your emotions and your behavior, leads on to a more general idea—maybe the central idea of this podcast—and that is transcendence. This might be described as a deep ability to move outside of oneself, to look at oneself from the outside, simply to \*watch.\* Something like that. Words don't quite grasp it, but I hope that is a good enough-to-go definition for now. This ability, then, is what I would call the meta-therapeutic move. It is a deep structural thing—the ability to see you're not your depression, for instance. In fact, you're not actually \*anything\* towards anything. Things like depression are actually constructions. As such, they're not solid. You're not stuck. You can get out and escape, or at least the situation is not hopeless, even if it feels like it. And there are, of course, lots of therapeutic approaches and practices that work off of this idea—that people can see this escape route. It is, then, a move, a transition from rigidity to fluidity. And of course, this process does not work every time. If only the world was so simple! As we have mentioned about this journey, the lightbulb moments occur, and then, annoyingly, they fall back—we fall back. We are all different; we have different personalities. Another scene we're going to consider—it's a big error, then, to think that everyone is the same. We are not. So, this takes us to the endpoint of this podcast. Let's have a little peep at it: the direction of travel. I will illustrate it by giving you two personal stories to finish off this episode. When I was a teenager, I was not happy. Apart from all the standard, excruciating challenges of navigating a route from childhood to adulthood, I found myself endlessly fuming and bitter about the injustices of this world. Not least the bright idea that some people had that it would be okay, in certain circumstances, to release nuclear warheads to the point of creating a nuclear winter, meaning the death of the whole human race in a matter of weeks. It gave me a good few sleepless nights. By the time I got to being 21, this rage had expanded to the whole system—the whole system out there that allowed this possibility to happen—and then critically expanded towards those other activists I worked with. They knew what was going on, and yet they were self-evidently not pulling their weight, given humanity was on the edge of total destruction. This is a familiar tension in radical culture, and I was an extreme case. Then I literally had a revelation one day—it hit me out of the blue, a lightbulb moment. The revelation was this: that I can try and save the world and be totally miserable and bitter while I do it, or I can try and save the world and decide \*not\* to be totally bitter and miserable. The choice suddenly seemed crystal clear. I could separate my actions from my feelings—ah-ha! And if anything, it would make me a far more effective activist by not being such an irritable fucker all the time. You know the type. Practically, it meant when I woke up in the morning—at least on a good day—I had no expectations of other people. I did my best, did what I could, and did not get attached to the actions, or lack of them, of others. This did not stop me from feeling depressed and angry, but a fundamental change had happened: now I knew there objectively existed an escape route. I did not have to entertain myself, as I tend to put it. I had a choice. The act of transcendence is like a physical muscle—the more you practice doing it, the stronger you get at doing it. The more I consciously decided to transcend myself and my situation, my emotions, and the shittiness of this world, the better I got at it. And as many of you know, I am sure, this is a lifetime journey and challenge. So then, when I got to my 30s, I had a really bad experience. Six months or so afterwards, every morning when I woke up, I’d be okay for a moment, and then I would remember—\*bang\*—it hit me like a sledgehammer: an overwhelming depression. I was swamped with a feeling of self-contempt. I could not understand why I was still alive. I wanted to die, and for months, I was helpless to stop it—such was its intensity. All I knew was I would have to wait. Very gradually, I re-identified myself. I rediscovered the "I" that could watch myself being subject to this monster. I envisioned it a bit like being in a room with this raging, thieving thing pushing me up against the wall, such that I could not move. And then again, I gradually worked out a way to skip past it without it noticing and escape through the door. And then I'd be okay for a little while. And then it would come back, and I'd be trapped up against the wall again. Maybe I was lucky, blessed with this ability to slip out, or maybe it was an aspect of my personality—who knows? But there was definitely an element of personal agency. In part, it was because I knew about this transcendence thing, this withered muscle that could get stronger through its use. As I say, I discovered it in my 20s and have been developing it ever since. This experience, then, was a bit like some advanced crash course to take things to the next level. The whole experience massively strengthened me. I became a lot more resilient. Whatever happens to me in this world, whatever happens will be happening to \*myself\*, the self, not the "I" watching the self. The "I" is, in some fundamental sense, not of this world—as they say—it cannot be touched by the world, however terrible it is. To realize this, then, is to sense the source of a completely different sort of power—a power not based in this world, but that comes from somewhere else. Which leads us back to the big idea of this podcast, the core proposition that we will build upon: that we can respond effectively to the ubiquitous burnout that undermines the resistance we need at the present time, that cripples our ability to act in service and in solidarity, to combine together to respond to the real crisis that exists. We can realize that all our horror at what is happening in this world can, in fact, be transcended. The essence of being human is nothing to do with our being \*in\* this world—it is to do with having a choice. The choice to transcend or not transcend, the choice to realize or not realize. We are children of God, as they said in the past. But bringing ourselves back to practicalities, all this is about just that—practice, in both senses of the word. First, to practice as a single person, to self-reflect so it becomes a second nature. So you can go, "Ooh, something big is coming up—I need to watch myself," like with my verdict experience, rather than going, "Something big is coming up—ah!" And secondly, in an eclectic sense, to engage in a practice with others in community. As we all come onto this, it involves collective rituals, events that bring people together, so we realize we are not alone. We are already together; we just need to realize this and enact that togetherness. This, then, is the direction of travel. Again, as I say, don't think you have to have all this sorted right now based on what I've just said. You don't need to make any final judgment—in fact, please don't. You can just sit with it and go, "Yeah, I sort of get it, it sounds interesting." In the next episode, I will move on to the other two things: the world and time. [Donate To Support Roger's Work From Prison](#/portal/signup) --- As always, you can sign up for nonviolent civil resistance with [Just Stop Oil](https://juststopoil.org/?ref=rogerhallam.com) in the UK or via the [A22 Network](https://a22network.org/en/?ref=rogerhallam.com) internationally. If you want to get involved in the democratic revolution, join an upcoming [Welcome to Assemble](https://timetoassemble.org/events/?ref=rogerhallam.com) talk. --- ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get on with the job of sorting it out. [Support](https://rogerhallam.com/#/portal/signup/6517fbb3b89c5400016e9f27/yearly) ### 🤍 The Love Paradigm: How Mini-Assemblies Can Save Us URL: https://rogerhallam.com/the-love-paradigm/ Last updated: 2024-11-20T18:14:11.000Z At our monthly [Free As A Bird](https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwsc-qtrjwvHdDdobE6XJcb802cADP6qxGX?ref=rogerhallam.com) strategy discussion, I outlined how Trump’s re-election isn't the end for the revolution. It's an opportunity to begin. In the following recording and transcript of my talk, I'll outline how this moment could be the trigger we need to build a new world—one rooted in love, not power. By shifting our thinking, organising assemblies, and fostering deep connection, we can counter despair and fascism alike. I discuss the foundational human need for love and how it transforms politics, drawing from psychology and practical examples. From personal stories to assembly blueprints, I lay out a roadmap for creating mass movements capable of real change. Enjoy. You can also listen to the talk on [Soundcloud](https://soundcloud.com/roger-hallam-2023/bonus-how-to-beat-fascism?si=ec9b68100c144fae85098d3697a2cd82&utm%5Fsource=clipboard&utm%5Fmedium=text&utm%5Fcampaign=social%5Fsharing) or wherever you get my podcast. [Join The Next Strategy Discussion](https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwsc-qtrjwvHdDdobE6XJcb802cADP6qxGX?ref=rogerhallam.com) ## Transcript Hello everybody, We're all thinking about Trump winning the US election. It's easy, isn't it, to go into panic mode? It's all terrible; it all feels so hopeless. What I want to suggest in this talk is that all of this is very far from being true. In fact, Trump winning the election again could well be the trigger for people to finally get their act together and create the new world we all want. Of course, there's no guarantee—I could be talking rubbish. It could well be terrible and hopeless. But what I'm saying is that at the same time, there is massive potential for it to do the opposite. As ever, it's up to us—us on this call—and especially our willingness to work together on what works best and act according to the spirit of being the humans that we are. So, what's the plan? The first thing we need to get our heads around is that the whole way we see how the world has to change *has to change itself*. There are no shortcuts here. This is crucial. The reason we are panicking is because we've learned to see the world in a zero-sum way, in an "us and them" political way. There is only power, and now they’ve just got lots of it, and so we're done for. It's fight-and-flight stuff, and it simply isn't true. The way we're taught to think about politics is itself an insidious ideology—that there is only power: me versus you. As some of you know, for a while now, I've been pointing out that the foundational human need is love, not power. And when I say this, I am absolutely not saying something soppy or sentimental, some wishful-thinking thing. By love, I mean it in a classical or biblical way. It is an *act*, not a feeling—the act of enhancing the well-being of the other. We need to give and receive love. Love is attention, recognition. You basically cannot psychologically survive without each other, without love. We need love when we are born and we're helpless; we die without it. And when we're approaching death, we need the love of others to care for us. During the decades in between, we need it too—for a partner, from friends, from work colleagues. You see what I mean? The more you think about it, there's nothing idealistic about this point of view—it’s pretty obvious. And as I say, there's nothing sentimental here, because the desire to give and receive love is actually a *raging* desire. If we are denied it, we become destructive—to others or to ourselves, and very often both. We need to start here because this enables us to reframe self-interest. As the phrase goes, the desire for power is not the foundational need but simply one strategy to get our foundational need fulfilled: the need for love. In other words, love comes first. The power strategy is a deficient way to get it. It does not work—or at the very least, it is radically suboptimal. Let’s put it like that. And, of course, like any foundational scheme, this idea about love cannot be conclusively proved. It has a mythical element—a feeling for what it is that we are. But at the very least, it is a more attractive view of humanity than all this “other than” stuff. Now, they will show there is a wealth of empirical evidence for how it works. Some of you may know some of these examples, so sorry if I’m repeating them again, but I think they get to the core of how we construct an effective strategy for dealing with fascism. We all know that a climate crisis, in practice, in how it’s going to affect us, is most likely not directly by storms or floods. What’s going to happen—what’s going to *do us in* (kill us)—are the secondary, all-pervasive effects: meaning political disruption, social breakdown, and the default taking of power by fascist forces. What we have just seen with Trump, then, is just an initial reminder of how this is going to happen. But it only happens because the progressive forces have not got their act together, because they don’t get how humans *tick* and then fail to organise on the basis of that knowledge. We all know there is nothing more important than this. Fascism in power—we all know where that leads. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2024/11/Fossil-fuel-global.webp) So, let’s look at some examples of how things can happen that support the love frame on human action. Let’s start with something that’s slightly funny: why do fascist men stop being fascist? Yeah, you got it—when they get a girlfriend. I can’t remember whether this is *the* main reason, but it’s definitely *a* main reason. When people receive love, attention, recognition, they stop being fascist. In fact, there are a whole host of studies where people have consciously gone into far-right spaces, listened to people, befriended them, and then these people very often leave that space again. Why? Because they’re getting attention and recognition. So, another question: what was the main learning from the recent English riots? It was when a young Muslim woman and her friends came out of a mosque with plates of snacks and gave them to the angry demonstrators. Within minutes, they were having good chats—let’s face it, you can’t resist a good samosa. I use this approach over and over again myself. In the 200-odd public talks I’ve done on the crisis, conspiracy theorists and right-wing people show up and try to disrupt my speech. I’ll do a deal with them: to fully listen to them in the discussion afterwards. Afterwards, then, I’ll get them in a circle and just listen, summarise their questions—and then they’ll just carry on. They’ll be off and away. I remember probably the UK’s top conspiracy guy turning up, and after sitting with him and his ten followers for, say, 20 minutes, he got up, shook my hand, and left. And then there’s the story of me being late for a wedding. Yes, I took a taxi. The driver found out I was a climate campaigner. He started ranting on about heat spots and everything. I affirmed everything he said, listening to all his points. And then, when I got out at the end of the journey, he stuck his head out of the window and said, “Look, if I could afford it, I’d buy an electric car tomorrow.” So, this last story is not exactly scientifically significant—I didn’t do 100 taxi conversations. But there are people who *have* done this over and over again, and it works. And you can understand why it works if you situate your perspective within the love paradigm instead of the power-ideology paradigm. The vast majority of people believe things not because they are true in themselves, but because the belief is a means to get what they really want—which is attention and recognition, to be listened to. They want love. And if someone or some operation comes along and does that really well, then they will believe what you believe instead. This is why social media opinion-forming is super shallow. People change their opinion if they sit down with a nice person who listens to them and sees things differently in a matter of minutes. I mean, who gives a shit about social media? It just can’t compete with the real thing—a human conversation. I’m not being naive here. As with any social group, there is a power-law curve. Meaning, for instance, 80% of Trump supporters will change their view if they’re listened to consistently. Maybe 19% are going to be resistant and need a good few conversations for them to at least have doubts. And 1% are, frankly, psychopathic—and they’re never going to change, or hardly ever. All groups are like this. Think about prisoners: 80% of the guys in this prison I’m in should be let out tomorrow and just be given some proper support, a consistent helping hand. But 1% arguably should never be let out, because that’s super done-in. In other words, we need a sectional analysis. We need to be sophisticated in what we’re saying. None of this is new. The most influential psychologist of the 20th century, Carl Rogers, as you may know, discovered scientifically in the 1950s that listening to people and giving unconditional positive regard was the best way of helping them heal and grow. It was a revolution in understanding the person and led to a massive change in how we look at psychological distress and the need for counselling. So, we need a similar revolution in what we call politics. It needs to be taken away from the economic paradigm that has dominated it for hundreds of years—all that self-interest stuff—and be given to psychology. Politics as a branch of psychology, not economics. Politics is the need for attention in the context of social decisions. That’s all it is. So, what’s the equivalent of the accounting revolution for dealing with social and political distress? This is the exciting bit: it’s the assembly revolution. Meaning listening, but on a social scale. I’ll stick my head out here and say we are 80% certain of being able to create a mass movement ten times the size of Extinction Rebellion using this method. Organizations that can compete with fascism, not with power, but by dissolving that power through the same mechanisms Rogers discovered—through listening. At the moment, I’m working with the team in Assemble in the UK, and we’ve come up with micro-designs and processes which, when repeated, should enable assemblies to grow exponentially, to create critical campaigns that can take over councils and governments. It’s as big as that. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2024/11/community-assembly-2.jpg) I’m not going to go into all those details in this talk, obviously, but I am writing a book about it, as it happens. That said, let me be as clear as I can be on this: you should not focus on the big endgame stuff but rather on the here and now. You, listening to me now. The most important moment by far in creating a social movement—and I’ve done it a few times now, so I sort of know what I’m talking about—is the first meeting. Remember, XR started with 15 people in a room. Last Generation in Germany started with five miserable young people on a Zoom call—I remember it well. I’ve just read today that Podemos, the most popular left party in Europe, started with a meeting of 28 people. And how many people are on this call? Look around—exactly. So it will all be fine. So again, what’s the plan? The plan is to make a start. A first step. It’s as simple as that. Robin is going to outline the creation of [regional Rev21 groups around the world](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1POlBBW0BxhrEPegCtDaXnpCaykyugWA3gXG8TOr7jBA/edit?tab=t.0&ref=rogerhallam.com) from the few thousand people we have on our mailing list. Whether a lot of people or not, it will be based on a region or even a city. Where there are only a few people, the group might just cover a whole country. You will agree to meet four times together, and during that time, each person will agree to run a mini-assembly themselves—with fellow activists, friends, family, people you know, online or offline, whatever works best. But really, just a few people is fine—five to ten people. The running of the mini-assembly is very straightforward, but it’s crucial you stick to the format. You start by going around, and each person listens to each other. They say what their background is, their life journey to this point, and how they’ve come to the meetup. The second step in the mini-assembly is to go around again, with each person sharing what they feel isn’t going well—in their city, their country, or even the world. Once more, everyone speaks, and everyone is listened to. After this, there’s a bit of discussion about what people notice in common. Finally, in the last go-round, each person offers three to four things they want to see changed. These could be specific policies, ways of organising, or the big issues they care about. Together, the group works to agree on four or five key issues or demands they share. Then comes the critical part: everyone in the group is invited to run a mini-assembly themselves. For example, someone might organise one in Perth. Those participants, in turn, are encouraged to do the same. And so on. A mini-assembly only takes about an hour to an hour and a half. It’s not a big deal. You might want to start or end with some food to make it nice and social. But over several iterations, if five more mini-assemblies come from each initial one, we could involve tens of thousands of people in just two to three months. Do the maths! This creates the momentum needed for a series of offline assemblies in local areas. These assemblies can then form alternative councils to make local demands—or even put up community candidates in elections. It’s a clear pathway from collective action to power, making it credible. And alongside this, there are rallies, marches, sit-downs, tax resistance, and, of course, my personal favourite—the banquet. There’s about 50 pages of details on this, still being polished, but Rev21 is an excellent place to get this going. And it’s not something we’ll do in isolation—we’ll link up with existing projects in different countries. If this all sounds a bit high in the sky, let me remind you of recent history. In many Western countries, campaigns have gone from zero to major players in a matter of months. Take the Greek party Syriza: they went from 4% to 40% during the debt crisis in just a year. Podemos in Spain went from nothing to 20% in the elections in about the same time. Macron in France built a movement in six months by having his supporters listen to 50,000 people about the changes they wanted. Jeremy Corbyn went from a political nobody to leading the Labour Party in months. And Bernie Sanders? He started with 2% name recognition and built a movement of half a million volunteers to compete for the Democratic nomination. The lesson here is clear: when there’s no authentic left option, people vote for fascists instead. It’s happened over and over in history. Now, all those campaigns I mentioned had significant cultural and design problems. And that’s good news. Why? Because we can learn from their half-successes to create something that will actually change the world—to create a new civilisation. Not because we’re arrogant or hubristic, but because unless we do this, unless we change the whole system, nothing is going to change. And the unimaginable will become locked in. So, what a time to be alive, friends! One last thing: I’m pretty cheerful about the prospects, and I’m saying this from a prison cell. So, you’ve got no excuse not to cheer up and get on with the job! This will take a few months—quite possibly a few years—but we can’t pretend we don’t have a strategy that could work. So, we just need to do it. Okay, thanks so much, everyone. Thanks for all your incredible work. Sending you all my love. Bye. --- Want to get involved in the Mini-Assembly Project? [Sign up!](https://actionnetwork.org/forms/mini-assemblies?source=direct%5Flink&) [Sign Up For Mini-Assemblies](https://actionnetwork.org/forms/mini-assemblies?source=direct%5Flink&) --- ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## Collapse Is Coming Help me to get on with the job of sorting it out. [Support](https://rogerhallam.com/#/portal/signup/6517fbb3b89c5400016e9f27/yearly) ### 💲 Beyond the Big Lie: The Return of America’s Class Struggle URL: https://rogerhallam.com/the-return-of-americas-class-struggle/ Last updated: 2024-11-12T15:43:38.000Z *"It is better to be less understandable, less pleasing, less moving, than to speak what is not true and not just."* — St. Augustine The ancient Persian religion Zoroastrianism was founded on rejecting "The Lie"—not merely because lying is wrong but because it violates humanity and is a crime against the cosmos. Truth was seen as holy, while lying was a path to ruin. The truth is that America, like Britain, is now run by the rich, for the rich. To say otherwise is a lie. And for the wealthy to rob the poor is unjust. It always was and always will be. This is a fundamental principle. To steal from the poor is one thing, a material wrong. But to do so while pretending otherwise is something else entirely. That act doesn’t just rob the body but corrupts the soul — a far greater crime. This is the crime of the Democratic Party. For decades, it has talked the talk while betraying America’s working class. Claiming the "progressive" mantle, it has actively transferred wealth from the poor to the rich, destroying communities in favour of quarterly returns. We all know this. When you lie cynically, you corrupt not only yourself but your audience as well. If you make people gaze into the abyss long enough, that abyss will gaze back at them. From that abyss comes fascism. When elites — those we’re told to respect — speak nonsense, people will take that as permission to do the same, believing that a billionaire can deliver justice. Voting for Trump is a people’s defiant response to those who have insulted their souls with a ‘Big Lie’ year after year after year. Being subjected to such deceit inevitably breeds a desire for self-destruction. Power, especially the power of Capital, has one playbook: divide and rule. For decades, its "progressive" representatives have told us it’s about race, gender, and ethnicity. That’s a lie. At its core, it’s about class. Yes, the liberation of specific oppressed groups is essential, but only within the context of the larger story: the oppression of all groups by the rich. Progressivism in America has become rich people telling the poor who’s more oppressed than whom. It’s vile nonsense; it’s a Big Lie. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2024/11/wtf-demo.png) The results of the 2024 election demonstrate that the game is up. People have stopped thinking of themselves solely by identity labels like "women," "Black," or "Hispanic." Instead, they see themselves as "the people" — people who can’t afford basic groceries. And with no candidate truly standing up for their class interests, they’ve turned to the next best option: someone who claims he will. Because, yes, he’s a fascist, but he’s not part of the managerial elite — that administrative class of university-educated people who talk the talk but in reality, micro-manage the working class in service to a state that serves Capital. Who would vote for that? In the past four years, the Democrats have overseen record-high oil and gas production, and Trump will continue this suicidal course. Soon, the elites will have made Florida uninhabitable, forced evacuations of the American Southwest, and caused millions of refugees to flood across borders. To claim otherwise is the greatest Big Lie of all. People will then face a fundamental choice: to embrace a fascism that sacrifices the vulnerable, an anti-Christian civilisation, or to choose a socialism that extends charity to the vulnerable, a Christian civilisation. So what’s the plan? The plan is to stop lying. America needs a political party of the people, by the people, for the people. That will never be the Democrats. Their lies have burnt their bridges. The answer lies in a genuine democratic socialist force, but one that moves beyond stale language. People don’t just want "equality" — they want family, community, and nation, all of which are being destroyed by capitalism. They want freedom, dignity, and the chance to create and flourish, which requires ending the neoliberal stranglehold. They don’t want to be ruled; they want to govern themselves, as the American experiment was supposed to promise. Not another oligarchy in new clothes, but a movement that uses the people’s conservative values to stop the rich from robbing them. To speak the truth, even if it’s less understandable, less pleasing, or less moving — because it’s the truth. If a real choice is available, a political force for the latter must start now. To make America truly great, not by superficial strength, but by being true and just — and meaning it. --- If you want to join the social movement that will create this revolution, sign up at [timetoassemble.org](https://timetoassemble.org/events/?ref=rogerhallam.com). [Sign Up To Assemble](https://timetoassemble.org/events/?ref=rogerhallam.com) --- ### **How To Beat Fascism** If you want to know the plan, then come to my next *Free As A Bird* prison [strategy talk on Nov 17](https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwsc-qtrjwvHdDdobE6XJcb802cADP6qxGX?ref=rogerhallam.com). Join the monthly discussion to help find your way into resistance and meet other revolutionaries. [Join The Zoom Assembly](https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwsc-qtrjwvHdDdobE6XJcb802cADP6qxGX?ref=rogerhallam.com) You can now watch the last edition and get an introduction to *Revolution in The 21st Century* from Robin. --- ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get on with the job of sorting it out. [Support](https://rogerhallam.com/#/portal/signup/6517fbb3b89c5400016e9f27/yearly) ### 👪 How to Stop Fascism URL: https://rogerhallam.com/how-to-stop-fascism/ Last updated: 2024-11-06T10:44:23.000Z One word. *Proximity.* Let me explain. In a now largely forgotten book published in 1989 called *Modernity and the Holocaust*, Polish-Jewish sociologist Zygmunt Bauman examined the overwhelming evidence for why the Holocaust happened. It required a gang of political adventurers who seized control of the German state, wielding its immense organisational and industrial capacity. But this still leaves the question of *how* they managed it. In a key section titled *Social Proximity and Moral Responsibility,* Bauman argues that the decisive factor wasn’t ideology but the creation of psychological and physical distance between Jewish people and the rest of the population. In 1933 the Nazis called for a boycott of Jewish businesses. It failed because too many non-Jewish Germans personally knew their local Jewish shop owners and felt a moral responsibility not to harm them. The Nazis learnt from this and, over the next decade, progressively reduced the proximity between Jews and other Germans. Jewish people were forced to wear identifying badges, then moved into camps, and ultimately, when they were murdered, the separation had become so vast that most people felt no moral responsibility to intervene. To prevent fascism, we must do the opposite. A pro-social movement of political adventurers must take control of the state and progressively increase proximity. Proximity—not "economic growth"—is the key determinant of a flourishing civilisation. It’s what people truly crave: to connect, to sit down in small groups and talk. We care about "politics" and "self-interest" only to the extent that they foster this connection. Love—mutual care and recognition—is humanity’s foundational need. This truth spans the social sciences and is echoed in the wisdom traditions. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2024/11/Screenshot-2024-10-23-103214.png) House of The People Gathering Let me give a few examples. In my [award-winning research](https://radicalthinktank.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/how-to-win-10-15.pdf?ref=rogerhallam.com) at King’s College London I showed that if people sit in small circles to discuss a social issue (with biscuits on the table!) for most of a public meeting, 80% leave feeling empowered. In contrast, only 20% feel empowered after a conventional meeting with a series of speakers and no small group discussion. Research shows most people initially attend campaign meetings not for political reasons, but because a friend invited them or they seek human connection. A Harvard study on negotiation found the single biggest predictor of success is whether the other party personally likes you. The early Christian church, one of the most successful movements in history, didn’t convert people through doctrinal persuasion but by fostering friendships. The evidence is overwhelming. "It’s absolutely fantastic," one trade union leader told me after restructuring his events around small group discussions. Progressives and the Left fail repeatedly because they are wedded to an Enlightenment secular religion that assumes people respond to ideas over emotions and ideology over connection. They’re embarrassingly mistaken. Fascist men, for instance, often abandon their views after forming personal relationships—such as getting a girlfriend. There are countless stories of individuals entering far-right spaces, listening, building personal connections, and subsequently helping others to leave those spaces. During the recent English riots a group of Muslims, faced with an angry crowd outside their mosque, offered food and listened to people’s concerns. Conversations ensued, tensions eased, and constructive dialogue began. I’ve given over 200 public talks on the climate crisis, often with right-wing conspiracy theorists turning up to disrupt. I never argue with them but thank them for sharing their views and invite them to discuss afterwards. I take them aside in a small group, summarise their questions as they speak, and they continue talking. It works wonders. One of the main right-wing conspiracy theorists in the UK even shook my hand afterwards. Proximity can build a connection in minutes. Of course this doesn’t work every time, and ideas have their place. But as Carl Rogers, one of the most influential psychologists of the last century discovered, listening with "unconditional positive regard" is the single most effective way to promote personal healing and growth. Rogers sparked a counselling revolution, transforming therapy. We need a similar revolution to transform politics. Change won’t come through conventional politics but by circumventing it. We must create proximity directly—through door-knocking and local assemblies organised around small group listening. This is the next political revolution. I’m convinced that new movement parties could rise from zero to winning local and national elections in six months with these methods. We’ve already seen similar success with new parties in recent years. But it needs perfecting. A national project would require around £1 million to get started. Anyone with money out there would see a far better return by investing in this method to counter the far-right threat, rather than wasting funds on conventional political strategies. We can either build a new civilisation based on closeness and connection or let humanity destroy itself by ignoring how we actually function. Getting this right, right now, is of utmost importance. You know exactly what I mean. If you want to join the social movement that will create this revolution, sign up at [timetoassemble.org](https://timetoassemble.org/events/?ref=rogerhallam.com). [Sign Up To Assemble](https://timetoassemble.org/events/?ref=rogerhallam.com) --- I am running this fundraiser to help keep this vital work going while I am locked up. I will take none of your money for myself. The teams I work with will use it to run the platforms to promote this global strategy and help set up and support national initiatives. I am convinced we can unlock millions in funding as people with money realise we need a bottom-up democratic revolution and want to help people with a track record of creating mass mobilisations. This is not the time to pretend this money is just for another campaign. Those days have gone. Think of what you could give and then double it again. Remember, it won’t be worth much in a decade, will it? Give every monthly and help build this movement. I may be in prison for a while, but I am committed to spending this time in my cell, supporting movements in any way I can. This is my life. Thank you so much for your support. [Donate to Support Roger's Work in Prison](#/portal/support) --- ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get on with the job of sorting it out. [Support](https://rogerhallam.com/#/portal/signup/6517fbb3b89c5400016e9f27/yearly) ### 🇺🇸 The Conquistadors Are Coming: A Letter to Americans as You Vote URL: https://rogerhallam.com/the-conquistadors-are-coming/ Last updated: 2024-11-05T14:57:22.000Z The conquistadors are coming up the hill. They’ve been marching for weeks from the coast to the Inca capital—130 Spaniards against a massive empire of 20 million Incas with a thousand years of history. Nothing to worry about, surely? And yet, two weeks later, the Spanish had captured the Inca King and crushed the Empire. How did it happen? Three things: horses, armour, gunpowder. And one more: the Incas didn’t take them seriously. They saw just 130 men who could have been defeated at any moment. But they waited—and by then, it was too late. Fast forward. The conquistadors are here again. They’re bringing hurricanes to one place, droughts to another. Just part of life? But this time, they wield three new forces: 1. **Heat Imbalance** – The Earth is trapping more heat than ever. In the past 15 years, the imbalance has doubled. 2. **Heat Sensitivity** – By 2045, the level of CO₂ in our air is set to double, pushing temperatures up by 4 to 8°C. 3. **Nature’s Carbon Sinks** – The oceans, forests, and soil once absorbed more carbon than they emitted. Now, they’re doing the opposite. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2024/11/better-heat-imbalance.png) When the Spanish marched on the Incas, the Empire was in the grip of a civil war. Today, the US elections are our own civil conflict. Once again, the true threat goes unseen. We know that Trump will skyrocket emissions. And, in truth, Harris is hardly different. Oil and gas production reached new highs under Biden, and Harris now supports fracking. Heat imbalance. Heat sensitivity. Carbon sinks. Any one of these forces could devastate America within two decades if we don’t act. **Forever.** With 4°C of warming, half the world could become uninhabitable. Half of America could be gone. Those 130 conquistadors could have been stopped at any moment. But the Incas were distracted, unable to see the threat for what it was. They didn’t understand it. It was too new, too strange. This is how civilisations fall—by ignoring the unfamiliar, by looking away as new dangers emerge, by leaders refusing to see the world as it is. Neither political party in America dares to look up. Only a new political force can save this country. Deep down, many of you already know this. You can feel the urgency. I am one of the world’s leading campaigners, and tomorrow I will show you how we can create this force in months. How to stop fascism. How to save America. How to save your souls. Join [Assemble US](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1OV8q09Y%5FR1Ri%5F4O1XgbecFnoRKFg3k%5F4J7itira8ATo/edit?ref=rogerhallam.com) *Roger Hallam* *Her Majesty’s Prison Wayland, UK, October 2024* [Join Assemble USA](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1OV8q09Y%5FR1Ri%5F4O1XgbecFnoRKFg3k%5F4J7itira8ATo/edit?ref=rogerhallam.com) --- As always, you can sign up for nonviolent civil resistance with [Just Stop Oil](https://juststopoil.org/?ref=rogerhallam.com) in the UK or via the [A22 Network](https://a22network.org/en/?ref=rogerhallam.com) internationally. If you want to get involved in the democratic revolution, join an upcoming [Welcome to Assemble](https://timetoassemble.org/events/?ref=rogerhallam.com) talk. [Donate to Support Roger's Work in Prison](#/portal/support) --- ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get on with the job of sorting it out. [Support](https://rogerhallam.com/#/portal/signup/6517fbb3b89c5400016e9f27/yearly) ### ⛰️ 47 Million In Galicia: A Prison Letter to the Glorious People of Spain URL: https://rogerhallam.com/47-million-in-galicia/ Last updated: 2024-11-05T02:53:39.000Z [Versión en español](https://rogerhallam.com/47-millones-en-galicia/) Yesterday, the three days of mourning declared by the Spanish regime came to an end. And so, capitalism resumes its work—destroying your family, your community, your region, your country. Not just for a few days, a year, a generation, or even a lifetime. No. Forever. For eternity. Capitalism—this system of death—has you working towards your demise and universal destruction. It knows no limits, no constraints, and it serves no one. Ten years ago, would it have been possible for a year’s worth of rain to fall in just eight hours? And now, can you dare to believe that, in another decade, five years’ worth of rain won’t flood your village, your sibling’s town, your parents’ city? A decade ago, would you ever have imagined thousands of cars tossed like toys along riverbanks? Can you truly believe that in ten years, we won’t see a hundred thousand lives twisted and torn in those same villages, towns, and cities? They say the desert will soon suffocate you. It will cover your fields, olive groves, the hillsides of your land. And 47 million of you will crowd into Galicia, staring into the void, alone in a sea of people. Will you still be worshipping the idol of Capital, then? And when a child, clinging tight to your arm, Cries out, "What is going on? Why did this happen?" What will you say? "I read a letter from Mr Hallam and did nothing." "I saw, I understood, and yet I stood by." You feel the pressure ease and watch the child walk away. Too late, you realise you needed her more than she ever needed you, And suddenly the air is too hot to breathe. Your end is coming, but you are so far from home. Resistance is not a journey, a trek to a foreign place. It is coming home to rest where you've always been, It is coming home to be what you always were: A being, made to care, to love, to protect. Go to Madrid, make a demand, and do not come back. Whether there is just one of you, a hundred, ten thousand, It matters not. For however many join you, Whatever happens, you will never be alone again. The evil will be banished from your heart, And the spirit, once more holy, will lift you up. As in the stories of the past, You will become what you always were – Truly glorious. *Roger Hallam* *Her Majesty’s Prison Wayland, UK, October 2024* ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2024/03/roger-zeit-1-1.JPG) ## Join Me In the Revolution of Our Lives Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No nonsense. Change your mind anytime. --- Valencia happens now every week. Within a decade it will be happening every day. Then every hour, then every minute. Hell on earth for ever and ever. Yes, we will lose our incomes. Yes, we will lose our economies. But a million times worse, we will violate the most basic moral duty of every human life - to protect the future for our children. What total utter evil is this? The only Redemption is Rebellion. To put a line in the sand. Don't ever pretend that you didn't have a choice. [Donate To Support Roger's Work From Prison](#/portal/signup) --- As always, you can sign up for nonviolent civil resistance with [Just Stop Oil](https://juststopoil.org/?ref=rogerhallam.com) in the UK or via the [A22 Network](https://a22network.org/en/?ref=rogerhallam.com) internationally. If you want to get involved in the democratic revolution, join an upcoming [Welcome to Assemble](https://timetoassemble.org/events/?ref=rogerhallam.com) talk. --- ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get on with the job of sorting it out. [Support](https://rogerhallam.com/#/portal/signup/6517fbb3b89c5400016e9f27/yearly) ### ⛰️ 47 Millones en Galicia: Una Carta desde la Prisión al Glorioso Pueblo de España URL: https://rogerhallam.com/47-millones-en-galicia/ Last updated: 2024-11-08T06:03:42.000Z Ayer terminaron los tres días de luto declarados por el régimen español. Así, sin más, el capitalismo retoma a su labor, destruyendo tu familia, tu comunidad, tu región, tu país. No solamente por unos días o por un año, ni por una generación o una vida. No. Para siempre. Para toda la eternidad. El capitalismo—este sistema de muerte—te obliga a trabajar por tu propia destrucción y para la destrucción universal. No conoce límites, no tiene restricciones y no le sirve a nadie. ¿Hubiera sido posible que cayese en ocho horas la misma cantidad de lluvia que cae en de todo un año, hace diez? Y ahora mismo, ¿te atreves a creerte que en una década no van a caer cinco ańos de agua en un dia sobre tu aldea, la ciudad de tu hermano o la de tus padres? ¿Te hubieras imaginado, hace diez años, miles de coches arrojados como juguetes a lo largo de los ríos? ¿De verdad te crees que dentro de diez años no vamos a ver cien mil vidas retorcidas en esas mismas aldeas, en esos mismos pueblos y ciudades? Dicen que muy pronto te axfisiará el desierto. Que te cubrirá los campos, tus olivares, las laderas de tu tierra. Y que 47 millones de personas se apiñarán en Galicia mirando al vacío, solos en un mar de gente. ¿Seguirás entonces adorando al ídolo del Capital? Y cuando un niño, aferrado a tu brazo,te pregunte, "¿Qué está pasando? ¿Por qué ha ocurrido esto?"¿Qué le vas a responder?"Leí una carta del Sr. Hallam y no hice nada.""Vi, entendí, y aun así me quedé quieto." Sientes cómo se disipa la presión y observas al niño alejándose de ti.Demasiado tarde, te das cuenta de que tú le necesitabas más a él de lo que él te necesitaba a ti,Y de repente, el aire se vuelve demasiado caliente para respirar.Tu final se acerca, pero estás muy lejos de casa. --- La resistencia no es un viaje, una marcha hacia un lugar lejano.Es regresar a casa para descansar donde siempre has estado,Es regresar a casa para ser lo que siempre fuiste:Un ser hecho para cuidar, amar y proteger.Ve a Madrid, haz una demanda y no vuelvas.Ya sea que seas uno, cien o diez mil, No importa. Porque, sin importar cuántos te acompañen,Pase lo que pase, nunca volverás a estar sólo El mal será desterrado de tu corazón,Y el espíritu, de nuevo santo, te elevará.Como en las historias del pasado,Te convertirás en lo que siempre fuiste – Verdaderamente glorioso. *Roger Hallam* *His Majesty’s Prison Wayland, UK, October 2024* [Suscríbete a mi boletín en español aquí.](https://rogerhallam.com/#/portal/account/newsletters) ### 🔥 Hothouse Holocaust: Awaiting The Glory of Resistance URL: https://rogerhallam.com/hothouse-holocaust/ Last updated: 2024-10-29T06:05:17.000Z *This article was recorded down a prison phoneline. You can listen to the original audio with subtitles* [*here*](https://youtu.be/uXku4Hoi34U?ref=rogerhallam.com)*.* > **On our present path, civilisation as we know it will disappear. Only if we meet current commitments — net zero by 2050 — perhaps some form of humanity will survive, managing the challenges of continuing extreme weather events, ice loss, and sea level and temperature rises.** > > *Sir David King, former Chief Scientific Adviser to the UK Government, 2024.* What strikes you about the title *Hothouse Holocaust*? Well, obviously it's the “H” that starts each word, the way it rolls off the tongue. It's not really about what it’s saying; that somehow drifts into the background, some vague unpleasantness. The H’s — that’s the thing. Human beings, eh? We’re a strange bunch. I have this sneaking feeling that when it becomes official, and someone very important finally comes on telly to tell us, *“Unfortunately, it is true. After all, we have left it too late. Climate collapse is now locked in; billions will now die”* — when this happens, there will be a not-insignificant number of viewers who will be more interested in his tie being out of place or that there’s something wrong with his hair. Anything but what he is saying. Human beings... We've heard it all before anyway. It’s been in the air for a long time; those not enmeshed in the mania of denial can smell it. It’s not good. It’s not going to end well. A week or so before writing this, it came out that the carbon sinks are collapsing. Last year they [failed to absorb more carbon than they gave out](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/oct/14/nature-carbon-sink-collapse-global-heating-models-emissions-targets-evidence-aoe?ref=rogerhallam.com) — the forests, the soils, the oceans. It could not be worse news. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2024/10/Screenshot-2024-10-22-114711-1.png) I did a tweet. I wrote “fuck” 4,657 times. Yes, I was wondering too whether that is a world record — at least from someone in prison. The billionaire Elon Musk has given me £700 from his fortune for my efforts, so that’s something, I suppose. It got 35 million views, but no one’s on the streets. That sums up our present moment. I don't want to sound overdramatic, but isn't there someone out there who agrees with me? We are living in the most morally decrepit time in human history — this unbearably surreal moment between reasonable denial and panic-stricken action; the darkest valley of spiritual death, where we can no longer deny but not yet act. We can click on the tweet by the tens of millions, but going to the street? *“Make me good, but not yet.”* Each day is just a waiting, waiting for that one-in-a-million-chance climate event that is now going to happen once a decade for the next hundred thousand years — which finally breaks through, that kills tens of millions of Black people or a few hundred thousand white people (after all, racism has not gone away, right? Let’s at least be honest about that). Waiting, waiting, waiting, and then it happens. The phone rings. It’s some rich person in a mad panic; he’s never donated money in the past, but now he wants to give us millions. Each day of waiting for that phone call means more uncountable, unique lives are condemned to slow, agonizing starvation. I play with variations on the most human of reasonable responses: “*You fucking idiot, you should have given it 10 years ago. Now it’s too fucking late.*” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2024/03/roger-zeit-1-1.JPG) ## Join Me In the Revolution of Our Lives Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No nonsense. Change your mind anytime. I’m reading George Bataille at the moment, the forgotten French thinker who, in the cauldron of hell that was the period of the First and Second World Wars, believed the only consolation was that real idealism was a fraud, cynicism worse. Early on, he realized the most important human attribute is laughter in response to our “thrownness” into this life, as Heidegger put it. Bataille would not have been published by the *Guardian* for reasons not unlike why they won't publish me. I got one or two pieces in at the beginning of the Extinction Rebellion period, but as soon as I got real — well, that was the end of that. What's the phrase? Knowing the price of everything but the value of nothing. The *Guardian* does the facts about the climate crisis but none of the meaning, because the facts apparently are sacred, and so the meaning must be profane. Which is why they say liberalism is not able to stop fascism. I’m writing this just before Trump wins the election. Harris gives the facts; Trump gives meaning. And any social observer who is interested in the real — the really real — knows which one wins out. Evil is dull. I suggest we follow St. Augustine on this — after all, he fought about it a lot — and accept that evil is simply the distortion of the good, a lack of the good, in which case what we face is a total wipeout of the good. But evil, even in its absoluteness, is still dull. There are always the bad guys, no? What makes the blood really boil, what makes you stride around the room in an uncontrollable rage, is hypocrisy. And even worse, betrayal. That great Liberal lie — that I am good, I am upright, I act upon the facts. It is simply not true. You believe in the facts as a substitute for believing in anything else, because to believe in what the facts mean would force you to have to start to live. You would have to move out of the comfort zone of your economic privilege, your secular nihilism. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2024/10/police-protest.png) What matters now is life itself. Not preserving life — that is in the hands of powers beyond our understanding now. What I mean is the decision to live a life now rather than sitting there, clicking, stewing, waiting. What will save us is if and when enough people start to live their life, the life they have been given — that one chance in X trillion that each of us is. Who think it’s a little ungrateful not to take up the offer? Personally, I find myself opting for Neoplatonism. It has a certain mysterious ring to it, don’t you think? The realisation that love, truth, beauty — they’re all one thing, and that one thing is God. We are put onto the stage of life to choose. The right choice is to choose God. We all know what that means; we just need to stop reading the facts and listen for a moment, for the signal in the noise. This is the right choice — a choice of love, truth, beauty. My fellow human beings, it means to enter into the glory of Resistance. *Roger Hallam* *Her Majesty’s Prison Wayland, UK, October 2024* [Donate To Support Roger's Work From Prison](#/portal/signup) --- As always, you can sign up for nonviolent civil resistance with [Just Stop Oil](https://juststopoil.org/?ref=rogerhallam.com) in the UK or via the [A22 Network](https://a22network.org/en/?ref=rogerhallam.com) internationally. If you want to get involved in the democratic revolution, join an upcoming [Welcome to Assemble](https://timetoassemble.org/events/?ref=rogerhallam.com) talk. --- ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get on with the job of sorting it out. [Support](https://rogerhallam.com/#/portal/signup/6517fbb3b89c5400016e9f27/yearly) ### ☠️ Why We're Going Extinct - 5000 Fucks, 30 Million Views, 8 Billion Dead URL: https://rogerhallam.com/why-were-going-extinct/ Last updated: 2024-10-22T12:00:15.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2024/10/Screenshot-2024-10-22-114711.png) 5,000 Fucks, 30 Million Views, 8 Billion Dead *This article was recorded down a prison phoneline. You can listen to the original with subtitles* [*here*](https://youtu.be/7tOB3-DtNik?ref=rogerhallam.com)*.* We are not going extinct because of the climate crisis. We’re going extinct because we can’t think straight. Let me give you a simple example. What, dear human being reading this, is worse: a child trips over a railway line and cuts her knee, or a child is tied to the railway line and a train is coming down the track? Okay, yeah, it’s the second situation. Because although the harm has not yet been caused, it is going to happen, and the kid will die. So far, sound good? Very clever of you. So try this one: what is worse—Auschwitz, the Nazi concentration camp, or a thousand Auschwitzes, the thousand concentration camps coming down the line due to endless global chaos caused by elites allowing the continued emission of carbon? Yep, you got it right—it’s obviously the Nazi horror, right? Because that happened, and 1,000 camps coming down the line have not happened yet, we don’t need to worry about that, right? Burn, baby, burn. We are going extinct because of your “right answer.” Maybe a few of you feel (obviously, this is subjective) that 1,000 is greater than 1, so you don’t want us to go extinct. In which case, for the small percentage of you who have the attention span to get this far down this tweet/article, you might want to know what we need to do. Well, as one of the world’s top campaigners, sitting in a cell after being given a five-year sentence for suggesting we do something effective about going extinct, I have a few ideas I will humbly share with you. First, humility will get you nowhere. The only thing that gets attention is drama, and without attention, you don’t even get past the starting line. Don’t write “scientists are concerned.” Don’t say you’re really upset. Don’t put in a one-off “fuck.” No—put “fuck” 4,568 times. Then you might get 30 million views rather than 1,000. This is what I call the Larry Kramer Law. If you’re not up to speed on the guy who should be considered the greatest campaigner of the last century, you should know that he did not hold back. He turned around the disgusting neglect of gay people dying of AIDS in hospital corridors during the 1980s in just six months. He didn’t ask nicely for people to protest; he said, *“Get out on the streets, or you’re gonna fucking die.”* When TV interviewers asked him shitty questions, he said, *“When you say that, I hate you.”* It’s what social movement academics call the emotional turn. Emotion trumps all those sensible things like “being right.” So, you could say that the reason we are going extinct is not because of all the bad guys—there are always bad guys—it’s because the good guys are so crap at doing their job. But the “climate movement” is like a family friend going to visit the Nazi household in the film *The Zone of Interest*. I’m politely suggesting it is wrong to have people die to further your problematic views. At this point, most of you are going to turn away. It’s like the bit in the Bible when the rich man comes to Jesus and says, *“Hey, so how do I get into the kingdom of heaven?”* And Jesus, speaking truth to power, says, *“You have to give away all your money.”* The man walks off. If you want to stop us from going extinct, it’s very simple: you must be prepared to sacrifice. You have to disrupt to the extent the government puts you in prison for five years—just for starters. When 1,000 people do that, we will be on the foothills of not going extinct. But just about all of you will not do that, right? Because the hell has not happened yet, right? The train has not yet actually sliced up the child’s body on the track. The biggest mistake, though, is not to decide not to act to the point of effectiveness. The most appallingly tragic mistake is to think you have chosen the easier option by walking away, like the rich man. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth. Because what will destroy you is not the fires, the storms, the floods—like the world has never seen. Nor will it be the social effects—the economic depression, the mass migration, the social collapse, the terror of the fascists. No, what will kill you is knowing you read this article and turned away. You saw, you understood, and you did nothing. Nothing real. Nothing that actually would make the difference. Not the emotion. Not the disruption. You disagree, right? Because you’re a person of the world. You’ll handle it like the man who goes to war—he can handle it too, right? And then the guy next to him gets his head blown off, and for the next 30 years, he cannot forgive himself that it was the other guy who got killed and not him. What kills you, you see, is not the world itself but your guilt about the world. Because you are designed to care and love, and if you betray that essence of your being, you rot from the inside. And that inside, one day you realise, is all you’ve got. Jesus was just trying to give the rich man a bit of good advice. So, as Larry says, *“Get out on the streets, otherwise you’re gonna fucking die.”* There are plenty of pathways to action for the few of you who are heroic enough to get this far. Look at the links. And yes, the carbon sinks are collapsing, and the carbon budgets are fucked. And unless there is a massive turnaround, we are going extinct. But as I hope I have explained, that’s not the real story. [Donate To Support Roger's Work From Prison](#/portal/signup) --- As always, you can sign up for nonviolent civil resistance with [Just Stop Oil](https://juststopoil.org/?ref=rogerhallam.com) in the UK or via the [A22 Network](https://a22network.org/en/?ref=rogerhallam.com) internationally. If you want to get involved in the democratic revolution, join an upcoming [Welcome to Assemble](https://timetoassemble.org/events/?ref=rogerhallam.com) talk. --- ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get on with the job of sorting it out. [Support](https://rogerhallam.com/#/portal/signup/6517fbb3b89c5400016e9f27/yearly) ### 🌈 Reasons To Be Cheerful URL: https://rogerhallam.com/reasons-to-be-cheerful/ Last updated: 2024-10-17T06:15:58.000Z If you want to know what I have been up to in prison, then come to my next *Free As A Bird* [strategy talk on Oct 20](https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwsc-qtrjwvHdDdobE6XJcb802cADP6qxGX?ref=rogerhallam.com) on Transcendence or Extinction. Join the monthly discussion to help find your way into resistance and out of the prisons of perception. [Free As A Bird Monthly Talk Sign Up](https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwsc-qtrjwvHdDdobE6XJcb802cADP6qxGX?ref=rogerhallam.com) --- I'm on a wing with a load of "lifers"—people serving life sentences. A while ago, one approached me and asked, "So, how long are you in for?""Five years," I said."Ah, that's not long," he replied. I have done hundreds of public talks about our situation, and I used to remind people that we don't live in Egypt. No one is going to get their fingernails pulled out. While researching at King's College in London, I worked with a colleague who studied trade union activity in Egypt before Tahrir Square. He would sit in a room in Cairo with a circle of guys, most of whom had scars on their faces. They had all been tortured. Shortly afterwards, the revolution happened. The problem is not "state oppression" but those on "our side" who do the work of the "oppressor" by endlessly giving reasons why resistance "will not work." When I did strategy work for Extinction Rebellion in 2019, the biggest headfuck wasn't police oppression; it was having semi-informed "Left" journalists and other hangers-on who opined that the civil resistance model we used was no good because it was rooted in Erica Chenoweth's research in authoritarian regimes. As if people in such contexts live on a different planet! In their cynicism, they have now adopted the opposite argument: the model doesn't work precisely because we now live in an authoritarian regime. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2024/10/8_th_april_friday_tahrir_square_ls_fb_thump-1.png) The Egyptian Revolution in Tahrir Square, 2011 This is what I call the Aaron Bastani syndrome. Whatever happens, you refuse to leave the privilege of your journalistic gaze. When I challenged him to lead a march, he responded, "I don't think that would be wise." This aversion to taking any real moral responsibility for the fucked-up state of the world by those who claim to speak for us is far worse than any "state oppression." Given that I did nearly a decade of research at KCL on the relationship between levels of oppression and resistance, let me give you my one-line response to the question, "Does state oppression hinder social movements?": there is no relation. Successful movement building and popular political power are functions of internal culture—ideology, organisation, and leadership. Of course, there is a case that external repression has an impact, but if there is a signal, it is very much lost in the "noise" of other factors. So why do our "left" and "liberal" commentators get it so wrong? Another one-line answer would be that they are materialists. They look at the world in the same way as a capitalist: more repression (cost) in, less activism (money left) out. As such, they are the most effective agents for the neoliberal regime—the obscene ideology that humanity is just stuff. Dead stuff. You shouldn't lead a march because you will lose things—clicks, reputation, liberties. The very supposed radicalism of their analysis betrays appalling reactionary politics. They are so clever; they can give you all the reasons things are so bad, all the reasons why the powerful have so much power, and why people are so oppressed—so much so that there is zero chance they can revolt. The "is" becomes an "ought." Self-fulfilling prophecy dynamics do their work very nicely. Job done. A paycheck from Wall Street is on the way. With friends like these… On the frontline, everyone's a lot more cheerful. Because human beings, of course, are not pieces of dead stuff. They are, in fact, explosions of spirit, driven by desire, searchers for meaning, recognition, and adventure. Or, at least, when they're not being told they are too oppressed to do anything. To use the more subdued language of academia, they always have agency. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2024/03/roger-zeit-1-1.JPG) ## Join Me In the Revolution of Our Lives Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No nonsense. Change your mind anytime. Most of us who have recently received years-long sentences say, "Well, obviously, what do you expect?" If a regime is in the process of setting in play the mass slaughter, starvation, and rape of millions of the poorest people in this world, do you think they are going to think twice about locking up the people who try to stop them? Buried in *The Guardian* last week was an article about conditions in the camps in Tunisia, where hundreds of thousands of people are trapped. Reading between the lines, it is clear that the EU's policy is to ignore a systematic assault and killing of refugees. And this is just at 1.5°C. There will be 1,000 million people on the move at 2°C. But our commentators say doing something real about that "would (still) not be wise." The main point is this: if we want to indulge in structural determinism, I suggest we remind ourselves that all historical regimes go in a cycle—birth, peak, hubris, collapse. Collapse is now locked in. The government, in the broadest sense of the word, will collapse. Too many tipping points have been crossed. At some point in the next few years, the "climate" will have a moment of whirlwind—its "George Floyd" moment, its "Gaza" moment. Except this time, many more millions of people will be on the streets of Western cities because thousands of people—white people, that is—will be killed. The repression, overnight, will turn to rage. And no one is going to give a fuck about "risking arrest." The spirit of Nietzsche will take over from the spirit of Bentham. Life is for living, not for being "wise." The bourgeoisie colonisation of our minds will be conquered. History will be back on the move. In the meantime, it's a matter of focusing on the job—what we *can* change. We must create systematic mobilisation, mass-train people in organisation and leadership, and most of all, create a genuine counter-ideology—one that takes joy in struggle, celebrates the community of resistance, and lays down the plans for what comes next after the inevitable revolutions to come. There's no need to worry about your bedroom door being locked for a while. [Donate To Support Roger's Work From Prison](#/portal/signup) --- As always, you can sign up for nonviolent civil resistance with [Just Stop Oil](https://juststopoil.org/?ref=rogerhallam.com) in the UK or via the [A22 Network](https://a22network.org/en/?ref=rogerhallam.com) internationally. If you want to get involved in the democratic revolution, join an upcoming [Welcome to Assemble](https://timetoassemble.org/events/?ref=rogerhallam.com) talk. --- ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get on with the job of sorting it out. [Support](https://rogerhallam.com/#/portal/signup/6517fbb3b89c5400016e9f27/yearly) ### 🌀 This Storm Is Not Survivable URL: https://rogerhallam.com/this-storm-is-not-survivable/ Last updated: 2024-10-10T10:34:46.000Z Organised life in the USA will not be possible unless the rich are taxed to pay for stopping carbon emissions. Whether this happens or not will be the biggest thing in your life – for every life – forever. It's big, and it's going to get a lot, lot bigger. Come to the national US Zoom meet-up on Sunday (1pm New York, 10am Los Angeles), and hear how to stop the madness. We will hear from a selection of speakers and have state breakout groups to discuss action and organisation. For non-Americans, please share this [Zoom link ](https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwvd-murj0jHdbWGV1SHPjxPJ2qbtMTxsxO?ref=rogerhallam.com)with any of your US contacts. [Sign Up To Emergency US Zoom](https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwvd-murj0jHdbWGV1SHPjxPJ2qbtMTxsxO?ref=rogerhallam.com) --- ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2024/10/Monthly-Zoom.png) Next Monthly Talk Coming Up Oct 20th ## Transcendence or Extinction If you want to know what I have been up to in prison, then come to my next "*Free As A Bird*" [strategy talk on Oct 20](https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwsc-qtrjwvHdDdobE6XJcb802cADP6qxGX?ref=rogerhallam.com). What have I been reading? Obscure twentieth-century Catholic theologians and even more obscure Zen Buddhist scholars, all in search of the same perennial truth: we won't survive what’s coming, let alone stop it, without a serious dose of transcendence. It takes different cultural forms, but they all help us detach from our egos and move toward the sublime plane of love—without attachment to outcomes. If you think that’s not the biggest threat to the empire driving us off the edge, you haven’t seen anything yet (and should probably brush up on history). Join the monthly discussion to help find your way into resistance and out of the prisons of perception. [Free As A Bird Monthly Talk Sign Up](https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwsc-qtrjwvHdDdobE6XJcb802cADP6qxGX?ref=rogerhallam.com) I would love for as many of the 3,000 of you on our list to come along—this is a big moment to deepen our resilience in our work. It's time to get the job done: a revolutionary change in government, economy, and culture—a new way of seeing. Don't think for one moment that 3,000 people cannot change the world. But first, you have to show up—and bring a friend. It's an hour and a half of your life. Totally worth it. See you then. 📆 **Date:** Oct 20th 🕐 **Time:** 6pm UK, 7pm Central EU, 1pm New York, 10am Los Angeles 📍 **Location:** [Zoom](https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwsc-qtrjwvHdDdobE6XJcb802cADP6qxGX?ref=rogerhallam.com) (Global Meeting with National Breakout Groups) --- A real revolution brings together inner resilience with an outer commitment to social transformation—the inner and outer work are two sides of the same coin. They need each other. This is what Revolution in the 21st Century means if it is not only to replicate the same old stories. So, my being in prison is not a moment to pause, feel down, or indulge in comforting self-pity. It is time to double down on the plan. We have a world to change; we must have the ultimate ambition or settle for no ambition. We must start tomorrow, work out the next week, and build from there. We need to work together in teams—we are not alone; we exist for each other. Want to find out more? Listen to my new Podcast, *The Spirit of Revolution.* Listen on [Spotify,](https://open.spotify.com/episode/2qcUg6V0Wf73qlFI1srbHf?si=Mb-KiIG-R-68cnDLnsOKlA&ref=rogerhallam.com) [Apple](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-spirit-of-revolution-ep-1-intro/id1671150953?i=1000668886068&ref=rogerhallam.com), [Soundcloud](https://soundcloud.com/roger-hallam-2023/the-spirit-of-revolution-ep1-intro?si=02660373d400489c9ad0e8f873ac5dbc&utm%5Fsource=clipboard&utm%5Fmedium=text&utm%5Fcampaign=social%5Fsharing) or wherever you get your podcasts. We've worked to improve the prison phone sound quality and each episode will come with a newsletter transcript and [video version](https://youtu.be/rDAa20utrT8?ref=rogerhallam.com) on Youtube for reading along. --- ## Burn the Planet and Lock Up the Dissidents Chris Hedges, the Pulitizer Prize winning journalist, came to the UK to meet Roger in Prison. Here he delivers a blistering expose on the fossil fuel industry and the ruthless political class driving us toward climate catastrophe. As the planet burns and climate disasters become more deadly, resistors are being imprisoned for daring to resist. Hedges takes us inside Hallam's prison, where the real fight for survival—both personal and planetary—is happening. He reveals the shocking levels of government complicity, environmental destruction, and the brutal crackdown on climate dissidents. This is a must see for anyone ready to face the grim truth and fight back. [Burn the Planet and Lock Up the DissidentsThe fossil fuel industry, and the politician class they own, have no intention of halting the ecocide. As the climate crisis worsens, so do the laws and security measures to keep us in bondage.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/icon/https-3A-2F-2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com-2Fpublic-2Fimages-2F44435261-303f-471e-b796-2401ee0d6c26-2Fapple-touch-icon-180x180.png)The Chris Hedges ReportChris Hedges![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/thumbnail/https-3A-2F-2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com-2Fpublic-2Fimages-2Fba939e56-5276-4cc1-9c99-d9935d735239_4588x3381.jpeg)](https://chrishedges.substack.com/p/burn-the-planet-and-lock-up-the-dissidents) Chris' Talk in The UK after Visiting Roger --- Hi, [Robin](https://robinboardman.com/?ref=rogerhallam.com) here. I'm Roger's right hand man and co-director of Revolution in the 21st Century (Rev21). If you'd like to help our small support team, we'd love your help. With collapse on its way, we need to prepare for a democratic and nonviolent revolution that will keep fascism at bay. To do that, we need revolutionaries. Come along for a **briefing on** [**Sunday 13th** ](https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwvdu-trDgsGteUokQAFU2pVyeV%5Fko0Ehoc?ref=rogerhallam.com)**Oct at 8am UK Time** ( An early one for me to help meet more Australians and Kiwis, 5pm and 8pm respectively in those Time Zones) [Sign Up to Join Revolution in The 21st Century](https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwvdu-trDgsGteUokQAFU2pVyeV%5Fko0Ehoc?ref=rogerhallam.com) Don't have the hours to volunteer? Please [donate](https://rogerhallam.com/#/portal/signup) to help us keep running (prison phone calls and video editting are expensive!) [Donate To Support Roger's Work From Prison](#/portal/signup) As always, you can sign up for nonviolent civil resistance with [Just Stop Oil](https://juststopoil.org/?ref=rogerhallam.com) in the UK or via the [A22 Network](https://a22network.org/en/?ref=rogerhallam.com) internationally. --- ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get on with the job of sorting it out. [Support](https://rogerhallam.com/#/portal/signup/6517fbb3b89c5400016e9f27/yearly) ### 🔥 It's Official: Political Arrangements Will Collapse. URL: https://rogerhallam.com/2024-hottest-august-on-record/ Last updated: 2024-10-10T08:13:35.000Z When I was a kid, I went through a phase of putting dominoes in a row, knocking the first one over, and then seeing them bang into each other and all fall over. It was great fun. But sometimes, the first one was not at the proper distance, and it just nudged the second into wobbling. This year, the first domino has been pushed in such a way that all the dominoes will now fall over. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2024/09/NOAA-Significant-Climate-Anomalies-Aug-2024-1.png) An annotated map of the world plotted with the most significant climate events of August 2024 by the [National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration](https://www.noaa.gov/news/earth-had-its-hottest-august-in-175-year-record?ref=rogerhallam.com) Those who have been watching will know that yearly average temperatures shot up to over 1.6°C, apparently because of the El Niño effect last year. However, it did not have a substantial impact, so it seemed something else was happening. Now that El Niño is gone, we have had a statistically significant number of monthly record temperature figures to conclusively show that we have jumped 0.2°C in a year and are now over 1.5°C. This summer was [1.52°C above the pre-industrial baseline.](https://www.noaa.gov/news/earth-had-its-hottest-august-in-175-year-record?ref=rogerhallam.com) That 0.2°C is the domino that triggers a cascade towards 2°C. Most tipping points will have been breached at that point, sending us into a Hothouse Earth. This is the main scenario because we finally have to accept the feedback loops from sea ice melting, forest fires, methane, the lag effect of carbon already emitted, and air pollution. All this has been known for a long time, so the 0.2°C jump should come as no surprise. We are now definitely going over 2°C—not least because we have only 4-5 years at the present global emissions level before we run out of the "carbon budget" for 2°C. After 30 years of suicidal intent, the global political systems are self-evidently incapable of creating the cuts that are now objectively needed. Do you remember not so long ago when it was "Oh, we can stop 1.5°C"? They were so insistent, weren't they? It was easy to think maybe they were right. But then it happened. We passed 1.5°C. It will be the same with 2°C. Sometimes, in life, it's just too late. You have to grow up and accept that it is just too late. This does not mean we are jumping into the other denial mode of foolish doom—inevitable extinction. What is inevitable is something a lot more concrete: social revolution. Then, we will see if humanity wants to survive—whether we opt for the mass death of fascism or pull ourselves together to survive. One way or another, the near future will be nothing like the past. --- Upcoming Events - Oct 20 - [Free as a Bird Prison Talk](https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwsc-qtrjwvHdDdobE6XJcb802cADP6qxGX?ref=rogerhallam.com#/registration) \- Roger's next talk from prison. [Donate To Support Roger's Work From Prison](#/portal/signup) --- As always, you can sign up for nonviolent civil resistance with [Just Stop Oil](https://juststopoil.org/?ref=rogerhallam.com) in the UK or via the [A22 Network](https://a22network.org/en/?ref=rogerhallam.com) internationally. --- ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get on with the job of sorting it out. [Support](https://rogerhallam.com/#/portal/signup/6517fbb3b89c5400016e9f27/yearly) ### 🧿 A New Way of Seeing URL: https://rogerhallam.com/a-new-way-of-seeing/ Last updated: 2024-09-22T07:17:20.000Z There are many ways of seeing—ways of sensing and feeling. It is possible, and a good thing, to transcend yourself, the world around you and even time. To look at all these things from the outside. To "look in," as you might say. This is the key to resilience - the ability to keep going and not burn out. To continue to be in service. This orientation will save the world—or what is left to save. And, excitingly, it is at the core of what could be called the next civilisation. The world will not be saved by a new morality—a wanting to be or do good—but by a new metaphysics, meaning a new way of seeing things and how they interact, how we see ourselves and the world. It means you act for the good, not to create good outcomes, but because it is good. You do it because it is a truthful and beautiful thing to do. After all, it creates what we might call a metaphysical harmony—a balance. Another way of putting this is to say you act in love because this is what consciousness is. You don't go out to "do good." You do good to come home because you are already a being that exists to do good. It is what you already are. You are not going anywhere. Listen on [Spotify,](https://open.spotify.com/episode/2qcUg6V0Wf73qlFI1srbHf?si=Mb-KiIG-R-68cnDLnsOKlA&ref=rogerhallam.com) [Apple](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-spirit-of-revolution-ep-1-intro/id1671150953?i=1000668886068&ref=rogerhallam.com), [Soundcloud](https://soundcloud.com/roger-hallam-2023/the-spirit-of-revolution-ep1-intro?si=02660373d400489c9ad0e8f873ac5dbc&utm%5Fsource=clipboard&utm%5Fmedium=text&utm%5Fcampaign=social%5Fsharing) or wherever you get your podcasts. We've worked to improve the prison phone sound quality and each episode will come with a newsletter transcript and [video version](https://youtu.be/rDAa20utrT8?ref=rogerhallam.com) on Youtube for reading along. ## Upcoming Events - Sept 22 - [Revolution in 21st Century Welcome Call](https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMpfuigrTooGtGvnn89Kjc9u7r9w215Jya%5F?ref=rogerhallam.com) \- 5pm UK today with Robin. Find out how to help Roger and the Revolution! - Sept 24 - Politicising the Public & Taking Power: How Assemblies Are Bringing About a Mass Movement for Social Change in the UK ([Zoom Talk)](https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYqduiprToqHN0%5FqxmEJoDQFMJxOGZsO85a?ref=rogerhallam.com) - Sept 25 - [Chris Hedges Fundraiser Global](https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN%5FEbg1ERacTrOgQLqEma315A?ref=rogerhallam.com) \- A Zoom Screening of Chris' talk, hosted by Robin and open for discussion. - Oct 20 - [Free as a Bird Prison Talk](https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAkceGpqzsvEtGp1IAh28UZtTF8kif9CJJ-?ref=rogerhallam.com) \- Roger's next talk from prison. Note: It's a new link! [Donate To Support Roger's Work From Prison](#/portal/signup) ## Transcript of Episode 2 - The Idea The idea is that there is, in fact, as you might say, many ways of seeing, ways of sensing and feeling. It is possible, and a good thing, to transcend yourself—that's two words, 'your' and then 'self'—and also to transcend the world around you and even time, to look at these things from the outside, to look in, as you might say. The idea is that this is the key to resilience, meaning the ability to keep going or not, as the phrase goes, to burn out, to continue to be in service. The idea is that this ability, this orientation, is what will save the world, or what is left to save, to save it if it is to be saved. And excitingly, it is at the core of what could be called the next, the new civilisation. This then is a big idea, a big challenge. This is a big time for humanity, and as we all come to discuss, another way of putting this is that the world will not be saved by a new morality—a wanting to be good—but by a new metaphysics, meaning a new way of seeing things and how they interact, how we see ourselves and the world. It means you act for the good, not to create good outcomes, but because good is good in itself. You do it because it's truthful and a beautiful thing to do because it creates what you might call a metaphysical harmony, a balance. Another way of putting this is to say that you act in love because this is what consciousness is. You don't go out to do good; you do good in order to come home because you are already a being that exists to do good. It is what you already are—you're not going anywhere. What I've just said is very much a first step, very much just a start, not the last word. In fact, we are not going to be interested here in last words, but you have to start somewhere, and by definition, what is said is incomplete. Though this podcast will come back and we will have further stabs at the situation, it's not now or never. So what I'm asking you to do is to mull over what I've said, to sit with any thoughts and feelings you may have. Yes, something has been said, but it's not everything, but it will be fine for the moment. This podcast is concerned with revolution, the coming period of social disruption, which is now inevitable. The hyperobject that is called climate change is upon us; it is everywhere, and it affects everything. We are at 1.5 degrees of global heating. Within a decade or so, the world is going over two degrees, and nothing will be the same again, ever. A few months ago, the United Nations said the same thing. They said we have two years to save the world. They said they are not being, quote, melodramatic, and that economies will be, quote, decimated, and everyone in the know knows this will just be the beginning. This is not normal. This was not the case 10 or 20 years ago. It's just that we've heard it so many times you got desensitized to it. It has become something just out there, but this does not make it any less real. It will now happen. Massive destruction is locked in; there is not a chance in hell that the present political regime will be able to save itself in the next two years. This thing, then, is coming down the line; the train has left the station. This is why revolutions are now inevitable. The real question to be asked then is what sort of revolutions. There are two meanings of revolution: one is that things completely change, and then they come back to where they started, like revolving around a circle. The other meaning is that things completely change, and it stays like that. There's a change in the spirit of society, and this new spirit is embedded in every aspect of the new society and how we see the self and how we see the world. The second idea of revolution is the big idea in this podcast, but this is the only way we are going to save ourselves—through a new spirit, a new way of seeing. I'm going to attempt to investigate this new spirit, the spirit of revolution, and see what it might look like, what it is, how it works, how we can embed it in our minds, our actions, and organizations. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2024/09/wtf-demo.png) It will not emerge despite the coming chaos and trauma, all the suffering, starvation, all the destruction; it will happen because of these things. This is a crucial realization: the good does not just appear; it is born in the eruption of the bad. So let's have an initial look at how this revolution might work, the spirit of revolution. To be sure, it is going to be based on new categories of understanding. We are looking for new words, new language, and through them, we can embark on a way to be and a way to act together. And through this process, we can create new organizational and institutional forms. This is about our collective life, which is not going to be about the spirit at all, and this is another crucial realization: it's not all about you. Society—our present set of social arrangements—are to be changed through disruption and dialogue, both together, getting attention and then listening to each other once we have that attention. And it will work the other way around; organizations will create new language, which creates new actions. Things do not work in a linear way, in a straightforward line. Things are affecting each other all the time. The focus then needs to be on the flows and the processes, not on the things in themselves. We are looking to aid this symbiosis, helping to create what I would call a self-conscious, close ecology between all aspects of the human system. The things that we have been told exist in the system—politics, economics, religion, culture—are less important than the connections between them. In fact, if we look closely at these things, we find they are themselves systems of flows and processes, families of things without really a solid foundation. "We will look more at this—how things tend to dissolve as we bring our attention to them. We find there is not solid stuff. You may be thinking, well, this is all well and good—plenty of books and videos of people saying lots of warm words, providing a vision, calling for a new society, a revolution in consciousness, all the rest of it. Nothing new there. Those of you who know me know I like to focus on concreteness—where to put the biscuits on the table before the meeting, the micro-design, as I call it. After all, this is my day job—at least before I was put into this prison cell. I did years of research on all this at King's College in London. I've spent decades, in fact, if the truth be known, umming and ah-ing about how to make society a better place or at least something that survives the present global death wish of the current elites. There is a tension here, maybe a contradiction. I will be delving into the notions, the traditions, the perspectives, to that that do not see the world as real, and yet at the same time, I am clear that the suffering we see is real. I am clear there is a world to be saved here. This terrible situation we find ourselves in is crying out to be avoided, to be stopped. At the moment, we are going to hold that apparent contradiction. We will look at ways to possibly overcome it, but one thing is for sure—we are not going to be passive. This project is about a fusion between a transcendence of the world and a revolutionary project within the world. And more than this, the fusion will strengthen each element. The new spirit will strengthen social transformation, which in turn will strengthen the spirit. It's a dynamic thing. This is the idea: new ways of seeing will form through social events, through things actually happening, through collectivities, through people acting together. This project was laid out in detail in my last podcast, "Designing the Revolution." We need 10,000 people in a new organisational space to engage in civil resistance combined with community empowerment and mobilization via public assemblies. This then animates 1 to 2% of the population, which changes the political regime that runs the state during a moment of social rupture. The project is twofold: to overcome the regime, to speed up its endpoint, and secondly, to create the basis for new civilization. The point of this podcast is to come at this project from a new, complementary angle—to propose that this process, if it is to be successful, has to be imbued with a certain spirit, something which is difficult to describe or grasp but is nonetheless real. A new consciousness that we do actually engage in, seeing things are not just there. This metaphysical transformation that exists within the enactment of the plan, and it is in fact critical to its success—this is the yeast in the bread. Practically speaking then, as you listen to this podcast, you can find in the notes a link to the Organization Revolution in the 21st Century, and there you will find a Zoom link to the next international meetups, and from there you can find pathways to action, to work with others all around the world. We are in an emergency; this is not academia—you don't do this stuff in your living room. I'm in a cell recording this, remember. So we will come on to discuss how these new ways of seeing will need to replace the deep worldview of neoliberalism, the ideology of the present dying regime. We are social beings; there is indeed a society out there, and without it, the individual dies—literally. These new social forms will not be able to be understood in the old language; the old categories will lose their conceptual usefulness. It is not about just changing the world; it's about seeing the world in a different way—not the way the dominant ideology wants us to see it. New language will be liberating because it will enable a sense of what I will call a re-enchantment of the world, where the spirit takes center place, center stage, rather than a mere knowledge of things. We could instead use the following phrase: a system of interlocking sensibilities without the pretense of some solid foundation, rigid points in time and space, and crucially, no less real for being like this. Poetry, you might say, will fuse with analysis. All this is going to feel a little bit unbalanced at times; you may feel a bit all at sea with all these new worlds, but after a time, these feelings will subside, and you'll feel like you're more likely to be coming home. In fact, as the classic phrase goes, you were lost and now found. The spirit will take its central space, its central place, where it belonged all the time. The old questions will not be so much as answered but will be dissolved. Anyway, don't worry—basically, it's going to be fun. I pointed all this out in the last episode of \*Designing the Revolution\*. There was an intended dramatic ending to the 50-odd episodes, which were rooted in a sociological perspective. Instead of asserting that everything I'd said was right, I suggest that maybe, in fact, it was all wrong. There was an elephant in the room, something massive—the way of the spirit. What I'm doing here, then, is a sequel of thoughts, a new beginning. It does not negate what was said in all those episodes, but it does build a new world. It works from a different perspective to get the project over the line. If we—you, listening to this, and me, speaking to you and everyone else on this planet—are going to survive the next few decades, it's going to be a group effort, isn't it? It's going to involve a variety of ways of seeing. That needs to be this re-enchantment to the world, which grows out of the rigidity and dullness of reductionism, at the same time not forgetting the everyday but doing the washing up, as they say in Zen philosophy. So, I'd like to say something about the structure of this podcast, the episodes that are to follow. This is obviously a first iteration of what I hope to record here from prison. I will not be drawing upon an impressive array of references and going into elaborate, great depths—this is not my specialism, as you might say. But I hope this is no bad thing. I hope that what I will say will have a certain grittiness, authenticity, directness. I don't want my words to get edited into another bland, one-step-removed routine. However, as you may notice, I will not be speaking from notes in this podcast but from a written text. This is because I hope to be more precise without being formal. I am hoping that what I write will be made into a book, but maybe I'm getting ahead of myself. Who knows, this laptop could just crash—in fact, it does regularly. I could lose everything in a moment, and of course, there could, and probably are, going to be other people—they're able to communicate what I'm suggesting better than me. Nothing would please me more. Getting these ideas out and about at this time is extremely important, so I hope what I have to say, along with contributions from others, will become a central plank in this new culture that's going to be needed to take us through the inevitable horrors and terrors of the coming years. So if you're listening to me and you think you can add to this new culture, please go ahead. What I speak about here needs to become part of a fresh ecology of communications, both through word and deed. We need a new paradigm of being for resilient resistance so we can get to where people say, "Hey, Joe, he's in prison again," and his reply is, "Yeah, that's the way we live now." No self-pity—a focus on the job, a life lived at this point in history. I suspect that if this podcast is to be effective, then it will not be because any particular element is in itself unique or insightful, but it is because I bring together a unique combination of elements—or more accurately, a combination of elements that have not been articulated in Western culture for some time. In particular, let me be clear: this podcast is a manual for action. The enactment of the spirit is a knowing that finds its meaning through action, through the moving of your body, and conversely, it is this action that informs the knowing—what, in our new language, you might call *knowing in action*, all one word. And of course, this is also called praxis—theory in action, action into theory. We are moving beyond, then, the archaic notion of the individual to a rather new social formation, which is not just a materiality, a sociological thing—what people nowadays call a movement. No, the new language describes a fusion of the spirit into social form. In other words, a spirit makes the revolution, and the revolution makes the spirit. Just hold on to the sense you have for what I've just said; it's all we need to do at this initial stage. But this is my invitation to listen to this podcast. The one of the episodes, then, is not necessarily going to be a linear process—one thing after another, at least not initially. Each episode is going to have more of a standalone quality. I have this idea that each episode is creating a small army surrounding a citadel on a hill. Various armies will be needed to be put into place before we can head over the walls. Maybe some of you will be keen to get on with it more quickly. Maybe some of you are already scaling the walls before listening to these episodes. For others, what you hear may not be enough to give you the courage to take part, but the seed will be planted, and at some arbitrary point in the future, for some unknown reason, you'll have one of those lightbulb moments. And it could well be because the world is no longer acting as you thought it should; you find you are no longer having the privilege of the detached case. The world is upon you, and you are suddenly gasping for breath. The real is real, after all. Then there is that moment that in past times was called Grace. The invite, then, is to see if we can get over those walls that are—sit down together, ask it. After listening to a few episodes, we will see. What is sure here, I think, is there is a certain binary, not a nature, to what I'm talking about. World is the world, right? That's obvious. And then suddenly, you go, "Oh, oh no, it is not the world; it's me looking at the world." Bang, your journey has started. Once this happens, then the empire that this world can be defeated. It's that important to realize that there are other worlds out there. This realization is terrifying and exhilarating both at the same time. Of course, we all regress and lose that sense and get dragged back into the dullness of a flat plane, and then that sense comes back in its full glory. This is not a straightforward process, but one way or another, something big happens, and then we're on our way, or rather, the way has taken us. So, I plan to adopt a series of approaches to the Citadel. If one does not do it for you, then please persist. Each is separate, but they build upon each other. Once you have heard several, you might want to revisit the early ones and go, "Oh, right, I see what you were saying there." ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2024/09/a12-water-cannon.png) Civil resistance in the The Hague against fossil fuel subsidies. I must admit at this stage, I'm not entirely sure of the routes I will take. I will be led by the process as much as leading it. My feeling, as I speak to you now, is that I'm going to focus on several key elements. It's not meant to be a definitive scheme. As I say, part of me hopes someone will come along and put me straight. This is not my specialism, but then, is it anyone's specialism? I will start by how we see the self—our self—then we all look at the world, what is around us, and then time, this apparently linear thing you pass along. This would lead me to investigate various non-rational elements of the human experience, as I will call them—ways of being and acting that do not involve sitting down and thinking it all through. All this builds this moment of going over the walls, the overcoming of that bastion of modern culture. The imposed separation between secular and the religious, that historically situated category division—this is the massive block to the new understandings we need at this time. I will elaborate further on this theme and then show how it's connected by what we've been told about knowing, that there is only one way to know. That's not correct; there are many ways to know. So that is the direction of travel. All this aims to desensitize us, as you might say. We are not being asked to decide on X or Y, but rather to accept that it is the option of X and Y out there. This is a bit like a psychotherapist who aims to loosen up the client who insists, "There's nothing wrong with me. I'm all fine." "I am," he protests too much, as Shakespeare puts it. A culture at this point is where people find themselves protesting too much about the viability of our metaphysical rigidity. In other words, we sense that even if it served us well in the past, this way of looking at the world—this world, as we have been told, is real—is starting to literally crumble around us. History is moving on; it did not end. The Citadel is going to collapse. The coming of dark times creates new openings. These new ways were always there; it's just that we were not attending to them. It is at this moment of transformation that I will take us back to the sociological, to re-engage with the task of creating those new social formations, the events, the organizations, the governments. This podcast, then, will come full circle at the end. This is because, as I've said, the spirit becomes real only through action. The spirit is made flesh, to use some old language. We need to be clear: we are organizing a revolution here. This is not another individualistic journey to personal enlightenment, a contradiction in terms. This is not about feeling a certain calmness that never leaves your head but never gets you off the couch and into the street. The spirit is the street, and the street is the spirit. The spirit is in the prison cell. The time for pretending is over. We are facing the end of the old world, and we are going to have to battle to create what comes next. This podcast gives you the arms you need. [Donate](#/portal/signup) --- As always, you can sign up for nonviolent civil resistance with [Just Stop Oil](https://juststopoil.org/?ref=rogerhallam.com) in the UK or via the [A22 Network](https://a22network.org/en/?ref=rogerhallam.com) internationally. --- ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get on with the job of sorting it out. [Support](https://rogerhallam.com/#/portal/signup/6517fbb3b89c5400016e9f27/yearly) ### ❎ Extinction Rebellion will never happen again. Something a lot bigger will. URL: https://rogerhallam.com/extinction-rebellion-will-never-happen-again/ Last updated: 2024-09-22T07:18:05.000Z That's my short answer to Doug Roger's article on [lessons from XR](https://theecologist.org/2024/jul/26/lessons-extinction-rebellion-origins?ref=rogerhallam.com). XR was a first mover and a unique moment of innocence. As Doug recognises, a movement had finally emerged that was not addicted to the privileged infantilism of "structureless" horizontalism. It reconnected with pre-1989 social practices while having a first, though disastrous, stab at introducing spirit into the rigid ideology of materialism. As a young teenager, I sat in the Stockport Friends Meeting House in the early 1980s, listening to old socialists prepare people to die for the cause. It was all uphill from then on. After 15 years of pushing for social change against the overwhelming tide of Thatcherite individualism, I called it a day and went to grow veg for 20 years. The idea of revolution was objectively impossible. Then, the 2008 financial crash happened, and revolution was a structural possibility again. In 2024, it is now inevitable. Social theory is a function of context. We are now in the context of the highest carbon concentrations in human existence. Five years from now, the carbon budget will run out with increased emissions, leading us to over 2°C of warming in the next decade (that's one billion refugees, in case you've forgotten). Add in the locked-in effects of global dimming, the carbon lag and melting sea ice cover, and the passing of the critical tipping points. [Donate To Support Roger's Work From Prison](#/portal/signup) The main scenario is now climate and political system collapse in the 2030s. This path will lead to effective extinction by the end of the century. It's a matter of watching the dominoes fall. In the face of this, "social movement theory" is a distant dream world limited by the confines of now-zombified neo-liberal logic. The past was protests and campaigns. The future is revolution and religion. The only social theory half-relevant to our current moment is the structural determinism of system collapse and revolution. States collapse because their elites cannot see the triggers of the regime's downfall: a toxic mix of debt, war and environmental stress. Most likely, resistance will become next to impossible over the next few years because of egoist postmodernism ("I don't have to get arrested if I don't want to") and increasing state repression. Combine that with the increased escapism as the objective reality worsens. The historical records of pre-revolutionary periods show this trend: the calm before the storm. And then, "out of nowhere" there will be a George Floyd moment, a Gaza moment, but a hundred times bigger, when millions of people will be on the streets of Western capitals. Finally, reality—the raw present moment of mass death—will be upon us. A few million black lives in the Global South will be blotted out as the world enters wet-bulb states where people can die in six hours. Alternatively, a few tens of thousands of mainly white lives are blotted out in a Western city. My money is on Phoenix, Arizona. When I outlined how this would happen on X/Twitter, it got two million views and a torrent of abuse. What did Shakespeare say? "They protest too much." While we wait for that moment— six months or six years away—there's plenty to do. We should learn a few key lessons from the early communists under Lenin: in particular, leadership, ideology, and discipline. A small, solid core organisation within a broader social ecology that sees the world as it is—that this system will come to an end, and the future will be ours for the taking if we are prepared to organise to take it. The ideology must offer a vision of a stable, assembly-based democratic system as an alternative to the looming threat of violent fascism waiting in the wings. The centre, as they used to say, will not hold. Then, we need prototyped micro-designs of community mobilisation methods, tested by ongoing projects of "listening to the people." It will be action or non-existence. And yes, as T.S. Eliot said, people "can only handle so much reality." Meaning the "reality" of secular disenchantment. The old rationalist religion of those brainy white guys in the 1700s is a bust, and instead, we need a new transcendence of the self. It won't come from yoga videos but from smiling at the prison cell wall. We are in this world, but not of it. If we think this world is all there is, the trauma of coming destruction will kill our souls before it kills our bodies. So it's time for a good dose of Manchester dry humour. If we can truly face this together, it will be the most exciting time of our lives. --- Join Roger's next "Free As A Bird" prison talk to connect with a global community of revolutionaries. [Sign up for the next talk](https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAkceGpqzsvEtGp1IAh28UZtTF8kif9CJJ-?ref=rogerhallam.com#/registration) --- As always, you can sign up for nonviolent civil resistance with [Just Stop Oil](https://juststopoil.org/?ref=rogerhallam.com) in the UK or via the [A22 Network](https://a22network.org/en/?ref=rogerhallam.com) internationally. --- ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get on with the job of sorting it out. [Support](https://rogerhallam.com/#/portal/signup/6517fbb3b89c5400016e9f27/yearly) ### ☯️ The Spirit of Revolution URL: https://rogerhallam.com/spirit-of-revolution/ Last updated: 2024-09-10T07:32:43.000Z How are we going to do this? It's what everyone is thinking at the back of our minds. How is humanity going to handle the next few decades? The challenges are beyond enormous. The essential paradox of our time is that the more we are attached to ourselves and this world—to our self-pity and this world we have to "save"—the more likely we will fail. Human history is full of impossible, head-fuck situations where everything seems lost, and then somehow, people pull through. More than that, in doing so, they create a new way of seeing and being—a new civilisation. It depends on one word: "spirit." Something all the elites and their allies, the defeatists in our ranks, cannot see or will not see. It is our secret weapon, the source of endless power. With it, we can take down empires while realising it's just another day. What is this spirit? How does it work? This podcast aims to take you and our movements in the right direction—to the revolution. The spirit of revolution. Listen on [Spotify,](https://open.spotify.com/episode/2qcUg6V0Wf73qlFI1srbHf?si=Mb-KiIG-R-68cnDLnsOKlA&ref=rogerhallam.com) [Apple](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-spirit-of-revolution-ep-1-intro/id1671150953?i=1000668886068&ref=rogerhallam.com), [Soundcloud](https://soundcloud.com/roger-hallam-2023/the-spirit-of-revolution-ep1-intro?si=02660373d400489c9ad0e8f873ac5dbc&utm%5Fsource=clipboard&utm%5Fmedium=text&utm%5Fcampaign=social%5Fsharing) or wherever you get your podcasts. We've worked to improve the prison phone sound quality and each episode will come with a newsletter transcript and [video version](https://youtu.be/rDAa20utrT8?ref=rogerhallam.com) on Youtube for reading along. We've released the first two episodes as a double-bill. Dive on in. ## Upcoming Events - Sept 11 - [Chris Hedges Fundraiser in London](https://www.kairos.london/event/the-cost-of-resistance-with-chris-hedges/?ref=rogerhallam.com) - Sept 13 - Politicising the Public & Taking Power: How Assemblies Are Bringing About a Mass Movement for Social Change in the UK ([Zoom Talk)](https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYqduiprToqHN0%5FqxmEJoDQFMJxOGZsO85a?ref=rogerhallam.com) - Sept 15 - [Free as a Bird Prison Talk](https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAkceGpqzsvEtGp1IAh28UZtTF8kif9CJJ-?ref=rogerhallam.com) - Sept 22 - [Revolution in 21st Century Welcome Call](https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMpfuigrTooGtGvnn89Kjc9u7r9w215Jya%5F?ref=rogerhallam.com) - Sept 25 - [Chris Hedges Fundraiser Global](https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN%5FEbg1ERacTrOgQLqEma315A?ref=rogerhallam.com) [Donate To Support Roger's Work From Prison](#/portal/signup) ## Transcript of Episode 1 - The Intro I wasn't expecting it, but I found myself facing four years in prison two days before writing this. I didn't know whether I was to be found guilty or not guilty. I was taken upstairs from the court cells with my co-defendants. We were all charged with conspiracy to cause a public nuisance without reasonable excuse in a London trial. We had all held a Zoom call in 2022 to invite people to join actions to climb onto bridges over the main motorway circling the city, the M25\. The aim was to stop traffic day after day to force the government to stop issuing new oil and gas licences. Continuing to issue these licences would contribute to the world going over two degrees centigrade, a billion refugees, and the worst episode of suffering in human history. The UN has said we have two years to, quote, "save the world." We had been systematically stopped from talking about the objective physical evidence of this crime by the judge, what he called, quote, "climate change." We had refused to be stopped from telling the truth, and so the judge had us dragged out to the core by the police and put in prison. And so now, the five of us were sitting behind the glass, waiting for the jury to come in. I was watching myself. I was not sure how I would react. Sometimes I react well in such circumstances, the big moments of life, but sometimes not, particularly when I was younger. We were told to stand up. The jury foreperson was asked to give the verdict. I was the first person on the list. For a moment, I felt like I might faint. Then I forced myself to look at the symbol of the state behind the judge. I made myself think: this is the state I am protecting, the state from destruction. I can do no other. Something like that. I had the sensation of comfort, being part of something bigger than myself. "Guilty," the jury person said. The word—a short word, but it means so much. Four years, or five years as it turned out to be, put in prison. I felt numb. I sat down, looking ahead. I was focused but not forcing myself. Somewhere inside me, there was a ripple of panic, but most of my being was calm. There were no words going through my mind, or if there were words, it would have been something like, "What will be, will be." I felt a certain peace. The other defendants were also found guilty. We were all told to sit down. The judge then started talking. It was a lot of nonsense, as he had been saying throughout the trial. One of my co-defendants stood up to say it was outrageous. He shouted at her to sit down. I didn't really listen. There were other things going through my mind, or maybe there was, in a sense, nothing going through my mind. I was just watching myself. As we left court and were taken down to the cells, some of the other defendants were in tears. We all hugged each other. I still felt calm. Again, I wasn't forcing myself, but neither did it just occur. It was a sort of strange fusion of grace and will. I was taken back to my cell. I had no expectations this mood would last, but it did. I am proud of what I did. I was doing what you need to do when circumstances turn out the way they have, when everything is in balance, when humanity faces its final emergency. Two days later, and I'm still okay, though early this morning, I started feeling self-pity and bitter. "What the fuck?" But it didn't last. No doubt I could feel like that again. Maybe I will collapse into a nervous breakdown. Nothing is for certain. There is only the certainty of the present moment. So what was going on here? Who was the real Roger Hallam? The one in panic or the one feeling in peace? Was the real Roger Hallam the one feeling stuff, or was Roger Hallam watching me feel stuff? Did I have the agency or the will to change myself, or was it that Roger Hallam was forcing himself upon me? Was it, in some sense, a combination of all these things? And what about the world around me at this time—the court, the cells, the lightly sentenced? With these set things, they are what they are, but if so, how come they can feel so different? Peace or bitterness—a set thing can actually be a lot of things once you actually look, properly look. The self and the world are ambiguous. You can't actually seem to get to the bottom of them. What this podcast is not about is resolving these questions but rather finding meaning through not being afraid, having the courage to ask the questions. What I would call a pluralism of ways of seeing. And as I hope to show, the revolution we need to save ourselves in the coming years requires us to see the world as filled with spirit, a sense which is intangible but no less real for being so. This podcast investigates this spirit—the spirit of revolution. --- As always, you can sign up for nonviolent civil resistance with [Just Stop Oil](https://juststopoil.org/?ref=rogerhallam.com) in the UK or via the [A22 Network](https://a22network.org/en/?ref=rogerhallam.com) internationally. --- ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get on with the job of sorting it out. [Support](https://rogerhallam.com/#/portal/signup/6517fbb3b89c5400016e9f27/yearly) ### 🐦 Free as a Bird— Monthly Prison Talk URL: https://rogerhallam.com/free-as-a-bird/ Last updated: 2024-09-17T07:25:39.000Z A real revolution brings together inner resilience with an outer commitment to social transformation—the inner and outer work are two sides of the same coin. They need each other. This is what Revolution in the 21st Century means if it is not only to replicate the same old stories. So, my being in prison is not a moment to pause, feel down, or indulge in comforting self-pity. It is time to double down on the plan. We have a world to change; we must have the ultimate ambition or settle for no ambition. We must start tomorrow, work out the next week, and build from there. We need to work together in teams—we are not alone; we exist for each other. [Sign Up For My Monthly Prison Talk - Every 3rd Sunday, starting Sept 15th](https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwsc-qtrjwvHdDdobE6XJcb802cADP6qxGX?ref=rogerhallam.com) So, I will not be talking about the birds and the skies in this talk. I will discuss creating the new global movement and how we can concretely play a pivotal role in service to this movement—a support space, a training hub, a networking node to inspire, educate, build up the frontlines, and start new ones. What we are going to do is what all successful organisations have done for hundreds of years. We will be organised. We now have a solid central team, which always gets you halfway to success, and we have some money. We are starting working groups for various projects. We will have regional groups worldwide, which will create more groups. They will have lists of things to do. We will have stages of development. We will hand out badges. The ribbon is being ordered per Napoleon's instructions - "A soldier will fight long and hard for a bit of coloured ribbon. Last but not least, we won't take it all too seriously. As I say, we don't want to get carried away. Death comes for us all. It brings us down to earth. I would love for as many of the 3,000 of you on our list to come along—this is a big moment to deepen our resilience in our work. It's time to get the job done: a revolutionary change in government, economy, and culture—a new way of seeing. Don't think for one moment that 3,000 people cannot change the world. But first, you have to show up—and bring a friend. It's an hour and a half of your life. Totally worth it. See you then. 