A Modest Proposal (For preventing the government of the people in Britain from being a burden to their country's conscience , & for making them more beneficial to the public.)

My name is Billy Freeman, are you a Freeman?

This is an open letter to the Students & Teachers of Britain & anyone else who is interested & would like to assist. ‘Bombing for Peace’ is like putting a fire out with petrol, it’s not a good idea, ask a fireman.

In May 1967 students in Paris occupied the Sorbonne, within a week 20 million French people had brought the country to a halt. De Gaulle, to ‘save his ass’, told the people that a foreign Communist Power was trying to invade the country & threatened to bring in the Army. The uprising lasted for 2 weeks & was hurriedly consigned to the history books (in an edited form).

2 weeks of our lives could stop a war!

Therefore, I propose the following:

A Nation wide OCCUPATION of University buildings, this would need to be orchestrated, so at least 5 – 10 occupations would take place simultaneously (with others to follow). I can arrange one at my end. Things to consider would be; Security (bolts inside etc), Supplies (food, bedding, music), Communication (Mobile phones, Laptops, as university servers could be easily turned off & the internet would be very useful for such an operation). Even 2-3 students could secure a building through the wee hours & then open up in the morning for friendly faces. People could easily come & go with supplies etc.

A Website(s) to be posted on the day of ACTION, this could develop to include live audio streaming across the world, linking universities & broadcasting much jollity & frivolity, with a distinctly anti – war flavour. Perhaps most importantly the call for similar action must be broadcast. Links from Baghdad to Argentina could be established. The site should be ready to post on as many servers as possible. It should contain useful instructions on how to improve working deficiency, especially in environments where weapons of mass destruction are concerned.

An ASSAULT on the media, I suggest we take the form of a Universal student body, let’s say he’s called ‘BILLY FREEMAN’. ‘Bill’ would act like a virus, Any-one speaking to the media would adopt this name & people would be encouraged to use it themselves. This would have the positive effect of showing a unified resistance & a populist front, it would also make it difficult for any one individual to be singled out & arrested, ‘No Martyrs, Tomata’s". ‘Bill’ could announce to the press (local & national) that he is a representative of those against the war & as such demands the immediate cessation of military aggression. Propose football matches, chess tournaments, break-dancing contests, a boxing match between Bush & Saddam (Let them fight it out like men, instead of hiding behind the lives of young men, women & children, just so they can re-draw maps & scoop the last bit of the planets blood), propose custard pies at dawn. Propose anything but war.

INVITE popular voices of dissent, Chomsky, Monbiot, Nelson Mandela, Prince Charles et al, to come & speak with you, ask popular entertainers & musical combo’s to come & play. Make your own entertainment. Ster in your very own Channel 4 documentary. Perhaps plans are already underway for ‘Billy Freeman’s Travelling Circus’ to tour the nation, entertaining the ‘occupied’ troops & rallying support.

ENCOURAGE others to do the same, In the work place, public transport etc, & show support for other ‘common issues’, the Fire Brigade (billions spent on war could be put to better use), the General Strike in Argentina, Environmental activists, student fees etc.
EXPLODE the Myth of Terrorism, the government & media (same thing?) have deliberately stirred up racial tension & created the myth of the ‘other’, a dark, dangerous mass of fundamentalists & terrorists waiting for a chance to blow themselves up in our faces (The old Jabberwocky routine). The fact is most people are peaceful & just want to get on with their lives, free of fear & oppression ‘Put the common back into sense’. Has Saddam Hussein (or anyone else for that matter) threatened to invade us? When has he even threatened terrorism? The threat of terror is only coming from our governments. It is them who give our children nightmares.

Try & keep FEELING positive, Good energy is our greatest asset.


Love, Light & Peace,
Billy Freeman. February 2003.