"Fear is their only weapon"- a message from Josh Smith, currently in prison for peacefully demanding the UK government end new fossil fuel projects

"Fear Is Their Only Weapon"

…I’d like to share a message from Joshua Smith.

Josh is a 29 year old bricklayer from Manchester. He is one of 2 young people (himself and Louis), supporters of Just Stop Oil, both friends of mine, who have been imprisoned without trial, remanded for many weeks, potentially months - all for peaceful actions against a government that has no democratic mandate to be driving us to societal collapse.

In fact Josh's appeal for bail was recently refused by a judge and he is now in prison until February 2023. An appalling situation - a caring young man being made a political prisoner by a system that can't face the reality that Josh is courageous enough to speak of and nonviolently act upon.

But as Josh shows us - he is bigger and better than that - we are ALL capable of being bigger and better than that.

These are Josh’s words - they deserve to be heard far and wide:

"Fear is their only weapon.

I have sacrificed so much in the fight to try and stop run away climate change, and I will surely have to sacrifice even more before this fight is won, but I cannot do this alone.

If you are hearing my words, know that in the fight to save this world, and all you hold dear, you're going to have to sacrifice more than you ever thought was possible for you – because the eyes of all future generations are watching us, helplessly waiting and hoping that we save this world.

For them, the time of effective action has passed before they were even born, or when they were just too young to do anything.

Think about your children now.

Think about your nieces and nephews.

Think about your grandchildren.

Think about all the innocent and sweet children of this world, - they are completely and utterly relying on us!

Don’t let doubt or pessimists define what you think is possible.

For every great change throughout history was said to be impossible before it was done!

This is just going to have to be one of those times people look back decades from now and say how did they pull that off?

I have personally disregarded hope and have replaced it with faith.

I have unflinching faith that we are going to create the biggest movement of movements in history and transform the world into something we can all be proud of.

I truly believe that we are going to pull this world back from the brink of climate catastrophe and create a new world where all people have food, clean water, safe and insulated homes, green energy and equal work opportunities.

Don’t think for a moment that this is going to be easy or that you can leave it up to other people.

We each need to take personal responsibility to bring this change about.

You will become so much more powerful if you embrace the faith that we are going to do it, failure isn't even a possibility anymore, and that you are going to be a major driving force in the transformation of the world.

When you have that level of unshakeable faith you become more creative and resourceful than you ever thought was possible.

Accept that you're going to have to make more sacrifices than you wanted to. But by doing do in service of life on earth, you will find the deepest feeling of love, courage and purpose, more than you ever thought was possible.

The time is now, there is not a moment to spare.

The government and courts will try to intimidate you out of action. They will use fear and the threat of prison.

It is the only weapon they have.

Ask yourself this in a decade from now, with the chance to take effective action has passed will you really regret spending a night in a cell?

Remember you are fighting for life on earth as we know it.

The moment you can let go of fear and embrace the faith I have talked about, then you will disarm them of their only weapon.

Failure is not even a possibility in my mind anymore.

I know we are going to do it, have faith in the power of people when they come together.

I have faith in mothers, fathers, and grandparents, that are fighting for their children's lives.

I have faith in Just Stop Oil.

And most importantly...

I have faith in you."

The Just Stop Oil Coalition is calling on all of those whose futures are being destroyed, who are facing poverty now, and who are outraged at yet another betrayal by this continuing dependence on oil and gas, to step up and take action.?

Just Stop Oil supporters are being charged and imprisoned for telling the truth about the government’s genocidal pursuit of new oil and gas. We have made a conscious choice to resist the destruction of humanity and we are prepared to accept the consequences. We don’t need you to feel sorry for us, we need you to join us, to step up and take action.?

Thousands of people will be sitting in the road and peacefully disrupting the seat of power in Westminster from 1st October. Join us

Join our zoom calls every Tuesday at 7pm, and every Sunday at 5pm - visit https://juststopoil.org/events/ for more information

It’s 2022 and the time to stand by has passed.