Freeconomy Blog
Sun
23 Mar
To respond or not to respond, that is the question...
| 9 comments |
The last few days have been pretty full on for me. I knew coming back to my community in Bristol would spark off lots of question asking, but to be honest it has been amazing being back. I am a really privileged guy to have the friends I have here, who all welcomed me back with open arms and a lot of love. And it has been great talking to people who actually know me about the whole experience, as they know what the walk was about from its very conception and not its widely misunderstood version.
The other I thing I expected to occur was the criticism to the last blog and the decision we made near Cambridge. To be honest I expected more of it from the very start and on every blog I wrote but it only seemed to emerge when we had a change of plan in Calais and finally decided to call it a day near Cambridge. People always ask me if I get really upset by it and they can't believe it when I say I don't. I knew long before I went on this walk that I would come in for a lot of ridicule and criticism, so there are no surprises there!
A lot of people have been telling me over the last few days that I should respond to some of the criticism of the last few months and 'set the record straight' in a way, something I have tried to avoid up to now as I have no interest in getting involved in a negative debate over minor details. Plus I want everyone to be free to air their views without getting attacked themselves.
However some of the criticism I feel just comes from a misunderstanding of what the walk was about and why I took the decisions I have over the last year. The explanations I am about to give are not me saying I was right to do everything I’ve done because of this or that reason, just simply an explanation of the rationale behind them. I am sure they will receive lots of debate and criticism also, but I have long since accepted that I cannot please everybody!
The main thing I have noticed over the last 3 months is that critics have said I should go and put my energy into working for an established charity or the like. I find this really interesting. For years I have been doing just that. I have been volunteering with organisations that are working hard to keep our planet habitable for humans, organisations who want animals to suffer less at the hands of humans and organisations who want to protect children against having to slave 16hrs a day in sweatshops, just so that western kids can have the fancy clothes and toys they have become accustomed to.
But as I explained in my very earliest blogs, I felt I was just firefighting, always treating the symptom like a doctor of western medicine does, yet having to fight the exact same battle three months later. I set up the freeconomy community in order to get to the root cause of the disease, which I fully understand will take much longer and feel less rewarding in the short-term. But I do believe that unless we tackle the root causes of all the world’s issues, the overworked and undervalued charities will be fighting a constant perpetual losing battle. I call the message behind freeconomy it ‘social homoeopathy’.
That is not at all to say that I don't agree with tackling the symptoms of the issues, because I believe it to be vital. Direct action, helping people with illnesses and campaigning for a better world in all its forms is essential to our existence as humans on this planet. However, if we don't tackle the common denominator to all of the world’s issues - and this is something I have been researching for years - then we don't stand a chance of survival. Wars, sweatshops, factory farms,
torture, worldwide epidemics and environmental destruction - they all have the same common denominator, the same cause, and tackling that is what I believe Freeconomy is about. I want to see a day when the great volunteers of all the amazing charities (and all of us!) around the world finally get a day off. But I believe with all my heart that as it stands it will be one perpetual struggle.
The next bit of criticism I feel I should shed some light on is that fact that people think that the pilgrimage was 'very badly planned'! I only do this because I really find it so amusing! Anyone who read my original blogs will know that from the outset I stated that I would not plan the pilgrimage at all! It was about moment to moment living without touching money, as opposed to organising it all before I go (which is no more than just a simple logistical job). So for people to say it was badly planned is a huge compliment - it was meant to be! The only thing on that score that I am disappointed about is the fact I didn't live moment to moment enough and hadn’t the 100% trust in the universe I spoke about when I was hungry and tired from walking without food or money. Maybe if I had I would be in the south of France right now. But as regards planning, read my earliest blogs and it is all m in there!
It seems a lot of people also take offense to the fact I talk a lot about what we are doing here. For me the pilgrimage was always intended to act as a ‘loudspeaker’ for the ethos behind the freeconomy community. There are so many issues - such as Peak Oil - coming up in the near future that I felt I just couldn't sit back and be silent about the whole thing, especially given the fact that even the – apparently – unbiased BBC gave a memo to employees telling them they were not allowed to report on this crucial issue. I have this information from the horse’s mouth but I also know it from experience, as whenever I spoke about it in pre-recorded interviews it was edited out without fail. And I bet you they won't investigate my claims as that would mean ‘peak oil’ would have to be on the news. And if the media corporation with the most integrity is doing that, then how much more so those media corporations that have little or none.
This is why I speak and write as much as I can about the ethos behind freeconomy and the issues that gave birth to it. It is solely to raise awareness about the bigger issues. It was and still is really frustrating for me that the media's agenda is to talk about my blistered feet and 'failings' whilst censoring information that the worldwide public need to know and need to know fast. I don’t need the ridicule and criticism as a person, and I certainly don’t enjoy the fact that my friends and family have to read it. I can assure you it is not good for the fame-hungry ‘ego’ some of you believe I have – if I took it personally I probably wouldn’t leave the house ever again!
I feel like I've said all this before but I do realise that a lot of people reading this have only joined in the last two or three months and don't have time to read all the previous discussions we have all had on this. Although having said that, I really believe that the only time that 'reaction' should come before 'research' is in the dictionary. That is why we are given two ears and only one mouth!
But as always I thank everyone who is commenting on this stuff, and sometimes the critics most of all. Firstly it makes me reassess what I do and makes me question whether I still feel like I am right to do it, and I have learned a lot in the process. But secondly, it shows that they care, and a lot of the criticism is because they feel that in one way or another I am not making the world a better place, and it is that I can accept wholeheartedly as it comes from a well-intentioned place.
