While the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, we’ve got to do what we can.
Whether that’s shouting about injustice, or helping those who need it, here are the positive actions we can take right now.
Click any of the images to see them at a larger size.
PAY WELL
Fair pay means giving employees a wage that covers a basic standard of living with some extra to account for unexpected costs or to go towards building a more secure future.
The Living Wage Foundation say: “In low paid sectors a vicious cycle of high levels of staff turnover and absenteeism can drive problems of operational inefficiency, low standards and weak productivity that hit the bottom line.”
If you employ staff, consider joining companies like Brewdog and Oliver Bonas which pay the real living wage. You’ll bring a piece of mind to your workforce. You’ll nurture happier, more engaged workers who’ll stick around. And you’ll reflect fair values back into your business
Image by Beth Dawson
ESCHEW THE NEW
Buy second hand. You’ll be benefiting a charity if it’s from a thrift store, or helping out the seller if you buy direct.
Either way, you’ll be circumventing big business and shrinking your carbon footprint.
Image by Myfanwy Tristram
SHARE YOUR SKILLS
Run a workshop to share your practical knowledge, whether that’s about cooking, gardening, bike repair, plumbing…or anything else that will help people save money.
Image by Jenny Drew
PART-OWN YOUR STUFF
When every house in the street has their own electric drill, laminator, or anything else that you might only use a couple of times a year, it only benefits one thing — capitalism!
Let’s save some money, make friends amongst our neighbours, and do a bit of good for the environment by starting a sharing group. If that goes well, you could work up to sharing bigger things, like cars…
Image by Joe Decie
BREAK THE CARTELS
London People’s Energy are campaigning for a publicly-owned energy company: “We want a new public company that cuts bills and cuts polluting carbon emissions. A non-profit company with social justice, clean energy and democracy at its core.”
You can do the same — and not just with energy, either. How about truly public transport, banks, or mobile phones for the people?
Image by Kirsty Hunter
PUT THE PRESSURE ON
Tell your MP or other representative what you expect them to do about the issues that matter to you. And keep telling them.
You might get a pat, generic response: that’s not good enough, and you should write back to tell them so. Otherwise, how will they know? It’s our job to hold our representatives to account.
Image by Simon Russell
SPEND WISELY
Read up on the places where you spend your money: do they pay their workers a living wage? Do they support sweatshops or child labour? Do they fund the weapons industry or finance a political party that you disagree with?
Many apps and websites can help you. Shopping with local independent businesses can also help you avoid many of the big, bad brands.
Image by Emmi Bat
START A CLUB
Casserole clubs are an Aussie concept: volunteers share extra portions of home-cooked food with people in their area who aren’t always able to cook for themselves — the elderly, the disabled, the lonely. Cooks share once a week, once a month, or whenever works best for them.
Image by Laura Sorvala
PLANT RADICAL ROOTS
Start a community gardening project where everyone reaps what you sow together.
You’re growing cheap, healthy food, and at the same time, creating friendships, getting fresh air and exercise, improving mental health, and reducing the amount of fruit and veg that needs to travel half way round the world.
Image by Zara Slattery
STOP THE ROT
Ask your local restaurants to donate their leftover food to the homeless — or like this bagel shop, turn it into beer!
Better still, see if there’s a set-up like the Real Junk Food Project which will collect waste food and turn it into meals for those who need it.
Image by Riyadh Rateme
BUILD A WALL OF KINDNESS
While Donald Trump was first talking about his divisive wall, the concept of a “Wall of Kindness” was blossoming in Iran.
Stretches of wall are painted and furnished with pegs. Then, people hang clothes, food and and goods that they no longer need for the homeless or poor to take.
The concept is spreading: several UK towns currently feature their very own walls of kindness (in the case of Brighton, it’s a seafront shelter of kindness…)
Image by Jaime Huxtable
SEE PEOPLE AS PEOPLE
The charity Streets of London say that we must “challenge the perception that homeless people are any different from the rest of us. Homelessness begins when something bad happens and you don’t have family or friends around to help. It could happen to any of us.”
The same logic can be applied across many sectors of society: they may be temporarily disadvantaged, but they are people.
Image by Woodrow Phoenix
EMPLOY THE LESS EMPLOYABLE
Could you give a job to someone who would find it hard to secure work elsewhere?
Consider recruiting from groups such as ex-convicts – giving them less reason to return to a life of crime – or those with autism, learning difficulties or disabilities, allowing them a chance for paid work that few others may offer.
Image by Wallis Eates
CHANGE YOUR BUSINESS MODEL
In Madrid, one restaurant charges its customers during the day, and uses the profits to feed the homeless in the evening.
Image by Jeroen Janssen
TELL STORIES
If you’re a great yarn-spinner, tell the first person stories that show the human side of the big issues. They really go straight to the heart.
If you’ve got skills in writing, video or radio, so much the better — and if you haven’t, what better time to learn them?
Image by Jessica Trevino
BEAR WITNESS
The work of comic artists like Olivier Kugler and Kate Evans show us that documentary or reportage drawing can be a powerful tool.
As comic artists we might feel that we don’t have much to offer when faced with gross injustices, poverty, or warfare. But we can tell stories, and in a very immediate way.
A way that can change minds, soften hearts, even alter the political discourse.
Image by Sousa Machado Arts
STAND UP
People like you don’t stand for election, right? That’s exactly why you should consider it.
When government is dominated by the rich, the privileged, the male, or other dominant groups, legislation tends to favour those people. We owe it to our own communities to represent them in local and national politics.
Image by Rosa Devine
All artwork on this page is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
PAY WELL
Fair pay means giving employees a wage that covers a basic standard of living with some extra to account for unexpected costs or to go towards building a more secure future.
The Living Wage Foundation say: “In low paid sectors a vicious cycle of high levels of staff turnover and absenteeism can drive problems of operational inefficiency, low standards and weak productivity that hit the bottom line.”
If you employ staff, consider joining companies like Brewdog and Oliver Bonas which pay the real living wage. You’ll bring a piece of mind to your workforce. You’ll nurture happier, more engaged workers who’ll stick around. And you’ll reflect fair values back into your business
Image by Beth Dawson
ESCHEW THE NEW
Buy second hand. You’ll be benefiting a charity if it’s from a thrift store, or helping out the seller if you buy direct.
Either way, you’ll be circumventing big business and shrinking your carbon footprint.
Image by Myfanwy Tristram
SHARE YOUR SKILLS
Run a workshop to share your practical knowledge, whether that’s about cooking, gardening, bike repair, plumbing…or anything else that will help people save money.
Image by Jenny Drew
PART-OWN YOUR STUFF
When every house in the street has their own electric drill, laminator, or anything else that you might only use a couple of times a year, it only benefits one thing — capitalism!
Let’s save some money, make friends amongst our neighbours, and do a bit of good for the environment by starting a sharing group. If that goes well, you could work up to sharing bigger things, like cars…
Image by Joe Decie
Draw The Line 