Be more pirate: protest for the 21st century

Sam Conniff Allende

The first time I tried to explain why I wrote Be More Pirate to my five-year old daughter Scarlett, I did it with all the vanity of new published author. I told her that this was really about capitalism’s existential crisis, only to watch her face crumple in confusion.

The second attempt went better. I took her to Parliament Square to see the recently unveiled statue of suffragist leader Millicent Fawcett. As I looked around, I was struck by the fact that there are no statues for people who just follow orders. History celebrates the brave rule-breakers who made the world a better, fairer place.

A new common enemy

Yet here we are in 2019, and instead of walking boldly into a bright future enabled by the incredible advances in technology, we’re seeing a steady deterioration in the physical environment, prevailing inequality and the erosion of democracy – all in our hour of need.

It’s easy to blame poor leadership, but maybe the problem is that we haven’t understood what’s really going on. The 21st century is the information age, but it is also the age of being overwhelmed. Our new common enemies are distraction, apathy and anxiety in the face of busyness and complexity. It’s these things that strip individuals of their personal power and ability to challenge the status quo.

Volume and scale (and by this I mean the hundreds of emails you receive every week) prevent us from identifying the one small thing we can do. Instead, we’re wrapped up in process and bogged down by the ‘shoulds’ in our job descriptions. In the tyrannous fog of choice, we forget that good decision-making requires the ability to hear your intuition.

If you can’t bring yourself to leave a WhatsApp group that is eating your time, how likely is it that you’ll tell your boss you’re not coming to that pointless meeting? As an alternative, we’re turning more and more to social media in an effort to reclaim the feeling that we can be influential.

Pirate ships worked precisely because they were a blank state. When a newly recruited pirate stepped aboard, they were free to choose their identity. Social and economic status, the perception of what you could or could not do and all the baggage of your previous life were left behind on shore.

21st-century protest

So the world has changed, but our methods have not. If we want to reclaim power, it’s time to acknowledge that the kinds of social action typically used to effect change are not as useful as they once were. 

Protests can be motivating, but are typically ignored by government, as are petitions. We’re donating to Just Giving pages and signing up to charity direct debit schemes en masse, but most often out of guilt, not because we’re excited or hopeful about the outcome.

It’s time to recognise that the 21st century demands a different response, a new form of protest. One where people feel connected to the problems that need solving and are enabled to act. And this is much simpler than it sounds. We are all deeply connected to, and immersed in the lives we lead.

If you work in healthcare, stop looking to the Minister for Health to sort out the system. You are vital, powerful clink in the chain, you have knowledge and insight he does not; one small move you make could be the key. It’s time for personal power to return to the fore, it’s time for pirates.

Clear the decks and don’t wait for permission

If only you knew you could! But you can. The way things are, and not the way they have to be. Step back from the big picture and focus on one small act of rebellion, based on something you know for sure. This is the first step in re-humanising the big systems. Talk to real people, ask them how they feel about a problem. Build trust and connections.

20th-century thinking said that it’s a good thing to send out automated emails because it allows you to ‘communicate’ to lots of people quickly. The 21st century should teach us that that is not real communication. These emails are usually ignored; we all know it because we all do it. We must adapt the methods.  

If you don’t know where to start, think simple. Often the smallest, nimblest ideas are the best. Pirates outmanoeuvred navies with basic tools and small, well-connected crews. Pirates relied on their intuition to navigate through storms. If you have an idea, don’t wait for permission.

We can’t tackle complexity and scale if we’re disorganised and overwhelmed. It is time to take a scalpel to the noise that surrounds us, and think smaller and smarter, in order to be greater. Breaking one rule. Testing one thing. Having one uncomfortable conversation.

These are the necessary starting points, and they are for everyone. The future of power lies in a new 21st-century form of protest, and it depends on us all being more pirate.

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