h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

COMMUNIQUE 1

FROM: The Propaganda and Information Network
to: The Rest of the World

The Propaganda and Information Network, a paramilitary band of terrorists
and Chaos theory strategists, claim responsibility
for this and all future demonstrations. We represent numerous
disenfranchised causes and voices, some in contradiction with
each other.

The Propaganda and Information Network will continue the struggle by any
means necessary, until all of our demands have
been met or we are all eliminated. Throughout history radicals have called
for justice and equality, only to be beaten and
bloodied by the lackeys of the state, imprisoned or bought by the ruling
class. For twenty years this message has rung out
accross the airwaves of the world a voice in a wilderness of static alone
distorted, misunderstood. Time and again we have
heard the wisdom of the mad fools raving the truth and rallied to their
flags, awaiting the one last glorious push. We have waited
in vain. They cannot save us.

As the politicians of the world speak in platitudes that tell us nothing of
the state of affairs or the personal agendas so the rebels
and anarchists we have gazed admiringly at have told us everything and
changed nothing. With several notable exceptions they
have all abused their positions at the first available opportunity. They
rolled over and begged when His Masters Voice called.
They are icons, no less product than the vinyl and the tape that ties them,
worse they are virtually traitors to a man. Traitors.

There will be no time to synchronise watches when the moment comes. There
can be many shots to start the race when we
begin to strike back: What we are saying is that revolutions do not begin
they climax. Are you waiting to be told when to strike
back ? Why ? Do it now. Tin pot rebels have kept us waiting for decades too
long. You cannot be led to freedom but it is only
one small step to take it. You do not need permission from the government,
us or anyone else.

There will be no New Age dawning come 2000 AD. No amount of incense or
crystals will change the crystallisation of what
has come to be called the New World Order. When the shout goes out many
people will be disappointed to realise that Arthur,
Jesus and David Koresh have not made it back to the party in time. Faith is
the biggest sting of them all. Give it up. Doubt is far
more reassuring.

The Propaganda and Information Network is not limited to those you will see
operating at our demonstrations and actions. Like
an iceberg most of it exists below the surface. It is an affiliation of like
minded individuals with many concerns in common. It
stretches across the borders and ideologies with equal ease. We all share
the same P.A.I.N.
It hurts us all in different places but P.A.I.N like all suffering is good
for the spirit. That which doesn't kill you makes you
stronger.

Time is growing short. Our enemies and treacherous allies have sold most
hopes of our liberation to the highest bidder. Never
before have we known such dark days for the Underground. It has been
systematically looted and sabotaged to the paint of
virtual collapse. What remains is obsessed with in-fighting and single issue
agendas.
This is no way to run a war.
The country that once rallied to the strains of Anarchy in the UK now nods
happily to Gina G and holds their lighters aloft to
all-boy dance troupes. We are sadly depleted and surrounded on both sides.

However as all good tacticians will know an enemy is at their most dangerous
when cornered. There will be no surrender.
Youth culture has thrown up many movements that have outlasted youth itself,
but all have shown themselves to be ultimately
bankrupt of anything other than an eye for fashion.
The Propaganda and Information Network is not about fashion. Let it be heard
for the last time. Oasis have put the second
bullet into John Lennon. Maybe he deserved them both. Liam and Noel deserve
no less. Rock is dead. Punk is dead. Goth is
dead. Grebo is dead. Metal is dead. Crusty is dead. Techno, Trance, House,
Acid, Jungle and Gabba are dead. Britpop was
always dead. Romo was still born. The P.A.I.N. however continues unabated.
The P.A.I.N. is ever present life long and felt by
us all. Our members are everywhere and nowhere, we are armed and desperate.
Do not attempt to contact us, we will contact
you with our list of demands at the appropriate time.
The War Council.

WHAT YOU CAN DO
The Propaganda and Information Network will pursue all means towards the
achievement of its ultimate goals, legal and illegal.
P.A.I.N intend to put forward candidates in all forthcoming elections as
endorsed by the War Council. All covert activities will
continue unabated. If you would like to stand as a candidate please forward
an application in writing to the Minister of
Intelligence at the War Council HQ which is everywhere and nowhere and whose
address can be found at the end of this
article.
Include all relevant personal information, your deposit and details of where
you intend to stand. If you do not have the deposit
perhaps you could raise it by holding a bring-and-buy sale or robbing a sub
Post Office or something.
Alternatively try lobbying your local Politician with the P.A.I.N agenda. We
advise wrapping the agenda around a large house
brick and delivering it through the front window. We have also found that
lobbying with semtex is particulary effective.
Perhaps you could infiltrate one of the existing political parties and
covertly affect their policies. Perhaps we would then visit
you to influence your kneecaps. Or perhaps, most useful of all, you could
stay at home, put your feet up, turn on the TV and sit
and drool over babes in Neighbours. You won I actually change anything, but
at least you 'll be out of our way when the
fighting spills out onto the streets. And WE will know you 're SHEEP.

