Accidental Gods - The Thrutopian Podcast

We all know national politics is in chaos.  But local governance can be a place of enlivening, inspiring, radical change. Pam Barrett speaks of her work to change the nature of her local town council - what she achieved - and how we can do the same. 

Pam Barrett worked at the heart of the Westminster government's civil service. Then she moved to picturesque Buckfastleigh, a mill town on the edge of Dartmoor in Devon, and began to see how badly the town was served by the town and regional councils.  She started a group to preserve the town's only swimming pool. That grew, and the pool was saved, and she moved on, in time, to stand as an independent for the town council. A group of others stood with her, and they gained 9 seats on a 12 seat council. Which meant they could do things, make things happen... discover the freedom that local democracy gives if it truly serves the local people.
 
With the newly independent group on the local council, the concept of 'of the people, by the people, for the people' took on new meaning.  They moved the council to a bigger room and made the proceedings far more transparent. They asked local people what they wanted to do - and then worked out how much it would cost.. .23p per household per week to really keep the swimming pool open, other bits for other things, amounting to an extra 97p per household per week. And then they let local people decide if they wanted that...

and, like almost all participatory budgeting, when people have a chance to really see what their money goes towards - they did want it, and they were happy to pay.  So that four years later, when the council came up for re-election, 10 independent councillors stood and 10 were elected. 

Pam's story is one of agency, and local empowerment and it can play out pretty much anywhere in the world where democracy is still alive.  Listen in and be inspired - then go out and see what you can do in your local area. 


FlatPack Democracy: https://www.flatpackdemocracy.co.uk

Trust the People online Training: https://actionnetwork.org/events/trust-the-people-online-course-spring-2021

Be Buckfastleigh: https://bebuckfastleigh.co.uk

Positive News on Pam Barrett and Buckfastleigh: https://www.positive.news/uk/the-devonshire-town-that-transformed-local-democracy/

Handforth Parish Council Zoom call (full) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsalmnyed7k

Handforth Parish Council Zoom (highlights) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgGmYeAm0jk



What is Accidental Gods - The Thrutopian Podcast?

Another World IS still Possible. The old system was never fit for purpose - and now it's collapsing around us. So how do we co-create a Thrutopian future that we'd all be proud to leave as our legacy?

What stories can we weave of possibility? Of transformation? What happens if we commit to a world based on generative values: compassion, courage, integrity?

What happens if we let go of the race for meaningless money and commit instead to the things that really matter: clean air, clean water, clean soil - and clean, clear, courageous connections between all parts of ourselves, between ourselves and each other, between ourselves and the Web of Life - so that we can reclaim our birthright as self-conscious nodes in the web of life?

We can do this. Some of us already are. Every week on Accidental Gods we speak with the people who are living this world into being, courageous pathfinders who are exploring the emergent edge of inter-becoming.

As a species, we have all the answers, we just haven't yet crafted all the new stories and woven them into a future that works. We have the choice now - we can choose to transform…or we can face the chaos of a failing system.

Our Choice. Our Chance. Our Future.

Accidental Gods is a podcast and membership program devoted to exploring the ways we can create a future that we would be proud to leave to the generations yet to come.

Find the membership and the podcast pages here: https://accidentalgods.life
Find Manda's Thrutopian novel, Any Human Power here: https://mandascott.co.uk
Find Manda on BlueSky @mandascott.bsky.social
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