Paul Giovanni, founder of Critical Mass Radio (CMR), joins Mick Meaney to discuss a forthcoming CMR ‘truth’ event in Manchester. Alternative media, unified action and radical change is also discussed.
Mick Meaney: Thanks for joining us today Paul. So the event is on the 24th November, how organised are you? Is everything ready to go?
Paul Giovanni: Well a few more bits and pieces before I’m happy but the room the set the speakers are ready.
Mick Meaney: You’ve got quite a line up… 7 speakers in total?
Paul Giovanni: Yes. Some great speakers we are looking at solution based talks, not just people trying to sell DVDs.
Mick Meaney: That’s something that’s been missing for a long time, solutions. It’s one thing to give people information, to wake them up, but without offering solutions, the information alone can often make people feel helpless and trapped.
Paul Giovanni: Agreed.
Mick Meaney: What topics are going to be discussed, and which solutions are going to be offered?
Paul Giovanni: Well everything from setting personal goals, to what’s going on with the British policing system to UFO disclosure, freeman on the land, and our court system, the constitution laws and regulations of the EU.
Mick Meaney: So you’ll be encouraging individual action, or group action, or a mix of both?
Paul Giovanni: Well individual action but also to come together, we need to ACT AS ONE NOW. So many people are just looking to sort themselves out but not concentrating on the big picture.
Mick Meaney: I agree, although it’s not always their fault… Society – or the ruling elite have always pushed an ideology of ‘me first’.
Paul Giovanni: Sure but if we are ever to going to make real change we need to link arms.
Mick Meaney: Absolutely. So how did the idea for the event first emerge?
Paul Giovanni: Well I just kept going to these conferences, and no one, was offering any solutions???? I thought right; I’m going to change that.
Mick Meaney: I know what you mean, of the conferences I’ve attended — granted I haven’t gone to any for about 5 years, I left feeling disempowered.
Paul Giovanni: Yeah you come away thinking; ok I know all that, so what’s the answer?
Mick Meaney: Yes, exactly. What’s the connection with Critical Mass Radio — a ‘truth’ radio station that’s really needed in this country.
Paul Giovanni: Well I work with groups such as We are Change Manchester and Freedom NorthWest etc, and I though there is no voice for the common person, there is no hub, so I started CMR to bring people together unite and share.
Mick Meaney: WAC Manchester is doing some great work… Also WAC Liverpool and WAC Leeds are doing a terrific job of flying the flag in the North.
Paul Giovanni: Yes I must say that the cities mentioned are just bubbling ready to boil over, you can sense there is about to be an uprising
Mick Meaney: Let’s hope so. It’s ok to want to remove the current system, but there must be something to replace it with… a better way, and it seems to be that’s what you and these groups are trying to do. I think this is the first time since I ‘woke up’ that I’ve seen so much unity and a direct effort to make real change.
Paul Giovanni: Yeah the Hosts and every one at CMR are all attached to groups and all working on many ideas I sometimes think the system must fall before enough people wake up, but then as you said everyone will be looking to be taken care of.
Mick Meaney: You’ve got Ben Emlyn-Jones on board, whom… if I remember correctly, was one of the first parents to speak out against the use of biometrics in schools.
Paul Giovanni: Yes GREAT chap is Ben, we also have at the station a lady called Pippa who has done sterling work, and taken it right to the top.
Mick Meaney: How did you first wake up, what was your journey?
Paul Giovanni: Wow. OK. So like many, from an early age from as early as I can remember I used to look round and think, this is all crazy adults working themselves into the ground for what? No one is happy. Then I watched the Zeitgeist films and BOOOOOOM.
Mick Meaney: What was your next move?
Paul Giovanni: Ok, I felt cheated and also I told myself that everything i thought was right, THIS IS NOT THE WAY IT HAS TO BE, we have just been told it has to be this way by the mainstream media and generations before. Then I though right so I started awakened people a forum then joined WAC then started Futurestar radio, which has all led to Critical Mass Radio. I was at Manchester Radio Online for six months.
Mick Meaney: How is CMR funded?
Paul Giovanni: OK the set up was from my savings I was due to move to Italy to be with my ex, and then we split early this year so i put all my savings in CMR, ALL THE HOSTS PAY FOR THEIR SHOWS. It’s very hard because people in the truth movement want everything for free.
