This is a summary of the sessions that took place within the framework of the New Putney Debates in London Oct/Nov 2012. Although Occupy seems to have disappeared from the public radar (aka Big Media) after the St Paul’s Cathedral campsite eviction, the Working Groups formed during the occupation months have continued to study and develop new initiatives for a better system. All groups came together in the ...

With presentations about the most pressing problems in the areas of Economy and (lack of) Real Democracy the New Putney Debates pick up the thread of revolutionary thinking that commenced in 1647, 365 years ago. The two weeks of sessions will culminate in a new “Agreement of the People” or Charter of concrete proposals for the necessary changes to build a just, truly democratic and inclusive society. At all ...

First stated by Daniel Defoe, in The Political History of the Devil, 1726: "Things as certain as death and taxes, can be more firmly believed." Benjamin Franklin in 1789, gave it its current form: "'In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes." Is death certain? Only the physical transformation of the body is, from living and breathing to inert and rejoining the recyclable molecu ...

Changing times, same needs: The Putney Debates and London Occupy AssembliesIn 1647 England witnessed a remarkable moment, a revolutionary moment in which people demanded universal human rights, the Army attemped to become democratic electing its officers and a spiritual challenge to established power combined with demands for access to land for ordinary people. We reproduce here the background for The New P ...