Having said all that, until the day our rivers and oceans stop being polluted, that kids in China stop spending their best years making clothes for rich westerners, that animals stop getting tortured so that we can buy a chicken for £1.50 in Tesco's, that companies like Monsanto stop spreading chemicals across the world whilst trying to patent life in the process, I will NEVER stop talking. If our media refuse to report it then tell me what other option have I, what should I do? Should I be a silent passenger on the train of life or should I speak about the issues affecting those who don’t for various reasons have a voice?????
And like I have said many times already, if you really don't like what I am doing or disagree, please give me a ring on 0775 886 1783 or better still, come and hang out and come for a walk near my home anytime, I would really love to meet you or at least talk to you. I really think we are all coming from the same place in that we want a world with less pain and suffering in it. I think all we are debating is that we have different methodologies and I have always said that on that front I may well be wrong.
Just be brave enough to confront me about it instead of safely writing behind a computer screen using a pseudonym – you might find we may both learn something of each other.
Lets unite on the things we agree on instead off vilifying each other for weaknesses we all have…that has been the problem with the ‘alternative’ (for want of a better word) movement for so long.
Onwards and upwards! x
Comment on this Post:
Domenica Ott, Basel, Switzerland comments ...
This is my real name, dear mark, but i’m a bit far away, so the internet is convenient. (without it, i wouldn’t have known abotu your worthy cause).
i simply want to thank you and say : bravo, right on brother, keep going. i admire you for what you’re doing. i wish we had more like you
i wish you lots of strength, luck and good humour
domenica from basel
Binnie comments ...
You come across as a very positive person and your energy and enthusiasm are much to be admired, but I think you need to channel it a bit more. It’s not about ‘pleasing everybody’ but try to look at it from the general public’s perspective:
First you get people interested in your walk around the world.
Then (after a very short period of time) it’s called off.
OK
Then you’re going round Britain, helping people.
Then that gets called off. (again after just a short while)
Then you’re going back to Bristol to promote the Freeconomy community…
…
I’m not dissing you or meaning to undermine what you’re trying to achieve, but maybe a bit more consistency would gain you more support from people outside of the Freeconomy community.
(I’m writing as someone who hasn’t been reading about you in the newspapers or watching tv, btw)
PixieKat comments ...
Well I guess this is a pseudonym - but my real name is Kat & I’m pretty close to a Pixie! :P
Saoirse,
Congratulations for taking tough decisions in the face of critisism.
Congratulations for always making best use of your resources and realistically making best use of your time.
Congratulations for keeping talking even if it means airing all your ’mistakes’ (::cough::: lessons learned during this life experience) in public.
Congratulations for being an ordinary person who has the courage and conviction to follow their instincts to initiate change in the world.
Congratulations for fearlessly being yourself while remaining considerate to others needs.
Much love
Kat
xxx
patrickster comments ...
I’ve been reading with much enjoyment from the start, and I’m sure the decisions you’ve made are truly for the good of all. The world is what it is, sad to say, and there is often a gap between minds and their hearts, between our cherished ideals and the empty place in our stomachs. Life is hard; no one said it would be easy, and your example is an example to us all. The best laid plans may sometimes have to be laid aside, and it doesn’t mean that they weren’t perfectly good plans when hatched. It’s hard to find reliable values in this climate, what with global warming and all, so I just want to say, on behalf of all of us who really do believe in you, that I’m so relieved it’s turned out to be such a great success after all. Victory is sweet! Of course history will be the judge, but I just want to be the first to say, dear emperor, that really is a fine suit you have!
TR comments ...
I am disappointed. I was disappointed after you called off the India trip but believed that your UK plan was an excellent substitute. But now that’s off and I’m not impressed with your new direction. I can understand why some people are laughing and there are cries of inconsistency. You say "I set up the freeconomy community in order to get to the root cause of the disease". I can’t possibly see how this is so. You are turning your back (again) on the visible action of physically spreading your message through volunteering/helping groups through the country which has much more impact than returning home and talking about a concept, which is what freeconomy mostly is. The idea that freeconomy is a tool to "tackle the common denominator to all of the world’s issues" and that you are the imparter of "information that the worldwide public need to know and need to know fast" is really very arrogant. Lots of people have local groups that espouse a similar concepts and there are many idealistic individual who think they have something important and unique to say. But is is through direct action such as charity, political pressure etc that a difference can be made. Sure, talk about the important topics - we all do - but I have to say, with all your u-turns and indecisiveness, you are losing your credibility as a spokesperson for these topics.
Sorry. I don’t like putting you down - you have a good heart. But I think it’s time for many of us to delete your site from our bookmarks and get back to trying to physically make a difference in our own small ways.
mindisue comments ...
Just to reply to TR, you said that we should all get back to physically doing our small things to change the world (sorry I can’t remember the exact words). I just wanted to say that I thought that’s what this site was all about. It’s not about Saoirse and where he is or what he’s doing--it’s about bringing communities together so that we can get to know each other, help each other out, learn things, and change the world in our small ways.
Setting up this site was an amazing feat, I’m sure, and the rate of growth is astounding. So if we do want to talk about Saoirse, then I’d say he’s already done a lot more than most of us to change the world in a not-so-small way. Now all we have to do is USE THE SITE!
Love to all. xx
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