It's like the drunk uncle that cries for too long on your shoulder at thanksgiving and then shits himself in a rage in the driveway. It's not pretty but it's family so you keep your door open and wash off his ass. You just don't let him sleep in your bed or drink at your table. Then you lock yourself in the pantry and cry because he's part of you.

There's a place for everyone in the family,

but why don't we allow meat at the circle, why do people camp at least fifty feet from the streams and springs, why do we pray for peace on the 4th?? Why don't we want hard drugs into a gathering or guns? Is it because rainbow is trying to force their hippie-dippy ways on people, or maybe there's just better systems, better ways to do things.

Rainbow is not forcing anyone to be a vegetarian at main circle, not forcing people to cover up the dogs shit, just asking, so the gathering can be a better place. If the elders before didn't sit for weeks in their wigwams and RV's and argue endlessly for these things to happen, for a better system, for everyone.
Sure everyone can come, please do, but leave the guns and power tools and television at home. Why? Not because we don't eat meat or shoot guns or watch television or whatever, it's for the common good.
Thing is that you can't reason with a drunk person, let alone a mob. That they don't really listen, so any arguement is futile, any suggestion to a drinking person is volatile, they take shit the wrong way, they're tripping on hops.
For it to be a true gathering of the tribes we most welcome all, not put up walls. A-camp isn't a fun and happy go lucky place, it's filled with darkness and excess and so on. I'm not criminalizing them, but they're worse then the cops at gatherings, worse then thugs in cities, just a bunch of hustlers.
So we can say, "Yeah come on down, Party, make a big mess, we'll be over here, far away, praying for peace and circling for fun and eating good food. No you guys get drunk, in a parking lot, you drove all the way out here to do so. While the rest of us are here for Gathering. Feel free to hustle the freshies, to take advantage of the family, better yet, go right up front so you can aggressively spare change and harass people, front row seat. Go head and rage, surrounded by a bunch of raging alcoholics, who don't know a hug from a fist, who smile like lizards, who wouldn't be there unless they could be parasites on a giving site."

No other Rainbow Nation, country has such a drinking PROBLEM. If they just suckle on their bottles of booze, like babies on titties, I'd be stoked, but truth is that they can't handle their liquor, their lives, their family. All around them, magic and light, love and open arms, and still they'd rather drink in a dinghy parking lot. Doesn't make sense and here we are providing a space for them to be sodden and wreckless.
Dude you ever see the lethal force of one fool? The clumsiness of a mob? The sting of broken glass. It's like coming down from a big trip. All in the gathering you feel safe, there's family, but then you leave to get something from your car and there's trouble. Some Guy is getting pushed around, bats and other objects are circling him, with bad intents. Why? You don't care, you think they're healing, but reality is that they have kegs of poison. What took out the Natives? Alcohol, they'll tell you a thing or two about it. So they beat another guy up for nothing, and you just walk away. What if it was me? What if it was a sister? It has been and will be and we let it happen; thanks family.
Anyway maybe I'll just hang out at kiddie village next year, then it'll all be cupcakes and sugar water.

The thing that makes an event good or bad, is really infrastructure. It's the Raps, the guidelines, not put there to keep people out, but to let more come and have a better time.
A-camp is not Rainbow. Rarely have I seen Rainbow there. I've seen family there drinking, but that's not rainbow. Go to most rainbow gatherings and you'll see rainbow is more then about a substance, more then a bunch of fiends greedy fighting for another cup of forgetfulness. I don't know where people got the idea, that A-camp is rainbow. Probably, because few people have to deal with them directly, because they're avoided by most the family, probably because hippies are as acute as they can be.

A place for everyone to heal, not deal, to be real, not steal, to share meals, to feel, to feel, to feel, to freewheel, to freewill, not to feel ill and overkill. Still they're family and I think they need more family and less booze. Two weeks? Is that really going to alienate any Rainbow? Every other show and festival and everything, you can drink, you can forget yourself, you might as well, few or none of the people around you are really family, they just bought a ticket, they just want to be cool. Let nature be holy, sacred, something more then a bunch of rednecks trashing the woods.

I know it's a sensitive issue and I would tread lightly if I could, but dam, this is serious. I have been too serious in the past and I shall be too serious again, but I doubt if I'm being serious enough. What can I do? I see it so clearly. What do the elders see that I don't. What do you see. I have blind sights, but your over there, you can see what I can't. Great.
I've thought about this, this is what i think about. How can I make RAinbow Land better, how can we set foundation for seven generations, how could we be more open and understanding, how can we do it. I think about it, but I didn't always, even after all the shit I've seen go down.