📆 **Date:** Sept 15th 🕐 **Time:** 6pm UK, 7pm Central EU, 1pm New York, 10am Los Angeles 📍 **Location:** [Zoom](https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwsc-qtrjwvHdDdobE6XJcb802cADP6qxGX?ref=rogerhallam.com) (Global Meeting with National Breakout Groups) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2024/09/Monthly-Zoom---1280x1280.png) [Sign Up For The Monthly Talk - Every 3rd Sunday, starting Sept 15th](https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwsc-qtrjwvHdDdobE6XJcb802cADP6qxGX?ref=rogerhallam.com) --- Hi, [Robin](https://robinboardman.com/?ref=rogerhallam.com) here. I'm Roger's right hand man and co-director of Revolution in the 21st Century (R21C). I'll be hosting the monthly zoom call with our small support team. We'd love your help. With collapse on its way, we need to prepare for a democratic and nonviolent revolution that will keep fascism at bay. To do that, we need revolutionaries. R21C aims to educate, inspire, and connect people on this mission for revolution. We aim to grow a leadership training program that empowers and supports young, PoC, and rural leaders to spark nonviolent revolution across the Western world (and beyond!). To do this, we need your help managing a global community of revolutionaries. Come along for a **briefing on** [**Sunday 8th Sept**](https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMpfuigrTooGtGvnn89Kjc9u7r9w215Jya%5F?ref=rogerhallam.com)**. at 5pm UK Time** (12:00 Eastern Time, 6pm European Central Time). Robin will discuss the project in more detail, what we need, and how you can contribute. [Sign Up to Join Revolution in The 21st Century](https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMpfuigrTooGtGvnn89Kjc9u7r9w215Jya%5F?ref=rogerhallam.com) This is an exciting chance to be part of a revolution to salvage our humanity in its darkest hour. Come along! Read more about the [project aims](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jVoGsCzQcyDR1reywKVHRDPMxLwkAr-uN0MPy8iDjW0/edit?ref=rogerhallam.com). Find out about [the team and roles](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1yWLc3cW05282STPDq12zukt9gnV8l6DSznUHKryhdz0/edit?ref=rogerhallam.com) needed. Don't have the hours to volunteer? Please [donate](https://rogerhallam.com/#/portal/signup) to help us keep running (prison phone calls are costly!) [Donate To Support Roger's Work From Prison](#/portal/signup) --- On that note, our fellow revolutionary, Chris Hedges, is coming to do a fundraiser for political prisoners in London! Chris is a Pulitzer Prize-winning author, Presbyterian minister, and journalist who was a foreign correspondent for The New York Times for fifteen years. He will visit Roger in prison and return to London to share his latest thinking. Kairos will host his talk, The Cost of Resistance, on **Wednesday, September 11th**, at 6:30 p.m. You can sign up [here](https://www.kairos.london/event/the-cost-of-resistance-with-chris-hedges/?ref=rogerhallam.com). ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2024/08/Chris-Hedges.png) **Not in the UK?** We will host a **global livestream of the talk** on Wednesday Sept 25th 7pm UK. You can sign up [here](https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN%5FEbg1ERacTrOgQLqEma315A?ref=rogerhallam.com). --- As always, you can sign up for nonviolent civil resistance with [Just Stop Oil](https://juststopoil.org/?ref=rogerhallam.com) in the UK or via the [A22 Network](https://a22network.org/en/?ref=rogerhallam.com) internationally. --- ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get on with the job of sorting it out. [Support](https://rogerhallam.com/#/portal/signup/6517fbb3b89c5400016e9f27/yearly) ### 👮 They Came For Us and Soon They Will Come For You URL: https://rogerhallam.com/they-came-for-us/ Last updated: 2024-08-20T20:51:10.000Z **Note:** *This letter was written from Wayland prison and originally published in* [*The Morning Star*](https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/they-came-for-us-and-soon-they-will-come-for-you?ref=rogerhallam.com)*.* I was wrong. When the recent trial started for what is now called the Whole Truth Five (#WTF), I naively thought I would walk free, that I would not be found guilty. My crime was a 20-minute speech on why people should join a Just Stop Oil non-violent Civil Disobedience campaign. Or if I was found guilty, I reasoned the jail term would be no more than two years. I had already spent four months in prison on remand followed by a year and a half on a curfew tag so a two-year custodial sentence would be no big deal. Three weeks later, after I had been dragged out of the Court and into the cells several times for speaking to the jury, about evidence the judge deemed “irrelevant” I was sentenced to five years in prison. Repression is not a gradual process, it leaps out at you and takes you off guard. Do you remember the Solidarity leaders in Poland? They were invited into talks with the Polish government but when they got to the meeting, they were arrested in one fell swoop and imprisoned for years. You don't think it will happen to you and then it does. Just Stop Oil has had an uncomfortable relationship with the Left. There is a pretence that it can be ignored, but Just Stop Oil reminds us that the future will not be like the past. In a decade or so societies will be falling apart as we pass 2C of heating and experience extreme weather events which will push hundreds of millions of people into destitution and migration. It is going to be an Almighty shitshow, and it will not stop. You can't negotiate with physics, with a thousand peer-reviewed articles. Just Stop Oil reminds us what resistance, that far-off folk memory relegated to Netflix, actually looks like in the present moment. Thousands of arrests, hundreds of imprisonments and a 5-year sentence for making a speech. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2024/08/xrtu-solidarity-strikers-1024x575-1.jpg) XR Trade Unions Solidarity It foreshadows what will happen to the left, soon enough. As Trotsky says “You may not be interested in war but war is interested in you”. There is not going to be a bright sunny Green New Deal, the neoliberal fantasy of the Labour Party. There's going to be a rupture, and then a rapid descent into poverty and starvation. Along the way the ruling class will have the police knock on your door and have you put away for half a decade. Capitalism is not just destroying our prosperity, it is destroying our very means of existence. To take just one example, the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). This is the earth system which warms the British Isles, delivering warm water from the equator to gently warm our shores. It will collapse at some point before 2050, most likely around the mid-2030s. This will reduce temperatures in the UK by between [10 and 30°C](https://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2024/02/new-study-suggests-the-atlantic-overturning-circulation-amoc-is-on-tipping-course/?ref=rogerhallam.com) and end arable agriculture. What will that mean for British workers? For British farmers? For Europe, for the rains in Africa and Asia? Just Stop Oil is not a sideshow it's raising the alarm about the biggest fucking disaster in human history. What needs to be done? It's time to unite the non-Labour left and the climate resistance space, to fuse. We have a lot to learn from each other and millions of people are crying out for initiative and leadership. A program for decency, compassion and survival. A massive reduction in inequality to fund the reduction in emissions and earth system repair. Anything less and we will have nothing but fascism and mass death. I wish to thank the Trade Union leaders who along with 1,200 others signed a public letter to protest the sentences of the #WTF. This must be a beginning. We need a series of joint meetings, a national tour and a new politics using assemblies and dual power. Get in touch with me in prison at rogerremanded@gmail.com [Support Truthtellers with a Donation](#/portal/signup) --- As always, you can sign up for nonviolent civil resistance with [Just Stop Oil](https://juststopoil.org/?ref=rogerhallam.com) in the UK or via the [A22 Network](https://a22network.org/en/?ref=rogerhallam.com) internationally. --- ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get on with the job of sorting it out. [Support](https://rogerhallam.com/#/portal/signup/6517fbb3b89c5400016e9f27/yearly) ### ⚖️My Trial Was A Sham URL: https://rogerhallam.com/my-trial-was-a-sham/ Last updated: 2024-08-16T15:39:38.000Z **Note:** *This speech was transcribed from a prison phoneline. You can listen to the audio version on* [*Spotify*](https://open.spotify.com/episode/1mXpiNkfKHxClbjT3H6G9a?si=e771d76e82614008&ref=rogerhallam.com)*/*[*Apple Podcast*](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/this-trial-is-a-sham-my-closing-speech/id1671150953?i=1000665640185&ref=rogerhallam.com)*s or watch the Youtube* [*video with subtitles*](https://youtu.be/-GCQbTBd66U?ref=rogerhallam.com)*.* I would like to start by acknowledging that this has been a strange and difficult trial. As the judge has said, he has never had defendants dragged from the court and put in prison, and it's not usual for the jury to be sent out so often, prevented from hearing what a defendant has to say. I want to apologise for the commotion; it is not how I would like a court case to proceed, but I'd like to draw your attention to a very important outcome of this disruption, namely that the judge was persuaded to change his mind and allow you to see four relevant, agreed facts about this case—about the harm and the criminality that myself and my fellow defendants were intending to draw attention to and prevent. These four simple facts shine a light on a world of evidence you were prevented from considering in this trial, and it is common sense that if you are not allowed to see both sides of the argument, you cannot be sure of guilt. It is also, therefore, obvious that this has not been a fair trial—not by any common-sense definition. Is this how justice should work? You have heard already, you have to be sure to convict. In any UK court, you have to be sure. As a lawyer said in another trial I was involved in, even if you are just a tiny, tiny bit unsure, the law says you have to find the defendant not guilty. This is because a defendant is innocent unless proven guilty. The prosecution has to prove beyond doubt that there was no reasonable excuse in this particular case, as laid down by an act of Parliament. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2024/08/FOUR-FACTS-FINAL-screen-696x983.png) The Four Facts Of course, the judge has instructed you that the facts about the massive harm created by the emission of greenhouse gases are not relevant in this case. But you should note that he has also conceded that, to quote, “The facts are as you find them.” You have to interpret those facts, you have to make sense of them, you have to decide what it means—what a fact, an agreed fact, means when it says we face a catastrophe, catastrophic consequences as a country if emissions are not stopped. We face some cold, hard facts in this trial. The judge might want to avoid them, but you make up your own mind. The facts as you find them—this is your job. This is what the law on jury equity means. You have to make up your own mind. You're independent in this court. It is a great responsibility, and given the agreed facts, your responsibility goes well beyond this courtroom. This charge, as you know, has two aspects: the charge of conspiracy—conspiracy to cause a public nuisance—and then also the charge of public nuisance itself, public nuisance without a reasonable excuse. I will deal first with the conspiracy element. I was not part of any conspiracy. I have said so on oath. I was not party to any agreement to go to the countries. I did not go to any organising meetings. I received no paperwork or documentation. I took no trips, and I did none of the organising. It is not up to me to prove to you these things, but for the prosecution to prove that I did receive paperwork, go to meetings, etcetera. And you all have noticed that they have provided no evidence—no evidence at all. And the reason is because there is no evidence. I was simply not involved. The prosecution says they have powerful evidence. Notice they didn't say conclusive or overwhelming evidence. What they mean to say is there's some evidence. Some evidence is not proof. You cannot be sure, and if you cannot be sure, then you cannot convict, because you don't have the documents, the equipment, the reports of meetings—there was none. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2024/03/roger-zeit-1-1.JPG) ## Join Me In the Revolution of Our Lives Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No nonsense. Change your mind anytime. And so, in my case, they have to try and prove my guilt with the single 20-minute Zoom talk that I did. That's it. As I've said, I've done hundreds of these sorts of talks on civil disobedience, making arguments for people to be involved in specific civil disobedience campaigns. Never before have I been arrested for such a talk. When I was arrested, I expected to be let out the following day—not put in prison on remand for four months and then put on a curfew tag for one and a half years so I couldn't go out late in the evening. Most of the speech is about the general reasons and arguments for why action is needed, why, and how civil disobedience works. As Dan Shaw introduced me, I was there to give the reasons to step up. I was there to give reasons; I was not part of a conspiracy. It seems the whole case against me revolves around just 10 lines of the speech—that I knew that the project needed around 60 people, that I said, "We need to get involved." So, on the point of the 60 people, the fact of the matter is, this was widely known. Lots of people knew we needed around 60 people. That does not mean that I was involved in a conspiracy, part of an agreement to take joint action. Knowing information might be part of a conspiracy, but it's common sense that it does not provide conclusive proof. For that, you need corroborative material evidence. As I said, evidence of going to organisation meetings, activities, possession of paperwork, etc. Just knowing something in itself is clearly insufficient. And when I said, "We," I was saying we are the movement in a general sense. Again, in and of itself, it proves nothing. In contrast, if I'd said, "We need to step up, and I want all of you to join me in a planning meeting next week when I'll go through all the details," then that would have been clear evidence. I did not say that, did I? Because I was not involved. I was not there to make an agreement; I was there to make an argument, to give reasons. That's why the person after me was going to, to quote, "*Go into exactly how it works*." Why was this? Because I did not know those details. I didn't know about the future meet-up. I knew nothing about what was happening, when, and where. I was there simply to do one thing—to make a speech. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2024/08/wtf-demo-1.png) To conclude on this, to be sure, you need to have evidence of concrete actions, material evidence, to be totally sure of innocence. You have to know. You need people to know nothing about the conspiracy. In the middle, as it were, I myself knew something, but that was it. You can speculate that I knew more and I was involved in more things, but self-evidently, you cannot be sure. And because you cannot be sure, you cannot convict. And there's one more thing to be said about the prosecution case against me. What are the implications for protest? If there is a campaign, say, against pollution in your locality, and you have suffered the effects of that pollution, and your children have been in hospital, it's likely you'll be asked to speak at a meeting in support of a demonstration against that pollution. I'm supposing that in that general demonstration, people are arrested. Some people engage in civil disobedience, and then the police knock on your door and charge you with conspiracy. How exactly are you going to defend yourself if you simply made a speech? You cannot prove that you weren't further involved. But if you convict me on this basis, then, well, this could happen to you. You see what I'm saying? As soon as you depart from needing material evidence—documents, organisational details—then you enter dangerous territory, don't you? You can be convicted for words, for making a speech, for thoughts. There's a name for this: a police state. Is that what we want? Could you find yourself standing in a dock like me? Let's be clear. I have organised civil disobedience actions in the past, but I did not organise this one. I'm under oath, and I'm telling you the truth. If I was involved, I would tell you. But on this occasion, I was not, and I hope that's clear. And then there is the matter of public nuisance. This could not be more different. It happens that no one is denying the evidence—the evidence is overwhelming. There's no question about it. There was a public nuisance. This is not the charge. The charge, the law is clear—we are charged with public nuisance without reasonable excuse. That is the law that was passed by Parliament in 2022, and you have to look at the law and the whole of the law. That's your job. [Donate to Support My Work From Prison](#/portal/signup) And obviously, this has to be the law. It would be totally unjust to have a law that did not allow for people to cause a public nuisance in particular circumstances. An obvious example of this is the classic scenario of shouting "fire" in a theatre. Self-evidently, you're causing a nuisance. You're stopping people from watching the play—no question about that. At the same time, you're doing the public service. You're getting attention to the fact there is a fire, and people in the theatre could die if they don't find out and act accordingly. We see this situation all the time in history, in the movies. It's a well-known situation. It's common sense, obviously—there has to be the possibility of a reasonable excuse. So that is step one—establishing the possibility. The next step is also obvious—it all depends on the evidence, doesn't it? On the agreed facts, the cold, hard, physical facts of the consequences of taking action or not taking action. So in the theatre example, you might consider how big the fire was, how many people there were in the theatre, how quick it was for them to get through the exits. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2024/08/judge-hehir.png) Judge Herir So let's look at this case. Let's suppose that a group of people went onto the motorway. They stopped the traffic; no reason was given. It was clearly a public nuisance—no question about that. There were long delays; people were stopped from going about their daily business. There was no excuse. It's a clear-cut court case, isn't it? We can all agree on that. The jury is going to find the defendants guilty—job done. Except, consider the following situation: the prosecution and the judge have conspired here—we can use that word—to prevent critical evidence from being shown to the jury. It turns out, in fact—note those words, \*in fact\*—further up the motorway, there was going to be a terrorist attack, and vehicles could have been blown up. In other words, if people had not gone onto the motorway, people would have died. People were causing a public nuisance, but the new facts change the situation, don't they? Totally. It's common sense that the road was blocked by people who were heroes. They would have had an overwhelming reasonable excuse; they were saving lives. No case to answer. Not guilty. So what happens if what I've just described has happened in this trial? What if the prosecution was, in fact, hiding evidence from you? There's a question for you. The question is, of course, how do you know? Maybe in those 200 pages of defence evidence, you'll find important considerations. Can you be certain? No, because you simply don't know. So can you be certain that we had no reasonable excuse if you haven't seen the evidence? If the evidence exists, what's the big deal? Why doesn't the judge just let you look at the defence evidence and hear the expert witnesses? And you might ask, well, what's the big deal? I mean, the prosecution had a full week to present their evidence—all well and good—so why not let the defence produce, what, two or three hours of evidence each? I'm sure it's crossed your mind—have they got something to hide here? Why do they keep sending us out? Don't you trust us or something to make up our own minds? Actually, there is a third possibility here. The first possibility was that there was no threat to life. The second possibility was that there was a threat to some lives because there was going to be a bomb further up the motorway. But there could be something so, so much worse—concrete, overwhelming, physical, scientific evidence of a threat to the lives of hundreds of millions of people. The lives of the people in this courtroom, our children's lives, the lives of those whom we love. How do you know that this isn't true? Again, you simply do not know. You do not know because you have not been given the defence's evidence. You have not been allowed to hear the defence's expert witnesses—the professors, the world-famous scientists. You cannot be trusted, for some reason, to hear the whole story, the whole truth. And this is the point, members of the jury: to convict, to find defendants guilty, you have to hear all the evidence—all the evidence—not 20 minutes with constant interruptions by the judge telling you what you can and can't say. This is not a police state, is it? So let us speak. And remember, if you can't be certain, you can't be sure. And if you can't be sure, you can't convict. Even if you're 99% sure, then it's not guilty. That's what the lawyers say. Except this is not the whole story, is it? Something happened during this trial that didn't actually go to plan. The judge and the prosecution thought they had it all sewn up—they thought the job was done. No evidence of reasonable excuse; open-and-shut case. What they didn't reckon with is five experienced campaigners who know what a rigged trial looks like when they see one. We were given no legal defences. The judges used to give legal defences so we could have our say. But now they've overstepped the mark. They decided no more defences—20 minutes, please, and then sat down. They changed the rules of the game, and so did we. We refused to betray our oath. We refused to betray you, members of the jury, by not giving you the evidence, by refusing to not give you the evidence you need to make a fair judgement. After all, isn't it the essence of a legal system to be able to hear both sides of the case? Isn't it the essence of justice to be able to compare the disruption caused by a citizen with the disruption they are trying to prevent? In this trial, we, the defendants, were not prepared to stand by and allow the judge to undermine the rule of law. We refuse to leave the dock because justice demands fairness. We were prepared to be dragged from the courtroom and sent to prison to defend your right—your sacred right as a jury—to hear the evidence. Some of the evidence? Not 20 minutes of the evidence—all of it. And guess what? Disruption in this case—disruption in the cause of exposing the truth—worked. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2024/08/defend-our-juries.png) The judge absolutely refused to have anything said in this case about what he called, "climate change." You remember him saying this many times: **No talking about climate change**—over and over again. And then suddenly, he changed his mind. Suddenly, once we'd stood firm—hey presto!—we found four new agreed facts about, well, climate change. Why was that? Because he didn't want those facts, did he? Obviously, he didn't want them to "open the door," to use the prosecutor's phrase, to the blindingly obvious—that we did not go onto the courts just for the sake of doing so. Obviously not. We did so because there was an undeniable, objective, physical harm being created on a scale never seen before in human history. Agreed fact No. 1, members of the jury: catastrophic consequences of putting greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.That was the transformative moment in this trial. They all had it nicely sewn up, and then suddenly, they had to face the fact that this society—our kids, our communities, our whole way of life—is facing a catastrophe that's off the scale. So what happened next? Did the judge do the decent thing? Did he accept that, yes, maybe there is a case—a reasonable excuse for actions—if you know... well, let's be real about this, if there is a real prospect that our children are going to face death by slow starvation? Did he say, "*Okay, that's the truth. We should finally allow the jury to see the 250-page bundle of defence evidence*?" Did he accept that it might just throw light on the case if we had an expert witness or two from, say, University College London, who, unlike the judge, happens to have spent decades researching the actual facts? Maybe the expert would enlighten us a little. But no, he did not allow this to happen. Instead, he did the most remarkable thing, didn't he? Do you remember, members of the jury, what the judge said—this man whom we are asked to trust to preside fairly over this case? What he said was, \*Oh, they are agreed facts, but they are not relevant to this case.\* How gobsmackingly, embarrassingly ludicrous! Can you have agreed facts and then ask people to ignore them? Can agreed facts be any old facts? You know, like, \*Oh, the defendants like a bit of fresh air\*—why wasn't that put in? It's a fact, everyone agrees on it, no problem, pop it in. Agreed facts are facts that are relevant to the case. I can't believe we, in a British courtroom, have to have an argument around such a bleedingly obvious point. Agreed fact No. 1: We face a catastrophe. We face a catastrophe—it's relevant to the case, it's part of the evidence, you have to consider it. It's your legal obligation as a jury to consider this fact—it's called the law, the rule of law, is it not? And what does it tell us about the trustworthiness of this judge? Well, we know what we think about that, because we know what he said next. He changed the goalposts, didn't he? You know about changing the goalposts, don't you? Or at least, if you have children like me, you know how it goes: you have an argument, you catch them out, and then you know what happens next—they change the subject. Goalposts have changed—there's a word for it, isn't there? There's a word for it: juvenile. And so what happened next? Having lost the argument on evidence of the catastrophe—what he called "climate change," the objective facts—he then said, Well, it's all political anyway, and we should take it through the democratic process. That's what we should do.This is then a case where we can talk about politics, because then the judge proceeded to tell us his, what you and I call, quote, “sincerely held beliefs” about whether we live in a functioning democratic state—a “functioning democratic state”, as quoted from the Jones judgement. So, suddenly, we're no longer talking about the law as such; we're suddenly talking about the judge’s politics. So, let's look for a moment at the politics—assuming I don't get interrupted, assuming we have a fair, flat playing field here. The Jones judgement says that civil disobedience is illegal if we live in a functioning democratic state. Notice this is a conditional statement: **if** we have a functioning democratic state, **then** Civil disobedience is illegal. Meaning, of course, **if** we don't live in a functioning democratic state, **then** civil disobedience could be justified—in fact, it could be legal. We could have a reasonable excuse. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2024/08/justice_inequalty_final2_1120x633.png) So, now we are in the position, in a British courtroom, of the prosecution having to prove to you—because you have to be sure, remember, remember that word—you have to be sure that we live in a functioning democratic state. And if you're in any doubt about living in a democratic state—a functioning one—then it's possible that we have a legal excuse, and, legally speaking, you cannot be convicted. So, this is important stuff. The judge has kindly moved the central argument, the central issue of this trial, to answer the question: **What sort of state do we live in?** Given the centrality of this question, I presume the judge will allow me a few moments to look at this proposition in a little more detail. Members of the jury, notice the word **functiona**l. Judges don't just put in any old words in a haphazard way in their judgments and their laws; they take their time. \*Functional\* was put in for a reason—because it is possible, of course, that we could live in a \*dysfunctional\* democratic state, and then we would be forced to consider that civil disobedience is legal. And as I've said, we could therefore have a reasonable excuse. So, let me suggest that we could start with two forms of evidence here—assuming we're interested in evidence, of course. First of all, I would bet with the judge that if you go out onto the streets of this great city, into the streets of London, and ask people if they think we live in a functioning democratic state, I think it's a reasonable possibility that many, if not the majority, of people will laugh at you. Yes, they would have agreed a generation ago—maybe 10 years ago, they weren't so sure—but now, no. If you want to be a little bit more systematic in considering the evidence, then I could refer you to a whole cascade of surveys over recent years that show that our politicians and politics are more distrusted than at any point in modern times. How dare I say it? As you know, I used to be a social science researcher at King's College London, where there are plenty of academics who are fully versed on the current literature on whether or not we live in a \*functional\* democratic state. There are plenty of experts who could come and provide evidence to you, the jury, on this area of academic research. But you know what? You're not allowed to hear the expert evidence on this—the central question of this court case. Why is that? Because, bless him, the judge has decided that it's not for you to decide. You don't need to busy your mind with evidence. Judge Hare has already decided we live in a functioning democratic state, and that is that. Judge Hare has the quaint idea that because we have elections, then—hey presto!—we live in a democracy. End of argument. For Judge Herir, this is nothing to do with politics; it's an objective matter. God has deemed our state is infallible and always will be. Yes, this has shown the judge to be an anti-democrat, hasn't it? When it comes to making a decision, he dictates. And there's a word for a person that dictates—we know what that is: a dictator. Maybe the UN officials who have been sitting in on this court case might like to give the judge some useful advice on this matter. Maybe they already have communicated to the judge in a letter, but we don't know, do we? Because we're not allowed to know. Is there a pattern emerging here, members of the jury? I think the people who will listen to this speech after this court case will be getting with the program at this point. They would have decided that this trial is a sham—the verdict has already been decided. You, the jury, are here to rubber-stamp the proceedings, to hear from the judge, and to do what the judge tells you to do. That is your duty—not to the truth, but to the judge. And as we are seeing, the judge is not so keen on the truth. But all is not lost. Change the goalposts if you want to, but it turns out there's still no escape. Agreed Fact No. 1 still exists: we are facing a catastrophe. Agreed Fact No. 4 still exists. Take a look at it, members of the jury—Agreed Fact No. 4\. At the time of the action, our supposed functioning democratic state was promoting more oil licences. It was all "burn, baby, burn," wasn't it? Remember the Prime Minister saying he intended to, quote, "max out on oil"? So, we are forced to consider the all-important question, which is this: can a fully functioning democratic state create a catastrophe in the full awareness of its actions? It might be useful to consider a historical example here. Not so long ago, there was the idea in this country that you too could take ships to Africa, pick up slaves, take them to America, to the Americas, have them work on plantations. The estimates vary, but it's reasonable to believe that around a quarter of those people died in transit to America, and that those who arrived died within five years of working on a plantation. This was good business, members of the jury, wasn't it? No doubt about it—the elites of this country were laughing all the way to the bank. And there was a common attitude to our national disgrace: that we need not be concerned with Black lives. They were, well, what's the word—**dispensable**, **disposable**—just a cost on the balance sheet. Was that the action of a fully democratic state? Can we say that a fully democratic state imposed torture and death on 10 million people from Africa for reasons of economic gain? No, no, no, we cannot. Why? Because it was disgusting. It's vile. It's appalling. If anyone in this courtroom suggested otherwise, they would lose all credibility, would they not? ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2024/08/democracy-needs-protest.png) This is what the judge in this courtroom is saying. What he's saying is appalling. What he's saying is vile, disgusting—disgusting. This is my defence. I have a right to explain myself, and I have the right to speak about this matter. What does the catastrophe mean, members of the jury? What does it mean for the UK government, for economic gain, to promote and provide licences for more oil and gas in 2024, in 2022, in 2020? What does it mean to emit carbon at this point in history that will push temperatures over 2 degrees centigrade? That will, according to peer-reviewed papers, produce one thousand million refugees in the poorest areas of the world—in Africa, Central America, South Asia. According to the facts, the cold, hard facts: slave ships kill Black people, plantations kill Black people, and emitting CO2 kills Black people. Not 10 million Black people—thousands of millions of lives are destroyed through this project. Thousands of millions of people will be forced to leave their homes—not forced by slave traders, but by something much, much worse: by a project to destroy the climate of those people, to turn their land into desert, to stop the rains, to starve them every year. Not for 100 years, not for 200 years, but for thousands of years without end. Call it vile, disgusting—not in a million years does a functioning democratic state do this to innocent people. No, it does not. It does not. You can be sure—you can be absolutely sure—of one thing: that no functioning democratic state does this. No functioning democratic state in a million years organizes a genocide on this scale. And does it end there? How do you know? Because you haven't seen 250 pages of horrors, have you? It's been hidden from you. No, it doesn't end there, does it? Because now, I will give you the worst news you are going to hear in your life. That little word “catastrophic” in Agreed Fact No. 1 means something—something that affects you in this courtroom. You know what it means for the people of Africa, the people of Central America, the people in the hot areas of the world. What about us here in our cool temperate highlands? You will starve to death. You will see those that you love starve to death. According to peer-reviewed research, “catastrophic” is exactly what it means for your families if you allow governments to continue to burn oil and gas fossil fuels. This is what the latest research says. It says that it's more likely than not that the Gulf Stream current in the Atlantic—the current that keeps this country warm—will collapse in the next half to quarter century. By 2050, in 25 years' time, in fact, it could collapse at any point after 2025, next year. And this will plunge temperatures down by 10 to 30 degrees Celsius in the winter. It will be like living in northern Norway. It will affect the whole of Europe. Ask yourself this: where are 60 million people going to go when this island is covered with ice for over half a year, when you cannot grow food? We’re going to starve or we’re going to migrate. But where? When hundreds of millions of refugees are coming north into Europe out of the Middle East and Africa. Of course, you might not starve, you might say. And then you might say, “*Well, that's okay then. You might say, well, not all your family is going to have to migrate, so that's okay then—full speed ahead, burn, baby, burn, max out on oil.*” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2024/08/front-pages-of-WTF-trial.png) There are only peer-reviewed papers after all. I mean, look on the bright side. No, I don’t think we're thinking that, are we? We know what's happening. One simple thing is happening: a crime. The greatest crime—that's what it is. And never in our history have we had a greater reasonable excuse to stop such a monstrosity. Only a psychopath would disagree. Assuming we want to listen to the evidence—such as assuming we want to attend to that little word “catastrophic” in Agreed Fact No. 1\. 250 pages—there's lots more in there. Lots more. Aren’t you starting to feel a little bit annoyed that the judge will not allow you to see that document? Aren’t you starting to feel a little bit mad that you cannot hear about what’s going to happen to you and your family, that you cannot hear from an expert witness? You cannot hear it from the horse’s mouth what’s actually going to happen to you. I mean, this is serious, isn’t it? Deadly serious. What is going to happen? What will this catastrophe look like? Why can't we have an expert in this court? So, you’ve heard the agreed facts. You’ve heard what it means for the poorest people in this world. You’ve heard what it means for this country. But what about London? Maybe the judge will allow me just a few more minutes to tell you what is going to happen to the great city of London by 2050. A quarter of the buildings in the city will be subsiding because of droughts that will dry out the clay soils. Warning: four of you will have to move. Where to, you might ask? And then if it doesn’t rain for three or four months, which is highly likely, 8 million people in this city will have no water. What will happen then, you might ask? And then with the collapse of food supplies—I mean, do you remember the beginning of COVID? I remember going into a corner shop, my local shop in Wandsworth, and they’d run out of rice. Everyone was looking edgy, do you remember that? Imagine what it’s going to be like when it’s weeks and months. There are plenty of expert witnesses out there who could come into this trial and tell you precisely what is going to happen. When people go hungry, what happens then? When law and order collapses—law and order that prosecutors claim to love so much—these expert witnesses can tell you. They'll tell you it gets very ugly. They'll tell you people kill each other. That's what will happen. And then there's the small matter of sea level rise. By 2050, this country—this city—will have to be evacuated because we can't keep the water out any longer. Yes, it may happen later. It may be 2070, but it may well be before then. But one thing is totally certain: if you allow the burning of more oil and gas, you can be 100% certain that this city is going down. It is done for; it will have gone. It will be under the sea. “Catastrophic”—what do you think this word means? What does this word mean? Did you think it meant a picnic? Something, you know, neither here nor there, to use that quote from Judge Hare? Do you think that what's going to happen to this great city of ours is of no consequence—just neither here nor there? Physical evidence, members of the jury, focus on the facts—the cold, hard facts. Yes, of course, everything I've told you is an estimate, meaning, by the way, it could happen earlier; it could be even worse. As they say, the terrorist bomb could have gone off later; it might not have gone off; it could have been okay. No need to stop all that oil and gas then, even though 1,000, 10,000—indeed, science papers say that emitting carbon will lead to everlasting hell. So you don't need to be totally certain. Do you have a reasonable excuse? I mean, let’s look at this another way. If you go to the airport with your children and the official says to you, “Hey, there's a 50% chance of your plane crashing with your kid,” but don’t worry; it's not certain. Don’t worry, everyone; it’s not certain. There may only be a 20% chance that the body parts of your children will be scattered all over the wreckage. So, chop-chop, kids, get on board. What parent does that? What functioning democratic state does that to 60 million people? Not one. No democratic state does that. Not ever does it. We could say that's common sense. We could say that's why the judge should not—and does not—have the final say. You, as ordinary people having heard what I've said, have the final say. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2024/08/roger-for-de-volkskrant-2.jpg) A tsunami of horrors, a tidal wave of terror—250 pages of evidence. You could say that we’re on the home stretch here then, couldn’t you? Certainly, the people listening to this after this trial will be thinking so. But this is a court of law, and we have to consider the law, don’t we? What does the law say about such a situation? How do we find ourselves in 2024? It has been said that the law requires a close nexus between the action and the crime it intends to stop. It has to be close in time and space. No, it does not. What matters is causality—that the action stops the crime. A crime can be occurring now, or a crime can extend over years, over the whole world. It’s no less of a crime for distributing its murderousness over the whole of time and space—in this case, effectively into eternity. That's nonsense, isn't it? No system of law can be stupid enough to suggest that there is a limit to the extent of a crime beyond which there can be no action that has a reasonable excuse. No action that tries to stop the harm. Obviously, the opposite is true. The greater the crime, the more you have a reasonable excuse to stop it. It could be said that the law does not apply to new ways of killing people—that killing people by destroying their climate is not actually killing at all. It’s just, to quote the judge, “climate change,” a novel way of killing people, and thus not relevant in a British court. How ridiculous. How beyond stupid. Killing is killing. The novelty of the means of creating death is irrelevant. This is what any coherent system of justice has to demand. And it has been said that we didn’t have to have no politics in the courtroom—that climate change “is a matter of personal belief”, of subjectivity. Well, let me say this: When I was at King’s College down the road, terrorists killed people at London Bridge. We all remember. And people tried to stop them. Were they told that this was wrong? Were they told that they were being political by trying to stop this extremism? Were the people that did the killing to be let off because they had a political motivation? No, no. No, no. The question is: Was it killing or was it not? Many people who kill people have political beliefs, but that does not mean that they cannot be brought to trial, obviously. And the converse is true: Many people try to stop killing for political reasons. That does not mean that they don’t have a reason or excuse, obviously. Killing is killing; trying to stop it is not a crime. That’s common sense. And lastly, we are required to attend to the legal consideration of whether our actions had an impact, had a real influence on the crime of emitting greenhouse gases. Let me say this: I have studied the means of applying pressure. The means of applying pressure—I did research on this at King’s College for five years. I can tell you one thing: going onto a motorway is a standard and well-established way of getting attention, of creating pressure. It’s a standard mechanism to create success. It was used by the farmers, remember, just a few weeks ago around Europe. Going on the roads, going on the motorways—the lorry drivers did it in the Blair government. As I said in my speech, the French, dare I say, do it all the time. The Serbian people did it two years ago to stop the loss of their mineral rights. It’s a thing; it works. We did it because it works—to stop a crime, a crime that we are all facing. But let’s be honest with ourselves, please. Let’s be honest about this. Let’s not get lost in the reeds. The law is, first and foremost, one thing: protecting the welfare of the people. If it can’t do that, it’s nothing. We face what we face—the horror and the terror on a scale unknown in human history. Let’s get real. Let’s be honest, please. It’s common sense, isn’t it? ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2024/08/roger-and-michel-forst.png) Outside the Court With UN Special Rappoteur Michel Forst Any peaceful action that aims to stop killing, to stop the killing fields that are going to rain down on us, on our children, and the next thousand generations, has to be justified. Nothing, in fact, could be more justified. I will finish by telling you why I did what I did—my personal reason for making that speech two years ago, asking people to take action. I did it for honour. To honour my mother. Honour is a value, isn’t it? But I suggest we re-adopt it as we face what is coming towards us. Honour your mother and your father. It used to be said. My mother grew up in the Second World War. She knew the hardship and the stress of those times. Her generation knew what it was to face the reality of evil; they lived through it. The generation of that time fought evil, and they died for it. My mother spent decades doing charity work. She was literally heartbroken by the suffering in this world. She told me when she was about to die that she would go into the bathroom, lock the door, and cry. Like millions of other Christian women, they dedicated their lives to the alleviation of suffering—the suffering of the innocent. This is what that generation did all around the world. They built a world that was more free, more prosperous, and more decent than any in human history. That was their legacy; that was their work, their light. They did it for us. And I will not betray them. Over my dead body will I betray that legacy. I will not stand by and have everything destroyed on my watch. It is simply a question of honour. That is why I stand before you today. So I have one request to make of you, members of the jury: that you yourself act in honour. New members of the jury, all of you in this courtroom, all of you who read about this speech after today, in the years ahead—because this is not about you, is it? It’s not about you. It’s about your family. It’s about your community. It’s about this country that we all love—you love and I love. It’s about honouring those that came before us and those that will come after us. After everything I have told you, everything you know we now face, you have to act for love. As you members of the jury now know, if I stand before you and tell you this truth, I am put into prison. The lawyers in this trial, if they speak the truth, will lose their jobs. If you speak the truth, nothing will happen to you. You are free to speak, and your freedom is burdened with great responsibility in this case—the greatest responsibility. I ask you to accept it: we had a reasonable excuse for doing what we did, for the love of the world, we did what we did. [Support Truthtellers with a Donation](#/portal/signup) --- Thank you to everyone who joined our demonstration on Parliament Square to free imprisoned truthtellers. 60,000 have now signed a [Petition](https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/no-prison-for-protest?ref=rogerhallam.com) to the new Attorney General to stop this madness. Please sign and share it. [Share the Petition](https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/no-prison-for-protest?ref=rogerhallam.com) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2024/08/wtf-demo.png) If you'd like to send me a message of support, you can email a note through to me in prison by sending it to rogerremanded@gmail.com As always, you can sign up for nonviolent civil resistance with [Just Stop Oil](https://juststopoil.org/?ref=rogerhallam.com) in the UK or via the [A22 Network](https://a22network.org/en/?ref=rogerhallam.com) internationally. --- ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get on with the job of sorting it out. [Support](https://rogerhallam.com/#/portal/signup/6517fbb3b89c5400016e9f27/yearly) ### ⌛Is There A Time Limit Or Not? A Letter To Celebrities URL: https://rogerhallam.com/a-letter-to-celebrities/ Last updated: 2024-08-12T06:36:01.000Z > *A lobster in a pot,* > *Dreaming a while* > *Under the summer moon* > \- Basho **Note:** *This article was transcribed from a prison phoneline. You can listen to the audio version* [*here.*](https://youtu.be/RYuEmQhAjC0?ref=rogerhallam.com) First things first, thank you so much for speaking outside the court last week and for publicising the appalling mockery of the trial. And thanks to all the others who have spoken up as well. But please remember, this situation is not about us, the #WholeTruthFive. The [British legal system is institutionally unjust](https://www.hja.net/news-and-insights/press-releases/damning-new-statistics-denounce-unfair-confusing-and-inaccessible-uk-justice-system/?ref=rogerhallam.com). Young people are kept on remand for two years or more, and many others have no voice in our brutal prison system. I am writing this open letter to remind you, and those reading, that we are living through the most fucked up moment in human history. It is so easy for us all to follow the well-worn script: protesters fight for justice, get banged up, liberal notables come to the rescue, the fight continues, and then the good guys win. The anti-slavery campaigns, women's vote, trade union and civil rights, and all the rest of it—all good stuff. But to think that this is where we are at in 2024 is to be as willfully deluded as our friend Judge Hehir, for two reasons. First, the situation is beyond massive; it's global and murderous. The injustice is incalculable: [a third of Pakistan underwater](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-62712301?ref=rogerhallam.com), [50 degrees plus in India](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-05-28/india-temperature-surpasses-50c-as-brutal-heat-waves-grip-nation?ref=rogerhallam.com), millions of refugees streaming out of the Sahel and Central America. The obscenity of destroying our children's lives—it goes on and on and on. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2024/08/clive-lewis.png) Clive Lewis MP speaking at our rally. It's time to give the Labour Party an ultimatum. Secondly, and most critically, there is a time limit, is there not? Or are we still pretending? We are on a cliff edge. This movement was founded shortly after the IPCC report in 2018, saying we have a decade left to half emissions. We will go over 2°C in the 2030s: one billion refugees. We have two years left (“[to save the world](https://unfccc.int/news/two-years-to-save-the-world-simon-stiell-at-chatham-house?ref=rogerhallam.com)”), according to the UN, as outlined a few weeks ago. I could give you another hundred data points: methane, glaciers, forest fires, ice, ozone, acidification. We are in a total fucking emergency. As the civil resistance movements have been pointing out since 2018, if this does not stop, our kids will starve. These islands will become uninhabitable. What was that about the AMOC collapse? Minus 10 to 30 degrees [temperatures in UK winters](https://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2024/02/new-study-suggests-the-atlantic-overturning-circulation-amoc-is-on-tipping-course/?ref=rogerhallam.com)—and then it goes on forever. The last of our worries is getting banged up for a year or two. Please understand your responsibilities. Causes have demands; emergencies have ultimatums. Nothing will change without you making ultimatums. Clive \[Lewis\] needs to say to the Labour Party, "Cancel the Tory licences, or he will resign." Jenny \[Jones\] needs to glue herself to the House of Lords benches. Chris \[Packham\] needs to lead the marchers to sit down and keep doing it until he's put in prison. All of you need to engage in civil disobedience to force the national media to have a two-hour documentary on the starvation of our children. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2024/08/chris-march.png) Chris Packham needs to lead a mass civil disobedience march. I am tired of the lazy excuses on all of this. Look at XR, Insulate Britain, Just Stop Oil, and now this trial. There is no time for anything else. The liberal classes have to resist; otherwise, we will have fascism. In the 2030s, the next generation will go, "You did what? A march, a speech? A petition? What the fuck?" But most of all, this is what I have to say: our civilization is built on the delusion of control, the utilitarian privilege of being able to ask, "Will it work?" You're not put in this world to stand by, to hedge, to prevaricate. We are put here to do the right thing in the face of evil. That is why we got dragged out of court for acting upon this truth. Now the baton is being passed to you. For the sake of the next 10,000 generations, don't drop it. --- Thank you to everyone who joined our demonstration on Parliament Square to free imprisoned truthtellers. 60,000 have now signed a [Petition](https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/no-prison-for-protest?ref=rogerhallam.com) to the new Attorney General to stop this madness. Please sign and share it. [Share the Petition](https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/no-prison-for-protest?ref=rogerhallam.com) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2024/08/wtf-demo.png) If you'd like to send me a message of support, you can email a note through to me in prison by sending it to rogerremanded@gmail.com As always, you can sign up for nonviolent civil resistance with [Just Stop Oil](https://juststopoil.org/?ref=rogerhallam.com) in the UK or via the [A22 Network](https://a22network.org/en/?ref=rogerhallam.com) internationally. --- ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get on with the job of sorting it out. [Support](https://rogerhallam.com/#/portal/signup/6517fbb3b89c5400016e9f27/yearly) ### Who's the Real Fanatic? URL: https://rogerhallam.com/whos-the-real-fanatic/ Last updated: 2024-07-29T14:11:55.000Z **Note:** *This article was transcribed from a prison phoneline and originally published in the far-right newspaper,* [*The Daily Mail*](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-13681711/Just-Stop-Oil-activists-Mail-respond-jury-climate-evidence-Roger-Hallam.html?ref=rogerhallam.com)*, as part of an effort to appeal to* a [*conservative*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FRI9Wf5fZY&list=PLDUbuoqDvGdd-vigAC6TeP1OPvdH9TqYJ&index=30&pp=iAQB&ref=rogerhallam.com) *revolution. You can listen to the audio version* [*here*](https://youtu.be/oh06hoKUlCw?ref=rogerhallam.com)*.* During my sentencing on Thursday, I was called a fanatic by Judge Hehir. This word was published on the front pages of the national press. I think I have a right to respond. For over two decades, I was a farmer in Wales, supplied my community with vegetables, and lived a family life. I worked very hard, paid my taxes, and was no harm to anyone. I was doing my job, but the politicians were not doing their job. Along with millions of other farmers, I was forced out of business by extreme weather events—months without rain, months with nothing but rain, now yearly events. Central to my personal belief is the idea of [balance](https://rogerhallam.com/balance/). I have the same orientation as many traditional conservatives, such as Edmund Burke. Destroying the weather systems in order to take money is not balanced; it is a crime. My political views are rooted in the philosophy of John Locke, the father of classical liberalism. We should live under the rule of law, and so should the government. The basis of the law is the welfare of the people. If a regime enables the destruction of the lives and livelihoods of the people, then the government is a tyranny, and the people have the right to rebel. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2024/07/Daily-Telegraph-15---Copy-1.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2024/07/Daily-Mail-15-1.jpg) Front pages of the billionaire-owned, Daily Mail and Daily Telegraph on the trial. No "functioning democracy" enables the obliteration of our way of life for the next hundred thousand years. Or are we living in 1984, where the consequences of going over two degrees by burning new oil and gas is a continuation of the rule of law? Judge Hehir said in the trial that these effects of what he called "climate change" were "neither here nor there." He was given 200 pages of scientific evidence but refused to change his mind. Furthermore, he refused to let the jury see that evidence so they could make up their minds. He merrily declared that the human race going to "a fiery end" was not relevant in a British court. Can you imagine if he had said that about the 50 million killed in World War II? If he had said that about the millions murdered by the Nazis? John Locke was clear: any government that plans the death of its citizens is breaking the law, in the past, in the present, and in the future. No exceptions. When our children read about what Judge Hehir said a decade from now, they will have one word to describe him: fanatic. --- ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2024/07/Screenshot-2024-07-29-154335.png) The Daily Mail published and [commented](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-13682415/DAILY-MAIL-COMMENT-Labour-tax-raid-kill-growth-trice.html?ref=rogerhallam.com) on this article. ### Resistance is the Story - Interviews from Prison Here's a collection of Roger's interviews and other articles from the press on the trial and resistance. [Just Stop Oil co-founder tells BBC from jail: We’re not done yetJust Stop Oil co-founder tells BBC from jail: We’re not done yet![](https://static.files.bbci.co.uk/core/website/assets/static/icons/windows-phone/news/windows-phone-icon-270x270.23502b4459eb7a6ab2ab.png)BBC NewsDominic CascianiHome and Legal CorrespondentBBCDomCJustin RowlattClimate Editor![](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/branded_news/7231/live/57256b40-4b7d-11ef-8bbf-8529a913926f.jpg)](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c3g9yrdkwrwo?ref=rogerhallam.com) [Just Stop Oil sentences will only strengthen resolve, jailed founder believesRoger Hallam says the jail terms handed out to activists could be a turning point that reinvigorates climate activism![](https://www.thetimes.com/store/favicon-72x72.png)The TimesTom Ball![](https://www.thetimes.com/imageserver/image/%2Fmethode%2Ftimes%2Fprod%2Fweb%2Fbin%2F2245bcf1-43c8-4f87-8d30-13eb3f2c525a.jpg?crop=4000%2C2250%2C0%2C210&resize=1200)](https://www.thetimes.com/article/dcfd30de-17ed-4128-b699-a4a11480d21d?shareToken=e397b2419996fa73a1dc02f19b6a5631&ref=rogerhallam.com) Read the full version behind the paywall [here](https://archive.ph/zf6Zk?ref=rogerhallam.com). [Campaign groups call on Home Office to stop ‘steady erosion’ of protest rightsCivil society organisations demand home secretary protects the ‘safety valve’ of democracy![](https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/icons/homescreen/apple-touch-icon-512.png)The GuardianDamien Gayle![](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/7b51f9ae1e06559324cfe65b5e35088a79be0dbd/0_55_7992_4795/master/7992.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctZGVmYXVsdC5wbmc&enable=upscale&s=179430781ac8f719338fb82bfcf5d7d2)](https://www.theguardian.com/politics/article/2024/jul/29/campaign-groups-call-on-home-office-to-stop-steady-erosion-of-protest-rights?ref=rogerhallam.com) Plus a lighter read from Comedian Stewart Lee: > History will judge Just Stop Oil protesters as heroes… within a few years, when the climate crisis renders life untenable, the angry public will demand a retroactive Nuremberg-style investigation into who allowed the death of everything to proceed. [The end is nigh. For insects, bats, protest, the planet… | Stewart LeeOur response to global heating and the decimation of animal species is to marginalise the Green party and lock up protesters![](https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/icons/homescreen/apple-touch-icon-512.png)The GuardianStewart Lee![](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/59c7908e71002e81090e5dc5240edfcfdabf3b5c/73_99_1449_869/master/1449.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdG8tb3BpbmlvbnMucG5n&enable=upscale&s=62b13db120a34f592a4d2b45129b9800)](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/jul/28/the-end-is-nigh-for-insects-bats-protest-the-planet?CMP=Share%5FiOSApp%5FOther&ref=rogerhallam.com) --- We're appealing to the new Attorney General to stop this madness with a [Petition](https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/no-prison-for-protest?ref=rogerhallam.com) \- after all, you can't lock up the truth. A coalition has organised a demonstration to free truthtellers at 12pm, August 3rd in Parliament Square. Join them. [Join The Updates Channel](https://t.me/rogerhallam?ref=rogerhallam.com) If you'd like to send me a message of support, you can email a note through to me in prison by sending it to rogerremanded@gmail.com As always, you can sign up for nonviolent civil resistance with [Just Stop Oil](https://juststopoil.org/?ref=rogerhallam.com) in the UK or via the [A22 Network](https://a22network.org/en/?ref=rogerhallam.com) internationally. --- ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get on with the job of sorting it out. [Support](https://rogerhallam.com/#/portal/signup/6517fbb3b89c5400016e9f27/yearly) ### 🧑‍⚖️Integrity vs Expediency: The Climate Trial URL: https://rogerhallam.com/a-climate-trial/ Last updated: 2024-07-28T07:45:58.000Z **Note:** *This article was transcribed from a prison phoneline. You can listen to it* [*here*](https://youtu.be/QmSnzTuZXW8?ref=rogerhallam.com)*.* Yesterday, myself and four others were [imprisoned for four to five years](https://rogerhallam.com/5-years-in-prison/). The conservatives and the liberals have got it all sewn up. The narrative is set: for the conservatives, it's job well done. For the liberals, it's another chance to go through the motions of an "injustice trial". But this is not about five nice white middle-class people being banged up for "protest" on "the climate." It's about a few million not-so-nice white people deciding to have [a few hundred million brown people die](https://phys.org/news/2023-08-climate-changing-human-billion-deaths-century.amp?ref=rogerhallam.com). Just for starters. This is not about "climate change"; we agree with the judge on that. It is about murder. At scale. Forever. And that is a bad thing, a very bad thing, an evil thing. When the United Nations recently said we have [two years to save the world](https://unfccc.int/news/two-years-to-save-the-world-simon-stiell-at-chatham-house?ref=rogerhallam.com), that they are not being "melodramatic," that economies will be "devastated," they mean it. Not in some distant future. In the next 10 to 20 years, that's what 1,000 public statements have said. It's what [10,000 peer-reviewed papers](https://docs.google.com/document/d/15WXIS0OZgzMTzH1Q6Bhp1yHdc-FOkcfJnDqojJhcv0Q/edit?ref=rogerhallam.com#heading=h.4d93s548ozhp) have said. It's coming. It is what it is. At some point, you'll be stepping over body parts on the way to work, going "well, you know." What do you think David Attenborough means when he said "we face the end of civilization"? A picnic? What do you think 1 billion refugees at 2 degrees Celsius, 20 times the number at the end of World War II, looks like? Really? Conservatives are the bad guys and liberals are the bad guys who pretend to be good guys, and the latter are the worse, which is why historically they are held in more contempt. They knew but they did nothing. As Martin Luther King said in a letter from a Birmingham jail, it's the moderates that repress, distract, sabotage the resistance to injustice. They are the main problem. Of course, the Carbon State and its functionaries are going to put people in prison for years if they come up with a resistance plan proportionate to the level of criminality we objectively face. If they are willing to have a few hundred million black people starve to death, then why be surprised that they pervert the course of justice? ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2024/07/Letter-from-Birmingham-Jail.png) Martin Luther King's Original Letter from A Birmingham Jail This trial was not about "the right to protest." It is not about "a cause," "an issue." It's civil resistance against the biggest death project in human history, the greatest ever act of criminality. This trial was an experiment with the truth, as Gandhi called it. We were not trying to win, we were trying to tell the truth as if the truth was real, as if this slaughter, starvation, and rape is real. It was integrity, not expediency. So obviously, we spoke that truth. Obviously, we got interrupted. Obviously, we continue to speak even when the judges shouted at us to stop, had us dragged from the dock, banged up in jail. This is what evil looks like. It's what it does. And it's just the beginning. Integrity at the present time is resistance, nothing more, nothing less. It's the opposite logic to expediency. Expediency is trying to have your cake and eat it. To maintain your privilege and status while appearing to do good. Expediency is to write an article about the trial but not glue your hands to your editor's desk. Expediency is to call for justice but not to challenge to judge because it will do in your career. Expediency is to lead a march but not have anyone sit down and be arrested. Expediency is doing everything that looks good but does no good. Expediency is betrayal. Betrayal of your family, your country, this world, but also of yourself—that temporary spark of consciousness in the void of eternity. Consciousness is truth, beauty, love. When you're on your deathbed, you will not be thinking about your career, the stuff you had; you'll be thinking about whether you became what you know yourself to be, a soul. Integrity is a hard path. Your ego has to burn in a fire that destroys its desire to control. Integrity is humiliation, failure, being forgotten. As the greatest soul of the 20th century, Simone Weil, said: when you have an important decision to make, choose the most costly option. We might add, "in the 2020s," because if you don't, the cost will be far greater. In a week or two, all this trial business will be old news. All that will be left for us is the dual brutality of a British prison. Today I had boiled rice with fried rice. Yesterday, boiled rice with pasta. A few days ago, a note came through that cell door: two paragraphs, a guy down the row had killed himself. The new inmates bang on their iron doors all night, yelling, caged and enraged. As this article wrote itself in my head, I cried. Not tears of self-pity, not of anger, but of determination. I know who I am. I know what I am doing, and that's why I'm Britain's most influential climate campaigner, as they like to call me. Take note: in the end times, integrity trumps expediency. I'm smiling. Are you? --- We're appealing to the new Attorney General to stop this madness. Over 1000+ public figures, including singer Chris Martin (Coldplay), top human rights lawyer Sir Geoffrey Bindman KC and the UK's former chief scientist, Sir David King have signed an [open letter](https://wholetruthfive.com/?ref=rogerhallam.com) against the insane sentencing. [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2024/07/Screenshot-2024-07-23-155315.png)](https://defendourjuries.org/wtf/?ref=rogerhallam.com) Read the full letter and signatories at [https://defendourjuries.org/wtf/](https://defendourjuries.org/wtf/?ref=rogerhallam.com) [Sign the Petition](https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/no-prison-for-protest?ref=rogerhallam.com) \- after all, you can't lock up the truth. Then come to the demonstration to free truthtellers at 2-4pm on August 3rd in Parliament Square. A coalition of groups will be coming together for our freedom. [Sign The Petition For My Release](https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/no-prison-for-protest?ref=rogerhallam.com) If you'd like to send me a message of support, you can email a note through to me in prison by sending it to rogerremanded@gmail.com As always, you can sign up for nonviolent civil resistance with [Just Stop Oil](https://juststopoil.org/?ref=rogerhallam.com) in the UK or via the [A22 Network](https://a22network.org/en/?ref=rogerhallam.com) internationally. --- ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get on with the job of sorting it out. [Support](https://rogerhallam.com/#/portal/signup/6517fbb3b89c5400016e9f27/yearly) ### 🇬🇧 Changing the Guard in the Gas Chamber - The UK Election URL: https://rogerhallam.com/the-uk-election/ Last updated: 2024-07-22T07:44:33.000Z **Note:** *This was the last article Roger wrote before being sentenced to* [*5 Years in Prison*](https://rogerhallam.com/5-years-in-prison/)*.* If you go to prison (or should I say when?), you will get a clear understanding of what a guard does. They enforce rules. You can walk around your cell - fine. But walk around the prison yard after time is up and they drag you inside. You will get a few scrapes and bruises (or worse) and then be put in an isolation cell as punishment. There are many rules, but only one main rule - break the rules and you will be punished. It's the same with politics at the end of the world. You can vote for whoever you want to as long as they don’t try to stop the project to destroy the human race over the next two decades. To quote those hysterical idiots at the UN, we have “[two years to save the world](https://unfccc.int/news/two-years-to-save-the-world-simon-stiell-at-chatham-house?ref=rogerhallam.com)” or economies will be “devastated”. Of course, saying something revolutionary like this has been called an ideology for a good 200 years now. In fact, the idea that the end is coming has always been part of human culture. An ideology is the imposition of an idea upon reality. More often than not the ideology is actually contradicted by reality - the end of the world is not coming. But not always. Read that again - *not always*. The exception does exist. It is there in the historical record. Civilisations do destroy themselves - they “commit suicide” to use historian Arnold Toynbee’s famous phrase. Actually, they all destroy themselves eventually. Nothing lasts forever it seems. The cruel paradox is that they destroy themselves in large part because they are so sure they will not destroy themselves. Sometimes the “ideology” is the opposite view: the ideology of “progress” - the imposition of the idea that the end will never come. There are, however, facts. Things which exist independent of our beliefs -[ as I am trying to inform the judge in my trial this week](https://rogerhallam.com/5-years-in-prison/). There is no chance he will accept it as his ideology trumps reality. The facts are that capital controls the world in the 2020s. International capital, to be more precise, has escaped control by the state. This is not an observation - it is an empirical statement. It is historically situated - now in this decade. As such it is an ideological statement. Capital does not always trump the state - in fact usually in history, it does not. And soon capital will lose again. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2024/07/front-pages-of-WTF-trial.png) Roger's sentence was on the front page of 4 major British newspapers. All focused on the details of the trial rather than the existential threat the defendants were trying to avoid. The deal is this. If you try to interfere structurally with the central character of capital - the ability to engage in economic activity that externalises the social and ecological costs - then capital will punish you. Tinkering is fine - you can always linger a while before you’re forced to leave the prison yard - but a structural challenge to capital's ability to cut costs will be punished. You get capital flight and increased debts to a global power - just look at Greece after the 2008 financial crash, they lost[ €4 billion a week as they resisted a European bailout](https://archive.ph/MJhTX?ref=rogerhallam.com). Your country will be poorer and you will be voted out of office and then someone else will have a go at squaring the triangle. What is the endgame here? There are two outcomes. The state collapses, hollowed out by the social costs of capital’s externalities, which leads to social collapse. Or the state forces capital to submit to its will through its monopoly of violence. Do what we say or we will put you in prison (or worse). In this case, the boot is on the other foot. Both endgames result in what everyone was trying to avoid - getting a lot poorer. "Make a stitch in time to save nine", but you know what dear old humans are like - they always end up making nine stitches. In universities, they call this [the collective action problem](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWBR6tJ3yqE&ref=rogerhallam.com). What's the upshot? Whoever you vote for, you will get the same outcome - the rule of capital. Say this to half the population - maybe it's only a quarter now, and soon it will be a tenth - and they will tell you you are mad. Tell the growing other half and they will say “Yeah, obviously”. It's not like people don't know the score. It's just that these people never get to speak in the public sphere - in the media. That’s another one of the rules. Then there is the gas chamber. “Oh that Roger is[ always talking about the Holocaust](https://rogerhallam.com/the-easter-spirit/)”. To which I reply “No comment” (I have learnt that rule!). It's you making the comparison, not me. So maybe it's you who is being “anti-semitic” for merely thinking that there could be a comparison. This is how ideologies finally eat up their children, by the way. The very awareness of system critique becomes a crime itself. The accusers become the victims. The guards are punished for guarding. Think about the great show trials. No, what I am saying is that the world we literally live in is a gas chamber - I am making no “comparison”. That is what it is. We are surrounded by gases and these gases are confined in space. Go outside this space - by digging too deep or climbing too high - and you run out of oxygen and die. Life depends on that small sliver of habitable space, the Goldilocks zone. Let me illustrate this by telling you about my farm. My farmhouse is situated 150 metres above sea level. I can grow food from 100m to 200m. Above 200m it is too cold and windy. Below 100m is too wet and swampy. We live in a sliver - around 100 metres thick - and outside of that we starve. It’s this sliver that also exists within the gas chamber. Capital has been externalising greenhouse gases to the point that it is significantly changing the composition of this gas chamber. These new gases will not allow you to grow food reliably at scale, even within the sliver. As we will soon find out, no food means no life. In other words, unfettered capital has created the endgame of all endgames - extinction. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2024/03/roger-zeit-1-1.JPG) ## Join Me In the Revolution of Our Lives Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No nonsense. Change your mind anytime. You might have noticed that none of this was discussed in the election campaign. When you go to prison they don't tell you the rules - that's another one of the rules. You have to learn them gradually and painfully. In the 2020s you realise the rules are getting worse and worse. Yet eventually a spark will fly and you will have a prison riot. In societies, which turn into prisons, we call this a revolution. In the endgame of endgames, you will get spiritual transformation - a change in how we see the world and the self. You don't know exactly when this will come about - but you know it will happen as surely as night follows the day. Or, thinking about spiritual transformation, maybe we should say, as surely as day follows the night. --- # THE ELECTION IS OVER, BUT TRUE DEMOCRACY STARTS NOW More than 60,000 people voted for [candidates](https://timetoassemble.org/campaigns/?ref=rogerhallam.com) that stood for an updated politics. But now the election is over, we can’t afford to be locked out of Parliament for another five years. We can reclaim our power byholding **assemblies** –big community meet-ups – where local people decide on their priorities themselves. [Sign Up To Assemble](https://actionnetwork.org/forms/sign-up-to-support-citizen-led-democracy?ref=rogerhallam.com) > Only 1 in 5 people voted for Labour but they got two thirds of the seats. > > So fucked. > > — Roger Hallam (@RogerHallamCS21) [July 6, 2024](https://twitter.com/RogerHallamCS21/status/1809486735320948779?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=rogerhallam.com) As always, you can sign up for nonviolent civil resistance with [Just Stop Oil](https://juststopoil.org/?ref=rogerhallam.com) in the UK or via the [A22 Network](https://a22network.org/en/?ref=rogerhallam.com) internationally. --- ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get on with the job of sorting it out. [Support](https://rogerhallam.com/#/portal/signup/6517fbb3b89c5400016e9f27/yearly) ### I've Been Sentenced to 5 Years in Prison - Here's Why URL: https://rogerhallam.com/5-years-in-prison/ Last updated: 2024-07-22T07:50:46.000Z My 'crime'? Giving a talk on civil disobedience as an effective, [evidence-based](https://www.socialchangelab.org/%5Ffiles/ugd/503ba4%5F052959e2ee8d4924934b7efe3916981e.pdf?ref=rogerhallam.com) method for **stopping the elite from putting enough carbon in the atmosphere to send us to extinction.** I have given hundreds of similar speeches encouraging nonviolent action and have never been arrested for it. This time I was an advisor to the M25 motorway disruption, recommending the action to go ahead to wake up the British public to societal collapse. **I was not part of the planning or action itself.** In the trial, I swore before God to tell the truth. The truth is the science. The science is clear. We're heading for billions of deaths and ecological collapse. To prove this, I presented the jury with a [250-page dossier of leading scientists' research](https://docs.google.com/document/d/15WXIS0OZgzMTzH1Q6Bhp1yHdc-FOkcfJnDqojJhcv0Q/edit?ref=rogerhallam.com#heading=h.4d93s548ozhp) as evidence in my defence. This was denied by the judge as an invalid - **climate science is now illegal in the British courtroom.** I then began to speak about the apocalyptic conditions humanity faces - floods, wildfires, mass heat deaths - and was silenced by the judge. **He sent out the jury and threatened to arrest me if I didn't stop.** Instead, I stayed in the dock and argued that until I was given the right to complete my defence – I would not move. Even the prosecution tried to argue in my defence and the judge let me continue. When the jury had shuffled in again, I spoke about the legal concept of “equality of arms” – that as the prosecution had had a right to lay facts over a whole week, I also wanted an equal opportunity. I spoke of various cases where juries had acquitted defendants when they had heard the facts, such as [the Extinction Rebellion cracking of Shell's windows in 2018 as a reasonable action against criminal destruction](https://www.themovementhub.org/stories/not-guilty-meet-the-anti-shell-activists-whose-jury-cleared-their-climate-action/?ref=rogerhallam.com). The Dutch Supreme Court has even said that all governments have a legal obligation to prevent the emission of greenhouse gases. Whilst the prosecution accepted that emissions pose an existential threat, for the first time in British history no less, they still tried to convict us for public nuisance rather than praise us for trying to stop those emissions. Given the objectivity of existential threat, there were overwhelming grounds to be involved in a plan to cause some disruption to the M25. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2024/07/whole-truth-5-1.PNG) With UN Rappoteur on Environmental Defends, Michel Forst, Outside the Court Room In the British law on public nuisance, there is a ‘reasonable excuse’ clause. Science says there is an overwhelming threat to my life, my children, you and your children. To argue there is not a reasonable excuse directly defies the wish of this legislation. Things are happening that cause harm – people are engaged in physical acts to stop that harm – it doesn’t matter whether it’s a protest or not. As I began to offer up some case law, the judge kept intervening telling me I was “*wasting my time*” and ordering the jury to disregard me. To illustrate that I was not talking about my motivations but speaking about real necessity, I referred to a famous case over a decision to operate on conjoined twins with the likelihood that one would die. In this dilemma, I quoted the 19th Century principle that the action was necessary if the threat faced was inevitable and irrevocable, that no more should be done than essential, and that it must be proportionate. I argued that there was a “duress of circumstances” including **the objective danger I’ve experienced as a farmer unable to grow food**, and the global significance of “food insecurity” – a euphemism for famine and starvation. There has never been a moment in history where ‘necessity’ has been more supported by objective facts – more than 10,000 scientific and peer-reviewed papers, indicating an outcome of mass starvation and death from man-made climate collapse. In response, Judge Hehir called for an early lunch and dismissed the jury. He turned to me and warned that I wasn't a lawyer and that “*this is not the Roger Hallam show*”. He then gave me just 15 more minutes to put forward my “*beliefs*” - a totally fucking incoherent statement. This isn’t belief - it’s the objective threat of destruction of property and livelihoods of billions of people and the secondary effects of famine i.e. war, rape, and torture. I outlined four characteristics of the effects of emitting greenhouse gases (GHGs) into the atmosphere, describing them as easy to understand, but unique to human experience and so horrific that they are impossible to assimilate. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2024/07/image.png) Increasing Greenhouse Gases are out of control - higher than ever in human existence. 1\. **They have universal effects** – what’s emitted in India affects the USA, a melting Arctic affects Argentina and so on. 2\. The ultimate consequence of GHGs in the atmosphere is that **you destroy the basis of life** – some experts say for 100,000 years, others 50 million, and some say the Earth will simply become like Venus. In other words, for the first time in human history, a group of people, namely a 1% of wealthy elites, are responsible for destroying everything forever. 3\. The Earth has reached a 1.5˚C rise in temperature already and at some point in the next decade we’ll have triggered geological tipping points – **regardless of any action, we’ll have started unstoppable change**. In other words, we don’t have time to not pull that person from in front of the lorry, if we don’t act now it will be too late. Some scientists contend it’s already too late – [the UN has said we have two years](https://unfccc.int/news/two-years-to-save-the-world-simon-stiell-at-chatham-house?ref=rogerhallam.com) in which to make radical changes – so we’re not just trying to stop people from doing bad things, but to prevent them from doing bad things which will create badness forever. 4\. **There is not an insubstantial possibility of entire human extinction** as a result of pumping GHGs into the atmosphere, we’re talking about a crime fundamentally different from any other in history. This, I said, is why I want to be able to show the jury expert evidence. [Humanity’s survival is still within our grasp – just. But only if we take these radical steps | David KingReduce emissions, build resilience, repair ecosystems, remove greenhouse gases: these are the four Rs that can save us, says David King, chair of the global Climate Crisis Advisory Group![](https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/icons/homescreen/apple-touch-icon-512.png)The GuardianDavid King![](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/5ab78848a065d8490029b0d05ce4251e0484f58a/0_318_4772_2863/master/4772.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctb3BpbmlvbnMucG5n&enable=upscale&s=222ccacc471b0ea0d6af7b7a0e521b43)](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/may/27/humanity-survival-emissions-resilience-ecosystems-greenhouse-gases?ref=rogerhallam.com) The judge, showing obvious disinterest, told me to wrap up in a few minutes. Returning to the idea of ‘necessity’, I gave more examples. We agree that if a man pulls a dagger out in a pub and someone else pushes him and disarms him then there would be no question of prosecution. In Ireland, a cyclist who stopped and intervened when an immigrant was being attacked became a national hero. But what if someone plants a bomb under the table in a pub, set to explode in 30 minutes? If you push him over, grab the bomb and take it out to the police, you wouldn’t be prosecuted, even though the harm you’re trying to prevent is in the future. And what about those people pulling down houses in the Great Fire Of London? Their action was to try and prevent harm in other parts of London if the fire had spread. So just because something causes damage over a long time or space is irrelevant – it comes down to causality. The fact that emissions will cause damage across the planet for millions of years is not a reason to stop it from coming into court. In fact, the massive extent of the time and space is the very reason it should be in every court. At this point, the judge sent the jury home, and again scoffed at me for defending myself as an “*amateur lawyer*” getting “*amateur results*”. The next day I reminded the courtroom that I was under oath to tell the whole truth and would continue with my evidence. The judge immediately ordered the jury out, and when I continued to declare I was under an obligation to continue, the public gallery was cleared and I was warned I would be arrested if I didn’t return to my seat. Then three police officers arrived. I said I would not resist, but also would not assist in my own arrest. As they forcibly dragged me towards the prisoner dock I announced to the observing journalists that this was “Democracy in Action” - Nonviolent resistance to a grossly unjust system. This obscene miscarriage of justice happened to me five times throughout the trial. What a fucking indignity. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2024/07/democracy-needs-protest.png) Leaving the Heathrow Pause trial ealier this year, guilty with a suspended sentence after another "[***gross violation of natural justice and the right to a fair trial**](https://realmedia.press/heathrow-pause-verdict/?ref=rogerhallam.com)". I received no good reason why I could not tell the jury what is blindingly obvious - that the elite putting carbon in the atmosphere will kill billions. **Without the whole truth, it is not a fair trial.** If thousands of people were going to die further up that motorway, we would have a reasonable excuse to disrupt it. Except it's not further up the motorway - it's everyone, all around us. Humanity, gone forever. The judge began the next morning by bizarrely reading out my Twitter feed, which alerted my followers to the fact I wasn’t allowed to give my whole defence and called for support for a presence outside the court. But then he moved on to gleefully recounting some of the various trolls – why this was any part of a serious trial, no one could fathom. I was ordered to take them down by lunchtime or I’d be in contempt of court. **This is a British judge in 2024.** ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2024/03/roger-zeit-1-1.JPG) ## Join Me In the Revolution of Our Lives Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No nonsense. Change your mind anytime. Meanwhile, the UN special rapporteur for Environmental Defenders, Michel Forst sat in the gallery, watching. He had previously put out a statement on the injustice of our treatment. It states that the UK could be breaking international law on the rights of environmental protesters. A repressed, UN phrase for trying to stop the carbon elite from killing us all. He says the the trial was a "[dark day for anyone concerned with the exercise of their fundamental freedoms](https://unece.org/sites/default/files/2024-07/ACSR%5FC%5F2024%5F26%5FUK%5FSR%5FEnvDefenders%5Fpublic%5Fstatement%5F18.07.2024.pdf?ref=rogerhallam.com)". I stood up and told the jury that after they’d been ejected yesterday, I had been arrested and removed, but that they had a right to hear my evidence. Once again, the judge ordered the jury out and forcibly removed me. The UN guy watched as I was dragged away. I was sent to prison and couldn’t hear the rest of the day’s trial. Afterwards, the judge falsely claimed that I was behind the jury protection campaign, [Defend Our Juries](https://defendourjuries.org/?ref=rogerhallam.com), and had ‘conned’ vulnerable people into coming to the court. **No evidence was given**. Fair, right? ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2024/07/defend-our-juries.png) 82 people sat outside the court with signs reminding jurors of their historic right. On the first day 11 of them we arrested. The charges have now been dropped. The next day I again explained that blocking motorways has direct effects on society e.g. the farmers’ protests quickly changed EU policy, and road protests held fuel prices down. The judge dismissed this by asking whether the action had any effect on global temperatures and told me to sit down. I stayed standing and the judge just left the courtroom. **What the fuck?** I even looked to the prosecution for help again against the judge’s incoherent madness. When he came back, he started quoting his favourite movie, Goodfellas, and asked me “*What are you still doing here*?”. Then he ordered me arrested and sent to prison, again. Whilst I was jailed, the judge gave my friends a pathetic 15 minutes each to defend themselves. When they also spoke of the necessity for action against mass death from carbon emissions, the judge ordered them all to be arrested. After this gagging, people began to call us the #[WholeTruthFive](https://x.com/hashtag/WholeTruthFive?src=hashtag%5Fclick&ref=rogerhallam.com) (WTF). Finally, we came to the prosecution's closing statement, where, I kid you not, **they argued that the jury must take direction from the judge, that the rule of law keeps our society free from collapse, and that climate change is irrelevant.** I, of course, was dismissed as someone who “*waffles about the cause*”. Not a cofounder of the most influential climate movements in the world and academic on social change. Show trials are about lies, remember? In response I gave my final statement, from behind the glass panel of the dock, reminding jurors they must be sure, not almost sure or on the verge of being sure, and that **they must consider ALL the evidence** and make a decision that they have actually been given all the evidence. I reminded them of the placard in the Old Bailey that confirms they can acquit based on their conscience without having to give an explanation and without any legal repercussions. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2024/07/Old-Bailey-Plaque.png) **Quote from a plaque in the Old Bailey. This right has been enshrined in British law for centuries.* There are two elements to the indictment - conspiracy and disruption. The prosecution had presented what they say is ‘*powerful evidence*’ of involvement in the plan, but this is not the same as ‘conclusive evidence’. I was there to make arguments for action, and not directly involved in actual planning. **What does it say about civil liberties if people are imprisoned for making speeches?** I offered an alternative explanation for what happened – that a Murdoch-owned newspaper, the Sun, had a journalist who just wanted to make a film of my arrest and so recorded and leaked the public Zoom meeting to the police. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2024/07/The-Sun.png) 'Journalist' Scarlet Howes attended our public Zoom meeting as the anonymous "Flower Power" Let me remind you that for this **I have already been to prison for four months in 2022 without a trial and have been tagged with an 11pm curfew ever since.** Even during my closing statement, the judge tried to shut me down but I went on. I argued that I just wanted the jury to hear the defendants for a few hours and to present them with three or four expert witnesses to give the whole evidence. Of course, I wasn’t allowed to mention the ‘C-word’ but the jury had heard the undisputed facts of existential threats – which between them describe an unimaginable harm lasting tens of thousands of years. I simply asked them to consider doing what many other juries have done, let good people go free when they are persecuted by the state. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2024/07/FOUR-FACTS-FINAL-screen-696x983-1.png) This is the first time such facts have been agreed in a UK court. **This was about facts, not beliefs.** Without facts, this is not a ‘functioning democracy’ but a government that is facilitating the destruction and death of our population. That’s why UN people sat in on the trial – because we do NOT have a functioning democratic state. If you go and ask people in the street, many would laugh at the idea that they have a say in how this country is run. Plenty of expert witnesses would come and tell us we live in a capitalist democracy, a democracy for the rich. In other words no kind of democracy at all. In the end, I said to the jury that if I speak the truth to them I may end up in prison. If the lawyers speak the truth to them they may lose their jobs. **If the jury speaks the truth, nothing will happen to them.** I begged them to consult their conscience and ask themselves if they were really sure we didn’t have a reasonable excuse. The result of this kangaroo court? You have guessed it. The jury representative stood up the next day, and one by one gave guilty verdicts for all of us, all unanimous. After the verdict, the judge accused me of fraud and ‘*grifting*’ because my social media post asked for donations towards ‘court fees’. A slight miswording by my friend who writes the posts, as there were no such fees in this trial. But of course, there are massive costs around the whole legal team supporting us and the consequences of going to prison. Please [donate](https://chuffed.org/project/support-the-five-on-trial-for-conspiracy.?ref=rogerhallam.com) towards them. [Donate](https://chuffed.org/project/support-the-five-on-trial-for-conspiracy?ref=rogerhallam.com) The judge then slandered me by proposing to the jurors that if I was telling lies to obtain money, I might be telling people other lies, and maybe other protesters outside the court were being told lies. He said one of them had been an elderly man hard of hearing and was worried I was exploiting vulnerable people. The public gallery gasped. The man in question was a retired GP in full possession of his faculties with a keen knowledge of the issues – what an insult, and what baseless accusations. To top it off, he said I was '*incapable of introspection*'. Guess I’ll have plenty of time for that now… The judge finished his attacks by then personally thanking the jury for not being *‘intimidated*’ and said “*Well done*”. He said he didn’t care what we thought of him. He was just '*doing his job*'. **This is the banality of evil all over again.** He claimed our conviction was just a result of our “*single issue fanaticism*”. Again, no bias there from a judge who is planning to fly off on holiday when Just Stop Oil is planning to disrupt airports… **Repression is increasing around the world.** Amnesty just put out a report on the systematic state attacks on peaceful protest. [Read it.](https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2024/07/europe-sweeping-pattern-of-systematic-attacks-and-restrictions-undermine-peaceful-protest/?ref=rogerhallam.com) Either we resist the carbon elites' repression and build a true democracy, led by ordinary people in Citizen’s Assemblies, or Covid-like, ecological and economic shocks spark chaos and fascism. We've seen it over and over again. **It's time to say never again.** **Never again will we let fascism produce a holocaust.** **Never again we will fail to tell the whole truth: that we face the greatest holocaust ever known, a worldwide gas chamber of carbon that could kill us all.