Pledges: Simultaneous Policy (Simpol) Campaign

#6 in the series

Photo by krakenimages on Unsplash

The Email:

Dear Karl, As a candidate in the forthcoming General election, you are invited to pledge your support for the Simultaneous Policy (Simpol) campaign.

Simpol is an international association of citizens who use their votes to encourage their political representatives to implement solutions to global problems that neither individual nations nor the EU can tackle alone; problems such as global warming, tax avoidance, mass migration and other transnational issues.

Simpol's citizen-supporters, including those in your constituency, are committed to giving strong voting preference on July 4th (and at all future national elections) to candidates who have signed the Simpol Pledge, to the probable exclusion of those candidates who haven't.

MPs and candidates from across the party-political spectrum and in a number of countries have already pledged their support for Simpol. You can see the UK candidates who have already done so at https://uk.simpol.org/who-we-are/general-election-2024 So why not put yourself ahead for July 4th by joining them! You can see and sign the Pledge online now at https://uk.simpol.org/join/join-with-simpol/pledge-form-mp

The global problems Simpol addresses are not being dealt with adequately by national governments because of the fear that acting unilaterally will harm their economic competitiveness. That's why, under Simpol, solutions are to be implemented by nations simultaneously, only when all or sufficient nations have signed the Pledge. In that way, politicians of all parties and nations can sign the Pledge without risk, because they need not change their existing policy programmes until sufficient other governments had also signed the Pledge. In the meantime, politicians who sign the Pledge attract the votes of Simpol's voting bloc, so gaining an electoral advantage over candidates who choose not to sign. That's how Simpol allows citizens to encourage politicians towards greater international cooperation.

So our supporters in your constituency will know who to give preference to, we publish those candidates who have signed the Pledge on our website and will be keeping our supporters regularly updated of the latest signatories. So don't miss out! Please sign the Pledge online now at https://uk.simpol.org/join/join-with-simpol/pledge-form-mp

An outline of the policy issues being dealt with by Simpol can be found at https://uk.simpol.org/what-we-do/issues-we-solve For information on Simpol globally, please see our global site https://simpol.org.

My Thoughts

I've signed it. This was my additional comment:

“The UK, US, and other countries ignore international law, support growing inequality, and favour conflict over cooperation. Government has shown it is often biased towards the wealthy and privileged. We have to do everything we can to force them to act in the interests of the people, the planet, and all that lives upon it. No more imperialism, environmental destruction, conflict, colonialism, and injustice. I'm happy to support any attempts to challenge these awful things.”

I also believe countries should act unilaterally and not be cowards – but Simpol may provide that further impetus to do the right thing (and shame those who won't).

The list of topics at https://uk.simpol.org/what-we-do/issues-we-solve had me nodding my head. I'm a vegan pagan environmentalist concerned with both the local picture (e.g. litter picks, not owning a car) and the big picture (global actions to save the planet).

Climate Change: we're doing way too little. We have to realise that massive change to society is required, for the better. From endless consumption to true and meaningful lives within supportive communities, where contentment doesn't come from buying endless tat. And we need to seriously address human overpopulation, which magnifies every other environmental issue.

Global health pandemics: I've said elsewhere that part of this is changing things so medicines are owned by everyone, not kept in the secretive hands of for-profit pharmaceutical companies.

Mass Migration: much is driven by situations and destabilisation created by western governments, through our militaristic destabilisations, or environmental damage. We have to realise that nations are abstract concepts, lines on maps, but really the planet belongs to everyone. We are caretakers, not owners.

Wealth Inequality: "With 1% of the world population owning 44% of the world’s wealth (according to the Credit Suisse Global Wealth Report 2019)" Yep, that sickens me. We need radical redistribution and greater equality. It's disgraceful that we let this get so bad.

Nuclear disarmament: I'm totally against nuclear weapons. What's the point of a weapon so destructive that it destroys everything you want to save?

Tax Avoidance and Tax Competition: The super rich and trans-national corporations need to pay their dues. They're a drain on our resources whilst only profiting themselves. Paying the true environmental cost of every item would also be a good way to equalise things.

Financial Market Regulation: Yep, I agree totally.

Space Governance: Ditto. We shouldn't be polluting space and the moon with yet more human waste. Let's learn to live in peace with what we have before we expand our primitive natures. Once we are truly civilised, then we can consider the stars.

Sustainable business: ideally local, independent. Keep the money in the local area. Break the power of the big corporations.

And so I support any mechanisms that can bring sense to the actions of governments, and lead to cooperation for the benefit of all, not just the privileged.

Signed by only two candidates in my constituency since 2015

How you can help.

Promoted by Karl Drinkwater (Green Party) at The Gate, Keppoch Street, Cardiff CF24 3JW.