Four Billion Dead – The direction of travel.

The situation

Since the founding of the Extinction Rebellion in 2018 and the explosion of mobilisation around the world against the elite’s mass death project, the situation has only got worse. Many times worse if we are to be honest with ourselves. The world has hit a 1.5C increase in global temperature, and temperatures are predicted to rise by 0.4C over the next decade. The main scenario is that the elites will continue to emit carbon at present levels and we will go over 2C at some point in the 2030’s. This is the point at which the feedbacks in the Earth system will be triggered and we will face runaway climatic collapse – and yes – mass death. This most obscene reality is laid out in the UK insurance report which states we are looking at least 4 billion deaths at 3C – hence the name of the project – “Four Billion Dead”.

This project intends to move on from the old “climate movement” in several significant ways.

Resiliance

First, it is no longer appropriate – even if it ever was – to pretend that what we are facing is merely an “issue” that requires a “campaign” to “fix it”. What we face requires us not just to change the world but to change how we see the world and ourselves. We are not going to have any resilience unless we first take the time to focus on what it means to live a good life in the appalling context we are presented with.

Before we focus on “what is to be done” we have to go through a process of what Gandhi called “self-purification”. We have to detach ourselves from our egos – that bit of ourselves that wants success – to win. And that part of ourselves which is filled with judgement against those who we see as responsible for this ultimate catastrophe. Both paths lead to burnout and/or violence. And paradoxically, neither of these outcomes will lead to “success”.

We need to accept we are in the world to do what we can, and we are not responsible for outcomes. Once we have accepted this – once we have focused on the “whole”, only then can we turn our attention to the “parts” – to the practicalities of making a plan.

This is why we are starting this project with silent processions. The details of how these are done is here (link). People anywhere can build up to organising these events by taking pictures of themselves holding a written sign with “four billion dead” written on it – and sending it to 4BD and sharing it on social media. Once there are several people in a region or city, they will be put in touch with each other and they take pictures of themselves outside government buildings with their signs, and organise their first silent procession.

The purpose of these events then is “self purification” – to do an activity for no other purpose than to bear witness to the realities we face. It is simply what it is – a procession – nothing more and nothing less. It does not aim to mobilise or influence. It is an act of practice to train us to be detached, to focus on the here and now. It is then a matter of “virtue” rather than “instrumental”.

Once this has been done several times and the format and culture of the procession is established, the groups can take things forward and the processions can start to be publicised. This can be done by sharing event details on social media, and online, via postering, leafleting, stalls etc. A standard talk can be given in public meetings followed by small group discussion and participants sign up to help with mobilisation and to come to the next procession event.

All this can happen in any country where people are interested in being part of the 4BD project. There will be regular international online talks and people in the same country or region will be put in touch with each to start the project in their area.

Remaining within “the law”

The second new development is that 4BD will not be involved in organising or acting in a way a regime sees as illegal. In the increasingly authoritarian contexts we face, direct action will most likely lead to the arrest and imprisonment of people in the organisation and force its closure. 4BD as an organisation will therefore focus, for the time being, on training, the organisating of the processions, and publicising the four billion death reality we face.

The final pathway to action will be to invite people to weekends where they will be trained to take a transcendent/detached orientation to engaging resistance to the terrible prospects we face. They will engage in reflections, discussions, role plays, and visualisations of acting together in civil resistance in a future non-specific crisis situation. After the weekends, some participants may wish to organise civil resistance in such context through peer to peer connections. 4BD will of course support such resistance in general, but will not be “party to an agreement” to collective action and so prevent any charge of “conspiracy”.

What 4BD will do is to use the weekend events to create a conditional commitment process aimed at a collective act of fasting. This means that for instance, people will commit to fasting for one week if several hundred people do likewise, outside the national parliament or government building. Provisionally we will aim to be the first fast in 2027. These fasts or hunger strikes will increase in number, last longer, and become unlimited, as and when the project develops and expands. Such actions will be organised and supported by dedicated training weekends.

The grand vision

Four Billion Dead is not a single campaign. It is part of an international movement which, as conditions worsen, seeks to provide a positive radical alternative to the default collapse into fascism. Along with partner groups and networks we are demanding a political revolution – a fundamental change in how decisions are made in our society: the move from voting systems dominated by the pathological elites to sortition based assemblies, meaning where participants are chosen randomly from the population. Such new bodies will decide our fate and that of children and their children. The demand is for “assembly based government” made up of permanent citizens assemblies – ordinary people, with the legal power to stop the elite’s death project, redistribute power and wealth, and emergency responses to the general ecological crisis.

As a first step 4BD will demand of governments the creation of independent and regular national citizens assemblies with the legal power to slash carbon emissions. If governments do not respond to this demand then 4BD and partner groups will fundraise (around £500,000) to create their own civil society organised citizens assembly. The policies proposed by these assemblies will boost the mobilisation and give legitimacy to the movement parties committed to the birth of real democracy for the twenty-first century – rule by the people for the people. This is our vision of the remaking of humanity in these end times.

Of course we will remain flexible and will work closely with other networks which share this grand vision. Processions and training events may be organised with partner groups and we will support their initiatives. And if others come up with a better way of doing the great task we have taken on – then we will join them. This is not about 4BD, it is not about us. It is about joining in the greatest chapter in the human story – whether we humans decide to live or die.

Final Word

Thank you for reading. Please don’t let your self dwell on the pros and cons, the “does it work”, “is worth my time” . Let your self settle into being in a world where four thousand million stand to lose their beyond precious lives. Feel the overwhelmingness, Feel the no-words-ness. Visualise your self walking in a procession holding a simple written sign that tells the truth – the situation as it is. And sense that there is a reason, beyond thinking and logic – that points to this just making sense. When you get that sense then click the link and you will be on your way.