Rainbows got problems, we need to work on them or else they'll get worse, or else thing won't get better. A-camp is a problem. I'm not saying hate Acamp, not at all. I'm saying let's manifest, shift the paradigm. I'm saying they need help and we're not really helping, they need family, not customers and philanthropists, they need hugs and nature, not cars and drama.
Rainbow is the perfect place for most people who need to heal, if not everyone and why not make it a better place, why not see the full circle, recycle the cycle, see where it's going, study life, people, love, one selves. If I was a drunk or a drinker or a stinker, I know that A-camp would just corrupt me further, who make me wolf among jackals. The A-camp mentality is whack.

Think about, give me a real reason, just one, why they need to be there? They don't.

You can't give me a reason, just rebel pomp and flare, just a level without a cause, just because it sounds good, you can't give the family a better gathering, you can't give yourself a fight to fight for, or maybe you can. Maybe you're busy on some other great project of procrastination, maybe you're the middle class that supports gatherings and just like to chant along with anarchist slogans.

A-camp is a thing of the past. In 10-15years no one will remember it. Some might drink, some might puke, but it's on their own, not flanks by an army of extremist (drinking all the time is pretty extreme). That's what I believe. Maybe I'm just a dreamer like Lennon, but he was all talk, he was a punk, he was selfish. So maybe I'm more like a Warrior, who knows there are things, people, animals, families one must stand up for. The rest of you dreamers move aside and learn to grow, to give, to live, to love, to light, to fight, for rights of what's right.

It's not just one person, but who was darwin to judge creationist? Who was jesus to judge? Who Einstein to notice the speed of light, to judge it's essence? Who was Jerry Garcia to sing songs, with bias, with heart, with soul? Who was Malcom X to judge the white people. Who was crazy horse? Who was everyone that had a positive effect on the world, who went out there and said this is wrong and something must be done? Who was Che? They were one person with vision, one person who echoed what was in the heart of the multitude. Who am I? Someone deeply involved with Rainbow, someone who's hitch countless miles alone to feed the family. I am that person who knows better, who believes in others.

Sure I might be a little funky, I might be a little colorful, I might be me. That's rainbow and I think rainbow isn't about judging others, but helping others, teaching others a better ways. I dare say we must judge to do anything honest in this world, we most weigh out the pros and cons, we must be calibrated not by cities and schools, but by nature and knowledge.

If I got one good reason, just one, for A-camp being at Rainbow, then I'd shut the heck up and go back to being a troll and heckler, but you can't.

Who are you not to judge? The News? The media? Part of the herd. I'm confused. Who are you? Are you a Walt Whitman or John Wayne? Are you an actor, do you get paid for agree with the lines you're given.
Who is one person? One person is the start of my next poem, it's bird who's flown the coop, it's a revolution waiting to happen, it's a seed waiting to be planted to be a forest, to be a home to a whole ecosystems, it's a penny that scratched the surface of the lottery ticket to win it all and gives it all back.
Sure most the time one is a lonely number, easily spent, other times you got to reckon, that there are people with vision, that stand on the shoulder of giants, that surf tsunami's. I look around and one can't do much for me either, but when I'm at a gathering, it's on.

How rainbow is it? How hippie-critical? Right. To judge? To perceive, to look into, to delve in depth. Don't get me started on politics, semantic, reality. I'll tell you how Rainbow it is, it's full spectrum, it's tangible, it's a crystal, looking out from all the angles at the light. Books! Read! Get informed! Knowledge is key. What farmer doesn't know how to used a ho? What carpenter doesn't know a hammer well? Well then what kind of man speaks of words he knows not the definitions for? What kind of Man talks, but speaks only because it's popular? No man, but a boy, who has heard of life, but has not tested it, who has answers he has not questioned, who has a dull sword, but used chopsticks to hunt?
I am no one, just someone that wants a better Gathering for all. Who is one person to be silent when your truth makes a difference?