** Today it was me imprisoned for telling the truth. Next, it could be you. [Join the resistance](https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/no-prison-for-protest?ref=rogerhallam.com) before it’s too late. --- We're appealing to the new Attorney General to stop this madness. [Sign the Petition](https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/no-prison-for-protest?ref=rogerhallam.com) \- after all, you can't lock up the truth. [Sign The Petition For My Release](https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/no-prison-for-protest?ref=rogerhallam.com) If you'd like to send me a message of support, you can email a note through to me in prison by sending it to rogerremanded@gmail.com As always, you can sign up for nonviolent civil resistance with [Just Stop Oil](https://juststopoil.org/?ref=rogerhallam.com) in the UK or via the [A22 Network](https://a22network.org/en/?ref=rogerhallam.com) internationally. --- ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get on with the job of sorting it out. [Support](https://rogerhallam.com/#/portal/signup/6517fbb3b89c5400016e9f27/yearly) ### ⚖️Law - What is it good for? URL: https://rogerhallam.com/law-what-is-it-good-for/ Last updated: 2024-07-17T13:13:10.000Z Tomorrow, Roger, along with the rest of the #WholeTruthFive (WTF), will be sentenced to what will likely be the longest prison sentences for peaceful protest in UK history. Their "crime"? Participating in a Zoom call to discuss proportionate disruptive action against catastrophic new fossil fuel licences. WTF! The UN has slammed the trial for persecution and the harsh penalty of its defendants. During the trial, the five weren’t allowed to use the science of how putting carbon in the atmosphere will kill millions (the whole truth) as evidence in our defence for disruption of the M25, one of the UK’s most polluting motorways. The justice system is fucked. Stand up against it, before you're next. Join the Sentencing Rally at **4pm outside Southwark Crown Court (Thursday 18th)** with nature TV presenter, Chris Packham and family of the defendants. [Join The Sentencing Rally](https://t.me/rogerhallam?ref=rogerhallam.com) Packham says this injustice is disgusting. As Roger is currently remanded in prison, without being allowed a phone call for a week and half, this week we will have a guest article by Real Media, [Law - What is it Good For?](https://realmedia.press/law-what-is-it-good-for/?ref=rogerhallam.com) The article goes in-depth into the #WholeTruthFive trial and particularly Roger's defense arguments. It serves as a damning indictment of the UK's crumbling legal system as well as a guide for all those in resistance on what arguments can be used effectively to defend themselves in court. Well worth a read. [Law - what is it good for? - Real Media - The View From BelowFive Just Stop Oil supporters have been found guilty of conspiracy to cause public nuisance in a Crown Court trial where the jury were given four agreed facts confirming an existential threat to humanity and then told to ignore them. Full court report.![](https://realmedia.press/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/cropped-RM-logo-512x512-1-180x180.png)Real Media - The View From BelowRikki![](https://realmedia.press/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Michel-Forst-and-JSO-defendants.jpg)](https://realmedia.press/law-what-is-it-good-for/?ref=rogerhallam.com) If you'd like to send Roger a message of support, you can email a note through to him in prison by sending it to rogerremanded@gmail.com. Whilst you're here, please donate to the #WholeTruthFive [crowdfunder](https://chuffed.org/project/support-the-five-on-trial-for-conspiracy?ref=rogerhallam.com) to help with the substantial legal costs and our process for an appeal. [Donate](https://chuffed.org/project/support-the-five-on-trial-for-conspiracy?ref=rogerhallam.com) As always, you can sign up for nonviolent civil resistance with [Just Stop Oil](https://juststopoil.org/?ref=rogerhallam.com) in the UK or via the [A22 Network](https://a22network.org/en/?ref=rogerhallam.com) internationally. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get on with the job of sorting it out. [Support](https://rogerhallam.com/#/portal/signup/6517fbb3b89c5400016e9f27/yearly) ### Jailed for Telling The Truth URL: https://rogerhallam.com/jailed-for-telling-the-truth/ Last updated: 2024-07-17T04:44:03.000Z I have been imprisoned, along with three of my co-defendants, by Judge Christopher Hehir. As you may know, I have been in court charged with ‘conspiring to cause a public nuisance’ for making a speech on civil disobedience before Just Stop Oil blocked the M25\. During the trial, I stuck to my oath to tell the jury “the whole truth”. It is their fundamental right to hear all the evidence. In response, the judge stated that “whether or not we are facing the end of the world is neither here nor there" and that humanity “coming to a fiery end” was irrelevant. He then ordered me to be forcibly dragged out of the court by the police and remanded to prison. This is the indignity of a British courtroom. The corruption of our judges by the carbon state has crossed a line in the sand. This is an opportunity, and an obligation, to act. We only have a limited amount of time to halt the unimaginable horrors of climate and social collapse - and to save our democracy. I call on people - you reading this - to come to the court with placards to make clear the jury has a right to the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Come to Southwark Crown Court, London at **4.00pm, Thursday 18th** for the sentencing with your sign that says “**Juries have a right to hear the whole truth**” and **“Stop Jailing Truth Tellers”**. My friend Robin has made a [Telegram](https://t.me/rogerhallam?ref=rogerhallam.com)/[Whatsapp](https://www.whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaEpZT560eBk4QO7dz2Y?ref=rogerhallam.com) channel for me, which you can join for updates. If you can’t make it, please [donate towards the substantial court costs](https://chuffed.org/project/support-the-five-on-trial-for-conspiracy?ref=rogerhallam.com) and share this message to promote truth tellers everywhere. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2024/07/Screenshot-2024-07-13-124235.png) Roger and his co-defendants. Act in solidarity not just with us, but with the billions of people whose lives and livelihoods will be destroyed unless we stop this greatest of all crimes. In truth, there is simply nothing more important than to stop this. Is there? Thanks, Roger [Donate](https://chuffed.org/project/support-the-five-on-trial-for-conspiracy?ref=rogerhallam.com) Share --- *Roger and his co-defendants were arrested 9 times and remanded to prison 7 times during the hearing for defying the judge. After this ordeal, the five were found guilty by the jury and the judge has promised they will be in a prison "for a long, long time". Read Damien Gayle's excellent article in the Guardian for a blow by blow account of the sham trial.* [Contempt, gagging and UN intervention: inside the UK’s wildest climate trialProsecution of five Just Stop Oil activists over M25 protest led to chaotic scenes in court and concerns about ‘judicial persecution’![](https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/icons/homescreen/apple-touch-icon-512.png)The GuardianDamien Gayle![](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/24e87cb4d730141848c339b3b862691ca536fb26/0_164_3385_2031/master/3385.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctZGVmYXVsdC5wbmc&enable=upscale&s=0ec9d25a8cb5db9420471054e26cfa63)](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/jul/12/contempt-gagging-un-intervention-uk-wildest-climate-trial-just-stop-oil?ref=rogerhallam.com) Listen to co-defendant Lou break down the case in a minute. > This a distressing and heartwrenching time for all of us who support and work with Roger. Whilst we must honour those feelings, he would want us to press forth, to act and organise. This is our duty to our friend. Thank you for reading. - Robin If you'd like to send Roger a message of support, you can email a note through to him in prison by sending it to rogerremanded@gmail.com. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2024/03/roger-zeit-1-1.JPG) ## Join Me In the Revolution of Our Lives Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No nonsense. Change your mind anytime. As always, you can sign up for nonviolent civil resistance with [Just Stop Oil](https://juststopoil.org/?ref=rogerhallam.com) in the UK or via the [A22 Network](https://a22network.org/en/?ref=rogerhallam.com) internationally. --- ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get on with the job of sorting it out. [Support](https://rogerhallam.com/#/portal/signup/6517fbb3b89c5400016e9f27/yearly) ### ✉️A Primer on Reform and Revolution: An Open Letter to Green Party Members URL: https://rogerhallam.com/reform-and-revolution/ Last updated: 2024-07-03T15:52:10.000Z I have been thinking about the process of social change literally every week since I was 14\. It is my life’s obsession - it drives me. I have been organising people every week for the same period to make this world a better place. I have done years of award-winning research at King's College on the dynamics of political mobilisation. I have read the literature. Last year it was decided by the New Statesman that I was the 34th most influential progressive person in the UK - the only “environmentalist” above me was the untouchable David Attenborough. So, no pressure, but maybe you might take 5 minutes to read my thoughts on the Green Party. My decision to write this letter was “triggered”, to use that fashionable word, by the following from [the Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/politics/article/2024/jun/12/green-party-election-manifesto-key-takeaways?ref=rogerhallam.com) in the run-up to the UK elections: > “Asked if the Greens believed jailed climate protesters should be freed, Carla Denyer said it was not up to politicians to get involved in individual court cases.” In case you don't know, my good friend Phoebe, 22, is presently facing a long prison sentence for… [yep walking on a road for 20 minutes](https://juststopoil.org/2024/05/15/just-stop-oil-supporters-convicted-in-first-ever-section-7-trial/?ref=rogerhallam.com) to demand that her generation is not totally fucked over. And in case you are blissfully unaware of what it is like in the worst prisons in Europe, read about my experience in the [English Gulag](https://rogerhallam.com/english-gulag/). [English GulagAbout nine weeks ago, I did a 20-minute speech on the crisis. Just like the 100+ public talks I have done over the past year. Destroying sovereign states, creating billions of refugees, shitting on our children’s inheritance, and wiping out what’s left of the natural world justifies concrete acts of![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/size/w256h256/2023/10/roger-square-icon.png)Roger HallamRoger Hallam![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2024/06/prisoner.png)](https://rogerhallam.com/english-gulag/) What I want to say is that reformist expediency in pre-revolutionary times, defined as doing “what works” in the short term rather than responding to what is objectively real, is not only morally obscene, but also strategically illiterate. Let me start by illustrating this viewpoint with a little story. I was an organic farmer for twenty years. It was like getting blood out of a stone. I asked people to spend an extra £5 to buy local veg that won't “destroy the planet” as the phrase goes. I loved the work but it made no money and I had a headache every weekend from the stress. I rang people three nights a week, every week - roughly 100,000 phone calls during those two decades - “to get peoples' orders” and try to persuade nice “green” middle-class people not to go back to Sainsbury's just because their broccoli had a bit of mould on it. Then Covid hit (the shock to the system) and everything changed. For the first time ever former customers were ringing up sheepishly asking to start their orders again. My lower self (which can get pretty low) was saying “fuck off go and starve” but, don’t worry, I was very professional (having had a good Christian upbringing) and gracefully got them their veg. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2024/07/roger-smile-3-1.png) Out in the polytunnels. In historical sociology, the name of the game is to look at social patterns. One of the key patterns is the interaction between reform and revolution. These terms, formally speaking, have tight neutral definitions. Reform is to work within the system and try to change it. Revolution is to work outside the system to try and change the system itself. In reformist times (when objectively there is no material possibility of revolution) the reformists win out. In revolutionary times (when there is no material possibility of reform) the revolutionary wins out. In sociology, this is called structural determinism. Sometimes, not always, what is going to happen is determined. It cannot be avoided. It’s bleeding obvious to anyone looking at the stats. Let's look at an example. When Lenin arrived in Russia before the revolution, he looked at the stats and knew there was not a chance in hell of the Russian army beating the Germans in World War One. They had few weapons, no supplies and morale was non-existent. He decided that the revolutionary Bolshevik programme would be to stop the war with the Kaiser whatever the cost. All the reformists thought he was a complete idiot and his party was immediately looked upon as irrelevant. Supporting “Mother Russia” in the war was ideologically non-negotiable. And so the reformists, to cut a long story short, decided on an offensive to prove that belief trumps reality. Things looked good for the first day and then the whole front collapsed as the Germans advanced another few hundred miles into “Mother” Russia. Reality trumped belief. The Russian masses turned towards Lenin for peace, not least because he had been right all along, and the rest is history. It was structurally determined that the Russians would lose the war and that this would create a revolution. The same can be said of the situation before the French Revolution. It was structurally determined that the old regime would collapse because of the massive increase in state debt. Then the finance minister finally dared to tell the King that the state would totally run out of money in six weeks. Here is point: Expediency does not work in a pre-revolutionary period where the wider context determines the end of the regime. Though those policies, be they war with the Germans or increases in French state debt, may help maintain the status quo in the short term, they will ultimately lead to its collapse. Let's go back to organic farming. I was seen as dumb because it would be so much easier to screw the environment and just become a normal “commercial” grower. But Covid was our first system shock: a little World War One, a little “running out of money”, and then the tables turned. Everyone wanted my veg. When Green Party leaders decide to publically shit on imprisoned young people in resistance to objective climate collapse whilst they play the "sensible adult" role of getting into a broken, reformist parliament, they are taking the expedient route. Obviously, this is the immoral path but the logic of reformism is actually to have revolutionaries imprisoned. The Kantian imperative to not use people for political means is ignored. This is what it means to go after power. After all, you can’t make an omelette without breaking a few eggs. In reality, this is strategically super dumb because neo-liberal regimes are going to collapse with billions of refugees and mass food shortages. These are objective conditions that trigger a revolution in the structural determinism. Just as it was obvious that Russia was going to lose against the German army and the French state was going to run out of money - so too, at 2C, it’s obvious that Western political regimes are going to collapse. The fact that this is not seen as obvious is because of the power of ideology over facts. In Russia the patriotic ideology that “mother Russia'' could not be defeated blinded people to the country’s severe losses. The neo-liberal progressive, humanist ideology of the Green party blinds it to the facts in 2024\. Their belief is that the present regime of material prosperity based upon the rape of nature can keep going - that you can go green and keep capitalism. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2024/07/micah-white-unified-theory-of-revolution.jpg) Micah White's Unified Theory of Revolution from his book The End of Protest. The diagram illustrates how a variety of factors like structuralism impact revolutions. One example given is a food deprivation index that was used to predict the Arab Spring uprisings. In contrast, are the facts made clear by the UN, the equivalent of generals sending messages from the frontl. Recently they said we have [two years to save the world](https://unfccc.int/news/two-years-to-save-the-world-simon-stiell-at-chatham-house?ref=rogerhallam.com). They are not “being melodramatic”. Failure will “decimate economies”, not unlike the fiscal crisis before the French Revolution. This is UN “General speak” for hundreds of millions of people starving to death. What exactly do you think NOT “saving the world” will look like? Get it? Leaving aside the small matter of moral corruption - the Green Party is backing the wrong horse! In 5-10 years from now when Covid-type climate shocks come thick and fast, the UK government will collapse and there will be revolutionary change. That means a change in the regime and the way of making national decisions: mass social disruption which changes the constitution. Either the regime will collapse into some form of fascism or we will have a democratic revolution that comes from outside the system - led by people like Phoebe. People who were “irrelevant” and never “clever” enough to get into power are suddenly “thrust into greatness”, to quote Shakespeare. Read the history of revolutions - it has happened a hundred times before. One minute some nerdy intellectual is cleaning windows, weeding carrots, sitting in a cell. The next minute she is running the state. “Out of nowhere” as they say. It's called history. But the core ideology of our time is that history ended in 1989\. Green Party leaders feel they don't need to read history and so don't have to think about revolution. The folly of it. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2024/03/roger-zeit-1-1.JPG) ## Join Me In the Revolution of Our Lives Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No nonsense. Change your mind anytime. So what’s the plan? From a structural determinist viewpoint, I would say that there is not a chance in hell of the Green Party leadership facing “the facts'. Ideology trumps reality before the rupture every time. But there is a small wrinkle in the historical record. A small percentage of the reformists will have sleepless, dark nights of the soul and think “*Fuck I am on the wrong side*”. Then they become revolutionaries. Apparently, 20% of the members of the Estate’s General, the first revolutionary body of the French Revolution, were aristocrats who had had that “*oh fuck*” moment. But they were still only, a drop in the ocean of the aristocrats in France at the time. All the rest were still eating cake. Today it's a “green” cake. There are people in the Green party and others in reformist spaces reading this article who are well aware of the irrefutable logic of what I am saying (i.e. they are not denying the climate or social science). To them I ask you to join us on the streets and in the assemblies. Yes, they will result in you getting put in prison but you get to smile knowingly that you are on the right side of history when reformists dismiss you as righteous yet irrelevant. More folly. You might have noticed that I have politely left out what will happen to the present leadership of the Green Party after the revolution. For reasons of expediency I will not go into details (we are all hypocrites right, though some more than others) but let's just say that history doesn’t look kindly on fascist appeasers. Undoubtedly, in Parliament Square alongside the statues of jailbirds Nelson Mandela and Gandhi, the next statue will be of Pheobe, not Carla. Want to switch sides? Email me at [Roger.hallam.uk@gmail.com](mailto:Roger.hallam.uk@gmail.com) to organise a chat. --- This is what I have been up to this week. [Climate protest accused defies judge to give hours-long speech in courtJury sent out three times during address by Roger Hallam, who is on trial for alleged role in organising M25 blockade![](https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/icons/homescreen/apple-touch-icon-512.png)The GuardianDamien Gayle![](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/ab137c923a3b364c164af96b5a61b66958c4eb2c/2588_1606_2851_1710/master/2851.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctZGVmYXVsdC5wbmc&enable=upscale&s=2d640e4d611c6f4f4aea47bdb7ee5e5f)](https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/article/2024/jul/02/climate-protest-accused-defies-judge-to-give-hours-long-speech-in-court?ref=rogerhallam.com) Making clear that the physical act of putting greenhouse gases into the air is an objective reality not a matter ideology, belief or politics. It is a crime - the greatest crime in human history. Obviously. I call on people to [come to the court with placards ](https://signal.group/?ref=rogerhallam.com#CjQKIMvFq31JgzWCnQOXQOxVkR-eNiyNTOLRszgRbt3WcCPeEhCnhVzSp%5FyKeHxzgQFOCkAs)to make clear the jury has a right to the whole truth and nothing but the truth. [Join The Demonstration](https://signal.group/?ref=rogerhallam.com#CjQKIMvFq31JgzWCnQOXQOxVkR-eNiyNTOLRszgRbt3WcCPeEhCnhVzSp%5FyKeHxzgQFOCkAs) --- ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2024/07/Screenshot-2024-07-01-191832.png) Ahead of the upcoming elections, join revolutionary Assemble program. [Find out more about Assemble](https://timetoassemble.org/?ref=rogerhallam.com) I'm hosting my monthly [Zoom call](https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAqf-GurjosG9TroMERMJxZvjtYpEYEiRxJ?ref=rogerhallam.com#/registration) with a Q&A session and breakout groups. Don't be miserable in bed. Come and join us. [Sign Up For My Zoom Talk](https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAqf-GurjosG9TroMERMJxZvjtYpEYEiRxJ?ref=rogerhallam.com#/registration) As always, you can sign up for nonviolent civil resistance with [Just Stop Oil](https://juststopoil.org/?ref=rogerhallam.com) in the UK or via the [A22 Network](https://a22network.org/en/?ref=rogerhallam.com) internationally. --- ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get on with the job of sorting it out. [Support](https://rogerhallam.com/#/portal/signup/6517fbb3b89c5400016e9f27/yearly) ### 🎓The Information Illusion URL: https://rogerhallam.com/the-information-illusion/ Last updated: 2024-06-20T15:25:38.000Z A week or two ago I went to Manchester to talk publicly about the fact that the human race is heading for extinction. I used what abilities I have to empower people to enter into resistance to stop this ultimate obscenity. I only gave one piece of information: recently the UN Climate Change Secretary, Simon Stiell, said there are only [two years left to “save the world”](https://unfccc.int/news/two-years-to-save-the-world-simon-stiell-at-chatham-house?ref=rogerhallam.com). Stiell added that he was not “being melodramatic” - meaning the world will not be saved without drastic action, meaning that if the world is not saved there will be “no world”, meaning Earth will not be habitable, meaning billions of people will be killed. The issue here is not about the “information”. Giving more information about this, in my view, would insult the audience. It would be as if your neighbour asked you to save their baby from a burning building and you got out your notepad and asked for more information about how flammable their bed is. If the house is on fire that is more than sufficient information to know what you have to do to - what a reasonably decent person like you has to do - get the fuck up and run over and help. The problem is not the “information”. “Information” is an abstraction. In the real world, it does not exist - it is a concept extracted from the act of communication which necessarily is embedded in a pre-existing matrix of meaning systems - an ever-interacting ecology of social, political, existential and spiritual orientations through which the “information” is made intelligible. Communication is saturated with what it is to be human - to be emotional - to feel. To convey information that we are about to enter hell unless we do something drastic is a massively emotional event - triggering overwhelming distress, then repression, then dissonance in an audience. To get from there to action - i.e. to actually create change - the last thing people need is more “information”. What people need are three things. First, they need to be helped to observe and then master how they feel so they can be how they really want to be. This can be done in several ways. They can be reminded that they are good people - or at least they would like to be good people. So what does that mean when faced with this reality? It means action. They need to be reminded that one day they will die and on their deathbed they will not be thinking about their bank balance, their status, or their security - they will be thinking about whether they loved the people they wanted to love, whether they made a difference in their lives. And this means that I have to act now. They need to be reminded that life owes them nothing - at any moment we can be subject to a life-changing accident, struck down with a terminal disease. We learn to accept these radical uncertainties: the necessity of accepting fate. Our fate in the present moment is to face this reality of social collapse - and the necessity to react to it in a way that conforms with what it means to be the people we find ourselves wanting to be. To get the fuck up and stop what is happening. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2024/03/roger-zeit-1-1.JPG) ## Join Me In the Revolution of Our Lives Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No nonsense. Change your mind anytime. Secondly, people need to be shown that they do not make decisions alone. They don’t make cool, calm calculations like a machine. We only exist in a social space - with others around us and we always act with others whether we recognise it or not. If others act in a way that leads to arrest, we will too. If others act in ways that lead them to be imprisoned, then we will as well. We will go over the top of the trench to face death not because of “information” but because we do what the guys on our left and right are doing. We learn to act not by being provided with information. We just do it. That is why I ask for everyone to give money together in a meeting. When acting collectively, just about everyone donates. When I did this at a meeting last week, 80% of the people donated. By my calculations, if they were asked to do it at home, alone, afterwards only around 10% would donate. The information they have been given remains the same information. The reason they donate a lot more money is not because of the information but because they are all donating in the same time and space. Only by experiencing acting together do we learn that we need to act together. Thirdly, we therefore must act together as well. I don’t ask people to enter into resistance - to think about it, to receive an email about it. I ask people to do it here and now. Everyone goes outside and sits down in the road outside for a minute. To learn what to do we don't need more information, or even more thinking, we need to move our bodies physically into resistance. The body tells the mind what to feel and thus what to think. You find yourself having the courage, you do not “decide” to have courage. Just as “information” is an abstraction so is the “individual” - the word is an ideological construction designed to disempower us, to keep us weak and miserable. To get together and act together is to experience joy and excitement. To start living life. To make a difference. At best what left intellectuals like investor Gary Stevenson and Owen Jones are doing when they pour information at us is entertainment - and it is genuinely great stuff - I love to listen to him. But [it is an illusion to think what he does is changing the world](https://rogerhallam.com/the-macro-illusion/). If anything it disempowers people because it reaffirms that things suck (we already know that) and then gives no pathway to action. We are thus drawn into greater depression, and aloneness, watching the screen. What I would like to speak to Gary and Owen about is the contemporary research on how people act - which is only a rediscovery of traditional pre-modern wisdom. In contrast, their approach is rooted in the mechanistic, reductive and materialistic way of seeing which were forced upon us by the elites 250 years ago. A worldview which told us to think of the world as dead - just stuff, there to be exploited, plundered, raped. This worldview cannot understand that there is only one world - one ecology - and we live within it. In fact, we are it. Yes, I would be contradicting myself if I did not give you a route to action. Come to my [Revolution Conference this weekend](https://www.r21c.net/?ref=rogerhallam.com) to discover how people are acting together and how you can play your part with others. [Join The Conference](https://www.r21c.net/?ref=rogerhallam.com) --- Revolution. We all know it's coming - so what's the plan! The evidence for massive climate and social shocks is now overwhelming. And the collapse of neo-liberal regimes is inevitable. So the big question is what next? Fascism or a New democratic civilisation. We need to start coming together and thinking seriously about this - the all important question of our time: what next? This online conference this Saturday and Sunday is making a start. It is more a marker than anything else. People getting together to discuss the themes, with a view to doing a much bigger event in February 2025. A few hundred people have signed up already. Will you join? [Sign Up](https://www.r21c.net/?ref=rogerhallam.com) We will be looking at: - Where are we at in the world at the moment? - What does a truly democratic revolution look like? - Post revolution: What is the plan for the new world? [Discover the program, our speakers – and sign up here](https://www.r21c.net/?ref=rogerhallam.com). And as usual our focus on praxis - joining theory and practice. How we actually get stuff done. The most important thing is to share it in your networks and with people who might be interested. --- ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get on with the job of sorting it out. [Support](https://rogerhallam.com/#/portal/signup/6517fbb3b89c5400016e9f27/yearly) ### 💧Mexico City Is Running Out Of Water: Rationality & Mythology URL: https://rogerhallam.com/rationality-and-mythology/ Last updated: 2024-06-15T06:00:44.000Z Amongst all the noise, here’s a story. Record-breaking heat and years of mounting drought have forced more than [550 neighbourhoods to turn off their tap water in Mexico City](https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/major-cities-mexico-water-day-zero?ref=rogerhallam.com). Officials are predicting “Day Zero,” the moment the reservoirs will stop pumping and 6 million people will lose their water supply. A few people have died. It's like the beginning of a 1000 movies. It's fine, there is a little tricky thing going on, but it's just a little tricky thing, right? And the audience is going “*No you fucking idiots it’s a fucking massive thing*”. The audience is hooked. There is nothing like people being stupid to lock in our attention. The audience is in a parallel universe - in another time and space. In a hundred years it will be a standard part of the syllabus in shitty universities around the world with the exam question: “*Why did no one stop the first mass death crisis in Mexico City during the 2020s?*”. A bit like teenagers now answering “*Why were the European ruling classes such dicks that they could not stop WW1?*”. It’s not written quite like that, but it’s what everyone is thinking. So let’s answer it. First, the rationality. Science 101 tells us that life and death are absolutely binary. You can't be half dead. Then there is a single point when you stop being alive and you die. It's called a tipping point - you tip from one state to another. Just like that - in a moment. Lights on. Lights off. One moment you have[ 80 howler monkeys dropping dead from Mexico’s trees](https://edition.cnn.com/2024/05/21/climate/dead-monkeys-mexico-trees-heat-climate-intl/index.html?ref=rogerhallam.com) and then it gets a degree hotter and you have thousands of monkeys dead. One moment you have a few people dying in Mexico City from heat exhaustion and then it heats up another degree or two and there is rotting flesh across the whole city. Millions without water or air conditioners. Sure there is noise in the system, probabilities and likelihoods, but don't insult your intelligence. You know what I am saying. You know what is coming. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2024/06/monkeys-dead.png) A soldier removes the body of a howler monkey that died amid extremely high temperatures. (AP Photo/Luis Sanchez) Or do you? Seeing is believing right and you have not seen a million rotting bodies. Have you seen any? That’s a big problem. Only experiencing horror can prepare us for it. So here's a story. As a farmer, I grew leeks for the great British public for 30 years. Every year I planted leeks - boring, hardy, and predictable. If you don't know, it's hard to kill a leek. Sure there’s that noise in the system - a few leeks rot for no good reason, the odd cold spell knocks out the unfittest and so on. And then one year, a decade ago, it was around -15C. Not just for one night (tricky but survivable) but for several. One of the coldest winters in Wales. You read about that a lot nowadays: the driest, the hottest, the wettest, the coldest. And nothing much is happening (unless you are poor and in some ‘unimportant’ place). And then… you hit the tipping point. ALL 30,000 OF MY LEEKS DIED. BANG. JUST LIKE THAT. A big field covered with sludge - the debris of rotting organic matter. That's you and me too. We’re just organic matter - and subject to a precise tipping point we turn into rotting meat on the floor. It's just the way it is. Seeing is believing. I learnt that day, as I walked through my sludge fields, that civilisations collapse - this civilisation will collapse. I knew it with my whole being, to my core. Reading this article does not come close to understanding what is coming. Sorry. But it's the best I can do. Next, the mythology. It's all happened before. Rationality turns out to be just extractive greed which leads to tipping points no one sees coming. And bang. Down we go. A chaos of Freudian-esque theories fills the void of trauma. The door reopens to the world of myth. Human folly. Our desire to die. Wanting to take everyone with us (just look at the comments on Twitter). The collapse of time and space. That is the only story in every moment, ever repeating - every moment that has existed and will exist is here now, as you read this. We both live both in a prison and in an endless expanse. It's all a myth. It's all we ever had. What to do? The phrase which goes around my head at the moment is: “*Decide to live your life*”. The key word here is “decide”. Don’t be a slave to all the rationalist stories of impossibility. Life is the endless enactment of impossibilities but only if you decide to live it. You have a sense that this is true. Now go and act as if it is true. And yes this does mean quitting your crappy day job. --- Tomorrow, I'm hosting my monthly [Zoom call](https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAqf-GurjosG9TroMERMJxZvjtYpEYEiRxJ?ref=rogerhallam.com#/registration) with a Q&A session and breakout groups. Don't be miserable in bed. Come and join us. [Sign Up For My Zoom Talk](https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAqf-GurjosG9TroMERMJxZvjtYpEYEiRxJ?ref=rogerhallam.com#/registration) This month, I'm also hosting a 2-day online conference to co-design the revolution with guest speakers like journalist, Chris Hedges and IPCC reviewer, Peter Carter. Sign up for it at [www.r21c.net](https://www.r21c.net/?ref=rogerhallam.com) [Sign up for the Global Revolution Conference](https://www.r21c.net/?ref=rogerhallam.com) As always, you can sign up for nonviolent civil resistance with [Just Stop Oil](https://juststopoil.org/?ref=rogerhallam.com) in the UK or via the [A22 Network](https://a22network.org/en/?ref=rogerhallam.com) internationally. --- ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get on with the job of sorting it out. [Support](https://rogerhallam.com/#/portal/signup/6517fbb3b89c5400016e9f27/yearly) ### Here's Why the Greens Flopped in the EU Election URL: https://rogerhallam.com/the-greens-eu-election/ Last updated: 2024-06-11T06:44:47.000Z 1\. They are not telling the truth for the sake of telling the truth. Last week a world expert suggested that we have a [40% chance of losing European civilisation in the 2030s](https://x.com/rahmstorf/status/1797976625247879278?ref=rogerhallam.com) because of the AMOC collapse. There needs to be a different tact - the situation cries out for raw emotion and real realism. No more being nice. 2\. Greens support the status quo. Whatever they say otherwise, you can feel it. They are born out of the system (i.e., university-educated). Instead, they need to name the beast - capitalism - which is going to destroy itself and take us down with it. They need to say "Over our dead bodies will ordinary people pay for the emergency transition. It is the rich and powerful who got us into this total mess in the first place and they should pay". And they should sound like they fucking mean it. 3\. They should stop being a traditional political party and become a social movement that stands in elections. They should use community assemblies to choose policies and candidates including working class and people of colour communities. Then they come from the people and look like they come from the people. They should never go into alliance with social democrats and the other carbon legacy parties. And never should they be “responsible” and vote for budget cuts for their communities. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2024/06/Screenshot-2024-06-10-171525.png) European Election Results - from left wing to far right. Of course, this won't happen - most Greens still want to have their cake and eat it. Maybe that was true in 2000, just possibly in 2010, but not a chance in hell in 2024\. It's 1.6C - we will be over 2C in a decade, all hell is going to break loose, and the neoliberal regimes will collapse. Strangely, the Greens are the biggest climate deniers. What we need is a whole new political system and revolutionaries to create it, who enjoy telling the truth and acting as if it's real because, at this point in history, they find expediency existentially repulsive (i.e. full of shit). I know at least a few Greens out there know all this - so...? [Join the program.](https://timetoassemble.org/?ref=rogerhallam.com) [Green party losses in EU elections raise concerns over Green DealExit polls suggest support for Greens fell in Germany and France, leading to fears of weakening of climate ambitions![](https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/icons/homescreen/apple-touch-icon-512.png)The GuardianAjit Niranjan![](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/895022bfeaa76b94f3e16ee2e0266c13dccf0094/0_112_3351_2011/master/3351.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctZGVmYXVsdC5wbmc&enable=upscale&s=d78cb82975fdc30578401e68be901033)](https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jun/09/green-party-losses-in-eu-elections-raise-concerns-over-green-deal?ref=rogerhallam.com) --- I've got two focuses: - **Revolution** \- Building social formations to create revolution and guide moments of social disruption. - **A Balanced Society** \- Building a new civilisation based on a new balance of deliberative democracy, compassion, and limited consumption. Want to join me? Sign up to my monthly [Zoom call.](https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAqf-GurjosG9TroMERMJxZvjtYpEYEiRxJ?ref=rogerhallam.com#/registration) (More info [here](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jVoGsCzQcyDR1reywKVHRDPMxLwkAr-uN0MPy8iDjW0/edit?ref=rogerhallam.com#heading=h.vctih3476cxu)) Sign up for nonviolent civil resistance with [Just Stop Oil](https://juststopoil.org/?ref=rogerhallam.com) in the UK or via the [A22 Network](https://a22network.org/en/?ref=rogerhallam.com) internationally. --- ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get on with the job of sorting it out. [Support](https://rogerhallam.com/#/portal/signup/6517fbb3b89c5400016e9f27/yearly) ### Revolution in the 21st Century International Conference URL: https://rogerhallam.com/rc21-conference/ Last updated: 2024-06-08T07:00:19.000Z Calling all frontline activists, movement and community organisers, and people who believe a better world is possible. We’re gathering on **JUNE 22 & 23**, 2024 to start planning “W*hat’s next*”. [Find Out More](https://www.r21c.net/?ref=rogerhallam.com) We all know it's coming, the collapse of the neo-liberal regimes is inevitable: the sixth mass extinction is underway, climate catastrophes occur regularly, and capitalism is destroying itself with “*business as usua*l”. The all-important question of our time is – What’s next? This online conference is making a start. Together we’ll explore: • Where are we at in the world at the moment? • What might a truly non-violent, democratic revolution look like? • What is the plan for the new world? The focus is on praxis, joining theory and practice – How we actually get stuff done. Speakers and panels will provide information and context for audience breakouts, where small groups will discuss what they've heard and come back to sessions with questions and suggestions for action. [Sign Up](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdedNkiA7C5IUyeR11iljTOG8FW%5Fx8CN2fSk-udGTWiMH0Wxw/viewform?ref=rogerhallam.com) The revolutionary change we need calls for a new global movement established outside the collapsing system, ready, willing and able to build a new democracy. Revolution in the 21st Century is about building communities and forming collaborative networks for meeting not only common needs, but those of the environment and future generations as well. Please join us and share this invitation widely. To see conference details and RSVP, please visit [R21C.net](https://www.r21c.net/?ref=rogerhallam.com) See you at the conference! ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2024/06/rc21.png) ### 🏜️The Mysterious Ways of Love - Viral Predictions of Mass Death in Phoenix, Arizona URL: https://rogerhallam.com/the-mysterious-ways-of-love/ Last updated: 2024-06-06T10:51:25.000Z This week one of[ my tweets](https://x.com/RogerHallamCS21/status/1795734145223545338?ref=rogerhallam.com), predicting the mass death of 12% of Phoenix in the 2030s, went viral, accumulating 1.6 million views. Several scientists have pushed back on it with one chief scientist at Berkley even bluntly dismissing it as [“dumb”](https://x.com/RARohde/status/1796328767654342982?ref=rogerhallam.com). Here’s why their twisted love of certainty is actually a form of denial. In the film Beautiful Mind the main super nerdy guy, John Nash, goes up to a woman in a bar and tells her the truth - he wants to have sexual intercourse with her. In a predictably Hollywood way, she slaps him across the face. Sometimes the truth is not actually the whole truth - there is another sense of truth which is more appropriate, more real. When you go to a funeral it is “true” that the grieving partner will “get over it” in time. But you don't go up to this person in the depths of grief and say, “Ah there’s no point being down - cheer up. Plenty more fish in the sea”. Only a dick does that. The problem with scientists (with the unique exception of NASA’s Peter Kalmus) is that they think like John Nash. They approach women like they approach maths. They communicate about “climate change” as they communicate about moss. I had a scientist friend years ago - super nerdy - who studied moss. He was an international moss expert and explained the ins and outs of moss in a highly competent, professional way. But no one gets emotional about moss. The “climate” is entirely different - it is jam-packed and overflowing with emotional and existential angst. In a reductionist way, of course, climate is a physical thing just as moss is a physical thing. But “things” don’t exist in our consciousness - only “things-in-an-emotional-context”. Understanding this is vital for our culture if we are going to survive. Let’s look at another analogy: think about a fire starting in your house. You run to the neighbour and scream “My kids are going to fucking die”. If a scientist was to say “Well that’s not quite right - you need to do a proper risk analysis - papers suggest that the death of children in fires...“ that would be really fucked up. And so is you running to your neighbour and saying, “My house is on fire with a 55% chance of burning down and a 30% unsubstantiated probability of severe burns to my children (who are almost certainly mine) - would you be so kind as to come and help”. It would be totally fucked and inhuman. But this is how the public sphere expresses itself on “climate” - that technical repressive word for the prospect of the agonising hell of slow death for ourselves and our children. ![](https://desdemonadespair.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Heat-releated-deaths-in-Maricopa-county-Arizona-2001-2022-Maricopa-county-department-of-health-services-The-Guardian.png) Last year, Phoenix suffered a month of consecutive days over 110F (43C) and a record [645 heat deaths – a 700% rise over the past decade](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/nov/11/phoenix-heat-deaths-record-climate-crisis?ref=rogerhallam.com). The nerdy scientists are the mirror image of the raging deniers. They feed each other. They both need each other like one of those really perverse dependency relationships. If scientists emote and speak in blunt terms like “my children are going to die”, the deniers give them hell for saying things that are not certain. “Have you proof that your children will die you fucking bunch of fear mongers? No!”. And so the scientists retreat, which suits them just fine because then they can continue to be in their comfort zone of only talking about certainties: “Sorry you are right, there is only an uncertain possibility my children will soon enter into unique levels of discomfort”. Both scientists and deniers are not computers - they are humans trying to avoid emotional pain. Both groups can’t cope with me because I am the guy running into the room going: “I don’t give a flying fuck about your fucking certainty analysis - it's my fucking children you total dicks.” That's why I got 1.6 million views. Because I am violating the rules both sides impose on the public sphere. That is why my favourite historical figure, Larry Kramer, was such an effective change-maker. Because he didn’t give a fuck -[ check him out](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mocXSBxaPK4&ref=rogerhallam.com). This is a roundabout way of saying that when I say, “12% of Phoenix are going to die” I am not really saying 12% of Phoenix are going to die. I am not talking about moss - I am making an emotional, rhetorical and entirely appropriate statement. A deeply true statement in the holistic sense. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2024/03/roger-zeit-1-1.JPG) ## Join Me In the Revolution of Our Lives Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No nonsense. Change your mind anytime. I know 12% of Phoenix might ACTUALLY not die. But that is not the point. The point is this world is so fucked up because we just sit there and continue watching Netflix when we are in this beyond fucking fucked situation. Get it yet? What I am ACTUALLY saying is “Wake the fuck up you fucking dicks.” The opposite of love is not hate - it's indifference. Hate, don't get me wrong, is a terrible thing but indifference is so much worse. Indifference is death. The first 100-plus hateful comments below my tweet are all calling me a dick. Why? Because they are crying out for this terrible shit show called “Climate” not to be real. Because if it is real, it will be so unbearably upsetting, not just for themselves and those they love, but for their whole sense of the world as something they need to control. Lack of control is hell. It's like death. It is death - something we cannot avoid. The expression of denial and its vicious defensive nature is a form of distorted love. You want things to be okay for what you love. You want it so much but you cannot make it happen, and you hate that. You hate people that give you this message and you want to smash stuff up. But this is better than silence - cold, hard, dead. This is what the liberal classes do when they go “Well Roger I think you are doing good work but I really think you need to just check your facts a bit more often”. I prefer the deniers any day over the complacent repression of the “educated” classes. Wasn’t this why Jesus hung out with the low life rather than the Pharisees and lawyers? This leads me to my final comment. When I was young I was told a story at church which had a massive impact on me for reasons I still cannot entirely articulate. A missionary was surrounded by a gang and they hated him. They were going to kill him. The missionary said to them, “You can kill me but Jesus will still love you”. Then the gang leader started to cry. We all need to accept that even though things are all so fucked up, we are still loved - in real life by someone, or just by some divine being. And only then can we break down and cry, let go, and finally reconnect. Let's just accept it - and come together in love. It has to be our only hope. --- I've got two focuses: - **Revolution** \- Building social formations to create revolution and guide moments of social disruption. - **A Balanced Society** \- Building a new civilisation based on a new balance of deliberative democracy, compassion, and limited consumption. Want to join me? Sign up to my monthly [Zoom call.](https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAqf-GurjosG9TroMERMJxZvjtYpEYEiRxJ?ref=rogerhallam.com#/registration) (More info [here](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jVoGsCzQcyDR1reywKVHRDPMxLwkAr-uN0MPy8iDjW0/edit?ref=rogerhallam.com#heading=h.vctih3476cxu)) Sign up for nonviolent civil resistance with [Just Stop Oil](https://juststopoil.org/?ref=rogerhallam.com) in the UK or via the [A22 Network](https://a22network.org/en/?ref=rogerhallam.com) internationally. --- ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get on with the job of sorting it out. [Support](https://rogerhallam.com/#/portal/signup/6517fbb3b89c5400016e9f27/yearly) ### 💭The Macro Illusion of Owen Jones URL: https://rogerhallam.com/the-macro-illusion/ Last updated: 2024-05-27T13:22:05.000Z Owen Jones was upset by a [post](https://rogerhallam.com/intellectual-left-bollocks/) I wrote a little while ago so I thought it would be good to try to make clear that I was not just mouthing off. There are real and massive problems with how Left intellectuals, though often brilliantly intelligent and committed, end up having no effect or even a detrimental effect on the struggle for a just and sane society. > Roger Hallam with his ever fascinating strategy of trying to drive as many natural allies away as possible, lovely stuff > > — Owen Jones (@OwenJones84) [April 3, 2024](https://twitter.com/OwenJones84/status/1775562926859919660?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=rogerhallam.com) Owen's reply to my previous post I remember a few years back Owen declaring in full rhetorical flow something like “*We need to go and mobilise Cornwall*”. This is what I call the macro illusion, meaning that focusing on the large scale - the top-down view - is a way to effectively change the world. Of course, saying that big things need to happen is all good. But the question is not what needs to change but HOW to change it. To answer that you have to burrow down into the details, into the micro design. Let’s look at an example. Owen might say “*We need to go door-knocking”* but the question is not doorknocking itself by how it is done. I went out door knocking just about every week for twenty years. I trained dozens of canvassers and usually after 30 minutes of mentoring, they would double the number of people they would sign up. The key causal element in door knocking is what happens in the first 10 seconds of speaking with someone - this is why micro design is critically important. I did years of research at King's College, London, on the psychology of mobilisation and spent most of that time with campaigns. In an [award-winning case study](https://radicalthinktank.wordpress.com/2016/01/27/prize-wining-paperempowerment-by-design-an-open-meeting-of-the-university-college-london-cut-the-rent-campaign/?ref=rogerhallam.com), I showed that if you micro-design a political meeting around 10 specific elements (people sitting around tables, eating biscuits(!), having discussions in small groups) then you get in the region of 80% of people feeling empowered. If you have a traditional Left political meeting (several speakers and a short Q and A) only 20% of people feel empowered. This has a massive effect on whether people show up to another meeting. And this, not ideas or passion or rhetoric, is the key determining factor in whether you create a social movement - i.e. positive feedback loops: meeting to action to meeting to action. This is why I and the teams I work with create big campaigns one after another in this country and around the Western world. It's not a matter of chance. But the “*how to do things*” is almost completely ignored by political commentators, journalists, and intellectuals such as Owen. It's like they cannot see the world as it is. The reason for this is they are part of a rationalist tradition that works out what to do based on big abstractions like “*politics*”, “*justice*” and “*power*” - rooted in the musings of the great armchair philosophers of the Eighteenth Century (rich white men and all that). This tradition is not interested in systematic observation and comparing results. It creates a map of the world and then imposes a grid onto actual reality. I think this is a key reason why the Left is so unsuccessful. It's the forced separation of theory from practice - the retreat from praxis. Another thing I have found from my research is that people do not change due to information and argument - particularly if they are entrenched in a worldview which gives them power and prestige. To get attention and thus change you have to disrupt - like sit in the street - and get emotional, including swearing. Of course, this approach does not always work but the point is simply writing nice polite posts almost never works! I wish it wasn't the case but it is. Owen’s notion that conflict undermines building connections between “*natural allies*” is simply incorrect. If the conflict is rooted in legitimate criticism and is intended to create a genuine dialogue then this is the optimal approach. I hope at some point Owen will have a chat with me as I bear no ill will towards him as a person - it's just that what he does, I believe, is ineffectual and we are facing the end of the world. We’re in an emotional situation. One last thing. Owen was born into the labour movement. He went to Oxford. He benefited from a thick network in which to show off his undoubted talents. I was an unknown farmer for 20 years. When I arrived in London to start my research I knew no one. And yet 7 years later [according to the New Statesman](https://archive.ph/pOKh0?ref=rogerhallam.com), I am a more influential person on the Left than he is. Because influence is about attending to the details. I am presently working with others to create a bunch of micro designs to [transform the outcome of the upcoming national elections](https://timetoassemble.org/?ref=rogerhallam.com). Maybe they won’t work but never say never. --- I've got two focuses: - **Revolution** \- Building social formations to create revolution and guide moments of social disruption. - **A Balanced Society** \- Building a new civilisation based on a new balance of deliberative democracy, compassion, and limited consumption. Want to join me? Sign up to my monthly [Zoom call.](https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAqf-GurjosG9TroMERMJxZvjtYpEYEiRxJ?ref=rogerhallam.com#/registration) (More info [here](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jVoGsCzQcyDR1reywKVHRDPMxLwkAr-uN0MPy8iDjW0/edit?ref=rogerhallam.com#heading=h.vctih3476cxu)) Sign up for nonviolent civil resistance with [Just Stop Oil](https://juststopoil.org/?ref=rogerhallam.com) in the UK or via the [A22 Network](https://a22network.org/en/?ref=rogerhallam.com) internationally. --- ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get on with the job of sorting it out. [Support](https://rogerhallam.com/#/portal/signup/6517fbb3b89c5400016e9f27/yearly) ### 🗳️Labour's Election Policy? To Shatter The Young's Bones For Eternity URL: https://rogerhallam.com/labours-election-policy/ Last updated: 2024-05-23T12:33:23.000Z Keir Starmer and his team are planning the most immoral and evil government in our country’s history. By refusing to engage in an emergency decarbonisation of the UK economy they will play their part in locking in the destruction of our civilisation over the coming two generations. Imagine a massive block of concrete at the top of a high building - it is about to be dropped on an inescapable cage filled with our children. Labour's policy is to allow the people with the block of concrete (the economic elites) to drop it and shatter the bones of those kids. Imagine it. Not just this on one day, not just the following day, but every fucking day forever and ever - like some deathly Greek myth. This is Labour policy: the infliction of endless torture and pain. That is what you are voting for when you vote for the Labour Party - mass starvation, mass slaughter, mass rape. A Hothouse Holocaust. Forever. This is what it means to allow the world to go over 2C - to create [a billion refugees](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/sep/09/climate-crisis-could-displace-12bn-people-by-2050-report-warns?ref=rogerhallam.com), to allow the [arctic ice to melt](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/mar/05/ice-free-summers-in-arctic-possible-within-next-decade-scientists-say?ref=rogerhallam.com) \- to destroy our ability to grow food, to allow the [Atlantic current (AMOC) to collapse](https://insideclimatenews.org/news/09022024/climate-impacts-from-collapse-of-atlantic-meridional-overturning-current-could-be-worse-than-expected/?ref=rogerhallam.com) \- to turn this country in a barren desert of ice, to allow sea level to rise - to destroy every coastal city, to create unbearable heat for everyone in the subtropics - to [kill them in six hours](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/sep/08/deadly-humid-heatwaves-to-spread-rapidly-as-climate-warms-study?ref=rogerhallam.com#:~:text=Life%2Dthreatening%20periods%20of%20high,resulting%20from%20the%20climate%20crisis), to melt every glacier and all the snow in the mountains - to deny billions access to fresh water. Then there is the Amazon, the methane, the ozone, the acidification…the list goes on and on and on and on and on. Labour plans to have all this happen and for it to happen all at once. Don’t vote for them. Don’t repeat the terrible error of voting for the Nazis in 1933\. 12 years later 10 million Germans were fleeing the Soviets, 2 million raped women, and the country was utterly devastated. Labour’s plan is for this to happen to you and your children. Except this time it goes on forever and ever and ever. Don’t delude yourself by the fairytale that decent upright people cannot create such evil. Decent and upright people stood by while millions burned in the concentration camps. Decent and upright people ran the European colonial empires. Decent upright people owned and killed their slaves. Decent and upright people create Hell. Then and Now. Instead, follow the facts - follow the reality -the science, and don’t blame the messenger. All I have said here is confirmed by 10,000 peer-reviewed papers. Emergency action is needed and Labour will not enact emergency action. These are the only two facts you need to know. Being upright and decent is irrelevant. Starmer will stand by. He will do nothing. As it happens when the election was announced yesterday I was watching a clip from the greatest horror film of all time - Threads. Watch it on Youtube - watch the nine-minute clip: the bodies, the rubble, the blood, the faces, the shit, the tears, the end… of everything. This is what 2C means - what do you think 1 billion refugees (for starters) looks like? Get fucking real. Don’t insult yourself. Then look in the mirror and say this: “No way am I voting Labour”. “I will stop being a slave to our executioners.” Independents are standing to create system change - our only hope - vote for them. If you don't have that choice write on your ballot paper - “they do not represent us”. Then go home and prepare to do your duty to resist the greatest shitshow… ever. If you read to this point, I wish you all the best. It’s the least I can do. --- I've been speaking across the country over the last week on a new project, Assemble, which is going to use community assemblies to set up local candidates in the 2024 election. This is the democratic revolution in the making. Find out more at upcoming events [in person](https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/assemble-82804984653?ref=rogerhallam.com) or [online](https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAvde-vpjIjH9BBDq-ZOZKhNjXAy5tN1fuW?ref=rogerhallam.com#/registration). [Donate](https://buy.stripe.com/bIYcQacXC4W88SseV4?ref=rogerhallam.com) to support us. Sign up for nonviolent civil resistance with [Just Stop Oil](https://juststopoil.org/?ref=rogerhallam.com) in the UK or via the [A22 Network](https://a22network.org/en/?ref=rogerhallam.com) internationally. --- ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get on with the job of sorting it out. [Support](https://rogerhallam.com/#/portal/signup/6517fbb3b89c5400016e9f27/yearly) ### Political Violence and Responsibility URL: https://rogerhallam.com/political-violence-and-responsiblity/ Last updated: 2024-05-27T12:34:50.000Z Democracy has two duties - to protect the people from the rich and to protect the people from death. On both counts the current political class is failing. Whilst they [protest against nihilistic attacks on their own members](https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/may/15/eu-leaders-condemn-cowardly-shooting-of-slovakian-pm-robert-fico?ref=rogerhallam.com), they are also responsible for the most violent dereliction of their sacred duty - the duty to protect. For a generation now they have allowed the people to be subject to the violence of the rich - the remorseless decline of public services, the increasing mechanisms of social control, the nauseating moralism that if we work hard and keep our head down we will prosper. The violence of this endless bullshit. For a generation now they have allowed the people to be subject to the violence of death. The ultimate disgrace is our politicians' willingness to trade the end of our societies for the private interests of the carbon lobby - the fossil fuel interest, the agricultural industry, the savage endgame plunder of our world by the forces of capital. People can only take so much of this reality. Most buckle down helpless and hopeless, some resist and are thrown into prison, others take refuge in conspiracies, and a few turn to violence against themselves. Others direct it against their tormentors. The irrationality of this obscene rise of political violence is a mirror image of the irrationality of our obscene politicians. They are an outrageously infantile and cowardly class that continues to administrate the destruction of all we love. All they offer is the final insult - a list of pledges we all know will be broken. Like those before, and those before that. What do they take us for - idiots? Sheep to be led to the slaughter? As Martin Luther King said, we have a choice: Nonviolence or Nonexistence. Some are us are fighting every day for nonviolence - with the power of Powerlessness and the power of Love. But if those in power continue to facilitate this violence upon the people - then they will increasingly come to experience the meaning of the old saying: “If you spit in the wind it comes back and hits you in the face”. Share --- This Sunday I'll be hosting my monthly public Zoom call with a talk and Q&A session on Revolution in the 21st Century. [Sign up](https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAqf-GurjosG9TroMERMJxZvjtYpEYEiRxJ?ref=rogerhallam.com#/registration) and find more info about the project [here](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jVoGsCzQcyDR1reywKVHRDPMxLwkAr-uN0MPy8iDjW0/edit?ref=rogerhallam.com#heading=h.vctih3476cxu). I've been speaking across the country over the last week on a new project, Assemble, which is going to use community assemblies to set up local candidates in the 2024 election. This is the democratic revolution in the making. Find out at upcoming events [in person](https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/assemble-82804984653?ref=rogerhallam.com) or [online](https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAvde-vpjIjH9BBDq-ZOZKhNjXAy5tN1fuW?ref=rogerhallam.com#/registration). --- I've got two focuses: - **Revolution** \- Building social formations to create revolution and guide moments of social disruption. - **A Balanced Society** \- Building the new civilisation, based on a new balance of deliberative democracy, compassion, and limited consumption. Sign up for nonviolent civil resistance with [Just Stop Oil](https://juststopoil.org/?ref=rogerhallam.com) in the UK or via the [A22 Network](https://a22network.org/en/?ref=rogerhallam.com) internationally. --- ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get on with the job of sorting it out. [Support](https://rogerhallam.com/#/portal/signup/6517fbb3b89c5400016e9f27/yearly) ### 📉No Way Out: The Liberal Illusion of Capitalism URL: https://rogerhallam.com/no-way-out/ Last updated: 2024-04-30T15:30:37.000Z This article on a recent JP Morgan report makes clear why there is no hope for the liberal illusion that capitalism can be constrained from destroying civilisation. [JPMorgan warns of need for ‘reality check’ on phasing out fossil fuelsUS bank says higher interest rates, inflation and global conflict have dented outlook for energy transition![](https://www.ft.com/__origami/service/image/v2/images/raw/ftlogo-v1%3Abrand-ft-logo-square-coloured?source=update-logos&format=png&width=180&height=180)Financial TimesMalcolm Moore![](https://www.ft.com/__origami/service/image/v2/images/raw/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ft.com%2F__origami%2Fservice%2Fimage%2Fv2%2Fimages%2Fraw%2Fhttps%3A%2F%2Fd1e00ek4ebabms.cloudfront.net%2Fproduction%2F820b0ad2-b99f-46f9-87d7-54584e0b2bc6.jpg%3Fsource%3Dnext-article%26fit%3Dscale-down%26quality%3Dhighest%26width%3D700%26dpr%3D1?source=next-opengraph&fit=scale-down&width=900)](https://www.ft.com/content/352b38a7-f298-4b54-adc2-f4cc1b17444b?ref=rogerhallam.com) The pathological corporate class thinks that in order to provide “higher living standards” there will be no foreseeable reduction in fossil fuel use even after 2030\. And if the government tries to go too fast then they will create “social unrest”. The idea of stopping investing in oil and gas would be “the road to hell for America”. The statistics support the realist Right-wing position - rather than that of wishful-thinking liberals. Emissions continue to rise and the backlash on “climate policies” is evident everywhere - the farmer's protests, Labour and the [Scottish government abandoning climate commitments](https://www.politico.eu/article/scottish-government-abandons-flagship-climate-goal-mari-mcallan-says/?ref=rogerhallam.com), and oil companies' backtracking on decarbonisation. There is overwhelming evidence that contemporary international capitalism cannot be brought to heel by reformist liberal politics. It cannot. The realists are right. Except of course the “realists” are subject to the greatest delusion of all - that physics is subject to economics. What they literally cannot see is that the “climate crisis” will create the greatest fiscal crisis of the state - meaning “social unrest” leading to “hell”. There is no way out. There can be no stability at 2C plus and there is no way to stop passing 2C within the present carbon political regime. Nothing unusual there. All regimes collapse because they get to a point where whatever they do they are doomed. It's called history. What comes after the collapse? That is the question. Fascism or [Democratic Revolution.](https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAvde-vpjIjH9BBDq-ZOZKhNjXAy5tN1fuW?ref=rogerhallam.com#/registration) Share --- The public didn't ask for inequality, genocide in Gaza, or climate collapse. That's why we're hosting ‘[*Time to Assemble*](https://www.eventbrite.com/e/time-to-assemble-birmingham-tickets-884987711067?aff=oddtdtcreator&ref=rogerhallam.com)" on 12th May in Birmingham. Come to learn about about a new model of democracy delivered by independent candidates. ![Image](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GMA2n0cX0AArKt0?format=jpg&name=large) --- I've got two focuses: - **Revolution** \- Building social formations to create revolution and guide moments of social disruption. - **A Balanced Society** \- Building the new civilisation, based on a new balance of deliberative democracy, compassion, and limited consumption. Want to join me? Sign up my monthly [Zoom call.](https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAqf-GurjosG9TroMERMJxZvjtYpEYEiRxJ?ref=rogerhallam.com#/registration) (More info [here](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jVoGsCzQcyDR1reywKVHRDPMxLwkAr-uN0MPy8iDjW0/edit?ref=rogerhallam.com#heading=h.vctih3476cxu)) Sign up for nonviolent civil resistance with [Just Stop Oil](https://juststopoil.org/?ref=rogerhallam.com) in the UK or via the [A22 Network](https://a22network.org/en/?ref=rogerhallam.com) internationally. Alternatively, you can now join new democratic revolution project like [Humanity](https://forms.gle/MkXJ1eQQn9rEFuuu9?ref=rogerhallam.com), which is aiming to build a new national assembly with deliberative democracy and [Assemble](https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAvde-vpjIjH9BBDq-ZOZKhNjXAy5tN1fuW?ref=rogerhallam.com#/registration), which is going to use local assemblies to set up local candidates in the 2024 election. For more on the need for democratic revolution, check out Clare Farrell's [latest article.](https://medium.com/@clarefarrell/humanity-project-025cd45dea6a?ref=rogerhallam.com) [Humanity Project…… come to an open call and get involved.![](https://cdn-static-1.medium.com/_/fp/icons/Medium-Avatar-500x500.svg)MediumClare Farrell![](https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:1200/1*fESpEVE4ZYnn6Y3KQlgtmQ.jpeg)](https://medium.com/@clarefarrell/humanity-project-025cd45dea6a?ref=rogerhallam.com) --- ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get on with the job of sorting it out. [Support](https://rogerhallam.com/#/portal/signup/6517fbb3b89c5400016e9f27/yearly) ### 📽️The Zone Of Carbon URL: https://rogerhallam.com/the-zone-of-carbon/ Last updated: 2024-04-24T09:24:21.000Z As objective conditions get worse, the greater the pressure to live the lie that we are different to those in the past. I am under pressure not to [compare the “climate” with what happened in World War Two](https://rogerhallam.com/the-easter-spirit/). Being human, all too human, I temporarily submit to such constraints. That said, there was one scene from The Zone of Interest that sticks with me. The laying of the table. The exactness of the placing of the cutlery. The affordance of precision. The clinical aesthetic, shutting out the noise of death from over the wall. The forced normality. The thickness of the air. And within a year of the laying of that table Soviet troops had invaded Poland and the east of Germany, ripping up society and spitting it out - 12 million refugees - 2 million rapes: the woman often gang raped with officers looking on. How could this happen? Maybe part of the answer is the 3 million Soviet prisoners of war deliberately starved to death by the Nazis in the final months of 1941\. Packed into camps, turned into cannibals, dying in their shit. Only one of the many forgotten crimes of humanity during that period. They laid the table so precisely because they could. For a while at least. And then they couldn’t anymore. Today people eat meat, fly planes, stand by and refuse to resist. Because they can. And then soon they won’t anymore. Hundreds of millions of refugees, many more than in the Second World War, will be on the move. And we should know what that means. Art can say what politics cannot. It speaks before the political explodes. It senses the coming death. It escapes the constraints of repression. After all, nothing clear is being said. The clarity of the message is communicated through the lack of clarity. It’s just art, right? While our society dreams of control it will destroy any control we have. We have yet to learn this bitterest of lessons. We are not in this world to serve power - we are here to serve truth, beauty, and love - what used to be called “God”. It takes a long time to realise this. For our society the lesson has not yet been learned, and we are about to suffer the consequences. Share --- I've got two focuses: - **Revolution** \- Building social formations to create revolution and guide moments of social disruption. - **A Balanced Society** \- Building the new civilisation, based on a new balance of deliberative democracy, compassion, and limited consumption. Want to join me? Sign up my monthly [Zoom call.](https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAqf-GurjosG9TroMERMJxZvjtYpEYEiRxJ?ref=rogerhallam.com#/registration) (More info [here](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jVoGsCzQcyDR1reywKVHRDPMxLwkAr-uN0MPy8iDjW0/edit?ref=rogerhallam.com#heading=h.vctih3476cxu)) Sign up for nonviolent civil resistance with [Just Stop Oil](https://juststopoil.org/?ref=rogerhallam.com) in the UK or via the [A22 Network](https://a22network.org/en/?ref=rogerhallam.com) internationally. Alternatively, you can now join a new collaborative project I'm helping with called [Humanity](https://forms.gle/MkXJ1eQQn9rEFuuu9?ref=rogerhallam.com) which is aiming to build the new world ahead based on deliberative democracy. --- ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get on with the job of sorting it out. [Support](https://rogerhallam.com/#/portal/signup/6517fbb3b89c5400016e9f27/yearly) ### 📰The Guardian Facilitates Genocide URL: https://rogerhallam.com/the-guardian-facilitates-genocide/ Last updated: 2024-04-24T09:28:39.000Z An [article](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/apr/01/uk-risk-summer-water-shortages-hosepipe-bans-scientists-warn?ref=rogerhallam.com) this month says: > The Environment Agency released a report last week that predicts a growing shortfall of water in coming years, leading to a deficit of almost 5bn litres of water a day by 2050. 1. This implies that the "prediction" is a 5 billion shortfall (a third less than the present supply) meaning that is what is going to happen. But this is the average prediction - the top of the normal distribution curve. Obviously, there are the outlier long tail possibilities that it could be say 2 billion or say 12 billion. The average is not relevant - what is relevant is the catastrophic chance of a 12 billion shortfall - i.e. the total collapse of water for agriculture and supply to urban areas (i.e. evacuation from cities). 2. The statement implies it will be 5 billion a day each year, but that just means an average year. Again, say 1 year in 4 there will be a 12 billion shortfall (see consequences above). And mathematically that means one year in 16 (.25x.25) this will happen 2 years in a row and will therefore be 100 or 1000 times more destructive - i.e. permanent migration from the UK and/or social collapse (think about the Gaza crowds wanting to get food). 3. Last but not at all least - there is the old chestnut that this is a closed sub-system analysis. What else will be happening in the world by 2050 in a post-2C world? Well, according to other *Guardian* articles there is a 50% chance AMOC will collapse, leading to a 10-30C collapse in winter temperatures. Oh, and loss of control of wetland methane release, taking temperatures over 3C, runaway sea level rise (Greenland ice collapse), and then 1 billion people on the move because of wet bulb effect mass deaths in the subtropics. So... Independent journalism would insist that each article on the future would look at the whole system and add in the new elements of that day's news. Anything less is not worth the paper it is written on. They would write, for instance: > "We have news today that the average collapse in water supplies will be 5 billion litres a day - a third of present supply, by 2050\. We have to add that into the *Guardian*'s running all-system analysis of the future - 10 million extra migrants coming into the country and a 50-50 chance of mass migration out of the country due to AMOC collapse. We need to add in the inevitable collapse of the world economy at some average point in the 2030s. > > Needless to say, given the interlocking facts, the *Guardian*'s independent position is further strengthened that revolutions are now inevitable, and they are justified and necessary for liberal civilisation's survival. Please sign up to join the *Guardian*'s staff team's unlimited hunger strike to demand a citizen assembly-led government, happening on June 1st." A final point - it's interesting isn't it that when the *Guardian* does an article on individual suicide there is always a link to support services and the end - all right and good. But when it comes to the mass killing of billions of black and brown people, followed by the mass suicide of our whole civilisation - well it is "just another day" as the slave-supporting *Guardian* of the nineteenth century would have put it. Independent? - Nope - complicit in genocide? Yes --- ## The Schizophrenia Machine The annoying thing about liberals is that they hate unpleasantness when it happens to them but they spend their lives not thinking straight about the 10 million times more unpleasantness they create for other people. The *Guardian* is a massive schizophrenia machine. Over in the “climate department” we are told on a daily basis that the human race is heading for extinction - or effective extinction if you want to be nerdy about it. While over in the politics department it’s liberal business as usual. This is not smart. As columnist Marina Hyde [says](https://theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/feb/23/commons-democracy-mps-intimidated-precedent?ref=rogerhallam.com). > “I can see Ms Lunnon thinks that the only context for anything anyone says or does, ever, is that we are about to become extinct, and that trumps absolutely everything.” Let's be polite and suggest this sentence is not very well thought through. Obviously, if we were about to become extinct then that *would* trump absolutely everything. In World War Two, 3% of humanity died and the war definitively did trump everything - so presumably if 100% of humanity is about to die then...well. The point, however, is not about basic logic. It is that Marina, along with the rest of the liberal elite, simply does not want to believe what they do not like. How does this denial happen? I offer the following reasons. 1. *Guardian* writers think climate is an issue. It is not. By definition it is everything, in the sense that air and water are everything - no water you die - no climate you have no food, you die. 2. *Guardian* writers think climate is an event: “When we get to 2c...” - implies we stop there. No. 2C locks in 3C and so on. It does not stop. 3. *Guardian* writers think the climate is about the physical world, which they are dumb enough to think does not interact with the social world. If you, for instance, suggest that climate will create mass rape, all hell breaks loose. But to deny this is like saying a meteorite landing in New York will not kill people. They think then that there is only one domino. There is in fact a series of them. When you knock down one, you will knock down the rest of the row. This is basic physics. The tipping points in the geophysical system trigger each other, which then re-amplify each other - it's ONE SYSTEM. This is how you lock in human extinction. And everyone with minimal analytical skills knows that human extinction is now the main scenario. Of course, saying this is not going to get Marina to understand what is going on, because people who are embedded in a self destroying elite system can only very rarely get their heads out of it. This is why these people have a complete lack of understanding about why people think it's okay to hassle those who administer the greatest act of injustice in human history. They don't realise that the old liberal system is done - it's totally fucked. The future is fascism or some form of Citizen Assembly-led government. Either way politicians have no future. Sorry. If you stand by and allow the world to experience something on the scale of 30 world wars, you really don't get to complain about a bit of vigorous “protest”. (Note: The reaction to this will be all about the vigorous protest and nothing about 30 world wars - the joy of privileged delusion.) Share --- I've got two focuses: - **Revolution** \- Building social formations to create revolution and guide moments of social disruption. - **A Balanced Society** \- Building the new civilisation, based on a new balance of deliberative democracy, compassion and limited consumption. Want to join me? Sign up my monthly [Zoom call.](https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAqf-GurjosG9TroMERMJxZvjtYpEYEiRxJ?ref=rogerhallam.com#/registration) (More info [here](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jVoGsCzQcyDR1reywKVHRDPMxLwkAr-uN0MPy8iDjW0/edit?ref=rogerhallam.com#heading=h.vctih3476cxu)) Sign up for nonviolent civil resistance with [Just Stop Oil](https://juststopoil.org/?ref=rogerhallam.com) in the UK or via the [A22 Network](https://a22network.org/en/?ref=rogerhallam.com) internationally. Alternatively, you can now join a new collaborative project I'm helping with called [Humanity](https://forms.gle/MkXJ1eQQn9rEFuuu9?ref=rogerhallam.com) which is aiming to build the new world ahead based on deliberative democracy. --- ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get on with the job of sorting it out. [Support](https://rogerhallam.com/#/portal/signup/6517fbb3b89c5400016e9f27/yearly) ### 📖The Intellectual Left Are Fucking Bollocks On “What to Do” URL: https://rogerhallam.com/intellectual-left-bollocks/ Last updated: 2024-04-04T06:34:38.000Z Guardian columnist Owen Jones and ex-city trader, Gary Stevenson's latest video, [Why We're In This Mess](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwLjRZ-p5KI&ref=rogerhallam.com) is great on the no-brainers. For example, in a stagnant economy, if the rich pass a tipping point of wealth, they eat up the poor. Well, nothing particularly new there - just what Marx was saying. I played Monopoly every Sunday for years when I was a kid and, if you are reasonably clever, you soon work out that as soon as you tip into owning a certain number of properties the other players are exponentially done for. All well and good. But then, in the last five minutes, they move to “We have to give hope” and well - what's the plan? Owen is “supporting” independents and Gary wants people to listen to him more: What I call the macro delusion and the information delusion. What they are saying is so dumb it makes me want to throw myself over a cliff. All they are doing is creating even more despair and thus passivity. Gary, quite understandably, can't get his head around why, given he has earned shit loads of money, the government and academics won't listen to him. At the same time, both of them don't want to listen to people who know how to build political power and get taxes on the rich. That's where I come in. My team have created the three biggest climate/social movements in the UK - XR, Insulate Britain, and Just Stop Oil. We developed a detailed integrated mobilisation model and replicated it in 10 Western countries - creating the biggest campaigns in 5 of them in two years. If you are a social scientist - i.e. you’re familiar with complexity - you know that is pretty amazing. Just as you know Gary is cool for getting his predictions right several times in a row. Why? Because he has a different theory of how the world works - and so he can make lots of money. So guess what - why have I been successful in building political power from literally £250 in the bank and 3 people in a room? Because I have a totally different theory of how the world works to all the NGOs that have 10s of millions and do fuck all. Is anyone in the system interested in speaking with me? No. I have been almost completely ignored. By “the system” I am talking about Owen and Gary, and all the rest of the intellectual Left who continue to be completely clueless on how to build political power. They haven't even got to page 2 on the basics. (All of which I've outlined in my podcast, [Designing The Revolution](https://rogerhallam.com/podcast/)) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2024/03/roger-zeit-1-1.JPG) ## Join Me In the Revolution of Our Lives Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No nonsense. Change your mind anytime. Don't get me wrong, no doubt about it, they are nice and moral people but, as Gary says, we are facing fascism. And that is going to really fucking hurt. I mean physically. People will get beaten up, get shot, get no help at the hospital, and die an early miserable death. That's what's going to happen to you reading this. Add that onto the climate crisis, and this time round it’s going to go on forever and then everyone is going to die - hundreds of miles of rotting corpses. What do you think extinction is going to look like? It’s not a video game. In other words, ignoring how best to change things is no fucking joke. Nothing could be more serious - why do you think I’m swearing? So please stop being stupid. Look at the evidence, check out who makes things tick, bring them into the room, and take a load of notes. Owen and Gary - stop bollocking around on “What needs to happen”. Have me on your YouTube shows and I will go through the deal in 40 minutes and then have a concrete pathway to action. It's not complicated. Just do it. Find out more at my monthly [Zoom](https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAqf-GurjosG9TroMERMJxZvjtYpEYEiRxJ?ref=rogerhallam.com#/registration) talks. Share --- I've got two focuses: - **Revolution** \- Building social formations to create revolution and guide moments of social disruption. - **A Balanced Society** \- Building the new civilisation based on a new balance of deliberative democracy, compassion, and limited consumption. Sign up for nonviolent civil resistance with [Just Stop Oil](https://juststopoil.org/?ref=rogerhallam.com) in the UK or via the [A22 Network](https://a22network.org/en/?ref=rogerhallam.com) internationally. Alternatively, you can now join a new collaborative project I'm helping with called [Humanity](https://forms.gle/MkXJ1eQQn9rEFuuu9?ref=rogerhallam.com) which is aiming to build the new world ahead based on deliberative democracy. --- ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get on with the job of sorting it out. [Support](https://rogerhallam.com/#/portal/signup/6517fbb3b89c5400016e9f27/yearly) ### ✝️Telling The Truth: The Easter Spirit URL: https://rogerhallam.com/the-easter-spirit/ Last updated: 2024-03-31T14:19:50.000Z I was asked this week to step down from a group for saying unpleasant things on Twitter. At least I think that was the reason - the English way is never to be clear about reasons. I could (and briefly did) get into a bit of rage about it, but if there is one thing that the last few years have taught me is that people really cannot handle the truth - perhaps for good reason. Live for today - what is coming down the line is deliberately made hazy. Messengers who shine a light have to be killed - at least in an English way. But what enables me to get through the day in this mad, mad world is the idea that I can write something real - that which appears real I might be prompted to say because in this culture nothing is allowed to be actually real. It's all a matter of opinion for those who have the privilege to think that way. The train coming down the tracks is just one of many things. The joy of endless choice. The madness of endless freedom. The world is what you make it. I find it slightly hilarious how at this moment so few people want to write about what is actually going on. I think there are less than five people right now who can be emotional, use ordinary language and take things even halfway to their obvious conclusion. Obviously we are heading towards a holocaust so much worse than the previous one - and no, not in a million years am I trivialising - nothing could be further from the truth. "*Don't mention the war*" my friend who asked me to step down said a while ago - the essence of English repression. "*Don't talk about* [*Eichmann*](https://rogerhallam.com/starmers-treason/)", another old punk friend tells me - something has been lost from his soul. And definitely don't mention hanging. It is indeed hilarious, and so so sad of course, because I say such things to prevent suffering - to alert people to the horrors they are setting in play for themselves and others. I would never want to hang anyone - I’m a follower of Gandhi for fucks sake. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2024/03/roger-zeit-1-1.JPG) ## Join Me In the Revolution of Our Lives Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No nonsense. Change your mind anytime. During this enforced calm before the storm, there is no point getting into that rage. I have to admit to myself that I would speak the truth even if there was zero chance of it being listened to because in all the noise I like its sound. The sound of truth is an oasis for me. And because of this, I am told how silly I am. Because being sensible at this point is believing that 2 plus 2 equals 5\. Because it could, right? This brings me to the guy who was silly enough to have himself sacrificed on a certain Friday. The more you think about it, the more bizarre the story is - the more its logic conflicts with the essence of the logics of our present ruling regime - in the widest (Foucauldian) sense of “regime”. But for me - he’s my man. A while ago [I was interviewed by BBC Politics presenter, Nick Robinson.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsoQEVFL9VA&t=331s&ref=rogerhallam.com) I said things that in any vaguely sane society would have resulted in a thousand public meetings, an emergency mobilisation, and a great spasm of collective effort. But all that happened was silence - thick, rigid, silence - its nothingness weighed down on me for days afterwards. Then this week an English professor appeared intending to write a book about my interview - in the context of St Augustine - The City of God and all that. I immediately knew what he was getting at. I think about the saint all the time. The sack of Rome, the sack of ….. Compare and contrast. Maybe there are a few other people out there waiting to pop up and remind me that the human spirit has yet to totally commit itself to suicide. In fact, in other news, I have been shortlisted by a well-known posh US magazine as one of the 25 most influential people knocking around at present. Wonders never cease, as my mum used to say. --- ### Help me write and work unfiltered. ### Donate to my new project, Revolution In The 21st Century. [Donate](#/portal/signup) Want to join me? Sign up my monthly [Zoom call.](https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAqf-GurjosG9TroMERMJxZvjtYpEYEiRxJ?ref=rogerhallam.com#/registration) (More info [here](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jVoGsCzQcyDR1reywKVHRDPMxLwkAr-uN0MPy8iDjW0/edit?ref=rogerhallam.com#heading=h.vctih3476cxu)) You can join nonviolent civil resistance with [Just Stop Oil](https://juststopoil.org/?ref=rogerhallam.com) in the UK or via the [A22 Network](https://a22network.org/en/?ref=rogerhallam.com) internationally. Alternatively, you can now sign up for a new Citizen's Assembly project I'm helping called [Humanity](https://forms.gle/MkXJ1eQQn9rEFuuu9?ref=rogerhallam.com). Share --- ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get on with the job of sorting it out. [Support](#/portal/signup) ### 🌊Rising Sea Levels Will Kill 40 Million In Our Lifetime URL: https://rogerhallam.com/rising-sea-levels-will-kill-40-million-in-our-lifetime/ Last updated: 2024-03-22T07:00:39.000Z It has recently come out that the[ rate of ice melt on Greenland has increased by eight times](https://www.counterpunch.org/2024/03/15/greenland-cascading-30-million-tons-per-hour/?ref=rogerhallam.com) (yes that is right, *eight* times). I have yet to speak to the relevant scientists involved, but it seems reasonable to assume that it has more than doubled every decade. [Greenland Cascading 30 Million Tons Per HourFacing Future.tv recently conducted an interview about spooky new developments in Greenland. The ice sheet is cascading/gushing at unheard of rates never![](https://static.ghost.org/v5.0.0/images/link-icon.svg)CounterPunch.orgRobert Hunziker![](https://www.counterpunch.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/annie-spratt-WGJSEGkXtWs-unsplash-945x630.jpg)](https://www.counterpunch.org/2024/03/15/greenland-cascading-30-million-tons-per-hour/?ref=rogerhallam.com) ***Why does no one do the social science on these numbers?*** I’m a social scientist. More specifically, I did Phd research at King's College London for five years. More specifically still, you might say I learnt how to do maths about society without fear or favour. Which, as you can see below, is a radical thing to do. So let's get going and do a bit of maths... This decade we are looking at 12,500 cubic kilometres of melt. Given the latest report, we should double it each decade from now on. Greenland has 2.9 million cubic kilometres of ice. So, effectively, the whole of Greenland will have melted by around 2080\. That’s within the lifetime of people in their 20s or younger today. That will raise sea levels by seven metres. To get a flavour of the geophysical amplifiers involved watch this video on Youtube by two expert professors: [*Greenland: Ice Loss Accelerating*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Q9aByWZvf0&ref=rogerhallam.com). Taking into account the melt of other areas of the world, such as Antarctica, we can estimate that effectively everyone living within 10 metres of present sea levels will have to move. That would be 600 million people today - more like 750 million, given an increase in the world’s population to 10 billion from today's 8 billion by the mid century. In a conservative estimate this will lead to 40 million deaths in war (5% of the total refugees), given the “war” will continue forever (i.e. the sea level will continue to rise). It will lead to 20 million women being raped (look at the relationship between those killed in social breakdown/war and rape in places like Congo, Rwanda, Nanking - it’s around 50% of deaths). Add in the numbers already established for temperature rise (extreme heat) - 1 billion refugees at 2॰C, 2 billion at 3॰C of warming. These numbers do not include the refugees caused by sea level rise. So let's say **2.5 billion displaced people towards the end of the century - one in four people on the planet - 125 million deaths in war/social breakdown and 60 million raped women.** And the most important point: it does not stop - the ice continues to melt. This is nothing compared with what the 2100s will bring. This is the main scenario for this century with our present knowledge. It's 50% likely to happen with a 25% chance of doubling because of the compounding effects of endless social collapse and fascistic dysfunctionality (things did not end well for Germany in 1945). And a 25% chance of these numbers being halved if there are democratic revolutions which create rational policies to slash emissions and do geo-engineering (though sea level rise is now locked in regardless of what happens to emissions - it's warm: ice melts). What to do about it is a question only those who are still in denial ask. It is beyond obvious to the 1% of the population with “self knowledge”, as Timothy Synder calls it. Give up your job and dedicate your life to enacting revolutions. So that when all this shit happens you haven't got the additional shit of knowing you stood by and did nothing effective to stop it. --- Want to join me? Sign up my monthly [Zoom call. ](https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAqf-GurjosG9TroMERMJxZvjtYpEYEiRxJ?ref=rogerhallam.com#/registration) You can join nonviolent civil resistance with [Just Stop Oil](https://juststopoil.org/?ref=rogerhallam.com) in the UK or via the [A22 Network](https://a22network.org/en/?ref=rogerhallam.com) internationally. Alternatively, you can now sign up for a new Citizen's Assembly project I'm helping called [Humanity](https://forms.gle/MkXJ1eQQn9rEFuuu9?ref=rogerhallam.com). Share --- ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get on with the job of sorting it out. [Support](https://rogerhallam.com/#/portal/signup/6517fbb3b89c5400016e9f27/yearly) ### 🇵🇹 The Far Right in Portugal: The Impossible Is About To Happen URL: https://rogerhallam.com/the-rise-of-the-far-right-in-portugal/ Last updated: 2024-04-03T15:53:39.000Z This week in the Portuguese elections, the far right surged to 18% of the vote while the two main parties collapsed to around 25% each. This is now a pattern across western democracies. The collapse in support of the centre left and centre right and the rise of the populist left and right forces. At the moment, the momentum is with the radical right. The conventional wisdom of the liberal political class, as shown in endless opinion articles, is that the centre right and left have to, in various unspecified ways, get their act together and stop the rise of the extremes. “Will Europe ever learn?”, one Guardian article [writes](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/mar/11/portugal-elections-chega-far-right-europe?ref=rogerhallam.com). What does that actually mean apart from a vague appeal for people to be nice? It is vague because there is, in fact, no effective structural response to the rise of the political outsiders. Both the centre right and centre left are ideologically committed to an international neo-liberal regime that systematically undermines the incomes and the identities of the majority. This international regime has also shown itself incapable of fulfilling its first political duty: to protect the lives and livelihoods of the people. The elites pouring more carbon in the air will now take us over 2C. In other words, it is impossible for these political forces, both ideologically and structurally, to respond to what is objectively the most extreme political project in human history - the destruction of the biosphere for private commercial gain. The reason people are turning to the “extreme” left and right is because the centre - the existing political system - is beyond “extreme” itself. It is literally taking us to hell whilst lying and insulting our intelligence along the way - "1.5C is still possible" they claim. Not a good strategy to make friends and influence people! The question now is which impossible options remain - the take over of western democracies by demagogic right or left wing forces - or a renewal of democracy by a new revolutionary movement which forces changes in constitutions to give legislative power to citizens assemblies based upon sortition and informed deliberation. I’m opting for the latter impossibility. To find out more come to my [Sunday Zoom Talk](https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAqf-GurjosG9TroMERMJxZvjtYpEYEiRxJ?ref=rogerhallam.com#/registration). Share --- ## **GOOD NEWS!** We're having a big party on Wednesday 20th March from 7PM - 9PM in London to support Andrew Feinstein, who worked with Nelson Mandela in dismantling the South African apartheid, to stand against the forces of darkness in Camden (Mr. Starmer’s constituency) in the general election. He is all into running a people’s assembly based campaign - where the good people of Camden decide the programme - he will be in service to them. This is the revolution in politics we all want. Andrew will be speaking along with me, Clare Farrell and other semi bigwigs. This could be a historical moment. Really. So come along and [sign up](https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/xr-camden-jso-and-friends-big-party-tickets-859451732267?link%5Fid=5&can%5Fid=3dfd877a38551fb154d35ca92d9a36c5&source=email-upcoming-soup-crafts-training-and-challenging-starmer&email%5Freferrer=email%5F2242153&email%5Fsubject=upcoming-soup-crafts-training-and-challenging-starmer). ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2024/03/camden.jpg) --- I've got two focuses: - **Revolution** \- Building social formations to create revolution and guide moments of social disruption. - **A Balanced Society** \- Building the new civilisation based on a new balance of deliberative democracy, compassion, and limited consumption. Want to join me? Sign up my monthly [Zoom call. ](https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAqf-GurjosG9TroMERMJxZvjtYpEYEiRxJ?ref=rogerhallam.com#/registration) Can't wait a month? Sign up for nonviolent civil resistance with [Just Stop Oil](https://juststopoil.org/?ref=rogerhallam.com) in the UK or via the [A22 Network](https://a22network.org/en/?ref=rogerhallam.com) internationally. Alternatively, you can now join a new collaborative project I'm helping with called [Humanity](https://forms.gle/MkXJ1eQQn9rEFuuu9?ref=rogerhallam.com) which is aiming to build the new world ahead based on deliberative democracy. --- ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get on with the job of sorting it out. [Support](https://rogerhallam.com/#/portal/signup/6517fbb3b89c5400016e9f27/yearly) ### ⏳Counting The Dead: Elite Pathology and Illiteracy URL: https://rogerhallam.com/counting-up-the-dead/ Last updated: 2024-03-09T06:20:00.000Z Recently David Wallace Wells, author of *The Uninhabitable Earth*, wrote a nice little article in the *New York Times* which challenges my use of “one billion climate deaths”. The figure comes from the peer-reviewed [Pearce paper](https://phys.org/news/2023-08-climate-changing-human-billion-deaths-century.html?ref=rogerhallam.com#:~:text=Body%20count%2C%20however%2C%20is%20something,bodies%20over%20the%20next%20century.), which states: “If global warming reaches or exceeds two degrees Celsius by 2100, mainly richer humans will be responsible for the death of roughly one billion mainly poorer humans over the next century.” The New York Times article, “[Just How Many People Will Die From Climate Change?”](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/22/opinion/environment/climate-change-death-toll.html?ref=rogerhallam.com) tells you all you need to know about the methodological illiteracy and political pathology of the global north elites. Put simply, they can’t think straight and they don’t give a shit about killing poor people. ## **Elites Can't Think Straight** 1\. This is what natural scientists do on the elites’ death project. They go: “Factor X has only a 25% chance of happening - so we can’t be certain - so we can’t put it in the model.” Meanwhile, the rest of the world does a standard risk analysis: “How many people will die if X happens?” and times it by 0.25\. So if X will lead to an estimated 100 million deaths, you put in 25 million. You don’t ignore that. 2\. They also don’t tell you the time periods. Notice there are no time periods in his article which is analytically … well, dumb. But it creates the subliminal, deluded message that the death project is an event that happens and then stops. If we’re talking about how many will die from climate change, what’s your time period on something that will get locked in for 100,000 years (at least)? Wells says: “I don’t think it’s right to suggest that reaching two degrees of warming (which now looks very likely) will mean a billion people dead.” Ok, so let’s do some actual numbers here. First let’s define what a 2॰C warmer world is. Five years in a row that average 2॰C or above warmer than pre-industrial levels seems reasonable. This would then lead to a triggering of all the major tipping points: Amazon droughts, permafrost melts etc. That would then take us over 3॰C of warming within a generation, regardless of what human emissions do. Peer reviewed predictions are that [two degrees average temperature increase will result in one billion refugees](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/sep/09/climate-crisis-could-displace-12bn-people-by-2050-report-warns?ref=rogerhallam.com). If fascist states breakout in response to such social breakdown, as they often do, then it’s reasonable to expect that 10% of that number will be killed in the process and 5% raped (100 million and 50 million). Check out recent history in The Congo, Rwanda, Cambodia, Nanking and the Soviets in Berlin for starters. Other papers say that three degrees will lead to two billion refugees, which is currently the most likely temperature increase for the end of this century. If we follow just the logic of social collapse, that’s 200 million deaths. You can see how a proposed *New York Times* article in touch with reality would get rejected even at this stage, but let’s stride on ... Let's add in secondary effects. In his piece Wells questions my use of “a somewhat obscure paper”. So for this I’m going to rely on Professor Nicholas Stern, Chair of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and former Chief Economist of the World Bank. In 2006 he and his team wrote the 662 page *Stern Review* for the British Government. Probably the most comprehensive economic study on the impact of climate change to date. In it he states: “Our actions now and over the coming decades could create risks of major disruption to economic and social activity, on a scale similar to those associated with the great wars and the economic depression of the first half of the 20th century…Hundreds of millions of people could suffer hunger, water shortages and coastal flooding as the world warms.” So, get your pen and paper out. Estimates of military and civilian deaths in World War Two range from 70–85 million. That’s about 3% of the world's two billion population in 1940\. At the current eight billion population that would scale up to 240 million dead. Estimates of deaths caused by World War One hover around 20 million deaths out of a 1.8 billion global population. So a similar scale today would be around 100 million deaths. Estimated deaths from the Great Depression are up to 10 million, when the population was a quarter of what it is now, so that’s around 40 million today. You get 300+240+100+40 = 680 million ... just from heat, war and economic depression. Okay, now add in water shortages, disappearing glaciers, methane bombs, water vapour, arctic blue ocean event, AMOC collapse, coral reefs, ocean heating (the list goes on)... To give you a number, Dr Ripple recently [published a report](https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biad080?ref=rogerhallam.com) alongside Sir David King that stated: "By the end of the 21st century, **as many as 3 to 6 billion people** may find themselves outside the Earth’s liveable regions, meaning they will be encountering severe heat, limited food availability and elevated mortality rates.” Is anyone serious that the main scenario does not take us over one billion deaths, with a thick long tail probability of burn baby burn fascism taking us to effective extinction (i.e 6-8 billion deaths)? ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2024/03/849de83b70c97f7e3c59b81641060c78.png) ## **They Don’t Give A Shit About Killing Poor People** Wells also says the paper I quoted for this figure is “focused less on climate impacts than on climate justice.” Because “climate impacts” have no connection to “justice”? - Bit of a revealing slip up there! The article contains all the usual bystander words: “shocking”, “scary”, “worry”, “speculations”: the euphemisms the elites use when they kill the powerless throughout history. And then there is the classic displacement title: “Just how many people will die from climate change?” People don’t die from “climate change”. They are killed by those who make political decisions that mean disposing of people is worth it, to keep their power and privilege. Concentration camps do not kill people - they are killed by those who put people into the camps, right? And finally, there's that deeply revealing first ‘just’ word in the title. "Well, what a fascinating question, Sir, – ‘just’ how many deaths of those poor coloured folks are we looking at here? Such an interesting subject…” Only a culture completely devoid of empathy could write such a word in an article about such obscenity. The elites’ pathological inability and unwillingness to follow through on the logic of even their own statements is particularly evident in Well’s case. He’s written a book called *The Uninhabitable Earth*. It’s good stuff. So, sorry to ask the question, but what does uninhabitable actually mean? It means: “unliveable. unfit or unsuitable to live in or with.” So let’s take this nice and slowly then. “Unliveable” means you cannot live and therefore you die. If you die then you are…dead. The earth is where everybody lives. There are eight billion people on the earth So... 8 billion people are going to die That is what "uninhabitable earth" actually means. I feel like vomiting. So, I will stop there. --- I've got two focuses: - **Revolution** \- Building social formations to create revolution and guide moments of social disruption. - **A Balanced Society** \- Building the new civilisation based on a new balance of deliberative democracy, compassion, and limited consumption. Want to join me? Sign up my monthly [Zoom call. ](https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAqf-GurjosG9TroMERMJxZvjtYpEYEiRxJ?ref=rogerhallam.com#/registration) You can join nonviolent civil resistance with [Just Stop Oil](https://juststopoil.org/?ref=rogerhallam.com) in the UK or via the [A22 Network](https://a22network.org/en/?ref=rogerhallam.com) internationally. Alternatively, you can now sign up for a new Citizen's Assembly project I'm helping called [Humanity](https://forms.gle/MkXJ1eQQn9rEFuuu9?ref=rogerhallam.com). --- ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get on with the job of sorting it out. [Support](https://rogerhallam.com/#/portal/signup/6517fbb3b89c5400016e9f27/yearly) ### 🗳️Labour's U-turn on Citizens' Assemblies Shows They Fear The People URL: https://rogerhallam.com/u-turn-on-citizens-assemblies/ Last updated: 2024-02-24T12:09:57.000Z The Labour Party’s [24-hour U-turn](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/02/19/labour-backtracks-sue-gray-citizen-assembly-whitehall-keir/?ref=rogerhallam.com) on introducing Citizens' Assemblies is testament to the radical idea of actually letting ordinary people control their own future. When you realise that, it’s no wonder Keir Starmer fears them. He should. Citizens’ Assemblies are our last hope for rational governance in our age of climactic collapse. But the ‘powers that soon will be’ were keen to co-opt that. They only want to use them to patch up the fraying legitimacy of the neoliberal regime. That’s kind of what the Labour Party does. But once the spectre of real democracy was raised, the Party dropped the idea like a hot rock. Just like when Labour responded to Corbynmania by desperately trying to stop ordinary people joining the Party. Citizens’ Assemblies have been the wet dream of the liberal middle classes for a while now. It’s like the last cake they can throw out the window of their ivory towers before the pitchforks come out. It won’t work. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2024/02/roger-banner-image-2-1-1-1.png) ## Join Me In the Revolution of Our Lives Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No nonsense. Change your mind anytime. Any citizens assemblies will back the people by definition. It would just take too much obvious manipulation to thwart them once they inevitably come up with rational, common sense policies. Things like: “Apparently this country doesn’t have enough money for its people to live in dignity. So let’s tax the mind-bogglingly rich. We can use that to pay for some hospitals, schools and public transport.” It’s beyond naive to believe the elites will simply fall for the idea that Citizens’ Assemblies are a “good idea” - like turkeys voting for Christmas. There’s no point waiting for the government to do this for us. They’ll only ever allow a pale imitation of the real deal. Citizens’ Assemblies are not a technocratic solution. They are a political revolutionary act. If given real power as a [House of Citizens](https://www.sortitionfoundation.org/replace%5Fhouse%5Fof%5Flords%5Fwith%5Fhouse%5Fof%5Fcitizens?ref=rogerhallam.com), they can change the regime from a corrupted representative form to an incorruptible sortition-based system where ordinary people are selected by lottery. Citizens’ Assemblies will take real power only by radical social movements setting them up for themselves. They will then quickly gain popular political power to counter the constitutional power of the House of Commons. So the scene will be set for the classic battles of twenty-first-century social struggle. Bring it on. Share --- I've got two focuses: - **Revolution** \- Building social formations to create revolution and guide moments of social disruption. - **A Balanced Society** \- Building the new civilisation based on a new balance of deliberative democracy, compassion, and limited consumption. Want to join me? Sign up my monthly [Zoom call. ](https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAqf-GurjosG9TroMERMJxZvjtYpEYEiRxJ?ref=rogerhallam.com#/registration) Can't wait a month? Sign up for nonviolent civil resistance with [Just Stop Oil](https://juststopoil.org/?ref=rogerhallam.com) in the UK or via the [A22 Network](https://a22network.org/en/?ref=rogerhallam.com) internationally. Alternatively, you can now join a new collaborative project I'm helping with called [Humanity](https://forms.gle/MkXJ1eQQn9rEFuuu9?ref=rogerhallam.com) which is aiming to build the new world ahead based on deliberative democracy. --- ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get on with the job of sorting it out. [Support](https://rogerhallam.com/#/portal/signup/6517fbb3b89c5400016e9f27/yearly) ### 💬Dialogue or Fascism: The Plan To Save All We Love URL: https://rogerhallam.com/dialogue-or-fascism/ Last updated: 2024-02-21T09:55:46.000Z You wouldn’t know it but millions of people are going to experience a lot of physical pain - not to mention the emotional pain of seeing the physical pain of those they love. The source of this pain is something called the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). This is the Atlantic current that comes up from the equator and keeps Europe warm. Last year it was revealed that Europe will experience an overnight fall in temperatures of [3-8C at any point after 2025 due to the AMOC collapsing](https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/sites/abc5a69e-en/1/3/2/index.html?itemId=/content/publication/abc5a69e-en&%5Fcsp%5F=6d00888f3885b1fcadfb107c6ede4c51&itemIGO=oecd&itemContentType=book&ref=rogerhallam.com). Why? Because the Greenland Ice Sheet and other Arctic ice sheets are irreversibly melting. This prediction is an underestimate. Predictions by climate scientists are conservative because they only look at factors which are certain - and ignore uncertainties, even though they are very likely to happen. And so, for instance, it is no surprise that a few months later we have been told that the [Greenland melt has been underestimated](https://insideclimatenews.org/news/15022024/new-study-revealed-big-underestimates-of-greenland-ice-loss/?ref=rogerhallam.com). We are now told this every year. As long as a defective methodology is used by scientists we can look forward to their predictions getting exponentially more conservative over the coming years. “Scientists were shocked” and similar phrases now occur in most “climate change” articles. And so we are heading to fascism. The first reason for this is because of the refusal of the liberal and mainstream media to make clear that “climate change” means physical pain - lots of it, and then you will die. The collapse of the AMOC is just one of several catastrophic situations which are now locked in. But the real catastrophe is the unwillingness to acknowledge these are social crises, not “climate” crises. What needs to be communicated is what it will mean for your pension (it will not get paid), what it means for your food supply (it will collapse), what it means for law and order (you are likely to get shot). The fact that such predictions seem outlandish is due to the greatest scandal of our time: the refusal of the media to tell people what ACTUALLY is going to happen. For instance the AMOC collapse will produce an overnight reduction of average temperatures by 3-8C in Europe (closer to 8C in Northern regions). Without a shadow of a doubt this will destroy our prosperity. At a minimum we will be thrown into a World War Two emergency - a state command economy and compulsory rationing. Think of an eternal Covid Lockdown and then times how bad it is by 10\. That gets you in the ballpark of what’s ahead of us. Why don't people know this? Because no one in the media brings in an agricultural expert to tell us what an average -5C temperature situation across Europe means. It’s obvious. It means mass starvation unless the country comes together into a wartime mode. And if we don't all come together? Then we will experience the biggest shitshow in the last 10,000 years of human history. Wave after wave of crises which will get compounded into holocaust episodes as fascistic forces drag us into a hell of permanent war. Think about Gaza. And then think about it again. That is what happens when fascism takes hold. And it is taking hold all around us - wake up! ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2024/02/roger-banner-image-2-1-1-1.png) ## Join Me In the Revolution of Our Lives Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No nonsense. Change your mind anytime. Everything now depends on avoiding the fascist pathway. How? First it requires a mass civil resistance movement that can respond to the social crises and overcome the neo-liberal establishment. That means breaking away from the liberal climate movement and the reformist middle class. Instead we need to build an alliance with the small town people, urban youth, and non-white communities. These are the only groups that are open to revolt. How many NGO meetings have I been in where nice, university educated people insist on doing nothing - not least because they are incapable of understanding that “climate change” means you are going to be in a lot of physical pain - it is going to fucking hurt. The second thing that needs to happen is a concrete dialogue with the social groups who are now moving towards fascism - small business people, farmers, disaffected youth. This means something very specific - a structured, ongoing programme of going into their spaces both on and off line. There’s a three-part sequence: 1. Listening and summarising to genuinely understand their fears; 2. Exploring with them their views and how they hold together; 3. Only when trust is established, engaging in reasoned discussion on how best their values can find expression in pro-social rather than fascist form: that “burn baby burn” means the death of their families and communities. Doing this is NOT AN OPTION - it is a matter of life or death - social cohesion or social collapse (a nice liberal phrase for rape, slaughter and starvation). And you should engage in such projects as if your life depends upon it. Because it does. Thirdly, none of this will happen without a prophetic, ethical leadership who tells the truth. Without this leadership people will not door knock! A few people have to go out there arguing for this strategy and outlining the vision. Our organisations have to say to the younger generation - “You don't know shit and you need to learn fast. The potential leaders amongst you need to step up”. Again, it requires a structural approach. Individuals need to be proactively head hunted, trained in week long retreats, and then mentored and supported. Leadership at a time of total fuckedness is tough tough tough - it is the ultimate responsibility. And it needs to happen. Lastly - we need to understand that this strategy is almost bound to fail in the short term - humans cannot think straight about the future and they do not give up their privileges voluntarily. We will make no substantial progress until the ruptures start to come thick and fast - which could be very soon. The realistic strategy then is to create revolutionary organisational infrastructure, culture, and strategy that are ready to go - to be rolled out as an alternative pathway to social solidarity rather than fascism, as soon as there is no bread in the shops. This is what I call the Syriza strategy; named after the Greek political party that refused to get sucked in the neoliberal delusion. When shit hit the fan and the global economy collapsed, they went from 4% to 40% in the polls. Why? Because they offered a credible alternative to fascism. Whoever is most prepared will win. And who wins will have a massive effect on whether billions die or just tens of millions. This is what historical agency means. Those of us who understand what is at stake have a lot of work to do. And knowing what we need to do is a massive benefit - it puts us in the ballpark of saving those we love. Which is, at the end of the day, what this is all about. Share --- I've got two focuses: - **Revolution** \- Building social formations to create revolution and guide moments of social disruption. - **A Balanced Society** \- Building the new civilisation based on a new balance of deliberative democracy, compassion, and limited consumption. Want to join me? Sign up my monthly [Zoom call. ](https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAqf-GurjosG9TroMERMJxZvjtYpEYEiRxJ?ref=rogerhallam.com#/registration) Can't wait a month? Sign up for nonviolent civil resistance with [Just Stop Oil](https://juststopoil.org/?ref=rogerhallam.com) in the UK or via the [A22 Network](https://a22network.org/en/?ref=rogerhallam.com) internationally. Alternatively, you can now join a new collaborative project I'm helping with called [Humanity](https://forms.gle/MkXJ1eQQn9rEFuuu9?ref=rogerhallam.com) which is aiming to build the new world ahead based on deliberative democracy. --- ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get on with the job of sorting it out. [Support](https://rogerhallam.com/#/portal/signup/6517fbb3b89c5400016e9f27/yearly) ### 👩‍👩‍👧‍👦 Billions of Lives on The Line - Existential Crisis Realities URL: https://rogerhallam.com/billions-of-lives-on-the-line/ Last updated: 2024-03-14T19:31:32.000Z On BBC’s [HARDtalk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HyaxctatdA&ref=rogerhallam.com) 5 years ago, I was slammed across the board for saying billions of lives were at risk. The liberal climate movements tried to refute and play down the existential risks ahead. The last few months have shown ever more clearly that I was right. After all, what do we actually think the “end of civilization” will look like? Several new scientific papers from [Ripple](https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/advance-article/doi/10.1093/biosci/biad080/7319571?ref=rogerhallam.com) and [Pearce](https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/16/16/6074?ref=rogerhallam.com) have outlined that not only are billions of lives on the line, but that “richer humans will be responsible for \[the\] killing”. This month, the NASA Climate Scientist, Peter Kalmus, also added his voice to that position. The time for shying away from our existential reality is over. The precautionary principle dictates that these realities form and guide the mission of our lives - that only a revolution to change who makes the big decisions is going to save us. Read on for Kalmus’ quote and the regular monthly science briefing which lays out further scientific evidence of our civilizational collapse, the media’s anodyne commentary, and my criticisms of it. This should help you cut through the propaganda and repression. --- [The Climate Summit Is a Sick Joke. You Should Be Angry and AfraidThe primary cause of global heating is fossil fuels; and global heating is what’s driving all the crazy heat, fire, smoke, storms, flooding, drought, crop yield losses, and ecosystem death that is intensifying everywhere as Earth breaks down.![](https://g.newsweek.com/themes/newsweek/favicons/apple-touch-icon.png)NewsweekPeter Kalmus![](https://d.newsweek.com/en/full/2317224/greenwash.jpg)](https://www.newsweek.com/climate-summit-sick-joke-you-should-angry-afraid-opinion-1848719?ref=rogerhallam.com) > *"If left unchecked, every year on average will be hotter than the last, and at some point ... global heating will take down civilization as we know it. *Billions of lives are at risk* ..."* \- Peter Kalmus, NASA climate scientist. Maybe 2023 will be remembered as the year when the word "billion" entered the public sphere as the number of people who are going to be killed. When the liberal climate industry breaks down and people start to focus on just how serious the situation is. ## **Exponential Temperature Increase** > We've spent 5 months above +1.5°C. > > Next year we might hit a month of over +2.0°C. > > The rate of warming will keep increasing with growing greenhouse gas emissions and decreasing aerosols. > > Monthly [@ECMWF](https://twitter.com/ECMWF?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=rogerhallam.com) ERA5 Surface Air Temperature Anomalies from 1850-1900 in °C: [pic.twitter.com/HSf40K7nNj](https://t.co/HSf40K7nNj?ref=rogerhallam.com) > > — Leon Simons (@LeonSimons8) [December 17, 2023](https://twitter.com/LeonSimons8/status/1736478491535692031?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=rogerhallam.com) The situation is that temperatures have been going up exponentially since the 1970s and we will pass 2C in the next 15 to 20 years. After which feedback loops will be triggered and we will continue past 3C and 4C. Here's just a snapshot of what those exponential temperatures really mean: [Extreme heat and drought typical of an end-of-century climate could occur over Europe soon and repeatedly - Communications Earth & EnvironmentExtreme heat and drought typical of the end of the century could occur earlier and repeatedly over Europe, and are more likely when they coincide with a warm North Atlantic, according to 100 simulations with an Earth system model.![](https://www.nature.com/static/images/favicons/nature/apple-touch-icon-f39cb19454.png)NatureLaura Suarez-Gutierrez![](https://media.springernature.com/m685/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1038%2Fs43247-023-01075-y/MediaObjects/43247_2023_1075_Fig1_HTML.png)](https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-023-01075-y?ref=rogerhallam.com) > *"By 2050–2074, two successive years of single or compound end-of-century extremes, unprecedented to date, exceed 1-in-10 likelihoods"* Such extreme temperatures mean that one in every ten years our ability to feed ourselves will be destroyed. Don't look away. ## **Fossil Fuels Are At A Record High** > Despite years of commitments from countries to slash the emissions of greenhouse gases that are warming the planet, they are still on the rise. Carbon dioxide released from burning fossil fuels is expected to rise by 1.1 percent in 2023 compared with 2022, scientists found in an extensive [peer-reviewed analysis](https://www.globalcarbonproject.org/carbonbudget/?ref=rogerhallam.com) published this week. This is what it looks like when cognitive dissonance goes non-linear. Especially when they have even got the full picture. Look at this new report of underreported emissions: [Climate Trace Detects Underreported Soaring EmissionsCOP28, the UN Conference of the Parties in oil-rich Dubai, currently underway, will not resolve the issue of oil and gas companies agreeing to slow down![](https://www.counterpunch.org/safari-pinned-tab.svg)CounterPunch.orgRobert Hunziker![](https://www.counterpunch.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/marek-piwnicki-WiZOyYqzUss-unsplash-680x425.jpg)](https://www.counterpunch.org/2023/12/08/climate-trace-detects-underreported-soaring-emissions/?ref=rogerhallam.com) > *"Emissions have been soaring well beyond official statistics reported by countries."* On top of everything else, we find out they have all been lying as well. Are we really going to let these criminals take our children into an endless hell hole? ## Worse Than Previously Thought [Future floods: Global warming intensifies heavy rain – even more than expected11/27/2023 - The intensity and frequency of extreme rainfall increases exponentially with global warming, a new study finds. The analysis by researchers from the Potsdam Institute of Climate Impact Research (PIK) shows that state-of-the-art climate models significantly underestimate how much extreme rainfall increases under global warming – meaning that extreme rainfall could increase quicker than climate models suggest.![](https://www.pik-potsdam.de/++theme++pik-plone-4.3-theme/favicon.ico)Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research![](https://www.pik-potsdam.de/en/news/latest-news/future-floods-global-warming-intensifies-heavy-rain-2013-even-more-than-expected/@@download/image/kelly-sikkema-_whs7FPfkwQ-unsplash.jpg)](https://www.pik-potsdam.de/en/news/latest-news/future-floods-global-warming-intensifies-heavy-rain-2013-even-more-than-expected?ref=rogerhallam.com) > Climate Impact Research (PIK) shows that state-of-the-art climate models significantly underestimate how much extreme rainfall increases under global warming > “The intensity and frequency of extreme rainfall increases exponentially with global warming,” So much for "state of the art" - Linear analysis is fucked. How many experts are in their own bubbles of expertise and not looking at the bigger picture? Cascading tipping point will send us into a hothouse earth. Forever. Just look at this new report on ice levels: > Prognosis for glacier loss in the Alps is worse than previously thought! 🔥 > Commited ice loss (=irrespective of any climate change) for 2050 amounts to 35%! > As this is an absolute lower bound, in fact it will be more than 50%, only 2.5 decades from now 😱[https://t.co/nqarDz1TKs](https://t.co/nqarDz1TKs?ref=rogerhallam.com) [pic.twitter.com/kutl0mivBz](https://t.co/kutl0mivBz?ref=rogerhallam.com) > > — Melaine Le Roy (@subfossilguy) [December 16, 2023](https://twitter.com/subfossilguy/status/1736004481517543726?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=rogerhallam.com) If there is surely one phrase that sums up 2023 it is **"worse than previously thought".** Even the new [Global Tipping Points report ](Home https://global-tipping-points.org/)minces its words. > *"The climate change assessment process has tended to focus on the most likely outcome, rather than evaluating the highest-risk outcomes. But this is poor risk assessment and it is leaving society ill equipped for what lies ahead."* Understatement of the century – **it's a** **total fucking disaster!** How many euphemisms do we have to deal with before someone finally breaks free of the system and the corporate media to say how it really is? This is what the Labour leadership refuses to accept - there is a point when we cannot stop the chaos, and the chaos gets exponentially worse. Reformism is simply irrelevant according to the science. It's self-evidently a treasonous crime for Keir Starmer to pretend otherwise. ## Economic Risks [$5 trillion of nature-related economic risks will amplify climate“Nature is not the elephant in the room, it’s the huge green scorpion running towards us”- study author.Biodiversity loss and environmental degradation generates significant and long-term risks to![](https://www.ox.ac.uk/sites/default/themes/custom/oxweb/apple-touch-icon-144x144.png)Home Home![](https://www.ox.ac.uk/sites/files/oxford/field/field_image_main/boat%20storm%202.jpg)](https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2023-12-14-5-trillion-nature-related-economic-risks-will-amplify-climate-change-says-oxford?ref=rogerhallam.com) > *“Nature is not the elephant in the room, it’s the huge green scorpion running towards us”* At some point the penny will drop that nature is stronger than us, especially at above 2C global average temperatures. Yet to add to the fuckery, that realistion is going to be seriously delayed by fossil fuels firms covering up the dirt, as this new [report in Nature](https://www.nature.com/articles/s44168-023-00086-x?ref=rogerhallam.com) points out: > *"16 of the world’s most polluting fossil fuel companies were associated with more than 1700 climate misinformation ads on Facebook alone, with 150 million user interactions"* It's clear that the public sphere is completely corrupted - the solution: door knocking, leading to assemblies, leading to revolutions, leading to legally binding citizens assemblies. Got a better idea? ## **Water Crisis in Gaza** > 🌀 We're pushing the entire water cycle out of balance. We're threatening the stability of all sources of freshwater. > > Co-Chair [@jrockstrom](https://twitter.com/jrockstrom?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=rogerhallam.com) explains the urgent need to prioritize water in the climate negotiations at [#COP28](https://twitter.com/hashtag/COP28?src=hash&ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=rogerhallam.com): [https://t.co/Ccd0bZz6ea](https://t.co/Ccd0bZz6ea?ref=rogerhallam.com)[#TurningTheTide](https://twitter.com/hashtag/TurningTheTide?src=hash&ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=rogerhallam.com) [#GlobalGoals](https://twitter.com/hashtag/GlobalGoals?src=hash&ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=rogerhallam.com) [pic.twitter.com/szgAaElMGp](https://t.co/szgAaElMGp?ref=rogerhallam.com) > > — Global Commission on the Economics of Water (@watercommongood) [December 5, 2023](https://twitter.com/watercommongood/status/1731956601119019156?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=rogerhallam.com) > [The water situation in Gaza is catastrophic.](https://www.anera.org/blog/gaza-water-catastrophe/?ref=rogerhallam.com) Even before the war, Gaza had virtually no potable water. The population relied on a polluted and rapidly depleting aquifer, as well as a limited number of desalination plants that fell far short of meeting local needs. This has led to the alarming statistic that 97% of Gaza’s water is unfit for human consumption. One of the things no one wants to talk about is how many civilians will die once the whole of the Middle East faces social collapse as the region becomes "uninhabitable" (that nice environmentalist word for total fucking murderous hell), as the world's rich take us over 2C. ## **COP Fuckery** > The United Nations and COP28 are lying. They know the 1.5C and 2C global warming targets are dead. Young people can and should take charge of their future. More later. See: “A Miracle Will Occur” Is Not Sensible Climate Policy - [https://t.co/Wb875B1GWH](https://t.co/Wb875B1GWH?ref=rogerhallam.com) [pic.twitter.com/HBUhDrCjN2](https://t.co/HBUhDrCjN2?ref=rogerhallam.com) > > — James Edward Hansen (@DrJamesEHansen) [December 7, 2023](https://twitter.com/DrJamesEHansen/status/1732780395211657481?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=rogerhallam.com) Part of me feels bad swearing away at the fuckery of COP28\. ‘Calm down Roger - don't get carried away.’ Then we read the latest from Dr. James Hansen - arguably the greatest climate scientist of our time.What does he say? We are going over 2C - meaning we face the prospect of 1 billion people uprooted and forced to migrate. No social scientist or historian with any self respect can avoid the judgement that this will be total hell: 20 times the number of refugees produced by WW2. Me swearing away on twitter should be the least and last of your worries. I don't know if Dr. James Hansen will appreciate me saying this, but he is one of my favourite climate scientists. Not just because of his immense expertise, but because he is one of the only top scientists in the world who is capable of calling a [spade a spade](https://x.com/DrJamesEHansen/status/1735329950667091971?s=20&ref=rogerhallam.com). ## UK Temperatures to Plummet > If we don't stop our reliance on fossil fuels and slow the melting of Greenland ice, we risk frequent UK winter temperatures of -20°C within decades [#AMOC](https://twitter.com/hashtag/AMOC?src=hash&ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=rogerhallam.com) [https://t.co/sZUGt6LVpb](https://t.co/sZUGt6LVpb?ref=rogerhallam.com) > > — Prof Nick Cowern (@NickCowern) [November 14, 2023](https://twitter.com/NickCowern/status/1724339866178027550?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=rogerhallam.com) More importantly, temps will stay below 10C in summer. As a farmer I can tell you there's not a chance in hell of being able to grow summer crops at scale in those temps. What sort of total fucking stupid death cult political regime takes this risk? --- Each month of these reports is another nail in humanity’s coffin. No one is coming to save us. It falls to you, the reader, to step up in defiance. To cast away this rotting system and build a 21st century revolution. Over the next few months, my team and I will be building a community of leaders from across the globe. Join it, whilst you still can. [Become a Leader. Join The Sunday Zoom.](https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAqf-GurjosG9TroMERMJxZvjtYpEYEiRxJ?ref=rogerhallam.com#/registration) Sign up for nonviolent civil resistance with [Just Stop Oil](https://juststopoil.org/?ref=rogerhallam.com) in the UK or via the [A22 Network](https://a22network.org/en/?ref=rogerhallam.com) internationally. Alternatively, you can now sign up for a new Citizen's Assembly project I'm helping called [Humanity](https://forms.gle/MkXJ1eQQn9rEFuuu9?ref=rogerhallam.com). --- ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situationis F\*cked Help me to get on with the job of sorting it out. [Support](https://rogerhallam.com/#/portal/signup/6517fbb3b89c5400016e9f27/yearly) ### 🌊The Truth About Atlantic Ocean Circulation Collapse URL: https://rogerhallam.com/atlantic-ocean-circulation-collapse/ Last updated: 2024-02-14T10:53:35.000Z As I write, an article on the Atlantic Ocean Circulation nearing its tipping point is the top viewed on the Guardian website. This is what they miss out: 1. The collapse of the Atlantic Ocean circulation (AMOC) will be the most devastating event in the last 10,000 years of human history. 2. It will happen overnight with sudden effects. 3. It will be irreversible and continue for 1000s of years. 4. It will destroy human civilisation because it will be impossible to grow food in northern Europe - temperatures would drop by between 3-8°C. Enough to half the amount of land where you can grow wheat. 5. 100s of millions of Europeans will have to move or starve to death. Those that move will be subject to holocaust events created by warlords and/or fascistic regimes. 6. Coastal cities will have to be evacuated. 7. Monsoons in the tropics will collapse, resulting in 100s of millions more refugees. This is just the beginning - the collapse also will feed into other disastrous climate tipping points like the collapse of the Amazon rainforest. We are looking at billions of deaths and possible effective extinction this century - that now has to be the main concern. Last but not least, the above scenario is a conservative prediction because it doesn't take into account the non-linear effects of other systems on the AMOC collapse date (e.g the collapse of ice cover in the Arctic, methane release, and mega forest fires). Why is no one talking about this? Why aren't there emergency conferences of Europe's farmers? Why aren't the media going on strike till the government acts? Why aren't there mass sit-downs in cities for weeks on end? Because repressed scientists just say that it's ["kind of scary"](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/feb/09/atlantic-ocean-circulation-nearing-devastating-tipping-point-study-finds?ref=rogerhallam.com) \- like saying Auschwitz was "kind of unpleasant". The situation is totally fucked. --- Recently I've been reading and writing everyday to help get this truth out and build a revolutionary movement. I've got a small team of volunteers around me and we need your help to get the message further. Please [donate](https://rogerhallam.com/#/portal/signup) to my work or reply to this email if you can help to volunteer. Thank you. [Donate To Help Me Write](https://rogerhallam.com/#/portal/signup) --- Sign up for nonviolent civil resistance with [Just Stop Oil](https://juststopoil.org/?ref=rogerhallam.com) in the UK or via the [A22 Network](https://a22network.org/en/?ref=rogerhallam.com) internationally. Alternatively, you can now join a new collaborative project I'm helping with called [Humanity](https://forms.gle/MkXJ1eQQn9rEFuuu9?ref=rogerhallam.com). It is aiming to build the new world ahead based on deliberative democracy. --- ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situationis F\*cked Help me to get on with the job of sorting it out. [Support](https://rogerhallam.com/#/portal/signup/6517fbb3b89c5400016e9f27/yearly) ### ⚖️A Small Matter of Treason: Starmer and The “Climate” URL: https://rogerhallam.com/starmers-treason/ Last updated: 2024-02-10T10:52:52.000Z For the past five years I have read ten to twenty articles and scientific papers every week on the “climate”, i.e the coming holocaust enacted by the global elites. I recently received one that predicted [a 40% reduction in global GDP by later this century](https://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2021/sep/economic-cost-climate-change-could-be-six-times-higher-previously-thought?ref=rogerhallam.com#:~:text=The%20study%20shows%20that%20by,on%20economic%20growth%20into%20account). This builds on two other key papers which predict over [one billion migrants](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/sep/09/climate-crisis-could-displace-12bn-people-by-2050-report-warns?ref=rogerhallam.com) as we shoot past 2C in roughly the next 15 years and the resultant [billion deaths](https://phys.org/news/2023-08-climate-changing-human-billion-deaths-century.amp?ref=rogerhallam.com) by the end of the century. So if this is not a holocaust, what exactly do you think these predictions mean? Have the decency to be honest with yourself please. I used to be a social science researcher at King’s College, London. The name of the game in that trade is to look at everything in context. So I will provide some context. There is overwhelming evidence that the climate science industry is structurally underestimating the realities we face. “Worst than expected” is the standard phrase of just about every article as new stats are published. A few years ago we were going to pass 1.5C around 2050 - [now it is already happening](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-68110310?ref=rogerhallam.com). I remember reading reports that the Arctic will melt in the summer around 2100\. Papers now predict 2035, [if not before](https://www.sciencefocus.com/news/the-arctic-could-be-free-of-sea-ice-by-2035-latest-climate-model-predicts?ref=rogerhallam.com). AMOC - the ocean current that stops the 60 million people on these islands from starving to death - was going to collapse at some point next century. Now a recent paper tells us [the odds are it will collapse by 2050](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jul/25/gulf-stream-could-collapse-as-early-as-2025-study-suggests?ref=rogerhallam.com). If you have not been paying attention, this will create a collapse of temperatures overnight of 3-8C across Europe. So don’t be surprised if it happens before your pension comes due. I’m like you. I don’t like to believe things are true if they conflict with my baseline beliefs - like “we will muddle through”. But then it becomes more difficult when it actually comes true. Scientists have been telling us privately and then publicly for years that staying under 1.5C was bollocks - and now here we are. For two decades or more the best kept secret of the climate space has been that [aerosols](https://www.breakthroughonline.org.au/%5Ffiles/ugd/148cb0%5Fad1302e6161240ee87be5d73946ea347.pdf?ref=rogerhallam.com) (pollution from burning fossil fuel emissions) have been holding down temperatures by .5C-1C. As we passed 1.8C last September the pretence started to collapse as scientists raged about each other on a dark corner of Twitter. It's the start of the exposure of the world’s biggest cover up. That they knew we were fucked a decade or more ago. Not that the media is interested. Everyone is still in on the pretence, it seems. Including Mr Starmer, as he decides to go back on investing a few billion in saving what is left to save. The phrase that rings through my head as the next generation takes him to trial for genocide at some point in the 2030s is “you knew and you did nothing”. No doubt Mr Starmer’s top legal team will point out, echoing Adolf Eichmann, that he did not actually do the killing. But it won’t wash any more in 2033 than in 1963\. It will be a political trial. Starmer, like Eichman, will be guilty before he enters the courtroom. They hanged Eichmann. No one gets to kill Jews, and no one gets to send the next generation to their death either - without consequences. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/roger-boat-banner-1.png) ## Join me In the Revolution of our lives Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No nonsense. Change your mind anytime. This time round though it will be a lot worse because, as anyone with minimal analytic skills will know, the situation now is - well, metaphysically different. With Eichmann the killing was done. The camps were closed. This time round it will go on for fucking ever. Maybe they will hang Starmer forever, whatever that means. Starmer and his fellow conspirators are committing treason by knowingly planning to allow emissions to continue at rates which will contribute to the collapse of the UK state and society in the next generation. Read that sentence several times, nice and slow please. I am not being in the slightest bit rhetorical - playing for effects, trying to get attention. I am absolutely serious. Physics does not lie and, as any sociologist or historian worth their salt knows, when a leader presides over the destruction of their society - things do not end well for them. When they preside over the destruction of their society forever… well, it's worth remembering the Mongols, who skinned members of the Indian ruling class and made their relatives eat the bodies.. There are two things for certain - what I am saying here is true, and that those in power will not believe it is true. I mean I told all this recently to Nick Robinson when he interviewed me recently on the BBC - the response: a deafening, earth shattering silence. The real question for those of us at the coal face of resisting this radical evil, pinging in and out of Europe’s worst prisons (I may be locked up again when you read this), is not what is going to happen to the present leadership of the British Labour Party. That’s a done deal. It is what comes next - fascism or some revolutionary transformation of the human spirit. But I guess it will be a few years before the media wants articles about transcendence from materialism. In the meantime the best of British luck everyone. --- **Film Recommendations 📽️** - **Zone Of Interest (2023):** The Labour Party's banality of evil isn't new. To stop it, we must learn about it in The Zone Of Interest so we can truely say "Never Again". - **Hannah Arendt (2012):** Telling the Truth isn't alway popular. Arendt is one of my heroes and this biopic shows how she stirred up the world around the Eichmann trial and put 'Banality Of Evil' on the map. --- ### Online Q&A on Revolution & Leadership - Feb 18th The present political regimes are not going to last now that climate breakdown is locked in. So given that revolutions are inevitable how do we design social transformations that are pro-social and save what is left to save? Join me in a Zoom event where I tackle this key question. 450 climate leaders signed up to last event from across the world. We will have global breakout groups and time for a Q&A on Revolution and Leadership in the 21st Century. [Become a Leader. Sign up to the Zoom.](https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIpde6trjItHdOtw%5FvY-44YLKtz6J5PjBgt?ref=rogerhallam.com) --- Sign up for nonviolent civil resistance with [Just Stop Oil](https://juststopoil.org/?ref=rogerhallam.com) in the UK or via the [A22 Network](https://a22network.org/en/?ref=rogerhallam.com) internationally. Alternatively, you can now join a new collaborative project I'm helping with called [Humanity](https://forms.gle/MkXJ1eQQn9rEFuuu9?ref=rogerhallam.com). It is aiming to build the new world ahead based on deliberative democracy. --- ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get on with the job of sorting it out. [Support](https://rogerhallam.com/#/portal/signup/6517fbb3b89c5400016e9f27/yearly) ### 🧑‍🌾On The Farmers Protests URL: https://rogerhallam.com/farmers-protests/ Last updated: 2024-02-03T14:32:55.000Z I was an organic grower for twenty years - I would work 60 hours a week, bring up my kids, and the only highlight was going to town on a Saturday. Every weekend I would have a crippling headache from the stress. Why? Because people who do the real work, the essential work, get paid shit wages while the rich pay fuck all taxes. Everyone is sick to death with the humiliation. On top of that, the elites are collapsing our climate, destroying everything in its wake. Normal people don't want a lot - just enough and the dignity of not being treated as idiots. Unless new progressive social movements arise that make a clear break with the suicidal bollocks of the neoliberals - Starmer, Macron, Scholz - fascists will be in power within the decade. The new offer is this: "Yes, the country will be less "rich," but at least we can have equality, dignity and community - and that is what counts." We face mass migration and the collapse of world trade - insurance markets, coastal property prices - as climate breakdown destroys the global economy. Combine that with fascism and you have the biggest shit show in human history. The situation could not be more serious. Wake up and act. --- ### Online Q&A on Revolution & Leadership - Feb 18th The present political regimes are not going to last now that climate breakdown is locked in. So given that revolutions are inevitable how do we design social transformations that are pro-social and save what is left to save? Join me in a Zoom event where I tackle this key question. 450 climate leaders signed up to last event from across the world. We will have global breakout groups and time for a Q&A on Revolution and Leadership in the 21st Century. [Become a Leader. Sign up to the Zoom.](https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIpde6trjItHdOtw%5FvY-44YLKtz6J5PjBgt?ref=rogerhallam.com) --- Sign up for nonviolent civil resistance with [Just Stop Oil](https://juststopoil.org/?ref=rogerhallam.com) in the UK or via the [A22 Network](https://a22network.org/en/?ref=rogerhallam.com) internationally. Alternatively, you can now join a new collaborative project I'm helping with called [Humanity](https://forms.gle/MkXJ1eQQn9rEFuuu9?ref=rogerhallam.com). It is aiming to build the new world ahead based on deliberative democracy. --- ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get on with the job of sorting it out. [Support](https://rogerhallam.com/#/portal/signup/6517fbb3b89c5400016e9f27/yearly) ### 📓Introducing The Humanity Project URL: https://rogerhallam.com/humanity/ Last updated: 2024-01-31T07:47:07.000Z 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? Things we do not want to think about, but are 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 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. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2024/01/humanity-launch-bristol-jpg.jpg) Launch of the Humanity Project in Bristol (Spot me preparing my speech) 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 - the young people. We all are decent people who play a part - all that sort of thing. Okay, so 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 sort of 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 Pop(ular 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](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdlBKavdaO36ADqPorBbWBlr1CLkcPulAYdHlP%5FHnNwDwLfqw/viewform?ref=rogerhallam.com). ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2024/01/image.png) Quote from participant [Become a Democract. Sign up for Humanity.](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdlBKavdaO36ADqPorBbWBlr1CLkcPulAYdHlP%5FHnNwDwLfqw/viewform?ref=rogerhallam.com) --- Get started with our new maunal, [The Work We Need to Do](https://drive.google.com/file/d/13UFxnwIEb4afjEzRdZQ72WUtLvvPB0PM/view?ref=rogerhallam.com). It isn't just something you read. It shows you how to do the work. [The Work We Need To DoA Manual for Our TimeTheWorkWeNeedToDo.pdf666 KBdownload-circle](https://rogerhallam.com/content/files/2024/01/TheWorkWeNeedToDo.pdf "Download") --- ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## Democracy is in a Mess. Help me to get on with the job of sorting it out. [Donate](https://rogerhallam.com/#/portal/signup/6517fbb3b89c5400016e9f27/yearly) ### 🗣️It's Time For Prophetic Leadership - Interview URL: https://rogerhallam.com/prophetic-leadership-interview/ Last updated: 2024-01-20T09:33:41.000Z This interview was originally published in the Dutch Magazine, De Volkskrant. --- Roger Hallam opens the door: 'Ah, the journalist person.' His living room, in a small apartment in South London, is crammed with a piano, bookshelves, two bicycles, an armchair, and a sofa with duvets and blankets on it – apparently, someone is sleeping there. The curtains hang loosely on one side. Hallam offers water in a tea mug with brown residue. 'How long do you want to talk, by the way? I have an hour.' An ankle monitor is strapped around one of his ankles because Hallam is under house arrest – he is not allowed to leave his house between midnight and seven in the morning. The arrangement has recently been slightly relaxed; initially, he couldn't leave his house after ten. Nowadays, he can visit his children, who live elsewhere in the United Kingdom. 'A political measure,' Hallam judges. Harassment by the authorities, just like the police raids he experiences every few months. 'They take my devices, interrogate me, all with the aim of putting me behind bars. It's state intimidation.' ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2024/01/Roger-in-Der-Volkskrant-Magazine-1-1.webp) Roger with his Ankle Monitor A week before this interview, it happened again: the activist group Just Stop Oil posted a video of officers ransacking his living room. Hallam cheerfully looks into the camera and gives a thumbs-up before being taken away by the police himself. It has become business as usual. He estimates this to be his thirtieth arrest. Hallam: 'These raids don't happen because I publicly call for roadblocks. If you've watched my speeches on YouTube, you know I never do that. I point to the science and the absolute necessity to resist. The law is politicised to create repression. You are now talking to me about civil disobedience. Are you also civilly disobedient? Under an authoritarian regime, probably. I'm afraid we are increasingly heading in that direction here in the United Kingdom.' [Join Roger's Next Leadership Q&A Before He's Back Behind Bars](https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIpde6trjItHdOtw%5FvY-44YLKtz6J5PjBgt?ref=rogerhallam.com#/registration) As a co-founder of Extinction Rebellion and Just Stop Oil, Hallam is one of the most influential environmental activists globally. You could consider him the mastermind behind the Dutch blockades of the A12 in The Hague – 27 days long and resulting in 9,000 arrests. Earlier this year, Hallam spoke several times via video link with Dutch activists, he says. Hallam was the one who said: you have to come back every day. 'They wanted to go to the A12 every month, they said. I said: that's great, but it makes no sense. You have to do it day after day. That's the only coherent strategy.' Just Stop Oil, founded in 2022, gained global fame after two activists threw soup at Vincent van Gogh's Sunflowers (behind glass). But there have been numerous actions, from smearing buildings and glueing themselves to oil pipes to blocking roads. These weeks, 'slow marches' in London, where a group of activists walk slowly across the road, lead to a wave of arrests. Causing traffic disruptions makes Just Stop Oil a favourite target of right-wing politicians and tabloid newspapers, who speak of 'eco-idiots,' 'thugs,' and 'gangs' hindering ordinary citizens and costing millions in taxpayer money. In recent years, the actions of environmental activists have been increasingly heavily punished. Two Just Stop Oil activists were sentenced to 2 years and 7 months and 3 years in prison, respectively, for climbing a bridge, causing a major traffic artery to be closed for hours. Ian Fry, the UN special rapporteur on climate change and human rights, said he was 'particularly concerned' about the sentences, the highest ever imposed in the UK for nonviolent protest. Hallam himself spent four months in pretrial detention at the end of last year on suspicion of participating in a conspiracy to disrupt public order. A speech for Just Stop Oil activists had been secretly recorded by a journalist from the tabloid The Sun and leaked to the police, according to the tabloid itself: 'a victory for the people.' The newspaper then photographed the police raid on Hallam's apartment – a one-two, according to Hallam. He was not at home but was later arrested elsewhere. Hallam: 'Make no mistake, it may seem to you that the Netherlands is friendlier, but we are just a few years ahead of you. It could go the same way for you.' In the 37 seats for the right-wing populist Dutch Party For Freedom, Hallam sees new evidence that a 'real left' story is missing. 'Neoliberal "left" breeds fascism,' Hallam wrote on social media after the Dutch election results because the left refuses to break with capitalism. 'We will only be saved by real left, which declares: "We will tax the rich, and they will pay for the carbon transition."' In interviews, Hallam often clashes with British journalists, not only with those from the tabloids but also with those from the BBC. Hallam says, "Because they don't want to talk to me about the science. But if you, as a journalist, don't summarise the latest state of science, the public will think: this is just a strange radical saying crazy things to entertain us." According to the annual greenhouse gas report from UNEP, the United Nations environmental organisation, released at the end of November, the current climate policy is far from sufficient to stay below a 2-degree Celsius increase. According to UN experts, the Earth is expected to warm by 2.5 to 2.9 degrees by the end of this century. Disasters, such as the melting of parts of the Greenland and Antarctic ice caps, are likely to occur, resulting in metres of sea-level rise. The monsoon in Africa could stop, the North Pole could lose its summer ice, and the glaciers in the Alps are likely to melt. According to UNEP, "ruthless mitigation and transformation to low carbon" are necessary, while greenhouse gas emissions rose by 1.2 percent last year, setting a new record. Due to the climate crisis under the current climate policy, the World Bank estimated that 216 million people would have to relocate. UN chief António Guterres said at the end of September that "humanity has opened the gates of hell" and warned that we are heading towards a "dangerous and unstable world." Hallam, trained as a sociologist, worked as an organic farmer in South Wales but stopped when prolonged rainfall led to the death of his crops. Hallam believes this is due to climate change. In 2017, he moved to London to pursue a Ph.D. at King's College on civil disobedience, a path he abandoned to focus full-time on his activism. In 2018, he co-founded Extinction Rebellion with others but distanced himself from the group a year later due to conflicts over leadership and strategy. He wanted to fly drones near Heathrow to force the closure of the airport, but the action faced resistance from other activists due to safety risks. Hallam denies the risks, intending to launch the drones just within the restricted zone but at a safe distance from air traffic. He proceeded and was arrested. A lawsuit related to that action is ongoing. Hallam also sparked anger among other activists when he described the Holocaust as "just another fuckery" in human history. Several XR chapters publicly distanced themselves from him, including in the Netherlands. Hallam also claims that global warming will lead to civil wars, which, in turn, will lead to, for example, group rapes, mass murder, and cannibalism. He describes these scenes in detail to journalists, stating, "They take your mother, lay her on the table, and rape her, then they grab a stick and gouge out your eyes. That is the reality of the destruction project we are facing." In early 2022, Hallam founded Just Stop Oil, a movement explicitly focused on disrupting public order. The UK branch of XR, on the other hand, renounced civil disobedience, claiming it would be less effective, though stricter penalties might also play a role. Hallam sees it differently, stating that demonstrations, petitions, and lobbying won't move politics. He claims to know nothing about recent Just Stop Oil actions, deliberately keeping his distance as he feels he's being watched. He says, "I think at a distance about strategy." ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/roger-boat-banner-1.png) ## Join me In the Revolution of our lives Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No nonsense. Change your mind anytime. You also spoke with Dutch XR activists in preparation for the A12 blockades. Were they a success? "Oh, yes. Well done. Congratulations to the Netherlands, what a great country." Then, seriously: 'There is overwhelming evidence that large-scale civil disobedience is the fastest mechanism to bring about policy change. Demonstrations that do not disrupt are at best useless and at worst undermining. If you spend your energy making banners and waving flags, that energy cannot go to actions that do make sense. I now see all sorts of demonstrations for Palestine, but they have no impact because there is no disruption." Does demonstrating only make sense if you break the law? "As a sociologist, I say: there is overwhelming evidence that 'just' protesting has no influence on deeply rooted power because power does not listen to arguments." The A12 blockades were paused after the Dutch parliament adopted a motion asking the government to develop scenarios for phasing out fossil subsidies. Do you think this is a good reason to stop for now, or should XR have continued? "I don't know the details, but in general, the biggest mistake of social movements is demobilising before they have won. The authorities may say they have accepted a demand, but nine out of ten times they are lying. That's how power works. They make a vague promise, so it seems like the protest movement has succeeded and they don't have to deal with it anymore, then nothing happens. The danger is that a protest movement is demoralised in this way." When you spoke to Dutch XR activists, you said, 'Stopping fossil subsidies is not what it's about. There is a 'total fucking disaster' going on, and we have to fight that with everything we have.' Is a campaign focusing on fossil subsidies too narrow? "Yes. The climate movement is embedded in a white, middle-class, Western, urban, bourgeois framework. I'm not saying that's all bad; it has pros and cons. But in the context of the mass murder project we're in, it's dysfunctional. It doesn't work because the climate problem is not a technical problem caused by an unfortunate set of circumstances. That's a neoliberal pretence – that's how it was sold to us in the '90s, and that's how the system still wants us to see it. What's really going on is that a billion people will die. A rational debate won't lead to a solution. To prevent it, a massive revolution is needed, culturally, socially, and economically. Nothing will change without large-scale civil resistance. The paradigm must shift, even within the climate movement itself." Has the climate movement failed? "Yes. Firstly, because there's too little at stake during actions. You have to sit in the city center on the road until you're arrested, and the next day you come back. You don't stop. Secondly, communication needs to change: focused on emotions. It's a Western misconception that you can convince people with arguments. You have to appeal to their values, to what's important to them, their history, traditions. You have to make them feel that our governments are inflicting violence on us. The analogy from my friend Adam McKay, director of 'Don't Look Up,' was that of a meteorite coming to Earth. A good analogy, I think. People see it but do nothing. While everyone understands, watching that movie, that it's crazy and criminal not to do anything." You're not talking about the climate problem, but a 'mass murder project by the elites.' Can you explain that? "The climate is only the mechanism that creates death. We also don't talk about the concentration camp problem; we talk about National Socialism, about the Nazis. We don't talk about the lynching problem, but about racists. So we shouldn't talk about the climate problem, but about the elites who want the lives of millions of people destroyed so they can maintain their power." ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2024/01/roger-for-de-volkskrant-2.jpg) Why do you use the word 'want'? The intention is not to kill millions of people. 'It is indeed not about premeditated murder, no one is saying: I don't like those people in the global south, so they must die. What is happening is that the elites, and by that, I mean governments and big companies, say: we know that millions of people will die, and yet we consider our profit and power more important. We simply don't care. If you go to someone in the Sahel to explain that it's not about him personally, but that he will die so that you can retain your power, do you think he will understand? I don't think so. The incredible scale, the numbers involved, makes this crime incomprehensible.' Why does it seem to be difficult to appeal to people's emotions when it comes to the climate problem? 'Most climate activists come from the middle class and are not used to shouting. They think they can solve everything by talking. While shouting is necessary. Suppose your teenage son refuses to help with the dishes. You say something about it, say it again, and he still doesn't do it. At some point, you have to change your strategy. You can, for example, become emotional, shout at him: what the fuck do you think you're doing? You're letting me down, I have to do everything alone! It doesn't always work, and you shouldn't overdo it, but sometimes it's a good strategy. Another strategy is to impose a punishment: if you don't help with the dishes, you're not going out tonight. I guarantee that works. On a societal level, it works the same way: the climate movement is the ineffective parent who keeps talking.' You also emphasise the importance of sacrifice. You say: we in the Western world have forgotten to give something of ourselves for the greater good. 'The course of the last decades in the Western world deviates extremely from the normal course of history. In the past, people were aware that, occasionally, they had to give their lives for a collective goal, be it their tribe, their ideology, their country, or whatever. We are now in a long period of intense prosperity and stability, a period that may be unique in human experience. As a result, people have forgotten what it takes to ensure the survival of a society when faced with an existential threat. In Western societies, people think, when it comes to the climate crisis, that they can bring about change without sacrifice. That shows a complete lack of historical awareness. It just doesn't work that way.' A quote from you is: 'For millennia, central to human societies has been the understanding that life is suffering. Through that suffering, you become whole, and wholeness is a deeper and more organic concept than something as superficial as happiness.' 'In our culture, we suffer under a simplistic idea of well-being, it's like accounting, there are costs and benefits. That may be useful if you run a store, but when it comes to human psychology, it's total nonsense. You can also become happy by sacrificing something. When people are arrested for something they do out of ideology, and they enter a cell for the first time, they feel peaceful because they stand for what they believe in. If you don't do what you believe in, you are always under some degree of psychological tension.' [Donate To Help Roger Get On With The Job](https://rogerhallam.com/#/portal/signup/) Did you feel peaceful when you entered a cell for the first time? 'I don't remember, honestly. But I am certainly an example of someone with little fear and a high degree of willingness to sacrifice. I am embedded in the Christian tradition; I have read Kierkegaard and Nietzsche. I understand that the purpose of life is not happiness. The purpose of life is to lead a meaningful life, and that means sacrificing yourself for the common good. Whether I am happy about it or not doesn't matter.' Are you never afraid? 'I am not afraid of my own fear. Naturally, I am quite fearful. I don't like conflict and I’m shy. Of course, I still feel fear, although I must say that, after a few years of civil resistance, I have become calmer. The first time in a cell, you are afraid, the second time less, and by the fifth time, you think: a day off. You know the ropes. Although I must say that when I was in pretrial detention for four months at the end of last year, I found it terrible. Objectively, it was terrible. At the same time, it was a privilege to spend time in a humble way with people deprived of their freedom by society, to see their spiritual resilience. I don't romanticise it - you can have great spiritual resilience and still be willing to kill someone. That's one of the ambiguities of the human condition.' You often accuse British journalists of being part of the problem because they 'intellectualise' the climate crisis. What should journalists do? 'Get arrested, like everyone else. I'm not provoking; I'm serious. In our culture, we are what we do: our work. That idea is naive and absurd; we all know that what we really are is something else. A mother, daughter, son, father, lover, partner. And, even deeper, a human being, with a sense of existential responsibility. I'm not saying that your daytime activities don't matter, but in a human life, that's the most superficial element. Of course, you need journalists, doctors, photographers, politicians, activists; everyone has their role. That's fine if it's 1995\. But it's 2023, and the reality is: we're all gonna die. Those specialties don't matter anymore; it's all hands on deck now.' Everyone should ask themselves: why am I not in prison? 'Exactly! And that doesn't mean you have to spend all your time in prison. Suppose you participate in civil disobedience once a year, to the point where you have to go to jail. The rest of the time, you can still be a journalist, and if you get fired, you'll find an alternative way to be useful. Only if politicians, lawyers, journalists, doctors, farmers, and priests commit to the climate movement can the movement succeed. But those people are too privileged and too dumb to commit to it.' And afraid, perhaps? 'They are afraid, yes. But they need to be challenged. When I see these people at my lectures, I say: you have the most to lose if our society collapses due to the climate crisis. Working-class people already have a worthless life. Most of your readers are probably well-educated, employed people. I want to tell them: the choice is not a choice between your current safety and prosperity and the frightening prospect of civil disobedience. The options are: join civil disobedience or passively watch as liberal democracy collapses in the next twenty years.' They will dismiss it. It will all be fine. 'That's like telling the doctor: you say I have cancer and need chemotherapy, but I don't believe it, so I'll just go on with my life. We are now exceeding 2 degrees of warming, and that means a billion people will die.' You consider it 'essential' to draw comparisons between the climate crisis and the Holocaust. Why? 'I don't think we have another choice. When I said that the Holocaust was 'just another fuckery' in human history, I didn't say that to trivialise the Holocaust; it is a terrible, terrible fuckery, and the world is full of other fuckeries. I think people know that it's true, if they are honest with themselves. A culture faced with an existential threat cannot survive without a moral framework. And the moral culture in Europe is rooted in the Holocaust. So when I make that comparison, I do it to emotionally involve people in what is happening now.' Doesn't that comparison lead people to say: I won't listen to you anymore? 'That can happen. Because people feel uncomfortable with the idea that something similar is happening now. But making the comparison is the task of the moral actor in a society, it is the task of the prophet, of the radical. It is necessary to use the immorality of the recent past to expose the immorality of the present. People died back then to fight fascists. Why don't you go out to stop the fascism coming our way due to climate change?' Going from the climate crisis to future fascism might be a logical step for you, but don't you think you lose a large part of the audience? 'What you're doing now is over-intellectualizing. Politics is about rhetoric, about stories. The collapse of society due to the climate crisis is an objective reality, not my opinion. If you don't put oil in your car and you drive onto the highway, you know your engine will blow up. You don't know exactly when, but you know it will happen. We live in a global society with enormous interconnectedness. If certain elements collapse, it will have consequences for the entire system, as you saw in the COVID-19 pandemic. If the climate deteriorates, we can grow less food, so people will suffer from hunger. There will be mass migration, wars will arise. If there are 200 million refugees in the world, as predicted, it will lead to the collapse of the world economy.' When you talk about the collapse of society, civil wars, and hunger, do you get the emotional reaction you're looking for? 'No. I am often asked to prove that society is really going to collapse, which is naturally impossible. Asking that question, to me, means that someone is stuck in an intellectual approach, that they don't let it sink in. What works better is to appeal to their guilt: you contribute to this if you do nothing, and your children will suffer. Guilt and shame are powerful motivators. Your rights and ideals are violated, those of your children, those of your parents, those of people in the global south, those of the coming thousand generations. I keep saying it, and many people will read this piece and think: it's not going to work. This still won't activate people. Throughout human history, most people are never activated, right? Only 1 percent of the French population was involved in the French Revolution. There were 1 million people in Tahrir Square, 90 million people were watching soap operas. Do you understand what I mean?' Does the climate movement need a new charismatic leader? 'Yes. Good strategic, moral, emotional, and charismatic leadership is crucial for success. That leader, or leaders, must be willing to go to jail. Greta Thunberg must be willing to go to jail. Then, when she comes out, she must say: it was fine, now the rest of you must go to jail. A day on the streets with 100,000 people is pointless. Making statements to the UN is pointless. Those days are over. The movement needs prophetic leadership. Not just Greta-like leadership. Someone who is just like me, or even better.' What is the difference between a prophetic leader and Greta Thunberg? 'A prophetic leader gets upset, a prophetic leader gives emotional speeches, will cry, will shout, will make people feel guilty, will shame people, will become emotional. It is a person of the people, not an intellectual. Someone who speaks the truth. It must be someone willing to suffer and die for the cause.' --- ### Global Q&A and Leadership Zoom - Feb 18th During 2023 I have recorded over 40 episodes of the [Designing the Revolution Podcast](https://rogerhallam.com/podcast/) and it is finally coming a close. I thought it would be good to have a live session so that people who have listened to podcast, and those who want to find out more, can come to this international zoom session. The situation is that we all know (deep down!) the present political regimes are not going to last now that climate breakdown is locked in. So given that revolutions are inevitable how do we design social transformations that are pro-social and save what is left to save? That is the key question I address in this session. [Become a Leader. Join the Zoom.](https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIpde6trjItHdOtw%5FvY-44YLKtz6J5PjBgt?ref=rogerhallam.com#/registration) --- Sign up for nonviolent civil resistance with [Just Stop Oil](https://juststopoil.org/?ref=rogerhallam.com) in the UK or via the [A22 Network](https://a22network.org/en/?ref=rogerhallam.com) internationally. Alternatively, you can now join for my new project called [Humanity](https://forms.gle/MkXJ1eQQn9rEFuuu9?ref=rogerhallam.com) which is aiming to build the new world ahead based on deliberative democracy. --- ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is Fucked Help me to get on with the job of sorting it out. [Donate](https://rogerhallam.com/#/portal/signup/6517fbb3b89c5400016e9f27/yearly) ### 🧑‍⚖️ Hope Against Hope: Recruiting Conservatives URL: https://rogerhallam.com/hope-against-hope/ Last updated: 2024-01-10T16:26:00.000Z *(This article was recently rejected for publication by Unherd, a social conservative media group focused on preserving traditional values of culture and power. It is dedicated to Chris Skidmore, who resigned this week in protest against new oil and gas licences, making him the only true conservative in the House of Commons).* The second most depressing moment in recent years was receiving an interview invitation from a journalist at Unherd (1). He merrily said to me before the recorded conversation, “let’s not talk about science”. Which is like talking about Attila the Hun without mentioning the killing. The fact that a supposedly serious conservative political media organisation has no interest in “what is actually going on” sums up the mess of our times. In many ways the interview went well as it opened a few doors. Firstly, I surprised them by suggesting the end of civilization might actually upset conservatives. Secondly, it led to a few nice chats with a Tory MP and a bigger chat with a bunch of conservatives at the Houses of Parliament. Predictably, when I mentioned that the bullet of deadly carbon emissions had already left the gun but not yet entered the head, I was told that being negative was bad for getting votes. The Tory MP told me afterwards I was the only true conservative in the room, and for a moment I thought I might have finally found the Churchill of my dreams. But as soon as things heated up, he ignored me. He cut himself off when Insulate Britain blocked the M25 for the ‘revolutionary’ demand of better housing insulation. He has since refused to answer my occasional emails along the lines of - “Hi, remember me? The science doesn’t go away just because you are playing hard to get” (2). ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/roger-boat-banner-1.png) ## Join me In the Revolution of our lives Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No nonsense. Change your mind anytime. I’ve just been found guilty of Conspiracy to Cause a Public Nuisance (doesn’t the English ruling class always have a pleasing way with words?) by a hung jury for flying toy drones at head height. By breaking the airport’s drone safety procedure we aimed to stop arguably the biggest crime in UK history - the building of the third runway. The conservatives in the room - the judge and the prosecutor, both of a certain age and a certain class - displayed an inability to think which arguably surpasses the banal evil of Adolf Eichmann. The objectivity of mass death was reduced to “your passionate views” and the tool of the mass death is described as “those wicked carbon emissions”. I was subjected to six hours of interrogatory nonsense around my intentions, while the judge did the classic bystander routine. The jury stared into space in bemused boredom. They listened to those representing our failing politicians, the prosecution lawyers, trying to convince them that flying a toy drone below head height and a bit of enthusiastic messaging constitutes a jailable offence. Meanwhile, the crime of destroying British society through the biggest carbon infrastructure in Europe cannot be spoken of. It made 1984 look like kids’ play. From on high we were all informed that “defence of necessity” is “not permitted”. Can you imagine that being said to the French resistance? I don’t know why I am writing this other than to hopelessly fail to express my utter horror and despair. It is not possible to convey the intensity of feeling signified by those two words, “not permitted”. For some reason I am comforting myself by listening to Mike Duncan’s History of Rome podcast in the evenings. It’s all happened before of course - you start off with semi decent Augustus, pass onto a paranoid Tiberius, and end up with the cesspit of Caligula. And so it was and ever will be, as social conservatives should know. Except this time round the pit is bottomless, the suffering infinite, the end final. Maybe writing this is like the man on an island, half-starved, who lights a last fire to try to attract a passing ship. It’s pathetic, I know, but something in my soul holds onto the idea there is a real social conservative out there who is not totally morally and spiritually dead. Hope against hope. --- **Notes:** 1\. The most depressing moment was meeting Katharine Viner - editor of The Guardian. Less said about that the better. 2\. > Climate science in two sentences. > > A) We are heading over 2C in the next 15 years which will create around 1 billion refugees, the end of the world economy, and a lot of resultant secondary horrors. > > B) That is just the beginning. > > — Roger Hallam (@RogerHallamCS21) [January 7, 2024](https://twitter.com/RogerHallamCS21/status/1744005353128276104?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=rogerhallam.com) --- ### Global Online Q&A and Leadership Zoom - Jan 14th During 2023 I have recorded over 40 episodes of the [Designing the Revolution podcast](https://rogerhallam.com/podcast/) and it is finally coming a close. I thought it would be good to have a live session so that people who have listened to podcast, and those who want to find out more, can come to this [international zoom session](https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwsceqtqD8iH9Oo3rpecqv0d3y2lTYBTKpd?ref=rogerhallam.com). The situation is that we all know (deep down!) the present political regimes are not going to last now that climate breakdown is locked in. So given that revolutions are inevitable how do we design social transformations that are pro-social and save what is left to save? That is the key question I address in this session. [Sign up for the event](https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwsceqtqD8iH9Oo3rpecqv0d3y2lTYBTKpd?ref=rogerhallam.com) --- Sign up for nonviolent civil resistance with [Just Stop Oil](https://juststopoil.org/?ref=rogerhallam.com) in the UK or via the [A22 Network](https://a22network.org/en/?ref=rogerhallam.com) internationally. Alternatively, you can now join for my new project called [Humanity](https://forms.gle/MkXJ1eQQn9rEFuuu9?ref=rogerhallam.com) which is aiming to build the new world ahead based on deliberative democracy. --- ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get on with the job of sorting it out. [Support](https://rogerhallam.com/#/portal/signup/6517fbb3b89c5400016e9f27/yearly) ### ⚖️ Balance: Building the Next Civilisation in 2024 URL: https://rogerhallam.com/balance/ Last updated: 2024-01-01T16:34:56.000Z I've been thinking a lot in 2023 about fundamental strategic matters - more than at any time since the beginning of Extinction Rebellion. My work was mainly focused on refining and enhancing an established civil resistance model of “how to cause trouble effectively”. The basic frame was - “Look, let’s work together to create a massive nonviolent disruption and push the state into making big reductions in carbon emissions''. We were pushing up against a boulder called ‘the carbon regime’. Now, like Sisyphus, I see that we were doomed to watch it roll back in our faces. In 2024, I’m working on a profoundly different framing: it goes something like: “Look, the carbon regime has totally fucked up so the climate crisis is now locked in. We don’t need to create massive social disruption because it’s going to happen anyway! The regime will collapse under the weight of its own contradictions. So, what next? We need to build the next civilization and stop fascism from taking us to a terminal hell”. Bit long but you get the idea. That’s the job, like it or not. You might want to stay doing your little thing in the world but greatness is about to be thrust upon you. As Trotsky said, you might not be interested in war but war is interested in you. Some have the privilege to ignore this reality, at least for the moment, but in 2023 the signs were all around us. The situation in Gaza shines a light on the complete moral idiocy of the old paradigm of violence and retribution. It is overwhelmingly obvious that what comes next cannot be more of that! Similarly, the latest COP makes 1984 look like kids’ play. ‘Let’s destroy billions of lives, but dress it all up as having a nice sensible discussion.’ Lastly, I recently sat through an absurd [four week “climate” trial](https://realmedia.press/heathrow-pause-verdict/?ref=rogerhallam.com) where the judiciary were simply unable to confront the enormity of what we face. Humanity’s destruction through carbon emissions was totally off the cards. So much for “intelligence”. But we know all this. The point is, what’s next? For me, the new central concept is “balance” - which sounds moderate, hence why it has wide appeal. In the present context, in which everything is so imbalanced and getting exponentially worse, the notion of balance becomes a necessarily and paradoxically revolutionary idea. A balanced revolution, as theorised by Edmund Burke and Thomas Paine, is actually against “revolution” - in the sense that it’s against the uprooting of human connection by psychotic utopian projects, whether they be communist, fascist or now “neo-liberal”. [Listen to Designing The Revolution Podcast](https://rogerhallam.com/podcast/) Over the year, I’ll outline different aspects of a balanced revolution as I get more ideas about “how to do it” from working on practical designs (e.g. how to hold a public assembly, how to door knock, how to stand in elections, how to create functional ethical control systems). As always with what I do, it is all about turning theory into practice and practice into theory. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/roger-boat-banner-1.png) ## Join me In the Revolution of our lives Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No nonsense. Change your mind anytime. The mission is to empower people to see the big picture - one that transcends the traditional categories of politics, economics, social connection, and spirituality in favour of a new fusion of confrontation and dialogue. At this time of total crisis, new social formations need an overarching and uncompromising ideology. What we create over the next decade has to be a credible national and international entity - think early Christian church but without the crappy bits - that can give us a real shot at survival. A big part of the project is to bring on the leadership of the younger generation so they, in turn, can take their generation through the coming turmoil with a degree of intelligence and grace. --- If you’re interested in leadership and support, sign up for my upcoming online talk where I’ll lay out the plan ahead and you can ask me about where we go from here. Together, we need to lead humanity out of this mess. [Sign up for Jan 14th Leadership & Q&A Zoom](https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwsceqtqD8iH9Oo3rpecqv0d3y2lTYBTKpd?ref=rogerhallam.com) --- It may be “too late” of course - in which case, so be it. But it may not, and my intuition, for what it is worth, is “we ain’t seen nothing yet” - both in a negative and a positive sense. Many of us don’t want to go gently into that extinct night. The collapse of society means that revolution is now inevitable - transformation is coming and it’s up to us to guide it. That is the light bulb realisation: that light comes out of the dark. I wish you all a bright New Year. Whatever it may bring. --- If you'd like to listen to this blog post, you can now get a bonus narration by my friend [Robin](https://robinboardman.com/?ref=rogerhallam.com) on Youtube and [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/episode/4oLKHscMwZnVlTTZtAFEWN?ref=rogerhallam.com). Please share with those who prefering listening or watching. --- Sign up for nonviolent civil resistance with [Just Stop Oil](https://juststopoil.org/?ref=rogerhallam.com) in the UK or via the [A22 Network](https://a22network.org/en/?ref=rogerhallam.com) internationally. Alternatively, you can now join for my new project called [Humanity](https://forms.gle/MkXJ1eQQn9rEFuuu9?ref=rogerhallam.com) which is aiming to build the new world ahead based on deliberative democracy. --- ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get on with the job of sorting it out. [Support](https://rogerhallam.com/#/portal/signup/6517fbb3b89c5400016e9f27/yearly) ### 🙊 When Will Experts Start Saying “Mass Murder”? - Existential Crisis Realities November URL: https://rogerhallam.com/existential-crisis-realities-november/ Last updated: 2023-12-14T12:53:12.000Z As the catalogue of impending disasters increases, journalists and experts are still refusing to call a spade a spade. November was another euphemistic month of ‘Catastrophe’ and ‘Warnings’ that were emotionally detached from the reality at hand - the mass murder of humanity. How else can we describe the elite’s continual endeavour to put carbon in the atmosphere, knowing it will wipe out life on this planet? This monthly science briefing lays out the latest scientific evidence alongside the media's coverage of it, followed by my critiques. The aim is to update you on the science whilst also cutting through the liberal media's repressed distortions of the truth. --- ### **Daily Temperatures Breached +2.0°C For The First Time** > Using different data, two of my colleagues[@LeonSimons8](https://twitter.com/LeonSimons8?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=rogerhallam.com) [@EliotJacobson](https://twitter.com/EliotJacobson?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=rogerhallam.com) just broke the news that we have just breached + 2.0 C degrees. (CAVEAT: Breached once doesn’t mean it’s an average warming temperature.) But it appears life on Earth is under siege. [https://t.co/pErHRnGohH](https://t.co/pErHRnGohH?ref=rogerhallam.com) [pic.twitter.com/8eUTapwQTZ](https://t.co/8eUTapwQTZ?ref=rogerhallam.com) > > — Dr. William J. Ripple (@WilliamJRipple) [November 20, 2023](https://twitter.com/WilliamJRipple/status/1726419480547656016?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=rogerhallam.com) So, we passed 2C. But it's okay, it was only for a few days. Back to work everyone. We're not going to get killed by the elites just yet. > This from Prof. Hansen - “The magnitude of the observed warming is off the scale” “within a decade or so it will probably be 2 degrees” Remember, 1 billion will face potentially lethal heat stress if global warming reaches 2C above pre-industrial levels. Thanks to [@PaulHBeckwith](https://twitter.com/PaulHBeckwith?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=rogerhallam.com) [pic.twitter.com/y9EjzOSPhs](https://t.co/y9EjzOSPhs?ref=rogerhallam.com) > > — Peter Dynes (@PGDynes) [November 26, 2023](https://twitter.com/PGDynes/status/1728917306242376189?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=rogerhallam.com) In just a few lines this sums up our situation. We’re heading towards billions of deaths. Hansen’s colleague, researcher Leon Simons, added “All this extreme ocean surface heat is about to turn into a year of shocking extreme atmospheric temperatures and even more extreme weather. We might be getting a first taste of the Termination Shock from terminating part of our [cooling sulphur pollution](https://robinboardman.com/a-world-in-flux-ep-2-unravelling-the-enigma-of-aerosol-masking/?ref=rogerhallam.com), while still increasing greenhouse gases.” “The data suggests an alarming trend where temperatures continued to soar after previous Super El Niños, indicating an impending crisis. As you can see in the updated Climate Spiral, the climate seems to be spiralling out of control and sending us over 2C.” **Note**: We passed "Daily Temperatures" of +2C. The Climate Spiral shows "Monthly Temperatures" which are yet to exceed 2C. We generally talk about climate in terms of "Annual Temperatures" but these other figures give us the latest, up-to-date picture of where those annual temperatures are heading. ![](https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/cqxAh4Np-Mhnr-_QGFSljnWM1i-EQcZR3m-z4T0cufjfDOqjXLx6A4OO0zNWpX70-fnfStQ_7NRZV2ZS6jF4EGyfzeIg-_dSfwwOMkjgpuWyCrJtRCWuEeQBcNYFkXTXhcYjXYbPIOVUQBS0zQE5zfEYnvQkkSs2j0hmo9n9UaVBxSX4dJkURkts19e6Lg) [Q&A: Warming of 2C would trigger ‘catastrophic’ loss of world’s ice, new report says - Carbon BriefGlobal warming of 2C would see “extensive, long-term \[and\] essentially irreversible” losses from the Earth’s ice sheets and glaciers, warns a new report.![](https://www.carbonbrief.org/wp-content/themes/carbonbrief/favicon.ico)Carbon BriefCarbon Brief Staff![](https://www.carbonbrief.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/2RMJR4X.jpg)](https://www.carbonbrief.org/qa-warming-of-2c-would-trigger-catastrophic-loss-of-worlds-ice-new-report-says/?ref=rogerhallam.com) > Carbon Brief's [new report](https://carbonbrief.org/qa-warming-of-2c-would-trigger-catastrophic-loss-of-worlds-ice-new-report-says/?ref=rogerhallam.com) shows that a 2C world would also lead to polar oceans that are “ice-free” in summer and suffering “essentially permanent corrosive ocean acidification”. The trend signals an imminent rise in global sea level “between 12 and 20 metres” of sea level rise “if 2C becomes the new constant". This report shows the central contradiction in how the science community communicates "the facts". On the one hand it says if we get to 2C the situation will be "catastrophic" - implying ... oh, okay, so that's the deal then. And then elsewhere it says that 2C will lock in "additional warming" from permafrost melts and other feedback loops. ... So there is no such thing as "2C". There is stopping at about 1.5C (if we are lucky) or speed up to 3, 4, 5C plus - whatever - meaning billions of people starve to death. You can read the full “State of Cryosphere” report, *Two Degrees is Too High,* [here](https://iccinet.org/statecryo23/?ref=rogerhallam.com#:~:text=The%20State%20of%20the%20Cryosphere,people%2C%20societies%2C%20and%20nature). --- [‘Hell de Janeiro’: scorching heat highlights Brazil’s glaring inequalityIt felt like 58.5C in Rio on Tuesday – and the soaring, indeed dangerous, temperatures are hitting the poorest hardest![](https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/icons/homescreen/apple-touch-icon-512.png)The GuardianConstance Malleret![](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/d59148bf90a093bc6667b0bdde10ff516d1be521/0_263_3400_2040/master/3400.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctZGVmYXVsdC5wbmc&enable=upscale&s=77e207621705147608304af8c66355c1)](https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2023/nov/19/brazil-temperatures-extreme-heat-danger-climate-change-inequality?ref=rogerhallam.com) "Scorching heat highlights Brazil's inequality"... I would have thought it highlights the extreme sadism of global north elites and their indifferent publics that created the heat in the first place. Though highlighting the "glaring inequality" makes The Guardian readers feel virtuous in the "left" analysis, as a displacement for their glaring willingness to be bystanders. > During the heatwave they also reported on the "Death of a fan at a Taylor Swift concert on Saturday night in Rio de Janeiro, at which thousands of other concertgoers reportedly had to be treated for dehydration." For the mathematically inclined, the question is how many more degrees should it need to reach before 1000s die and millions have to be treated for dehydration? It's a curve, remember. > So, unless a whole heap of scientific data from NASA satellites and ocean sensors is wrong, we are in for escalating troubles with Earth's climate in the very near future. We have to go on a war footing against this immense threat. > > — Prof Nick Cowern (@NickCowern) [November 9, 2023](https://twitter.com/NickCowern/status/1722549427791966269?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=rogerhallam.com) Prof Nick Cowern says "We have to go on a war footing" [NOAA report says declining snowpack means worldwide food disruptions - UPI.comHuman-caused climate change resulting in higher average temperatures has caused a global decline in snowfall, according to a new analysis from NOAA.![](https://www.upi.com/favico.png)UPIMark Moran![](https://cdnph.upi.com/sv/ph/og/upi/2371701037202/2023/1/b7c9007c8804738d3ea6b2246aabeb72/v1.5/NOAA-report-says-declining-snowpack-means-worldwide-food-disruptions.jpg)](https://www.upi.com/Top%5FNews/US/2023/11/26/NOAA-report-says-declining-snow-pack-means-worldwide-food-disruptions/2371701037202/?ref=rogerhallam.com) > "Human-caused climate change resulting in higher average temperatures has caused a global decline in snowfall, according to a new analysis from NOAA. > That means more precipitation is likely to fall as rain, causing **a disruption to food supplies and less water for billions of people**, [the report said](https://edition.cnn.com/2023/11/25/weather/snowfall-temperatures-climate-change-water/index.html?ref=rogerhallam.com)." > "Beyond less water and disruption to the global food supply, reduced snowfall means higher ground temperatures, too.” Note again the use of Billions. Billions of people will be “disrupted” from food and water supplies. What does that mean when billions of people can't access food and water? Oh yeah - they die. They are going to be killed by our elite and carbon infrastructure will be the murder weapon. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/roger-boat-banner-1.png) ## Join me In the Revolution of our lives Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No nonsense. Change your mind anytime. [UK forests face catastrophic ecosystem collapse within 50 years, study says‘Alarming’ new research warns of risk to British woodlands from disease, extreme weather and wildfires, unless ‘call to action’ is heeded now![](https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/icons/homescreen/apple-touch-icon-512.png)The GuardianPhoebe Weston![](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/80e50008ccf45ba2aefe9ce35d10536c03f44ef9/0_365_5472_3283/master/5472.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctZGVmYXVsdC5wbmc&enable=upscale&s=c68798eec49661f0a39fc44ff0895344)](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/nov/08/uk-forests-face-catastrophic-ecosystem-collapse-within-50-years-study-says-aoe?ref=rogerhallam.com) > “Warnings surfaced about the impending collapse of UK forests within the next 50 years due to multiple threats, including disease, extreme weather, and wildfires. This threat echoes the global peril facing natural habitats.” > “When you get all of those things happening at the same time as multiple, interrelated threats, that just overwhelms the forest, ...trees dying and the forest ecosystem collapsing …that has massive landscape impacts, and significant impacts for society.” Notice 2 things here: a) The scientists are smart enough to see that interrelated threats create non-linear effects and thus are described as "massive," but because their "remit" is just to assess the impact of this element of the whole system (ie trees) on society then they assume, linearly, using the word "significant". It’s complete irrationality.If impacts on trees are massive, causal agents which create massive impacts (i.e. mass of "climate change" elements - primary & secondary effects) will cause "massive," not just "significant" societal impacts. b) So what exactly are these massive "impacts"? (Note the neoliberal accounting word) Massive impacts on society are never explained because if the scientists did explain them, then they would probably lose their jobs because they are "speculating" (but really because they are upsetting people). So let's be clear, massive impacts means mass starvation and mass slaughter as the secondary effects of people killing each other to get food. A key reason we are going to hell is because the above 2 processes are systemised across the social communication system. Scientists are massively implicated in deception: in the process of duping us into passively allowing our children to be killed and the country destroyed. [Human-induced climate change compounded by socio-economic water stressors increased severity of drought in Syria, Iraq and Iran – World Weather Attribution![](https://www.worldweatherattribution.org/wp-content/uploads/wwa-favicon.png)World Weather Attribution Logo![](http://www.worldweatherattribution.org/wp-content/uploads/unnamed-1-1-300x169.png)](https://www.worldweatherattribution.org/human-induced-climate-change-compounded-by-socio-economic-water-stressors-increased-severity-of-drought-in-syria-iraq-and-iran/?ref=rogerhallam.com) > “New report highlights the increasingly frequent and severe droughts in Syria, Iraq, Iran, and other similar regions, emphasising the radical and dire shift in climate patterns” As my friend and IPCC researcher Peter Carter points out, it is “a situation we predicted long ago”. Watch our chat together. Subscribe to the Youtube for more. ![](https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/Dm1HcviEWscFag8fzRLXEImg22V0LkLtWODXnD3O5XtHeFUlE8oVTUi3pCcWO6R2QP6qrW6IMBrGpcxYqYoIsYpyS-9x4SNtYsUSy9gLu-WLjTzj7q9Wnab6Wuv5L6tcM1Vaon56NSDLQB_HT-9KgoGQfOUbU1WXVYrOq4AbGifgkAKSVcYygiF7dllqIg) [‘Paying in lives’: health of billions at risk from global heating, warns reportInaction on the climate crisis is ‘costing lives and livelihoods’ due to extreme heat, food insecurity and infectious diseases, say scientists![](https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/icons/homescreen/apple-touch-icon-512.png)The GuardianSarah Boseley![](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/2a0c95dd9043095727fccd5988a4b43b3e0ac903/0_0_4000_2400/master/4000.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctZGVmYXVsdC5wbmc&enable=upscale&s=cade7404fc3a44c73907ccf7ab942ac3)](https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2023/nov/14/paying-in-lives-health-of-billions-at-risk-from-global-heating-warns-report?ref=rogerhallam.com) The Lancet’s new report puts the word billions back in the public sphere. Maybe 2023 will be remembered as the year when the word "billion" enters the public sphere as the number of people who are going to be killed. When the liberal climate industry breaks down and people start to focus on just how serious is the situation. Paul Beckwith defending the use of billions. **Why Climate Scientists are saying Climate is an All Out Emergency -** [**Washington Post**](https://12ft.io/proxy?q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.washingtonpost.com%2Fclimate-environment%2F2023%2F10%2F30%2Fclimate-emergency-scientists-declaration%2F&ref=rogerhallam.com) (Paywall removed) > “The problem is not that scientists haven’t been communicating clearly enough ... We communicated pretty darn clearly." This is what denial looks like. Denial of social science. The 101 of social science is that words and information constitute only a small part of "communication". Most of it is about EMOTION and ACTION. If they want a real case study on effective communication, they should check out Larry Kramer on the aids crisis: "Get out in the streets otherwise you're gonna fucking die" Repeat that as if your loved one is about to be murdered. Then you'll be in the ballpark of communicating "pretty darn clearly". [Politicians who delay climate action must live with consequences, says WHO expertDelegates at Cop are ‘negotiating with our health’, says Maria Neira, the doctor in charge of environmental health at WHO![](https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/icons/homescreen/apple-touch-icon-512.png)The GuardianAjit Niranjan![](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/851e67ac88575386e1c4f53577b098155a98adeb/0_340_5100_3062/master/5100.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctZGVmYXVsdC5wbmc&enable=upscale&s=2bbc503e7fbf2956a6169f1729c56e0a)](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/nov/04/politicians-who-delay-climate-action-must-live-with-consequences-says-who-expert?ref=rogerhallam.com) In yet another repressed article, an interviewed expert says "I don’t want to say killing". That means she does want to say "killing" but there's the career to think about, right? If she says killing she loses her job. There’s a systemic level of gagging on climate experts that forces them to lie. We need to create a social science of the "climate science" - an examination of the social construction between the brutal facts of the earth system and the pathological mass suicide project of the social system. First up - research the exponential increase in the words "kill" and "billion" in the near term future. [Ocean warming is accelerating, and hotspots reveal which areas are absorbing the most heatA new study reveals increasing warming rates in the world’s oceans in recent decades and the locations with the greatest heat uptake.![](https://newsroom.unsw.edu.au/profiles/newsroom/themes/custom/carto/favicon.ico)UNSW NewsroomUNSW Media![](https://newsroom.unsw.edu.au/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/icebergs_in_antarctica.jpg)](https://newsroom.unsw.edu.au/news/science-tech/ocean-warming-accelerating-and-hotspots-reveal-which-areas-are-absorbing-most-heat?ref=rogerhallam.com) > “Ocean warming has accelerated dramatically since the 1990s, nearly doubling during 2010–2020 relative to 1990–2000, according to new UNSW Sydney-led research. > The study, published this week in [*Nature Communications*](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-42468-z?ref=rogerhallam.com)*,* also shows some areas of the ocean are doing more of the work in heat uptake or absorption, which has implications for our understanding of sea-level rise and climate impacts. > “The world ocean, in 2023, is now the hottest ever recorded, and sea levels are rising because heat causes water to expand and ice to melt,” says Prof. England. “Ecosystems are also experiencing unprecedented heat stress, and the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events are changing rapidly, and the costs are enormous.” **Quote of the Week** > "If we carry on the way we are going, I can't see this civilization lasting the end of this century - no chance in my view - on the current trajectory" Professor Tim Lenton, FGS FLS FRSB, leading climate tipping point expert. --- Only expression can beat repression. Only our screams and shouts of what a fucking crisis we’re in can drown out the pathetic whimpers of the liberal class. Don’t just read this. Cry about it. Scream about it. And then act on it. Civil disobedience will cut through the lies and expose the injustice surrounding us. Citizen’s Assemblies will bring us back together to salvage our humanity. Sign up for nonviolent civil resistance with [Just Stop Oil](https://juststopoil.org/?ref=rogerhallam.com) in the UK or via the [A22 Network](https://a22network.org/en/?ref=rogerhallam.com) internationally. Alternatively, you can now sign up for my new Citizen's Assembly project called [Humanity](https://forms.gle/MkXJ1eQQn9rEFuuu9?ref=rogerhallam.com). [Get Involved In Resistance](https://juststopoil.org/get-involved/?ref=rogerhallam.com) --- ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get on with the job of sorting it out. [Support](https://rogerhallam.com/#/portal/signup/6517fbb3b89c5400016e9f27/yearly) ### 💀COP28  - Run by Fascists. Legitimised by Liberals. URL: https://rogerhallam.com/cop28-run-by-fascists-legitimated-by-liberals-2/ Last updated: 2023-12-06T09:15:16.000Z Let me make a well considered statement: **The COP process is dedicated to facilitating the greatest holocaust in human history.** Any organisation that participates in this process in 2023 is guilty of complicity in that holocaust - the world on fire for ever more. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/12/26-cops.png) Look where 27 COPS have got us. We're at record high emissions and the current COP president says there's[ 'no science](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/dec/03/back-into-caves-cop28-president-dismisses-phase-out-of-fossil-fuels?ref=rogerhallam.com)' behind phasing-out fossil fuels. It's a joke. A mockery of humanity. If it's a mockery then why continue to go to COP? You just make a mockery of yourself. Would you have gone to a peace conference with Hitler in 1939? It's a 2020s version Soviet show trials - anyone who engages with it is a "useful idiot" for the greatest genocide project in world history. Even [Greenpeace has voiced qualified support](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/ng-interactive/2023/nov/29/cop28-what-could-climate-conference-achieve?ref=rogerhallam.com) for COP as "not only a historical opportunity but also a stage to demonstrate the UAE's diplomatic power” Meanwhile so called "campaigners" are criticising Rishi Sunak, the King and David Cameron for [taking separate private jets](https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/news/king-charles-sunak-cameron-cop28-private-jets-b2456050.html?ref=rogerhallam.com) to get there. If they took the train to the mass murder conference would that be okay? Winning "winnable" demands at this stage is just another variation of the global suicide project. Only with a strategy of resistance to change everything will we have any chance to save anything. ***IT'S TOTAL FUCKING BULLSHIT.*** How can anyone with a semblance of realism or morality financially support an organisation that gives credibility to a conference that facilitates the greatest holocaust in world history - or what the fuck do they think 1 billion refugees means? It's time to drop the corporate frame "climate", the murder weapon, and instead focus on the murderer - the elites. Either we collapse into fascism and extinction or we create a progressive revolution. To be clear - three things are needed if we are to avoid collapse into effective extinction. \* The total decarbonisation of societies \* Massive investment and roll out of earth repairing/geo-engineering technologies \* A wholesale political revolution which puts the common interest before corporate interest The first two will not happen without the third. The only way to force social changes at scale in the small timescale we have is through Civil Resistance. --- More on this from Sir Jonathon Porritt in a blog post this week for Just Stop Oil. [So what’s your theory of change? COP 28 or Just Stop Oil? – Just Stop OilBy Jonathon Porritt The waves of phoney positivity emanating from CoP28 in Dubai are making me feel sick. “Look at our shiny new Loss and Damage Fund”. “Marvel at the new Emirates Declaration on Sustainable Agriculture”. “Get your heads around new heights of rhetoric about the importance of addressing the methane challenge”. I hate to![](https://juststopoil.org/wp-content/uploads/cropped-Favicon-270x270.png)Just Stop Oil – No More Oil and Gas![](https://juststopoil.org/wp-content/uploads/JPorr.jpg)](https://juststopoil.org/2023/12/05/so-whats-your-theory-of-change-cop-28-or-just-stop-oil/?ref=rogerhallam.com) Want to know what to do instead of going to COP? Check out this post I wrote after COP27\. [What is it about the climate movement that it can’t come?When is someone going to totally lose it? “The eternal body of the person is the imagination.” -W Blake A while ago, I travelled to Glasgow to speak at COP. I knew what I was going to do. I listened to Pink Floyd’s Echoes at Pompeii 10 times on![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/size/w256h256/2023/10/roger-square-icon.png)Roger HallamRoger Hallam![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/09/prince.png)](https://rogerhallam.com/what-is-it-about-the-climate-movement-that-it-cant-come/) --- ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/roger-boat-banner-1.png) ## Join me In the Revolution of our lives Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No nonsense. Change your mind anytime. ### **In Other News:** [Why the world’s first flight powered entirely by sustainable aviation fuel is a green mirageA flight powered by sustainable aviation fuel is making a trip across the Atlantic. But is it really a greener way to fly?![](https://cdn.theconversation.com/static/tc/@theconversation/ui/dist/esm/logos/web-app-logo-192x192-2d05bdd6de6328146de80245d4685946.png)The ConversationGareth Dale![](https://images.theconversation.com/files/561822/original/file-20231127-21-kn1l9m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=7%2C38%2C5065%2C2528&q=45&auto=format&w=1356&h=668&fit=crop)](https://theconversation.com/why-the-worlds-first-flight-powered-entirely-by-sustainable-aviation-fuel-is-a-green-mirage-218544?ref=rogerhallam.com) ***"The US collects around 600,000 tonnes of used cooking oil each year. If every last drop were diverted to SAFs, it would meet at most 1% of America’s current aviation demand."*** Reminds me of Hitler's game changer missiles in 1944-5 versus the might of the US and USSR. Before a regime collapses its levels of self deception go through the roof. [Too much gas for grass to handle, study showsNew research contradicts the ‘closed loop’ theory of grassland GHG sequestration wiping out the emissions of the livestock grazing it.![](https://www.farmersweekly.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/cropped-FW-Favicon_01-270x270.png)Farmers WeeklybyCharlie Williamson![](https://www.farmersweekly.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Louis-Schipper.jpg-e1701214256197.jpg)](https://t.co/TbpyuLWN73?ref=rogerhallam.com) You either stop eating meat to stop society from collapsing; or you stop eating meat because society has collapsed: either way your days of eating meat are coming to an end. [Revealed: Saudi Arabia’s grand plan to ‘hook’ poor countries on oilClimate scientists say fossil fuel use needs to fall rapidly – but oil-rich kingdom is working to drive up demand![](https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/icons/homescreen/apple-touch-icon-512.png)The GuardianDamian Carrington![](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/98e1e973936905b026826f111a81d6948390b24d/0_116_3500_2101/master/3500.