From: umt@?nexsys.net (Universal Movement Trinity)
Subject: CyberTribe Rising (Beltane Communique)
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Sisters and Brothers,
Greetings and a merry Beltane to all of you out there in the ComeUniverse. We at UMT
wlll be burning the Beltane fires bright tonight and thinking about all of you and our
planet as we celebrate. Enclosed you wlll find the lead article for CybeI'Tribe-5 a new
zine published by UMT here in the San Francisco Bay Area. Hope you like it!
UMT-editor
CYBERTRIBE RISING
Consider the present situation. The Industrialized World wakes up to flnd itself in a
quandary. Perhaps the technological confrontation between the two ideologies of Communism
and Capitalism, known as "Cold War", was merely a device for global control that
was expedient and advantageous for the regimes which held the rest of the world at nuclear
ransom. We are told that the "good guys" have won, and that the world is now
safe from the threat of the "evll empire". We flnd ourselves left with only one
Superpower, which has taken upon itself the job of enforcer for a "New World
Order". But what is the nature of the victory that this New World Order has brought
us? The ozone layer is still depleted, and continues to become thinner and thinner. People
are still starving in the world, while food is rotting in warehouses. A deadly disease is
ravaging the continent of Africa and threatens the very fabric of the industrial
populations, and the Last Superpower, our Superpower, refuses to spend even a fraction of
the amount it spends on nuclear weaponry, on finding a cure.
We Ravers, as a new breed of individuals, have a unique chance to make a difference in
the world we live in. Most of you, for better or worse, who are reading this, reside in
the United States or some other industrialized nation. You probably came across this at a
rave or house party. Some of you have had profound experiences of togetherness and and a
sense of community while attending events such as this. What we need to do as a group is
to expand this feeling out into our lives and into the global community. As a group, we
are incredibly diverse. We are multi-racial, multi-ethnic and multi-talented. We are
artists and engineers, dancers and bankers, doctors and lawyers, scientists and mystics.
In many respects, we are the "result" of the goals of the 60's. We have learned
to interrelate, communicate, and party with each other across lines of race, gender, class
and sexual preference. We all have come together under one "House" to share a
few moments in Eternity before we go back to our jobs in the "real world"
Consider what the "real world" would be like if part of our jobs were to spread
that sense of Unity and Togetherness that we experience within the Rave
"Family", to others that we come in contact with. We who live in the
industrialized nations have access to incredible technologies, these technologies, like
all forms of power, can be used to harm or to heal. The choice is left up to you and me to
decide, right now, how our current and emerging energies, wealth and technologies will be
used.
Over the last 40 years, the Dominator culture has developed a paradigm, often referred
to in military circles as C3I, or Command, Control Communication and Intelligence. The
doctrine of C3I has grown up from the early work of Norbert Wiener who coined the term
cybernetics [from the greek kyberne-te-s; to pilot or steerl to refer to the
"comparative study of the automatic control system formed by the nervous system and
brain and by mechanical-electrical communication systems". Early cybernetics research
was used in WW II to develop swivel and turret systems for anti-aircraft gun platforms. It
laid the foundation for the advent of the digital computer. Subsequently, C3I was
developed as a way to manage and control everything from the outcome of battles to the
deployment of disaster forces, to the missions of the space shuttle.
We have a chance to transform and mutate this technology of control and domination,
into a technology of sharing and cooperation. What is needed is a new paradigm based upon
the cybernetic model, but with the additional ideas from Deep Ecology, Distributed
Systems' Theory and the "New Physics". For lack of a better term, I refer to
this as C5I2 Community, Consensus, Cooperation, Communication, Cybernetics, Intelligence
and Intuition.
The old C3I is a vertical control structure. Information passes from a select few at
the top, down to the masses at the bottom. The new C5I2 is a horizontal control structure.
Information passes from small groups to other small groups through what some call the Web,
an interconnected communications network made up of mail, word-of-mouth, phone-trees,
VCRs, FAX machines, audio cassettes, free software and computer networks. Control is not
centralized in one person, group or place. Each person is individualy responsible for
their piece of the whole. If for some reason, they are unable to be responsible, their
immediate group wlll assist them. Groups assist and interact with other groups and
communities to form a Web of control and responsibility that is much more powerful then
~ust having individual "leaders".
When we come together for a ritual such as a Full Moon Rave on a remote beach, we are
creating what author Hakim Bey calls a Temporary Autonomous Zone (TAZ). A rave creates a
TAZ of relatively short duration, only a few hours, but during that time, we are
functioning at the level of Community. In the area that has been appropriated, a separate
code of ethics and behavior can be enacted. The Authorities are troubled when it becomes
apparent that sections of society don't want or need their policing activities. It is not
part of their model of society to have a gatherlng of several hundred people from diverse
backgrounds and classes without the eruption of violence and exploitation. The Authorities
are frightened because they are not needed; which means they no longer are in control.
Think about the ramiflcations of this. The strength of a TAZ formed by rave activity is
not measured in how many people possess weapons or how well they can out smart or out
flank the police, but in how well the group can function as a community, reach consensus
during a crisis, and cooperate to insure the safety of each and every member of the group.
When we are raving, it is important to remember that if we don't want to have the
authorities at our events, then we, EACH AND EVERY ONE OF US, HAVE TO BE THE AUTHORITIES.
This does not mean that we should have "raver police forces", that's the old,
Dominator way of thinking. What needs to happen is that we have to be just a little bit
more AWARE of what goes on around us, and learn to take care of people in our immediate
"family" as well as looking out for others outside of our immediate circle of
friends. If we want to have parties in remote or underground locations, we need to be able
to handle minor emergencies like administering first-aid, CPR and being able to "talk
down" someone. This is what building Community is all about.
