Direct action: What you can do.
With the ‘Coronavirus Act’ review and the ‘Consultation document on changes to Human medicine’ deadlines looming fast the bee in my bonnet has not been letting me rest. After attending the Trafalgar Square rally and being depressed by the numbers of conspiracy theories (sorry, but not all of us believe its Bill Gates, 5G, the NWO) being widely purported we decided to take a gentler approach. We produced a brief information flyer, a simple sign explaining who we are, and some open questions printed onto A4 sheets. Then we took a fold up table and 4 chairs and set up in Guildford High Street last Saturday. The idea was to invite people to start a conversation with us. We also had hi viz vests on with a ‘Stop the Coronavirus Act’ message on the backs. In 2.5 hours, we had 14 conversations. We were not accosted by any lockdown zealots, and we only had a brief run in with the ‘Town Rangers’ who asked us if we had public liability insurance for the table. We didn’t, it didn’t matter. We set up an email account for anyone who wanted to get in touch. If you would like to get more info about what we did, and get some ideas about how you can do your own, please contact us here: chattoact@gmail.com. It seems to me if we could set up enough of these little spaces to chat, we might start to stem the fear and activate the British people.. or am I more deluded than I realise? At least the buzzing’s not so loud.
Please, I really don't want a raft of angry hate comments because I don't believe what you do. The important thing is that we all want our freedom restored, and we should be united in that.
Thanks Grumpy Cat for the support. I do feel rather out numbered on this site!
@commononsense - Everyone should be 100% behind you! You are doing a grand job. It's easy to stand behind a banner in a big crowd, but very courageous to stand out there alone facing the public. You have my absolute admiration! Keep up the good work commonsense. I am very proud of you. You're a person with guts.
In total agreement with this. never mind speculating about why. Work on curing the what. The "what" is lockdown. It costs liberties, livelihoods and lives, and the public must be prepared to oppose any future one. Those who locked us down must be put on trial for criems against humanity. Also the coronavirus act 2020 must be revoked, if parliament won't then people need to enforce their own alternative laws.
Hi commonsense, am totally on board with the idea - I think we need to focus on what we all have in common, which, as you say, is stopping the Coronavirus Act. I think concerns about the limitation of our freedoms and the sudden suspension of democracy in this country are actually fairly widespread, but many people are put off by certain keywords. I think the thought of identifying with"conspiracy theorist" ideas really puts off a lot of people I know from joining any type of anti-lockdown community. How did you get on during the 2.5 hours? Were people interested in learning more? Have you had many emails yet?
Hi Wren, we were not at all pushy, and let people approach us. We had varying responses, and lots of people just taking a look at our questions. I am torn between making it look more professional or keeping the real home made feel. We will certainly do it again. If we could get a little tag team together so that there is someone in the High Street every day, I really think it could start to make a difference. Open questions, just having a chat, giving people some of the facts when its appropriate. The ONS has all the facts you'll ever need to show that the virus is on the decline. and a brief discussion about everyday cleanliness soon makes folk realise that a mask is not protection. Its really about getting people to come to decisions on their own, without ramming it down their throats. Its hard when you feel so passionate, but slowly, slowly, we'll get there.
@Grumpy Cat.. aww..you've brought a tear to my eye.. thank you😊
@Wren yes, sorry.. 2 emails so far.. thats not bad really!
Not at all bad, there will be more. I am wondering what I can do (am the other end of the country). I have a toddler, I am pregnant, I work full-time, and my husband works away. I don't suppose that's an original story, obviously lots of people are in the position of wanting to do something constructive to counter what is happening, but life is complicated, and it is not easy to find the time. Your approach is fantastic, because it makes it easy to start a conversation, as it should be. We need these conversations everywhere.
Common sense, can you post your questions/poster here?
@wren,crikey.. you do have your hands full! but maybe you know someone that could do what we've been doing.. if there are 5 x 2 man teams for each town, that means a presence in each high street almost every day. Blimey.. its all sounding a bit Jehovahs witnessy, but its quite a simple template, should be easy to roll out.we already have some ideas that folk could use. I would be happy to share it all here if somehow or other!
