Demo Diary: Reclaim the Future

Photos taken by A. E. Elliott at At.Tension festival 2019

If there's something that holds people together, it's their creations: story-telling, painting, drawing, playing music and making clothing and food are what people have always done together.  And Berlin has a surfeit of visionary people, but how many of them are taking steps towards making their visions real?  As many as have the chance I'd guess. Yet that creativity could be the key to the largest problem we're facing - climate change. So maybe it's time to stop leaving things to chance. 

Between September 20^{th -} 27^th, Reclaim Club Culture, UKlima2019 and Fridays For Future aim to bring all of Berlin's creative tangents together to see what solutions can be collectively dreamed, and then realised, in this city. Their weeklong lineup of action against climate change will kick off on Friday September 20th with a street party / demo called "No Future, No Dancefloor".

But the action shouldn’t begin and end with that single week. 

Every person who's taking part in the week of dissent should, I think, do a bit of brainstorming beforehand to get an idea of what changes they themselves are ready, able or willing to make, to make the planet a better place - as a person, as part of a community, and as part of the vast mass of humanity that shares it. 

After all, regardless of what plans our leaders make for us at any given summit, we'll surely be the ones carrying them out. So perhaps we ought to kickstart that process and ask ourselves, what's our plan for ending climate change? Scratch that - what's our dream plan for sorting it out?  If you or I had infinite resources and energy, what would we prioritise? What would we tackle, when and how? And with whom? 

Now is the time for the general public to ask these questions because, even as the effects of climate change are escalating, we can be pretty certain that our leaders are building that second home on Mars wealthy enough to avoid its fallout, since that's how little they seem to care. They've essentially abandoned the public with a mix of destructive action and inaction. We are already on our own... but we have each other. This week is a chance to meet, make friends and create change. And hope. 

I realise that these might sound like the crazed rantings of a hardened dreamer, but they are still more tangible than anything our currents governments have put forward in terms of a future plan. Let that sink in for a minute...

Yes, this has been a year of endless heat waves, floods and wildfires. But all of the creative elements from nature have their parallels in us, and we can still tap into them. I reckon it's our duty, in fact, to tap into them and use all of our human resources, our unique talents, and make the changes that need to happen. 'Cause the reality of the future can never be any better than our present dreams. 

If you already have an idea of something for the demo, or you'd like to contribute a float, or you have any other questions, the organisers of "No Future, No Dancefloor" ask that you write them a short mail at kapitalismuswegbassen@systemli.org.

Be there... or be scared.