Consensus and Cooperation go hand in hand with Community. Consensus means collective
opinion or general agreement, it doesn't mean that you have to have the same beliefs as
your group. What it means is that you are wllling to support the general direction that
the Community is going in or, if you feel strongly about something, that you take
responsibility for getting your point across. With Communities that work by consensus, the
whole group cannot move forward unless EVERYONE agrees or at least agrees to allow
movement, (i.e. steps out of the way). This is not the same as attempting to change an
agreed upon decision once it has been decided, but it can include forming a contingency
plan if you feel that the decision is "doomed to failure". The former is
sabotage, the latter is supportive. The majority opinion of the group also has a duty not
to "bull-dose" their opinion over the minority. Remember, one person who firmly
holds their ground should be enough to stop what ever the majority decision might be. That
is the essence of consensus. Cooperation insures that individuals or sub-groups don't
abuse their powers of veto or opinion, this is not an easy thing to achieve in practice
and is the major place that consensual governments break down.
Communication and Cybernetics constitute the areas of opportunity and challenge for
our group. The creative and dynamic use of these technologies will make the difference
between a "flash in the pan" fad, or a serious contribution to global culture
that we could make as the CyberTribe . It is not necessary for each and everyone of us to
be a Hacker or "Computer Geek" but we, as a group, should all strive to become
"computer literate". Just as you don't need to be an auto mechanic to drive a
car, you don't need to be a programmer to be skillful at the use of computers. As the
realm of computers and telecommunications continues to merge, computer literacy will
become as important as standard literacy is today.
The CyberTribe exist today. All over the world, thousands of ravers communicate daily
via e-mail over an international computer network called the latest techno trax, to
planning and organizing raves, to discussing the Scene, politics, and the ultimate meaning
of life. E-mail has turned out to be an invaluable tool for keeping in touch with folks in
our "family" as well as the worldwide "Family". It also is a great aid
at building consensus and cooperation. Virtual sites, such as the VRAVE telnet port,
function 24 hours a day and provide a meeting place where ravers from all over the world
can meet, share ideas and socialize. When Personal Communicators (pagers that can send and
receive data) come on-line in the near future, the CyberTribe wlll be able to communicate
with each other at the speed of light. At no other time in history has a movement had the
facilities of high speed communication at their disposal; this is signiflcant, but
technology alone is not enough to make a difference. Each and every one of us must strive
to become more aware, and more loving. Not because our parents or some other authority
want it, but because it is necessary if we, our movement, and our House (planet) are going
to survive in the comming years.
Intelligence and Intuition are the glue that binds these diverse areas into a
functioning, organic whole. Intelligence as we use it here, is the accumulation of
knowledge. On a mundane level, it is knowing the laws, behaviour, policies and procedures
that the Authorities will utilize in their dealings with us; for example the techniques
the Milwaukee Police used to bust 950 people at a rave last year and the legal strategies
the ravers used to combat this type of harassment by the police. (400 people pleaded not
guilty and the charges were dropped, the Milwaukee raver community is now flling a class
action suit against the City for civil rights violations). On a higher level, it is
learning about the nature of the environment around you, which includes everything from
paying attention to and caring for your body (It's your piece on the monopoly board of
life) to learning to care for the Planetary environment. We are at the vanguard of western
culture, both socially and technologically, and as we gather and use Intelligence
information we must temper it's use with Intuition.
Intuition can be summed up most simply by the phrase "Do the Right Thing".
If we look deep into our Hearts, we can always flnd that place where we know what the next
step is. It may not be the thing that our parents or our teachers or our leaders may want
or tell us to do but it is the thing that wlll always feel "right". Sometimes it
is hard to tune into this place and find where our Intuition speaks to us. Sometimes you
have to just be still, but it is always there. When people as a whole are acting from
combined Intelligence and Intuition, laws become unnecessary because it becomes obvious
what does and doesn't work.
One way to look at all of this is to view C5I2 as the technology behind Temporary
Autonomous Zones, and to see the CyberTribe as a step towards the realization of Global
TAZ networks. The economic and social strategies for this type of network are already
being practiced on a basic level. What we need more of is, "Family values" but
not the family that the dominator culture speaks of, but the Global Family. This type of
awareness can start with your own individual "rave" family and spread out from
there. There are simple things that each of us can do that increase the economic strength
of the CyberTribe, like buying from other people in the "Family" as much as
possible, bartering for goods and services with other Family members and offering
discounts. These activities help to circulate our available monies within the CyberTribe
and gives the Tribe better overall buylng power when purchases have to be made
"outside". It also makes it more difficult for opportunists to exploit the
trends and creativity that we have as a group. As we grow older and the Web becomes
stronger and more extensive, economic prosperity wlll extend with it.
It's up to us to pick up the pieces of a post Communist/Capitalist, Us/Them
"Dominator Culture" world and transform it into a "Partnership
Culture" world of "Global Unity with respect for Cultural Diversity." It
can be done, but it wlll take work, most likely all of our lifetimes at the least, but
when all is said and done, we will leave to our children, an intact planet which, wlll be
back on the road to health and prosperity, rather than a sick, dying, world, flitting from
crisis to crisis, awaiting the apocalypse. The choice is ours now, as we gather together
in our dance rituals to build "the feelings of togetherness, instill courage and
break down emotional and mental barriers".
Remember in the months and years to come as this tapestry that we call the Scene
unfolds...
"THEY MIGHT STOP THE PARTY, BUT THEY CAN'T STOP THE FUTURE"
Beltane 1993
(c) copyout, 1993. May be freely pirated and quoted - the publishers and authors,
however, would like to be informed at: umt@?nexsys.net
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