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctZGVmYXVsdC5wbmc&enable=upscale&s=1f5f76be8bfc2b4f55ffa65324ef22eb)](https://theguardian.com/environment/2023/nov/27/revealed-saudi-arabia-plan-poor-countries-oil?ref=rogerhallam.com) I expect the thought has occurred to others, but isn't it strange that a country so rooted in religion can engage in activities that will destroy their families, their traditions, their country - and extinguish God's creation. Is there nothing more important than money and power? [Extreme weather could shut down one in 12 hospitals worldwide, report warnsTotal of 16,245 hospitals at high risk by end of century unless fossil fuels phased out, analysts say![](https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/icons/homescreen/apple-touch-icon-512.png)The GuardianHelena Horton![](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/8b42ae0a553d928109edebf472500046ffa638b3/209_210_4081_2449/master/4081.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdG8tZGVmYXVsdC5wbmc&enable=upscale&s=8db53fbeaa3bf4ffe9f87f0422fbe968)](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/dec/02/extreme-weather-could-shut-down-one-in-12-hospitals-worldwide-report-warns?ref=rogerhallam.com) The obsession with "climate" direct effects continues. Because secondary effects are more difficult to measure and produce 100x more dire outcomes. Like where will be the money coming from for the other 11 out of 12 hospitals once the world trading systems collapse, due to 100s of millions of refugees, due to extreme weather, due to elite madness. [Deadly climate-induced flooding displaces nearly 1.6 million people across the Horn of Africa - EthiopiaNews and Press Release in English on Ethiopia about Agriculture, Climate Change and Environment, Drought, Epidemic and more; published on 29 Nov 2023 by Action Against Hunger![](https://reliefweb.int/themes/custom/common_design_subtheme/favicon.ico)ReliefWeb![](https://reliefweb.int/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/images/reports/d2/f9/d2f94c71-8159-426c-a1f1-63445f9c7f3d.jpg)](https://reliefweb.int/report/ethiopia/deadly-climate-induced-flooding-displaces-nearly-16-million-people-across-horn-africa?ref=rogerhallam.com) This article is a classic example of how the reformist NGO space dampens, distracts from, and undermines the objective need for popular mobilisation for political revolt. 1\. *"Impacts"* \- the use of euphemism for mass rape, slaughter and starvation dampens the emotional horror of what it means for people to be murdered on a scale never known before in human history. 2\. *"The climate crisis"* \- the climate crisis is not caused by the climate crisis - "the climate crisis" are 3 words that distract from the cause of the murder of the poor - the cause is the actions of the rich. 3\. *"Help communities adapt to current challenges while preparing for an uncertain future" -* The most obscene self-serving bullshit. Giving people plasters as they are sent into "an uncertain future" i.e the gas chamber of an atmosphere, poisoned with such high levels of CO2 that it will kill a billion plus people. Of course they have to undermine the need for revolt because that is what NGOs employees are paid to do. In 2023 all this is beyond disgusting. ### I'm in Court There are two metaphysical crimes: to declare that something is nothing or that something is everything. The British judiciary claims that the criminal mass death project of the elites is "nothing" rather than "something" and so it cannot be compared with the disruption caused by resisters of the death project. And as such, there is no "right of necessity" in a UK court - the defence that engaging in a small disruption or crime is legal if it aims to prevent a far larger disruption or crime. Alternatively, it is assumed that resister disruption is "everything," because it is the only thing that can be spoken of in court and as such cannot be compared with the "something", the elites' criminal death project - and so again the "right of necessity" defence cannot be used. Of course, this is the height of self-serving political irrationality by the administrators of the pathological carbon regime - and the metaphysical crime will be seen as a real-life crime by the next generation who will not have the luxury of believing in such nonsense. --- Come along to visit me in court this week for the Heathrow Pause thing, flying drones at head height etc. It's the me-Larch-and-Valerie show. It's in Isleworth Crown Court and it's normally on from 10am-4pm. Want to know more about Heathrow Pause? Watch my free film, [The Troublemaker.](https://rogerhallam.com/film/) [Watch The Troublemaker](https://rogerhallam.com/film/) --- Sign up for nonviolent civil resistance with [Just Stop Oil](https://juststopoil.org/?ref=rogerhallam.com) in the UK or via the [A22 Network](https://a22network.org/en/?ref=rogerhallam.com) internationally. Alternatively, you can now sign up for my new Citizen's Assembly project called [Humanity](https://forms.gle/MkXJ1eQQn9rEFuuu9?ref=rogerhallam.com). --- ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get on with the job of sorting it out. [Support](https://rogerhallam.com/#/portal/signup/6517fbb3b89c5400016e9f27/yearly) ### 🗳️“Not Them” - On Winning The Next Elections URL: https://rogerhallam.com/not-them/ Last updated: 2023-12-02T08:00:10.000Z Looking on the bright side we now know the existing political arrangements are going to collapse. Each month the science brings more bad numbers. Last month the parts per million of CO2 increased by 5ppm in 12 months - only a few years ago we were looking at numbers saying it was 3ppm a year. The rate has doubled in a decade. In 6 years we will have 450ppm and 2C locked in. The usual response within exhausted “activist” communities is a cynical regression into passivity - “it’s all too late”. Nothing could be further from the truth. Ordinary people are not so easily given over to such “sophistication”. “So we are fucked” leads to - ”Okay so what’s the plan?” The plan is as our political regimes literally collapse under the weight of their own contractions - the resulting “social fluidity” will open up for the amazing potential for the biggest social transformation in the human story - not despite things being “so bad” but because they are “so bad”. Of course nothing is certain. Fascism will present its *burn baby burn* option to those drawn to nihilism, and of course it is possible it will in fact be “too late” and a revolution whether social or technological will still not save us But still - looking on the bright side… And there’s another thing. Aside from the high drama of the end of the world there is the low drama of the price of bread - and the price of everything else. And then there are the lies and more lies from “them”. It is a truism that things can be totally crap but people will only rise up if there is a vision and pathway to something a lot better. That vision and pathway does exist - running things ourselves through assemblies. Seeing is believing. When people sit around a table and go round one by one to moan about all the shit, people can't help but to cheer up. Of course that is just the starting point. You then have to have them go round on what needs to get done. And then they are ready. It takes about an hour for transformation to happen for most people most of the time. Forget social media - eye to eye trumps the screen just about every time. As I say, seeing is believing. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/12/bristol-pop.jpg) Launch of Humanity Project in Bristol - Spot Me? And then what. Well let’s just take one thing. 90% of the people in the UK don’t believe in the present constitutional arrangements. People are more pissed off with the political class than at any time in my lifetime - since the 1970s. So in the assemblies you say (it’s not a choice) we’re going to put up community candidates all over the country to stand in the national elections. There will be say 5 assemblies around a constituency - at which people will create their programme of what needs to change - and nominate candidates - ordinary people like them. Then those that agree to step forward go to a public hustings (a big party basically) and the candidate is chosen. Everyone goes away with 2 rules for the election campaign - keep it positive and do what the fuck you want (the model that won the Madrid mayorial election in 4 weeks in 2016). Everyone owns the process and so everyone gets involved. Loads of different posters and leaflets get produced and yes half of them are crap but that’s the whole point - it’s people power - people are doing their thing. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/roger-boat-banner-1.png) ## Join me In the Revolution of our lives Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No nonsense. Change your mind anytime. For those clever sceptics out there - yeah the candidates have to take an oath to follow the will of the assemblies and the assemblies need a central group that ensures they are inclusive and well run - only centralisation can ensure sustainable decentralisation. And then it goes wild because no one wants “them” anymore. And we are “not them”. As a friend said when this was a great success on a local scale - all people had to say on the doorstep was they were “not them” - that was it. I have helped to create a few successful things. And really it comes down to a stat. A XR public meeting got 20% of people to do civil disobedience. A Insulate Britain meeting got 1 person to go on the motorways. So here is the stat on this one - 80 hours of labour - leafleting, doorknocking, posters, stalls - gets 70 people into an assembly in the inner suburbs of a Western city. I expect 20% will step up to create more assemblies/support an election campaign. Wash and repeat. We did 1000 meetings for XR and 1000 more for Just Stop Oil. 1000 assemblies in an average sized western democracy and you are shaking a good dice on a revolution. There is something else you can be sure of is that 90% of the people reading this will go - “well yeah” and carry on. For the 10% that want to fight before we die then you can email me to say you want to do an assembly and get the details of what is happening in your country. I am in no doubt this is the next big thing. But hey what do I know. --- ### Humanity Project **We have faith in people**. We know that when ordinary people come together, we can make better decisions than politicians. So Humanity Project’s goal is to develop and provide the tools to help us all **build our own future and new democracy**. **To get involved, sign up for one of our in-person or online briefings** [**here**](https://forms.gle/MkXJ1eQQn9rEFuuu9?ref=rogerhallam.com)**.** [Sign up for Humanity](https://forms.gle/MkXJ1eQQn9rEFuuu9?ref=rogerhallam.com) For more information, feel free to contact [info@humanityproject.uk](mailto:info@humanityproject.uk) or check out our [information folder](https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1iGd3FjX%5F4KvGFY1S3Te9ltETg4kfHBju?usp=drive%5Flink&ref=rogerhallam.com). --- Sign up for nonviolent civil resistance with [Just Stop Oil](https://juststopoil.org/?ref=rogerhallam.com) in the UK or via the [A22 Network](https://a22network.org/en/?ref=rogerhallam.com) internationally. --- ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get on with the job of sorting it out. [Support](https://rogerhallam.com/#/portal/signup/6517fbb3b89c5400016e9f27/yearly) ### 🇳🇱 The Dutch Election Results URL: https://rogerhallam.com/the-dutch-election-results/ Last updated: 2023-11-25T08:00:20.000Z The neoliberal "Left" is giving birth to fascism because it refuses to break with the global capitalism regime. That regime has decimated the culture and incomes of workers over the past three decades and now is locking in social collapse by blocking massive carbon reductions. We will only be saved by a real Left which shouts out: "*We will tax the rich and they will pay for the carbon transition".* Citizens Assemblies will recreate the details of a new social contract. ## **In Other News:** > Those who break the law should feel the full force of it. > > It's entirely right that selfish protestors intent on causing misery to the hard-working majority face tough sentences. > > It's what the public expects and it's what we've delivered. [https://t.co/lHtxkqsgqM](https://t.co/lHtxkqsgqM?ref=rogerhallam.com) > > — Rishi Sunak (@RishiSunak) [November 21, 2023](https://twitter.com/RishiSunak/status/1726926403822813524?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=rogerhallam.com) ### **2035 Climate Trials: Sunak's Response to UN Criticism of 'severe' Just Stop Oil sentences** "Those who break the law should feel the full force of it. It's entirely right that The Carbon Elites, and their political administrators that have caused misery to the hard-working majority for the next 1000 generations, face tough sentences. It's what the public expects and it's what we've delivered." Those that live by the sword... ### We passed 2C. But it's okay it was only for a few days. Back to work everyone. We're not going to get killed by the elites just yet. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/11/2C-broken-1.png) ### [The climate emergency really is a new type of crisis – consider the ‘triple inequality’ at the heart of it](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/commentisfree/2023/nov/23/climate-emergency-crisis-conference-cop-28?ref=rogerhallam.com) This Guardian article epitomises the intellectual stupidity and moral depravity of the so called radical scholars embedded in the neo-liberal dream world. Adam Tooze drags up the straw man of blowing up pipelines to push us into engaging with the greatest genocide conferences of human history - the "COPs". He is utterly incapable of conceiving that the permanent global depression, made inevitable by the non-linear explosion of climatic extremities in the coming decades, will create the agency for popular revolutionary episodes in regions with democratic traditions that do not take kindly to elites organising a universal suicide. He can't conceive of such possibilities because to do so would place responsibilities on him to act in resistance himself - and well, ... when did you last see a western world professor get banged up for opposing the next holocaust? --- ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/roger-boat-banner-1.png) ## Join me In the Revolution of our lives Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No nonsense. Change your mind anytime. ### [**Alan Partridge on cars, Canadians and Sunday roasts: ‘I’m already about 70% vegan’**](https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2023/nov/23/alan-partridge-on-cars-canadians-and-sunday-roasts-im-already-about-70-vegan?ref=rogerhallam.com) *"Potatoes, carrots, parsnips, broccoli, cauliflower and beef. So, almost entirely vegan."* In a decade's time, when the next generation comes of age, overwhelmed with the stinking mass death of climate collapse, knowingly created by the bystanders of our generation, they will feel the same disgust about comments like this as we do about Jimmy Saville's jokes in the 1980's about liking young girls. And we will sit there crippled with guilt. --- Thanks for reading my news commentary. Sorry that my talk this week at the [@KairosClub](https://twitter.com/KairosClub?ref=rogerhallam.com) had to be cancelled ([rescheduled to 18 Jan 2024](https://www.kairos.london/event/the-meaning-of-revolution-in-the-21st-century-with-roger-hallam/?ref=rogerhallam.com)) owing to my being unwell. Before you go, my good friend Marcus is in prison - please [sign the petition ](https://change.org/MarcusDecker?ref=rogerhallam.com)to stop his deportation. Thank you. [Stop Marcus' Deportation](https://www.change.org/p/stop-the-deportation-of-a-peaceful-climate-activist?ref=rogerhallam.com) --- Sign up for nonviolent civil resistance with [Just Stop Oil](https://juststopoil.org/?ref=rogerhallam.com) in the UK or via the [A22 Network](https://a22network.org/en/?ref=rogerhallam.com) internationally. Alternatively, you can now sign up for my new Citizen's Assembly project called [Humanity](https://forms.gle/MkXJ1eQQn9rEFuuu9?ref=rogerhallam.com). --- ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get on with the job of sorting it out. [Support](https://rogerhallam.com/#/portal/signup/6517fbb3b89c5400016e9f27/yearly) ### 🥼 Existential Crisis Realities: The Climate Science of October 2023 URL: https://rogerhallam.com/climate-science-of-october-2023/ Last updated: 2023-12-14T16:59:17.000Z October 2023 brought a whirlwind of revelations, warnings, and urgent calls for action from the climate science community. In this new monthly series, my team and I will look at scientists’ updates to keep those in resistance in the picture and armed with the latest research. ### **1\.** 6 billion people could be in unlivable regions by 2100 An international coalition of climate scientists, in a paper published on October 24, declared that Earth's vital signs have worsened beyond anything seen before. The potential collapse of natural and socioeconomic systems, unbearable heat, and shortages of food and freshwater were cited as imminent threats. The report suggested that as many as 3 to 6 billion people could find themselves outside Earth's livable regions by the end of the century. Let's not mince words. That means potentially billions of deaths. Read this carefully to see how scientists use euphemisms: "confined beyond the liveable region" - why not just say "will be confined to an unliveable region". Then the great scientists' classic: climate change "causes" severe heat and limited food availability". Incorrect. That IS climate change. The breakdown of climate/severe heat/mass death is one and the same thing. The causal agent is not fucking "climate change," it is the mass murder project of the world's elites. Every time a scientist or campaigner says "climate change" they create an artificial causal barrier between people who die and people who kill them. Given that humans are hopeless at understanding multiple causal links - the climate industry's key social role in using the term "climate change" is to protect the elites from being seen for what they are - the murderers of the human race. (Note on this: if you say A causes B then the vast majority of people will go - "Yes, A causes B;" but if you say A caused B which causes C, then hardly anyone will click that "A causes C;" A are the elites, B is climate change and, C is people dying) **Source:** **Article**: [Oct 24 AAAS News Release](https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1004310?ref=rogerhallam.com): “Climate report: ‘Uncharted territory’ imperils life on Earth” **Academic Paper:** [Oct 23 *BioScience* journal article](https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/advance-article/doi/10.1093/biosci/biad080/7319571?ref=rogerhallam.com): “The 2023 state of the climate report: Entering uncharted territory” ### **2\. Hansen's Warning: The Faustian Aerosol Bargain** Aerosol masking is creating greater uncertainty in the scientific community. Scientists are worried about the extent of warming that is currently being “masked” by the cooling effect of aerosols from existing emissions in our atmosphere. The IPCC puts the current cooling effect at around 0.4C, though it could be as high as 0.8C. Dr. James E. Hansen, the "Godfather of Climate Science", emphasized humankind’s Faustian aerosol bargain in a tweet on October 13\. As even El Niño (a natural climate phase of warmer weather) fizzles out, the planet is still sizzling up. Why? Aerosols are a major factor. Hansen's insight into the two major forcings, greenhouse gases, and aerosols, raises concerns about the inadequacy of our understanding of aerosol dynamics and their potential consequences. > El Nino fizzles. Planet Earth sizzles. There are 2 major forcings driving climate change: GHGs and aerosols. The current El Nino will provide a crude measure of the aerosol forcing, the first payment for our Faustian aerosol bargain. See El Nino fizzles - [https://t.co/9ppsJH65bp](https://t.co/9ppsJH65bp?ref=rogerhallam.com) [pic.twitter.com/LWVFch7uH6](https://t.co/LWVFch7uH6?ref=rogerhallam.com) > > — James Edward Hansen (@DrJamesEHansen) [October 13, 2023](https://twitter.com/DrJamesEHansen/status/1712848780096344550?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=rogerhallam.com) **Source:** [Hensen’s scientific paper, “El Nino Fizzles, Planet Earth Sizzles. Why?”](https://mailchi.mp/caa/el-nino-fizzles-planet-earth-sizzles-why?ref=rogerhallam.com) Check out this article for an [introduction to Aerosol Masking](https://robinboardman.com/a-world-in-flux-ep-2-unravelling-the-enigma-of-aerosol-masking/?ref=rogerhallam.com). ### **3\. Monsoon Destabilizing** A study from Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) revealed that the South American monsoon, a crucial determinant of the continent's climate, might be approaching a "critical destabilization point." This finding, shared on October 6, warns that the Amazon rainforest is at risk of large-scale dieback. The implications of such an event would be profound, affecting not only regional ecosystems but also global climate patterns. > The degradation and deforestation of the [#AmazonRainforest](https://twitter.com/hashtag/AmazonRainforest?src=hash&ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=rogerhallam.com) endanger the South American monsoon. The impacts of [#globalwarming](https://twitter.com/hashtag/globalwarming?src=hash&ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=rogerhallam.com), deforestation and intensified land use are pushing the SA monsoon towards a critical destabilization point, a new study shows: [https://t.co/rA69b5cOiM](https://t.co/rA69b5cOiM?ref=rogerhallam.com) [pic.twitter.com/lHCBeXALuj](https://t.co/lHCBeXALuj?ref=rogerhallam.com) > > — Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research PIK (@PIK\_Climate) [October 5, 2023](https://twitter.com/PIK%5FClimate/status/1709833694620307542?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=rogerhallam.com) Article: [The Institute’s Oct 4 News Release](https://www.pik-potsdam.de/en/news/latest-news/a-destabilizing-link-amazon-rainforest-degradation-and-deforestation-endanger-the-south-american-monsoon-1?set%5Flanguage=en&ref=rogerhallam.com) Academic Paper: [Oct 4 *ScienceAdvances* article, “The South American monsoon approaches a critical transition in response to deforestation”](https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.add9973?ref=rogerhallam.com) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/roger-boat-banner-1.png) ## Join me In the Revolution of our lives Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No nonsense. Change your mind anytime. ### **4\. Unprecedented Temperature Rise: September 2023 Breaks Records** NASA's temperature record for September 2023 revealed alarming statistics. It was the hottest September on record, continuing a long-term warming trend attributed to human activities. The temperature anomaly reached unprecedented levels, emphasizing the urgent need for climate action. > Sept. 2023 was the hottest September in NASA’s temperature record, GISTEMP, following monthly records in June, July, and August. > > September was also the largest temperature anomaly on record and continued a long-term warming trend due to human activities. [https://t.co/kr7jJ7Ztbt](https://t.co/kr7jJ7Ztbt?ref=rogerhallam.com) [pic.twitter.com/4luZ12BTLl](https://t.co/4luZ12BTLl?ref=rogerhallam.com) > > — NASA Earth (@NASAEarth) [October 13, 2023](https://twitter.com/NASAEarth/status/1712847716877783269?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=rogerhallam.com) **Source:** [Oct 13 NASA Goddard Article, “NASA September 2023 Temperature Data Shows Continued Record Warming”](https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/nasa-september-2023-temperature-data-shows-continued-record-warming/?ref=rogerhallam.com) ### **5\. The Urgency of Emission Reduction: Prof Nick Cowern's Warning** Professor Nick Cowern, expert on aerosols and methane, stressed the critical need to stop burning fossil fuels by 2030-35 in order to prevent runaway warming and potential civilization collapse. These October tweets painted a stark picture of the consequences of delayed action. > [@rahmstorf](https://twitter.com/rahmstorf?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=rogerhallam.com) There is solid info from NASA CERES that Earth Energy Imbalance has risen more than 2fold in the last 20y. The implication is that underlying (ENSO corrected) global temperature has been approaching 1.5°C while in La Niña phase. What we see now is the shift to El Niño. [https://t.co/mt9bVbFP0j](https://t.co/mt9bVbFP0j?ref=rogerhallam.com) > > — Prof Nick Cowern (@NickCowern) [October 5, 2023](https://twitter.com/NickCowern/status/1709991852886069436?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=rogerhallam.com) > Anyone on this planet still want to claim that we are a decade away from +1.5°C? [@MichaelEMann](https://twitter.com/MichaelEMann?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=rogerhallam.com) [https://t.co/kREqJuYd6a](https://t.co/kREqJuYd6a?ref=rogerhallam.com) > > — Prof Nick Cowern (@NickCowern) [October 10, 2023](https://twitter.com/NickCowern/status/1711776561903419694?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=rogerhallam.com) Read more from Oct 27 Update by James Hansen, “[To Understand and Protect the Home Planet](https://mailchi.mp/caa/to-understand-and-protect-the-home-planet?ref=rogerhallam.com)” ### **Conclusion: It's Time For Resistance** October 2023 was another month of reckoning for climate science. The tweets and findings of these scientists echo a common theme: urgent and comprehensive action is required to mitigate the rapidly rising and mortally intensifying risks, threats, and impacts of our existential crises. As we navigate the complex interplay of aerosols, greenhouse gases, global temperatures – exacerbated by the worldwide proliferation of warfare, nuclear risks, and disruptive technologies – the call for decisive measures to safeguard our planet and the life it sustains [has never been more urgent](https://thebulletin.org/doomsday-clock/current-time/?ref=rogerhallam.com). It is beyond bad. We must resist current, catastrophic policies. Sign up for nonviolent civil resistance with [Just Stop Oil](https://juststopoil.org/?ref=rogerhallam.com) in the UK or via the [A22 Network](https://a22network.org/en/?ref=rogerhallam.com) internationally. [Get Involved In Resistance](https://juststopoil.org/get-involved/?ref=rogerhallam.com) --- ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get on with the job of sorting it out. [Support](https://rogerhallam.com/#/portal/signup/6517fbb3b89c5400016e9f27/yearly) ### 🎙️The British Establishment is A Cult: My BBC Interview URL: https://rogerhallam.com/the-british-establishment-is-a-cult/ Last updated: 2023-11-16T15:11:10.000Z Like other interviews I’ve done with members of the political class, this one again shows their psychotic inability to see that the real world trumps the political world. The contemporary British Establishment is a cult that believes in two extreme worldviews: 1. **Vulgar Utilitarianism:** the complete inability to see the value in doing anything because it is good in itself. Everything is a function of the question “does it work?” – which practically results in a chronic short- termism, and the notion that ends always justify the means (e.g., it’s okay to lie if it will take you into “power”). 2. **Absolute Post-modernism:** the complete inability to see that some things are objectively real, such as the laws of physics. Everything is seen as a “point of view” and a “belief,” apart from the belief that everything is subjective which is insisted upon with rigid dogmatism. The reason the political class is taking us to civilisational collapse is because it cannot think straight. It has lost its moral compass and any analytical intelligence. It exists in its own closed world. Worst of all, it cannot feel emotion – the entry point for a change in one’s worldview. When did you see a political or media figure cry about the betrayal of our youth, our country, our world? The political class is DEATH itself – there can be no compromise with it. It is never going to save us in the time we have left. We can only save ourselves through a political revolution which puts ordinary people in power through assemblies – not because “it will work,” but because it is the right thing to do. --- Before we dive into the interview itself, I’d like to give a shout to my upcoming London lecture on [The Meaning of Revolution in the 21st Century](https://www.kairos.london/event/the-meaning-of-revolution-in-the-21st-century-with-roger-hallam/?ref=rogerhallam.com) on Thursday November 23rd. There’ll be vegan food and time for discussion on the path ahead to creating a progressive revolution. If you're not in London, please share with any friends who are. [In London? Sign up!](https://www.kairos.london/event/the-meaning-of-revolution-in-the-21st-century-with-roger-hallam/?ref=rogerhallam.com) ## The Interview Watch the Full Interview [Subscribe for More Videos](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnrIeerJCCVwUuUhP58vrCw?sub%5Fconfirmation=1&ref=rogerhallam.com) ## *Political Thinking* Transcript **Nick** Disruption works, disruption is justified - so says my guest this week Roger Hallam, the co-founder of Extinction rebellion and the mastermind of Just Stop Oil. He joins me here on political thinking, an opportunity for a conversation with, not a news interrogation of, someone who shapes our political thinking about what has shaped theirs. Hallam argues, and I quote “that only mass civil resistance can stop the global one percent imposing mass death on billions of people”. Agree with him or passionately disagree there's no denying that he's one of the most potent organisers of political protests of recent times. Roger Hallam, welcome to Political Thinking. Right, that quote came from your website. There's another quote on the front page. It says the essence of what is human is the ability to make a decision, a conscious decision, about what is right in life. What did you mean? **Roger** Well I thought we were going to talk about this later in the interview but okay we'll start with the big point. So the big point, I suppose, is that at a time of existential crisis people have to and tend to make a decision about what's right and wrong and they base their decision on that virtue, on the notion of virtue. They don't make a utilitarian decision. They don't go “What will work? What won't work?” and I think our culture is in the process of transitioning towards a realisation we don't have control. We have control over our own lives. We don't have control over what's going to happen over the next 30 years and so what's most important is we live a good life in that Aristotelian sense, dare I say it, and that's where I'm at and that's broadly what I promote to people in terms of them making decisions to go into resistance. **Nick** Do you mean that what I spend my day job doing, asking questions of politicians about this or that policy initiative in a sense misses the point as far as you're concerned when it comes to the threat that we're now facing? **Roger** Yeah well, at the danger of disrupting you I'm just going to read you a quote so hopefully your audience can understand a little bit more viscerally what we're actually talking about. So you know I get sent science articles three or four times a day so there's nothing particularly unique about this but it came out about a month ago from a peer-reviewed paper in a journal called *Energies,* and this is what it says “If warming reaches or exceeds 2 degrees Centigrade (Celsius), mainly richer humans will be responsible for killing roughly 1 billion mainly poorer humans.” Ok, so … **Nick (interrupting)** That's the result the climate change produces. Drought produces famine and so on and so forth. **Roger** No, what that quote is saying is climate change is not killing anyone. It is mainly richer human beings who are killing poorer human beings and the tool of the death project is destruction of the climate. So that … **Nick (interrupting)** Tool is an interesting word and I quoted you as saying the global one percent are imposing mass death. You're arguing that this is a conscious, a deliberate, a calculated act by those people, are you? Rather than the byproduct of what they would know to justify as growth, expansion of wealth and so on? **Roger** It's an interesting intellectual digression to – **Nick (interrupting)** You’re saying it misses the point … **Roger (continuing)** – to split hairs over what degree of murder it is – **Nick (interrupting)** It’s a genuine question because it's your language …. **Roger (continuing)** – Iknow, I know; I'm just choosing my words carefully. I think when your audience hears that, they've got two options and you've got two options which is to try and intellectualise around it and you know ask a reasonable intellectual question which is to what degree is it murder or to what degree is it manslaughter but that is a displacement activity. The main human response to that should be massively emotional: emotional about what's going to happen to you, what's going to happen to your family, what's going to happen to the country, what's going to happen to the whole world, what's going to happen for the next hundred thousand years because this is going to go on and on. And the biggest problem is journalists like yourself, with all due respect, and a lot of elite people are incapable of emotionally connecting and what we know from, you know, ancient wisdom but also from modern psychology is that reason is a product of emotion. Unless you can actually feel the terror and horror of what I've just said you're not going to be able to act rationally and reasonably in response to that horror. **Nick** Now one of the things I want to understand in this interview is how you think and how you have very successfully persuaded other people to think. Do you think that emotional reaction, the thing you say I'm incapable of but the interview is not about me, is what you did successfully produce a few years back in that *very* successful few days for you when Extinction Rebellion brought chaos to the streets of London if you're a critic or finally showed how many people were willing to stand up and be counted to fight for, um, to fight against climate change? **Roger** So (pausing) … I disagree with what you just said. I think it *is* about you, and it's about the audience. So one of the things you learn about how to persuade people or how to create mobilisation is about centering things on the actual moment, *this* moment, right? We have a moment here. I'm talking to you, you're talking to me, a whole number of people are listening to this. Let's focus on our responsibilities and our emotions when we've just heard that 1,000 million people *will* (note the quote) “*will* be killed by mainly rich people in the next two generations.” Right? If we're going to actually survive this beyond traumatic experience, which is effectively locked in, we have to learn to think about the immediacy of the moment rather than engage in what I would describe as the ‘privilege of detachment.’ Right? You know, you're doing this interview – that’s all well and good. If we were in 1995, I would be answering your questions and very grateful, but we're not in 1995, we're in 2023\. **Nick** What I'm interested in is, let's say I reacted in the way that – is ‘want’ the right word? – you *would* want me to and what you *don't* want me to do (and this isn't this interview), is to say, “Well, some scientists don't agree with that number and they don't agree with this time scale, we're not having that debate today that's for another time in another place, ‘cause there are other views as you know. What is it that you want the reaction to be of me or anybody else. It's “My God! This should stop and it should stop now!” Is that the reaction you expected? **Roger** Well (chuckling), the very question of “how do you want me to react?” for me, shows that you simply haven't taken the information on. You know, if someone came through that door and said, “Your partner's in hospital,” you wouldn't be saying “Well, what sort of reaction do you want me to have to that?” You'd be going (excitedly), “I've got to go Roger! ‘Bye! There's an emergency!” You know, like three years ago the British Parliament, as you know – four years ago I think it was now – made a decision, right? On behalf of this country, that “we are in an emergency.” **Nick (interrupting)** That was the wording that they used … **Roger (continuing)** That was the wording they used, but no one … **Nick (continues interrupting)** … Theresa May was prime minister. It came soon after soon after Extinction Rebellion took to the street. **Roger (continuing)** … yes, but no one in the political class, including yourself and your colleagues at the BBC, have even come close to understanding and acting upon what an emergency is. An emergency is when you clear the decks, right? What we should be talking about in this interview is not a nice gentlemanly discussion about my background and, you know, what I think about the theory of social change. If you have me on for a whole bunch of series we can go into that but I haven't been on the BBC for, what, three years now? The last time I was on was [Hard Talk](https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/w3csy93l?ref=rogerhallam.com), and – what was it called? “More or Less” – said I was making it up when I said billions of people were going to die, right? I've got half an hour on your show. There's an emergency. What I want to talk about is you, because you have enormous ... **Nick (interrupting)** Well, this is interesting! So, you want to come onto an interview program and interview me rather than the other way? **Roger (trying to continue)** … you have enormous …. **Roger** Yes because that's how social change works. Social ch– **Nick (continuing to interrupt)** Yeah well I'm going to ask you some questions and you can ask me; why don't we do a deal halfway? **Roger (continuing)** Let me … let me just finish. I'm not going to go on for ages. Let me just finish and say the process of social change, the process of getting things done in an emergency, is all about transgression. It's all about saying “What you're saying is not important. This is what's important.” because it's objectively important because that's what an emergency is. **Nick** I'm teasing you gently but you're suggesting that by hijacking this interview in a sense this is a form of civil resistance like that that you have it's promoted **Roger** It's … it’s not a move, right? **Nick** Well it is. **Roger** No, it's not. You can construct it as that but it’s not. **Nick** But if it's not a move well what is it then? **Roger** It's a visceral reaction to my total horror that the British establishment has completely failed to protect the people of his country. **Nick** Well forgive me Roger you went to University and you studied civil resistance for a long time, you came into this interview with a lot of notes written down. You do make moves, you do make calculations. One of the reasons you're interesting to interview is because strategically you have turned out two of the most successful influential protest movements this country has seen in recent times so let's not pretend you don't work things out. **Roger** No, obviously not. I'm human and I spend a lot of hours each day trying to work out what to do and what not to do, but the critical point here that I'm trying to make and to your audience because it's your audience I've come to speak to (no disrespect to you, right?) is, is when something's so awful as this is happening, you have to get your existential ducks in a row. You need to decide what sort of person you are and what sort of life you want to lead and the fundamental question is how you're going to lead a good life, right? Most people don't think about this much because, you know, most of the time it's fairly obvious – you look after your family, you have a good job – but there's a massive missing element, which is to protect your country and to protect the human race. **Nick** Perfectly fair point, and why don’t we do a deal which is I ask you some of the questions I want to ask you and you ask me some? It's a podcast. We've got time to do both. What you've just said, I think, raises quite a fundamental question which is: is it fear, is it anger, is it what you call visceral emotion, that will drive change or is it hope? Now only in the last few days we've seen the Prince of Wales talking about the importance of hope when it comes to climate change and he would see himself, the king would see himself, as somebody who has argued passionately for change and my guess is privately, they'd say, “Come on Roger! I mean, if you scare the pants off people that's not going to work at all.” What do you say to people who say that? **Roger** I say that you are not being true to yourself if you engage in utilitarian, like, distractions at this time …. **Nick (interrupting)** What? ‘Hope’ is a utilitarian distraction? **Roger** What I'm saying is – I know you don't believe me but I'm just going to assert it again, right? – is I'm not coming into this interview, like, with a whole bunch of moves. I'm coming in to say something that's fundamentally truthful. When I helped to initiate Extinction Rebellion and Just Stop Oil, my fundamental rule is to say the truth and to act as if it's real. That was the foundation and if you want my analysis on why Extinction Rebellion was so successful, it was because the founders were not interested in being successful – they were interested in telling the truth. That's a completely different logic, as you know. **Nick** I understand that as a motive, but it is also the case that having studied successful civil resistance and protest movements you came up with I think, maybe it came from someone else, a theory of 3.5 percent an idea of how many people needed to resist in society to make a difference. Just talk us through the mindset if you would. **Roger** If you study the history of civil disobedience as I have – the starting point, right? The starting point of the *power* of civil disobedience movements is the decision to *act* on the truth. Like not a postmodernist version of the truth – not like, “Oh, there's Roger's truth, and there's someone else's truth,” right? We know ultimately you can't say what the truth is but for practical circumstances if someone murders your offspring and someone says “Oh well, it's just a matter of your opinion,” you're not going to be very impressed. You know your daughter or son is dead. It’s dead. It's an objective reality. What we're dealing with here is the objective reality of physics. So if you put more carbon into the atmosphere – and we allow the elites to do that – then billions of people will die. You know – maybe six billion, maybe three billion – but it's an obscene discussion and I don't want to go there, right? **Nick** Yeah, no, I know. I don't have an argument about it - it’s a forecast. **Roger** What we need to understand is this is a unique moment in human history. We can look at civil resistance like, you know, in various other contexts – but this is totally new. **Nick** Sure. What I'm interested in is what you are saying – and you are talking to people via this podcast and program – is necessary to make that change. You're telling them that you want them to join in with civil resistance. You're saying, sometimes to people who've never been on a protest in their life, “I'd like you to get arrested, if you're willing to be arrested, I'd like you to go to prison.” What I'm asking you is how is *that* going to change the thing that you say is so frightening? **Roger** Well the first thing to say about disruption is, you know I'm interviewed a lot about this question, and as far as I'm concerned it's a bad faith question, right? It's a cynical question, and the reason it's a cynical question, “why disrupt, Roger?” is, *everyone* disrupts. **Nick (interrupting)** Well I’m not asking you why *you* disrupt. I'm asking you to explain to people who you *want* to disrupt how it’ll work – whether you're productive. I-I’ve, we’ll come to whether … **Roger** Well, this is what I say to people … this is … this is … what I say, people say … people say “Oh why should we engage in disruption? Why should we engage in civil resistance to the point of arrest?” and what I'd say is you're being dishonest with yourself, right? The reason you're being dishonest with yourself is that, if you have values and those values are disrupted, everyone disrupts. Historically, right-wing people disrupt, left-wing people disrupt. The determining factor is, *are you utterly horrified by a social development such that you cannot live with yourself and not engage in disrupting your society?* Ultimately, disruption is war, right? You know, there’s very few people that would argue that disrupting Hitler was a bad idea otherwise known as World War II, right? So, you can work back from that, and what we’re, what I'm saying here is, if you have someone come into your interview and say “A billion people are going to be killed!” That's a no-brainer right? That's 20 World War IIs. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/roger-boat-banner-1.png) ## Join me In the Revolution of our lives Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No nonsense. Change your mind anytime. **Nick** But I’m interested – you said “disruption is war.” It's a war against who? **Roger** It's a war against those people who are engaging in mass murder. **Nick** Who are they? **Roger** The global elites. **Nick** But who are they? I mean it's a phrase. **Roger** Well practically speaking in this country it means the UK government and the forces behind the UK government but the UK government has a constitutional responsibility as the people that control the British State. **Nick** Now after you and your supporters occupied the streets, particularly of London, in 2019 after what, a thousand odd people got arrested, the UK government not only listened, they would no doubt deny there was a direct link to the declaration of a climate emergency, but they did declare a climate emergency in Parliament. Also some of your representatives, not you, got to meet with Michael Gove who was the environment secretary. Did it feel to you like a moment where, “Wow! These people, they are actually listening!”? **Roger** Well, this … this is a really mind-blowingly stupid question right? One billion people. **Nick** We could swap if you like. You could do my job and I'll do yours. Should we do that, right? **Roger** I’ll tell you why it’s a mind-blowingly stupid question. This comes back to emotional connection right? **Roger** I mean I've got no expectation you're emotionally connecting, right, with what I've just said because you're part of that system that isn't able to connect when I'm coming onto this program… **Nick** I'm paid not to take the side of people who are in front of me to be interviewed. **Roger** Exactly – you're paid. So it's part of the culture - the psychopathic culture of the British Elite is just not to connect with the emotional reality of what's going to be imposed on the British people. **Nick** But just get to why, why. I don't wish to invite you to endlessly repeat how stupid I am but why is it not a sensible question to say “did you feel then you were getting somewhere and you not feel now that you are getting somewhere?” **Roger** What I'm trying to say is the pretence that the British establishment is taking seriously its responsibilities is self-evidently ridiculous given the gravity of what we found **Nick** But did it feel that way then or was there a moment you thought not for a second that you'd won, of course not, but we're shifting things, we're moving things. Things are changing. **Roger** Yes there was a moment when the British establishment, the political class of this country, had the opportunity to fulfil its most grave obligations towards the British Nation, to British people, and it utterly failed. **Nick** That was in 2019\. **Roger** That was in 2019 when there were 10 000 people on the streets of London and it was an opportunity. That was a very graceful, very well organised, very peaceful protest, as everyone knows. I spoke to the Head police officer afterwards and he said he'd never known such a big congregation of people doing civil disobedience that had led to no police officer having any injury at all. **Nick** Well I remember being on Waterloo… **Roger** This was an opportunity… **Nick** It wasn't much of a party for those that really couldn't get across the bridge and had important jobs to do of course but it was a party for those who were on the bridge. **I**t was an opportunity missed, you know that meant that you changed your approach. You adopted different tactics. Tactics which led you to a fall out even with your own daughter at one point. **Roger** Yes. So I think the next question you should be asking … **Nick** Can I ask you the question I want to ask and then you can ask me the question that I'm *meant* to ask okay. You fell out with your daughter she said and indeed she threatened to walk out of Extinction Rebellion unless you left it as a documentary that shows that I… **Roger** I don't want to answer that question because I don't think it's that important, right. What the important question I mean … you can ask me questions and I choose whether to answer them right. **Nick** No, no let me put it another way and then then you can tell me um okay you don't want to talk about the personal thing but there was an argument wasn't there about whether you could keep the party atmosphere of Extinction Rebellion going or whether you actually had to harden up what you wanted to do with causing disruption at Heathrow and it led eventually to Just Stop Oil. **Roger** It did but that's not what is important in a half hour interview. What's important in this half hour interview okay, what's important in a half hour interview is to focus on the pathology of the British establishment in its treasonous inability to understand politically, emotionally, what is coming down the line, right? This is what's avoided over and over again by the media. It's this focus on the civil Disobedience to focus on this movement. This movement is not important. Civil disobedience is not important. What's important is for the audience to discuss and be aware of this *utter betrayal of our fundamental rights*. The most fundamental right in this country is the right to livelihood and a life and what we have down here is overwhelming scientific evidence that the people of this country are going to be liable to starve to death in the next half century. Well this is a substantive probability. **Nick** But this is not just an argument about tactics, if you'll forgive me, which I know you think is trivial compared with the scale of what we face. It is an argument whether, if I gave the whole half hour to simply repeat how many people are going to die and how awful it's going to be and then one pamphlet you wrote at one stage you talked about mass rape, is that going to work? Because you're someone who is interested in what ultimately will work and there are plenty of people in the old Extinction Rebellion movement, outside the movement, saying it doesn't work, it alienates people, it turns them off. People want hope. **Roger** Well, as I expected you haven't listened to me. Several times I’ve made it clear that I'm not primarily motivated by what works. What I'm primarily motivated by – in a fairly inadequate way, obviously because I'm human – is to live a good life, so that when I'm on my deathbed I feel like I had some integrity at a time when society was heading for the most catastrophic collapse in the human story. **Nick** Forgive me that sounds, which I'm surprised by genuinely, that sounds like you've almost given up. It's ‘how do I live with myself before my maker?’ – and your mother was a Methodist preacher and it's clear that religion played quite an important part in shaping the person that you are in your youth – it-it sounds as if you, you’ve given up … **Roger** It doesn't mean I've given up, it doesn't mean I haven't given up, right? It's just not thinking that question is important, right? **Nick** Are you still motivated, I mean that's a *deep* question you've asked about whether you can live with yourself and your sense of whether you've lived a good life. Were you shaped, are you shaped a lot, by the values, the experiences that you had at home? **Roger** I think who I'm primarily shaped by is my understanding of what people do when they are presented with a catastrophic future – a catastrophic present even – and what we know and what we feel in our veins obviously when this happens to us, assuming we're open to it, is the questions of whether we are actually going to make it or not are not the most important questions. The questions that I hope many of your audience are asking is “I've been presented with overwhelming evidence of a catastrophic future for my children. What's my responsibility to my children?” It's not like what's my responsibilities… **Nick (interrupting)** Okay what is that responsibility? Okay, understood, because you've said that. **Nick** What is it you think is their responsibility because of course the danger with any discussion about politics is individuals think well there's a great limit to what I can do, what difference I make, it's not up to me, there are forces beyond my control. So if there's someone listening or watching now and says okay I've heard that he's right what is it they can do? **Roger** Well, first of all, this is not politics, right? This is one of the biggest problems with how we frame all of this and one of the reasons why people are so confused. They think that ‘climate change’ – you notice I haven't used those words, right? – they think that climate change is, as you said at the beginning, is an issue, it's a thing, it's on the agenda, there's policies, you know – it's got to be fitted in with our obsession for economic growth and all the rest of it, right? That's not what's going on here, right? What's going on here is *the imposition of evil into our lives*. Evil is something beyond politics. What evil is, is a scheme of creating mass death. **Nick** Yeah but you're still not answering the question, which is: the person who's listening has woken up emotionally, the way you think I have not, and they say I'm going to do something. What does Roger Hallam want me to do? **Roger** I’m … I’m … This … this is the framing of how I hope and wish that people listening to this will adopt right because as soon as we feel like it's politics then we go into this utilitarian “Does this work? What should I do? I've got to go on holiday that month, you know how can I negotiate all my other elements of my life?” **Nick (ongoing interruption)** The floor is yours to get into it, I’m just asking, what, what do you want them to do? **Roger** I know, I know … I’m getting to it, right? I'm saying – on the basis of understanding what it actually is, right? – that it is an *evil situation*. In total seriousness, noe I'm not talking science fiction novels here, I'm talking about Hitler you know, the Holocaust, I'm talking about Cambodia, I’m talking about what happened in Congo. This is a beyond-serious situation, right? If the AMOC ... if the AMOC current, as you may know, collapses before 2050, it’s on a headline in the newspapers, the British people will starve, yeah. **Nick** I've very deliberately not had an argument with you about the science or the numbers but I am going to say, because I think it's right to say, there are plenty of people who will say it's nothing like the Holocaust. The Holocaust, the deliberate industrialised destruction of a people, and climate change you think is the responsibility of an elite. You slightly dodged the question when I said was it deliberate - you sort of suggested it was a sort of verbal game but it is not therefore the same as Pol Pot massacring people for who they are. **Roger** It's worse! And the reason it's worse is because of the scale, right? **Nick (interrupting)** Yeah, but motive matters, for all the people listening here …. **Roger** Motive matters, absolutely! Don't get me wrong. What happened in the Holocaust was an obscenity beyond words because there was a direct motive to kill, but – as you well know, right, and as any legal person would say – there's two elements to a crime, right? There’s the scale of the crime, and the intentionality – and the intentionality is in the mid-ground, as it were. It's not like they didn't know, they didn't have the information. They do know and they do have the information and they're prepared for people to die. Admittedly no one's pretending that the elites want to kill the poor of this world just because they're poor (Nick interrupts unintelligibly) – let me just finish, okay? But (Nick interrupts) but, let me just finish; I've just told you there's a billion people – according to peer-reviewed papers and I could come in with a whole bunch of other ones and people on this list and listening to this program … **Nick (interrupting)** You've shared quite a few different numbers in this interview, but let’s go … **Roger** Well let’s go … let’s go for one billion people, right? That's like 20 times the number of people who were killed in World War II. That's why it's worse. **Nick (still interrupting and dodging the point and issues)** Forgive me. I know my audience reasonably well. I think they're at the … listening to this, watching this, interested in what you're saying they're saying, “What does Roger want us to do?” And then, ”What does the government do?” We’ve still got to come to that! **Nick** So what do people do first of all? Now do you want them and do you think this would make the difference to join the ranks of people, say in Just Stop Oil for example, direct protests whether it's kind of throwing things at paintings, whether it's lying down in the streets, is *that* what's going to bring about the change? **Roger** There's a fundamental decision and then there's a degree of practicality with any fundamental decision, right? In the real world there's a degree of practicality. The fundamental decision is to emotionally connect with the criminality of what is happening on the basis of what is said. Therefore *you have no choice* – you have no choice, morally – not to enter into resistance against the British government at this time, *because of the intensity and extent of the horror* that's coming down the line. **Nick** And to be clear what you mean by resistance (Roger interrupts, trying to stay on topic, “Yes, well I’m coming on to that ….”), because you’ve talked about going to prison (Roger: “there’s a practical …”) and “if you’re not in prison (Roger again: there’s a practical …”) you're not resisting” is what you said. **Roger (interrupting, trying to stay on topic)** There's a practical side of what resistance means. Resistance is a foreign notion to most people listening to this, no doubt. But it's not, like, impossible to get your head ‘round. People resist all the time on different levels. What we're practically talking about here is mass civil disobedience in a UK context, and there's a pathway – which is Just Stop Oil – and, dare I say, people can go onto the website and it takes two minutes and you get into the system and they will tell you what you can and can't do and all the rest of it, right? The fundamental point is that in order to create the change that we need in the time that we've got, we have no choice other than to engage in mass civil disobedience. **Nick** And *you believe that* will make a difference …. How? **Roger** It's not a matter of whether it makes a difference or not. Obviously, by definition, civil disobedience makes a difference. The question is, “Is it at a scale which will tip a western democratic government into enacting climate policies in the first instance. **Nick** But then there is a practical question which I think is entirely fair to ask you, which is, “You've got thousands onto the street in 2019\. Since then we're talking of small-scale resistance and unless you get many more than the ten thousand you had before it's not going to happen. Is it what you want to happen?” Governments are not going to quake. They are not going to dramatically change their policies so are you anywhere close to that? **Roger** We may be, we may be not – and the reason I'm saying that is *not* because I'm trying to avoid a question, right? It's very difficult to predict, because… **Nick (interrupting)** Did you know before 2019 – in other words, was there a moment you thought, “My God, this is going to happen!” I mean, we are now not getting just a few hundred … **Roger** Yeah, I said, I said to Extinction Rebellion, “If tens of thousands of people go to London there will be a result.” Right? That was my prediction on the basis of a study that I'd had, but one of the things about being in this work, as it were, is that it's very difficult to predict whether those people tip over to saying, “I'm going to have to act because I cannot *not* act,” right? And they may and they may not. And if they do then we've got a chance of saving what's left to save and if we don't then we're heading into this mass starvation scenario. **Nick** It often takes something very immediate, very personal, to tip people into action. Now in your case it was as a farmer seeing what the climate was doing to your farm. **Roger** I think actually it's not that much about what's actually happened to you, for most people. I think for most people … most people who enter this, this situation and say, “I cannot live without acting.” It's due to an involuntary feeling of horror. **Nick** Humour me by answering one question just for the sheer hell of it. Your farm failed and it was one of the things that made you think, “There's something I need to now do something about.” **Roger** Yes! There's hundreds of millions of farmers around the world who've had the same experience as me, which is the *trauma* – and it is a trauma – of finding out that the weather systems are not going to enable them to grow the crops they wanted to grow. Like, it's a financial disaster for them, but it's also an emotional disaster because they lose control of their lives. You've got a nice calm sort of life, dare I say. You don't have to worry whether this studio exists every time you go to work. **Nick** This is true. **Roger** If you're a farmer, you can be the best farmer in the world, but if it rains every day for seven weeks a hundred percent of your crops are going to die. You know, if it's minus 20 in the winter you're going to lose all your winter crops. The fact that it's a one in a thousand year event is no solace to you. You're losing your livelihood. **Nick** But did that feel to you, when that happened to you on your farm, like a moment? **Roger** It was a moment of making real what is going to happen. **Nick** So something you knew intellectually but seeing… **Roger** Exactly! This is the problem, right? And this is why civil resistance works because we can have as nice a chat as we like and, you know, I can do lots of interviews. Nothing's going to change. What's going to change is the emotion of finding people getting dragged off the street, put into prison on a mass scale. Students crying on motorways. This is how change works. It doesn't change, with all due respect, right? We've got plenty of time – right? – for an intellectual discussion, dare I say it, you know, when I was a researcher at King's College. But at this moment it's an obscenity to just come on a show and say well let's, you know, let's discuss this as if it's ‘over there.’ *It's not!* It's in, it's in your *stomach,* Nick – *right?* **Nick** Yeah…and in your case it's in your stomach enough for you to go to prison what twice, three times? **Roger** People go – people go to prison all ‘round the world through civil resistance. There's nothing particularly peculiar about that. **Nick** Oh no, but there may be people, Roger, unlike you, who say, “For me that is a hell of a thing to risk doing,” either because they're personally frightened of it, or they're worried what it'll mean for their family, or how they're seen in society, or their job, their ability to earn a living – so *it is a* ‘big thing.’ **Roger** The big thing is what's going to happen to us. That's… **Nick** You've no words of (Roger tries to continue “That’s …”) comfort for them on don't worry about going to prison (Roger again: “There’s no …”), it's just this is so important (Roger: “I have …”) you’ve just got to do it. **Roger** I have no words of comfort, right. Let me say that again. I have no words of comfort for your audience. What I'm saying to you and your audience is, “Get real!” Right? This is not the time to look for comfort. It's the time to actually understand how *totally terrible* this situation is, and to act accordingly! But that's your duty, right? As a parent, as a citizen, and as a human being. **Nick** Some people will be inspired by what you say. Other people will be terrified, thinking “If he is so clear about this in his mind he'll stop at nothing. It's not just inconvenience, it’s not just disobedience, what would it be? **Roger (after trying to interrupt Nick)** What I’m … what … I’m …. What I'm clear about is *what's clear*, okay? *Objectively clear,* which is there's a thing out there, it's called physics. **Nick** Yeah but I'm gonna ask you whether there's any limits to this. **Roger** The limits to what you do? **Nick** Yeah. **Roger** We have to engage in civil disobedience – civil resistance – to the point that we fundamentally change the regime, right?. The regime of digging fossil fuels out of the ground. I don't know quite what that looks like and I don't need to. You don't need to have all the information to act. What you have to have is the visceral horror of what's happening and what we need to do is, in November, is go down to London and engage in Civil Disobedience because that's our best bet. No one's pretending it's going to be successful, no one's pretending that Just Stop Oil is necessarily the best thing ever, right? But that's the opportunity your viewers have, and it's the opportunity, dare I say, you and also all these people… **Nick** What, the ones behind the glass pressing the buttons? (still interrupting unintelligibly) **Roger** Yes – now don't smile about this, it's very serious, right! This is the opportunity for you at the BBC to fulfil your duty to the British people which is to say to the British government you will no longer cooperate with a genocidal regime. **Nick (struggling to dodge the truth bullet, in spite of Roger’s efforts to stay on point)** Yeah, no – it's not the duty of the BBC to do anything of the sort, unfortunately, but it may be in your life. Tell us what’s happening in November because we don’t know what’s happening in November. **Roger** No, no – I'm not letting you go on that. What we're talking about here is treason against the British people. **Nick (desperate to change the subject)** You’re applying for a job? Now what is happening in November? You've told people you want to come to London in November but I don't know, they don't know what it is you're talking about. **Roger** What I want to say to your audiences is your reaction over the last two minutes is symptomatic of why they're being betrayed. You're belittling your responsibility and these people to actually make a concrete step to save our country and you will suffer the consequences of it in the next decade. **Nick (disruptive babbling as Roger continues)** Suffering it in this interview at the moment …. **Roger** Now what I am saying to your audience is you will be taken to court. You will be, as a member of the British establishment. You need to take this seriously. **Nick** I'm going to be taken to court? For what? **Roger** You absolutely will be taken to court as a member of the British establishment for betraying the British people during the 2020s, right. **Nick** Yeah. What will I be guilty of? **Roger** You will be guilty of treason. This is a pregnant moment of potentiality, right? For people in the establishment to decide what they want to do. **Nick** In the meantime you invited people to go to London in November. Can you tell us more what is it you're hoping will happen then? **Roger** There's a website, Just Stop Oil. There's various sort of websites. It's easy. If you're in the audience you go on the website, you sign up and there's a whole bunch of practical details right. **Nick** Yeah. **Roger** The fundamental point is, is making that decision to enter into that process. You don't need to make that decision ultimately by getting involved in the process to thousands and thousands of people in this country have engaged in Civil Disobedience they enter the process with a lot of fear, trepidation, but they're driven to do it and they go through a series of steps right and they're supported in those steps by other people that have had a similar experience of fear and trepidation. **Nick** Understood. **Roger** Right – that's the process. **Nick** Now, over the course of this conversation you've told me how frightening it is, what's going to happen. You've accused me of not doing enough and of not being stirred emotionally to do enough about it. You've got to address, I think, don't you? The people who just say, “I don't want to be hectored and harangued and terrified – I want to be persuaded by cogent argument about what will change and how it will change and what will make a difference.” To those (people) who think that you're just thinking they're missing the point? **Roger** Yes. **Nick** But they're your audience. **Roger** No. The audience is the one percent of the population. Civil resistance and social change happens when one percent of the population decides that they have been morally violated to the point that they engage in resistance. **Nick** Now we're getting to the point. So in a sense all those people, and you know them well who say “why the hell is he disrupting our lives?” or “why are *they* disrupting our lives by occupying a road?” or “why are they ruining some beautiful piece of art by throwing soup or dye at it?” Your point is that it doesn't really matter what 999 people out of a thousand think. What we need is the one to come out and fight. **Roger** No no no no. What matters in this life is whether you violate your core values, which are objective. It's whether you violate your children, you violate your community, and you violate your country. Those are like transcultural norms like going back 10 000 years and what I'm saying is, is when a culture like the culture you're part of, right, violate those norms, it's not a matter of whether you like it, whether you want to be persuaded – that's like it's a stupid, it’s a *stupid* response because you have to grow up and realise, sometimes in life, you have to make an *act*. You have to make a *decision*, right? Just as when you decide to defend your children's lives or you defend your country. You don't sit there and analyse it right. Obviously – obviously – there's a place, when you're engaged in that process of confrontation, resistance, for looking at tactics and all the rest of it but that's not what we need to discuss on this program. If you give me 10 programs I'm more than happy to spend time. **Nick** You’ve had quite a lot of time already. Now does it matter, therefore, that six in ten – even people who protested – said disruptive protesting hinders rather than helps the cause. Does that matter? **Roger** No. For the reasons I've just said. **Nick** So in a way to hell with them. As long as you stirred one person out of 100 on this program. **Roger (over ongoing disruption from Nick)** No, you're totally misrepresenting what I'm saying. It's not a strategy. It's not like, “Oh, those people don't matter because we're just going for those, that one percent,” right? We're not going for anything. We're making a statement, right? We're making a statement to eternity about the sort of people we are. That's a completely different universe – right? – of mental activity. Do you understand what I'm trying to say? **Nick** I do. **Roger** I'm trying to say there’s something totally unacceptable about the situation we're in. **Nick** No, I do understand it. I just want to end on this if we may because I hear your – I think it's anger, isn't it? Is it fair to describe it as anger? It's not frustration. **Roger** I’m utterly, utterly infuriated. **Nick (interrupting)** Yes, and I look, and I'm aware that occasionally, because we're having a civilised conversation I've smiled (Roger, trying to stay on point, “Because …”) and you find it (Roger again, “Because …”) annoying. **Roger** Of course I find you annoying! I find – I find everything about the British establishment *disgusting!* (Nick, interrupting, “Yeah, well, okay, we’ll hear about that”) And I'm saying that, as an ordinary farmer in this country, I spent 20 years doing my part of the bargain, which is producing food, running a business, doing my bit for society. And for you (cut off by Nick) **Nick (an egregious red herring ad hominem attack, invoking Roger’s daughter again)** And I'm entitled, therefore, Roger, to go back to what I asked you before: *you couldn't even persuade your own daughter of this. She thought you got it wrong, she thought your tactics were counterproductive, she walked out of Extinction Rebellion,* if you can't persuade her … **Roger** That's a cheap shot, as you know, right! It's – it's a hard-talk point, right? As you said, you said to me, you weren’t going to use that sort of routine on me, right? **Nick (another spontaneous red herring)** But hold on, (Roger, interrupting: “For the record …”) you've just accused me (“For the record …”) of being complicit in genocide. **Roger** For the record, she's fully supportive, as it happens – right?! **Nick** Well she wasn’t. **Roger** But that’s not, that's *not the point*, is it? The point *is*, Nick, is, what are *you* going to do to have integrity in *your* life, right? What are *these people* going to do to have integrity in *their* lives? **Nick (again interrupting)** I will reflect on how I have integrity in my life, if you forgive me, not with a complete stranger I've only just met. I’m paid to ask you questions. **Roger** You've had *30 years,* right? **Nick** Yeah. **Roger** You and your generation have had *30 years* to look at this information, and what you've chosen to do is have a quiet life right and hell's coming down the road because you didn't act in time, right? It's not my job, as a farmer, to do this. It's the political establishment’s job. You've got lots of privilege, you earn lots of money. I don't have a problem with that right that nice guy in there. What are you all doing? What are you all doing? **Nick** You're not – you're not merely a farmer, Roger, though, are you? You're a political organiser, you're a strategist. **Roger** I became that because *you* didn't do *your* job. I would love to be weeding carrots. **Nick** Yeah. **Roger** The reason I'm in this studio (cut off by Nick) … **Nick (again, interrupting)** I'd love to be – *I'd* love to be asking questions that get answered, but we don't always get to do what we want. **Roger** … and that's the problem isn't it? That's the problem. < PAUSE > **Nick (egregious ad hominem and not-so-subtle emotional appeal too)** Aren’t you a depressive? Isn't this the problem? **Roger** No … let me … let me … let me finish on this, right? **Nick (manipulative back-pedalling)** No, I mean, I don't mean, I'm not intruding into your personal, what I mean is (cut off by Roger) …. **Roger (interrupting to stay on point)** No no no no – what I mean is let me, let me tell you what the other side of the world is, that a world that you cannot see, right? Because that's one of the reasons you don't want to go to the other, this other world, right? There's another world out there which is a world of acting upon your fundamental beliefs. When you act upon your fundamental beliefs you experience a certain ecstasy, right? There's a certain glory in it, right, which is invisible to political Elite, because that's why you're so terrified. That's why you, that's why you won't act – because you don't understand, as I see it, that there's a different way to live one's life, right? And you can, you can project … you project … **Nick (talking over Roger again)** I’m intrigued … you but you experience no let's not talk about me we've done enough (Roger: trying in vain to stay on point: “No no no!), but do you feel, no honestly, you've had a lot of time to accuse me of all sorts of things. Are you saying that you and you hope your supporters feel a kind of ecstasy? **Roger** It’s not a matter of, not a matter of what I want them to do. I'm, I'm being (Nick cuts in: “No, I’m just asking you to describe …”) Yes – so let me say quite clearly, like, many, not all and not all times, when people are put into a cell in a police station they have a sense of peace – a profound sense of peace. This is an involuntary experience, right? You know, because they're going into the, they're going into the police station they're terrified, right – for the first time – and then they’re put in a cell. You'd expect them to be terrified and often they are. But – and at the same time – they have a sense of peace, right? This is a spiritual phenomenon, which is, when people stand up against evil, *there's a release!* There’s not a tension anymore. There's not that, that violation of your core self. And when you go into resistance, you suddenly feel like you've rediscovered your integrity – you've rediscovered the essence of what you've, what you think you are, *you return to yourself,* right? This is a universal phenomenon when people stand against evil historically, and that's what I'm saying to your audience is this is not like … an *accounting cost-benefit analysis,* right? It's an invitation to be who you already are, right? It's a – it's an invitation to come back to what you already are, which is a fundamentally decent person. **Nick** This is the Zen of protest, the Zen of standing up to what you insist is evil. **Roger** It's, it’s something that people experience. You can give it fancy religious words if you like – I don't mind, right? You know it's, maybe it's Christian, maybe it's a the fundamental point I'm trying to say right is that is that you can feel Joy, you can feel wholeness, and you can feel connection when you enter into this resistance orientation, and it's not *despite* entering into it it's *because* you do, because you return some sense of wholeness. **Nick** You, you talked about that belief – even hope, I think – that you had in 2019 that there was a moment of change that looked possible, briefly; a moment that was dashed, rejected in your view. Do you see another in your lifetime? Do you still have hope? **Roger** I have 20 more years of my life, and each day, I get up, and I endeavour, to be the good person that I want to be. And what that means in the present context is to be in civil resistance against the genocidal British government. That's it, right? **Nick** Roger Hallam, thank you for joining me on Political Thinking. Well that certainly challenged my political thinking. I wasn't sure whether he was interviewing me or I was interviewing him at times. I usually approach these interviews with some sort of rough plan, some rough structure. I even try and help the guests by giving them a sense of what we will talk about and what we won't, to try to relax them. I did that with Roger Hallam, and he threw that out of the window (chuckling), and I threw my notes and my structure out of the window too. But I hope it was still a revealing conversation about what motivates him and what he believes might work to bring about political change. He's not interested in coaxing, he's not interested in worrying, he's not interested in any of the conventional tactics of political discourse. He believes that shock and anger and emotion and ultimately civil disobedience leading, yes, to a willingness to go to prison, is all that will change what he refers to as the “regime,” and he doesn't just mean this or any other government. He means what he sees as “the elite” are finally forced to change. And yeah, I've been told apparently I'm part of that elite, and I might go to court for treason. Memorable interview, wasn't it? Thanks for listening. --- For more media criticism, follow me on Twitter. > 1\. "What will the children who survive the onslaught of Gaza think of those who let it happen?" > > What will the children who face mass starvation by the 100s of millions in 20 years think about the non action of [@Guardian](https://twitter.com/guardian?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=rogerhallam.com) journalists and editors who ...2/.[https://t.co/g70SiY5EAs](https://t.co/g70SiY5EAs?ref=rogerhallam.com) > > — Roger Hallam (@RogerHallamCS21) [November 3, 2023](https://twitter.com/RogerHallamCS21/status/1720419678961492330?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=rogerhallam.com) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get on with the job of sorting it out. [Support](https://rogerhallam.com/#/portal/signup/6517fbb3b89c5400016e9f27/yearly) ### XR Turns 5 - Reflections on Telling the Truth URL: https://rogerhallam.com/telling-the-truth/ Last updated: 2023-11-10T07:31:16.000Z **Telling the truth** means being ready to accept when you have been led astray, got things wrong and so have to modify your views. Five years since the launch of Extinction Rebellion, this world we live in is changing so dangerously fast that it demands we revisit our assumptions and learn some painful lessons. It is now clear that 2023 is [very likely](https://berkeleyearth.org/september-2023-temperature-update/?ref=rogerhallam.com) to average more than 1.5 °C above a 1850-1900 baseline. Whilst emissions are still [rising](https://inews.co.uk/news/environment/revealed-worlds-co2-emissions-set-rise-new-record-2023-key-analysis-2688663?ref=rogerhallam.com) world wide. It is only through commitment to the truth that we might help humanity and wider life around as we enter a disturbing new era. We got something wrong. We were misled. So, we misled you too. [Aerosol pollution](https://mailchi.mp/caa/el-nino-fizzles-planet-earth-sizzles-why?e=57b7bca5e0&ref=rogerhallam.com) matters *decisively* to our global climate. There are [**other factors**](https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-03763-9?ref=rogerhallam.com) deserving of more serious attention such as forest cloud seeding and ocean health. Many factors were sidelined by scientists who were narrowly focusing on CO2\. In addition, IPCC processes did not find an adequate way to address issues of extreme risk where data was deemed insufficient or where there was [**higher uncertainty**](https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/downloads/report/IPCC%5FAR6%5FWGI%5FSPM.pdf?ref=rogerhallam.com) \*, such as aerosols, methane release from permafrost, and feedbacks from wildfires or [**droughts**](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-41851-0?ref=rogerhallam.com) rendering sinks incapable of sustaining their role in the system. This misled other scientists, academics and activists including us. Some of us have attempted over the years to responsibly communicate the [**extreme**](https://www.chathamhouse.org/2021/09/climate-change-risk-assessment-2021?ref=rogerhallam.com) and [**cascading risks**](https://www.breakthroughonline.org.au/whatliesbeneath?ref=rogerhallam.com), and the [severe consequences](https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-03595-0?ref=rogerhallam.com) of not taking emergency action. Despite founding the movement on the [**precautionary principle**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precautionary%5Fprinciple?ref=rogerhallam.com) we found ourselves being ground down. For years we were moderated, and moodsplained by experts from narrow disciplines who demanded we change our press releases, our lectures, and play down the reality and potential speed of catastrophic consequences. As we pass into the horrors of a 1.5 °C plus world, at least 10 years earlier than the worst official expectations, we realise we should have made a firmer stand. As we observe some top climatologists claiming we need to wait decades before accepting that the planet is 1.5 °C warmer, we also realise that silence about our disagreements is no longer an option for us, or the climate movement. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/roger-boat-banner-1.png) ## Join me In the Revolution of our lives Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No nonsense. Change your mind anytime. Understanding how this [repression](https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/scientists-have-been-underestimating-the-pace-of-climate-change/?ref=rogerhallam.com) happened is important. We would welcome any career climatologists, academics and journalists who undermined our communications in public to make amends, especially as they have influenced attitudes amongst those who judge us. But more importantly, for the sake of life on Earth we must tackle this emergency with our eyes wide open to everything that we need to do from this point forward. The rapid heating and extreme events of the last year demonstrate that overall predictions of institutionalised climate science were less accurate than the conclusions of generalist scholars and leading climate activists, who better saw the frightening signals through the noise produced from siloes, hierarchies, and privilege. Notably, economists, politicians and consultants pulled the conversation in the opposite direction to what was needed. Because these people carry an identity associated with ‘authority’ they were not challenged enough by journalists, lay people, or activists. XR was always about responding to the whole ecological emergency, not just the climate. We need to bring this back to the fore, as much for the climate as for nature. We need to prioritise preserving and growing forest cover, learning how to restore the oceans' role in atmospheric modulation, experimenting with marine cloud brightening in the Arctic and exploring every option for climate restoration and cooling, and even consider reversing recent shipping fuel regulations if they are causing an aerosol ‘termination shock’. And at the same time we must reject the lie that high consumption societies do not need to power down equitably, with the rich going first. We waste vast amounts of energy, which is unspeakable in these circumstances. The rallying cry from here on is that we Must Stop Oil, end the fossil fuel era, and we must also urgently *start the repair* of Planet Earth, our only home. We are entering a new era for humanity and the prospects are terrifying. We committed five years ago in October 2018 to live in truth. Our movements need to look directly at that truth and act according to reality. That means being in resistance, standing for peace, justice and freedom. Signed: Clare Farrell, Gail Bradbrook, Roger Hallam. October 2023 *\* A footnote in the IPCC AR6 SPM: "Warming levels >4 °C may result from very high emissions scenarios, but can also occur from lower emission scenarios if climate sensitivity or carbon cycle feedbacks are higher than the best estimate. {3.1.1}"* --- ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get on with the job of sorting it out. [Support](https://rogerhallam.com/#/portal/signup/6517fbb3b89c5400016e9f27/yearly) ### 🕊️Gaza: On Love and Forgiveness URL: https://rogerhallam.com/gaza-on-love-and-forgiveness/ Last updated: 2024-04-10T13:40:23.000Z This is what has come to me: A few days before the ongoing mass killing started I watched the film “Kingdom of God”. You could say it tells the story of the crusaders trying to hold onto Jerusalem but it's not really about that, in the same sense that “Gaza” (note the material frame) is not really about the Israelis and Palestinians. What is happening is the playing out of a meaning system that justifies killing which has been going on for 10,000 years. It assumes that humans can run the world rather than god. When people kill they are pathologically attached to the idea that they are real and the world is real, and that is all there is, and so they fight to the death over it. This attachment, this desperation, creates a never-ending cycle of rage and slaughter. The logic of hate is remorseless. But this world, of land, treasure, and power, is not real - it is just one meaning system amongst many, as confirmed by modern physics and traditional mysticism. Paradoxically the alternative ways of seeing thrust themselves into existence at times when the killing reaches one its of periodic spasms of hell. “I can do this no longer”: the exhaustion of hate leads to the collapse not just of the ideology that drives hate (“this is my belief, I am right, and I can kill for it”) but of the whole materialistic worldview of the self/world. Into being comes a third “entity”: god. Not the material god - another “thing” - of modern religious practice, but something very different: an awareness of an invisible presence that cannot be reduced to words and concepts. The realisation is that truth, love, consciousness, and god are all part of a family of what might be called sensibilities. The utter failure of human moral reason - “they did this so I can do that” is replaced by an overriding single commandment: do not kill. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/roger-boat-banner-1.png) ## Join me In the Revolution of our lives Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No nonsense. Change your mind anytime. This is not about ethics and its feeble attempts to provide “reasons” - it comes to you. Your unbearable disgust and despair drive you to another place. They turn in on themselves and destroy themselves. And you come out the other side and find yourself another person in another world. It comes about by what used to be called the “grace of god”. There is no will, only the acceptance of a gift. Love is not that sentimental brittle notion we have been told it is. Love is a militant adherence to a single principle - that love dies for itself. Love is beyond any mundane consideration of life and death. Love is the dogma that action has to be dedicated to the wellbeing of the other, “love your enemies” - regardless of the consequences. Love in action is forgiveness. Forgiveness, properly understood, has nothing to do with the person who has done you wrong. It is not just the refusal to keep score, it is the rejection of the very idea of keeping score. It is not just the refusal to judge but the refusal to accept that it is possible to judge. It is a completely different aesthetic of what it means to live a good life. We are not here to act for ourselves, we are here to submit to god. Love is the opposite of calculation. Love is the diametric opposite of material logic. Love relishes being smashed and extinguished. Love finds itself when alone and forgotten in a prison cell. Love is completely stupid - only a fool would follow it. But the hilarious thing is that it is only through its abject failure that it conquers the world - it is god’s joke. Because the enemies of love are fighting on foreign ground. They know neither what they do nor who they are. They are children of god but they resist this truth to the death - unless they are saved and save the world in return. This is the hidden and dark origin of the modern notion of nonviolence. Not the shallow contemporary obsession with “what works”. Love works because it does not work. It only works when it is done for itself. Only the very few receive the gift of this realisation but society is always redeemed by the actions of the very few. For Gaza love in action would require a hundred people to sit by the road and stop eating and drinking. When asked what they are doing, they would say they are waiting to die, or the killing needs to stop. They would win because love is prepared to die for love. And many of the hundred might indeed die before love shames those doing the killing to stop. They are warriors of god. Of course, people will be outraged. But why object to a few people dying for love when thousands die for hate? To be clear then; love is only love when it is for itself; because love is god and god is for god. Infinite. And those who die for love, with mayhem happening all around them, will have a smile on their face. They have entered the Kingdom as it was once called. Reunited with the One. At peace at last. --- “The moment you accept it is not possible to fight for both sides at the same time, you've lost your soul.” - Zizek ### Humanity Project **We have faith in people**. We know that when ordinary people come together, we can make better decisions than politicians. So Humanity Project’s goal is to develop and provide the tools to help us all **build our own future and new democracy**. **To get involved, sign up for one of our in-person or online briefings** [**here**](https://forms.gle/MkXJ1eQQn9rEFuuu9?ref=rogerhallam.com)**.** [Sign up for Humanity](https://forms.gle/MkXJ1eQQn9rEFuuu9?ref=rogerhallam.com) For more information, feel free to contact [info@humanityproject.uk](mailto:info@humanityproject.uk) or check out our [information folder](https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1iGd3FjX%5F4KvGFY1S3Te9ltETg4kfHBju?usp=drive%5Flink&ref=rogerhallam.com). > 1\. "What will the children who survive the onslaught of Gaza think of those who let it happen?" > > What will the children who face mass starvation by the 100s of millions in 20 years think about the non action of [@Guardian](https://twitter.com/guardian?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=rogerhallam.com) journalists and editors who ...2/.[https://t.co/g70SiY5EAs](https://t.co/g70SiY5EAs?ref=rogerhallam.com) > > — Roger Hallam (@RogerHallamCS21) [November 3, 2023](https://twitter.com/RogerHallamCS21/status/1720419678961492330?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=rogerhallam.com) Keep up with my media commentary on X ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situationis F\*cked Help me to get with the job of sorting it out. [Support](https://rogerhallam.com/#/portal/signup/6517fbb3b89c5400016e9f27/yearly) ### ❓A New Vision of Humanity: Sunday Zoom Talk & Discussion URL: https://rogerhallam.com/a-new-vision-of-humanity/ Last updated: 2023-12-07T10:52:27.000Z _This post is for subscribers only._ ### ⚰️Choosing Slow Extinction: Labour's Immorality on Climate URL: https://rogerhallam.com/labour-is-immoral/ Last updated: 2023-10-16T08:08:22.000Z > “If warming reaches 2 °C … mainly richer humans will be responsible for killing roughly 1 billion mainly poorer humans” > \-- Peer Reviewed Paper in [Energies](https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/16/16/6074?ref=robinboardman.com), July 2023 > "If you feel our children need a party that conserves, that fights for … the careful bond between this generation and the next – then let me tell you, Britain already has one" > \--Keir Starmer’s conference speech. The greatest denial – probably the greatest to exist in human history – is the lie that the “climate problem” is linear. Meaning that it just exists – like slavery, inequality, dictatorship, - you name it. It’s there, it’s obscene but if you don’t sort it this year, well there’s always next year – it will be much the same. Slavery will still be there – but it won’t be 10 times bigger next year, and 100 times bigger a year after that. Compare that with a meteorite heading for New York in one of those movies. You can do nothing – you can slow it down a bit, or you can destroy it. Options 1 and 2 are effectively the same. With both options, the kilometre-wide rock crashes into the city and millions of people die. There is only one moral option – the third, which is to destroy the rock. This is not politics, it’s not ideology, it’s physics. The “climate” is independent of “politics”. The present Labour Party has the wildly irrationalist notion that politics comes first –that the climate can be fitted into its logic. This means that to win power Labour must not do too much on climate and so climate has to be constructed as “having not much needing to be done to it”. But the climate is not socially constructed. It’s physical. It’s non-negotiable. At between 1-2C of global heating, all the main tipping points will be passed with the resultant main scenario that the human race will effectively go extinct - 8 billion deaths in the coming two to three generations. If you doubt this then you have – with respect – simply not been paying attention. Tipping points are like dominos and you just follow the peer-reviewed papers on what happens when one domino falls then what happens when this leads to the next one being knocked down and you continue to follow the science along the line. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/tipping-points-image.png) Climate Tipping Points (European Space Agency 2021) The debate about the “odds” of various levels of mass death is as obscene as questioning whether 5 or 6 million Jews were murdered by Hitler. Does it matter whether 4 or 8 billion people die? It does not matter whether there is a 10% or 30% chance of going over 5C during the lifetime of our children. Only a culture which has descended into the depths of moral depravity entertains whether such odds justify the risks of continuing the emission of more carbon. Which brings us to the psychotic stupidity of Keir Starmer. We do not need to get lost in the weeds of whether he will cancel Rosebank or just stop new drilling from the point of winning the election. All we have to recognise is that the ideology is inseparable from the project to create mass death because the essence of that ideology is to act as a house slave to international capital – to the carbon system. Only a revolutionary change in the structure of the state, society, and culture over the next decade has any chance of actually stopping the meteorite devastating New York. Option three is political revolution. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/roger-boat-banner-1.png) ## Join me In the Revolution of our lives Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No nonsense. Change your mind anytime. The Labour Party needless to say is never going to do anything even approaching option three. It has no intention of “conserving the careful bond between this generation and the next”. Its intention is to stand by and have our children die slightly slower than the Tory Party. The analogy with a meteorite of course is radically inadequate. The hyperobject that is the “climate” is the ecological collapse of the whole planet, not one city, causing billions of deaths and going on effectively forever. There is no greater crime than for a political party to allow this to happen. And there is no greater crime than to vote for a party that will facilitate such evil. House slaves will say what they always say – “We have no choice” but to submit to those who impose humiliation and murder upon us. But their demand for our submission is always the Big Lie. We are human for one simple reason – we always have “free will” – we always have the choice to revolt. Concretely, around the Western world, some people will now do whatever it takes to stop this system from violating everything we value – there are plans afoot in many countries to bring people together, rediscover our humanity, and create mass movements to replace the regime of pathological political parties with alternative governmental institutions based upon popular assemblies. With rule by the people for the people. The centuries-long dream has now become a matter of life or death. And we will choose life. The Labour Party leadership will disappear into the dustbin of history as the last gasp of an inexpressibly dumb and cruel social episode – a cesspit of self-serving delusion. We are all so much better than that. Aren’t we? We will show ourselves to be so in the next two years. --- Want to get involved in the democratic revolution? Click to sign up for our next webinar. [Sign up to my Democratic Revolution Webinar](https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZcsd-GhrjwpHtA3JuyQCRZtnPxdnC402SFg?ref=rogerhallam.com) Can't wait for the webinar? Check out my new video Series on The Ecstasy of Assemblies! Keep posted on my running political commentary on X > This week especially feels like we live in a foreign country - where the real is disregarded and the dream is all pervasive. Where protest is ruled over by power. Where power is about to have us die.[https://t.co/eQczMptQSX](https://t.co/eQczMptQSX?ref=rogerhallam.com) [https://t.co/syPx0Oyt5k](https://t.co/syPx0Oyt5k?ref=rogerhallam.com) > > — Roger Hallam (@RogerHallamCS21) [October 14, 2023](https://twitter.com/RogerHallamCS21/status/1713115130852954470?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=rogerhallam.com) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get with the job of sorting it out. [Support](https://rogerhallam.com/#/portal/signup/6517fbb3b89c5400016e9f27/yearly) ### 🇬🇧 System Change: Chatting with Conservative MPs URL: https://rogerhallam.com/system-change-with-zac-goldsmith/ Last updated: 2023-10-13T07:35:25.000Z Can we see beyond our political divides towards a path to system change? That was the question posed to Roger and Zac Goldsmith MP by comedian Heydon Prowse at the Planet Local Summit. It was a dialogue that, despite political differences, shared many goals. Both wanted to challenge concentrated power and embrace the British tradition of open debate. They varied, however, on the roadmaps forward. Want to watch the full video? Here it is. The following is a transcript summary of Roger’s speech. --- I want to thank Zac for sharing a platform with me. No one in the Labour party would even dream of doing that. I’d like to start by quoting from a recent peer-reviewed paper: > "If warming reaches or exceeds 2° centigrade this century mainly richer humans will be responsible for the killing (**Note:** not “the death”), the killing of roughly 1 billion mainly poorer humans” The first thing we need to understand about the elites, with no disrespect to Zac, is they are mainly psychotic. I think that's the correct medical word for people who are fully aware that we are going into an era of mass death and pretend that we're still in the 1950s. I'm a revolutionary. I foresee that the present political regime in other words, the British establishment, will not exist in the near term. For the record, I want to say that I don't actually think revolutions are a great idea. In a perfect world we could all get together as nice sensible people in Bristol and sort everything out. But we know that we don't live in that world. The elites will not change their trajectory from taking us to mass death and they will collapse under the weight of that contradiction. Or in other words, under the contradictions of capitalism. The next ten years will be exciting in a certain Nietzschen sense because there's been a lot of emotional repression in the green movement and it has increased exponentially over the past decade. People have been desperately holding on to a reformist pathway to change. Now, increasingly they are realising that it’s simply not going to happen. There's going to be a big rupture (That's an analytical point, it's not an ideological point). The default position is a move towards extreme right-wing populist as happened in the 1930s, however what I'd like to say is that’s not deterministic. Historically, it is possible for movements to resist that default descent into fascism when major crises happen. What’s coming down the road presents us with a massive opportunity to create a pro-social world but we're going to have to work at it a lot. So what is system change? By definition it's about looking at the whole system and how systems change and transform themselves. I'd like to address that because I think both Zac and Heydon have made various assumptions about how revolutionary change happens which are not sociologically robust. I want to make two corrections. The first correction is that historically revolutions are arguably initiated by conservatives. That’s because the system itself has become revolutionary in the sense that it has become destructive to the core connectivities of society. It's destroying society through its own power. For instance, in the 19th century when there were Revolutions in France in 1830 and 1848 a lot of the people wanted to go back “to a traditional small scale agrarian society”. They were having a revolution against the power of capital. This is one of the reasons I have no problem in sharing a platform with Zac because there's elements of conservatism which are radically opposed to the power of capital. Their revolution is against the revolutionary violence of international capital. So, there’s complexity and ambiguity in the word Revolution. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/roger-boat-banner-1.png) ## Join me In the Revolution of our lives Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No nonsense. Change your mind anytime. The second point is that a revolution does not tear down the state. The revolution reconstructs the state from a regime that is destroying the state. If we return to my opening quote, you shouldn't have much of a problem imagining how states are going to destroy themselves in the context of 1,000 million people dying. Afterall, that's the equivalent of 20 World Wars in the next two generations. So what we need to focus on is a project that is going to bring together traditional conservatism with traditional progressivism against the real enemy which is international Capital. International capital is obviously a simplification but what I would suggest is the creation of a new political force. One that does not want to stand in elections to recreate the party system but wants to remove the party system and replace it with citizens assemblies. That's the international agenda amongst people that are thinking clearly. If we don't get organised we're going to have fascism. Fascism is massively violent and in the modern context it will lead to human extinction. It hasn't got any universal rationality so it's easy to joke, as you do Heydon, that popular democracy is messy. Yes, It’s filled with ordinary people and their different quirks. But as Democrats that's all we've got. We've only got the people. What we have to do is bring people together with our best social processes and enable them to feel their power. We've had 40 years of the neoliberal lie that people can't organise themselves. That they're not interested and that we should leave it to the NGOs and the political parties to sort out this mess. We know that's led to the point where only 8% of the people in this country believe in the present constitutional Arrangements. This country is as mad as hell if you haven't noticed. On the surface we're being polite and English about it but underneath we're all mad as hell. We've just totally been fucked over year after year. Just in the last fortnight we've suffered the astronomical humiliation of a prime minister committing himself to genocide, to increasing carbon emissions, on our watch. So yes it is going to be really difficult. It's going to be hellishly difficult. We all have to grow up a bit and realise that if only three people turn up to your first Bristol people's assembly, you just stride right ahead because you haven't got any other choice. When we started Extinction Rebellion, there were two of us doing mobilisation. My friend Robin had the west side of Britain and I had the East Side. That's how it started. For the first meeting I rang my mate up about giving a talk in Nottingham. He said “Great, it's a cool place and we want to rebel. I'll get all my friends.” The event turned out to be him and one friend. Don't think there was anything glamorous about starting Extinction Rebellion. Everyone thought it was a twatty idea for at least three months and then 6 months later it had 200,000 people involved. That's how history works. Everyone thinks you're a dick and then suddenly you're a hero. We're on the edge of hell and we all need to get a grip. We all need to work together to create assemblies around this country to revitalise Democracy. Those assemblies need to aggregate into bigger assemblies and they need to show their power through local direct action and manifestos. By standing as Independents in elections we can constructively prepare for the revolutionary episode that's coming down the line. At some point the system is going to destroy itself for the reasons Zac pointed out - vested interests are destroying our state and society. We need to be prepared for it. When the moment comes, we must stop the forces of fascism from destroying everything we believe in. To be a bit patriotic, this conversation between me and a Tory MP is a Glorious thing about British culture. Look, I haven't thrown water over him or got my walking stick out for any blows. We can have a reasonable discussion about our future. Our country has got a very problematic history but at the same time we need to look on the bright side. There’s a lot of common sense and that’s what we need. A common sense Revolution where we say “we're not putting up with all this bollocks”. You’ve got my email address so contact me if you want to get involved in assemblies. We're all going to work together to build something new. I'm working with a bunch of people, even relatively rich people. Obviously I'll be asking Zac for the odd million or two after this meeting because he's a patriotic guy and wants to see the country survive. The point is we need to build another mass movement like XR which is well organised with a Central Committee. Sorry for those of you who don't know like Central Committees but that's the way you get things on the go. That's why Just Stop Oil has a 90% name recognition. It's properly organised. We're going to go out and become a voice in the public sphere of this country because it's desperately needed. The Labour Party is fucked isn't it. Let's be honest with ourselves that it's gone into the depths of Mordor and that hurts. We need a new story in this country of common mobilisation and organisation from the bottom up. The green movement is really good at making wish lists but we need to concentrate on the aggregation of political power. That's the chicken that lays the golden egg. That's what you saw with Extinction Rebellion. That's what you're seeing at the moment with Just Stop Oil. The reason why you know about us is because we're powerful. We're powerful because we disrupt. Nothing's going to happen without disruption. The other side of the strategy is popular mobilisation in local communities. It's the Synergy between the two that provides the possibility of collective redemption. --- Want to get involved in the Assemblies Project? Email me at info@humanityproject.uk > "If you feel our children need a party that conserves, fights for our union, our environment, the rule of law, family life, the careful bond between this generation & the next ... Britain already has one." [@Keir\_Starmer](https://twitter.com/Keir%5FStarmer?