What are you so angry about? Violence just creates more violence. Do you LIKE violence?

COMMUNIQUE 2
Dec 2000

FROM: The Propaganda and Information Network
to: The Rest of the World

Well, it’s been a long time since we last communicated with you, but true to
our words the CAMP.A.I.N continues.
We have not been eliminated although in many ways, we have been incarcerated
regardless of our liberty. Many
more of our friends have experienced the joys of her Majesty’s pleasure,
ticking off the hours, and the days,
months, years....O.U.C.H is dedicated to everyone who has been locked away
for a victimless crime, or for thinking
the wrong thing, or for being in the wrong place at the wrong time, or for
wearing the wrong clothing. Our
sympathies go out to all who have been stitched up or who are wiling away on
remand, waiting for the police to
present a case or the judge to sober up.....

The justice system just keeps getting sicker.....crimes against property are
punished as heavily as possible, thought
crimes doubly so. Meanwhile, violent and abusive lunatics walk free after
only a few years inside to continue their
horrific behaviour.....No-one, who has experienced prison, has any doubt as
to how the state works and that the
control of the state is in all our lives, not just their own...no, it’s not
reform or rehabilitation in any shape or form. It
is brutal soul destroying punishment inherently ill in it’s sociology and
use.....Good old Jack Straw’s latest reforms
have made just about everyone we know not only a criminal, but also now a
terrorist! While these laws are not
being heavily implemented yet, you have to ask yourself why were they
drafted in the first place? As we said,
thought crime is a dangerous thing!

The lunacy of the drug war continues with thousands being locked up for
altering their own consciousness, with a
substance of little harm of which the state disapproves. Meanwhile alcohol
and tobacco continue unabated
destroying our health, while they benefit from its approval. But don’t get
us wrong, we may agree that tobacco is
bad for us and continue to freely choose to consume it regardless. But now
that it is so bad for us, will we one day
be locked up for a pack of twenty or possession of a carton? We could never
justify tearing apart the family of the
man who smoked a fag by casting him in prison, just as we can’t justify
being locked up now for smoking a different
drug, or just being of a different mind. The use of prison for such a
trivial difference of opinion is an abomination
and ugly slight on the understanding of man and his treatment of
others.....Had the multinationals and Western
powers controlled the prescribed substances, and hence made their profits,
things would be different.....If Jack
Straw’s family had owned a ganja plantation, it may well have been
different..... But if things go as we plan, maybe
his son’s family will and Euan Blair will be able to sleep on any street he
likes, just like the rest of us.

To all our friends, who are currently languishing in chokey we send our very
best wishes, and we hope to see you
soon, when Our Universe Commences, at some mad bloody gathering, free and
unruled.....

The battle rages on and we have no choice but to fight harder, because now
we fight for all humanity, and indeed all
life itself.

JOIN THE CAMP.A.I.N

MINISTER OF PROPAGANDA

I admire your idealism. It's just that I am against violence - not absolutely, because there are situations where it is the only way out - but I will try very hard to avoid those situations. For me violence is the last option on the list.

Like you I believe that modern governments are repressive and I seek a future where people can lead free and independent lives guided by their own values and choices without external control. I believe that coercing people with force is wrong. That's why I reject violence. I will never threaten anyone - if I do that I am as bad as the oppressive rulers. I choose persuasion rather than coercion. I will communicate with people as much as possible, ask them to co-operate with me and others, try to persuade them by reason and argument. But they are totally free to disagree and to refuse to co-operate. They have their own wills and because I respect them as independent intelligent beings I will not impose my will on theirs. I will not forcibly interfere with their pursuit of happiness if it differs from mine.

If we believe money and violence to be the strongest powers in the world then there is no way to save humanity from oppression because those who want to control us have a virtual monopoly on money and weapons. But I believe that there is hope because there are stronger powers in the world. You are opposed to religion but I am not. I call myself a mystic and I believe that mysticism can reveal higher truths. Not the same truths for everyone, but in every case there is some validity to it. My kind of religion is different from mainstream religions - what I call God is not a being external to us that manipulates us, it is a source of power and knowledge that is potentially unlimited and that exists in every one of us and in fact the entire universe. We can make use of this power in the struggle of good against evil - if we do not, we have no hope of winning.

