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Politics
| The New Statesman, July 1994 |
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| Let's Have A Revolution For
Fun |
Party
Politics
AS I'M writing this the first of many mountain-sized chunks
of rock will be plunging headlong into the thick, gaseous
stew of Jupiter's swirling mass, sending a huge plume of
matter and radiation into the Solar System. Everyone I know
is talking about it. It may be the most important cosmic
event of the last 2,000 years. My friend Joe, an Astrologer,
tells me that the resulting explosions will release what he
calls "Jovian forces" into the Solar System, by which he
means peace, justice and natural goodness. Consciousness
will change, he tells me. And he quotes the song from Hair
to prove it: "When the Moon is in the seventh house, and
Jupiter aligns with Mars, then peace will guide the planets,
and love will steer the stars." According to Joe this is
pretty much the configuration as the cataclysm erupts.
What has this to do with politics? Everything. |
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| Big Issue, Cymru, December 1998 |
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| Insure Uncertain
Faith |
If you've been following this
column, you'll know that I used to live in a van. That was
last year. I was researching for my book, which is about
hippies, and I thought I should look the part. So I bought a
van and lived in it. It was a Ford Transit Disability
Transport Vehicle converted to a camper van. I went all over
in that van, chasing hippies.
One day I stopped to pick up a hitch-hiker. It was on the
A27 just outside Lewes, heading towards Brighton. I
indicated and pulled over and then sat back to wait. And
then it happened - some 15 to 20 seconds later - CRUNCH!
Someone had hit me in the rear. Well you know the feeling.
You pause to take a breath. Sigh. And then you get out
resignedly to inspect the damage. |
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| This is not a war.
It's a Massacre |
| They stole my land, burnt my
olive trees, destroyed my house, took my water, imprisoned
my father, killed my mother, starved us all, humiliated us
all. But I am to blame: I shot a rocket back. So they stole
more of my land, burnt my olive trees, destroyed my house,
took my water, bombed my country…" |
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| There is a Green
Field |
| Of course - as many readers
will know - this was always the time of year when poor
people from rural communities could earn themselves a little
extra cash by working out in the fields. The work is casual,
meaning that you never know from day-to-day whether you will
be working the following day or not. It is peace-work,
meaning that you are paid, not by the hour, but by the
amount of fruit you pick (the faster you pick, the more you
earn.) It is also off-the-cards, meaning that (unofficially,
of course) you can go on signing on while you are at it.
This last fact is of mutual benefit to both the farmer and
the worker. The farmer has a plentiful supply of cheap
labour available as and when he needs it. If the weather is
bad, or the fruit poor, then he can lay-off his work-force
at a moment's notice. |
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