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=rogerhallam.com) speech. > > My vote for the most evil lie of the century. > > — Roger Hallam (@RogerHallamCS21) [October 11, 2023](https://twitter.com/RogerHallamCS21/status/1712006082166431771?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=rogerhallam.com) Keep posted with my media criticism on X ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get with the job of sorting it out. [Support](#/portal/signup) ### 🕯️A Premonition of Mass Ego Death URL: https://rogerhallam.com/mass-ego-death/ Last updated: 2023-10-08T09:11:32.000Z > Mama take this badge from off of me > I can't use it anymore > It's getting dark, too dark to see > I feel I'm knockin' on heaven's door > Mama bury my guns down in the ground > I can't use them anymore > That long black cloud is comin' down > I feel I'm knockin' on heaven's door I see a time approaching of mass ego dead. It’s been with me for a while now – deep down inside of me. Like a piercing light in the darkness – savage and extreme and yet “our only hope”. I cannot express in words the intensity of this mental collapse as communicated by Sandy Denny’s voice in her interpretation of the Bob Dylan song “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door”. But I feel it vibrating through me every time I listen to it. It is something like the unbearable tension of a whole worldview, a whole mental machinery, a whole pile of spiritual battlements … just crashing down – and you can’t – you just can’t do it all anymore. Put it away. I am done. I am nothing – it is all done. Take it away from me. It “is getting too dark to see”. This is the real meaning of conversion. The old name for a nervous breakdown – St Paul on the road to Damascus flattened by the light of God. St Augustine reeling around on the ground in the orchard – tossed around like a speck of dust – “Don’t you see who I am”. Our whole civilization – the conflagration of 1000 concrete cities – burning to the ground and we look on with an anguish devastating enough to extinguish our souls in a flicker of the flames. Billions of people – suffering… What shall we call it? Let’s call it ego death. “I cannot use them anymore” – everything that was has come to nothing – everything I believed in -everything I possessed – all my fucking worldly power. It has come to this. Nothing at all. “That long black cloud is coming down”. Ego death is a man tossing himself around, screaming in pain, raging tears, and maddened eyes. Worse than the worst grief – the grief for the death of the self itself. Only then do you see God. This is the real meaning of the coming crash, the final collapse. What we know is coming but just cannot face it – see it – feel it. Like the sun burning through our eyes – we turn away each day and yet it never goes away. In my thirties, something terrible happened to me – to my ego. For six months I woke up every morning and after a second of consciousness: BANG - a total incomprehension, “Why I am still alive” – such was the extremity of my utter self-contempt. What had happened was terrible but something much deeper was going on. I was unbearably disgusted with the very essence of myself – by my very being. And since then I am no longer attached to this thing Roger Hallam – I just can’t quite take it seriously – I am in some fundamental way on the other side of all that. This is the source of my strength, such as it is. This is probably why I am periodically overcome with this vision of mass spiritual collapse when humanity realizes the extent to which it has fucked up – the violent stupidity of its arrogance: all the “us and them”, to the death, the endless slaughter and plunder – it’s utter utter wrongness. The infinite pain of infinite failure. “Bury my guns down in the ground”. Only when we come out on the other side of all this can we build the new civilization – when the whole nightmare edifice is dead and gone – and we finally see that the only thing left standing is Love – the storyline of an eternity of fireside tales: “and then he saw the light” The oldest story of all is true after all – God is looking over us, waiting patiently with love for us to crash and burn. Only then do we look up, not to see a meteorite, no material thing - but to see the glory of what we truly are – Spirits of Love – in communion with the one Love - God. With what is. All there is. All there was and all there will ever be. Only then can we build again– and finally receive the grace to knock on Heaven’s door. Sandy Denny version --- If you liked this glimpse into my mind, please share it and [subscribe](https://rogerhallam.com/#/portal/signup) for more. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get with the job of sorting it out. [Support](#/portal/signup) > 1/6 Do you get it yet? We are going to hell because each interest group will lobby for delays to increases in its costs, which are required to secure the common good of zero emissions. The logic of capital is the logic of social collapse. ...2/.[https://t.co/oQu4IihL2C](https://t.co/oQu4IihL2C?ref=rogerhallam.com) > > — Roger Hallam (@RogerHallamCS21) [October 6, 2023](https://twitter.com/RogerHallamCS21/status/1710193989859635567?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=rogerhallam.com) Keep posted with my media criticism on X ### Citizens’ Assemblies: Revolutionary Confrontation with the Carbon State URL: https://rogerhallam.com/citizens-assemblies-from-pr-fodder-of-the-carbon-state-to-revolutionary-confrontation-with-the-carbon-state/ Last updated: 2023-10-09T20:11:24.000Z “We have worked really hard over the past 14 years to build a reputation based on facilitating robust and independent processes using a model that has been tried and tested. We are known as an organisation that trusts citizens to draw meaningful and challenging conclusions once presented with a wide range of perspectives. For that, we must be seen as impartial and not predetermining the issues or solutions. I have spoken to my fellow directors and we feel that an organisational association with (you) may challenge our ability to do this in the future.” – From an email I received. The periodic suicidal corruption and disintegration of elites is as old as the hills. The key characteristic is the zombification of a regime extending for years after it is dead: culturally and morally. The way it maintains itself during this endgame is a ruthless growth in the monopolisation of economic and political power. A primary mechanism of endgame of our carbon regime is the patronage of the state-supported sectors. If you want to maintain a Western high carbon (read extractive/murderous) lifestyle then you have to get funding from the carbon state agencies and thus submit to its core ideology of supposed objectivity: “independent processes”, being “impartial”, and “not predetermining the issues” – all designed to prevent a structural challenge to the hyperobject: the permanent destruction of organised human life by continued emission of carbon over the next decade. 1.5C is now locked in but the social catastrophe which this will bring upon us cannot be spoken of. A second mechanism is the enforcing of chronic political passivity in the face of the mafia-esque threat to public reputations by the billionaire press – what you might call the “Ed Miliband syndrome”. For organisations tied to the regime, if there is any chance of association with the rising progressive revolutionary forces aiming to save civilisation through civil resistance, then that will “challenge our ability” to maintain financial security (social privilege). Of course, the fact that empirically speaking, disobedience is now highly successful (see recent examples of Gary Lineker versus BBC, and Dale Vince raising money for JSO versus the Daily Mail) only highlights the psychic rigidity of these organisations. In the “democracy space” a small industry has grown up during the neo-liberal era, “the last 14 years”, embedded in this insidious ideology. In actuality, it means acting as the facilitators for the public relations agenda of preventing any material challenge to the carbon states’ project of creating mass death. Central to this agenda has been the creation of citizen’s assemblies which create the pretence of “democracy”. This happens in three ways: they are given agendas that explicitly remove the raw social impacts of putting carbon into the atmosphere (no sessions on starvation and resultant cannibalism for instance), the outcomes are promised to be acted upon by politicians and then systematically ignored (with same causal contempt for democratic accountability that was shown after Keir Starmer’s Labour leadership campaign), and a sabotaging of national publicity for the assemblies so they are widely misunderstood or even not known about by the public – a far cry from the rude festivals of popular deliberation in the historical record. The “ideal type” form of the citizens’ assembly however is objectively revolutionary. The present carbon regimes are making the classic, soon-to-collapse, elite error of thinking they can control this intrinsically subversive democratic formation, and use it for its political purposes. It is a Trojan horse. The people sense the pathway to their liberation. Pre-revolutionary periods are full of attempts by autocracies to use democratic institutions, thinking they can control them, as distractions to buy themselves a few more years or months in power. For example: the Parliaments called by Charles I before the English Civil War, the Estates General by Louis XVI before the French Revolution, and the Dumas by the Russian Czar in World War One. And now Citizens’ Assemblies by Western governments. The plan is that these institutions will do their bidding but they have a glorious tendency to backfire: “The mob learns how to reason” to quote David Graeber. This is what is happening now in 2023\. The new revolutionary objectivity (opposed to the neo-liberal “objectivity”) sees that the zombie carbon state will soon collapse as citizens’ assemblies are used by civil society to create their own alternative governmental institutions. That is, to undermine rather than prop up the regime. We do not ask the regime to organise them, we will do it ourselves without the “experts”. That changes everything! They will publicly expose the emperor with no clothes: that the politicians can no longer maintain their promise of decent standards of living as extreme inequality and climate extremities create ever greater fiscal crises, while they “max out” emissions, leading to the destruction of billions of lives without end. The truth will come out: the carbon regime has now become the greatest evil force in human history. And yet the house slaves of this genocidal system – the Western liberal administrative classes continue to attempt to dampen down and shut out the social power of the forces of revolt. “We feel that an organisational association with you would undermine our ability to be impartial.” But the reality is they are now done. Times have moved on. The assemblies of the resistance will expose the monstrous denial of moral truth on what is actually going on. A new post-regime controlled agenda will enable participants to confront the pervasive maddening irrationality of stopping the analysis of the non-existent break between physics and society. Yes, climate change is happening. Yes, it is creating terrible physical conditions – floods, droughts, storms…. But it does not stop there. They will question the deafening silence of sinister abstractions such as “a liveable future”. They will not be afraid of confronting the social realities: mass slaughter, rape, starvation – the prospect of piles of limp bodies stacked up against miles of barbed wire as far as the eye can see. They will come out after their deliberations and exclaim the greatest moral message of our times: “Never Again”. The New will finally be born and the Dead be finally put to rest. ### Why Repression is the Best Thing Since Sliced Bread (Analytically Speaking) URL: https://rogerhallam.com/repression-is-the-best/ Last updated: 2023-10-10T20:52:47.000Z “.. then they fight you, then you win.” – Gandhi Repression – arbitrary arrest, prison without trial, violence, lies, manipulation -the whole paraphernalia of the pathological elite is disgusting and outrageous. And I can say this from some personal experience, having been banged up for months for making a speech. But as battle-hardened readers of my posts you know I am not going to write on something so intellectually lazy as why the bad guys are bad guys. No, what we need to do is to look with laser focus at the rapid descent into repression of the UK carbon regime to deeply understand why the present moment – this getting towards our darkest hour – is our moment of greatest opportunity, particularly if we play our cards right. Let me say this: this moment gives us the greatest probability of overwhelming the UK government than at any time since the Rebellion of April 2019. How come? It comes from the most exciting word in the English language: “Backfiring”. Many of us have a vague understanding of the phenomenon but it is fascinating to see the dynamics play out before our very eyes. Like being arrested for wearing a Just Stop Oil T-shirt. Did you see that right? Yep, people are being arrested for wearing T-shirts – not as a result of some mix-up – some Met fuck up. But as in the bright light of day, an act of police policy. Nothing “went wrong”. Add that to the getting imprisoned for making a speech (me), getting imprisoned for saying “climate change” in court, and getting sent to the Old Bailey for holding a placard saying juries have the constitutional right to go against the judge in their verdict, added to the trail of police raids and arrests for …er… being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Suddenly, what has happened to the black and minority communities for decades is going mainstream. So first let’s look at the basic dynamic: when the opponent uses repression towards nonviolent resistors they create an instinctive sympathy from supporters, observers and even opponents of the cause. This can be conscious, subconscious (grudging respect) or arguably unconscious. In principle the greater the aggression, violence and/or punishment – the greater the sacrifice – the greater the moral attraction. This is backfiring. This for instance works in a simple case of seeing others you know getting arrested – then in a group discussion later you are far more likely to sign up to engage in civil disobedience to the point of arrest yourself. Action is worth a thousand words – it’s so true. Seeing is believing. So the harder they push the more the backfiring potential. This is not deterministic – it doesn’t happen every time with everyone – but the odds are high. But there is something else going on which explains why semi-authoritarian regimes like the UK are most vulnerable to the civil resistance methodology – mass civil disobedience enacted day after day. In liberal regimes, you have to do “quite a lot” to be arrested if you take part in open civil disobedience – and even more to be sent to prison. Sitting down on the road as they did recently in liberal Holland for instance – led to arrest but no charging. To end up in prison requires doing something dramatic – “criminal damage” to a building or an oil refinery – an “activist” type thing – certainly not what ordinary people would do and not where they would go. When people do “activist” actions they create a little emotional simulation in the public because people think “Oh it’s those people doing strange activist things – that’s nothing to do with me.” They switch off. That’s the main reason why the press does not cover doing bad things to bad people. In contrast, in semi-authoritarian regimes the “site of confrontation” as you might call it becomes the “everyday action” in the “everyday place” – most especially marching down a city road. Doing this moves from a non-arrestable activity to something to be pulled off the road for, handcuffed and dragged off to a police van. The optics are different – this violates the “natural” sense of justice of ordinary people – why is that happening to people for just marching? Similarly with the T-shirt incident – a secret action on an oil refinery gets no publicity and little sympathy – while people get arrested for standing around wearing a JSO T-shirt – what the fuck. It has become a national talking point. So “repression” in actuality, means making the everyday illegal and so it vastly increases the backfiring potential. Lastly the “entry cost” is significantly lower cognitively and materially – you can see yourself doing a march – in a way that you cannot see yourself climbing over fences, and it’s easy – you just go and join in down the road. So lot’s more people get outraged and a lot of them decide to join in because it’s easy. It’s a march and you get the numbers. It becomes a people power thing. This is how classical civil resistance works – it’s not complicated – you go on the street and stay there till the regime reacts or falls. It creates the opposite of what was intended. Handy! Of course, the opposite dynamic applies, repression can create disengagement, as the pessimists like to remind us in their self-serving fatalistic analysis – so there is nothing that can be done. The Police Act “prevents protest” as if we humans are bits of a car engine – if you don’t put petrol in it the car won’t move. Humans are not engines – we are souls with a moral sense. We are violated by the violence of power. And if we as leaders and designers act in smart ways in service to our communities we can bring about the glory of collective action. It’s happened before it’s going to happen again. Sooner than we all think. Just watch what’s written on your T-shirt! To sign up for civil resistance, email: ring2021@protonmail.com ### Just before the Beginning of the War URL: https://rogerhallam.com/just-before-the-beginning-of-the-war/ Last updated: 2023-10-09T20:15:48.000Z Recently British Judge Silas pulled posters off the walls outside his court saying “Silas Silences”. He had been imprisoning people for saying “climate change” in his court. The police had not followed his orders to take them down apparently. He no doubt was finding himself in new territory. We all like to stay safe but then suddenly the cold wind drives in and we’re swept up into a new world – bewildered we stagger around trying to grasp a breathe. Recently I suggested we hold placards outside his house – I pictured it – dreamy green detached, along a home counties road, then down an enticing lane, not too long but long enough. Maybe we could sit in the drive and he couldn’t get out. Maybe we would go to his daughter’s school and hand out leaflets saying – someone’s dad at this school is jailing people who are trying to stop the mass murder of millions of people like you. Innocent like you. Would that be cruel? But necessary. Cruel to be kind. A question we still have time to ask before the war closes in. In prison I thought I might like to write something beautiful – something gloriously without any “point”– as an act of defiance. There is something strangely satisfying about a random act of beauty – like kindness in a war zone. I would have reach deep inside myself to find such beauty and maybe nothing would come out. Sometimes that’s the way things are – you come to learn that. But I like to think – there could be a little light in the darkness before there is only darkness. Or maybe I am being too pessimistic. An infinity of parallel universes stretches out before us. And in at least some Mr Silas is right – it turns out we were just a temporary bunch of neurotic idealists after all. It all turned out okay – capitalism conjured up its magic one more time. Necessity is the mother of invention old boy. Nothing to worry about. Like the Germans in 1945 – Mr Hitler will come up with the techno fix – a new missile that will protect the Homeland. So they could stay free from the burden of having to think a little longer. In some public schools during world war one only a quarter of the boys came back from the front in one piece – alive. It sometimes turns out there was plenty to worry about – and then much more. Many parallel universes must end in the darkness. Unfortunately it seems we most likely will be right. In the meantime George Monbiot has said the police “can do anything to us”. Well, it depends what “us” is. But what a question that is. No one is allowed to write about philosophy in the guardian. There’s no “likes” in such introspection. We English don’t want to look too deep. At least not yet. Nietsche apparently never sold more than 300 copies of any of his books during lifetime. Poor thing. It was only after the first world war (the one that broke millions of boys into pieces), when liberalism seemed like an eternal very bad joke – that his books took off. When people started picking at the scab, and found solace in misery. But we are not there yet. Again no one reads Nietsche and why would anyone want to create anything pointlessly beautiful. We have so much – still, why do we need some superfluous beauty as well. Till everything turns. And then. The heavens will shake with such anguish. Heaven knows they will. You get up in the morning and do what you can. The decision to love is always a hard path but I know it is the only one with any real meaning. As long as it remains a pure idea. This world is too harsh for such a thing to come up from within it. There are two worlds, the cities of man and god, as traditional theology teaches. Not that anyone reads theology yet either. And if that means I have to suggest we leaflet the children of judges – well no doubt any moral scruples will soon be forgotten in the deluge. When these children ten years from now are sent off to shoot down black bodies crossing the Mediterranean. And pick up pieces of bodies in the poorer parts of town. When the war begins. The one that will never end. Getting a little upset by a leaflet will seem an infinitesimally small thing. So best to try and write something beautiful then – or at least try. A comfort before I go off to work. To a world where no one wants to read half decent prose about the end of the world. Loser. Like Nietzsche. Get a job. --- **Artwork:** Bacon, Francis; Figure Study II; Kirklees Museums and Galleries ### On Being Banned From Speaking At Glastonbury URL: https://rogerhallam.com/banned-from-glastonbury/ Last updated: 2023-10-10T20:53:50.000Z Daniel Ellsberg recently died. He was not afraid. When the government was lying to the people, he knew his duty and be damned with the consequences. Watch the video on you tube\* – it’s suggested he could be imprisoned for the rest of his life for making the Pentagon Papers public, detailing the US government’s systematic lying on the death project of Vietnam (sound familiar?). He doesn’t even flinch. There is no PR guy whispering in his ear (“don’t say that”). There is no self pity – thousands are suffering and will suffer far more than him. It is the right thing to do. Period. The last Great American Liberal. Another now extinct species. What are we left with? The dregs: Ed Milliband and Justin Rowlatt. A week or so back Ed received instructions from Labour Party Stalinists that he could not go to Glastonbury because he might mix with today’s truth tellers – Just Stop Oil people – arrested and imprisoned for speaking out on today’s great lie: the covering up of the carbon emissions mass murder project. The BBC does the same with that other pleasant chap: Justin Rowlatt, its environment correspondent. What did both of them do? You guessed it. They submitted to the pressure. Justin could have done a Gary Lineker on the bosses and would have won right – “The BBC has just sacked its environment correspondent for going to Glastonbury” – I don’t think so! Ed could have gone Dale Vince on the Labour Party and said I don’t care about the fucking taboids bullying me (sometimes it’s good to swear Ed). And he would have won. “The Labour Party has just sacked it’s shadow climate secretary for going to Glastonbury” I don’t think so! Though on this one I would not put anything past the psychotic bunker that is the Labour Party Mind. The reason why the conventional “climate movement” has been such a disaster is not because of Ed and Justin themselves, but because the movement still thinks that these miserable cowards are somehow “on our side”. They are absolutely not. They smudge, underplay, compromise, dampen, distort, distract and outright lie. On the greatest crime – the greatest evil, that is about crash down on us. They belong to organisations that plan this evil and then lie about this evil week in week out, year after year. What is more disgusting than that? As someone told me recently: when someone “starves” (nice-quick-word-don’t-need-to-think-about-it-too-much), they first see their animals die, then they see their children die, and then they die themselves ; slowly, agonizingly, alone. To engage in “policies” which continue produce oil and gas production, in full scientific knowledge that they will submit millions and soon hundreds of millions of people to this level of torture and then death, is pure evil. Period. Did anyone mention Rosebank? This is what those in our public life do. Shit on the weakest in our global communities in order to maintain their careers and status. Milliband and Rowlatt are the polar opposite of Ellsberg. Liberals once used to be revolutionaries when they needed to be – when things got really bad. A few such people are probably reading this post, but in 2023, 99% of them have sold their souls to death. A death which starts with the death of thinking as Hannah Arendt pointed out. I did a little experiment with Justin last year at Glastonbury. I produced convincing evidence that taking a stand against BBC complicity in mass murder was his most effective option. He entertained the evidence (and my nice graph) for less than a minute and then walked off. I did a video on You Tube about it – you can look it up. The rot sets in when people stop thinking – not least about what it actually really means to make people die of starvation. Revolution is brutal and savage – but it is now inevitable because people like Ed and Justin refused to make a stand. From now on it’s a matter of you being with us or against us – there is no middle ground. This is not rhetoric – it’s sociological determinism. Revolution splits brother from sister, family from family, community from community, splits a nation down the middle. But here’s the rub: the longer you delay it, like a cancer, the worse it plays out. In the next two to three years we have a short window to create a nonviolent democratic variant – to create assemblies and resistance communities to ready ourselves for when the hundreds dying of extreme heat (see the news from India last week) turn, in a matter of days, to millions. And like September 1914, nothing will be the same again. Global panic will spread like a pandemic. Because the truth will finally come out. We are in a global gas chamber, there is no escape – hell is “locked in”, and the people that duped us into trusting our murderers were our friends Ed and Justin. Now do you get it? Ed and Justin are not and never will be our friends. They are worse than our enemies. They are bad but worse they lie about being bad. Every successful revolution has two basic rules: destroy liberal reformism, the “middle ground”, and subvert the security forces. It’s the same every time. Some things don’t change. Oh stop being unpleasant Roger – just shut up, it’ll be over by Christmas. “Can’t we all just get along” as one nice lady put it to me after my Glastonbury talk last year. I said nothing. Sometimes you succumb to false compassion. I should have said “think about watching your kids starve to death each day for several weeks, and connect the dots from there”. Glastonbury won’t exist 10 years from now. They didn’t connect the dots either. It’s revolution or endless death now. Ellsburg was the real opposition. Just Stop Oil is the real opposition. Are you the real opposition? No really I am asking you – yes you reading this post. Do I sound mad? Absolutely I am mad. I am disgusted to the core of my being. \*”From the archives: [Daniel Ellsberg, Pentagon Papers leaker, turns himself in to authorities in 1971](https://youtu.be/3WmNP6QBSQs?ref=rogerhallam.com).” You Tube. ### A Million Pounds in a Week URL: https://rogerhallam.com/a-million-pounds-in-a-week/ Last updated: 2023-10-10T20:54:17.000Z An interesting episode at the end of the world and the beginning of the next one At the start of last week I was having one of my periodic bouts of anger and rage. The sort of thing we don’t like to admit to but I am sure plenty of you reading this know what I am talking about. You try to hold it in and pretend you are some sort of super cool nice person but you are not. I was feeling this particular bout towards rich people. The spasm involved variations on “why the fuck don’t they just give us the fucking money”. This may sound strange to romantic idealists who don’t get their hands dirty with the actual changing of the world, but those, like myself, on the frontline of getting stuff done know the world rotates around money (and yes other things of course but money is critical). In Just Stop Oil I am one of the people responsible for sorting this. And it often feels like getting blood out of stone. I know to “break through” we need £1.4 million. Note not 1.5 – I like to be precise! We have a good chunk of it but that is simply not going to cut it. I know. I have been doing this job for a while now. And we are running out of time. It’s fucking driving me mad. We need the money. Then on Tuesday I’m having a nice chat this guy Dale Vince. I think it’s fair to say he’s one of the most straightforward rich people I know. I am going through a few options with him. And he’s all fine them. If only everyone was like him. Out of the blue he says he’s on the frontpage of Daily Mail for financially supporting both the Labour Party and Just Stop Oil. A dangerous combination if ever there was one! I congratulate him – appearing on the front page of the Daily Mail is a necessary rite of passage for any self respecting radical. Later I suddenly get the idea maybe we can do a turnaround thing here. Use the Daily Mail against itself. Instead of diving for cover (the mind-blowingly cowardly NGO routine on tabloid attacks) we do the opposite. Come out fighting and up the odds. Dale goes public and offers to double any donation to Just Stop Oil for 48 hours. I speak to my extremely on the ball colleague Indigo (a good few of you will know she is a force to be reckoned with) and she goes – we have to move fast – strike while the irons hot. The organisation is good at moving fast – the teams pivot and within a few hours the texts are written, the mass emails sent out, and the channels and press releases are on the go. Within twenty four hours it’s big news – it’s in the papers. We have raised £200,000 and it’s not stopping. Meanwhile we are informed by shady sources – it’s all clock and daggers stuff – that the Labour Party is considering dropping its flagship new policy of no new oil and gas (adopted no doubt due to our campaign – even though Mr Starmer wants people like me in prison for longer – your position has been kindly noted Kier thanks). This apparently is due to the tabloid attack on their association with us. We suspect this is just “a move” – everything is just a move in such circles (truth is a foreign land to these people) – the subtext to us being: shut up and disappear. The dogma of Left/progressive defeatists is that we must all line up behind the sacred Labour Party, lick their arses, the pray to God they will not betray us again (they will). Later it transpires they are going to keep “the policy” – their nice technocratic word for deciding on the life or death of millions of poor people. Whatever. Meanwhile we are working on the next move. I contact the director Adam Mckay of “Don’t look up” and “The big short” fame (isn’t that the best film ever). He’s another one of the half dozen most cool rich people in the western world – there are only about 6 of them, believe me. I suggest he takes up the baton at 10am Friday when Dale’s offer stops. And that he triples it – donate £100 and Adam will donate £200\. A £1000 donation turns into £3000\. Take that Daily Mail – do your worst! Yep – life is short – he’s up for it. We work through the night to get the details sorted. We have now made almost a million quid in a week. Which is handy because it’s the end of the world and more importantly there’s the next world to build. And this is how it’s going to happen. One minute you will be spitting with rage, drowning in despair and then heaven breaks loose and the world changes in a week. Really that’s how it’s gonna happen. That’s how it always happens. There are really only two rules: Keep going – never stop When you make a decision – triple it! ### What is it about the climate movement that it can’t come? URL: https://rogerhallam.com/what-is-it-about-the-climate-movement-that-it-cant-come/ Last updated: 2023-10-10T20:54:46.000Z When is someone going to totally lose it? “The eternal body of the person is the imagination.” -W Blake A while ago, I travelled to Glasgow to speak at COP. I knew what I was going to do. I listened to Pink Floyd’s Echoes at Pompeii 10 times on the way up – one of the most immersive pieces of music ever recorded. I was ready. A force was moving me. It was going to happen. I think I said fuck 15 times in my “talk” that night. The explosion that comes from reading each day for five years science articles going everything will be fucked. And then just sitting there. There comes a point… I’ve been lying on my back with a leg broken in four places for four weeks in a semi-morphine-induced haze, and I imagined being asked to speak at the Big One. I saw myself push to the microphone and scream, “What the fuck are you doing – what the fuck is going on” on repeat 20 times before my time was up – spit and tears sticky on the microphone. I was crying, lying on my hospital bed thinking – really, is that what I have to do for this fucking movement. As if I have not done enough. I have to do this as well. Like some old testament guy being told to go and kill his son by God – what, I have to do this for you to prove my faith – after all, I have done for you. God goes, “Yep”. Fucking Life. Fucking Life. I’m 57 – there’s a good chance I will spend a good chunk of my last years stuck in some dark chasm of the empire of pain. And then die. Like millions of us. What a joke. Nervous breakdowns? The surprise is that the human race isn’t running around stark, raving mad – clinging onto this mortal coil. And the climate movement – knowing what it claims to know – and still not wanting to fuck. What could be more necessary, what could be more justified, essential? Ecstasy amidst the debris. People have been going on about the “Big One” – the media did not cover 60 000 nice people making the visceral bloody sacrifice of walking around London for an afternoon to stop the rotting corpses of tens of millions of refugees in the next decades. Of course, they will not cover it – you can’t seriously think they would. Do you watch a film where the guy goes up to the girl to give her a sheet of information about why he wants to make love with her? And then he goes home? What plot line is that? He’s got to stand in front of her, stare into her eyes, and go, “Look, I cannot fucking stop thinking about you; I am totally in love with you. I cannot live without you”. Everyone’s on the edge of their seats. That’s a story. To have a story, you must have people come – there has to be a climax. Sex is not separate from Life – in the ancient history of Revolution, this was 101 stuff – check out Marcuse and the 60s. It’s all one thing, a Revolution, great pop song – A great piece of art – The Passion of Christ. Music, Art, Religion – they all come. The climate movement cannot come. It marches up to the walls, turns round and marches back again. It’s fooling no one. Like my friend Ramon, a great London queen, would say– “stop fucking apologizing. Get a life – go and get fucked up. Life is Death. Yes, it is, baby. Free yourself from mental slavery.” Like Aaron on my Novara interview. Right through, my riff is – “let’s just go and fuck”, and each time he goes “, But we need to deconstruct “fuck”, we have to discuss fuck in China, we have to do Marx on fuck”. No, Aaron, we just need to go and fuck – then he goes, “That would not be wise” – the ultimate bourgeois Freudian slip. A generation betrays the life force. I’m hoping some young person reads this and decides to be “unwise”, and they go and lose it. Properly lose it, ideally, on Newsnight. As a teenager, I was nerdy tall and spotty – prime bully bait. Once, I was getting pushed and kicked. I then just lost it – something came through me, and my body went berserk. That was not roger hallam. Nothing so mundane – that was Life’s rage for itself. Rage – Life’s rage for itself – with that, we would win in a fortnight. Really. Take it from me – I’ve studied this shit. During Tahrir Square in the Egyptian Revolution – this woman goes onto youtube and goes along the lines: “I am going to the Square, and I don’t give a fuck what happens to me. I’m going to the square. You guys can sit around and do nothing, but I’m fucking going”. A million guys saw the video. Their shame overcame their cowardice. They went to the Square. And won. To come, you have to go to the Square and not go home at the end of the afternoon. This post was written listening to Prince – Kiss. Listen to the last 20 seconds. “I just want your extra touch” … the next 10 000 generations are crying out through me – they want me to tell you they want to feel your extra touch. Go and give them that extra touch. Read this next time you have to decide whether to do an action. Kiss ### The Moral Depravity of Virtue Signalling Solidarity - Novara Media URL: https://rogerhallam.com/the-moral-depravity-of-virtue-signalling-solidarity-at-this-time-of-mass-murder/ Last updated: 2023-10-10T20:55:01.000Z Let’s be clear. Showing “solidarity” in 2023 is not signing a letter, making a statement, not just going on a march, and certainly not doing another nice detached intellectual interview about obscene injustice. At the present moment doing these things is no longer just bad taste, it’s fucking disgusting. Or haven’t you seen what fast death and slow starvation look like – for those who don’t have the privilege to look away, to exit the situation, or to “take a break”? For those who face killing, not of their making, whichever way they turn. For whom there is no escape. And soon enough what is happening “over there” will be happening to us “over here”. When I was 18 I went to India to work with a civil rights organisation. I was a cocky teenager – thought I knew the score. The week before I arrived 20 striking textile workers got shot by the police. Then the murderers went into the villages of the workers and raped the women. I was knocked flat. Wiped out. The guy in charge told me words to the effect of “get the fuck back to the global north and bring down the governments that are creating this shit”. I will never ever forget the look in his eyes. I got a scholarship to the London School of Economics but left after a year to follow his instructions. And never looked back. After the start of Extinction Rebellion, I did around 100 interviews on the mass death project with journalists, up to about a year ago. Then I stopped. I realised it was rotting my soul. Talking about the suffering of people as if it was some sort of puzzling curiosity. The “issue”, the “problem”, the “solution”. There was a reason why the Nazis referred to their mass killing as a medical exercise. A question of hygiene. A scientific matter. When I go into an interview now I have one thing on my mind. Mobilisation. When asked about “China”, “violence”, and all the rest of it, I go “that’s not what I am talking about here”. I feel shit about it. I actually hate having to be disagreeable, rude, and divisive. But what I hate more is the rotting of my soul. The single biggest thing we need to do at this moment in time is to step into our power – which means stepping into our rage – which means actually expressing our rage: “You don’t fucking get to stand by while this shit is happening”. With a look in your eye like the look the revolutionary gave me in India all those years ago. Total certainty. Total commitment. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/roger-boat-banner-1.png) ## Join me In the Revolution of our lives Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No nonsense. Change your mind anytime. This is what the Rupture looks like. I love intellectual conversation. I live and breathe ideas. We all would rather be doing something else right. But the days of what we “would like to do” have gone. A friend from XR told me this week about this soul rotting trying to jump through the hoops of humiliation to get NGOs to be “partners” for the “The Big One” demonstrations in April. Efforts are being made to get the liberal elites to act but the window of opportunity for them is closing fast, as the surging of the repressed rage of the young grows by the month. The institutions of our societies are utterly moribund, in a suicidal death spiral of hypocrisy and cowardice. The depravity of showing “solidarity” while doing no such thing. To say it makes me sick doesn’t even approach how I feel. With what is at stake. With so little time. I confess to having a soft spot for Aaron Bastini. He is an example of what a leader of his generation could be but has not yet had the courage to become. Novara Media is in that disappearing no man’s land between siding in with the coming praxis of revolution or slipping back into the comforts of the “Left” media silo, talking to itself until the shelves are empty for them too. The comments below the video show the desperation and the impatience: “We want to act, we want to play our part” – in this great battle. The centre will not hold. There is no neutral ground. This system is finished. The great destiny of the younger generation is to act to build what comes next. Not to talk about it. The new leaders have to go out on the streets and put themselves in harm’s way. To look into the eyes of the oppressed and say, “Yes I will act in solidarity with you. Fuck yes.” And then to actually do it. Novara – the moment of decision is upon you. Sign up at Juststopoil.org My interview with Novara. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get with the job of sorting it out. [Support](#/portal/signup) ### I'm out of prison and mad as hell URL: https://rogerhallam.com/im-out-of-prison-and-mad-as-hell/ Last updated: 2023-10-10T20:55:15.000Z I got out of prison about a week ago after nearly four months. As you may know, I was imprisoned for making a 20 minute speech on zoom. That was it. I was on remand. I have yet to be convicted of any crime. I have not committed any crime. I am applying to the court to have the charge of “conspiracy to cause a public nuisance” dismissed. I did not conspire – I engaged in an act of speech. And what happened – the blocking of motorways by getting onto bridges, was not a public nuisance by any stretch of the imagination. Given what we face. Given what this society has done. What is now locked in. If the case is dismissed, I will look into suing for wrongful imprisonment. If they don’t dismiss it, I will be on the (nonviolent) war path. I know who I am and I know my rights. I will not stand by and have them violated. Not because of the harm it does to me personally. That is the last of my concerns. They can put me in prison whenever they want and for as long as they want. No, I am doing it because people died so that our generation and future generations could enjoy the freedoms and liberties of this country, and the last thing I am going to do is standby and betray those who made the ultimate sacrifice so I can live. That’s about as basic as it gets. I’m mad as hell and that’s a joyful place to be. Because only when you are as mad as hell – facing what we face, can you ever feel free in the real sense of the word. Only when you are mad as hell – facing what we face, can you have any respect for yourself. Only by being mad as hell then, can you be who you truly are. If you don’t get this in 2023, with respect, you simply don’t get what it means to live a life. My mother said to me “Life is for Living” – meaning, it is what is it and you stand up and face it. My last cellmate in prison was supposed to be there for two weeks. They messed up his paperwork and he didn’t get out for six weeks. What did he do? He got on with it. He wrote applications each day to various prison departments – all that stuff. When his girlfriend told him on the phone for the first time that she loved him, he was over the moon. He jumped off the top bunk in glee. He had been in a terrible car accident and should have died. Two months in a coma. He had a big dent on his head. He could only see out of one eye. He didn’t look that good. Had a drink problem and all the rest of it. But he was living his life. He’s my hero. Remember this is not a drill, as has been said. You’re reading this post. Fine then go and live your life – meaning doing whatever it takes to stop the apocalypse we face. Even if it kills you. Really – that’s what living a life means at this present moment. Just as it did in previous times of total crisis. I don’t know how I will end up and don’t much care anymore. I’ve seen over the mountain top, though no doubt often I will forget that I have. I’ve had a glimpse of what it is to be truly human. I will stride onwards. And it’s in this striding I will serve myself, humanity, and this world. Because at the end of the day it’s all one thing. There’s not much more that can be said than that. Thanks so much for all the supportive letters and postcards. See you on the streets x Image: Untitled (Fallen Angel), acrylic and oilstick on canvas. Jean-Michel Basquiat (1981) ### English Paradise URL: https://rogerhallam.com/english-paradise/ Last updated: 2023-10-10T20:55:46.000Z The essence of extremity is a paradox. When humiliation is piled upon humiliation, the result is desolation. And amid that desolation, there appears an escape door, the option of grace. For example, in prison, I have nothing that cannot be taken away from me. At any moment. I can get moved without notice. My detention can be extended. Recently, when I went to court, I returned to find a new inmate had been put in my cell. When the prison officers realised they’d made a mistake. They moved him out. And he took all of my food, clothes and bits and pieces. When I found out I was really mad for five minutes, and then I realised I had an escape door from my materialist determinism, as I would call it. I could see the ridiculousness of my situation, even the humour, what the fuck? How much worse could things get? Something had revealed itself to me. I started taking my notes for my ‘Designing the Revolution’ podcasts (link in the comments) to court with me. I realised though, I would have to force my rage if they were taken away from me. I knew I had the option to “do nothing”, and to just start writing out the project once again. It’s like when something annoying but small happens to you. You can’t help but be mad. But if things continue to go badly that day, you have an exit option. You throw up your hands and just accept the fuckedness of that day. You are strangely free of attachment. Not always of course, but more often than we admit. Particularly if you are aware of this paradoxical potential of misfortune and injustice, the exit door phenomenon. The exit door leads to a new world, a paradise, a realisation that all you have is your consciousness and this present moment. That’s it. You don’t ever genuinely “have” anything else, nor can this baseline ever be taken away from you. The idea that you have a “thing” is a materialist myth. This house is “my house”. Really? ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/roger-boat-banner-1.png) ## Join me In the Revolution of our lives Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No nonsense. Change your mind anytime. There is a limit to earthly power. Opposed to it is another power beyond hope and calculation. This is the power that brings down empires. Because when you have nothing, nothing can be taken away from you. The English Gulag, which I wrote about a while ago, miraculously gives birth to the English paradise. Not despite the Gulag being horrendously bad, but because it’s horrendously bad. There is a certain part of the contemporary left-wing culture that cannot handle this paradox. Its materialism likes things in black and white. Ambiguity is “false consciousness”. The notion that prison can be a space of spiritual revelation is heresy. That the oppressed can find a certain community in their fuckedness. Something that is denied to the progressive bourgeois classes; something that does not fit into their script. I have been to prison Seven times now and as a social scientist, I can vouch for ample evidence of ambiguity among prisoners’ states of mind. When prisoners say “fuck” in every sentence, they are retrieving some agency from their powerlessness. When they talk together, they often enact a deep humility and empathy with each other’s fuckedness. There is no pretence. This does not mean that they will, therefore no longer fuck up or be fucked up. Just that there is something, a power rarely seen in people outside who are “okay”. The paradoxical consequence of the imposition of leftist materialism is the suppression of this complexity. The imposing of a denial of the existence of the exit door, the denial of a type of power which has enormous emancipatory potential. In my view, the power and community, which comes through humiliation, are our secret weapon. “do as you will, you cannot touch me because I’m already free”. “I will disturb your injustice as I and I fear not for consequences”. This is the magic we are searching towards. The paradox is that the only way we will save this world will be when we transcend this world. Sort of makes you laugh… To sign up to civil resistance, please email: ring2021@protonmail.com ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get with the job of sorting it out. [Support](#/portal/signup) ### The Joy of Consent URL: https://rogerhallam.com/the-joy-of-consent/ Last updated: 2023-10-10T20:56:32.000Z “Not guilty” again Today I was found unanimously not guilty of a conspiracy to cause criminal damage without lawful excuse. Namely, putting paint over the premises of NGOs, trade unions and political parties. I successfully argued with my 11 co-defendants, Burning Pink/Beyond Politics, that these organisations would have given their consent if they had been fully aware of the climate catastrophe. This is the second time the British state has failed to bamboozle a jury into having me convicted of a crime. Is there a pattern here? My thanks to Will McCallum, Co-director of Greenpeace for doing the decent thing and coming in to give evidence. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of those in authority at Amnesty, Christian Aid and the Green Party. Now is the moment for movements to enter into a respectful dialogue to address our responsibilities in the light of great radical traditions as we face the ultimate violation of our values. (you can message me) I have never had the privilege of working with such a gloriously moral bunch of Co-defendants. Thanks, guys. Onwards. ### The Death of the Queen URL: https://rogerhallam.com/the-death-of-the-queen/ Last updated: 2023-10-09T20:16:36.000Z Last night I met with other strategists to consider the response of our various civil resistance networks to the day’s news. I have the greatest of respect for my friends in that meeting but we allowed ourselves to be reduced to working out how her death can be “used” rather than looking at the “meaning” of what has happened. I will “admit” that when I sat down and read about the death I shed a tear. If I had the courage I would have properly cried. Not because I know the queen in any personal sense or even because I am upset about the death in itself, but because of its emotional meaning in an expansive sense. Because this death, like all death, is an end – and I have a sense of being thrown out into a new cold and meaningless void. I am struck with a sense of something I will never cognitively gasp and yet I was thrown into it against my will. I am 56\. I privately think about death every week. All at the same time I feel sickening terror, a dull “English” desperation, a lostness and aloneness, and then a feeling that no thought process is ever going to lead to a resolution. Death is beyond the grasp of something as limited as conscious analysis. It is not surprising that the social media amplified voices of the repressed, so-called “radical left” screeching their disgust that we should mourn the death of “that woman” while the silent majority on chats feel a vague revulsion at such ugliness. The “radical left”, like their mirror image - the capitalist class - cannot grasp that a thing is never a thing in itself. “That women”, like “production figures”, these “resources” are not “things” but only arbitrary points in the unfathomable flow and depth of dynamic reality. The death of the queen is a collective psychic event, part of the ever-churning chain of being that is a society. People mourn because we sense we are part of this reality – death reminds us of it. That we are not atomised individuals. Death is deeply socially functional because it reminds us of our mortality – and thus reconnects us to our deepest values and loyalties. And we look anew at those around us and our responsibilities. At the sources of what gives us meaning. This does not mean I am naïve about the politicisation of such processes. How they are used to reinforce a savage class and imperialistic system. The Right will be out in force in the next fortnight feasting on this event to reinforce the obscene lie that submission to the global capitalist monster is somehow an expression of the perennial conservative worldview. It is not. It is a disgusting violation of that worldview, as guilt-stricken Tory MPs I have talked to are well aware. Only their catastrophic cowardice prevents them from speaking out. Going back to the “strategy”. There is a masochistic impulse in the reformist climate movement to always step back, and go silent, once the “real issues” and “real events” enter the public space – Covid, the Ukraine war, the election of the new Prime Minister, and now the death of the queen – a house slave deference to the death machine. Today this death machine is manifested not on the slave estate or in the genocidal “clearing” of specific colonial lands but in the project to clear whole continents, the whole planet, of disposable humanity. Not through guns and bombs but the release of carbon. What we see in Pakistan, a third of the country under water, is the latest outcome of our collective indifference to global genocide. No, what we need to do over the next two weeks is insert our presence into the public space with even greater vigour. And declare to this government and their controllers: “Our Queen who you declare your love – whose values of service and resilience you claim to follow – is now dead. When you drill for more oil you violate everything she stood for – you shit on the future of these lands, on our peoples, on our traditions. You are engaged in a vile and monstrous lie. You take life and you destroy it. You are not “in service” you are “in addiction" to your murderous selfishness. You are traitors not just to this country, not just to humanity, but to Life itself. And over our dead bodies will you perpetuate your lie. We are here, we are never going away. And we will overcome.” As ever more people are slammed in prison and beaten up, ever more will come forward. The great paradox is that allowing ourselves to absorb the reality of death gives us the courage to battle the forces of everlasting darkness. Death gives us our furious love of Life. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get with the job of sorting it out. [Support](#/portal/signup) ### Finding Our Religion URL: https://rogerhallam.com/finding-our-religion-2/ Last updated: 2023-10-09T15:26:01.000Z ### Preamble: On God I have been speaking a lot to the theologian Carmody Grey. She’s asking what I consider to be the most explosive question of our time: “Why is it that we are the most advanced, knowledgeable and well-educated population in the history of humanity and yet we have utterly failed to stop the locking in of the greatest episode of human suffering and injustice in history – catastrophic climatic and ecological breakdown?” Camody's Talk If you are tempted to give shallow answers to this question I would encourage you to ask yourself the question several times until your answers start to make you deeply uncomfortable. Because the real answers to this question are nothing less than a devastating critique of not only our way of life but the very way we look upon our “selves” and the “world”. I chose the title of this post in opposition to REM’s song “Losing my religion”. These three words sum up everything that is going wrong. We have assumed that religion is a personal matter (“my” religion) – it is not. And we assume it is possible to “lose it”- it is not. The reason why we have failed to act, Carmody suggests, is that our dominant secular rationalist paradigm is obsessed with the nonsense that people change due to being given information: just giving people more facts like a computer – 30 years of them. In fact (as it were) people only engage and act when they realise their core values are being violated. Facts in themselves mean nothing. They are just numbers. What we need to start talking about is the Sacred. She suggested another question to me last time we met. “To what do we owe our deepest loyalties?” – a seemingly straightforward enough question but it is packed full of existential dynamite if you find the courage to keep asking yourself this question. In the early days of XR, we had a go-round in a press spokesperson training session. People had to role play their response to the question (no surprise) “why are you disrupting the public”. We had several go rounds. At first, people gave superficial generalised answers. But within ten minutes people were in tears. They got to the bedrock: “it’s because I love my younger sister so much and I can’t bear to see her suffer”. To what do you owe your deepest loyalty in a time of social breakdown? You too will be in tears once you answer this question truthfully. The point is this. You cannot rationally or empirically justify your deepest loyalty – loyalties emerge, you sense them, and you are them. They come through you. They are - admit it – non-rational and yet they are all we have. Having them is what keeps us sane. Without them, we fall into the abyss of the destruction of ourselves/the world. Some people suggest we need to dabble in a bit of “religion” the way bureaucrats want to dabble in a bit of “sustainability”. The days of dabbling are long gone. The Freedom Riders did not dabble. They did not stop in Virginia and get a little ticking off. No, they went into the heart of darkness – the most fascist state in the US, Alabama. They were beaten up, hospitalised, and imprisoned. Everyone hated them. They exploded into the obscenity of racism. That’s how you change history. To save ourselves, to change history in 2022, we have to explode into the obscenity of materialist individualism – nothing less. People do not even see what this is – just as the white population of the American South did not “see” racism in 1961\. You do not see something you swim in and have always swum in. To get people to see their materialist individualism (this world is the only world, and I am real and the only important thing) you have to declare you are going to do nothing less than to create a new Religion. You have to publicly declare for God, and that those that go against the will of God will go to hell. You have to drive into the dark psychic heart of the putrid “rationalist” hubris that has us standing by while the world burns. For 200 years or more we have all been subject to the diabolical frame behind the question “does God exist?” To decide to answer this question is by definition to accept a Godless world – a world without enchantment, mystery or awe. This is because the very presumption of this question removes the possibility of anything other than either “existence” or “non-existence”. This rigid binary is the most destructive nonsense in our culture today. “Does our “self” exist? Yes? So show me where it is – give me the material evidence. Show me the damn thing. You stupid idiot – how can you believe in the self when is it nowhere to be seen? It cannot exist.” “Does the past, the future exist? Yes? Where is the past – show it I damn you. It is nowhere. It does not exist.” As soon as you separate the world into “existence” and “non-existence” you are forced to destroy everything of value, everything that gives meaning - the imagination, the emotions, the sensibilities, the sense of looking at ourselves – you destroy life itself. Where the fuck is “life”? No one can “show” you “life”. According to materialism, “in fact”, there is nothing but dead matter - the brutal world of lifelessness. This is why the most secularised “educated” populations in the world sit on their arses and don’t give a fuck – because they can’t even see any life to be saved. They can only see stuff. And stuff is dead. God “just is” – so get off my back. Stop stressing about it. Stop asking if God exists or not – stop being such a fundamentalist literalist. Like the word “self” – it is a name for something, something which cannot be named. We “know” many “things” that cannot be named, that cannot be seen – existence or non-existence does not even come into it. We expelled God to pretend we can do away with a pluralistic sense of self. We made the self an atom and the world a world of atoms – hard, separate, dead. We are destroying the world because we are already dead. We killed our “selves” when we killed “God”.To go into the heart of darkness in 2022 is to kill the killer of God. Only once we rescue God from death can our souls breathe again – only then can the story of life re-begin. Can enchantment return? Can we return from “facts” to stories? There can be no life, no soul no conscience without God – meaning without a sense of the divine, an awareness of the sacred. All these sensibilities are a team and each element is essential for all the rest. Once we rescue God, once God returns to the story, then can we again become whole – whole by submitting to God. God is us and we are God. This is not a fact, it’s not a debate, – it is a story, and it is no less “real” for “just” being a story. Open yourself up to this world of many dreams before you die before you have even started to live. It’s the same with Religion. You can’t have a bit of religion – it's either/or. It’s faith or eternal darkness. Without faith, there can be no reason, no sanity, no compassion. Faith is the decision to believe, knowing that there can never be any ultimate rational foundation for either metaphysics or ethics. We do not maintain our decency by logic but by intuition. Balance is a function of collective sense-making not a series of deductions that always ends up sending us into the abyss of nihilism. The question Carmody asks is not “do you have a religion” but rather “what religion do you have”. Not “do you love” but “what do you love”. And on the answer to that question, God will tell you who you are. You can’t serve yourself, that’s a contradiction in terms, you can only serve Good or Evil. On some things, you have no choice but to choose. And this choice is the most important choice of your life. Once you emerge out of the fishbowl into this new way of seeing the world – armed with God, armed with a Religion of Life – the sense of freedom is immense. The world is spirit and spirit by definition is free. Materiality was just another myth like any other myth. We are here in this life to master ourselves and the world is no more (or less) than a stage on which to enact this mastery. My chat with Carmody ### The advantages of God - The Dogma. The love. A friend of mine looked at my plans for a new religion and said it was “fun” but he did not like the “dogmas”. He thought it was fun because he thinks you can have religion without dogmas. Dogmas are as essential to social life as air is to biological life. Dogma is that you don’t rape your sister. Dogma is that you don't kill your babies. The oldest dogma is that you do not do unto others what you would not have them do to you. In modern society this dogma no longer holds. The modern dogma is you do nothing while creation burns. Anthropologically speaking dogma is a means by which a society can maintain itself. It can allow no argument because argument opens up the possibility of contention and contention can only lead to dissolution and thus an existential threat to society. Societies go through convulsions as a dogma which is no longer functional has to die and a new dogma that serves the new objective conditions emerges. One regime, in the widest sense of the word, has to die for another to come into existence. A society often literally has to die for a new one to emerge or take its place. Now, for the first time, there is only one society in the whole world. It has to die to give birth to another society. Or it will literally die in the flames of Nature’s revenge. In its murderous hatred for itself. A new set of dogmas – a reinvention is necessary. The advantage of God is that it allows for transcendence – the life-transforming realisation that we are not our “selves”. Without this, we are doomed before we start. Dogmas are metaphysical, not ethical. You do not do unto others as you would have them do unto you because it is right, but because to do otherwise is the ultimate transgression of what is it to be who you are because to do otherwise is a violation of the sacred. You do not do the good to be good. You do the good because to do good is to enact the essence of your consciousness. You are good, creation is good, and the world is good. This is a dogma. It cannot be denied otherwise the whole edifice of humanity collapses. Some things cannot be questioned. Resilience is rooted in this self-knowledge, not anything as impermanent as “ethics”. In these End Times, the world can no longer be the centre of the world – people can only take much of “reality”, meaning the material world, as was TS Elliot’s assessment. The world has to become the world of the spirit – idealism replaces materialism, “God” replaces “Man”. Resilience is rooted in the collective, not in the candle in the wind which is the old fragile consumerist self – ever fearful because everything outside itself is separate, disconnected, and thus a threat. This is the hell of narcissism. The central dogma of the new religion, the new regime – is this: Only in service to the Good can we become what we already are. Only in Love – defined as acting to promote the well-being of the other – do we express the essence of what it is to be human. We are not a blank slate. We are children of God. A half beast half God. In eternal suspension. The nature of this reality was the central focus of cultures for thousands of years. Only the arrogance of our sliver of time, called modernity, has led us to believe it is no longer important. This is the reality: We are not alone. We are intricately bound together with others, and in that togetherness, we enter into communion with God. The modern lonely “self” was invented. It can be un-invented. We can return to our common purpose of attending to the well-being of others. In other words, the deepest and eternal dogma is this: We Are All One. This is the final realisation. We were all one all along. And always will be. Love is incompatible with standing by in the face of injustice because injustice is a violation of Love. There can be no separation here between the private and the public. Love – the essence of Love – is an act, the act to combat Evil which is the opposite of Love. Love is connection. Evil is disconnection. Love is the process of creating a connection that comes through the disruption of Evil, through the struggle with Evil. True love is manifested as disruption and struggle – it is militant and uncompromising. All forms of quietism and fatalism violate humanity because they attempt to abandon humanity. Humanity is One – it is a whole – you cannot insulate your “self” off from the rest of humanity, from the evil that is happening around you. Love is direct action. Until there is only Love there is no Rest. The reason for Evil is for God to answer not us. The calculation on whether we win or is not for God to answer, not us. Our job is only to become who we are – that is, to step into the path of God and remain on that path. There is no separation between who we truly are and Love – and there is no separation between Love and the overcoming of Evil. Love cannot step away from looking Evil in the face– it can never live in the false comfort of temporary privilege. Love is manifested only in the act of overcoming Evil. This is the practical program of the new dogma. We can give all other questions to God. We are not here to reason why, we are here to love. We do not need to know why things are the way they are, or whether or not we will win. That is the path of humanism, or separation, of burnout, delusion, or despair. All these things can be given to God. God in other words sets us free. Without God, when we look at ourselves in the mirror we see, to our horror, only ourselves. We must take on the full burden of this world. Very soon we will not be able to bear this burden any longer – our souls are not designed for such a weight. Our souls are designed to rest in the lap of the Mother. That is why without God we will be lost in suffering as this world burns. Whereas in devotion to God we return home to the way things should be, and to the way the world truly is. Our role is to Love and let go of all the rest. If our love brings about the Revolution so be it, if not so be it. Either way, the stars will still be shining in the nighttime sky. God is always with us whether we acknowledge it or not. This then is what I mean by finding our religion. Giving up on the materialist delusion – already shattered by modern physics, echoing the lost mystical traditions. Giving up on the masochism of narcissism in a time of social collapse. Giving up on intellectualism at a time when the hubris of our plan to go it alone without God, has clearly failed those with eyes to see. God is waiting, and with God by our side, we will take down the Empire of Evil. Or die trying. This is the real meaning of “the fight for our lives”. Transcendence and Disruption. No Regrets. ### To Act is our Religion. People say that you cannot get yourself to believe something even if you think it would be good to believe it. I used to believe this but I recently met a rich guy (very rich). He had got divorced and it had driven him into a spiritual crisis and he made a decision to give up on the material view of the world. Everything instead he decided is consciousness. We spoke about the three D’s – divorce, disease and death. All of them make a mockery of the idea of a life of meaningless work and consumption. Now he is going to give his money away to climate action. I’m with Pascal – take yourself into the ritual of religion and you soon find yourself absorbed into the enchantment of the world of spirit. When you face death you pray to God, whether or not God “exists” becomes an irrelevance. As the material world becomes ever more hellish due to climate collapse and its social effects, belief in it – the religion of materialism - will become ever more unsustainable. Some will turn to hedonism, others to sadism, and others to escapist quietism. These religions will not save us. To find our true religion – a religion which will save the world - we need something like what I laid out in the previous two posts. The entry point is the rediscovery of God – as part of a family of similar rediscovered sensibilities – the good, conscience, consciousness, awe, enchantment, and spirit. And we find these sensibilities in the only place they can be found at present - in the act of social revolution. This religion is based on acting for the Good: the pro-social intolerance of evil – the obscenity of injustice. This can only be done when we release ourselves from the ego: to find meaning through public disruption of the empire of death – and give up the old religion of stuff and deathliness. It is proactive. It aims to take over the world. What is laid in these posts is not a thought experiment – a fringe project. It is THE PROJECT. It requires organisation, hierarchy, money, and strategy. It is a collective material project which comes out of the rejection of the material. This paradox is at the heart of the genius of its transformative power. Instead of being a religion of the material which destroys the material (i.e., the present system), it is a religion of the spirit which saves the material. Only when you lose yourself (enter the spirit) will you find yourself (save the world). This religion will move into politics and take over the state. It will take over economics and create a steady state economy. It will take over social relations and create a culture of universal rights. It will be the salvation of this world by transcending this world. Only when you embrace this contradiction will you be able to overcome the pathological contradictions of our politics, economy and society. The details will have to be worked out. What is written here is a draft. But the details will not be created in the academy, not the quiet retreat, but on the streets, in the sites of social struggle. There will be no monolith but neither will there be a chaos of initiatives. Success resides in a middle way – a close ecology of social formations in which half cooperate and half compete to find and then roll out the new social and psychological technologies of the post-carbon age. This is no escape from the world – but at the same time, we are not of this world. The world's a stage and as such, we need not be attached to it, and this is how it will come to be saved. Humanity is to be invited into an adventure of the spirit. This is its Destiny, in partnership with that part of itself that is God. The Divine. The Pure Spirit. I am working with others on launching this religion – its structures, its rituals, its transgressive agenda. It may not take off or it may create the grounds for another initiative that does, or it may go nowhere. No matter. I am not attached. We are here to enact the spirit within the material. We are already free and in this freedom, we have the best chance of releasing ourselves and the world from eternal death. This is what it means to be truly alive at the present time. --- Sign up for civilresistance at juststopoil.org ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get with the job of sorting it out. [Support](#/portal/signup) ### 34th Most Influential Person in British Progressive Politics URL: https://rogerhallam.com/number-34/ Last updated: 2023-10-07T09:25:22.000Z I know it is outrageously self-promoting to do a blog post to say the New Statesman has put me as the 34th most influential person in progressive politics in the UK (or something like that)… But I do, I hope, have a serious general point to make. Since I arrived in London around 7 years ago to start my PhD research at King’s College, knowing no one and having no network, I have been told continually that if I speak what I believe to be the truth and act upon it, I will make myself “irrelevant”. I have always thought this is total bollocks. As a matter of principle, I am into speaking the truth and if that makes me irrelevant I have always thought – “well so be it”. But all my research and experience have persuaded me that paradoxically it also happens to be the smartest and most effective strategy. Which is sort of handy of course. The reason for this is that the system as we know is collapsing around us and thus the bullshit of denial and distraction mounts up by the month. Those who speak the truth then cut through in these “end times”. The tragedy of the political class (many key representatives of which are on the NS list) is that they simply cannot conceive of making decisions outside a narrow utilitarian reductive focus – for them, there is only one question: “Will it give us/me power”. This is why people hate them so much and why they are doomed.The future, if there is to be one, will be based upon the gloriousness of humanness – ordinary people calling a spade a spade and getting on with the enormous jobs we have in front of us. I am dedicated to designing strategies to remove power from the elites who got us into this terrible mess and put the people into power via assemblies.I personally have zero interest in “power” – I just want to get shit down – and, to the best of my ability, do so with integrity and decency.So maybe next year I won’t be on the list at all. On the other hand…. (you never know!) Thanks to all of you for all the work you are doing. Onward. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get with the job of sorting it out. [Support](#/portal/signup) ### SNAP - To Begin Afresh. URL: https://rogerhallam.com/the-big-one/ Last updated: 2023-10-09T20:13:53.000Z A cheerful post for the weekend of the “Big One”. Okay so here is a cheerful post – which is not really my style as you know. And yes it truly is cheerful though in a certain way as you will see in a minute. The basic idea is something we have all experienced – you are in a crappy relationship, or a shitty job (or regime) and one day you just snap. Maybe you flip around a bit but fundamentally something changes in you. You leave your partner or your career – or become a revolutionary – the regime is over for you. It’s great as you know. At last the liberation of THE DECISION. But this is the real world, there is still the washing up to do and all the kickbacks and complications and stuff, but fundamentally you do that most human of things – made the decision to make a change. To begin afresh. Well of course I have been going on about doing this change for a good while now. The decision to leave behind the psychic quagmire of reformist, gradualist depravity. The spiritually and intellectually soul-destroying world of dishonesty and expediency. To face the reality of this system we live under is utterly and irredeemably fucked. It just is – isn’t it? Let me give you two examples from the past few weeks. I took my kids to a kids’ museum thing and it had stuff from there from the Amazon (all good in 1990) but there was a note by one of the displays saying coolly that the forest will be gone in 40-80 years. Then on another note, it said the world's coral reefs will be gone in 10-20 years along with 25% of the world’s fish supplies. Like it was saying something like “Please take your litter home with you”. The children entered and exited the display areas just like they would have 50 years ago. There was no panic. It was just that in plain sight they have been told that their future is going to be totally fucked. Then there was a video on artificial intelligence put on youtube by the two guys who did the big documentary on social media for Netflix. They merrily told us over half of the “top” people in AI think that AI has at least a 10% chance of causing human extinction. So just read that again. Half of the supposedly brightest people in the world are engaged in a project with at least a 1 in 10 chance of killing 8 billion people. I’m laughing as I write this because I would never have believed 20, 30, 40 years ago that I could have lived in a society which accepted such things completely… something. But here’s the cheerful thing. I think that we are finally getting to the point when a critical mass of people, in Western societies at least, are ready … not to want to have to die for all these bollocks. Part of the story here is that there is a pervasive and necessary depressiveness about doing anything that is going to just “try to improve things” – why – because obviously until we change everything we will be unable to change anything and so why attempt to change any “thing”. There is an undeniable logic to our desolation and despair. But this is a dark hour just before dawn type of “thing”. Because so many people are now ready to change everything in order to be able to save anything. Maybe we will not succeed but as I have said in many of my posts – it is better than sitting around waiting for the “brightest” people on the planet while you die. I could give you a bunch of data points here but I will go into them in future posts. I don’t think I’m bullshitting you about this. Because I’m not that type of person as I hope you know. What I do want to do is just give you a taster outline of a top-level design that I am working on with a great bunch of other people. Of course, it is not the final deal but it points I think in the direction of travel. First – it has to be organised – have a core of trusted and competent people that can run a big operation with integrity and a profound sense of service to the historical moment we face. Second – it has to take control of the state. Yes, there are a load of complications and pitfalls here but a project simply is not credible unless it is going to go into the pit of Mordor as you might say. Third - and in a way this is the most exciting thing – it has four interlocking elements which move forward in mutually supporting iterations. That phrase is a bit of a mouth full but there are no good words in the English language for how flows in the social space work – how society changes. The four elements are resistance (civil disobedience), assemblies (citizens, local, peoples), culture (production, financial support and amplification) and elections (local and national) … the latter with a demand that removes the political class from power and replaces it with a checks and balances system of assemblies of ordinary people (randomly selected – ie “sortition”). And yes just in case you thought otherwise capitalism is going to have to go. Any of these projects on their own has become boring and depressing because we have lots of experience of them not working. But altogether – the whole is not just greater than the sum of the whole but a gateway to a whole new social universe. A semi-decent twentieth-first century rather than the selection of horror shows our elites are serving for us. I am going to leave it like that for the moment. But don’t doubt for a minute that this is not a totally 100pc serious proposition. And more details will be coming down the road. As we said at the beginning of XR – it will most likely be a “glorious failure” – but any glorious success can only be built on the glorious failure. Or as we used to joke, we go first and then the French come in and finish the job. I thought I would write this post on the weekend of the Big One. We could all write lots about why it simply is not enough and all the rest of it – but we all know that. The point is that it is happening and we know what we are all thinking. The point is that what comes next has to be the real thing – and thus has to be designed to be the real thing. That’s the job for all of us now. With all the humility and love we can muster. I am writing this from a hospital bed. See the picture. I fell off my bike and crushed my leg bone. But I’m still writing a cheerful post. So really you don’t have any excuse, do you? Enjoy the Big One if you are going to it. Remember to do the JSO slow marches if you are in the UK (sign up below). But most of all remember we are going to have the biggest life experiences imaginable in the next decade and we all need to stick by each other and push on through. And be cheerful about it. Lots of love from the hospital! x (thanks to the NHS) To sign up to civil resistance, please email: ring2021@protonmail.com ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get with the job of sorting it out. [Support](#/portal/signup) ### The Law in the Face of the Absolute URL: https://rogerhallam.com/the-law-in-the-face-of-the-absolute/ Last updated: 2023-10-09T20:12:46.000Z We might say that the law is a mechanism for finding approximate justice on finite matters - Was X justified in the light of Y? It exists in a realm separate from the absolute. So, when it comes face-to-face with it, it does not know how to respond. The absolute, formally speaking, refers to a sense of infinity in a religious or mathematical way. More humanly, we get a sense of it when we experience the ecstasy of love or a feeling of awe in the presence of nature. And negatively in the face of radical evil, Auschwitz and of course, now as we are faced with the prospect of human extinction, due to ecological and climate collapse. We can see that the contemporary practice of law is part of the wider neoliberal project. Its technical, precise, utilitarian, and short-termist with its central paradox, is that the more intelligent it is in excelling at in box analysis, the more stupid it becomes in being able to look outside that box. This finds its alternate consequence in Hannah Arendt's 'Banality of Evil'. The Nazi Eichmann was, after all, just excelling at technical precision working within a system to be optimised. I bring all this up because I am going through a five-week court case. During this case, I have been able to present legal arguments including the reality that there is substantial evidence that human extinction is now locked in due to the crisis. This, I argue, creates an overwhelming case, an absolute case, for a right of the necessity defence. Those familiar with the "banality" of the British judiciary, will not be surprised that the right of necessity was ruled out by the judge. But what was interesting was that he acknowledged the threat of the reality of human extinction in his written legal summary of the case. And then he just left it sitting there in the text. There was no attempt to engage with this reality or interrogate the notion of extinction. When facing the absolute, the judge simply could not see it or chose not to see it. This avoidance enabled him to regress into the social lie that "climate change" is "essentially political" - a matter for the democratic process. The absolute is relegated to the profane. A sacrilegious Act, as you might say. The objective is reduced to this subjective matter of "conscience", or "individual belief". Our contemporary holocaust becomes a matter of opinion. Holocaust denial, you might say, if that is not too close to the bone. This deceit was exposed by the rejection of a political configuration of a Nazi obscenity, by the Resistance movements in World War Two. I have recently read about resistance undertaken by theologically conservative Catholics in France. They were clear of the imperative to engage in spiritual resistance when faced with evil. This reality transcended the mundanity of "the political". For some time after the war, you can see that the "social and existential fat" of national trauma has prevented the resurgence of the banal technicality. When you have seen your brothers blown to bits following the letter of the law has limited appeal. When the editors of the Washington Post were told by lawyers, they risked jail if they exposed government lies behind the Pentagon Papers. They chose to break "the law". Would that happen now? No, it would not. Our society is too far removed. We have returned to Orwell's sleepy Shire, shy of Hobbit lawyers for whom Mordor is a distant memory. It's this juxtaposition that underlies Tolkien's great imagination, based upon his experience of the WWI trenches. When I read the judges' written summary of legal arguments, I said to one of the defence lawyers that it was treasonous (which of course it was). He looked at me as if I had asked him for sex. The bourgeois suppression of the sexual is closely related to its suppression of the absolute. For a while, I thought Extinction Rebellion could break this taboo. After all, it's in the title, the end of the human race, the schools... all that. As co-founders, I think we intended XR to be as much a religious project as a political one in the wider sense of the word. But alas, once the utilitarian rationalists of the English middle class had taken over ("I only want to get arrested if it's worth it"), it got returned to the fold of another "environmental group" as the guardian likes to call it, they only see what they want to see. I am sure some of you reading this felt the initial excitement about what XR was reaching towards - a transcendence of the secular/religious binary, the humanisation of the political and the fumbling towards the absolute. I am confident that what will come to fruition in the next few years is a more mature formulation of the XR prototype. A recognition that everything, meaning everything, will change because everything is going to change. That's what facing the absolute means. \-- To sign up for civil resistance, email: ring2021@protonmail.com ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get with the job of sorting it out. [Support](#/portal/signup) ### After Despair: Awakening to the Revolution in 2023 URL: https://rogerhallam.com/revolution-in-2023/ Last updated: 2023-10-08T14:10:05.000Z I've been to prison a good few times (and I'm still here), and when I get out people go "was it really bad in there?". I always feel like saying, "yes, it was, for the same reason it's really bad being out of prison". Meaning just about every day, I find myself having feelings of utter despair, about the horror and terror that is coming down the road for humanity. Sometimes I can't help myself, prodding this monster. Sometimes, the monster jumps out of me and consumes me. I am helpless to resist. There is no reasoning out of the abyss. It seems to come and go of its own accord. When it is particularly bad, all I can do is stare into space. My partner gives me a massage and I sleep. And often I'm blessed with it disappearing by the morning. Sometimes though, it can go on for weeks. It is as if I travel into the future. A vision happens. There is a cascade and compounding of desolations, extreme weather beyond any experience, the devastation of crops and cities, slaughter and rape, mental breakdowns, suicide, and infanticide. Coming and going and coming back year after year, decade after decade, until there is only a deathly silence, a final endless void. a final endless void. I feel embarrassed writing this like I should at this point put down a few facts and figures "to support my viewpoint". But I and others have been doing this meticulously for years now, to no avail. This is not a viewpoint but a world of emotional reality. It is the greatest tragedy of the human condition, that denial, the avoidance of all of this, is so functional. We cannot socially operate without it. And at the same time, it is so appallingly dysfunctional in that it is denial that prevents us from stopping the horrors from happening. And it is the greatest paradox of human existence, that it is the very experience of going through the hell of despair that gives individuals the miraculous strength to stand up to injustice and achieve the impossible. To provide a pathway, if there is going to be one, out of a catastrophe we are entering. This is the perennial story, the dark night of the soul, the hero's journey. In our society, all this is avoided and ignored or kept behind the screen. Sanitised and mystified. But actually, nothing is more real than this, or as messy. Some seem to avoid it, others fall into the pit and never get out, and others come out and then fall back in. There is no certainty. But the general path is clear enough. It has been told countless times in our histories and in the great stories of our cultures. In modern language, we might call this the death of the ego. In the present context, I would call it the death of "the reformist ego". The moment of revelation here is that we are not actually despairing of the world, but rather despairing of our “selves”. A certain idea of the "self", we have been given. Waves of agony, literally burn this "self" to death. This is the "self" which desires to do our bit, that wants to be nice, to go with the crowd. The "self" that hopes it will be all okay. That it will not need to sacrifice its status, its assets, its relationship; family, career, or property. It's all bollocks. The raging fire of self-contempt shatters the lies we live by. This process is the exact opposite of the perversion of "regenerative culture" into self-love - the idealisation of the self. It's the opposite of "deep adaptation", in so much as this phrase refers to the escape into a privileged individualism and politicisation. It is the burning flame of social revolution that will bring down and take over the carbon regimes. This is utterly un-abstract. Is the concreteness of a collapse of the global neoliberal edifice. Its power holders will beg us to take over from the chaos they have created through decades of lies and deceit. I remember a senior diplomat from COP privately pleading with XR co-founders to come and close down the chile conference. They are all zombies and they know it. 30 years of false promises. This then is the awakening to the revolution. The explosion of a collective desire for redemption and salvation. Only those that have been through the agony of the dark valley can provide the leadership to bring the people to the mountaintop. So goes the universal myth. It becomes real, all too real, in the enactment of new sociability, and collectivity, combined with the miracle of innovation and organisation to rapidly decarbonise and engage in earth repair. Only a revolution can do this. And only a revolution will be able to save us. There is everything to play for. In fact, the story has only just begun. Insulate Britain, Just Stop Oil, and the other A22 Network campaigns around the Western world, are just the prelude. Our task now is to revive the vision of the world we'll be calling out for, as an alternative to the universal death proposed by performative nihilism and pathological fascism. It is difficult to write this post and I am sure I have not done justice to the great depths and variety of experiences involved in these processes. I hope, along with others, to develop the practical details of this revolution in the coming year. And I will write about this in Facebook posts and speak about it in my new series of podcasts/videos "Designing the Revolution". But it is vital that we collectively acknowledge that there is no reason without passion - as our radical traditions make clear, perspectives rediscovered by modern psychology. Self-love must be sacrificed in order for us to move into service to the other, to the universal. The reformist ego must be burned to death in order for us to awaken to the revolution. We need to get our existential ducks in a row. And then... Onward! To sign up for civil resistance, please email: ring2021@protonmail.com ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get with the job of sorting it out. [Support](#/portal/signup) ### English Gulag URL: https://rogerhallam.com/english-gulag/ Last updated: 2024-06-24T15:53:34.000Z About nine weeks ago, I did a 20-minute speech on the crisis. Just like the 100+ public talks I have done over the past year. Destroying sovereign states, creating billions of refugees, shitting on our children's inheritance, and wiping out what's left of the natural world justifies concrete acts of civil disobedience. Obviously. Scarlet Howes from The Sun newspaper made a recording, she gave it to the police and made a deal. The Sun would get to film my arrest when the police came into my flat. I was not there when it happened. They took my laptop and other stuff like they do every few months. They changed the locks and left a note for me to come to the police station. They arrested me. 36 hours in a police cell. The interview by the police involved 200 Questions. 200 times I said "No comment". Not one question on me talking about James Hansen, ex-head of NASA, and his colleagues' latest memo confirming the world will pass 1.5 degrees in 2024\. Not one question on me saying that the worst episode of suffering and injustice in human history more than justifies nonviolent disruption under English Common Law. Right of Necessity. Some evidence cannot be collected. Police procedure has become politicised. You might call it that. Five minutes in court. The magistrate put me on remand. For a speech. "Anything else?". She does not look at me. "Chop chop, time is up". No time to lose, at least when it's her time. In the prison cell, it feels like 90 degrees. My Romanian cellmate and I are down to our underpants. Outside it's the hottest November on record and the heating is on full blast. There's no water in the cell. For three days, the toilet won't flush. The plumbing's down on the whole wing. I talked to a prison officer who seemed important. "There's no water in the cell, I suggest you make some phone calls”. It's only my second day. I'm trying to be polite. We're soon down to our last half-litre of water. Water's "on the way". Me and the Romanian look at each other. He doesn't speak English, but we're both thinking “This is when we start to panic”. That night, shit is being thrown out of the cell windows. Literally. I got moved to another cell with a career criminal, Eddie - he’s had 19 years inside. He tells me the latest, a young guy of 21 has just hanged himself. After he'd had breakfast, apparently. "Poor fucker". And he's not the only one. Eddie's been here for months and he's settled in. Then he's given one hour's notice that he's moving to another prison. He's not happy, but he knows there's nothing he can do. My next cellmate is a drug addict. Three times a day, the smell of burning paper, smoking out the cell. It's spice and he's told me the deal. It gets up my nose. I'm watching England play and in five minutes I'm on my back on the bed. I can't move my body, I can see but I can't process what I'm seeing. For the next three hours, I'm thinking "Am I going to die?". If I do then no one's going to come. If you press the "emergency button" it's an hour before it's answered. "Emergency" here means emergency as in "Climate Emergency" as declared by the British Parliament three years ago. Some things are connected. My cellmate breathes so heavily that I cannot think. When he coughs it's like he's going to die. I tell the prison officer "He's going to die". He says he'll sort it out, as they do. Later that day the prison officer sticks his head around the door. "You alright?". That's it. On telly, it's about Chris Kaba, shot dead by the police. It's June 2023 before they find out what happened. Years before they get any justice. Black Lives... right. You “alright”, Chris? A week later, my cellmate finally gets moved. I'm supposed to be able to get three visits a week. After hours of waiting on the phone, and a dozen rejections, finally my partner gets to see me on week six. The same week, I got my first visit from a solicitor. No, they don't have a full transcript of my speech. No, they don't think there's any other evidence. No, they don't advise me to appeal to end my remand. "Because it's you". I'm a co-founder of Extinction Rebellion. Did the design for Insulate Britain. The tabloids say I'm the leader of Just Stop Oil. We all have to make a living, right? But unlike the tabloids, it’s not a living selling lies. The hottest ever November turns into the coldest December since... whenever. The slits in my window won't close. It's -7 outside. I get chapped lips, chilblains, and aching legs. I can't sleep, I'm too tired. The prison officer won't give me any tape to close over the gaps between the slits. “No, you can't take your coat back into the cell after getting to court”. Finally, 2 workmen turn up. "It says you've got hypothermia". They don't blink. They get a big pair of pliers and twist the dial with two hands. The slits close. They'd gotten stuck. Really hot, really cold. Freak weather? No, it's weather-blocking, stupid. 50% of the ice in the Arctic has melted. The cold air slips into the hot, the hot into the cold - winds slow down. It all started 15 years ago, I was a farmer then. 7 weeks of rain every day from June for 2 years running - I lost all my summer crops. Weeks of -15 degrees - I lost all my winter crops. I'm not a farmer anymore, but I'm still here. Others committed suicide. But it doesn't get on the news. When all the ice is melted in the summer (in the coming years, according to peer-reviewed papers) it'll get 1000 times worse and billions will starve. Then it will get in the news. (Adam, this is the bit where the reader doesn't "Look Up", right?). Yesterday the heating broke down. Yes, there is a pattern here. As I write this, I've got a t-shirt tied around my head and a blanket over my shoulders and legs. I put my hands down my trousers between writing paragraphs. The English gulag. On telly is the cost of living crisis. Kids are sitting in front of the TV covered in blankets, the heating only goes on for 20 minutes a day. Nurses are going on strike. In A&E’s waiting rooms, patients are sitting on the floor while their children are in pain in their arms. In schools, the roofs are leaking and sewage comes up into the corridors. The English gulag. Do you think I'm talking about prison? The joke's on you. This country is a gulag. A million times a day people give each other that look of "This place is so fucked". It's just that we in prison are on the worst wing. But your cell doors are locked too. It's just that your cells are bigger than ours. I went for an “education interview". A prisoner says "Aren't you one of them protesters? Well, tell them, when you get out, that three prisoners have committed suicide in here. Tell them that.". He's a caged Tiger, his eyes say more than his lips. I've just finished Jeffrey Parker's "Global Crisis: War, Climate Change and Catastrophe in the Seventeenth Century". In the 1600s the world's population fell by a third. Due to the climate-war-disease complex, it's all one thing. Slaughter-rape-suicide-desolation. "Our descendants will never believe what miseries we suffered". Except we will because it's about to happen again. Except for this time, it'll go on forever. Co2 is being put into the air 8 to 30 times faster than at any time in the earth's history. The rumours are coming down the line. Except they're not rumours, they're facts. As they discovered in the Warsaw ghetto in 1943, they are going to have us die unless we stop them. The atmosphere is a gas chamber. It literally is a gas chamber. Except this gas chamber covers the whole world and there's no escape. A few years back when I wanted to say this in public, my PR advisor threatened to resign if I did so. The most important truths can never be allowed to be spoken. Merry Christmas, Scarlet Howes, and all the best for the new year. A few years ago, when I started my research at King's College London, my supervisor told me I was the best PhD candidate he'd ever had. A few weeks later, he was already getting annoyed with me. He said if I continued to speak the truth, I would make myself "irrelevant". He didn't say exactly that. They never do, do they? But that's what he meant. Three years later, I started Extinction Rebellion. The biggest global climate influencer of 2019\. 