Glastonbury Festival - Good Causes

The Beauty Queen's Guide to World Peace

Long-term Glastonbury friend and worker Dan Plesch, the author, journalist and activist, has just released the first major and coherent intellectual challenge to the whole Bush/Blair model of the universe, the strongly pro-democratic book The Beauty Queen's Guide to World Peace.

The book proposes a progressive strategy for international security and political economy that aims to challenge and overcome both neo-conservative and neo-liberal thinking.

“It can do this by demonstrating to states and communities that radical change managed through popular democracies offers more certainty of safety from random terror and more economic and social justice than current strategies and policies,” says Plesch.

Plesch started working for Glastonbury in 1981, through his CND connections, as part of a team of workers described by Sounds in 1985 as having “the patience of saints in conditions that would have driven St Francis to angel dust and mad axe murder” (1985 was a muddy year).
“It’s the nicest thing anyone’s ever said about me!” says Plesch.

In The Beauty Queen's Guide to World Peace, Plesch postulates that strengthening the liberal order requires the consent of the governed at all levels and that, in a globalised society where interdependence means that there can be no return to autarchy or competing power blocs such as the suggested development of the EU to counter the US, that this consent is still best expressed in terms of the original words and intent of the Atlantic Charter of August 1941.

The importance of the charter is that it proposed social security, labour rights and disarmament amongst the allied war aims. These evolved into the UN. Put in these terms, dismissing the multilateral agenda requires convincing people that terrorists are worse enemies than Hitler and Jacques Chirac a more intractable ally than Joseph Stalin.

In other words, Atlanticism as it was originally meant to be understood, has been perverted by the Cold War. It is building on these core values not the creation of new ones that will bring security.

Amongst Plesch’s suggestions are the following:
* Bring democracy to the EU, the UN and the WTO by posting ministers to serve in these bodies and then by nations directly electing these representatives. In terms of 'Yes Minister' The international institutions are currently run by Sir Humphrey with Jim Hacker just turning up once a month to sign the papers.

* The substitution of new energies for oil as an urgent national security priority impelled by the military, financial, environmental and development dangers of the present oil dependent policy. Shifting to vehicles run on renewable hydrogen and other fuels should be begun on wartime-style crash programme.

* Strengthening democracy against both terrorists and the authoritarian trends in the West by making a commitment to democratic heritage as a core Western value in public and political education opening up a new heritage market elevating historical role models of democratic activism.

* Developing Corporate Social Responsibility in the further and progressive limitation of the limited liability company law, so that the corporate sector is forced to operate ethically within the rule of law. Making the linkages of power to responsibility and equality before the law into a powerful rhetorical defence for those under corporate attack, and a strong platform for restoring a mixed economy. This is key to reducing the economic grievance over the excesses of capitalism.

* The systematic control of all weapons around the world - building on the great achievements of arms control in the Gorbachev era.

According to Michael Eavis: "Dan has been a mainstay of the festival from the early years. His book offers a practical strategy to defeat the madness coming from corporate America and sort out the threats from weapons, oil wars and environmental destruction - and he keeps his sense of humour".

Plesch believes that the way to change the world is to begin to demand that it be changed.

“Change your mindset,” he says. “Don’t think you’re the fringe, think you’re the future. Be self confident. We’re a sensible practical mainstream future. Michael Eavis is a good example – he’s taken Glastonbury Festival from a fringe event to a mainstream one without compromising any of its core values.

“If you’re bothered about corporations or find yourself oppressed by them, ask to see the shareholders. Why can’t we see the shareholders? Why are they are immune? Demand your human rights through shareholders. Demand that any official position be elected. These demands have power.

“If you knock at the door you might find it crumbles because it’s rotting from within.”

The Beauty Queen's Guide to World Peace is available now online and from all good bookshops.

Visit Dan Plesh's website for more information.

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