Category Archives: Miscellaneous

The Book: Latest News

I now have an ISBN number, which means that the book should at last be on the database that bookshops and libraries use, so it ought to be possible to order it anywhere. Richard Priestley. System Change Now! ISBN 978-1-3999-3540-1

I had hoped to keep the price as low as possible, but getting books into distant bookshops involves expensive postage, plus the bookshops commission, so in most bookshops the book is likely to sell for £20.00. I am selling them locally directly to people for the discounted price of £10.00, and a few local shops have some copies to sell at somewhere near this price. If people e-mail me I can post them a copy for £15.00. Sales are really beginning to pick up, which is great.

I’m planning to start a Zoom discussion group as several people who’ve read the book say that they would like this. We’ll be able to explore some of the ideas from the book, and it will be very useful for me to get your feedback. There is much we can all learn together. For more information about this discussion group do see the blog I posted on 8th November, and register via the link in that blog or directly here.

If you would like to buy a copy of my book directly from me, then do please e-mail me at richardgpgsblog@hotmail.com

Conservative Catastrophe Continues

Liz Truss is now the new Prime Minister. Johnson, Sunak or Truss: it will make very little difference. The entire conservative party is now in the grip of an extremist element that seeks to carry out the wishes of their funders, a horrific mix of right wing ideologues, greedy billionaires and Russian oligarchs. (Watch this from Peter Oborne)

The conservative party and their funders care not a jot for the health and welfare of the British people. They are slowly and deliberating destroying the NHS in order to bring in an American system that maximises profits for companies but means ordinary people cannot afford adequate health care and consequently become homeless and destitute. It is deliberate.

For this Government the energy crisis is essentially a profit generating opportunity, so warmth and comfort of citizens or action on the climate crisis are totally ignored. Had the UK invested more in renewables, grid interconnection, energy storage, home insulation and higher standards of energy efficiency in everything from lighting to public transport, we would not be in the mess that we are in today.

Our rivers and coasts are polluted with sewage, phosphates and much else. Water privatization has made huge profits for offshore companies and shareholders, but with devastating costs to the ecology of our rivers and coasts, and to human health and wellbeing. We could have done things so very differently.

Health care, energy infrastructure, water and sewage systems should all be in the public realm, owned for objectives other than profit, such as the health and wellbeing of people and of ecosystems.

Many, many voices are calling out for a change in direction. Few of them are within parliament. The conservatives are wedded to this destructive agenda and Labour and LibDems in general offer some ideas that are essentially tinkering around at the edges, rather than a radical restructuring of the British economy.

My book ‘System Change Now!’ seeks to paint a picture of a better system, for the UK and for the world as a whole. Next week I start a book launch tour where I will be speaking about the book and the kinds of changes that might reverse a whole matrix of interlinked crises: climate, ecological, social, economic and political. There are currently five events lined up in Hereford, one in Kington and several others in the process of being set up in surrounding towns and villages. See the dates and venues here.

My Book: ‘System Change Now!’

My book ‘System Change Now!’ is starting to sell, and I am getting some positive feedback, which is most appreciated. A book launch tour is gradually being organized with five talks and book signings set for Hereford city. Events are in the process of being set up in Kington, and hopefully also in Ledbury, Malvern, Ross-on-Wye, Queenswood, Worcester, Shrewsbury and elsewhere. The book is on sale in a number of places; Hey Honey in Church Street, Hereford, Greenlink Organic Foods and the Malvern Book Co-operative both in Malvern, and also from Pot & Page in Ledbury. Several more shops will be selling it soon, and the speaking tour will no doubt develop. Books can also be ordered by post or from me directly: do e-mail me at richardjpriestley@hotmail.com

All the book launch events so far organized are between 7th and 20th September: details below. (Over the next few days and weeks I will keep updating the list as more events are set up.)

Wednesday 7th September: De Koffie Pot, Hereford, 7.30pm

Thursday 8th September: Methodist Church, St Owens St, Hereford, 2.30 pm (Organized by Hereford Christian Ecology Group)

Thursday 15th September: Hey Honey, Church St, Hereford, 7.00 pm. This evening will be a ticketed event with drinks and nibbles.

Friday 16th September:  Hey Honey in Church St, 11.00 am.

Saturday 17th September:  Hey Honey in Church St, 11.00 am.

Tuesday 20th September: Oxford Arms, Duke St, Kington, 7.00 for 7.30pm