okay, lets get beyond just alcohol. what of other drugs? sure there's no "hard drugs" (i think this is funny considering poppy plants and coca leaves) but others drugs are allowed/celebrated? how many rainbows have taken e or k or ghb or ac2b or whatever synthetic "positive" drugs are around. I was at the Costa Rica world gathering and witnessed a crapload of people on some synthetic drug ac2b or something, were having vision problems, spaced out heads. I believe the issue is less with the alcohol and more with the destructive attitude, which doesn't stop at a-camp. especially prevelanmt amoing first timers and younger kats who are feeling uneasy or unsure of family dynamics.

so yes, many of us are addicted and overmedicating (even overmedicating with water). that's a problem. to point fingers and say it is only a-camp is a misstep. let's use a-camp to learn about the addict in each and every one of us. like the dancer in the circle dancing counterclockwise.

paz
jay

The main question really is what is Rainbow and to work around that. Violence and substance abuse are besides the point. That's everywhere. People are clumsy and narrow minded and funny and sad and so on, we need to work around that also. It's one thing to be an idealist, another to see the actual factors involved and what it would take to change and if change is needed, go full circle.

After much research I realized that rainbow it egalitarian with an anarchistic spunk. That means we accept everyone and have authority issues. It's the easiest thing to figure out, nearly all rainbow publications allude to this fact.

MY POINT BEING: That I didn't want "A" Camp to be a part of Rainbow, because it's holding us back, because it keeps us from being more together and so on. But what I realized (sorry it took me so long and thanks for being patient) was for us to be egalitarian, to have that status, to welcome all people, to except people for who they are, we need "A" camp. If we told people not to drink, not to do something, we'd be fascist in a way, hypocrites, holier then tao. Then of course "A" Camp isn't holding anyone back, we are, we hold ourselves back constantly, like it's a game, the lame blame game, we blame our reflections, our outside connections, the shadows of rainbow, but if we could only truly honor each other, do things because we wanted to, not to just say we did, do them out of love, if we could just accept everyone as a student, still learning, as a spark, still burning, that needs a little love and guidance, then "A" Camp is family, "A" Camp is crucial, "A" camp is the launchpad back to sensitivity, back to our higher selves, back to empathizing that everyone didn't have a good home, nice, caring parents, luxuries such as tenderness, a sympathetic ear, a hug, that all the Trippers Are like "A" Campers overdosing on this sacred medicine, on a smidgen of paper, on a drop, in a brownie, that all Potheads are like Trippers, see the hawks scanning the circle for it, the coyote trading anything for it, just for a nug, all around there are hugs, but one needs that nug, that kid needs shoes, but One'll only trade for a nugg, he offers One a hug, but one think he has bugs and One only want nugs, but the Zuzutarian is like the Pothead, because One's probably stoned, because all One wants is sugar now for energy, snickers and zuzu's, for that sugar rush, for that super happiness, for that flight, scanning every kitchen for a treat, trading anything for a chocolate bar or carbonated soda, but the Trader is like the Zuzutarian also, One's trying to stuff the cranny with materialism, One gets high on stuff, on junk (food), on something One didn't really need. WE DON'T NEED anyONE Of These Addicts, SUCKA. We need family! I want to thank all the kitchens, all the people who've seen this throughout the years. FAMILY. Family looks out for each other. Family accepts and honors one's higher being and forgives. Family is grand. The kitchen got the right drug, they got family working together, they got healthy food, that feeds not only the body, but also the heart and mind. Those other kicks only feed the lower appetites, take a walk on the natural side. It takes a lot to know this, years, lifetimes, and we'll always be there, after OBI-One ran out of weed, drugs, beer, stuff, even after latest girl/boy runs out on Dopey One, till One stops being a runaway, a hit and run, a casualty of One's vices, till Tender One realizes you need family more then anything else, that Girlie One needs a family who's going to except their shortcomings and help Boyish One come closer to a grown-up rather then a child. A child runs around like a chicken with the head cutoff, not ready for responsibility, it runs amok. A grown-up has been there, done all the clunking shit, and has learned from his elders, has slowed down to do more then trip, to just meditate on life and they have come back transformed, ready to be man or woman, to be responsible for their actions and their community. Then when a chicken storms in, weather-beat from the cold, the grown-ups feeds Vagabond One real food, build a fire for Chaotic One and accepts Funky One, then Bhagwan One admires them and see there's more to life then all these trips and highs and drama, more to community then girls chasing boys, and Baggy One wants to be more grown up, more together, more in touch, and Silly One starts to emulate his elders (One's that got their shit together more then money wise), because Spun One also wanted to be a part of something, because Nice One was born to help, to be a part of a tribe, but Know One never ever really gave Stubborn One a chance, until now, fetch wood, bring water, chop veggies, till Bird One's no longer disconnected, till Chill One's are feeding others, till Love One's sprouted wings, till One see's Oneself in Some One else, how they are lost, how they need family and community and it makes One Humble and Humble One now sees the cycle and the beauty of it and all the people that have worked so hard to keep him alive, happy, warm, how Crazy One used to be a fuck up, how Skater One would have never come this far if the family hadn't been there with open arms and he sheds a tear or two, because this Humble One never felt all the love till now, till Humble One realized it seems like no one cares, but Every One does and they plug into the kitchens and bring food and the CALM and the real infrastructure of Real infrastructure of Rainbow, which is LOVE, HOPE, FAITH, which is the most revolutionary place in the world, because no one else can be so open, when we deny something, that's hate, when we accept, that's love.
Everyone is just going through a phase and if we can't accept that, or help them, we need to work on ourselves more; get a job, work harder, give someone a job, work together, there are works to be done, workshops to be held, kitchens to build, family to unite.

