Contrary to what some people may think, there's more to my activism than sitting here on the laptop writing articles and coming up with memes to amuse and provoke people with. In tandem with my wife, we do what we can to support practical projects in the town where we live. We don't just talk the talk, we walk the walk as well. Regardless of our changing and now terminated relationship with what passed for an anarchist movement here in the UK, we've always believed in localism based around a strong sense of community. One of the reasons why we picked the town of Keynsham as a place to live, apart from the obvious one of being closer to our family, was that it's a town that still has some sense of community and identity.
We believe in bringing power right down to the grassroots. A strong community is essential in achieving that aim. When we were living back in Thurrock on the other side of the country, we got involved with volunteering as gardeners at our local community run park - Passionate about Hardie Park. From what was almost a no go area back in 2010, residents have transformed it into a valuable community hub with a cafe, meeting rooms, well maintained play areas and flower beds. All looked after by volunteers from the area. It's a project that has built a sense of ownership and belonging. One of the few regrets we had about moving away from Thurrock was leaving this project.
Now we're in Keynsham, we're involved with a couple of projects that we hope go some way to building a sense of community and belonging. One of them is this - Keynsham Community Veg Plot in the Park. One of the aims of the plot is to start conversations about the need to localise food production. Whoever controls the food supply, controls the population. We sure as heck don't want our food supply controlled by faceless corporations in thrall to the likes of the World Economic Forum. We want it localised so that the people involved are accountable to the community they serve and are a part of. The kind of things I've written about in this post: Now more than ever, we need to grow our own food 4.7.23.
Then there's the litter picking project we're involved with - Keynsham Wombles. The Wombles work collectively litter picking at the big events that take place in the town, the summer music festival and at the end of November, the winter festival. There are other occasional group clean ups. In between these, we all have our patches that we're responsible for. The one we work on is a series of footpaths starting by the side of where we live. We litter pick this every two to three weeks. It's rare that we pick up more than a bag of litter. That's a clear indication that despite a small anti-social minority, the vast majority of people care for the town they live in and don't litter the place up.
These are small scale, unglamorous activities that a lot of people wouldn't associate with what we think anarchism should be. Namely, caring about where we live and the people that live there. It's also about building and maintaining a sense of community, one that at least in part is defined by a feeling of identity with where we live. In the increasingly dystopian world we live in, the sense of community and identity with place is under constant and increasing attack. We like to think that with what we do with our practical activity, we're doing what we can to resist that attack by building a sense of community. One with real relationships, responsibilities and obligations. One that has values that reflect our humanity in the face of the relentless assault from the techno-fascists and transhumanists who want to strip us of what it means to be truly human.
On the contrary, you are proving you do not need government even to clean up trash. Even that can be kept local.