Take Back Power, and Politics - A Conversation With Marcus Ball

In this episode of Force of Nature, Clover sits down with Marcus J Ball - who, in May of 2019, found his name splashed across every major news outlet around the world. Marcus had launched a crowdfunded private prosecution case against Boris Johnson. The case? Lying in politics. This episode is about truth, democracy, and the corruption of our leaders - as well as finding your obsession, facing up to fears of not being enough, and why loss, grief and death can be the greatest gifts of all.


Episode notes

01:23 - 06:43) Why Marcus was catalysed to take on a system many of us deem too broken to fix; a glimpse behind the curtain of politics; and the role of truth in democracy.

06:43 - 10:28) How politicians get away with lying to the people; the breakdown of trust in society; and why power is like a blackhole.

10:28 - 18:55) The corrupt underbelly of politics in the democratised world; the relationships between people with power; and how corruption runs rampant in media and journalism.

18:55 - 23:57) Why you should serve a mission greater than yourself; knowing what you want to be remembered for on your deathbed; and how we can begin to take back power.

23:57 - 28:52) Choosing not to sit on the sidelines; why working within corporations breeds obedience; and finding solutions in even the messiest of problems.

28:52 - 32:15) Learning to befriend failure; the role of naive optimism; and why being obsessed with solving a problem kills ego, and feeds confidence.

32:15 - 39:14) Why loss, death and grief are essential to realising your mandate; reconnecting with the moral compass of youth; and wielding your privilege to take action.

39:14- 45:58) Have society’s problems become too complex to solve? Owning up to our individual responsibility; how impact comes from focus; why the narrative of individual activism is broken; and uncovering our peak humanity.

45:58 - 48:38) How to save the world without carrying the weight of it on your shoulders; being driven by the future that is possible; and why your value lies in contribution.

48:38 - 52:29) Creating a legacy; overcoming the feeling of not being enough; and learning to let go of what you can’t control.

52:29 - 55:10) Why we feel overwhelmed and immobilised by climate change; how to navigate our feelings of powerlessness; and the self-limiting beliefs that stop us from fulfilling our potential.

55:10 - 1:03:13) Does humanity need an upgrade? Seeing the bigger picture to solve society’s greatest challenges; the thing that makes us human; and a debate on whether robots should be left to rule the world.


Top quotes

“The closer you get to a black hole, the more everything around it is distorted and doesn't make any sense. The rules of physics and everything change. When it comes to power, the closer you get to powerful people, all of the rules around them start to change.” - Marcus

“You should always try and do things which are important, even if it's possible you fail, because that's the only way anything ever gets done ever.” - Marcus

“Part of our problem is that we’re not fully willing to look in the face of what has already been lost by way of species, habitat, human life, relationships, culture, indigenous culture… because it is so painful. And enshrined in that pain is the realisation that we are all complicit in the problems, and by the very nature of how we live every day, continue to contribute to these problems.” - Clover

“You can't carry the weight of the world on your shoulders, because I've seen in friends and I've seen it in myself, the impact that that has, and how it can actually make you really ineffective… because you are being driven by fear, rather than being driven by what is possible.” - Clover

“I think it's a human need to serve something, to believe in something, to solve a problem, to be obsessed with something. I think that's peak humanity.” - Marcus


About the guest(s)

Marcus is a private prosecutor and the founder of Stop Lying In Politics Ltd. - a UK, non-partisan, not-for-profit organisation which is dedicated to fighting against lying in politics. Their mission is to set a precedent in the English common law, making it illegal for any politician to lie to the public on matters of national interest - from public spending, to the case for going to war.

Marcus is crowdfunded by over 15,000 people from around the world, and his work has been covered by every major international news platform on the planet.

Resources
Marcus’ personal website - https://www.marcusjball.com/
Stop Lying in Politics - https://www.stoplyinginpolitics.org/
Find Marcus on Twitter - https://twitter.com/marcusjball?lang=en

About the host

Clover Hogan is a 21-year-old climate activist, researcher on eco-anxiety, and the founder of Force of Nature - a youth-led organisation empowering Gen Z to step up, rather than shut down, in the face of the climate crisis. She has worked alongside the world’s leading authorities on sustainability, within the boardrooms of Fortune 500 companies, and inside classrooms across the UK.

Clover is also campaign strategist for #MyEcoResolution, serves as a trustee to Global Action Plan, and is on the advisory board of the National Community Lottery's Climate Action Fund.

Twitter - https://twitter.com/cloverhogan
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/cloverhogan
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/cloverhogan/
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/clover-h-564201126/

E. clover@momentum-starts-here.org


Find out more

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Producer: James Bishop @itsjamesbishop

With special thanks to

James Bishop: https://www.linkedin.com/in/onnefineplay/
Kasra Firouzyar: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kasra-firouzyar-68861117a/
Janet Hogan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/the5thdoor/
Carl Dybwad: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carl-philip-dybwad-869b72182/