Signing Petitions.

In the past month I've signed ten petitions. I've been sent a request to sign about twice that number, but I'm selective. I have to be, I can't become a petition junkie like at least one person I know.
It's the environment, it's the NHS, Brexit and the atrocities happening because of the arms trade which I try to concentrate on.

Should I feel guilty not signing petitions about the plight of individuals, whether they're murdered journalists, sick children or people imprisoned for their beliefs? I don't believe I should really, I try hard to look at bigger pictures.

I do try to take part by signing and sharing if I feel the petition may have a chance of :-

A) Reaching and being read by the person it's addressed to. Any petition addressed vaguely to a government or corporation will undoubtedly find its way to the bin/delete button without anybody senior having to bother with it.

B) Not be disregarded, because I'm not in the USA, or Saudi Arabia, or wherever the topic of the petition relates to. Foreign signatures may devalue a petition in the eyes of the people it's aimed at, particularly if it's on a local issue.





Petitions I have signed recently include these, with my published comment after them :-

https://actions.sumofus.org/a/european-parliament-break-free-from-plastic-oct-2018 -

Plastics companies are trying to wriggle out of their responsibilities by just relabelling their products, because they want to be able to go on producing as much plastic as they do now. A dead turtle with a belly full of plastic is still a dead turtle, whatever the label on the plastic says. Yes I know this is yet another petition, the number of them is hard to take sometimes, but we've got to keep trying. I keep telling myself, 'It's the environment, stupid!' What we are doing to our environment is the most pressing, the most vital issue, it affects every living thing on this planet and we don't have anywhere else to go when we've finished wrecking this place.

https://act.friendsoftheearth.uk/act/stop-government-forcing-fracking-communities -

They permit fracking, yet have banned the construction of any more land based wind turbines. Do they expect people to not notice? They really have nothing but contempt for us, our future and our children's future. Please sign and share widely.

https://www.peoples-vote.uk/march

Brexit is in chaos, which most people, pro or anti EU, did NOT vote for. If we really believe in democracy we must have another vote on this.

https://www.change.org/p/scottish-government-save-the-scottish-wildcat-by-protecting-clashindarroch-forest

This is our only native wild cat, we've already exterminated any others that once lived in the UK. These are critically endangered, less than 100 are left. Yet their largest remaining breeding stronghold is being logged! How can we protest about forest destruction endangering orang-utans and yet allow this to happen. Please, please sign, donate, do whatever you can!

https://speakout.38degrees.org.uk/campaigns/nhs-trade-petition

We can't allow US companies profiteering to muscle in on our free at point of need NHS.

https://speakout.38degrees.org.uk/campaigns/make-companies-running-public-services-fit-for-purpose

Brexit will make increasing privatisation in the NHS a certainty. We need to be sure that any companies trusted with this vital work are competent, professional, trustworthy and aware that their responsibility is to the British public, not to their owners and shareholders.

https://secure.greenpeace.org.uk/page/s/drop-dirty-palm-oil

Is there palm oil in my toothpaste? Oh yes, I just looked :( It's probably in yours too. Tell Colgate and others to stop supporting the filthy palm oil trade.

https://secure.avaaz.org/campaign/en/iceland_stop_the_whale_slaughter

Why do so-called civilised people feel the need to do this? I've signed the petition. I'm not actually letting the UK off the hook though - badger and mountain hare 'culls', slaughter of corvids and raptors for starters all spring to mind.

https://secure.greenpeace.org.uk/page/s/stop-the-solar-attack -
(I can't find this one now, so don't know exactly what I said.. )


So that's six about environmental issues, two about the NHS and one about Brexit.  There will be more. I know there will. I do sometimes get updates from the organisers of most of these petitions and occasionally there's a joyful one stating that the petition has helped to alter something for the better. That makes me feel slightly better, for a moment - but that isn't why I sign them, it's really not about how I feel. It's about improving the world for us all. Petitions are worthwhile because just occasionally, one has the desired effect.

I also know that I could be more politically active than this, but I have my reasons for not being. I used to be much more active, beginning aged 17 and for many years.