I hope you were listening, that you won't forget it, that you are well.

Funny thing, I was tiered of "A" Camp and for years plotted to get rid of them, but I never really examined what Rainbow is and it's LOVE and FAMILY and LIGHT (hence the name, Rainbow Family of Living Light), every color is accepted, it's in the name, in the woods, in the love. So if anyone wants to know why we have "A" Camp or has any problems with them, send them my way, I'll explain best I can.

I had to start at the root and by the time I made it to the flowers I was completely coming at it from a bee level, then by the time I made it to the fruits, I was the tree. Don't make me start another topic.

LOVE

Know thyself

givethanks

be constructive

spare change for wisdom

oh and one other example of a time that a-camp saved a life.at the 2000 oct shawnee regional gathering we had a brother come and live with us at teatime who was very bad off.the guy actually died,his heart literally stopped from "drying up".well thank god for morning flower because some how in his heightened stage of enlightenment due to some "magical tea" moflo was able to squeeze the life and breath back into the brother.well after that day a-camp was kind enough to send us a gallon of beer from the precious keg every morning to be sure that our brother dave didn't die again from dt's.i thank the creator and whatever god/goddess you might believe in for the compassion that a-camp showed by going out of their way to help us keep the brother alive.he camped with us the rest of the gathering and prolly got more healing at that time then ever before.daves not with us anymore,god rest his tortured soul.and goddess bless a-camp may they save lives and hippes for ever more.
clearwater

Yeh I guess alcohol has no class, maybe even people who drink it should feel bad about themselves for that decision they made of their own free will. Yes you may heal by "these" terms, money and only money shall make your sobriety prosper, should you chose to rightfully acknowledge the fact the you are the Babylon you have been railing and warring against. then may you see it's dividend as blessing to ignorance and the perpetuation of " slavery like behavior" however if my chemical romance is not your cup of tea time, look elsewhere for patsy's to your demonic smear campaign!

(salutations reserved)


Dave

Everything we percieve comes from within ourselves. We choose every single experience in our life at some point, whether it be subconcious or conscious. That may be hard to comprehend, however it is truth. When we can stop living in our stories, and be in the present moment, then we are able to see clearly. Until then why even talk, it's a waist of time.

Personally, I generally don’t consume much alcohol when I am in the wilder aspects of nature, it throws off my balance. On the nature of A-Camp consuming intoxicants I believe it is a matter of poor chemistry, everyone’s body has a different metabolism and are like to behave differently when intoxicated, I say it is somewhat akin to drinking bad water, the quality and quantity of the intoxication and the side effects are variables to be considered. As part of our grand experiment, perhaps swapping out that keg of natty ice with a keg of Guinness stout or some other quality beverage correctly racked may lend some light to the lot. Learning to drink proper can be a part of the learning process. Ben Franklin stated in his 13 moral virtues 1. Temperance. Eat not to Dulness. Drink not to Elevation. I suppose he tired of Tenerife Wine and Rum, he later juxtaposed philosophically “beer is proof that god exists” in closing, "fay çe que vouldras"

P.S. Note for C.A.L.M. Activated Charcoal Tablets absorbs toxins that cause flatus

I'm glad you had a positive experience in A-camp getting your ear stitched back on.