200,000 people joined in six months. So listen to me. This is important. To all those caged tigers reading this. Truth is the most beautiful thing in this world. It's irrelevant whether it's "irrelevant". Acting the truth every day. That's what we exist to do. Nothing more. Nothing less. To sign up for civil disobedience, please email ring2021@protonmail.com ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situationis F\*cked Help me to get with the job of sorting it out. [Support](#/portal/signup) ### An open letter to the British establishment from a political prisoner URL: https://rogerhallam.com/political-prisoner/ Last updated: 2023-10-07T09:54:53.000Z Repression, like all addictions, progresses through stages. In April 2019, you allowed 1000s of people to camp out in central London during the XR rebellion. You met with protesters and declared there was a climate emergency. In the October rebellion of that year, you opted to remove the tents and arrest 2000 people. Post-COVID you started arresting organisers of civil disobedience. Last month during the oil actions, you crossed the Rubicon and imprisoned people, including myself, for just making public arguments in support of taking action. Next stop Belarus. We all know your strategy. When elites face social challenges: recessions; wars; ideologies; revolts; they opt for repression. It doesn't always work, but the odds are usually good. This year, you have been determined to imprison nonviolent individuals instead of dealing with the root cause. Combine that with a good dose of cultural framing, and the job is done. You are making a fundamental error. You are not dealing with a "Social challenge", you're dealing with physics. Physics does not go away. When you put the kettle on, the water boils. When you take ice out of the freezer it melts. When a meteorite hits a city, it obliterates the population. When the Arctic ice disappears, billions of people starve to death. Physics is God. Poke it, and you're subject to its wrath. Elites collapse for two reasons. They fail to understand the exponential function. And they fail to understand that extreme injustice leads to extreme retribution. In truth, you lost this battle over a decade ago. The tipping point was 350 parts per million of co2 and 1.5 degrees of global warming. We are now 420 and 1.5 is locked in. Repression is a game you cannot win. For the same reason that two plus two will never equal five. These are now your options: Gracefully accept defeat, come straight with the public, and take emergency action, starting with a no-brainer on stopping new oil and gas. or, continue to dig your hole ever deeper. Condemn yourselves to long prison sentences and possible early death when today's teenagers come to power. Child abuse comes in many forms. The media like to claim I would like to see "bullets through your heads". I was making a prediction, not a proposition. You may know there is an important difference. For the record. I am a follower of Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. I believe in forgiveness as a matter of dogmatic principle. You don't need to sweat about me. No. What you have to fear is the British public. As you know, they have two outstanding characteristics. They are Democrats, they passionately believe the government should serve their interests. And they are Conservatives, they believe people are responsible for their crimes and should be punished accordingly. Imagine what is going to happen when the coming cascade of ecological 9-11s hits. When overnight, they can no longer access their savings. When the value of their houses collapses. When the health service finally implodes, when universities close, when Law and Order no longer exists. When the penny finally drops, it's not about "the planet", it's about losing everything they've spent their lives working for. It's about handing a legacy to their children. A legacy of vandalism beyond comprehension. Of course, 99% of the British establishment does not get it. I am writing this to the 1% that do. Those of you who understand the meaning of the word responsibility, understand this does not conflict with self-interest. You're already going to go down in history as the most stupid idiots ever to rule these islands. It's your call what you do next. To sign up for civil resistance, please email: ring2021@protonmail.com ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get with the job of sorting it out. [Support](#/portal/signup) ### When did we forget? A letter to the British Public as Resistors enter the Heart of Darkness URL: https://rogerhallam.com/heart-of-darkness/ Last updated: 2023-10-08T09:13:33.000Z > Oh, the flowers of indulgence and the weeds of yesteryear > Like criminals, they have choked the breath of conscience and good cheer > When did we forget > Things that must never be forgotten > That we live in this blue-green paradise spinning through the voidSee it from space and you’ll splutter tears of desperate sadness that this is all there is. > > When did we forget > That we only get this one life. Only one chance to make our mark. To say we did Right. To love those we promised to love. > As the leaves turn dull and grey, what did we do? Turn away from the dark blackening sky. > > When did we decide that we don’t actually love our kids > When was the precise point when we said – you do as we say even as we send you to get fucked in hell. When was the precise moment mums said – you’re on your own now loves – oh and soon you’ll have nothing to eat > At what precise moment did dads say – I no longer want to protect you, kids, because actually, you are a disposable pile of trash > When did we forget that we are parents and instead decide to become devils? > Taking our boot and pushing it into the four-year-old’s face, grinding it in the dirt. > > When did we forget we have parents? Do you remember what they said > Be decent > Be something – and don’t be a fucking dick > (some may not have used those words but we know that’s what they meant) > Don’t destroy everything we worked for and our parents and their parents and their parents and on and on > Do you remember them saying it now – don’t be a fucking dick. > Don’t shit on our graves. > > “Have you no shame? When did you forget > That the bodies in the gas chambers did not come out alive. > (Now the whole world is a gas chamber) > Do you not remember the shoes and the shoes and more shoes – lost souls > The horror, the terror, the screams and the vomit. When did you forget that agonies beyond words happen when we turn away from our responsibilities? > Never again. When did we forget never again? > > “When did we forget what it took to get this country and this world to pull itself out of lives of nasty brutish and shortAll that blood. All that sweet. All those tears. All those lives of struggle. All for nothing. > > “What have we become? Oh God, what have we become? What have we done to ourselves? > > “Some of us are crying tears that never stop.Some of us are on the motorways this week. So that maybe someday our tears can stop.” ….. 1.5C is no longer credible. Resistance is no longer a choice. Go onto the juststopoil.org to join others on a recruitment zoom. To stop the tears. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get with the job of sorting it out. [Support](#/portal/signup) ### Civil Resistance: Between Protest and Just War URL: https://rogerhallam.com/between-protest-and-just-war/ Last updated: 2023-10-08T14:09:13.000Z > “If you believe that you are literally saving the world, that billions will die if you do not get your way, that an apocalypse is imminent and that your targets and opponents are what stands in the way of your efforts to save everything alive, then surely anything is justified to secure your ends?” Mark Wallace, Chief Executive of the website Conservative Home, 1st November. There are three types of action. Undisruptive actions, actions which are disruptive without justification, and disruptive actions which have justification. Claiming that all disruption is unjustified is dishonest – bad faith. No one believes that, and people who claim to believe it are lying to us, or worse, lying to themselves. People support protest as it is non-disruptive - it simply expresses an opinion. It does not aim to coerce through disruption. People – at least most people – support just wars. Violent disruption is justified as a response to violent aggression. It is self-defence. It is justified for people to be killed in support of that self-defence. It is therefore undeniably inconsistent to say, without exception, that civil resistance is wrong. Civil resistance is a non-violent form of war: “war without violence” as Gandhi’s campaigns were called. In civil resistance – nonviolent disruption - people are not directly subjected to violence, but harm will come to bystanders as it does in violent just wars. Gandhi initiated the Quit India campaign in 1942 with the full knowledge it would lead to thousands of deaths. Martin Luther King led the campaigns in Birmingham and Selma with the full knowledge of the violence that would be provoked, indeed that is why these cities were chosen. This form of disruption is justified because it was responding to violent aggression – attacks on fundamental human rights. Saying you support just wars but never civil resistance is incoherent – it makes no sense. The question then is not whether civil resistance is good or bad. That is a silly question. The question is when is this type of disruption justified by its context? Mark Wallace, Director of the Tory website Conservative Home is intelligent and brave enough to make this clear. If we are indeed facing an apocalypse “then surely anything is justified to secure your ends.” We are facing an apocalypse. And so civil resistance is justified. What resisters and conservatives have in common, in opposition to the liberal ideology of everlasting progress, is their acceptance that humans are fully capable of extreme violent aggression – evil is not a taboo word. The difference presently between resistors and conservatives is that the latter are still lying to themselves about what is going on – about the evil that is happening. They are betraying their long-held self-understanding that they “see the world as it is'' rather than how people would like to see it. They have been infected with the liberal dreamworld notion that things will always be nice and fine. Things are not going to be nice and fine, and they need to be straight with us and themselves about this. Conservatives believe in personal responsibility. None of this “I was constrained by factors outside my control” nonsense. You have free will. When you see evil, you have a responsibility to act against it. And if you don’t you will be prosecuted for your crime of inaction. Your complicity. Your treason. In the years to come, it will be conservatives that will be taking climate criminals to court. They will say “You knew and you failed to act. You are guilty and you will be punished”.Sir David King, the former chief scientific advisor to the UK government, recently stated that if methane comes out of the melting permafrost due to continued carbon emissions, temperatures will rise by 4-8C in two decades. If this happens it will certainly lead to billions of deaths. It is self-evidently the greatest of all crimes to allow this to happen. This is the real world conservatives are supposed to like to talk about. The great radical Saul Alinsky said – if you don’t like the means it’s because you don’t believe enough in the ends. The end is to stop climate breakdown – billions of deaths and that overwhelming justifies the means of civil resistance – nonviolent disruption and coercion, a war without violence - to stop making this greatest of all mass murder projects from becoming a reality. Justifying civil resistance can be complicated. Justifying civil resistance at this stage in time is not. In fact, nothing could be less complicated. The only question is how long it takes for Mark Wallace to stop lying to himself. Because this country and this civilisation need him and fellow conservatives to get a grip. Time is running out. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get with the job of sorting it out. [Support](#/portal/signup) ### The Haiti Revolution, Genocide, and Us URL: https://rogerhallam.com/haiti-revolution/ Last updated: 2023-10-08T14:15:34.000Z I’ve been listening to a podcast about the Haiti Revolution and even for someone like me who has read my fair share of brutal history, it’s quite a revelation. Haiti in the 1700s was a slave colony. 15% of the slaves would die in transit from Africa. Of those that arrived alive, half were dead within 5 years. This was deliberate policy - work them to death and then get fresh black bodies from Africa. Death came in many forms and terror was routine - castration, crucifixion, the whole thing. 90% of the people in the country were black, 10% white or coloured. To cut a long story short there was a 10-year slave revolt. At a critical point, the slave leaders came to the “Big Whites” (the rich plantation owners) and offered to return to being slaves but with regulations in place. The whites point blank refused. The whites were liberals for their time - they believed in private property, free trade, and the rule of law… but only for whites. Blacks were to have no rights because they were property. Of course, they would pay lip service to “rights” but when it came down to it, like today, black lives counted for next to nothing. Think about our society’s reaction to the destruction of Pakistan. A rigid racist ideology provided cover for their blind greed. That’s why they refused to make any concessions whatsoever. The slaves went back to revolt and overthrew the French colonial regime. In response, France sent over 50,000 troops and white planters. Within two years every one of them was dead. They killed every living white French person on the island. They went into every village and town, pulled people out into the street and shot them. It was a genocide. Why am I telling you this? Because behind all the horrors - the dogs that ripped out the stomachs of black prisoners put into cages by white soldiers - it was an unavoidable reality. Haiti was the most profitable colony in the Americas. And to keep it that way it required the organised killing of hundreds of thousands of human beings. Sound familiar? The western world is full of liberal-minded people who love the benefits of our “civilised” society - property, open economy, and rule of law. But to keep things this way it is going to be necessary to kill hundreds of millions of people in the tropics. In the 1700’s mass killing was necessitated by the production of sugar. Today it is necessitated by the emission of carbon. People happily eat meat and take flights and vote for governments that ignore the suffering imposed on the people in Pakistan and other poor countries. The massive wealth created by carbon necessitates this unspeakable injustice. But it suits us very well. It’s not that the people of Europe had always had slaves - they fell into their utter depravity through discovering the ultimate Eighteenth-century cash cow - plantation-based sugar production. Similarly, we did not set out to destroy the world. Locking in 1000 million refugees in the next two decades is the by-product of our discovery of and addiction to fossil fuels. Of course many people today, like the court liberals of Eighteenth-century France, are familiar with this narrative but it is always constructed within the same deluded palace of Versailles-style dream world, where we feel “pity” for those we kill who we believe will passively just die. It is inconceivable to the powers that be that those we condemn to death will ever revolt and so we continue to not move an inch - like the Big Whites in Haiti refusing even to regulate slavery. Our “liberal” societies are not going to pay a penny of reparations to the people of Pakistan even though the causal link between our carbon emissions and their suffering is beyond dispute. What we just can’t let ourselves consider is that these condemned “pitied” people are no better than us. Meaning too will be more than happy to kill. They will come over our borders and kill us by the million in the same way as the absolute hatred of the whites led to the mass slaughter in Haiti. I am not making any moral judgement on this – but rather pointing out this will very likely be the outcome of the actions of our elites. If we allow the greed fuelled psychosis of our governments to continue it will lead not just to the genocide of hundreds of millions of black lives but the genocide of hundreds of millions of people living in the global north - most likely our children in two or three decades. If you live by the sword you die by the sword to put it in the old language. Or do you still think History has ended? That you can allow our government to destroy other people’s countries without consequence? That you can stand by and let murder on a scale unknown in history go ahead and get away with it? Resistance against our governments at present is not just an essential act of solidarity, not just an act of the most basic moral self-respect, it is also a response to the terror we feel about what will happen if we don’t resist.Or as my friend, the great American journalist Chris Hedges, an observer of many revolutions, puts it: real change only happens when people are made to feel the fear of what will happen if they do not change. To contact civil resistance projects around the world: ring2021@protonmail.com ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get with the job of sorting it out. [Support](#/portal/signup) ### 1.5°C as a Religious Artifact URL: https://rogerhallam.com/1-5-as-a-religious-artifact/ Last updated: 2023-10-08T14:17:44.000Z The vilest thing that has happened to me this year was to hear a panel of environmentalists talk about 1.5°C. A well-known campaigner said words to the effect that although he knew that 1.5°C was done, it was essential to continue to lie about it so that we do not let the fossil fuel companies off the hock. This gave cultural permission, as you might call it, for a very prominent scientist beside him to concoct the notion that there is "still a chance that we will stay under 1.5°C". This was a religious ritual centred around a religious artefact: 1.5°C. 1.5°C is the object of worship. It can never be abandoned; otherwise, the whole culture of the participants in the ritual will collapse. A recent open letter from 250-odd lawyers stated that going over 1.5°C means the end of the rule of law. It means the end of everything. Thus, it cannot be allowed to happen. There is no connection here with material reality. What exists is a psychic realm of meaning systems centred around a central taboo: 1.5°C can never die. 1.5°C represents God -the Untouchable. Of course, the self-understanding of the people on the panel and the lawyers signing the open letter is that they stand for the heights of "scientific objectivity". They are the professional liberal elites. They are the protectors of reason. All this enables them to blind themselves to the reality that, being no different to the rest of us, they construct worlds to protect themselves from annihilation. Not just physical death – something more substantial: the death of their worldview, all that sustains their mental health. Their minds are, in a sense, just an aspect of a social narrative system which exists over and above individual physical bodies. The key actors in society are these narrative systems, not the individual. I will give you a historical example: when the Catholic Church in the Sixteenth century was given the overwhelming evidence that the Earth goes around the Sun rather than the other way round, this was no mere correction of cold facts. It was an affront to their whole metaphysical and moral construction of reality. Humans were the centrepiece of God's creation; therefore, everything had to rotate around Earth. A system of "key facts" are never mere facts. They are religious artefacts saturated with emotion, identity, and a sense of purpose: something our language has no word for because we have made the fatal error of thinking the world can be separated into the secular and the religious, the facts and the opinion. Nothing could be further from the truth. Returning to 1.5°C, there are what you might call functional religious systems which enhance a social system and dysfunctional ones that lead to its destruction. The notion that Earth goes around Sun was resisted with persecution and violence. Maintaining that 1.5°C is still alive will lead to ever-increasing mental breakdowns, suicides, and social violence as it "comes out" that it is over – that it was, in truth, over in 2015 at the Paris Conference. 1.5°C was the darkest of deceptions, enabling the Global North to pretend that they were not yet murdering the people of the Global South and enabling the Global South to pretend they were not yet being murdered. The ultimate kicking of the can down the road. 1.5°C is not just a number but a proxy for the old world of the elite, male-privileged, rationalist dogma of "progress" that culturally dominates the lower classes with their irrational "religious" nonsense (the best example of this in modern times is the contempt people encased in this paradigm have for those who voted for Brexit while being utterly blind to their delusions). The western world's class of modern liberal administrators is about to hit annihilation. Their bodies know it even as their minds resist it, and your body picks it up when you see them speak. We are evolutionarily designed to be ultra-sensitive to bullshit, and the idea that we are staying under 1.5°C is, as James Hansen says, "unadulterated bullshit". It is the greatest bullshit of all time, as will be seen in 2024\. In a recent memo, Hansen and colleagues have confirmed this is the year, wait for it when we go over 1.5°C (the El Niño and all that, for those interested). 2024, this will be the moment the coral reefs finally die, the moment the small island states are obliterated, the moment the next generation realises they are being sent into the furnaces. More than this, it will end the psychic world of modern civilisation – the collapse of the whole religion of materialist individualism. Check out the sack of Rome by the Goths, the capture of Constantinople by the Turks, and the destruction of Baghdad by the Mongols. These events were not merely the end of empires; they were the end of worldviews and religions -the end of a way of seeing. When we go over 1.5°C, everything we had for 10,000 years will go. Nature the Provider will become Nature the Devourer. In other words, The End. The question now is not about 1.5°C and its world, all that is done. The question is, what new religion will arise? What new world of sacred meanings? In some marginalised minds, it is emerging – fermenting in the most unlikely places. As someone said, it looks like the meek will inherit the Earth after all. To contact civil resistance projects around the world: ring2021@protonmail.com ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get with the job of sorting it out. [Support](#/portal/signup) ### Service and Resilience (and having a fuck load more fun) URL: https://rogerhallam.com/service-and-resilience-and-having-a-fuck-load-more-fun/ Last updated: 2023-10-09T20:11:18.000Z On the day of the funeral of the Queen, I would like to write about these two values. The two words have come up many times over the past ten days in the media as national values which were embodied in the life of the Queen. We know of course that this is yet another malicious move by the Establishment to do its usual “do as I say not as I do” routine on the public. They can behave with appalling selfishness and greed while the rest of us need to work hard for them, and “do our bit”. However, insomuch as the Queen embodied these values, the reasons for it are more to do with the time of her youth in the 1940s, than anything to do with the monarchy itself. The Second World War was a now-forgotten time of extreme hardship when “doing your bit” was a matter of life and death. There was no time for selfishness. My parents were teenagers during the war and lived through the rationing and collective sacrifices of that time. There was never any waste in our household, I could not leave the table unless I had eaten everything on my plate. Their worldview was rooted in “doing the right thing for society”. They were embedded in a culture of service because that is all they had known. Now, like just about everything else, the notions of service and resilience have been hollowed out - noted talking points, name-checked, virtue signalled. This is reflected as much on the Left as on the Right. What was called the radical left when I was growing up and into the 1980s was an eclectic bunch of exciting ideas about human-scale collectivism – co-operatives, mutual aid, and social anarchism where the focus was not on the self but on serving an inspiring egalitarian vision of community. I learnt such ideas from old mid-century anarchists and socialists like Colin Ward (who I met), George Herbert Mead, and Eric Fromm (check them out). They would have been sickened by how the term “radical left” has been appropriated by the bourgeois puritans of the elite universities – obsessed with the constructed vulnerabilities of the individualised and atomised self. This is a completely reactionary inversion of the old radical ideas of resilience coming through service in a collective struggle for justice. I have spoken about this in other posts: the greatest undermining of the Left has not been from the opposition of the Right but from this insidious and perverse transformation of notions of ecstatic and fearless transgressive action into the moralising of individual behaviour and opinion. Collective action that creates real power – meaning civil resistance – was replaced by mind-numbingly ineffectual marches and rallies, and social media “messaging”. This new “radical left” became the primary means through which the neo-liberal hegemony emasculated effective resistance. However, all this is changing and will change beyond recognition in the next decade. The key significance of Extinction Rebellion was as much about the rediscovery of democratic collective confrontation with the regime, as it was about the coming of ecological collapse. Of course, the two go together. It lost its battle with the radical left as the guilt-tripping assaults forced its networks to revert to virtue signalling, nasal gazing, and performative protest for fear of “causing harm”. But the war is going to be won. A key reason for the success of Insulate Britain, which then developed into Just Stop Oil, is the way the new paradigm of “resilience through service” has been maintained by the core group which proactively promotes this new culture. Not perfectly of course – not by any means – but it is a good case study of how collective energies can be effectively organised when leadership enables us to escape from the cynical self-serving narcissism of conventional “activism”, rooted in the now collapsing neo-liberal era. A New Collectivism is now structurally inevitable: on the level of national policy (note the massive state support on energy bills), on the level of political organisation, as in the case of JSO, and on the level of individual values – a shift in focus from “what I can get” to what “what I can give”. This is the rapidly emerging social reality as we face the ever greater social stresses of climate breakdown, and the hubris of the billionaire elites. The present generation of young people (at least those in the middle class) will be the last generation to be captured by the dismal miseries of individualist bourgeois morality. Those of us who are over fifty and remember the collective cultures of this country before they were smashed by Thatcherism must challenge and support young people as they transition to the new world of service and resilience. The fetishization of youth has been a disaster (“you can’t tell them what to do”). They need tough love engagement to learn a collective culture that will enable them to weather the storms coming down the line, and fingers crossed, navigate a humanised and socialised journey through them. They will also have a fuck load more fun. To contact civil resistance groups around the world: ring2021@protonmail.com ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get with the job of sorting it out. [Support](#/portal/signup) ### Just Stop Purity Politics URL: https://rogerhallam.com/just-stop-purity-politics/ Last updated: 2023-10-09T20:09:38.000Z > “A bunch of anarchists hold a two-hour meeting with ten people. They decide it’s counter-revolutionary to give people less than 15 minutes each to speak” \-- Joke from 1980’s peace movement You can have too much of a good thing. Believe me! And this is confirmed by thousands of years of traditional and indigenous cultures. Like consumption. But I also like “justice”. The greatest spiritual error is to assume a finite entity is infinite. Only the infinite is infinite as such is indescribable. Yes, you can spend a lifetime tangling yourself around that paradox. The upshot is that the essence of practical wisdom is to “know when to stop” and it is no surprise that young people (we were all young once) have a big problem working that one out. And this applies to politics as much as anything else. This youthful “enthusiasm” since the Enlightenment has been aided by its religion of rationality – the prioritising of “logic” over intuition, sensibility and plain old “common sense”. This fetishisation of reductive reasoning underlies the destruction of the biosphere and the oppression of colonised people. Not entirely of course. Good old-fashioned greed – a constant of all cultures – certainly plays its part. But it does not help that western culture has this thing about following things through to absurdity because there is no “logical” point on where to stop. I have been involved in radical politics for 40 years and, in my view, the single biggest reason for the failure of collective action has been its sabotage by the “logical” attacks from various forms of purity politics. For example the far Left/Maoism in the ’70s and early ’80s. Animal rights extremism in the ’80s and 90’s. The horizontality fetish post-1989\. And the “justice/vulnerability” obsession of the 2010’s up to the present moment. In retrospect, these attacks look extremely silly but at the time they are massively destructive because of the addictive attraction of their core proposition – that logic overrides everything else. But as history shows a million times – extreme rationality leads to extreme irrationality. And extreme moralising leads to extreme immorality – outright sadism. Two moves are raging at present, engaging in the following logical progressions. The first: Racism is bad – sure. Racism is not just rooted in institutional and economic relationships but in personal relations – well I guess so. So if you made a racist comment a while back then you are a racist – I guess, though that “feels” a bit much. And if you were friends with someone who made a racist comment a while back then you are a racist – well that’s going a bit far but hey, I have agreed with everything so far and although I “know” that’s just silly, I am bound to go along with it otherwise god forbid I am being “illogical” i.e. “racist”. Purity has just created chaos as everyone is desperately accusing each other of being racist. In the meantime the real racists – i.e. the corporate elite grab the cash. Then there is the duty of care fetish. It’s bad that people are oppressed – sure. So it’s bad that these people have more bad things happen to them – well yeah. So nothing bad can happen to them – I guess so. So they should not be involved in any activism that could hurt them – er I sort of don’t agree but I’m caught in the logic. Purity again creates chaos as everyone accuses each other of hurting those who have already been hurt. Civil disobedience projects collapse in a heap and yep, the corporate elite grabs even more cash. The age-old “No enemies to the Left” slogan becomes the greatest aid to the Right. This difference this time round of course is that the (real) bad guys don’t just run off with all the cash but get to kill humanity forever via ecological collapse. Purity politics then objectively becomes the single biggest aid to the greatest evil. And no this is not logic – it’s physics – the meteorite is real and it will kill everyone. That’s just the way it is. How to deal with this? Well, that’s a subject of another post but let’s finish with, in my view, the greatest response to an interviewer’s question over the past century. A black girl involved in the children’s march of 1963 is asked why she is involved in civil resistance – going out each day onto the streets and risking injury and jail. “Aren’t you going to get hurt?”, the interviewer asks. She looks at the camera and says: “We’re gonna get hurt anyway”. My advice to today’s young people is to make the same reply. And then do the most moral thing – focus on the job of building a mass movement of civil resistance and don’t sweat about all the messy compromises that involve. To contact civil resistance groups around the world: ring2021@protonmail.com ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get with the job of sorting it out. [Support](#/portal/signup) ### The Necessity For Revolution and The Depravity of Reform URL: https://rogerhallam.com/the-necessity-for-revolution/ Last updated: 2023-10-08T14:28:50.000Z I am happy to publicly say I have a soft spot for [Donnachadh McCarthy](https://www.facebook.com/donnachadh?%5F%5Ftn%5F%5F=-]K%2AF). Over the last few years, he has periodically laid into me on social media with varying degrees of justification. But happily, I am from a generation and culture that looks upon getting offended as a necessary part of democratic discourse. So it’s all fine by me. I raise this because he, and others, make an elementary error about the strategy (and moral necessity) of attacking reformism – the ideology of present-day liberals - in our present moment. He believes we are all in this together and should work together; let’s focus our attacks on the bad guys rather than attacking each other and related arguments. We are not and we shouldn’t. I want to be quite precise in this post. When I am promoting my views about the necessity and justification for a revolution I am not doing it for some lazy, machismo, anti-social or generally unpleasant reason. First, let’s create some definitions. Reformism is the creation of political change within an existing political regime. Revolution is the creation of a new regime – which can be nonviolent or violent in the historical record. Of course, there are always fuzzy edges but there is a clear separation here between these two strategies. Second I want to make clear I am not against nor for either reform or revolution as a matter of dogmatic principle. The argument is entirely contextual. 20 years ago, for instance, I would have said the prospect of revolution in western societies was ridiculous, while now I think it is inevitable. And I have, pragmatically and ethically, a lot of respect for our reformist traditions, and I’ve read enough about revolutions to know they can be – well, tricky. This is not the point here. The point is this. There is a particular context where reform becomes both strategically and morally disastrous and there is one viable path: revolution. Consider this analogy. Your car is heading toward a cliff at a momentum unit of 20\. There are four of you – two revolutionaries (pushing back at 6) and two reformists (pushing at 3) – the total unit of push back is 18\. The car rolls over the cliff. The outcome is binary – either the car stops or it goes over the cliff. There are only two outcomes. To stop the car you need 4 revolutionaries: 4x6= 24 – greater than 20 to get the car to stop. The situation becomes direr in the following context: 4 reformists are pushing against the car (4x3=12). Everyone who is honest enough can see they are going to fail. Think about COP26 with 3 years to save the world. Four revolutionaries are on hand to stop the car (4x6=24) but they cannot get to the car because the limited space to stop the vehicle is occupied by the reformists (see my previous post about Greenpeace and Oxfam getting all the tickets/space at Glastonbury). You can see the point. In Endtimes, that is, when you are objectively about to lose everything forever, the unavoidable strategic and ethical logic points to only one course of action – to remove the reformists from the field of play. If we had fifty years then we could all be friends. If we have three, and we do only have three, then it’s us or them. Concretely speaking – everyone has to support and engage in a nonviolent revolutionary process – that is civil resistance (to the extent of getting over 20) or be the subject to direct action and moral exposure to get them out of the way. This is what being in a climate emergency actually means. It’s not that intelligent analysts in the reformist space aren’t fully aware of the situation. A top Greenpeace strategist confessed privately to me that the only viable thing to do was “drive GP into the state” rather than engaging in “managed defeat''. It’s the age-old routine of incumbent power trumping moral responsibility. In other words, in 2022 it’s revolution or certain death – because it just is. Reformism delays things for a year or two. Reformism dupes our young people with comforting fairy tales as we send them into the furnaces –“carbon neutral” “net zero”, and all the rest of the self-evident bullshit. As Johan Rostrum says 2C will lead to 3C, and you don’t need to be a climate expert to know that 3C leads to 4C. It's not that civil resistance leading to a revolutionary change of the regime is bound to work, it’s that reformism is 100% going to fail. Do you get it? If you do, you are a particularly intelligent or morally sensitive person or gifted with a certain moral courage that enables you to see the reality before it blasts itself into the face of the 99% who cannot do the maths, or whose privilege stops them from accepting it. In the literature, on the historical sociology of revolution, the key objective of the revolutionaries is to destroy the reformist political space. This is structural as well as moral. This is what Martin Luther King was getting at in Letter from a Birmingham Jail when he said the white moderates were the biggest block to black liberation because they hold the space on pushing the car back, but they push it with one finger while making sure the radicals and revolutionaries don’t get a look in. Throughout history these Endtimes – when it’s all or nothing to make system change happen, the “Ending” has been limited in both time and place. A particular part of the world and a particular period of history. This time we face the Endtime of all Endtimes. It is infinite: the collapse of the whole global ecological/social system effectively forever. This is why reformism in 2022, is infinitely stupid and infinitely morally depraved. Strange as it may seem it’s this maths which animates the extreme emotion which is now needed to make the transformation we need. In order to stop the unimaginable suffering, we are allowing to be imposed on others. So offence being taken at my revolutionary rage is the last of my worries. To contact civil resistance groups around the world: ring2021@protonmail.com ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get with the job of sorting it out. [Support](#/portal/signup) ### It is Better to Die With Honour Than To Die Like Sheep URL: https://rogerhallam.com/die-like-sheep/ Last updated: 2023-10-10T19:50:19.000Z Warsaw 1943 - London 2022 In 1943 word came down the line in the Jewish ghetto in Warsaw that people were being taken off to be gassed at Auschwitz. The dead weight of denial kept reality at bay. “Surely they will not have us die”. “Surely we are of some use”. “Evil of this depth cannot happen”. The deniers were wrong. The Nazis wanted them dead but they told whatever lies were needed to keep everyone passive. Jewish police were co-opted to keep everyone in line. When the ghetto numbers had fallen from around 300,000 to 60,000 the flip happened. They are going to kill us all. It was too late to live but not too late to resist. To die with honour rather than die like sheep. The Jews fought like hell by all accounts. Much longer than expected. But in the end, apart from a few individuals hiding underground, they were all dead. The rumours had begun coming down the line in 1933\. Some say from 1923 (Hitler’s intention was clear enough in Mein Kampf). They grew during the 1930s. They screamed in 1939\. Then it was too late. This story used to be the greatest moral warning of European Culture. Never again. Never again. Now those who speak about our responsibilities are silenced. We cannot be allowed to hear about us allowing such evil to happen again. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/roger-boat-banner-1.png) ## Join me In the Revolution of our lives Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No nonsense. Change your mind anytime. The rumours about the final mass murder project started coming down the line in the 1980s (though it was clear enough from the 1960s). They have grown every year since 1990\. As has the denial. “Surely they will not have us die” “Surely we are of some use”. “Evil of this depth cannot happen” In 2022 the rumours have become a scream. And now it is too late. Sir David King recently made clear the Arctic ice melt is irreversible and thus the explosion of methane release from the permafrost. It is not a coincidence that both myself and Andreas Malm, author of “How to blow up a pipeline”, despite our differences, have independently come to dwell on the Warsaw episode as the clearest historical example of what we are heading into, and of what it means to resist what is coming. This week, as the city where I live, London, passed 40C, the diabolical denial approaches its peak. Everywhere there is avoidance. Deafening, stifling silence. Such is the nature of being “only human”. To survive we have to become superhuman. We have to get ahead of the curve. We have to decide it is better to die with honour rather than die like sheep. Regardless of whether or not we survive. Most people will find this comparison ridiculous, even outrageous. “Look around us, things are fine”. But the similarities between those times and these are not lost on members of the Jewish community. Over the past year, I became friends with a prominent Jewish businessman. He fully supports Just Stop Oil. He explained why. “What you have to understand, Roger, is that my family escaped Russia at the beginning of the Twentieth century. We went to Germany – it seemed like the promised land.” They worked hard and by 1934 owned department stores. Then one night the Nazis smashed all windows of their stores, and they had to escape Germany as well. He told me, “my family knows what it is like to lose everything in two weeks”. To contact civil resistance groups around the world: ring2021@protonmail.com ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get with the job of sorting it out. [Support](#/portal/signup) ### As Britain goes over 40C... The Meaning of Inalienable Rights URL: https://rogerhallam.com/inalienable-rights/ Last updated: 2023-10-08T14:31:29.000Z I have been ploughing through a 50-episode history of the French Revolution. I read a long book about the whole thing the last time I was in prison but it is always refreshing to be reminded that there was a time when ideas meant something. Today nothing means anything. Words are just thrown around and have no effect – crisis catastrophe apocalypse– whatever. Netflix is still running so we can stay asleep. The sacred function of leaders is to remain awake. This means being able to differentiate between the noise and the real. This ability has traditionally been forged by two social processes: First is the experience of suffering. Leaders – real leaders that are – lead their troops into battle. They were the first over the top. This made them serious people. The leaders that came out of World War Two had many faults, but they knew what it meant to die for democracy. They had seen their brother’s and sister’s bodies being blown to bits in the battles against the Nazis. They knew what killing looked like. Secondly, leaders would be taught classical history – meaning the stories of how power corrupts the great and good and leads to their destruction. The purpose of these stories is to make leaders constantly on the lookout for delusion. Pride comes before a fall. What the classics teach is the central importance of virtue – that is the belief that some things are good and to enact them is an end in themselves. The corruption of the elites begins with the degeneration into the calculation. To act not out of honour or duty but out of expediency. The ecstasy of the Enlightenment was the discovery that there could be something else other than arbitrary force and plunder- the endless murderous cycle. People were no longer the playthings of Gods and Kings. Up to this point the rich and powerful thought nothing of slaughtering and raping those who were considered outside their moral community of kin tribe or nation. The “other” was fair game – in the same way as most people think about animals today. The Enlightenment created a new category – the Human. And this category had intrinsic rights – that is rights that were inalienable- meaning not open to negotiation. Inalienable Rights are twofold – the Right to Life and the Right to a Livelihood. The notion of Rights is inseparable from the notion of War and Revolution. The reason is clear and simple: if rights are inalienable then, if they are violated, the human, more especially the citizen, has a right, and indeed a duty, to rebel. This is not a vague or voluntary matter. Modern history is packed full of hundreds of examples of where this violation has triggered the revolt. In other words in the modernist period of history from approximately 1780 to 1989 there were clear lines in the sand. If an elite or regime or foreign power violated the Right to Life and the Right to Livelihood it was clear what a human was to do. In the post-modern period since 1989, all of this has broken down and this is the primary reason for the accelerating collapse of liberal civilisation in its widest meaning. There are no lines in the sand, only “positions'' and verbal clashes over positions. Action – that brutal intrusion of objectivity, is a taboo for the post-modern cultural elites – hence the horror that XR and JSO do things “that could cause harm”. It is inconceivable to these postmodernist critics that “harm” is already going on in the world because they don’t believe there is a real-world – only views and perspectives. A leadership culture which cannot draw a line in the sand is a culture which will soon collapse under the weight of its cowardice. This is the culture of contemporary academia, the administrative professions, the NGOs, the political parties, and the pillars of the present regime. The classic example here is COP26\. It is now blatantly obvious that the corporate class has no intention of stopping the world from going over 1.5C – no surprises there. This inevitably means the destruction of both sovereign states and the lives of billions of people. If this is not the most obscene violation of Inalienable Rights then god knows what is. The modernist response is clear. Make an ultimatum and then, if it is ignored, declare war and/or rebellion – in our context engage in civil resistance. This is not a calculated act, it is not a matter of winning – it is a matter of virtue: honour and duty. If you violate the sacred I will fight you to death. Remember the resistance in World War Two. When the very basis of civilisation is threatened you are either in resistance or in collaboration. Let me be very concrete and specific about what has to happen here. As we go over 40C this week a letter has to be written by key leaders and organisations in the liberal class giving the UK government a date whereby they have to undergo specific and concrete reductions in life-destroying emissions of the deadly poisonous gas which is CO2\. If this response is not substantially responded to by this date, signatures to the letter make a proportionate and constitutional response to the regime’s treasonous betrayal of its primary responsibility in any democracy – the preservation of Life and Liberty. The leaders lead their people into central London, or the capital in other democracies, and blockade the transport systems and government buildings until they are imprisoned or are successful. That’s what believing in rights demands of you. Don’t use the language of Rights unless you are prepared to act to protect them. Virtue signalling about rights in the present context is beyond contempt. The inability after COP 26 of the liberal class to rebel desecrates the very essence of the Enlightenment proposition: that Rights are Inalienable and thus Non Negotiable. The infinite criminality of this class is this: their unwillingness to defend their core values is most likely to usher in a 10,000-year-long return to the era of plunder, slaughter, and rape. There is no greater example of moral vandalism. Let me say that again: there is no greater instance of moral vandalism – than to stand by in 2022. And this is why I experience hatred for these people. After all, the main reason we have not got to a critical mass of mobilisation is because they are sitting on the arses making lame excuses for their cowardice. They are the greatest traitors to our sacred traditions. But what I think is pretty irrelevant. The point is this: they will be seen by the next thousand generations as the vile creatures who stood by and let it all get thrown away. They will be the contemptuous idiots in future movies like the Nazis' collaborators are in today’s films. In the key scene where the heroes plead for support against evil, these are the people who just turn away and the audience goes WTF. Think of the top journalist in the Wall Street Journal scene in the Big Short. If you haven’t seen the film watch it – or watch it again – it shows actually what I am talking about here. Everyone in authority is shown to have zero brain cells and zero sense of duty. Here's the deal: In End Times you are either a rebel or a collaborator. That’s what End Times means – a time when there is no middle ground. If you are in doubt, read about the French Revolution or any other history of the collapse of an elite under the unbearable weight of its hubris. There have been many Marie Antoinette’s in history but never more than within our present-day elites. To contact civil resistance projects around the world: ring2021@protonmail.com ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get with the job of sorting it out. [Support](#/portal/signup) ### Welcome to the Rebellion Jenny Jones URL: https://rogerhallam.com/welcome-to-the-rebellion-jenny-jones/ Last updated: 2023-10-08T14:34:32.000Z I have just returned from the Glastonbury fantasy land where it’s all love and peace, and fuck all is happening. The Greenpeace Oxfam incumbents have got it all sewn up. Just Stop Oil, managed to get 5 tickets for the biggest climate campaign of 2022 (Greenpeace got 200 plus – to raise hundreds of thousands of pounds so “they can afford to come to the festival next year”, well that’s what one of their people told me). Greta Thunberg got on the pyramid stage to declare we need to put hope into action and then got the crowd to shout “JUSTICE” to her “CLIMATE” – well then, that’s the global south sorted out. One of the youth coordinators of the JSO summer mobilisation, working to recruit for October, was “disgusted”. Where was the pathway to action? Action? Just put up a poster saying “TRUTH” – Orwell is spinning in his grave. We had four videos ready to go, with famous people willing to do some real work and point people to nonviolence training sessions, and concrete routes to struggle on the streets. Not one of them was shown. On the massive screens, we just got yet more NGO ads – looking like banking adverts (or is it the other way round). And then there is Jenny Jones, who tweeted after watching a panel with myself, the former MEP Molly Scott Cato and Justin Rowlett “Watching a debate with @GreenPartyMolly @BBCJustinR and Roger Hallam of @XRebellionUK Now I have supported XR on the streets and in the Lords, but having listened to Hallam, I'm wondering why I bothered”. My crime? I am not being polite, I am not giving due recognition to the hard work of the handful of Green politicians, and I am not playing by the rules of the establishment game. Why? Because it isn’t working. Remember Sir David King, is saying “We have to act quickly” – that means more pavement widening schemes from the leather benches is not gonna cut it. We have three years and counting. We have 1500 arrests and counting. We have 43 ordinary people banged up in prison and counting We have thousands of young people mad as hell, but not yet having worked out how to express it, and counting. Let’s restate reality. Extinction Rebellion is a REBELLION against the UK government to stop the plan to create EXTINCTION – that’s everyone gone forever. If Baroness Jenny Jones and the other Green Politicians want to be collaborators in the mass death project they know where the door is. It’s a free country, at least for them. After all the moaning, dismissal and outright patronising by the green establishment before April 2019, suddenly they all came rushing into the naïve arms of XR once the ‘concept was proved’. And then promptly destroyed the very thing that made it a success – ‘mass nonviolent action’ for as long as it takes. The “You don’t have to get arrested” was a dog whistle to the privileged allowing the abandonment of the poor and vulnerable who will never get any justice till the skies turn dark with social struggle. The self-appointed spokespeople of the oppressed put the dampers on the very thing that would lead to their liberation – a load of shit happening on the streets. The unholy alliance between the NGOs and “radical left” SOAS guilt-stricken rich kids concocted the greatest nonsense in the history of radical politics – that when humanity is facing the biggest HELL in its history when it is gonna happen in the next decade when it will go on for 100,000 years, that “people might get hurt” if they sit in the road. Either people have Inalienable Rights, or they do not. If you believe they do, then you have no choice other than to go into resistance when those rights are violated. That’s being radical 101. Yes obviously not “everyone has to get arrested” – it’s a team effort. But the reason people use this criticism – is because they have a complete lack of empathy for the mass rape, slaughter and starvation coming down the line for the billions of voiceless. If this was happening to them, then the story would be completely different. The penny has dropped – youth have sussed out they are going to get hurt anyways. What the fuck. That’s why they don’t care anymore about the mothering from Green Party bigwigs and the NGO “duty of care” people. “What’s the point of getting a degree when this shit is coming down the road” one recently told me. Exactly. No, what Jenny Jones and co want, is a nice bit of tame “nonviolence on the side” to supplement their reformist sweet nothings. And that’s what’s going on here. The green movement’s old guard – with their intellectualised cynicism, their interests to defend, their appalling record of failures to avoid, the last thing these people want is a rude awakening of mass revolt. “The mob started to reason”. Our friend, Frank from Greenpeace, had the courage to tell the truth of the matter when he congratulated XR for “democratising direct action” and blew his chances of becoming Director! I did a few sessions in front of the old guard crowd at one of the Glastonbury tents. I got told off for not answering the questions – I was ticked off for not being polite (God forbid), – for being “aggressive”, “emotional”, “divisive”, and then of course that last act of desperation: being “patriarchal” and just “being” a man (let’s throw in “white” and “old” for good measure). When this happens you know you have reached the verbal fight stage (first they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win - Gandhi). Young people are finally seeing through this tired trope which is used to cut down people who upset the progressive (white middle class – just saying) establishment. Remember what MLK wrote in “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”. In fact, just in case you are interested in facts, I designed the first successful youth civil disobedience climate mobilisation plan - for Just Stop Oil this April. I pushed for getting all young people to appear in the media for the first time in a UK climate campaign. I am working with black community activists to get their communities out on the streets, over the shit that is happening back in the Caribbean where their families get battered by storm after storm. The Grand Coalition has left the station Jenny, but it does not include you and the old guard, because you don’t even have it in you to go up to the young people and congratulate them on staying up on an oil depot pipe for 60 hours straight. We must not go all soft on “progressive” establishment critics. These people – let’s call a spade a spade – are our enemies. We need a rebellion come what may, not to lick the arses of the semi-great and good. I will continue to talk my truth – sometimes it might even be THE truth. This raucous spirit powered the explosive growth of the UK’s biggest social movement. Without spirit and confrontation, the lifeblood of a movement dies. So put away your fears – you will never be “popular”, and let’s be the best people we know ourselves to be. Step up and get onto the streets with your heads held high this autumn, with pride and determination, and march on the Great Corruption: the House of Lords. Jenny and fellow “Lords” will be hiding behind the police lines as reformists in revolutionary times always do. True colours and all that. Sorry, the centre will not hold. It has long gone. This movement does not belong to you Jenny – in truth it never did. Nor does the Green Party. The big (beyond massive) elephant in the room for the party is this: the irreverence of reformist party politics when the country’s top scientist is showing us the three-year card. Everyone knows it, so when is one of you going to have the guts to call out your Emperors for having no clothes? When is one of you going to lead your troops out into the road at the start of the rebellion, rather than when you are so embarrassed by two weeks of grandmothers getting dragged off the road, that your leaders finally turn up to show a bit of ‘solidarity’. You have to laugh. “The times are a-changing,” a poet wrote a while back. We are coming down from the hills, we are going up from the housing estates, we are coming off from campuses. This autumn we will say to the government “fuck your police bill – do your worst”. We are British and no way will we be bullied into submission. This country belongs to its people, all of them. With all our diversity, our eclectic backgrounds, and with all our glorious differences. And we will no longer stand by and let this government shit on the most vulnerable and desecrate our kid’s inheritance. Never. Get in touch when you decide to join us, Jenny, the door will always be open. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get with the job of sorting it out. [Support](#/portal/signup) ### The Structure of Scandal: Jimmy Saville, Jeffrey Epstein, Three Mile Island…. And us. URL: https://rogerhallam.com/scandal/ Last updated: 2023-10-09T15:29:27.000Z After a hard day of zoom calls, I’ve been watching films about scandals. Series about these three topics have recently appeared on Netflix and they are well worth a watch – not for the contents so much as for their common structure. This structure is essentially the same as the moral depravity now developing with the exponential intensity of the climate crisis. The progression of scandals is well known but I think it is worth reminding ourselves of the stages. Here is one way of doing this: Stage 1: people are doing bad things but they are not so bad, and there are lots of other things which are bad so people don’t pay attention to them. Stage 2: a positive feedback dynamic develops – people get away with being bad and so become worse, but it happens slowly enough for people to get used to it. And people benefit from the badness and so decide to go along with it. Stage 3: the situation gets so bad that someone finally flips and declares the truth of the matter but they are stamped on, not least by those complicit in the badness, either because they don’t want their cowardice to be exposed or because they benefit from the badness – they have been bought by the bad people. Expediency trumps the truth. Stage 4: After a number of people who try to speak out have been stamped on, the badness gets to such an intensity that someone’s truth-telling finally breaks through. They are hated like hell for speaking out, but the bad guys (and those tied into their way of thinking) fail to stamp the person out. There is a tipping point where the whole house of cards collapses, and justice is done. Truth trumps expediency. Stage 5: things return to how they were before and everyone cannot believe “how anyone could have let such badness happen”. We might add another stage: that the badness becomes unexplainable and thus separate from history, therefore “unique” and thus no lessons can be learned from it. And so the cycle repeats itself. This is largely what has happened with the Holocaust. When I was young, people were encouraged to talk about it and dwell on the nature of evil and its lessons for our time. Now, no one can speak about it in any comparable way without being stamped on. People endlessly tell me that I must not speak about the H-word in the same sentence as the C-word. I am banned from speaking at universities because of “my comments”. The point (which we cannot speak about) is that the climate crisis is the mother of all scandals. Everyone knows about this, but we cannot speak about the situation in any morally commonsensical way because that would expose all our complicity in its utter badness – the raw and blatant depravity of allowing millions to be killed to protect the power of the few. To stop us from dealing with it in an objectively humane way, we are only allowed to talk about it in a scientific and thus emotionally repressed and banal way. Why is it, for instance, that no one compares the climate crisis with child abuse? Isn’t that plainly what is going on here, and on a global scale? One generation is complicit in a project to destroy the next generation. Think of all the psychological pain we are imposing on the young by declaring that we love them while fucking them over on a scale unknown in human history. No wonder there is a mass breakout of depression and self-harm amongst the young. The liberal establishment, as is usually the case in scandals, is the enabler of this violence. They are the collaborators. They provide cover through deadening euphemism and police the repression of truth. Of course, if we are honest with ourselves how it will end on the climate. We will be exposed for our complicity. We will be looked upon with the same moral disgust as you will have for those that covered up for Saville, Epstein, and the Three-mile Island management if you watch these films. A young working-class woman abused by Epstein says “I do my fucking job – you do your fucking job”. She is referring to the cowardice of the police and legal authorities who refused to do their job and bring a billionaire child abuser to justice. This is what those who are being abused by our complicity are saying to us “Do your FUCKING JOB”. Meaning, of course, get out of the house and fucking rebel. To contact civil resistance projects around the world: ring2021@protonmail.com ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get with the job of sorting it out. [Support](#/portal/signup) ### You are nowhere close but you could be: Open Letter to XR URL: https://rogerhallam.com/letter-to-xr/ Last updated: 2023-10-09T15:33:10.000Z In 2018, along with a small group of other people, I helped to cofound Extinction Rebellion. I presented the first paper to these activists, arguing a Rebellion against the British government over its inaction on the climate crisis was now viable and necessary. I created the mobilisation plans for the first year of XR. I wrote the initial strategic design for the April 2019 Rebellion. Let’s remind ourselves. XR was set up to create a rebellion against the British government. This means that your actions have to take a serious and credible aim at this objective. XR was set up to tell the truth and to act as if that truth was real, regardless of the consequences. XR is neither aiming at this objective, nor telling the truth. The truth is two fold: First, we are facing global social collapse. The 2022 IPCC report predicts up to 700 million refugees by 2030, in eight year’s time. And that is just Africa. Half the people in Africa. Second “we have to act quickly” as Sir David King says – if we don’t start winning in the next three years we condemn humanity to hell for hundreds of thousands of years. This situation is totally and utterly unique. Any analysis which is based upon the past has no purchase on the next decade. The unimaginable is about to happen and the world will never be the same again. The notion that XR is a “social movement”, an “environmental campaign”, a “network of activists”, completely misses the point. It is a mad dash to save our children and the lives of billions of the poorest people on the planet. Nothing. Nothing at all compares to this. You are failing because you are stuck in your fears and therefore you cannot bring yourselves to create the level of disruption necessary to force the change we need in the time we have. You have the numbers, you could win, but you are all hedging. To succeed you will have to challenge your family relationships, risk your job, and give up your social status. You will have to resist to the point of arrest and imprisonment. And not stop. You are failing because you are not telling yourselves this truth. There is an abject failure of leadership. True leadership is about speaking unpopular truth. A movement that rejects such leadership falls into inertia and disintegration. There is no excuse. You have heard the Heading for Extinction talk. You know. You may delude yourselves on this, but there is no going back, even if your privileges temporally give you that option. In truth you have no choice. There are many reasons to step up. But the most important reason is to save yourselves from agonising guilt and shame – the utter self contempt of knowing, a few years from now, that you could have resisted, but you chose not to. The most important thing in this life is your own self respect – abiding by the voice of your inner conscience. You may pretend this is not the case, but it may be good to consult thousands of years of wisdom the subject. True “self interest” is always to act for the Good not for the Self. So what to do? Assume fearless leadership. Stand up in your XR meeting and make a declaration. Either people commit to the central purpose of XR – to engage in ongoing civil disobedience or leave to join one of the many organisations which are going through the motions as the world burns. A clear and coherent strategy will encourage many more to join. Everyone sits down, as a community of resistance, and organises putting their lives into order – speak to their family and their boss. As people do when they prepare to enter a war. Because this is a war and we need a nonviolent army. Some people may not be happy with what I have written. I am not here to be popular. We have to be honest with each other. I dearly love people in XR, I speak and talk with many of you every week. You are very beautiful people, without a doubt. But beautiful people do terrible things. In Nazi Germany “nice” people kissed their children each morning before going off to murder millions of people. At the moment you are doing the same. The situation is deadly serious. I am deadly serious. Every day counts. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get with the job of sorting it out. [Support](#/portal/signup) ### Spirit = Action URL: https://rogerhallam.com/spirit-action/ Last updated: 2023-10-09T15:35:02.000Z One of the most obscene ideas is that you can be spiritually special, progressing on the road to some enlightenment, while standing by and allowing the world round you to get utterly fucked. Yoga outside Auschwitz will not cut it. No, it just won’t. I work hard to find much compassion for people who promote this idea. Maybe some time 20 or 30 years ago, they could have got away with such gracelessness. When the world was just average, ambling along bad. When capitalism was on an up day. When the world was getting high on the novelty of infinite connectivity. Who would I be to criticise a little harmless neurotic indulgence? But now? No. When I was teenager I sat on the pew of my Stockport Methodist church each Sunday, rage surging through my veins at the weekly betrayal of Jesus. The drug of my passion surged through my mind carrying me off – I was helpless to stop it. Jesus said we should be poor and then I looked at the congregation. The ultimatum appropriation – the church’s claim to over Christianity. I was off my head, spinning, dizzy, with all the newness, my body, my mind, this world – this world of suffering, of injustice, stabbing me to death each day. Rest was a foreign land I had never heard of. I have always felt a hatred of conventional “spirituality” for that reason – my hatred is deeply flawed of course, as hate always is, not least because the feeling itself is excruciatingly spiritual. I took 20 years off to cool off. Carrots in the field. Nappies to wash. Stuff. But, returning to the fray, I soon started to wobble, despite two decades of practised repression. I tried to do my best within XR. “Regenerative culture” “self-care”. Okay whatever. But what did it actually mean in practice? Feel bad, take a rest. Love yourself. Ban Nietzsche. The outcome: distraction, disintegration, depression - burnout. Is this harmless? No. Because we are here now, not 30 years ago. The good times have gone, the slack, the self discovery, the me me me. Now we all face hell. I try to be kind. Live and let live. I am no longer young, not so extreme. Take the middle ground Roger, I tell myself. But what does this mean when 500 million Africans are lying in the dust in a decade’s time. We are firing that mass murder weapon today to manifest this outrageous obscenity. In a decade the devil’s work will be done. The devil is us. What does moderation mean in a time of mass killing? To walk on by? This will be the eternal question asked of the 2020s. The decade when we finally threw it all away. The paradox – there’s always the paradox – is that the spirit does not live in “spiritual places”, the quiet retreat, the calm mountain view, but in the site of confrontational action. Any “spirituality” that undermines such action is plain evil. Regenerative culture, if it is to mean anything real, is only found in the agony of courage carried through into collective transgressive civil resistance. The body over the mind. The spirit over the body. The community over the individual. Drama over “contemplation”. “That was the best two weeks of my life” as I like to tell people in my evening talks – that’s what was told to me many times by people referring to their outing from complicity into truth – otherwise known as arrest. The journey, in community, from cowardice to courage, from self obsession to service, from indecision into action. From a “safe” place to the real place. This is how it seems to me - sitting in a prison cell is a spiritual act, the only place of rest – not sitting in the pew, not in the yoga class, but when looking at the intricate roughness of the chipped wall day in day out. Here is God. In a Time of Evil we know deep down we will only find him here. So silly to have pretended otherwise. To contact civil resistance projects around the world: ring2021@protonmail.com ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get with the job of sorting it out. [Support](#/portal/signup) ### Beyond Hard and Soft Materialism: An Analysis of the Human Spirit URL: https://rogerhallam.com/beyond-hard-and-soft-materialism/ Last updated: 2023-10-09T15:44:45.000Z The coverage of the Ukraine war displays the core worldviews of our ruling regimes. First you have the hard materialism of post soviet autocracy which reduces the world to buildings to be destroyed and bodies to be killed. The notion of success returns to the pre modern idea of slaughter and plunder (check out the Mongols on this). Then there is the soft materialism of the Western Liberal and Left culture. Materialism here provides the basis for the paradigm of individualist consumerism where humanity is constructed as atomised decision making machines engaging in cost benefit analysis to maximise their utility. The logic of this view leads to a deterministic Left defeatism in the face of oppression. Western commentators convince themselves that when the forces of oppression become “overwhelming” then there is “no option” but for the people to submit. The paradigm is eighteenth century Newtonian physics: a strong material force overcomes a weaker material force. The weaker force has “no chance” of winning. All this is total nonsense. As a researcher in radical political change at King’s College for five years I quickly identified that such reductive materialisms are ideologies which have little to do with the empirical record. Yes people submit to tyranny and yet just as often they rebel. It’s a complex system out there. Why? Because human beings are not inert objects subject to material forces. We desire recognition, love, meaning, and glory. We fear death and at the same time we are drawn to death. We are in this world but not of it. We are animals but also gods. The old name for complexity is “spirit”. This debate on the nature of humanity is as old as human existence. The practical point here is that is entirely possible that the Ukrainians will win not despite of all the death and destruction but because of it. It is within human agency to determine our destiny. We do not know the foundational justification of this sentence I have just written. If we did then we would not be “indeterminant”. If you know what is unknowable then it was never unknowable in the first place. And so on.. the endless merry go round of philosophical debate. Sometimes things don’t change for a long time and then they do. For all of human existence up to the 1950s we could not destroy ourselves. Now we can. We are now in the Endgame for humanity – for the first time for 250,000 years. We can go extinct via a nuclear winter and/or a via descent into a hothouse earth through putting CO2 into the atmosphere. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/roger-boat-banner-1.png) ## Join me In the Revolution of our lives Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No nonsense. Change your mind anytime. So here’s the thing. If we continue to use violence to combat violence then it is mathematically inevitable that we will no longer continue the linear alternation between war and peace but at some point spiral into the “last battle” and destroy the human race. We will go extinct. The notion that deterrence is an absolute is hopelessly naïve. Ironically then this is what you might be called the hyper realist position in an Endgame context. If we continue to be old style realists – believing in force and domination we will blow ourselves up or destroy nature and thus ourselves. This hyper realist position is same as the old idealist position in making clear that only civil resistance will deescalate violence and create the pathways into a new civilisational equilibrium based upon deliberative democracy and the inalienable rights for all living beings. This will not be brought about by old fashioned high minded theorising and virtue signalling but through the a practical plan for the systematisation of civil resistance infrastructures. I think this is about to happen. Not despite us having no time left (three years according to Sir David King) but BECAUSE we have no time left. It will require the coming together of funders, creatives, and activists to pro actively design, organise and enact sequences of non linear social confrontations that progressively transform the old materialist paradigm and its social forms into a new regime of the human spirit. Or to put it another way, we decide we are not going to sit around waiting for them to have us die. We find ourselves thrown into this life at an “interesting” time. I will expand on the practical design elements of this transformation in my next post. For civil resistance email again: ring2021@protonmail.com ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get with the job of sorting it out. [Support](#/portal/signup) ### You have No Choice URL: https://rogerhallam.com/no-choice/ Last updated: 2023-10-09T15:51:48.000Z Individual choice is an essential feature of any humane society but it can never be an absolute moral principle. On rare occasions individual choice is trumped by moral duty. You are obligated to take action otherwise you become evil like the evil you are presented with. For instance, if you walk into your home and your daughter is being raped, you don’t walk into the kitchen to make yourself a cup of tea. You are horrified and you intervene. If you walk past a house and see kids being sexually abused in the rooms you don’t think you need to get to work – you ring the police straight away. You intervene. Of course, technically you have a choice but no one with any self respect would walk by. This is not who you are and you act. Something we all agree on is that sometimes you do not have a choice. I am not being dogmatic or extremist here, forcing my view upon you. I am saying the opposite – that the act of giving yourself choice when there is clearly no choice is dogmatic and extremist – you are absolutizing individual choice above any sense of morality or humanity. This is where we are at with the climate in 2022\. To claim otherwise is an act of moral denial much more pernicious than the denial of the scientific reality of what is happening. The evil we face is replicated in our decision not to act to stop the evil – to not act means we become complicit in evil. We become radically disconnected from the other – and so also from our true self – our self that accepts the demands of morality. In this sense the recent film Don’t Look Up is a distraction. It enables those in the climate movements to indulge in their condemnation of those who deny the science, while being in denial themselves on the most basic moral imperative – the obligation to resist. The reason for this denial is nothing other than privilege – meaning the affordance of material security enables you to ignore your moral obligations to others. You can choose to be evil because your privilege protects you from the social and political consequences. Not for ever, of course. Privilege always ends up destroying itself through the stupidity of its selfishness. I met a leading member of an American indigenous tribe a while back. The first thing he told me was that his tribe had been subject to genocide for 500 years. Women were raped and buried, men beaten and shot, children abducted and forced to adopt another culture. For them, he told me, resistance is not a choice – when their land is taken from them, there is no choice but resistance. Again, technically he does have a choice – he can stand by and allow the rape and killing, but morally speaking he has no choice. He is not privileged and therefore has no choice. There must be a place for compassion here. Albert Camus said words along the lines of “if I had to choose between my grandmother and justice I would choose my grandmother”. But he could only say this because his whole life philosophy was based upon the pursuit of justice in a cruel and arbitrary world into which we have been thrown. It is true then that if you are caring for the very young or very old you need not enter into civil resistance. If you are traumatised or mentally unstable then it is best not to go onto the frontline. But for everyone else – it’s justice or death. That’s what Camus is saying. He fought in the French Resistance in World War Two so he walked his talk. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/roger-boat-banner-1.png) ## Join me In the Revolution of our lives Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. Free. No nonsense. Change your mind anytime. The climate movement then is a space of privilege in that it enables people to engage in displacement activities to avoid the necessity of civil resistance. You know but you choose not to act. You make a choice when there is no choice. In contrast, to enter into civil resistance is not only a necessary moral but more importantly, an act of spiritual wholeness – a refusal to disintegrate your inner self through living the lie that you have a choice. I do several talks a week speaking to people about the crisis – that we only have three years, if that, in which to act. That if we fail to act, we allow life on this planet to be destroyed for hundreds of thousands of years. That there is no greater crime because there is none. In break-out groups afterwards, week after week, I hear privileged people give their excuses to not act. There is always the same underlying structure: “My world is around me and out there is the climate. My priority is “my world'' and the “out there” is not my priority. Only their privilege enables them to believe that “their world” and “out there” are not the same thing. They are able to deny that when they enable the murder of the other they set in motion the murder of themselves. They engage in the ultimate crime – to “other” their own children – they murder their own world. There is no greater immorality, no greater evil than this. A few thousand people read my FB posts but only a few will email to be involved in civil resistance. Be honest with yourselves: the screen is your protection. We are all drawn to be voyeurs. You look at evil to give you meaning, but it will destroy you if you continue to refuse to act against it. You may think this is harsh, or even brutal. You may think it is what a student, who criticised me, called “fear messaging”. But this is not a message and the fear is not rooted in what I say but in reality itself – not everything is a social construction. There are some things which are independent of the infantile desire that only the things you like exist, things such as murder and death. No, I would say I am expressing tough love. You have your hand in the fire but you have not yet felt the pain – the signal has only just started to reach the brain. I am simply telling you to take it out before you burn yourself to death. Not yourself as a physical being, but yourself as the essence of what gives you your self-respect. To lose this is the biggest loss in the human experience: the loss of being able to say when you die that “I did what I had to do”. Act before it is too late – not for the world but for yourself. And, through entering resistance, you will realise you and the world are actually the same thing. Here’s that email: ring2021@protonmail.com Civil Resistance projects are now taking off in most western countries. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get with the job of sorting it out. [Support](#/portal/signup) ### “That’s so cool” URL: https://rogerhallam.com/thats-so-cool/ Last updated: 2023-10-10T20:15:59.000Z It’s July and today it hailed. The sound of the battering against the windows had my kids rush to see what was going on – “that’s so cool” one of them shouted. After 12 weeks (or more – I have stopped counting) without rain the rock hard soil has turned to mud in 24 hours of torrential rain. Last week I planted out my broccoli – any later and they wouldn’t grow enough before the light levels decline. Most of them are now dead and the rain won’t bring them back. I have ten acres of organic land but this year I have only planted out 5 beds of outdoor veg – a tenth of one of the four fields I have. I used to grow on all the fields but around a decade ago it rained every day for seven weeks and I couldn’t plant out a quarter of a million seedlings. Every single plant in the fields rotted. I almost went bankrupt. The 25 people I employed lost their jobs. I now just have two people who help out part time. Since that summer a decade ago, we have had to the coldest winter on record (lost all my winter crops), the warmest April on record. The dullness August on record. This year we had the hottest May on record, then the warmest June on record after endless rain delayed any outdoor planting a month later than normal. There used to be about 20 organic veg farmers in West Wales – when I started growing here 20 years ago. Now there are only four. As one guy who decided to pack it in told me “I might as well go and put my money down in Swansea casino”. No one knows what extremity will happen next – cold hot wet dry – only that year after year it’s getting worse. I don’t grow outside my polytunnels anymore because I can’t risk it. No one seems to care about poor farmers on the periphery going bust. After all when there is no salad in Europe the supermarkets can just fly it in from the states. But complex systems are resilient until one day they totally collapse. That why I am rebelling against this death cult system that is sending our young people to hell – this November. I’m done. (I didn’t know what to say to my kid’s comment. As I planted my kale in the driving rain this afternoon my mind wondered if parents watching their children get excited by the bellowing smoke as they entered the concentration camps had the same reaction) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get with the job of sorting it out. [Support](#/portal/signup) ### "Everyone Knew But No One Told The Kids": The Utter Betrayal of our Youth URL: https://rogerhallam.com/betrayal-of-our-youth/ Last updated: 2023-10-09T15:56:37.000Z There is something worse than doing something terrible and that is doing something terrible while pretending it is not terrible. Do that and sooner or later you will be given hell. Humans apparently have big brains because they have to work out whether other people are bullshiting them. Here is the situation. Three of the world’s top scientists have just gone on the record on the Conversation website (Climate scientists: concept of net zero is a dangerous trap) to say: > “We struggle to name any climate scientist who at that time thought the Paris Agreement was feasible” Read that quote several times and let the full implications soak in – no one thought that 1.5C was actually possible. Write it out and stick it on your fridge and read it out loud to yourself each morning for a month and I defy you not to scream with rage before the month is out. The world’s whole fucking liberal professional elite have been pushing a big fat lie for 6 years – a false hope. I told this to a leading American journalist this week, and he checked out the situation with another top world scientist – I have his email reply: 1.5C is effectively inevitable by 2030\. That means it’s actually inevitable in any real world sense (scientists never say anything is inevitable because their certainty fetish). Think about this for a moment. XR was largely propelled forward by the 2018 IPCC proclamation that we have 12 years to cut carbon emissions by 50% to stay under 1.5C. They always conveniently missed out that this gave only a 50% chance of success (only going for a 50/50 chance is all our kids are worth to them, but hey ho). Maybe 10 times the number who joined XR thought “ah, it’s still okay, I don’t need to join XR because it will get sorted out in the next 12 years”. What would have happened if 100 top world scientists had had the integrity, not to mention basic decency, at the time to came out and say “actually this is wrong, there is already zero chance of staying below 1.5\. The world is real and that is the way it is”. Then we would have got 10 times the number of people on the street and we might have finally made some real political change. The loss of hope drives rebellion. That’s political sociology 101\. Not the elite scientists’ cult of “positive thinking”. What do they know about the psychology of political mobilisation anyway? What scientists have done then is to condemn our youth by sweet talking them into thinking that 1.5C is still possible. Fridays for a Future is now firmly in the hands of “managed defeat” NGO advisors (that’s what a chief Greenpeace strategist called it when we talked to them – yes he did say it) – hence their campaign to “stay under 1.5”. We have lost two years of global mass mobilisation due to the peddling of a fairy tale. Everyone knew but no one told the kids. They are going to be sooo pissed! ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/roger-boat-banner-1.png) ## Join me In the Revolution of our lives Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No nonsense. Change your mind anytime. And, unbelievably, they’re still at it! The Green Party in this London mayoral election is trotting out the same bollocks on staying under 1.5\. Saying the words “climate emergency” a few times, and giving a death smile to the media is going to save us according to the Green’s candidate, the psychotic Sian Berry. All mass death projects are facilitated by those whose job it is to sell outright lies and false hopes – those that smooth along the way into the furnaces and pits of corpses, thereby preventing a revolt. The Jewish police in the World War Two ghettos. The UN at Srebrenica in 1995, where 8000 Bosnians were murdered in cold blood. Dutch “peacekeepers” assured the refugees that the Serbian fascists would give them safe passage if they got on their buses (see the recent film: Quo Vadis, Aida). But nothing, nothing compares with the obscene betrayal of the world’s youth in 2021\. The climate movement industry continues to lie and lie some more: about people getting good jobs, the effectiveness of tree planting, being saved by non-existent fantasy technology, and yes that 1.5 is still achievable. We have been told for 30 years now to just stay calm, and quietly continue to dig the graves for our children. “Stay calm” is the central mantra of the death cult of the professional classes, whose cowardice is only matched by their pathological inability to feel anything. When did you ever see a scientist scream with rage? Never. They are condemned because they never screamed. Yesterday I met a top PR guy I know, who worked with XR. A year ago he was very critical of a plan I had to expose the catastrophic corruption of the scientific profession. But after a year of trying to talk some courage into leading scientists he admitted I was right. “They are utterly … utterly …. utterly…” he could not find the words but is eyes were shot through with anger. The liberal elite is falling apart, they have neither the guts nor the integrity to speak the truth. Within a year or two – five at the most, they will experience a mass mental breakdown. And yes, as I said in a previous post – after that nothing will ever be the same again. Never be tempted to vote “Green”. All the candidates in this London election have just one policy: to continue the calm descent into hell, apart from Valerie Brown. Only she is proposing the revolutionary solution: ordinary people in citizens assemblies replace the lying cowards that are politicians, and they get to decide between Life and Death. Only ordinary people are able to save whatever is left of our legacy for the next generation. The harsh reality is this. We step up into resistance or descend into complicity: For those choosing the former email ring2021@protonmail.com for more information. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get with the job of sorting it out. [Support](#/portal/signup) ### Running for Mayor URL: https://rogerhallam.com/running-for-mayor/ Last updated: 2023-10-09T18:58:30.000Z Valerie is the beginning. The beginning of the end of the Regime. The Valerie for Mayor campaign is not taking off. Well, not yet (never say never as my mother used to say). This is not surprising and to be expected. When people have been imprisoned in a mental jail of defeatism and reformism for 30 years, they don’t jump up to escape when the prison door opens up. But that is what an election is in the present context. A path to state power. To be able to actually slash carbon emissions, create assemblies, and enact the democratic revolution which is for the taking. An election is not an election – it’s a social construction. An election is a space for direct action, an election is a chance for a carnival, an election is millions of pounds of free publicity to speak truth to power. Standing in elections is a no brainer. Everyone should stand in all future elections. When I say this to people they go “er…”. They go “that is a bad idea”. Let me tell you, when I die put “that is a bad idea” on my gravestone. When people tell me something is definitely a bad idea with the false certainty of the slave who can never conceive of revolt, I know I am onto something. When I created the fastest ever fossil fuel divestment campaign at King’s College by painting the central hall and going on hunger strike a seasoned activist told me that it was “a terrible idea”. When I proposed to Rising Up to create a mass nonviolence movement on the climate crisis in January 2018, which led to setting up of XR, I was told I was “delusional”. Everything in this world that is truly exciting starts off life as being “terrible” and “delusional”. In Burning Pink we don’t give a fuck about winning the Mayoral election. We’re having a great time. There’s all the stress and worry about money, and getting the posters and people to the right place at the right time stuff– but we’d much rather be speaking the truth and living it than being a cynical spectator on the sidelines. We’re creating the revolutionary routines for elections in the next few years. Being a candidate, and then doing half million pounds worth of criminal damage (with lawful excuse) to a pathological bank – and doing a heartfelt speech to the police (link below ), walking out of a fucked husting session (“keep your answers to one and half minutes please”), taking a morning out from campaigning to plead not guilty to planning to close down Europe’s biggest airport (I am typing this as I sit in the courtroom), and then organising an election rally on a motorway (next Wednesday). We are re enacting the great traditions of revolutionary ridicule – the Situationists of the 60’s, the German green party in the early 80’s (when they used to wear jumpers), the first year of the Pirate Party in the 2000’s It’s like before XR, when we were doing Stop Killing Londoners. Trying to get more than 50 people to block a road for 10 minutes felt impossible – then 6 months later thousands were blocking the roads. We have to remember this: the impossible is now the inevitable. That’s what 1.5C locked in by 2030 means: the end of the regime. It’s over, as we all know, on the climate. But there are lots of “it’s overs”. The suffering and death of millions is literally in our hands – and their death and suffering is inevitable only to the extent we waste time with reformist bureaucratic distractions. The only thing which will save what can be saved now is classical nonviolent struggle. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/roger-boat-banner-1.png) ## Join me In the Revolution of our lives Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No nonsense. Change your mind anytime. In mid June it looks like covid restrictions will end and we will hit the road running. Literally – being on permanent tour to speak to the good people of these islands about the treason of our rulers and the ecstasy of resistance. To my friends in the Green Party I say this – give an open ultimatum to Caroline Lucas to lead a mass campaign of civil resistance against this ecocidal regime, and if she doesn’t then resign and join Burning Pink. To my friends in the centre of UK XR I say this – give it an ultimatum to create an open accountable and elected central executive which can kick the movement into action and effectively mobilise to create mass arrest and imprisonment this autumn. If it doesn’t, then get the hell out of there. There are only two strategies on the table: mass arrest or sitting on zoom calls for months talking about why mass arrest might not work. Believe me, no one is going to forgive you for going for the second option in 10 year’s time. We know how to build a resistance movement – it takes a few days to set up the social media, a few months to mass mobilise with public meetings, and two weeks to bring the regime to the table. We also know how to run the state. If we can organise 10,000 people to block 5 sites in central London for 10 days, we can run the government with citizens assemblies – it’s just more stuff, right? There is one thing to understand about the coming Revolution – it will be radically nonlinear. Nothing will happen and then everything will happen. It will “come out of nowhere”. This was the case with every revolutionary episode, 2012, 1989, 1917, 1871, 1848, … check them out. But of course they don’t come out of nowhere – they always need a vanguard of sublimely mad people. This is what Burning Pink is. The nutters. The lunatics. Forget the 3.5% - they only turn up for the last week to go to the party. They are the logs. You need the match. Burning Pink is the match and we are striking like mad. You then need the kindling – you, the 1000 people reading this FB post, are the kindling. When we join together and strike together the fire will light and the logs will explode into flames. People in the street are ready, they have lost all faith in politicians and the system. Go and talk to people at any bus stop. We know the numbers: to win mayoral elections you need a few hundred campaigners, to force through legislative change you need a few hundred to be imprisoned, to spark an uprising you need a few thousand arrests. From June we will be on the road to jump the chasm and get the numbers. You can read about it or you can do it. What else have you got lined up for this summer other than sitting around at festivals trying to forget your despair? Give up that crappy job and come on the road. Life is for Living (as my mother used to say). ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get with the job of sorting it out. [Support](#/portal/signup) ### Only a Revolution Will Save Us Now URL: https://rogerhallam.com/only-a-revolution-will-save-us-now/ Last updated: 2023-10-09T19:03:34.000Z This week has seen a flurry of “data points” on the coming revolution. The carbon ruling class psychopaths and their appeasers in the reformist space (the NGOs, the political parties, the elite university “radical” left) think all this is nonsense of course, but that’s because that can’t do basic maths. Sir David King former chief scientific advisor to the British Government, last month, can do maths: “We need to move rapidly. What we do in the next 2-3 years, I believe, will determine the future of humanity.” (translation: only a revolution will save us now). Three years ago I was found not guilty of “criminal damage without lawful excuse” by a London jury. It took them 40 minutes to decide the verdict and it was unanimous. This week six brave truth tellers were also found not guilty of criminal damage despite causing tens of thousands of pounds of “damage”. Why? Because any ordinary person who spends a few days hearing about the reality of coming mass death and the basic decency of people who stand against this evil is elevated to tears. The message to the Establishment is this: no London jury is going to find “criminal damage” on the ecological crisis unlawful. Gentlemen, going forward, only by undermining the British constitution and English common law, will you be able to continue your treasonous destruction of this country and your pathological disregard for our children. You are now “complicit in ecocide” as my friend Dave declared in court this week as he glued himself to the dock. As day follows night, judges will find themselves in the dock within a decade. Justice will be done. This is Britain not Russia. So when nine women were arrested this week for causing potentially hundreds of thousands of pounds of damage at HSBC, we already know what the jury will say: “fair enough”. At some point the penny is going to drop, funding mass death is unlawful. You can’t get more basic than that. “The highest law is the welfare of the people”. Meanwhile Priti Patel does the bidding of her political masters and puts in place the authoritarian laws which will create the backfiring effects which will spark revolution in the coming years. With all due respect to the “kill the bill” people, the smart revolutionary response to the new legislation is “bring it on” and “do your worst”. Let’s not moan about the loss of “liberal rights” – they only ever existed to the extent that we do not challenge the system. A sign we are making progress is when they start to show their true colours. It’s happened a hundred times before in history, and is happening again now. We don’t want to stop the bill we want to remove the regime. Anything less is a death sentence to billions of the poorest people on the planet. Or as that death loving cult, the International Monetary Fund, put it “There is growing agreement between economists and scientists that the tail risks are material and the risk of catastrophic and irreversible disaster is rising, implying potentially infinite costs of unmitigated climate change, including, in the extreme, human extinction” (translation: they are going to have us all die). ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/roger-boat-banner-1.png) ## Join me In the Revolution of our lives Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No nonsense. Change your mind anytime. A last data point: over 70% of people who talk to Valerie Brown, Burning Pink’s candidate for London mayor in a London street give her their contact details. This is not because she has “the right policies” but because she is an ordinary person who cares. As Jamie Kelsey told me about electing ordinary people to the council in North Devon: what get’s people to vote for us is knowing that we are “not them”. I talked with Micah White one of the originators of Occupy before we set up Burning Pink. We both agreed we have to take over the state. We don’t have time to do anything less. And the state is ready to be taken. I regularly speak to “establishment” figures and they all know they have fucked up and they no answers. Within 5 years the world will be heading over 1.5C, Paris will be dead, and our emperors will be seen for having no clothes. Life will never be the same again. So it’s a race against time guys! What a time to be alive. In the next half decade we will determine whether the ecological catastrophe that is now locked in leads to a fascist revolution or a radical democratic one. A revolution based upon fear and hatred or a revolution which puts legally binding citizens assemblies at the centre political power, which, for the first time in our history, puts working people and minorities into power and evicts the corporate class and their professional administrators. A revolution based upon human deliberation and empathy. We will need every ounce of strategic intelligence to succeed. We urgently need to exit the dead spaces of reformism and do two things. Engage with ordinary people with leafleting, stalls, door knocking, and ringing, creating tours of orators and assemblies up and down the country. And we need to combine together to bring down the carbon economy not in one off “actions” but every week until we get legislative victories or are banged up. Just as the great US civil rights struggles tore into the “southern way of life” so today we have to tear into “the carbon way of life”. Anything less is delusion and complicity, not to mention being mathematically illiterate. To take part in non violent civil disobedience please email: ring2021@protonmail.com ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get with the job of sorting it out. [Support](#/portal/signup) ### Getting Tired of Reformists URL: https://rogerhallam.com/tired-of-reformists/ Last updated: 2023-10-09T19:08:16.000Z “There's a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious, makes you so sick at heart, that you can't take part! You can't even passively take part! And you've got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels…upon the levers, upon all the apparatus, and you've got to make it stop! And you've got to indicate to the people who run it, to the people who own it, that unless you're free, the machine will be prevented from working at all!” Mario Savio, 1964. Have you noticed whenever shit things happen some supposedly radical campaign group comes forward claiming to speak for women or black people or whatever it is. They talk the talk and it all seems good radical stuff. They have us march to the top of the hill and then suddenly come up with some shitty reformist demand. Because they have no political imagination, because they are gutless and clueless when it comes to creating structural change. They all want “system change” but they would rather drop dead then actually do anything that will create it. So after all the shouting and outrage and rhetoric, what’s the actual plan? More laws to protect women, repeal of the police bill – all “sensible” stuff which we all know means it’s shite. We don’t want to ask for stuff from the system – we want to get rid of the damn thing. This is 2021! 125,000 have just died miserable deaths over the past year because the government is not interested in protecting working and vulnerable people. We have kids going hungry by the million. We have local government administrators slashing services while raising the most regressive of all taxes – the council tax so the rich don’t have to pay for Covid. And to top it all, the ruling class doesn’t give a flying fuck about stopping climate breakdown which is going to have the next generation slaughtered, raped and starved to death, if we want to call a spade a spade on what scientists have been saying for 30 years. So let’s get real. Nothing is going to save us unless we bring down the government and replace it with assemblies of ordinary people making the decisions. We’re going to get hurt anyway right – worse than our worst imaginations. So there’s nothing to lose. People and organisations who claim to speak for us don’t know anything about what it’s like to live with all the stress and despair and depression. They’re doing fine. They have skin in the game. We need to say to all those self selected people who claim to speak on our behalf - get out of the way. Let’s come together and decide ourselves if we want to continue to be lied to, insulted, and then killed. Valerie Brown is standing to be the last Mayor of London. To show the defeatists and reformists what the shining light of Revolution looks like. What courage and joy look like when you go for what you really want, rather than what we have been told is possible. Those of us supporting her don’t care about winning some rigged election. It’s about not taking it anymore. It’s about living a life worth living. And that’s how we will win big time. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get with the job of sorting it out. [Support](#/portal/signup) ### Citizens' Assemblies: The One Revolutionary Policy URL: https://rogerhallam.com/the-one-revolutionary-policy/ Last updated: 2023-10-09T19:10:20.000Z Valerie Brown is standing for election for London Mayor in May. She has one policy: that there is a legally binding London citizens assembly on how to enact an emergency decarbonisation of the city, along similar assemblies on the other critical issues and challenges faced by everyday Londoners. This is a revolutionary policy because it does not seek to gain small useless concessions from the political system but to change the system itself. The system itself is corrupt, as so many people now realise. It has to go -if the people are going to regain trust in democracy. For decades now, we have seen conventional politics catastrophically incapable of dealing with the two outstanding crises of our time: the inequality and the climate crises. This is because politicians are caught between the desire of voters for real change and vetoed power of the globalised corporate interests that have no intention of allowing structural change. And they always side with the interests of the rich and powerful. The consequences of this have been disastrous. It has led to a massive disillusionment with “politics” as people stop believing anything can change, or they are attracted to the delusions of security offered by radical right wing parties. Meanwhile, conventional progressive and left wing parties continue to support a political system which has shown itself incapable of creating neither social justice nor climate emergency legislation. If the human and caring values which have been built up over the past generations are not going to come to nothing in the coming decade, then we have to take a deep breath, and realise it’s either constitutional revolution or certain defeat. The solution is an upgrading of the political system to empower assemblies of ordinary citizens to make key decisions on the direction of our society. There are two key reasons why Citizens Assemblies will be massively effective in getting us out of the mess we find ourselves in: First, unlike any other voting system, people are selected randomly from the population. For the first time in history decision makers actually reflect the people themselves. 