Mick Meaney: It’s very difficult to monetize anything in the movement. You accept donations from the public too?
Paul Giovanni: Some stations advertise companies such as STARBUCKS? I DON’T GET THAT. YES DONATIONS are most welcome and we get the odd ten pounds which is great.
Mick Meaney: What people need to realise is, and most of them do… this alternative media, all the content, shows, articles, videos, events, everything costs money. We don’t live in a free world. If people want the alt media to exist, which they obviously do because they are coming to our websites in the millions, they need to support it. If they don’t support the alt media, it will cease to exist. It’s that simple. This is their media, it’s for them. If they want it they need to keep it alive or go back to being presented with one choice again – the corporate media.
Paul Giovanni: Wow can we use that one?
Mick Meaney: Course you can.
Paul Giovanni: Thank you.
Mick Meaney: At the same time, it’s a choice we make… nobody asked us or forced us to become active in the alt media… we knew the score…
So what are the core issues that concern you… what do you want to see changed?
Paul Giovanni: I just want people to be able to chose, to be free to say look, I want to live of the land and make my own way, or if people want to stay in the matrix then that’s their choice. We should not be pushed into a corner. MANY PEOPLE ARE HAPPY IN THE MATRIX, well that’s up to them.
Mick Meaney: Well.. They believe they are happy, they’ve been told that being able to afford things like Gucci shoes equals happiness. Material gain, consume, consume, consume equals happiness.
I agree with you, we should be able to live off the land, become independent… And especially become financially independent.
Paul Giovanni: I have learnt that you cannot force people to wake up, but we all have our own path, people will get left behind.
Mick Meaney: Yep, in fact you can really piss people off by trying to wake them up. A few years ago myself and Andrew Jonson went around Manchester handing out 9/11 flyers – ok maybe handing them out in pubs at 9pm at night wasn’t the best choice of place to do it, it got pretty tense.
Paul Giovanni: Yeah I think, or should I say I hope all this child abuse in the mainstream will wake a few. Really that is brave of you. I can imagine that’s the sort of thing you do only once.
Mick Meaney: I’ve stuck to daylight activism after that. It’s not worth going to hospital over… no wait. Yes it IS worth going to hospital over, but not because of some pissed up idiot whose looking for a fight.
Paul Giovanni: Agreed mate. But you can say YOU TRIED.
Mick Meaney: I suppose so. When my kids are growing up to live in a nightmare.. even more of a nightmare than what we’re in right now, yes I want to be able to look them in the eye and tell them I did my best, I tried. Hopefully it won’t come to that, because the elite… these people only survive on the illusion of being all-powerful… When you and I both know that’s a complete lie.
You’re right… Who else is going to do it? It’s up to us, and anyone who hears our message… because if you read RINF, Activist Post, David Icke, Rense, Infowars.. whatever, or you listen to CMR, watch Edge Media or however you get your real news, and if you do nothing about it… if you just consume it and then go back to your “normal” reality without doing a thing to either spread the word, take action or contribute to the fight… then what is the alternative media, really? It becomes just another form of entertainment.
So anyway, how many are you expecting to turn up on the 24th?
Paul Giovanni: Well hope to get around 100 or so. We were hoping for double that.
Mick Meaney: So hopefully this will be the first of many events in Manchester, are you filming the talks?
Paul Giovanni: Yeah we will be filming and if it works well we will be going up and down the country.
Mick Meaney: Events all over the country?
Paul Giovanni: Yes depending on how well we do in Manchester.
Mick Meaney: Manchester has always been receptive to this kind of thing.
Paul Giovanni: Yes and is my claim that Manchester will be the new capital. I MUST SAY I COULD’NT do this without the help of the host’s they are amazing all of them.
Well I thank you for the opportunity and also THANK YOU FOR ALL THE WORK YOU DO.
Mick Meaney: Thank you. CMR is a fantastic resource and I hope people give it the support it deserves. One final question… What are you plans for the future of CMR?
Paul Giovanni: Well I hope we can link up with other alternative media, but failing that we hope that we can become the station that delvers or tries to deliver the truth and hope and a connection to the new guys waking up.
‘Time to Act’ takes place on Saturday 24th November 2012, visit criticalmassradio.co.uk to book your ticket.