The Alternative full version English

The Alternative

Steps Towards a Free World – Ideas for a New Era

Dear humans,

Can you feel something stirring? Can you feel the rustle of the leaves, the rumble beneath your feet, the tremble in your legs, the beating in your chest? Can you feel that something is about to erupt?

Many of us can deeply sense the artificiality of our human systems; an imposed set of rules for living that are contrary to what our inner music is demanding of us. We see our nuclear families as largely dysfunctional, our systems of land-ownership as unnatural, irrational and socially unjust and our agriculture as environmentally damaging and unsustainable. Our social systems are undignified and uncaring, our financial systems corrupting and enslaving and our governments are self-serving, controlling and violent. We see our mentalities as materialistic, egocentric and fearful and the food in our supermarkets as poison. We live in a state of profound inconsciousness.

We are searching for an alternative way of doing things, free from the violence, corruption, fear, oppression, injustice, poverty, consumerism, the abuse of power and the destruction of nature of “the mainstream”. Weare seeking an alternative system of true freedom, dignity and equality and a life in peace with ourselves, in peace with each other and in peace with Mother Earth. We are creating an alternative way for our big family of human beings to organise ourselves, to live in oneness with nature and to fulfil the basic needs of everyone.

Where is the Alternative? The Alternative does not have the money, the power, the resources or the guns of “the mainstream” butthis doesn’t matter. It is not through these means that real change will happen. We are many in numbers. Those who stand to benefit from the Alternative include all seven billion of us, though many of us don’t yet realise it and a few of us, those currently in positions of power, violently oppose it. But even those who see the Alternative with a clear vision might not be able to bring the necessary changes into their own lives. Because we can’t do it in isolation. We aren’t organised. We have to organise ourselves right now; this is how we will create trust. The fear that’s inherent in “the system” also runs through us. One of the most essential transformations a human being can go through is the change from fear of lack to trust in abundance.

There are many equally valid ideas on how to create an alternative out there. Let’s bring them all together.

Slow Rainbow Revolution

The world is going through great changes on many levels and many of these changes are created by humans. They can be sudden and violent or we can work together to make them smoother and more harmonious. Human beings will change by necessity when Mother Earth abruptly says “stop” or we can begin to change voluntarily in a Slow Rainbow Revolution right now.

There are as many opinions about what the rainbow family is as there are people attending our gatherings. Rainbow can really only be experienced. It’s a modernised version of the hippie movement that started in the US forty years ago. It’s “the biggest non-organisation of non-members in the world”. It’s a worldwide, non-hierarchical family of individuals of all colours, cultures, religions, nations, shapes and sizes that come together for at least a moon cycle every year to heal, create, celebrate, connect, teach and learn, dance and love. If you have a bellybutton, you are qualified to participate.

A gathering is the creation of a temporary autonomous zone where no one is in charge and everyone is equally responsible for everything – this is anarchy and social responsibility in practice. It’s about reconnecting with Mother Earth, living in and caring for nature, an appreciation of indigenous knowledge, personal growth through spiritual practice and the expression of life as art. It’s about the freedom of each and the unity of all. It’s about sharing. It is the literal belief that we are all brothers and sisters.

There are regional, national and continental gatherings around the world. There is also the unique world family of nomads that hold world rainbow gatherings in a different country every year. The world rainbow caravan, from whose perspective this article is written, is an open nomadic tribe of world family travelling by any means between the sites of the world rainbow gatherings.

The creation of a complete Alternative for the world is probably beyond what rainbow and the world rainbow caravan is about. But for a growing number of us, organising temporary gatherings and caravans that travel between them is a part of a bigger picture. We want our lives, our gatherings and our caravans to be truly sustainable. We see the unfulfilled potential of human beings and we feel the pain of Mother Earth. We are waking up to our responsibility. We see ourselves within a greater context and we are ready to make use of our lives to benefit all.

“If you see a job, it’s yours to do”. That’s rainbow’s take on communal responsibility. If we extend that principle beyond the realm of rainbow gatherings, we see a pretty big job to be done in the world right now and it’s ours to do if we want it.

We do not need to change our precious rainbow gatherings and neither do we need to turn the world into a big rainbow gathering. It is in no one’s interest to force anyone to hold hands in a circle and chant “om” before a meal. There are many ways. But there are a few fundamental, universal principles that are essential to rainbow but not exclusive to rainbow – such as openness, inclusiveness, personal freedom, tolerance, non-violence, egalitarianism, communalism, non-commercialism, sharing and environmentalism – that are needed in the world right now to guide us all into a new era. Rainbow can be a catalyst for change on a large scale.

The people of the world are ready for change and they seek it within their political systems. But that’s not where change will come from. It is not our imaginary “democracies” that hold the real power.

An unsustainable world

Our outdated political, economical and social systems effect the rape of Mother Earth, the abuse of our natural resources, the destruction of our environment, the separation of humans from nature and humans from humans, our often misguided inter-human relationships, the waste of human energy on activities which only serve to perpetuate “the system” without having any real value, the enslavement of the human race, all in the name of profit. In essence, capitalism is a mathematical equation which doesn’t add up; “the system” is slowly consuming itself. Infinite economic growth on a planet with finite resources is categorically impossible. Even if most human beings are far from a full understanding of these mechanisms, it is beyond the scope of this article to fully explain their complex nature.

We will simply conclude that our current global living solution is grossly unsustainable. This literally means that it won’t last very long, which in turn means that drastic change is inevitable.

