Dear Sir,

Whether we like it or not we must accept personal responsibility for the state of the world we are now living in. A global responsibility equating to social awareness and ultimately a personal responsibility to bring about the changes necessary to guarantee a world fit for future generations. Packing our bags and moving away from the problem isn’t an option, and if the time ever came when a space age Ark 2 became a possibility, places would be allocated based on position, power and status. Premier VIP class would be the order of the day, and everyone else written off as expendable and left to fend for themselves.

If you feel this kind of decision would never happen simply open your eyes and you will see these judgement calls being made every single day nationally and on a global scale. Life has become a very cheap commodity unless you have power, wealth and prosperity to protect you from the realities of life in the 21st century. Politicians, world leaders and financial brokers make short term decisions to generate further wealth and prosperity for themselves; decisions having long term negative effects on generations to come.

We live in a large global village that is shrinking by the day; information takes longer to type than it does to travel around the globe. Yet, politics, religion and wealth are the great dividers used to segregate and alienate. Unfortunately once we buy into this belief it becomes easy to convince us we have something to fear from those who appear different from us or have different views or values. Stereotypes used to reinforce the belief we have nothing in common with the people we share our community with.

Each one of us has the power to make a difference; education and personal responsibility are the keys to change and create people able to think for themselves. You are only powerless as long as you believe yourself to be, and each one can bring about change in our own lives which must impact on the lives of those around us and in our community.

The issue is not about having different views; that is what freedom and democracy is all about, the issue is with those who would rather you didn’t think for yourself and simply accept what you are told to believe.

Phillip Hawkins

Independent Candidate