Thoughts and implications of my new book publishing venture

My new book ‘Secrets of Village life in Somerset’ was delivered to me today. I’m impressed by the speed that Amazon can operate when you submit a book for printing so here is a tip for all budding authors. Self-publishing is not difficult to achieve,  you just have to tick the boxes such as to check your text integrity and your cover before ever sending it off. If you don’t do this it will be thrown back at you. 

Amazon/KDP publish thousands of books so it is in their own interest – or making money and promoting flow and minimizing staff costs – to be absolutely clear about what they require. In my case I sought advice from people at critical moments when I got stuck and so my book was listed 24 hours after I submitted it. Chat GPT will do the checking if you ask it to, and there are humans that will also do this and perhaps add a touch of style that would escape the attention of the robots.

This is a work of art the same as painting and as such we should not expect to produce a perfect article on the first occasion . The point is, is it readable, will the people who buy the book be able to get some sort of idea of what you are about and will this book form a catalyst for any changes that may be made in the future. The latter point is in the lap of the gods which you can only do your two penny worth and await for audience reaction 

So now we come to the whole question of what difference can any person like myself who is a writer and artistically inclined, possibly make to a set of three villages?  I have to add that when I started my mission I expected a greater amount of ‘who does this person think they are?’ but I have to say that from the moment of our starting to do interviews Francoise and I were received with openness and enthusiasm.  

It is not too much of an exaggeration to say that the whole country including, cities, towns and villages, are experiencing a depredation of community spirit like never before. The older generation who are used to traditional ways of doing things before social media came along are literally dying off and the spirit that prevailed in the 60s and 70s is no longer prevalent especially among the young.

Social media is a fascinating and yet oddly unsatisfying medium where people’s brains are rewired to think in terms of ‘likes’.  It was notable that younger people in the three villages were less interested in taking part, I surmise, because for them historical perspective is irrelevant when contrasted with the immediate gratification of Instagram, WhatsApp, Facebook etc.

Nevertheless, villages will not maintain themselves by magic. I am hoping that my book will stimulate people into reconsidering what their contribution should be instead of leaving it to someone else. It is noticeable that particular person has two or maybe three or even four different roles in keeping Village life going from the community and committee aspect and the ideal thing really is for the burden to be shared. I can almost hear people saying, ‘oh well, if there is no one else to do it then I will step in’. This may not be ideal in the long term. Participation in a committee should be seen as a joy and a privilege and rightly managed so it can be.

Next year I would like to have some sort of dialogue with the villagers in general to tease out or identify or find out what facilities they would like that are not available at the moment. This may be more problem with a population that is passive and go along with the crowd. I don’t know how careful people will feel they have to be in front of their peers who they meet on a regular basis.

Anyone with an internet connection must be aware of the effect of attempts to programming our thinking by looking at the websites that we visit, the opinions we have and custom building adverts and news to what they think will fit in with our mindset. This is called AI or artificial intelligence and will affect us all in one way and another. The most pernicious influence is the one that you’re not aware of. It includes so-called news where for example the BBC support Israel and ignore criticism of it. They are supposed to be independent broadcasters. If you believe that you will believe anything.

I was surprised to see that amongst the first customers of my book there were two buyers from Germany and one from the USA.  Maybe without realising it I have touched a cord which will resonate much more widely than the small geographical area of Somerset that I first envisaged.

Anyway, now follows a comment from a journalist and researcher Whitney Webb

As a collective we’re going to have to find it within ourselves to start fighting back against this dystopia which is consuming more and more of what’s decent in our world, and as individuals we’re going to have to find ways to maintain our inner clarity despite the empire’s increasingly aggressive efforts to make us vapid, stupid and confused.

Luckily for us there are still large aspects of our humanity which they cannot infiltrate or control, and we would do well to familiarize ourselves with that terrain. Inspiration. Creativity. Consciousness. Spiritual awakening. These are realms wherein the tech plutocrats and imperial social engineers cannot tread.

Explore your own consciousness. Enquire deeply into the nature of self and the mind until clarity dawns on you. Heal your inner wounds. Remove from within yourself all the mental hooks of fear and hatred so that the propagandists can find no psychological purchase with which to manipulate you. Follow the faint whisperings of your muse, and learn to help your inspiration birth new creative expression into the world.

These are the kinds of things we’ll have to do to preserve ourselves as we move into this strange new world, on top of the usual business of staying informed and learning to see through the propaganda illusions. Luckily these things are all good for us anyway; the path toward protecting our humanity also just happens to be the path toward becoming a healthier human being and making the world a better place.

We are being called to awaken, and to transform. We are being beckoned not away from our humanity as the transhumanists imagine but deep into the heart of it, to a widespread blossoming of a bud that’s been waiting within us this entire time. This age invites us to evolve into a truly conscious species.

Whitney Webb