You seem to believe that my kind of religion, like all religion, is opposed to your struggle for freedom. It is not. Please read this web-page. I did not write it but I very much agree with the author as my won experiences back it up:

[URL removed by moderator]

Why call it God
then if no one identifys what
you are talking about with God
Why not call it Bob or Eris
or Goddess or Banana?
Or even ^&*
JK the unwise

Well, the thing is, there are plenty of people who DO have the same idea that I have and who DO call it God. The word "God" doesn't really have a single meaning. Lots of people use it with lots of different meanings. I don't come from an English-speaking First World country, over here general ideas are very different, and so it is in much of the rest of the world as well. "God" simply means "an ultimate or ideal being", and whether such a being exists or not, or what the nature of such a being is/might be, is of secondary importance.

I believe in God, as I define it, as a being that really exists, because I am a holist - I see everything as being part of a system, for instance a cell is a part of an organ, and an organ is part of an organism, and an organism is a part of an ecosystem, and an ecosystem is part of a planet, and a planet is part of a galaxy, and a galaxy is part of a universe, and a universe can be a part of something bigger still. And every one of those things can be called a "being". God can be defined as the system that includes all other systems, or the being that includes all other beings - that still doesn't tell you if God can think or not, or if God can answer prayers or not, but at least it is something with a clear definition and it is a kind of "ultimate entity" and therefore worthy of the name God. But a strange thing happens in that the smaller entities can sometimes seem more complicated than the larger entities. A living cell is in many ways more complicated and more unpredictable than the totality of all the stars and planets and galaxies in the universe. That is to me something very significant. My kind of holism sees the part as containing the whole - in other words, the entire universe really exists inside the mind of every one of us. So God can be the totality of everything, but also exist inside each one of us. But I don't expect you to buy that - I don't expect anybody to buy it, it just happens to be the way I think things really are. And there are other people with the same kind of idea, and they use the word God, so I use it also. I try not to confuse people because if I ever use the word God I either explain what I mean by it or I allow the other person to form his or her own opinion about whether or not God exists or what God might be irrespective of whether or not he/she/it exists.

Mainly I consider myself religious because I have this intuitive feeling that life is the most complicated and the most powerful and the most valuable kind of thing that exists. This same intuitive feeling tells me that human beings have the potential to determine the fate of the entire universe. I honestly believe we are almost infinitely powerful, if only we realised how to best use our potential. So I believe there is a "best use" of our potential, and that is a kind of absolute, and this absolute also connects to the idea of God. At the very least, my seriousness is a kind of attitude that is so intense that I don't think 'religious' is an inappropriate adjective to apply to it. It's all very complicated to explain in words, but as for the way it feels and the way it's applied in practice, that is very simple. I just appreciate everything and respect everyone and try to encourage people to do the same. And also to really reach for the stars - I think a very important thing that we have to do in this universe is to explore it and to spread life and knowledge throughout it. I don't think power is a bad thing, I think humans have a right and a duty to become as powerful as possible, but in order to do that we also have to become as sensitive, as ethical and as responsible as possible. I don't think that is impossible - in fact I think it is inevitable. I see it as a "divine calling" that we must and will respond to. I may be wrong; time will tell.

For me a God with a personality is a contradiction
if it exists out side time and a God who exists
with in time must obey the laws of causation and there
for can not be all powerful.
As for a god that exists with in us I think that this
idea has some merit but my view point that comes I feel
in the same kind of revelation way to me as yours to you
Is that there are no rules anywhere and from this that
nothing can have any more value then any other. By witch
I mean that It may be true to say if a then b as a fact
but you can not have the rule that a ought to happen
of that a ought to cause b and thus it can not be good for
one thing to happen or bad for that thing to happen.
There are no moral oughts.
However I do believe that you are right to say that the
world exists with in us, and by my reckoning since there
are no rules the value that we think we experience
from things in the out side world is realy just value we
create our selves.

The idea of 'omnipotence' or 'all powerfullness' is a rather problematic idea because we humans cannot conceive of it. Our own laws of logic cause contradictions when we try to apply it as an absolute. So I think it is silly to argue about God being omnipotent or about anything or anybody being omnipotent if omnipotence is seen as an absolute. But when the idea of an 'ideal' or 'ultimate' entity doesn't have to include any particular concept of omnipotence. Whatever happens to be ultimate, is ultimate. If there is no ultimate entity, it more or less means that everything is relative, and that is a possibility.

If you say there is no morality whatsoever, well, I personally feel that there are moral imperitaves that compel me towards certain actions and ideals. Also I do not believe that different people all exist separately from each other each in their own personal universe. I think our universes overlap to a large extent and therefore our personal values also overlap to a large extent. I think people can talk and interact with each other and come to agree on certain mutual values.

But no value is any better then any other
peopel may agree on some but that
just makes them most popular.