Another year almost over, a new one just beginning
Compass started to find a new way to be in 2013. Few organisations ever make big cultural shifts but with your trust and energy we have begun making radical changes to the way we think and act. For us it wasn’t just about being more than Labour – it was about doing politics differently.
What is really exciting as we look ahead to 2014 is the potential alignment of our vision, how we behave and the times we live in. To be honest, we’ve banged on a lot about a good society – and quite rightly, who could really argue with it? But while it was desirable it never felt really feasible.
But something is now bubbling up from below, if what I suggested in the Guardian here, about ‘New Times’ is starting to take a grip then the political, economic and social terrain can seriously be contested once more. This is because the new horizontal forms of governance and production, taking over from the 20th century’s vertical forms, carry within them the seeds of democracy and equality.
Take renewable community energy, an exciting development that puts control, ownership and decision making back in to communities; undermining bit by bit the power that big energy companies hold over us.
In a world where people are becoming less deferential and everyone (rightly) expects their voice to be heard, how we behave with each other becomes more and more important. It also fits with two Compass mantras; we should be the change we wish to see and that only together can we make a good society happen. If we can understand these news times and bend them to our values and vision then in 2014 the political game will be back on.
But my growing confidence and belief in what we are doing is fuelled further by how Compass feels and the people it is attracting. More humble, empathetic, experimental and generous in spirit. Nowhere was this better demonstrated than at our annual conference – the memory of which still makes me feel warm precisley because it felt like a day in a good society (you can see pics from the day here).
Watching and feeling Compass actively take steps to ensure we put equality at the heart of what we do has also made me smile. From working with Disabled People Against the Cuts and others fighting the welfare reforms to create our Social Security publication to public
There are too many people to thank for everything that happened in 2013 but I can’t pass without a huge shout out to Rosie and Joe – they make my working life a huge pleasure alongside Ruth who chairs the Compass Management Committee and everyone else on the Committee. From Cynthia Dereli in Liverpool to Ken Spours who is working on our education project, we would be nothing without our members and supporters.
And you. You help us keep the flame alive and build for a better world. Thank you.
In 2014 we will celebrate the first decade of Compass. The journey isn’t quite what we expected but while our values stay intact the way in which we make them a reality is changing. It’s starting to get exciting. We are becoming the change we wish to see in the world and there is no better resolution than that for next year and every year ahead.
My warmest and best wishes,
Neal
PS There are some tickets left for our Education Conference January 18thwith Tristram Hunt, we would love to see you there.