ɹɐdsɐɔ @caspar@ni.hil.ist

anti-work union of bums, slackers, layabouts, idlers, and do-nothings

the clocks are the enemy

Sustainability, as used frequently in an axiomatic sense, is utterly useless unless tied to duration. All life is a process of consumption and expenditure. Life itself is the appropriation of an excess of these inputs, and death their release. The only reasonable outcome for any organism is self destruction.

Outlaws have always been adventurers,

but adventurers have not always necessarily

been outlaws. Until about the turn of the

century, or even later, it wes easy for

people to just take off with nothing more

than what they could carry on their backs.

They could camp almost anywhere, bathe in

any river, stream or pond, and wander

where they chose, without the fear of

being busted. In cities, they could play

music, juggle, dance or otherwise perform

on the streets in exchanae for food or

money. In the wilds, they could gather,

hunt and fish for food. They could

choose their own risks, decide for themselves

what chances they would take...

and not be outlawed for it.

But now, real adventure is largely

against the law. This is no surprise,

Industrial civilization is based on

control, and control ia easiest in a

monoculture. Diversity tends to under-

mine order and, as much as possible, is

suppressed. So today, even on public

lands, we are told where to hike, where

to camp, where to bathe, where to climb,

We see signs everywhere prohibiting us

from taking risks, from going where we

choose, from living as we choose. We

are ordered to get permits to go into

the wilderness, to let the government

know what we are doing. In most cities,

a permit is required for street perfor-

mance (and, in many, it is outlawed),

which means getting approval from a

goverrment committee (or in Boston, the

police department). And if you wish to

wander in foreign lands, passports and

visas are required. “The-government - -

will tell us that this is all for our

own good, but in reality, it is an

attempt to limit diversity, the possibility

of adventure and the extent to which

people can experience wildness and wonder.

The authorities are striving to restrict

wandering to its commodity form...the

vacation. They want the wilderness to

be a spectacle to be observed but never

participated in. They want the streets

to be places associated with work and

Pay...not with the amazement and wonder

that street performers often bring.

They want music, dancing and playing to

be entertainment, and uninhibited street

performance could go beyond that and

become a festival of free play. Without

the constraints of these restrictive

laws, too many people might get a taste

of wild freedom and of the marvelous,

and might start rebelling against work-

and-pay society. No society can actually

abolish adventure. At worst, society

can outlaw adventure, and I doubt that

Many people reading this are afraid to

be outlaws. As society strives to enforce

conformity, we will face it with an

attitude of rebellious defiance, confron-

ting it with our refusal to be less than,

all we desire to be. Like all rebels, we

have wild imaginations and are quite

Capable of finding ways around the rules.

No law is stronger than its ability to

be enforced. By keeping a low profile,

We can camp where we choose, wander where,

we choose, bathe where we choose...as

the “Alternative Living" articles in LWOD

have shown. In cities, if we want to

Play, dance or sing in the streets, we

can do so stopping or claiming we're

only doing it for our own pleasure if

the police try to harass us. If enough

people gather to hear or to join our

fun, the cops may not be able to get

throuch, If the permits are photo-

copiable, it may be worthwhile to get

one, photocopy it and pass it along to

anyone who might be interested, undermining

the purpose of the permit.

Where street performance is completely

illegal...who's to stop you from playing

for your own pleasure in a park? And

if the festive spirit spreads, so much

the better.

Some will ask..."but why not just

Stick to the wilderness in our adventure;

isn’t living wild what we're interested

in? Cities are part of the reality

created by civilization. Millions of

people live in cities and ignoring them

won't make them go away, If a spirit of

wonder and wild adventure is impossible

in cities, then the creation of a world

free of domestication is a pipedream.

For what is going to tear down the cities,

if not the wild energy of rebellious

city dwellers tired of the drab. homogenized,

sterile existence the city

offere them, and inspired by a vision of

how full and passionate life could be?

And would not wandering festivals of

wonder and rebellion, freely sharing

music, dancing and play be a way of

inspiring such a vision. So, wild

adventurers, let's wander where we

choose, spreading wonder and rebelion

in defiance of a society that strives

to outlaw adventure.

-A Nameless Gypsy Outlaw