50% will be women. Minorities will be guaranteed inclusion. Most people will be ordinary working people from all round the country, and the 1% richest and most powerful will only have 1% of the make up. In one stroke, the corruption of excluding the poor and the marginally from power will be removed. And because people are chosen by chance no one will be able to interfere with who gets into power, however much money and influence they have. The rich will lose control. Second, these assemblies of ordinary people will make decisions on the basis of deliberation – hearing witnesses and engaging in extended small group discussions, with no outside influence or vetoes acting upon them. The “miracle” of this process is that people quickly get to know each other as human beings -not political opponents. They listen and understand each other and through this process come up with solutions that are rooted in the wisdom of hours of discussion. Contrast this with getting a few minutes or even seconds of biased ranting on social media or from the corporate controlled mass media. What these assemblies do then is create decisions based upon the reasoned discussion of people with no other agenda than the common good. And examples over the past 20 years show they come up with decisions which make sense. Not only do common sense and justice prevail through citizens assemblies but they are seen to prevail through collective action of ordinary people. This creates a new sense of community cohesion and democratic pride. Instead of a careerist politician speaking to the cameras it will be a builder from Birmingham or a care worker from Sheffield. People watching will immediately realise that “these people are like me” and so I will take notice of what they say. This is a beautiful thing. This is what real democracy looks like – rule for the people by the people. In the great challenges ahead we need a way of doing politics that brings people together to agree on what needs to be done. This is what citizens assemblies do. They are the new Democratic Revolution for the 21st Century. This is why Valerie deserves your support – to get the word out there... That we can do it ourselves. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get with the job of sorting it out. [Support](#/portal/signup) ### Resist or be Complicit: An Open Letter to the British Legal Profession URL: https://rogerhallam.com/resist-or-be-complicit/ Last updated: 2023-10-09T19:15:27.000Z Some things exist whether you choose to believe they exist or not. Some things are true whether you believe them to be true or not. And some duties you have a legal obligation to fulfil, whether you choose to ignore them or not. The more you refuse, the deeper you dig a hole for yourselves. We live in a time of consequences. Inaction means consequences of violence beyond our imaginations. This week members of your profession imprisoned two British citizens, Tracey Mallaghan and Sally Davidson, for “contempt of court”. In doing so, they showed contempt for the British Constitution. The reason is not complicated. The foundation of our constitution is the Social Contract. The first duty of the British government is protection of the British People, and the first duty of the British People is to obey the laws of the British Government. If either side breaks this contact then they are not above the law and will be prosecuted. Citizens who break the laws of the government are prosecuted under those laws in a British Court. Governments that refuse to protect the lives and livelihoods of the British people are guilty of treason. Citizens have a duty to remove such a government and institute a new regime which will prosecute the traitors. Those who are complicit in administering and facilitating treason will also be liable for prosecution. The facts are clear. For thirty years the British Government has been told by the scientific community that continuing to allow the emission of greenhouse gases will lead to the destruction of our State and Society. The consequences of inaction are numerous, interlocking, and existential. To engage in allowing continued emissions by the merchant class therefore constitutes treason against the state: to put a private interest before the public interest to the extent of destroying the country. This extreme criminality has already led to the locking in of 1.5C of warming: permanent global economic depression, regular pandemics, hundreds of millions of refugees, the evacuation of all the world’s coastal cities over the next century due to rising sea levels, and climate chaos for tens of thousands of years. The precise extent of these consequences is open to debate, the substance is not. If our government continues to refuse to take emergency action over the next five years then it will be responsible for taking us over 2C, locking in geo-physical feedback loops which will lead to billions of deaths from starvation, the end of civilised life, and a significant possibility of human extinction. There is no greater crime in the history of humanity for a regime to allow this to happen. In this country a civil war was fought to establish the principle that no man, no class of people, and no private interest is above the law. Charles the First believed himself to be above the law, that the doctrine of the divine right of kings allowed him to engage in pillage, rape, and slaughter at will. He lost the civil war and was beheaded as a “traitor against the state”. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/roger-boat-banner-1.png) ## Join me In the Revolution of our lives Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No nonsense. Change your mind anytime. For three and half centuries no British Monarch or Government has dared to adopt the position that it has a right, divine or otherwise, to destroy the lives and livelihoods of the people of this country. Until now. The facts are clear. Over the past three decades the British political class has willingly, in full knowledge of the science, engaged in the treasonous betrayal of British people. We are now in the time of reckoning. Within ten years the catastrophic material consequences of that betrayal will become blindingly obvious and the law will take its course, as it has in the past. Those complicit in thes hideous crimes will be prosecuted. This will include individuals in the legal professions: judges, prosecutors, and clerks that participated in the persecution and imprisonment of those who are performing their legal and patriotic duty to resist the treasonous regime. To avoid prosecution, you are required to resist the regime by refusing to prosecute those enacting their legal rights and duties. Those of you with a classical education will understand that history is a story of endless human folly: the tragic inability of those in power to see anything except what they want to see, and their consequential fall from power due to the extremity of their immorality and stupidity. Your actions are on record. The Law will take its course. Justice will be done. And Burning Pink will play its part. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get with the job of sorting it out. [Support](#/portal/signup) ### On XR Global Support: Admissions, Defamation, Disinformation and the Need for Reform URL: https://rogerhallam.com/on-xr-global-support/ Last updated: 2023-10-09T19:50:47.000Z XR “Global Support” (GS) recently published a second official statement about me on rebellion.global with all the formal branding, making a good show online of wishing to represent the voice of the Extinction Rebellion international. I am pleased however that GS is admitting to not being the HQ of XR and admits to being a group only offering “support” services. GS say they are happy for me (and others) to continue our work with XR groups around the world. They accept I am not anti-Semitic and I am very glad that we have that out of the way and can move now on. I have no desire to make this an issue about myself, and have attempted to highlight worries about a toxic culture which, based on my studies and experience of movement building, I think needs to be urgently addressed. I have to date still not received any response to my numerous requests for an open dialogue and for the authors of this statement to reveal their identities. If a self-selected XR group chooses to bar me from their network that’s fine. What concerns me is the damaging way in which they have chosen to do so. If this can happen to me, it can also happen to anyone in this movement. Their decision not to show their faces violates the core culture of XR, which has been clear from the beginning that we are not masked vigilantes. There is a huge danger that arises when anonymous committees take actions on behalf of the organism. I will no longer accept further efforts to defame me and destroy my reputation. The accusation that I had “the full intention to create a scandal” over publication of comments about the holocaust that were taken out of context by a German newspaper is simply not true. See link (2) for statements confirming this. There are also serious questions about GS’s integrity in publishing in their statement confidential correspondence of a founding member, in order to further their own agenda. The leak and its publication constitute an act of internal sabotage. In fact the contents of the document are nothing more than ideas that were being thrown around to look for ways in which to respond to the media propaganda in question, and pivot the messaging back to the dire urgency of the climate crisis. Isn’t this the actual work we are all here to do? What GS has done instead is to craft a campaign designed to sabotage me by disclosing a rough draft text meant for internal discussion and feedback. And they continue the defamation, claiming I have joked that “we might start shooting climate polluters in the head”. They base this accusation on a mainstream media propaganda move that misquoted me out of context. GS have stated this “represents a serious violation of our commitment to nonviolence as a movement”. In fact, it is a classic example of how GS does the corporate press’s work for them, by supporting their decontextualization of comments to promote the opposite of what is actually being said. I have to question why a XR media team disseminates propaganda instead of responding to it? I fail to see how this is acting in the interest of the movement as actions such as these can only cause rebels to feel at risk knowing that media propaganda can be weaponised against them by their own peers. See the text of the interview (3) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/roger-boat-banner-1.png) ## Join me In the Revolution of our lives Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No nonsense. Change your mind anytime. I did not initiate this conflict with GS. They chose to issue a public statement about me, out the blue, over a year after these defamatory media publications were released, and I have a moral and legal right to defend myself. The episode has been a useful exercise in shining a light upon some of the more corrupted and aggressive sides of XR . (e.g. being accused of fascism and such like in the last few days (4)) and I very much hope this will serve to remind XR Global, the wider XR, and radical networks in general, of what happens when closed cultures co-opt social movements, and there is no accountable executive leadership or constitution in place by which to stop abuse. The failure of GS to create an operating constitution renders the function of XR’s “self organising system” (SOS) impotent as it results in the organism having no agreed ability to address problematic behaviour of members within its ranks. What this lack of structure has resulted in is a smear campaign to silence and ostracise me. I have been trying to get XR national and international groups to adopt constitutions since the founding of this movement, in order to prevent such toxic abuses of power. Being treated fairly, with due process, is a fundamental matter of principle. And if we are to let go of our principles, or only apply then when it is convenient for us, then we are truly lost. I have been requested by committed XR people to not waste precious energy by going on hunger strike to request a meeting with what now appears to be small posse of cowardly individuals so I will not be doing so. Instead I have a proposal. I challenge GS to bar me from the group by means of an open constitutional process. I call for the creation of a GS constitution with open, and accountable processes which will protect every member of group. And I am willing to be the “sacrificial lamb” so that GS may test the efficacy of their constitution upon me. This will, of course, represent one problem. The main instigators will have to finally reveal their identities. However I am looking forward to possibility of a meeting and, in the spirit of reconciliation and regenerative culture, I am more than willing to engage. I am just an individual like you, and you, the reader, can also choose to take this opportunity to remove this toxic culture in GS, by working to create the reformed open culture in GS, that XR was set up to foster. For myself, I will continue to focus, with others, on providing practical support to XR groups who ask for assistance, based on the understanding that there is no official XR global gatekeeper making up lies about what I say. If my request for a formal constitution is not adopted then I would have to suggest we are dealing here with a group of faceless characters who, in my view, have no idea what courage and integrity look like. As Gandhi said “nonviolence is not for cowards”. And GS, my door is always open for a chat (with Radiohead playing in the background of course). Let a hundred flowers bloom! See you on the streets. ## Links: 1\. [Global support second statement on their website](https://rebellion.global/press/2021/01/23/roger-hallam-clarification-statement/?ref=rogerhallam.com) 2 - Statements confirming that the memo about truth-telling was sent after the German newspaper interviews and that I had no intention of causing “a scandal”. \-[Gail Bradbrook (XR co-founder) and Nuala Gathercole Lam (XRUK press Team)](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1bGpOiCRlVvVxabmeYhy7ynqNuJup-DtCCsLZGWFz%5FUw/edit?ref=rogerhallam.com) \-[Tim Crosland (Director, Plan B)](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pdP9xZA02wsfUmIX-uAeu28Yxys1YfR94CHanIKkBMo/edit?ref=rogerhallam.com) 3-[Text of interview](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-fmctQDrz77XARQcSpv3ujxp5cang6tkH-qPDx4256I/edit?usp=sharing&ref=rogerhallam.com) making clear that I do NOT personally support putting bullets through the heads of climate criminals but rather suggest this is sociological prediction. 4- [Example of a letter from GS person making accusations of fascism](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Ni%5FdKD9CFeBaRTm5IqEEOjvQU3JOMq3dgSSbjqB6UqE/edit?ref=rogerhallam.com) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get with the job of sorting it out. [Support](#/portal/signup) ### Pink Paint for Local Traitors: The Purity of Defiance URL: https://rogerhallam.com/the-purity-of-defiance/ Last updated: 2023-10-09T19:37:33.000Z It is easy to go with the crowd. It’s easy to look at posts like rabbits peering into the headlights. There is a moment when all this changes. All the manic excuses and rationalisations fall away and you are left with just yourself and the utter horror of what is coming down the line. People have faced annihilation many times in history. Our stories and movies are full of it. This is the moment we are in today. And it the essence of the human spirit to act in defiance in such circumstances. On Monday Burning Pink members threw paint over councils up and down the country. The message is straightforward: No you won’t have us die. Of course they have been met with the silence, mockery and attacks of those that have don’t have the guts to face facts. Those too afraid to step into responsibility. Who project their self contempt at their own cowardice onto the others who remind them of their catastrophic moral failure. Local councils declared climate emergencies and then did fuck all about it. This is a treasonous betrayal of the people they claim to serve. And they will do nothing until there is direct action against them and people stand in elections to get them out of power. This is Burning Pink. It is not a plan, it is a spasm of rage and love. It does not need to work out the chances of success. We are way past that. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/roger-boat-banner-1.png) ## Join me In the Revolution of our lives Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No nonsense. Change your mind anytime. The people who took action this week know the score. They are part of a long tradition of radicalism in this country. Like the Civil war revolutionaries, like the early trade unionists, the suffragettes, the civil rights activists – hated and despised at the time, memorialised and celebrated when at a safe distance. This time there is will be no more times, if we fail. There is be no more families or communities, and no more memorials and celebrations. There will only be rape and death. Utter desolation. This week an ignored conference on the Catastrophe confirmed we will be flying past 1.5C in the next 5 to 10 years and 2C a few years later. Hundreds of millions of people will be fleeing their homes and the world be inflicted by a Covid style crisis but a hundred times worse, and without end. You will be pretending it’s still fine, and then suddenly it will all be over. At a conference last week Sir David King, former top science advisor to the British government, declared we have just four or five years to invest in massive geo- engineering projects. This is elite speak for “we have so utterly fucked things up that only science fiction miracles will save us”. Councils planting a few trees is worse than insulting. My deepest thanks goes to the brave souls that undertook the beginning of the revolt. The universe salutes you. Only a Revolution will save us now. People stepping into doing civil disobedience email us on: ring2021@protonamil.com ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get with the job of sorting it out. [Support](#/portal/signup) ### Visioning Extinction Rebellion URL: https://rogerhallam.com/visioning-xr/ Last updated: 2023-10-09T19:42:36.000Z Extinction Rebellion was set with two purposes or visions – to speak the truth and to act as it is real. This sounds straightforward but it is in fact, at the present time, the most difficult thing in the world. That is why we are heading for extinction. Because we put our individual lives before the collective life of our species – before Life itself. And we wallow in self pity rather than stepping up. The original vision of XR was not of a campaign or plan – but new way of being in action. A taking up of courage – a realising there is something more important than our fears. We all fail at this every day when we pretend we cannot do more. We hide from the world. We hide together and share stories that blind us to our cowardice. We are lost, but worse we resist being found. Because we do not understand that redemption only comes through suffering and the only honourable life is to move into that suffering in an act of faith that there will be another side to come out of, into a state of grace. XR created a vision and set off to fail at it, and it has failed. And this is the first and necessary step towards success. The question now is whether it is willing to learn – to take the risk of destroying itself in order to reconstitute itself to produce a second iteration – a second chance of success – another second possibility of humiliation. Only when we understand the notions of faith and grace will we find ourselves in our lostness. Only when we admit the utter destitution of our souls at this time of utter annihilation will we begin a journey we can be proud of, regardless of the outcome. Two years after XR started I found myself last week in a zoom call with just four people from a call out for a third of the country, for people willing to undertake the minuscule commitment of going into a British prison as a result of their resistance to the most absolute evil any generation is ever likely to face. In the utter sense of failure in being unable to persuade this movement to commit to even a small fraction of the commitment our forebears expended to produce all our comforts and securities, I find a sense of grace. My whole life has been an utter failure. An utter inability to stop the cruelties and injustices that people engage in. But long ago I learnt that beauty lies in trying, not succeeding. The original vision of XR then was not so much to tell the truth and act as if it is real – but to fail at such a vision, and allow ourselves to enter in a state of grace about this failure. And then, and only then, will we lay the foundations for the miracle to happen, that will save us – as it is written in the great stories of our ancestors. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/roger-boat-banner-1.png) ## Join me In the Revolution of our lives Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No nonsense. Change your mind anytime. ### A Future Vision My future vision of XR is to let go of ourselves. And let go of each other. And through this we give up on our desire for agency. After all it is the will to power that got us here in this terrible situation in the first place. We will only save ourselves when we put ourselves to one side. We will not save ourselves though “caring” for ourselves but by abandoning ourselves, because when we cling onto ourselves we open ourselves up for needless suffering – particularly because we stand to be annihilated in the coming decades. And more deeply and perennially, because we are only here in this world for a short time. My vision is that, only when we give up, will there rise up within us the sense of service and the power of fearlessness that will bring down the dark empire we face – the pervasive deathliness of everything this system of collective being has set up for us. Only then will we gladly be able to give up all we need to give up in order to effectively rebel. Specifically: To stay on the streets till we are banged up in prison for weeks and months. And then come out and gladly do it again. Because we literally have nothing to lose. What we have to lose is of no importance any more. Maybe my vision here is that some people get a sense of what I’m talking about, and they will become the leaders of this movement – the prophets if you like – who will show the way. Show people the true Spirit of Rebellion. Rebellion is not a brand or a campaign or a frame or fashion – it is a way of being in action. It is a fusion of calmness with absolute transgression. A calmness in absolute rage. A stillness that comes from freely entering into the wildness of Life’s desire for itself. There’s lots to organise of course. In the day I’m a thorough going materialist – but at night my soul sings to the cosmos and the cosmos sings back, and I wake with madness in my veins. The Sublime Madness Chris Hedges speaks of. The madness that will bring down this Empire of Death. That’s my vision of the future. It's basically an invitation to enter the eternal adventure of the human spirit. To what it means to truly live a life. To welcome everyone home. People are stepping into their responsibility to do civil disobedience in 2021 contact: ring2021@protonmail.com ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get with the job of sorting it out. [Support](#/portal/signup) ### Hunger Strike against XR Global Support URL: https://rogerhallam.com/hunger-strike-against-xr-global-support/ Last updated: 2023-10-09T19:56:40.000Z As some of you may know I’ve been having a bit of a ding-dong with Global Support. If you don’t know who these people are, then join the boat, neither do I. To my knowledge, I have never officially met any of them. But apparently, they claim to speak on behalf of the XR movement and recently took it upon themselves, out of the blue, to make a public statement about me (see below). The upshot of it was that I would never (ever!) be allowed to participate in GS, because I have done bad things. Or, to be more precise, the things I’ve done were not actually bad in themselves, but since the mainstream media distorted them to undermine me, GS decided, instead of responding appropriately, to capitalise on the situation by leading lots of people to think I should be ostracised. If you think this sounds a bit messed up, then you’re probably right. That said, I have spoken to some “political” people recently who seem absolutely convinced throwing people under the bus in order to “support the movement” (i.e., to preserve fundraising) is an okay thing to do. I guess this is the big bad world of power politics, but what do I know? I’m just a Welsh farmer trying to save my kids from destruction. What I do know is that XR was set up to get away from such crap behaviour. The plan was to be “beyond politics” and resolve differences with a bit of humane communication, not by Stalinesque dictates from faceless committees. Despite asking politely several times, I still have no idea who is in this group — they won’t even reply to my emails. Apparently, they have all been banned from speaking to me, publicly or privately. Nice. This would be no big deal, but over the past few weeks I have been asked by groups to speak, but only “in secret”, and at other meetings people have not shown up because they are “forbidden from interacting” by Global Support’s ban. The joys of being blacklisted. The point here, of course, is that if a movement allows this sort of thing to become endemic, then in my scholarly opinion, it is pretty much fucked. What rebellion lives in fear of bad press? By not supporting its members and weaponising the very propaganda we’re being attacked with against us, GS is not setting a unifying example that supports the radical action we need to address this crisis. So, I feel like I have to make a stand. I am giving Global Support a deadline of the 30th of January to enter into a public mediatory dialogue, otherwise I will start a hunger strike— and for my sins, I will listen to a Radiohead album each day (apparently, the band stopped giving money to XR because the media says I’m a creep). Please let me know which albums are the best to listen to. I would appreciate it very much if you could share this post and ask others, who feel Global Support are acting in a non-XR way, to email them and to suggest they have a public chat with me. Sounds reasonable — I hope you would agree. Send your email to xr-international@protonmail.com As we enter 2021, we all know we face the most important year in the history of humanity, where only mass civil resistance can prevent the carbon economy getting back into mass-death mode post-COVID. Whatever these people do, I will continue to work 12 hours a day, 6.5 days a week (I have a walk on Saturdays), in service to those around the world who want to get on with the job. Even if I have nothing to eat for a while but get to listen to Radiohead. Best wishes, Roger Hallam. ps: The problem with “full transparency” is you end up with reams of paper to read. But for the record here are links to GS’s statement blacklisting me, and my initial response: [Global Support’s Statement on Roger Hallam](https://rebellion.global/press/2020/11/20/roger-hallam-statement/?ref=rogerhallam.com) [My initial response 21.11.2020](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1zThE6MTScTuCjcfqN9RiD65%5Fpl5hZ%5Fh6W7o3gqJ-kYs/edit?ref=rogerhallam.com) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/roger-boat-banner-1.png) ## Join me In the Revolution of our lives Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No nonsense. Change your mind anytime. ### Public Statement from Roger Hallam to XR Global Support — A request to adhere to Extinction Rebellion Principles & Values 17th January, 2021 “To pursue truth for truth’s sake is the principal part of perfection and the seed-plot of all other virtues” —John Locke, quoted at the beginning of the Declaration of Rebellion, October 2018. I am extremely disappointed that the XR Global Support group felt it was ethical to put out an anonymous statement defaming me, without warning, and without checking if they had their facts right. On 21st November, I wrote a civil letter in response suggesting they be open about who wrote the statement, correct the errors, and engage in an open debate with me on the wider issues. I have written to two of the people involved asking them to join me in such a discussion but heard nothing back. I have heard that the group has decided to not to reply and barred its members from communicating with me, either publicly or privately. We all know this is not how things are done in XR, and it breaks with the whole ethical basis of the movement. I wish to declare, contrary to what was put in the GS statement, that: I am not anti-Semitic, but rather have a deep love for the Jewish prophetic tradition. I have apologised repeatedly for the mistake of making a comment about the Holocaust in an interview last year. It is cruel and vindictive to continue to punish anyone for a mistake for which they apologised for over a year ago. On top of that, there was a memo I’d written after the interview in question, suggesting truth telling be used to create social change, yet I am maliciously accused of having written it beforehand. I did not. I swear on my children’s lives I did not enter the interview with any deliberate intention to cause a media disruption. I am completely committed to nonviolence and have worked for peace and justice in various social movements for 40 years, since I was 14\. I have researched and advised on creating effective civil disobedience at King’s College, London, for the past five years. It is therefore another malicious lie to claim that I would wish to see violence done to those who are guilty of climate crimes against humanity. Making a prediction is self-evidently not the same as framing my concerns for the future as a good thing. When activists speak truth to power about the Establishment’s betrayal of the Global South and future generations, of course the corporate media’s response will be to twist and manipulate what is said to try to destroy reputations — and make money while doing it. If they are to succeed, social movements need to support radical figures, not side with opponents in tearing them down and silencing them. I have one demand of the Global Support group: that they follow the open, accountable culture of XR and agree by the 30th January to engage in a civil, and publicly broadcast discussion. If they do not do so by this date, I will begin a hunger strike to register my outrage at their behaviour. At a time of unimaginable threat to our societies and traditions from ecological breakdown, we simply cannot allow this movement to be run in such a cruel and dysfunctional manner. Those who are aware of the closed culture and cowardice in the Global Support space are invited to communicate their views to them directly, not to support me — nothing will deter me from the ethical duty to speak the truth about the climate emergency — but because anyone demanding that others “tell the truth and act like it’s real” should be doing so themselves. And to continue the theme of our communications, I will listen to one of Radiohead’s albums each day I do not eat. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get with the job of sorting it out. [Support](#/portal/signup) ### Only Love Will Save America URL: https://rogerhallam.com/only-love-will-save-america/ Last updated: 2023-10-09T20:04:32.000Z > Dear children, let us love not in words and speech but in actions and in truth. (John 3:18) One of the nasty things about conventional politics is the idea people can be reduced to set views. No room is given for ambiguity or intuition. But of course that’s not how people actually work. We all have a bunch of contradictory stuff going around in our heads. I have some intuitions about what happened in Washington two days ago I would like to share. Don’t panic, they are intuitions not considered statements on my essential being! So first, when I saw the rioters, a bit of me was going “fair enough”. I think it was an optics thing – our eyes create our thoughts. A lot of the people looked pretty ordinary – and ordinary people have been taken for a ride for a good long time now by the elites. And second the elites – all those guys hiding under their seats in their suits- have allowed and benefited from the take over American politics by the billionaire class. It had a turning over the tables in the temple feel about it. The disaster of the official Left is that it cannot understand that if people are screwed over for a generation or two, they will follow whatever guy speaks their language and says nice stuff about them, like “I love you”. “Educated” people think this is dumb, and thinking this is the heart of the problem. They just don’t get how it feels to be treated like shit for decades. And they are pretty dumb themselves (how many times a year do they get on a plane and shit on the next generation just because they can?). A little humility about our common human fallenness would go a long way. Lots of people in America seem so set on being totally right – so set in their ideologies, that it’s as if they want the civil war that cool analysts see coming down the line. After all, it's ideology that will stop the Biden administration from bringing the country together. It won’t stop the polarisation caused by social media, and it is not going to stop the destruction of the country by the greed of the business class. And within 5 years the Paris Agreement is going to collapse because no one in corporate controlled governments is going to slash carbon emissions. In the 2008 financial crash the governing elites lost the trust of the people, with the collapse of Paris the disillusionment will be complete. Ecological collapse, Covid being a first taste, will be bringing on social breakdown. And the American “experiment” will be over. If there is a way out of this, my intuition is that only love will save the country (in the militant biblical sense of the word). Love in speech means to forgive your enemies. I would bring the rioters into mediation spaces so they can speak their truth. Give them the recognition and attention they so obviously need. Maybe someone should give Trump a big hug. He is clearly a troubled man. He’s at the end of his life – let him alone to deal with his demons before he dies. Making a martyr out of him is beyond dumb. Love is not sentimental, it’s smart. Love in action means Revolution, at this point in history. Those of good will need to exit the entire corrupted party system and engage in civil resistance in the Martin Luther King and Gandhi tradition. Entrenched power is only overcome by going to the street. The demand has to be for equality for all and respect for nature, upon which we and our kids all depend. These demands have to be rooted in a celebration of the gift of Life, an expression of the strength and courage which is rooted in an understanding that death comes to us all soon enough, and so to live a good life is all we can wish for. Love in action then means to cause maximum disruption and then engage in maximum love towards the opponent. Only material transgression creates the opportunity for genuine dialogue and thus reconciliation. This will involve mass arrests, mass imprisonments, and some people will lose their lives. Evil can only triumph when we delay determined resistance and remain in comfort of righteous self-pity. It always was the case and it's again today. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/roger-boat-banner-1.png) ## Join me In the Revolution of our lives Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No nonsense. Change your mind anytime. Life is dangerous and nothing ever changes on that. Unless we start to live and act in truth then in a few years the ecological crisis will destroy civilised life, and our societies will enter the endless darkness of rape, slaughter and starvation. What will destroy us will not be the darkness itself but the self contempt that we did not step up to stop it. Realism now demands that we come together through love in speech and love in action. And this coming together requires the central demand for citizens’ assemblies. Love is manifested in free dialogue between ordinary people selected randomly to deliberate on the what constitutes the common good. This is what true humanity looks like. Only such assemblies will stop the corporate class and their political administrators from destroying America. Only when these traitors lose their power will the people at last be able to join together and fulfil the dream: rule by all the people for all the people. That’s my intuition. Could be wrong. Don’t shoot the messenger. It’s what Burning Pink is about. It’s the true meaning of Beyond Politics. If you want to take part on NVDA, send us an email to: ring2021@protonmail.com ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get with the job of sorting it out. [Support](#/portal/signup) ### Truth Will Bring Down the Empire URL: https://rogerhallam.com/truth-will-bring-down-the-empire/ Last updated: 2023-10-09T20:07:51.000Z Truth telling is not a vague or abstract thing. It does not have to descend into the bottomless pit of postmodernist relativism. It is a pragmatic and identifiable act. It is the speaking and acting on the truth that you believe to be true at any one point in time – and expressing the whole of that truth - spiritual, emotional, and political. It is to state nothing but that truth, without fear or favour. It is the opposite of expediency, defined as saying not what is true but what you believe will result in a desired outcome: such as personal advancement, political progress, or avoiding negative consequences for oneself. ‘Messaging’ is the opposite of truth telling. It is soaked in expediency: speaking and acting in such a way as to “get a message across”. It is instrumental. It is speaking and acting with an aim in mind. Truth telling aims to tell Truth. Period. It is its own reward. Messaging is a polite word for lying. The decay of a political culture comes from the normalisation of “messaging”. In normal times messaging is seen as a fact of public life: people want to get on. Truth telling is seen as an exotic idealism, old fashioned and outdated. In emergency times “messaging” becomes complicit in evil, and truth-telling becomes the handmaiden of revolution. It literally brings down empires. For decades we were in ‘normal times’. Now we are in emergency times. Probably our final emergency. To make this clear is the first and most necessary act of truth telling. But bad habits die slowly. The argument persists; ‘if you say that you will lose credibility’, meaning the path to power is lying. But those days have gone. In revolutionary times the path to power is to tell the Truth. The logic is reversed. Truth telling exposes the implicit violence of the emergency. It brings that violence out into the open for all to see. Those who would profit from the emergency are exposed. Those people try to silence you, but they fail because what you are saying is the Truth. If they destroy you, they simply enrage those who know what you are saying is true, but do not yet have the strength to tell the truth openly themselves. Your truth telling and your sacrifice creates a new social courage. More come forward, more are repressed, but the tipping point is passed. There is a social flip. Truth telling and resistance trump messaging and appeasement. The Empire falls. The more truth told, the faster the fall. It shows up what an empire always is: a social construction. An empire exists only to the extent people believe it exists. Its power is derived from the extent people fear they cannot believe in and act for something else. Revolutions come out of nowhere because beliefs are not solid – they can change overnight. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/roger-boat-banner-1.png) ## Join me In the Revolution of our lives Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No nonsense. Change your mind anytime. There is no strategy in an emergency: there is only one path. It is an emergency after all. There is only one obligation: to tell the truth and act as if it is the truth. Truth telling does not separate the act of speech from the act of resistance. Neither are credible without the other. Words and Actions are two sides of the same coin. The joy of living in truth is the overcoming of inner tension. The truth literally sets you free. No more agony of bargaining and calculation. Emergencies require revolutions: the absolute non-cooperation with Evil. Traditionally this means violent revolt. Today we have learnt a more effective way: civil resistance. The present emergency is the mother of all emergencies: it is universal, existential, and expediential. Global ecological and social breakdown affects everyone in the world, it threatens to kill everyone in the world, and the speed of that danger increases with each month and year. We have no time. As we enter 2021, living in truth requires each person to enter into civil resistance. As did those who came before us did many times to provide for our liberties today. We are obligated by our love and duty just as they were. Anyone who is not caring for the very young or very old, who has good mental health, who is not required by skill or talent to provide essential support, is absolutely obligated to join the frontline: to break the laws and damage the property of this treasonous government to the point of imprisonment, and, on being released, to repeat the process. A nonviolent army has to be formed – led by generals who are the best amongst us at directing a War Without Violence. As Gandhi said, “Nonviolence is not for cowards”. This is what the Truth today demands: to force emergency decarbonisation so as not to condemn billions of people to indescribable pain and suffering. There are no greater crimes being committed than what we face today, and so there is no greater call to act. Burning Pink is a direct action movement and anti-political party. Living in Truth is our aim, not to be successful. Because we live in revolutionary times, paradoxically, we will be successful to the extent we are not concerned with success. As Larry Kramer of ACTUP put it, “We didn’t give a flying fuck what people thought of us and that was our strength”. We are preparing for power by overcoming our desire for power. We are organising people for prison on a number of upcoming campaigns. We all need to speak to our families, to our fellow workers, and make community support preparations. We are marching to that war without violence. It has come to this. Escape the mental prison of complicity, cowardice and contempt. Give yourself a break. Join those who will sing the songs of freedom from behind the bars, “Free at last, free at last”. Friends, this is not a drill. Email ring2021@protonmail.com for full details. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get with the job of sorting it out. [Support](#/portal/signup) ### Our Responsibilities at this Time URL: https://rogerhallam.com/our-responsibilities/ Last updated: 2023-10-10T20:03:49.000Z I usually do not respond to people's FB posts, not least because there are only 24 hours in the day. But I would like to make some comments on Jon's recent post (See full text below). I want to be clear that I have the greatest respect for Jon Fuller, and although Rupert Read and I have profound differences, we are clear these differences are not personal. I want to challenge the fashionable assumption that as long as people are "working damn hard" everything is all good. It is not. Some actions are more effective and moral than others, and in an emergency – by definition – only one action counts, and that is emergency action. When a house is on fire, as is the usual analogy, and children are about to burn to death inside the building, there is only one course of action: to break down the door, run in, grab the kids and bring them out – whether or not they will have died by the time you get to them, whether or not this will cause harm to yourself – and regardless of whatever you planned to do. We are facing an absolute emergency, an obscenity beyond words: a project by governments to allow the murder of billions of the young and poor to maintain the power and wealth of a tiny minority, as Jon fully accepts. In such a situation, there are not a range of courses of action. There is only one moral and effective course of action, repeated hundreds of times in human history when rulers engage in mass violence: rebellion; in the modern context it means a specific activity: civil resistance. And in the British context, we know what that means from intelligence from people within the State: mass engagement in the legal breaking of laws, leading to over 3000 arrests over two to three weeks -I would add around 500 people being imprisoned on remand, give or take. That is the only way to create rapid legislative action from the government. That is what breaking down the door looks like. And everyone has to drop what they are doing to get it to the tipping point – the force which breaks down the door. We have not succeeded yet because too many people are doing other things that don't work. And the reason for this is that, although people "intellectually" understand the Emergency, they choose not to engage with it emotionally -or spiritually. They engage in displacement activities to avoid the reality of their responsibilities. Which is why I suspect 350 people liked Jon's post – everyone can feel like they are doing their bit. No – that is not what it's like in an emergency, sorry. It's not about us all getting on, and being nice. There is a specific job to be done. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/roger-boat-banner-1.png) ## Join me In the Revolution of our lives Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No nonsense. Change your mind anytime. I always remember Nicolas Stein, of the London School of Economics, causally predicting (as elite figures do) that climate change this century will be like World War One, World War Two, and the Great Depression rolled into one. So here is a quote of what I recently read about Passchendaele in 1917 (described by British historian AJP Taylor as "the blindest slaughter of a blind war"): "The goal was yet another fantasy of General Haig's, a plan to break out of the Ypres Salient and capture Antwerp and the Channel ports of Belgium. For the British soldiers it was the worse battle of the war. The ground was flat, sodden, shattered by shell fire. On the first night of the assault, the last day in July, the rains began, and after a brief respite in September, did not cease until November. Three thousand British guns fired more than four million explosive shells, nearly five tons of high explosive for every yard of German trench. The result was a muddy quagmire, a sea of black waste and shell holes, carcasses of horses and men, rats the size of cats, clouds of yellow and brown mist, an unbearable stench of rot and gangrene, the sweet smell of violets, which was the smell of gas and thus also the odour of death. To slip wounded off a duckboard was to drown in fathomless morass. Gunners worked thigh-deep in water. To advance over open ground, soldiers used the bodies of the dead as stepping stones. On the day of the final assault, a senior British staff officer close to Haig, Lieutenant General Sir Launcelot Kiggell, made his first-ever visit to the front. Reaching as far as his car could advance, appalled by the conditions, he began to weep. "Good God," he said, "did we really send men to fight in that?" The man beside him, who had been in action replied flatly, "Its much worse further up"." (from "Into the Silence: The Great War, Mallory and the Conquest of Everest". Wade Davis, 2011.) "It's much worse further up". The reason why we have not yet succeeded against those who plan to take our children into this Hell is that we have not yet travelled to the front line – and when we get there, we will find out "it's much worse further up". Our generation's cowardice will be treated with the same utter contempt and disgust that history now looks upon the pathology of General Haig. Displacement activities in the present context are all about denying death. So once you have read this post do the following: think about the humiliation and pain you will suffer in the lead up to your death. Think about the actual inevitable act of your death. Think about what will happen to you after you are dead. Feel how that feels. Then look in a mirror and ask yourself a simple question "what are my responsibilities at this time?" Burning Pink and related networks are recruiting people prepared for civil resistance in 2021: action will result in arrest and remand in prison. To meet with others ready to act upon their responsibilities, please email: ring2021@protonmail.com \-- For those who did not read it, here is Jonathan N Fuller's post: "Extinction Rebellion really stirred things up, bringing us together and giving us a far more powerful voice. But some of the founding mothers and fathers felt XR was losing its way and, given that Roger Hallam had been kicked in the nuts one too many times, he helped create 'Burning Pink' (formerly 'Beyond Politics'). Another significant figure was Rupert Read, who was sufficiently worried by XR's direction that he has now helped to form 'Greens Can'. I know some people are distressed by fragmentation, but I'm relaxed about it. It needn't be a problem. For the time being XR will remain the go-to group for those who become desperately worried as climate breaks down and a range of ecological pressures really begin to bite. This crisis is only going to get worse. A lot worse. So more people are going to come forward, no matter what key speakers ('spokes') do. One of XR's structural problems is the tension between group autonomy, the desire to act through consensus and the creation of a strategic plan. It can be paralysing. Personally I can't stand paralysis; if I encounter blockers or infiltrators (we do have them) I walk around them. For example, there is a tiny minority who don't like the language I use when tackling the media. There are people who don't like me to say the BBC "suppresses" the most alarming news or "the BBC has stolen from the young the one thing they needed to defend themselves - information". There are people who, for their own reasons, don't want to cause offence. Here's the thing - I don't like the number of references to 'rape' and images of dildos in 'Burning Pink' materials and I don't agree with Rupert Read that the collapse of civilisation is inevitable (other than in several low lying island states, which are to be annihilated by the wealthy world), but I won't try to dictate to others what they do and what they say. So long as people are working damn hard to stop the greatest act of genocide in history, none of us should cut across them or slow them down. As we move beyond Covid our most courageous and heroic activists will come forward with NVDAs. It may be XR, Burning Pink or GreensCan, or another new group. But it doesn't matter so long as we all get involved and take risks. Literally billions of lives are at stake and none of us has the right to be a spectator. Everyone can do something to stop genocide. Make your plans now for your actions in 2021. As for me, I've been put into isolation by the NHS. I came into contact with someone with C19 a few days ago but, provided I don't develop symptoms, I will be set free on 24th December. In any event I planned a break to 4 January and will now be quiet for a while, unless something blows up. e.g. a sudden decision on the CGAN case." ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get with the job of sorting it out. [Support](#/portal/signup) ### The Tabloid Press Betrays the Dead. URL: https://rogerhallam.com/the-tabloid-press-betrays-the-dead/ Last updated: 2023-10-10T20:06:53.000Z The Second World War was the People’s War. A war not just against the obscenity of Hitler, but a war for a decent and secure society. That is why servicemen and women, returning to vote in 1945, voted for the Labour Party rather than Churchill. They had risked their lives not for more of the same but for something better. Over the past week, the tabloid press has shown yet again that it is in service to the criminal billionaire class that owns these titles, rather than to the sacrifices of the British working class. They choose to get clicks out of hijacking the moving remembrance of the dead by a soldier and a nurse from Extinction Rebellion, who laid a wreath to highlight the core message of the war – “never again”. These two individuals have given decades of service to protection and health to this country. They represent the real voice of the dead: the millions who died, not just from this country but around the world, for a future which ensures ordinary people’s desire for life and happiness. The obscene and treasonous betrayal of these newspapers lies in their thirty-year refusal to see the world as it is – that we are entering a social catastrophe without parallel in human history because governments refuse to stop allowing carbon to be put into the air. We are now looking at thousands of millions of people forced to flee their homes, facing slaughter, rape and starvation, as carbon destroys the climate and our ability to grow food; this is the in-your-face reality of the crisis: “there is no greater crime” as a leading London lawyer has put it. There is no greater betrayal of the dead, no greater desecration of their ultimate sacrifice, than to appease the murderous corporate class which is knowingly taking our children into this endless hell, to make profits for another few years. It’s disgusting beyond words. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/roger-boat-banner-1.png) ## Join me In the Revolution of our lives Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No nonsense. Change your mind anytime. Of course, working-class tabloid readers know only too well not to take them seriously – a bit of good entertainment and a catch up on the sport. Tabloid journalists and editors are now addicted to the “get clicks to make money” mentality. They don’t care about anything other than holding back the losses these newspapers have been making for years. In their desperation, there are no limits to their nihilism – they will fuck over the dead as long as it makes headlines. Nothing has changed since the Sun’s outrageous coverage of Hillsborough. For decades now, these papers have been dirty, dying, and full of bullshit. If the editors and the journalists had even a fraction of the courage of the working people who give their lives to save this country, they would go on strike against their billionaire owners – not least Murdock himself. They would leave in mass and set up a working-class newspaper proud to serve its readers. But they are cowards. They are nothing compared to the dead men and women they cash in on. And they are nothing compared with the brave people who have been arrested and gone to prison from Extinction Rebellion to wake up this country to the fuckery that is now coming down the road. This is what genuine patriotism looks like. People may not like what we do, but they know we’ve got guts; something totally missing from pathetic journalists, slaves to their corporate bosses. The bottom line is that the tabloids are rage porn sites. They serve up distractions to the millions who are lost and desolate at the descent of our society into bollocks and emptiness. But there are plenty of signs people in this country are waking up to the real thing – taking their rage onto the streets and meeting in their communities to take back political power. It is only a matter of time before the spark comes along to light the fire. There will be no return to normality after Covid: the ecological crisis of which it is part is now locked in. The rich are squeezing the poor as they always do when the shit hits the fan. It happened in 2008, and it’s happening now. But you can only have so much of a good thing, and sooner rather than later the whole thing is going to collapse. After all, its physics stupid. And then there will be Nuremberg-style trials for the criminals who lied to the public and served the mass death machine for decades. Editors, remember this: those that live by the sword die by the sword. And one last thing. If one of you is brave enough to debate with me openly, a co-founder of XR and leader of new political party Burning Pink, then you only have to pick up the phone. A silent response will speak volumes at your upcoming trials. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get with the job of sorting it out. [Support](#/portal/signup) ### The Liberal Class is Complicit in Mass Murder URL: https://rogerhallam.com/liberals-mass-murder/ Last updated: 2023-10-10T19:54:16.000Z Centuries ago, Edmund Burke wrote that the triumph of evil required only that “good men to do nothing.” The notion of “evil” has been banished from the supposedly sophisticated discourse of the “woke” liberal classes. But for 99% of human history, evil was very much a material reality, namely the grotesque arbitrary power of the rich to rape, starve and murder. The modern evil is the plan by the corporate elite and their political administrators to willingly, in the full knowledge of the science, engage in putting greenhouse gases into the air to the point of locking in what is euphemistically called social collapse, namely that old trinity of rape, starvation and murder, on the scale of billions of people. A recent paper outlined that one billion people would be forced to migrate (that means three things, see above) at 2C average global temperature rise\*. And if you haven’t been paying attention, that is now effectively locked in within 20 years, give or take a decade or so, unless there is emergency action to slash carbon emissions. This is not alarmism, it’s the real world. Evil is always with us. There are always people committing monstrous crimes in order to express their disdain for life through a pathological desire for power. The “good people” are supposed to be the liberal class, the professionals and administrators, the educated strata of society, who have the agency, the power and ability to stand up for civilisation. So,where are they at this most critical point in the history of humanity when over the next decade, we are set to lock in the most despicable scheme to destroy a thousand years of social progress and condemn the next generation into a hell hole of endless and indescribable suffering? They are nowhere to be seen. As co-founder of Extinction Rebellion, I have spent two years asking nicely, waiting patiently for the NGOs, political parties, trade unions, churches, and professions to step up from their business-as-usual mode of organising emailing, lobbying and occasional tame marches. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/roger-boat-banner-1.png) ## Join me In the Revolution of our lives Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No nonsense. Change your mind anytime. What is now needed is bleeding obvious: mass participation in civil disobedience, escalating to a point of bringing the carbon death project to a halt. After all, this would certainly be happening if those already dying were in the home counties rather than in Africa. Black lives do not matter to those liberal classes as if we ever needed reminding. The Extinction Rebellion plan as I conceived it was that by this point, the educated classes would have done the maths and worked out we are going to hell unless we rebel. Our ask to civil society organisations was not complicated: leaders would go on a tour to speak to the nation, emails would be sent to the millions on their databases, informing them of how to engage in civil disobedience. Their vast organisational infrastructures would move into gear to coordinate the simple act of sitting in the roads. What did we get? Greenpeace refused to send an email. Christian Aid was going to think about it. Charities were going to put it on the agenda for board meetings. The supposed “radical” mayors of Hackney and Newcastle rubbed their chins. The result: nothing. One year on from Parliament acknowledging the reality of the biggest genocide project of all time, the “climate emergency”, all we have is inertia, procrastination, and outright opposition to anything resembling civil resistance. The Labour Party reverting to type plans to drop its commitment to zero emissions by 2030\. The Green Party, bless them, only discovered the climate emergency once Extinction Rebellion appeared and since then have done nothing other than talk about it. Dozens of councils have declared an emergency and then promptly put their motions in a drawer and carried on as normal. Why? Because the liberal class have no guts. The days of standing up to tyranny have long faded. The life-and-death struggle against Hitler and fascism is consigned to the history books. Today’s liberal classes believe only in one thing: maintaining their privilege. Their one priority is power. The number one rule is: preserve our careers, our institutions at all cost. The historical rule number one of fighting evil is the willingness to lose your career and to risk the closing down of your institution. The prospect of death and destruction is lost in a postmodernist haze. Leadership has decayed into sitting behind a desk, following public relations protocols (otherwise known as lying). Leading from the front, the first to go to prison Martin Luther King-style died with the passing of the World War II generation. The game is up. The old alliance with the liberal classes is dead. New forms of revolutionary initiative and leadership are rising up. Members of the new political party Burning Pink have thrown paint at the doors of the NGOs and political parties calling for open dialogue and public debate. The response, true to form, has been a lethal and deafening silence. We are now in prison from where I write this article after a Green Party member recorded a zoom call and passed it to the police. We have not been let out for exercise for the first five days. We have no kettle, no pillows, no visits. But we don’t give a shit. We are doing something about Evil. Shortly after the April Rebellion in 2019, I met John Sauven, chief executive of Greenpeace. He congratulated me on XR’s success. He said he would have got arrested but he didn’t because he had a cold coming on. The next generation have their annihilation coming on. They don’t want to be offered cake! Roger Hallam, Pentonville Prison, London. Received on 11 of September 2020. \*The New York Times: "The window for action is closing. The world can now expect that with every degree of temperature increase, roughly a billion people will be pushed outside the zone in which humans have lived for thousands of years." [https://www.nytimes.com/.../magazine/climate-migration.html](https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2Finteractive%2F2020%2F07%2F23%2Fmagazine%2Fclimate-migration.html%3Ffbclid%3DIwAR00T28M3CHCjeDrIrWyRa7kipX-u0-bWc9cYKtU-Ieg%5F--HlNIA9uep5OM&h=AT3SHfSOexNaoBPLmbsWR0ekgetCyTvWyxL8vSJ8R1ffslf019RVBSnDcemi5RJrOWYT9eE50vorQKSpq8JtOI-%5FFEn9iMUgwtgQYYwfiGSNeNJJqUbyGbsuC7NC3okbzw&%5F%5Ftn%5F%5F=-UK%2AF&ref=rogerhallam.com) Foresight: "UN forecasts estimate that there could be anywhere between 25 million and 1 billion environmental migrants by 2050." [https://www.climateforesight.eu/.../environmental.../](https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.climateforesight.eu%2Fmigrations-inequalities%2Fenvironmental-migrants-up-to-1-billion-by-2050%2F%3Ffbclid%3DIwAR3laazTxsm%5FoURIKvFkX5lMnQ%5FW60hCxABGkhK0ZqT715gZKQi8Bz1M3Hw&h=AT0TTKSqpjLQsa5zpGFHie2KDNU9S%5F-CN0rTox91z26CQzExy8ebt-ERswgioUC90TPT%5F66GMVLoB5h2nK8Zcd3wNqZlSBML4hok-PB6CW4y80Wiw0KyTD9E0Cbd5CZtWA&%5F%5Ftn%5F%5F=-UK%2AF&ref=rogerhallam.com) UN Environmental Migration Portal: "How many people will be moving as a result of climate change and other environmental factors? There is great uncertainty about the figures. Forecasts for the number of environmental migrants by 2050 vary by a factor of 40 (between 25 million and 1 billion)." [https://publications.iom.int/.../files/pdf/mecc\_outlook.pdf](https://publications.iom.int/system/files/pdf/mecc%5Foutlook.pdf?fbclid=IwAR0tPZmbD6Gu8lrGq4u-2479KMVQTYdiV3TVkKVy4vlDFgL1XThzvLfnXK0&ref=rogerhallam.com) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get with the job of sorting it out. [Support](#/portal/signup) ### I’m out of Prison! URL: https://rogerhallam.com/im-out-of-prison/ Last updated: 2023-10-10T20:11:42.000Z > 'I found prison in many ways quite agreeable. I had no engagements, no difficult decisions to make, no fear of callers, no interruptions to my work. I read enormously; I wrote a book, "Introduction to Mathematical Philosophy"... and began the work for "Analysis of Mind" ' – Bertrand Russell about his 6 months in prison Hello lovely people, Yes, I am finally out of Wormwood Scrubs after six weeks. (They have a nice front door as you can see). Thank you so much to all the kind people who emailed me messages. It was fine, I was fine and if anything was annoying, it was sitting there thinking about why so many people make up excuses for not taking this step which is now so necessary. I know I’m a bit weird – sitting on a bed all day reading biographies of Gandhi, having my food made for me, is pretty much as good as it gets as far as I am concerned. But really going to prison is not the end of the world. Here then are a few “obviously’s”: 1\. Obviously going to prison is not for everyone. If your mum is about to die, if you are traumatised, if you are claustrophobic, then it’s not for you. 2\. At the same time obviously thousands of people from all backgrounds can do it and the excuses are just due to prejudices and unfounded fears. 3\. Obviously you want to be sorted before you do it. It’s a project, like moving house, going to another country for a time, or changing a job. It’s a big thing but it’s just another thing. 4\. Obviously going to jail is not going change the world just like that. Like pressing a button and everything is sorted. 5\. At the same time obviously going to prison is a massive headache materially and politically for the authorities and once hundreds and then thousands of people do it in an organised and coordinated way, then in my scholarly opinion real policy changes are going to happen. It is the single biggest act of radical political and nonviolent effectiveness any social movement can decide upon. I think on the last count something like 1800 people in Extinction Rebellion are up for it. So I will be spending a lot of my time helping to get actions organised which enable these people to walk their talk. If you are reading this, then I am sure you know it’s all systems go, the time is now, and all the rest of it on the Ecological Catastrophe. So get in touch with XR, book some time off, and make up your book list. And thanks again for the support – I really appreciated it. Additional note: Hi – Thanks for all the comments. I am very sorry some people are upset by what I have written. Discussing prison is very difficult because it is a terrible experience for many people and it is very definitely not for everyone which is what I am trying to say in the post. However, it is a debate which has to be had at a time when dramatic action is so necessary. Social breakdown is going to happen unless we stop governments allowing the emissions of carbon which is leading to the destruction of the climate and ecological systems. I have been in prison five times and I am speaking from my own experience and the views are my own, expressed on my own personal facebook page. I would appreciate it if the responses are respectful. Thanks. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get with the job of sorting it out. [Support](#/portal/signup) ### Life’s Trials are all Heaven’s Pearls URL: https://rogerhallam.com/lifes-trials-are-all-heavens-pearls/ Last updated: 2023-10-10T20:18:42.000Z About this time last year I did a post which said I felt like I had to start doing direct actions again (rather than just researching them). Since then I have been arrested 8 times (7 nights in police station cells), been suspended from King’s College twice, done two hunger strikes, spent a week in prison and been fined £1000 at various court appearances. Well someone said I shouldn’t put this up as a post as I would be showing off but really I don’t think it’s a big deal – millions of people around the world last year suffered many times greater hardships in the pursuit of justice and sanity than I have. The point I wish to make is that last year was probably the most fulfilling year of my life so far, not despite all this civil disobedience but because of it. As I finish my PhD research into creating effective radical activism/political change I am increasing convinced that only “high end” disruption and sacrifice can be effective against the forces we are now up against. And so I am increasingly interested in the cultures and life philosophies which create the ability to undertake these actions. I suspect that this means looking at traditions and modes of thought which are usually mocked and ignored by secular western progressives. For instance I think Levon Helm’s lyrics point to a wisdom which personally inspires me. > Life's a strain of painful things to be overcome > We mark the mile by our trials and suffer everyone > But hold them near and keep them dear and don't be ashamed > > Trials of the world are all heaven's pearls > Trials of the world are all heaven's pearls > > We gather scars from tangled bars that catch under the skin > The friction burns as they turn working deeper in > But day by day sharp edges fade, smooth, burnished and fine > > Trials of the world are all heaven's pearls > Trials of the world are all heaven's pearls I’m planning on this coming year bringing along a good few more pearls ### Stop Killing Londoners URL: https://rogerhallam.com/stop-killing-londoners/ Last updated: 2023-10-10T20:48:27.000Z Stop Killing Londoners – Cut Air Pollution: Campaign Diary post no 1. Last week a friend forwarded me a blurb from Greenpeace asking people to email the government about air pollution. What The Fuck! 40,000 people are choking to death each year so the corporate machine can keep its profits and we are being asked to send an email. Don’t get me wrong sending emails is all good and Greenpeace are whatever they are. But the arctic is melting - the world is on the edge of ecological and political catastrophe and its suggested we send an email. Really!From the 5th July we will be taking the routines from our previous campaigns onto the London stage. We will start blocking London streets and on the empty roads dance our hearts out – till the authorities take notice. We will hold community meet ups around London to invite others to do their own shows. And if the powers that be don’t get it, we will escalate in the autumn and some of us will go to prison and other full on stuff. Because some of us are not following the herd over the cliffBecause life can be so sweet when we’re not choking to death. Join Us ### Motivation and Camus **Stop Killing Londoners: Cut Air Pollution: Campaign Diary Post no 2\.** I was recently invited to meet the chief executive of Greenpeace with my good friend George to discuss the idea of organising mass civil disobedience in the face of the existential threat of climate change (for the record between us we have over 40 years frontline professional experience of getting people to do stuff –otherwise known as sales and marketing). It soon became clear that he thought that mobilising around such an “abstract” issue “would not work”. Despite George’s increasingly desperate pleading as he backed out of the room at the end of our “time slot” with his hands up, as if pushing away an unpleasant infestation, it was clear that no amount of argument was going to change his mind (I managed to maintain my cool rational academic routine – but only just!). It is also clear that the mainstream environmental NGOs’ lack of faith in the ability of a critical mass ordinary people to rise to the challenge of saving their children from indescribably suffering, when the brutal truth of the climate crisis is clearly presented to them – and engage in large scale nonviolent direct action - is a catastrophic strategic error of meta historical proportions. For it is now beyond doubt that climate change is well advanced – we are approaching 1.5C over the pre-industrial levels and there is indisputably .5C still to work itself into the climate system from previous CO2 emissions. We are looking at the genocide of hundreds of millions of poor people in the global south, tens of millions more refugees and the rapid flooding of the world’s coastal cities – and that is just the beginning. Meanwhile it seems Greenpeace may be interested in some direct action on air pollution and I outlined our plan for an escalation of road blocks, arrests and imprisonments in what we plan to be a ground breaking campaign this autumn, paving the way to a whole new approach of open, peaceful and large scale civil disobedience which will take place on climate change in the next two years. The findings shared in the recent publication “Rules for Revolutionaries” (written by key designers of the stunning Sanders Presidential Campaign) provide crucial evidence that if you want to change something big you have to make a big request of people. In this spirit we are asking people to join us in going to prison this November if the government does not make a commitment to real and immediate action on pollutions levels which are killing 40,000 British children and adults each year. A clear case of prioritising corporate profits over people’s lives and a foretaste of the looming climate change crisis. We know we are not going to win unless we act in a way which will make a win credible. In another sign of this new realism, a campaigner writing in Open Democracy about the climate activists who were recently fined £10,000 for an action at a Welsh coal mine, referenced the largely forgotten philosophy of Albert Camus. Camus’ work “The Rebel” is, in my view, the most important political work of the Twentieth Century. Although it is now very dated – ostensively a critique of the brutal dehumanising violence of Stalinist communism, it contains a perennial political truth. That the true rebel revolts against unbearable injustice not because she or he will succeed or because a course of action “will work” but rather as an essential and necessary expression of what it means for that person to exist as a human being. The paradox being that, in contexts of life or death, pragmatism becomes complicity, and only the possible solution is an “impossible” solution. An awareness lost on some Greenpeace executives it seems. Notes: Yes you’re right - if you are reading this (and you got down to this bit) you are being asked to go to prison as an essential expression of who you are in the face of the situation we all know we now confront – contact me for details (no pressure!). Please share this post with others who may have a similar awareness seeping up into their souls. Thanks. ### The Storms in America and the Fiscal Collapse of the State. **Stop Killing Londoners: Cut Air Pollution Diary Post no 3\.** Consider the following three points: 1.Buried in a little read article in the climate change section of the Guardian website is this year’s most important fact: that recent storms and flooding in Texas will cost the US government the same as Katrina. 2\. The UN climate bodies consistently underestimate the speed of increase in the indicators of climate breakdown as they refuse to take account of positive feedbacks in the system – that is exponential change. Take for example the total melting of the arctic ice in September. Only a few years ago this was estimated to happen around 2100 – now it is clear it will almost certainly happen in the next five years (check out the graph on the internet – it’s not rocket science!) 3\. Possibly the most famous social scientific study on the nature of political revolutions is Skopol’s “States and Revolution” which argues that revolutions become inevitable when states bankrupt themselves and can no longer pay their employees, provide health care, or subsidise basic food stuffs. People come out on the streets and the rest is history. So consider how many Houstons/Katrinas states around the world can handle before they collapse. 3 a year maybe – 4? Not more than 5\. Follow the graph of the increase in the increase of “natural” disasters and we can see this happening in the next 10 years maybe, 20-30 certainly. Let’s consider then that there are three types of human activity: The non-political – people take a walk in the park - it doesn’t affect other people’s interests. The political – people do stuff which does affect some other people’s interests – like wanting more wages/profits etc. The criminal/pathological – things are done which undermine everyone’s interests. Some time ago our society’s refusal to drastically reduce carbon emissions moved into the third category – we just haven’t caught up with the reality yet. And it’s the duty of every citizen to do whatever it takes to combat the criminal/pathological (think of Hitler). I have spent over a year now messaging, phoning and speaking to people about getting arrested for various climate related campaigns and I am familiar with the responses – “I can’t as it will affect my job/CV”; “it will risk my ability to stay in the country” , “I have family commitments”, “I’ll let you know”. Well, with all due respect I would suggest none of this matters anymore. Only one thing matters and that is we start fighting for our society’s very existence. Whether we are successful or not is neither here nor there – it’s a matter of doing what needs to be done. Which leads me onto action: the “Stop Killing Londoners - Cut Air Pollution” campaign is recruiting people to do repeated civil disobedience leading to imprisonment as part of a growing protest against the British state’s continuing refusal to overhaul the whole transport system in response to the growing threat to its very survival. I wish all this was not so obvious but unfortunately I think it is. I rest my case. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get with the job of sorting it out. [Support](#/portal/signup) ### And then that was won too. URL: https://rogerhallam.com/and-then-that-was-won-too/ Last updated: 2023-10-10T20:24:12.000Z Life Not Money Campaign Diary Post number 9 – the last one. This is going to be an unfashionable long post but I’ve broken some rules in the last few months so I guess breaking another one won’t do much more harm. The cleaners’ dispute demanding basic workers rights at the London School of Economics was won on the Thursday before the election. Most gratifyingly, as I understand it, cleaners will no longer be outsourced but be directly employed by the university. It should be super clear that the result came about because of the fantastically resilient campaign of the UVW trade union and support from the Justice for LSE cleaners campaign. It would seem reasonable to assume that the Life not Money actions which involved a number of arrests and an endorsement from Noam Chomsky helped the process along but it is not necessary to speculate about the degree. At the beginning of the campaign it was made clear to me by an UVW person that a plurality of groups, tactics and demands was good as it “confuses the opposition” and it was on the basis of that opinion that I supported our actions going ahead. Indeed around three weeks ago I was phoned and requested that we do more full on direct action as the situation was “heating up”. However I totally acknowledge that for some people involved it was challenging to see another group and another set of tactics deployed. And I apologise for some communication problems which have resulted from this. In both this campaign and with the successful Kings College Climate Emergency campaign we hoped into practice a new way of getting results – a rapid escalation of civil disobedience involving the repeated decorating and chalking of public walls and roads. It has inspired many similar actions up and down the country, most recently the Rising Up chalking of the Murdoch headquarters just before the election – the video of it has received 170,000 views so expect the tactic to continue to spread. But the deeper reason for success I believe (and this is confirmed by interviews with senior managers at Kings College) is the taking of a public open and moral stand on an issue of self evident injustice. And pursuing that stand through a rapid repetition of acts of peaceful civil disobedience which would lead, in the case of the Kings campaign to suspension and expulsion from the college – or imprisonment in the case of the LSE. The key factor is the fearless act of defiance. I was not bluffing at Kings and we weren’t at LSE. I was fully prepared for the prospect of being stopped from finishing my PhD and face a criminal damage prosecution. And at LSE we were fully prepared to go to prison. I have been to jail before and made preparations to go inside again. The point is that in the face of such an unambiguous stand the power of the authorities is highly likely to crumble. Because whatever they do they have already lost. At Kings we won all our demands in just an eight week campaign. At LSE they told the police not to arrest us because they knew the dire reputational consequences of being the first UK university to have nonviolent campaigners and students imprisoned. Instead they have allowed us to freely chalk the roads around the LSE with zero interference. Power then can be understood as being based, not on money or status or knowledge, but on fear. Only through the maintenance of fear can injustice and oppression sustain itself.. But when the “fear barrier” is broken the dam breaks. We saw the beginning of such a process in the recent election. And so having just about completed my three years of PhD research into effective radical political action maybe this is the main finding (or rediscovery to be more accurate). The good news for activists, and the many thousands of people who are now waking up to the political situation, is that if we have the confidence to make defiant public stands in support of what we believe in then we will succeed. And yes this means being prepared for personal sacrifice – to undertake fasts, to go to jail, to risk losing middle class privileges of getting degrees and job security. This is how it always was in the great radical struggles for social justice in the past – and so it will be from now on. History has returned in case anyone is still in denial on this. And at the same time it seems to me that such struggles will only win the peace as well as the war, as it were, if they are conducted with respect for the opposition – and not fall into the trap of bitterness and self-righteousness – that somehow because we are right we are better than those we oppose. Such a position is politically and morally dubious and also bad tactics. In both campaigns I went out of my way to talk to and show respect to the security people. And in a funny way one of the most gratifying things about the King’s campaign is that all the black security guys on the doors know me and we always have a bunter when we meet. Just this morning one of them asked to check my student card and said “Oh yes Roger, we know all about you” and, broadly smiling, he put his arm around me. And yes we are working another Rising Up campaign. We want to apply what we have learned in single institutional settings and do something on a London wide scale on air pollution. As the elites should know by now “there’s no rest for the wicked”. I will post about this very soon (and if you want to join the team – don’t be shy – get in touch). Thank you to everyone involved in these campaigns – it’s been a pleasure to work with you. Here’s a pic of my mate Martin – whose autobiography has kept me in good spirits during several nights in Charing Cross police station cells. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get with the job of sorting it out. [Support](#/portal/signup) ### Criticism…. Icks! URL: https://rogerhallam.com/criticism-icks/ Last updated: 2023-10-10T20:26:29.000Z Life not Money campaign diary post no 7 (ish) I find this Facebook business exhilarating and terrifying in equal measure. All those people you can communicate with for free – and then being taken apart by people you have never met… I have always been an innovator and it’s an occupational hazard that people think you are mad (and often bad) when you deviate from “the way things are done”. The mad thing is that when you are successful people think you are great and if you are not people think you are a twat. What neither group seem to realise is you can’t be successful without risking being a twat – you never know. With Kings College Climate Emergency we got a good bit of flack (one experienced activist told me “your plan is a really bad idea”) but then it all turned out fine. With Life not Money we are still doing our “strangers at the gate” routine and not broken it down yet and people think we should be “working with the cleaners” and what not. So what with the stress of trying to have myself arrested and put into prison I slightly gave up. If I was a bigger better person I would maybe still be striding on but – without wanting to turn this post into a therapy session I should say I had a somewhat overbearing mother (and reading Plato at 13 at a working class Manchester comprehensive in 1979 was asking for a good beating behind the bike sheds) – so I find it difficult to deal with criticism from “our own side”. But then in the darkest hour I get a call from the Union - things are heating up (Owen Jones has done a video supporting the cleaners campaign and 100,000 people have watched it) and yes direct action is definitely necessary and the cleaners are all for it happening. So we’re back in business – the Brazilian horns have been ordered and we are all set to exercise our democratic right to make lots of noise and do a bit more chalking… “a cleaner is a person” written over and over again - that’s the top and bottom of the message of this campaign I think. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get with the job of sorting it out. [Support](#/portal/signup) ### The difficulties of getting arrested... URL: https://rogerhallam.com/the-difficulties-of-getting-arrested/ Last updated: 2023-10-10T20:28:16.000Z Life not Money at the LSE Campaign diary post no 6 So I’m sitting down blocking a public highway on our third attempt in 24 hours to break the law and get ourselves arrested. To break bail and be imprisoned. To get in the press and show that the London School of Economics would rather send students and campaigners to jail rather than sit down and talk about taking action on the extreme inequality at the school. A policeman comes over to me. I am breaking the law and will be arrested if I don’t move. I have practiced my lines: “I will not move but I will not resist you moving me”. I explain I would like to be handcuffed with my hands in front of my body rather than behind. That’s fine. I am looking forward to getting stuck into my book – Autobiography of Martin Luther King (what else?) - in the police van. Then nothing happens. After two hours we get up, walk past several riot vans full of police and go off and have some tea. Analysis: When presented with fearless and escalating civil disobedience the opposition is presented with an acute lose lose dilemma – repress the protesters and face reputational damage or do nothing and give ground. The LSE elites cannot afford to have protesters in prison and will go to any length – including directing police officers to disregard their public duties – to stop the world knowing their big secret – liberal progressive institution on the outside – vicious corporate extortion racket on the inside. The upshot – we are free to chalk and block roads around LSE without fear of arrest. Strange old world. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get with the job of sorting it out. [Support](#/portal/signup) ### Life Not Money - LSE Campaign URL: https://rogerhallam.com/life-not-money-lse/ Last updated: 2023-10-10T20:52:02.000Z “Roger Hallam - dots of spray chalk won’t be enough” Life not Money at the LSE campaign diary. Post number 1 Okay so if this sounds familiar it’s because it is. Having in just eight weeks sorted out, as it were, King’s College on Fossil Fuel divestment, the team is moving onto pastures anew – 5 minutes away to that great prestigious forward looking institution - the London School of Economics. It seems it has a little local difficulty on the cleaner’s front. Apart from only paying the £7-8 an hour (after compulsory unpaid breaks), the cleaners get no sick pay, no pension and restricted holiday time. To add insult to injury management force them to change clothes in the toilets, steal their wages, give the best shifts to their family and friends and bring in “illegals” to work for £3/hr (pocketing the rest of the wages themselves) at weekends. Oh and to get extra shifts you have to sleep with the supervisors. Yep welcome to the unregulated wild west of London’s casualised outsourced labour market. At the other end of the scale LSE Director (top dog) pay is around a cool £500,000 a year (more than enough for lots of high class drugs and prostitutes presumably). We think, on balance, there is room for improvement here. Our simple feasible and wholly rational demand is that the VC pay is reduced by a 100 grand and the money goes to create decent pay and conditions for the cleaners. Seems reasonable. As the quote from a comment on my first post about the King’s College campaign (see title) rightly points out, a few dots of spray chalk won’t be enough. But what about an (awful) lot of them! Well we have a plan (to blow minds) and on paper we will win. So sit back and await future installments of this diary to see how the show unfolds. Alternatively get involved – we’re “recruiting” – this is an open source online campaign – anyone can get involved and join the fun, on whatever level and you are totally welcome to join us. Just message me. And then there’s the small matter of cash. The King’s College campaign cost over a grand in materials and fines etc. Please go to Crowdpac online and chip in £3/£10/£1000 (we’re not fussy) to the King’s College Climate Emergency fundraiser to help cover costs for both campaigns. And don’t forget to like the page: see link in comments. ### Corruption at the London School of Economics – surely not! LSE Life not Money Campaign Diary Post no 2 I have spent a good bit of time interviewing outsourced workers around London over the past year. But nothing quite prepared me for the litany of dreadfulness I got from spending two days listening to the stories of LSE cleaners. And this is a “progressive” “world class” institution whose academics endlessly produce research that saying inequality is bad bad and more bad. Here’s a typical quote:“I have been here for four years, working a split shift and they still won’t give me a full shift with no long break in the middle. Family friends and relatives get the best jobs. The outsourced management organise this. And the LSE management know about this and haven’t done anything about it.Wages have been wrong. The management steal the money from the cleaners.Women have slept with management to get extra hours. The whole thing is corrupt.And supervisors attack the women and are not even disciplined. It is totally and utterly corrupt and LSE know about this. And LSE doesn’t give a damn as long as the work is covered and they don’t have to think about it. Numerous staff come here and for the first two weeks are not paid a penny – and then another fortnight and don’t get paid and then leave with nothing.” LSE cleaner March 2017.Now for the good news: it’s all about to change with the mother of all nonviolent direct action escalations – starting on the 25th (see FB event – please come and share). Remember we have a plan! There’s no cat picture this time. I know .. sorry. ### GOT ARRESTED (AGAIN) Life not Money at the LSE campaign diary post 3. Okay so slight delay since the last post – life got in the way. “Life not Money at the LSE” campaign is asking something everyone wants but no one thinks is realistic and so it never gets asked (that old chestnut): that the Director of the London School of Economics takes a £100,000 pay cut (latest on the grapevine is that the new Director will get in excess of 500 grand a year) and the money goes to improve the pay and conditions of the lowest paid workers at the school (£8/hour once you include breaks). All seems pretty reasonable as well as being “impossible”. Or as a lecturer told me with a dismissive hand movement “Not a chance!” All the more reason to ask I say. So off we went off last week to literally speak truth to power. Power was not impressed and four of us were arrested and truth (see pic) was washed off the walls the following day. Ah ha though, this is all part of the plan as we shall see. ![No photo description available.](https://scontent-man2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t31.18172-8/17990264_1874664689480740_7263411150227987256_o.jpg?stp=c335.0.2519.1315a_dst-jpg_s526x296&_nc_cat=109&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=340051&_nc_ohc=xM_-tIk56FAAX8P1eUW&_nc_oc=AQmuweQo8F-k-V6J_61yHmv-91z5-S_sumrGPm-SebAyI9CzBTwpr73TRuj5XASh0k4&_nc_ht=scontent-man2-1.xx&oh=00_AfC3osBPpXwc-UbWT2_kP8OZ8CXEo5B1xCip4uVeXH9FMw&oe=654D155D) Life Not Money at the LSE Campaign Diary Post no 4. A while ago I helped set up King’s College Climate Emergency to get the management there to divest from all fossil fuels. We won in our demand in 8 straight weeks of weekly escalating direct actions – helped along by a 14 day hunger strike by myself. No one thought we could win but we did. Now we are facing the Goliath of LSE’s globalised corporatized super big shot top management. Our slingshot this time is to break bail and go to prison next week if they continue to refuse to sit down and discuss our demand for a 100 grand cut in Director’s pay and the money to go to creating decent pay and conditions for the school’s lowest paid workers struggling on £8/hour (including unpaid breaks) – moderate, feasible, sensible ….. and “impossible”. Who knows what will happen? But one thing is for sure – if LSE puts students and campaigners in prison for putting chalk on their walls in protests against gross inequality at the school … well it’s not going to make them look too good. And we will have broken new ground on what cutting edge creative activism needs to look like in these darkening times. So slogan time: Speak truth to Power! Be Brave and Act Free! Life not Money! .. and that all time favourite.. Lipstick not Truncheons!.... ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get with the job of sorting it out. [Support](#/portal/signup) ### Kings College Divestment Campaign Diary URL: https://rogerhallam.com/kings-college-divestment-campaign-diary/ Last updated: 2023-10-10T20:37:39.000Z KINGS DIVESTMENT CAMPAIGN: POST NUMBER TWO Okay so judging by the respectable number of likes on my last post (or is it just that people like cats?) I am slightly encouraged that doing this FB thing is not a totally bad idea. So I have a plan to do regular posts on the Kings campaign to get them to divest from fossil fuels – practically to raise its profile amongst non Kings people so hopefully at the point it really heats up (and the plan is it will) there might be group of people who can give support – if only to make that phone call “now look here you King’s College people stop messing about suspending students and just do the right thing and divest – otherwise I’ll have to come down there myself and sort it out” … that sort of thing. I have two initial and important points to make. I have kids and rely upon their mum to be able to do what I am going to do. As she has rightly pointed out it’s all very well doing this activism stuff but what about the back up people. So just to be clear I totally acknowledge and appreciate her work – and all the other “low status” stuff people do in society to keep the show on the road. We are all enmeshed in intense networks of interdependence both economically and emotionally and this idea of the “great man stepping forward to save the world” is well .. total bollocks. Secondly just for the record I am going to be doing all this stuff not for the attention or even because I think we “will win”. In a weird deeply paradoxical way I can only get myself to do what I plan to do by totally lowing my expectations that it will have no effect and people will just think I’m a twat (not for the first time!). Because at the end of the day my emotional resilience such that it is, is based upon some notion that I simply can’t stand by any longer. In some fundamental sense I’m done. This society I live in has I think gone profoundly mad and if it thinks I’m mad for thinking this – and acting upon it – well so be it. I am inspired here by the Rosa Parks thing – not giving up her seat on the bus (yes I know it was set up). I think the reason it was so powerful was because it is usually a small thing that makes us crack. This Kings College investment thing – I mean what the hell – how is doing something on that gonna stop all this global warming. It’s like hell you want to not give up your seat on the bus – you really think that’s going sort of centuries of structural racism? Of course this is not the issue. The issue is I’m over this shit. Kings College investing in Shell and BP is just beyond outrageous – destroying the world for our children. It’s down there with sending Jews to the gas chambers – if you don’t think so then maybe you should check out the latest climate science. So I am going to act anyway and whatever. Enough seriousness – where’s that cat picture…. (PS anyone know of any journalists or even know of someone who knows someone...) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/cat.png) KINGS DIVESTMENT CAMPAIGN: Post number 3. Enough introspection! (see previous posts) Words are cheap; Action is the antidote to despair; Sentiment without action is the death of the soul; a stitch in time…. And so on. After a slight wobble today the plan is on. See the photos/video on Tuesday afternoon. And what’s more here is another cat picture. ……………………………………………………….. Notes Thought I would do some notes for new people: I am doing a diary of a campaign in real time (no retrospective rationalisations): the Kings College Climate Emergency demand that the college divests from all Fossil Fuels. Thirty years after a scientific consensus was established on the dire consequences of burning oil coal and gas, no British University has yet divested from all these industries. I do PhD research and testings for how to make bottom up radical campaigns more effective. The plan is that this campaign is going to be different in path breaking ways – hence the FB posts … and the cat pictures. I’m still on the look out for journalists btw. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/cat-2.png) I was suspended and then I was reinstated. Kings Divestment Campaign Diary Post number 9 I'm sure that's a quote from the Bible - but either way after being suspended, banned from entering Kings (empirically confirmed when I got dragged out of the students union last week) and forbidden to talk to any KCL staff, I have for some unknown reason been brought back into the fold. On the condition of not continuing to disrupt the college's participation in global scale herd as it gallops over the cliff on climate change. Needless to say I am duty bound to continue whatever nonviolent action it takes to change the college's investment policies. But it is good to have a small victory for sanity. Justifies another cat picture I think. Notes: I am organising a campaign of open civil disobedience to get Kings College to divest from ALL fossil fuels. For details see the FB page at Kings College Climate Emergency. The plan is to do whatever it takes to win. You can help by today or tomorrow ringing or emailing the top man at Kings and politely telling him to get with the programme of fossil fuel divestment. He must be very clever because he's on half a million a year! ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/cat-3.png) And so it has come to this – A hunger strike King’s Divestment Campaign Diary Post no 10. I’m sort of getting a bit more used to doing things which are totally outside my comfort zone but are still extremely difficult. I seem to live a sort of double life where I do some full on climate stuff and feel like a complete idiot because life just carries on and everyone acts as if everything is fine and there’s nothing to worry about. Then I listen to a you tube video by some professor expert for 40 years on the arctic and he says our situation’s totally fucked and I think this society I live in has gone completely mad. So according to my research findings the only way to effectively deal with this mass pathology is to strike at it with extreme sacrificial measures. This means a hunger strike – the plan is that only when people experience a real political drama will they be able to emotionally connect with the reality of the dire situation we are in. It’s a long shot of course but I can’t see any other shot half as a long. I wish more than anything I could but I’m afraid petitions, marches and the rest of the tame performance of political ritual permitted by present regime will certainly not cut it. I could say something deeply profound about moving beyond hope and fear but I think I will let actions speak for themselves. I will however round off this post with a bit of symbolism – a dead cat. Notes: Yes I am involved in an escalation of actions to get King’s College London to divest from all fossil fuels. Full details at Facebook page: King’s College Climate Emergency. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/cat-4.jpg) I'm on day 11 of my hunger strike to get King's College to make a decision to divest from fossil fuels. To be honest it has been pretty okay up to yesterday when I felt like I was going to throw up all day. I'm better today but beginning to to realise how wonderful it is to be able to eat food. The things we take for granted eh. However after seven acts of civil disobedience in seven weeks, a hunger strike into its second week and numerous one days fasts, the management is realising it has to act. An informal meet up "for coffee" (I don't drink coffee) last week produced an outline for an agreement on both divestment and positive investment in green energy. What we need now is a formal meeting, and a public statement of intent witnessed by the press. At this point I will stop my hunger strike. This is possible in the next few days but it would be amazing if hundreds of people take a minute to send a quick email to the principal Professor Edward to ask him to sent up such a meeting and that delaying will only prolong the hunger strike and damage the college's reputation. The email is principal@kcl.ac.uk. Please share with your friends. Sorry to break the run of cat pictures but needs must... .. and then we won. King’s College Divestment Diary post number 12.(last one) The best thing about being on hunger strike for 14 days is coming off it! Oh the gloriousness of a simple banana. It has been humbling to realise in a fairly visceral way our complete dependence upon the natural world and even more deeply the complete stupidity of denying our interconnectedness. The campaign was won at 6pm yesterday with the College agreeing to all our demands – a total divestment from all fossil fuels and a range of other measures to decrease its carbon dependence. Yes of course activists will have to continue to monitor the implementation but this is undeniably a confirmation yet again that it is direct action that gets results – and rapid lightening escalations can get fast results. The world is in an unprecedented crisis in the face of abrupt climate change and we can no longer pretend that things that don’t work still do. We need acknowledge our fears and then put them to one side (they don’t go away) and then do what needs to be done. There is now no avoiding the fact that we need to create nonviolent disruption and undertake significant personal sacrifices if we are to have the impact we all desire. I hope this campaign and my diary has helped inspire some of you guys out there to do what you know you have to do. Before finishing this diary (been sort of fun actually) I would like to thank Isabel and Clare for looking after the kids while I have been on the frontline and all the other people you have given me the support without which I could not have undertaken this campaign. I would also like to thank the great security guys at King’s – showing yet again being nice to people pays. And last but certainly not least to the cleaners at the college who have cleared up after our actions and deserve total respect for their essential work in keeping the institution functioning. I wish them all the best in their struggle to get decent pay and conditions. Lastly I am doing a participatory workshop on why the campaign won and we can do it again (drawing on my PhD research into effective radical campaigning) – “Open Direct Action. Why it works and What Next” 22nd March at King’s (see FB event for details) .. and well here’s a picture of the most amazing thing in the world for me at the moment.. a hummus sandwich! Lots of Love, Roger x ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/hummus.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get with the job of sorting it out. [Support](#/portal/signup) ### First Post URL: https://rogerhallam.com/first-post/ Last updated: 2023-10-10T20:38:54.000Z Like a lot of people I suppose I am really not sure about this FB business. But I recently decided that this is not the time to be stay undecided about things. I’m planning to do a few interesting things on the activism front this year and if they are to take off I think I might have to promote what I am doing a lot more. This is something else I am really not sure about but I am doing it anyway. So I have shuntered various “sensitive” family type people onto a new FB account and just gonna use this one for political stuff (and cats –see below). I still haven’t got it quite worked out but hey … So here’s the deal – 25 years after I had my last bout of getting arrested, going to prison and various related naughtiness, I have decided I can’t any longer live with this whole climate change thing and not get myself into trouble. Trump getting elected was the final straw, but in truth I have known where I am heading for a good 10 years – ever since my organic veg growing business was effectively destroyed by 7 weeks of continuous rain. The upshot is I have helped start a campaign to get Kings College, where I’m doing my PhD, to decide to divest from fossil fuels. We have been putting dots of spray chalk on the walls as a way of symbolising the need to connect the dots (don’t panic it washes off). And as it happens I had to go to this disciplinary hearing about it this week. I’m really not very good at being cool in my head when I get into trouble but it was just fine. I was super nice – the women interviewing me was super nice – I gave her a little statement – said I didn’t want to get involved in all the bureaucracy thank you very much and left. So onto step 2 (yes I have it all planned out!) a week next Tuesday. I will keep you posted. Another thing I’m not really sure about is doing super serious posts – I really can’t stay serious for very long so here’s a picture of a cat – someone told me that’s what people do on the internet? ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/92/07/9207a087-b355-4452-ac32-3aabd943233d/content/images/2023/10/08-ROGER-HALLAM-FARM-DARK-v1p-1024x576-2.png) ## The Climate Situation is F\*cked Help me to get with the job of sorting it out. [Support](#/portal/signup)