@Wren haha.. posts crossed. I will get something up by the end of the day.. I have to do some work now!!
Me too! great, thanks!
Excellent activism commonsense. You are a credit to this community. Keep up the good work.
Hello is there a website for Direct Action ? . The new totalitarian measures six people rule announced are a further assault upon civil liberties freedom and the economy business jobs.
Like to hear more about the campaign.
Thank you.
Your approach makes sense. When we've spoken to people what's more important to them is not being able to get on with their lives.
I applaud your approach though some of what you say I disagree with. If you ask why: why suddenly these new restrictions; why masks when the thing is at it's most benign when they weren't recommended when mos infectious; why the mad rush for a vaccination; why the draconian measures now we know the things is not as dangerous as it was being claimed to be to the extent that schoolchildren are being forced into masks, it would be insane to conclude that these mandates were put in place for the sake of public health. That is blatantly untrue. So conspiracy theories or not, NWO, Gates, 5G or not why is this happening? Victoria, Australia says: 'they' are trying to control 'us'. Nothing else. You/we are going to have to do a little more than convert minds on the high street. They (TPTB) are not going to want to give us our freedom back. They haven't listened to us yet. I wonder why.
I understand your reasoning, bellapalin, but disagree. I think trying to wake people up abruptly by bombarding them with facts they are not ready for doesn't work. I think commonsense's approach of waking people up gently and pointing out contradictions will foster distrust in TPTB.
Once this has happened they might be more open to see beyond the immediate issues and start thinking about mandatory vaccinations, losses of freedom, global organisations and the more scary issues. I've never known anyone converted to the whole truth in a day. Cognitive dissonance is very real and has to be chipped away at.
Not only that any activism is better than no activism. Slowly, slowly, catchee monkey.
I think this is approach is very useful because the cognitive dissonance is so prevalent, that bombarding certain people with too much information they are not ready to process, will turn them away. We need to turn people around to realise that basically, no matter what, who or why, our freedoms are being removed and our own common sense is being ignored. As adults, we have the right to choose what we do with our lives. I have very strong views and beliefs about what is going on behind the scenes but I am also aware that sharing these with certain people will frighten them away, whereas we are at a tipping point and need the population on our side. For our children's sake if not for ours.
@commononsense Great work.
I agree, best to focus on a single clear message rather than mix various, sometimes controversial, ideas.
From Monday, if you ever happen to have more than 6 people around your table then being a bit Jehovahs witnessy might be a good thing - it wouldn't be a 'social gathering' anymore but a religious one thus perfectly legal 🤣
Veritas - Jesus and his 12 disciples would be buggered as well. Imagine the 'fuzz' coming round to break up the Last Supper! 😃
Sorry if I have offended any Christians, but I just couldn't help myself.
@Grumpy Cat Nah, they would just have formed 2 bubbles of 6.
Forget Christianity, new religion has been forming - Covid-19 with masses of muzzled followers known as covidians.
Good work there. While it may take time, an approachable and evidence-based dissent is, I hope, the most effective way to proceed. If we could get a small party together in every town, more people should be swayed and those who are erring towards dissent should become more confident in their beliefs.
Ok what is the single clear message and where is Direct Action manifesto information please ?
@musicman there is no manifesto, website, campaign or even a single clear message. Me and my husband went and stood in Guildford High Street for a bit, having a chat with some of the locals. There seems to be a positive response to this sort of approach on here though, and as @Wren requested I have attached our very rudimentary info and questions so you guys can take a look.
We used open questions (questions that cant be answered just with yes or no) and tried to think of things that everybody could relate to. There are many more questions that could be asked. The idea is to listen. When you are given an opportunity to respond, turn something they've said back into a question for them. If you are a good listener, you will make them really think about what they are saying, and hopefully they will start making the 'right' points themselves. Thats the theory anyway.
Commonsense, thanks so much for uploading, I am really impressed with what you're doing. I am going to put some feelers out to see if anyone here might be interested in attempting something similar. Please keep us posted on any updates. Thanks a lot