Neither is it very useful, perhaps, at this moment to excessively talk about potentially alienating concepts such as spirituality, energy flows, acceptance and surrender, and the evolution of universal consciousness. Of course real change must come from the inside and in time it will. Let’s for now just say that we want a world based on love instead of fear.

We could also talk about direct personal action such as quitting our jobs, stopping using money, cutting up our passports and disregarding the existence of borders, closing our bank accounts, giving our energy for free, stopping producing waste, not voting, not acknowledging authorities, and so on, but this will not happen on a large scale if the trust is not there. These things will happen naturally as a consequence of an organised Alternative, not the other way around.

So what do we do and where do we start?

Let’s get back to basics, back to one of the most fundamental common human denominators that dictates most of human activity.

Food

There is no Alternative if we can’t feed ourselves. One of the most radical things you can do to affect change in the world right now is to grow your own food. There is no need to fight “the system”, just grow your own organic food, become as independent as possible and let “the system” fight itself. Seek freedom from capitalism, petroleum products and industrial agriculture and find other ways to feed and fulfil yourself. With an abundant Alternative supply of food, “the system” will gradually fade, the Alternative will gradually rise, humans will in their own time become ready and gradually move from one to the other as they begin to understand the benefits of doing so.

The Alternative cannot be forced upon anyone. Indeed, we don’t want anyone to join the Alternative unless they are ready to do so with their hearts. A revolution won’t work if the woman in the street perceives it as one system of people in power replaced by another system of people in power with no connection to herself. The Alternative has no leaders; we live self-determined lives within a communal structure. We make independent personal decisions free from rules and external pressure and we make open communal decisions by unanimous consensus with intentions beyond our personal aspirations.

If “Babylon burns” (“Babylon” being a commonly used rainbow term for “the system”), as some of us might sing around campfires, rainbow would go up in smoke as well. For example, virtually all the food the 2011 rainbow gathering in Argentina consumed was purchased with money through capitalist mechanisms from unsustainable, monoculture sources.

So let’s not talk about Babylon. Let’s talk about the Alternative itself. Let’s be positive and talk about what we can create. We have to start from scratch, detach ourselves as much as we can from “the system” but accept it as it is and focus on ourselves instead. Yes, we are using the internet; yes, our caravan is dependent on petrol; yes, we work the streets for money; yes, we have to face issues such as borders and passports. Let’s aim for the highest possible level of idealism but in the process be kind to ourselves and true to the living light inside of us. We go out there with joy in our hearts and acceptance of What Is, not the frustration of What Could Be.

What you resist persists. Don’t fight, create. Everything already is perfect and any step in this process of transformation is as beautiful as any other.

Communities and caravans

In order to grow food, we first need land and then an input of human energy to work the land. We see the solution, after a period of transition, as follows:

• We see a worldwide, inter-dependent network of self-sufficient communities that protect and rehabilitate our natural ecosystems while sustainably producing organic food, renewable energy, building materials and other resources according to Permaculture principles.

• We see these communities freely sharing any surplus of food and resources independent of capitalist mechanisms and without an exchange of money.

• We see these open lands populated by interchanging groups of free and equal individuals in self-organising consensus-based intentional communities that provide food, schooling and healthcare for its inhabitants, visitors and neighbours.

• We see ourselves as freeing these lands from the grip of human control and exploitation and returning them to Mother Earth; the land does not belong to humans, humans belong to the land.

• We see caravans powered by renewable energy sources travelling between and connecting these communities, exchanging food, work, energy, knowledge, art and seeds.

Status

How close are we to such a world right now?

The situation at the moment seems to be more or less as follows:

• National governments control all agriculturally productive lands on our planet. It is virtually impossible right now to inhabit lands outside of their control even if the land is privately owned.
• Many ordinary people on our planet feel trapped inside “the system” but seek success within it as a way out of it. Many are very disillusioned but see no other option, no viable alternative. Rainbow can be a source of inspiration for them.
• People seen as “poor” through capitalist eyes have lived self-sufficiently for thousands of years. They are now losing that ability because of their entry into the capitalist system. Money is replacing nature as the provider of all things and knowledge and naturally sustainable cultures are getting lost in the process. The “poverty” of malnutrition and a lack of education and healthcare will not be rectified through capitalist means but through the strength of communities, the availability of land and the free exchange of goods, energy and knowledge.
• Many communities with vaguely similar aims of self-reliance already exist around the world. Most are privately owned communities with hierarchical structures which might make it complicated for the freedom-loving people of the world to live there. Some communities are open for all but some of these seem to suffer from a lack of focus and direction, becoming havens of pure anarchy and producing very little.
• Tens of thousands of rainbow family, travellers and other kinds of nomads with similar views to those expressed in this article are rootlessly roaming the earth, seeking freedom and not wishing to be tied down to any specific piece of land for too long but having plenty of energy to offer the communities and sweat to water the soils. Some of these nomads join organised caravans of horses, bicycles, sail boats, walking or vehicles, working on art and ecology projects and spreading our message through the world. Most are heavily dependent on “the system” to survive and would greatly benefit from closer ties to self-sufficient communities. Some are actively looking for land to settle on and to create new communities, few have the resources needed to acquire land. This group is potentially one of the greatest untapped sources of renewable energy and catalysts of change in the world.
• A few communities deliberately hide themselves away from the rest of the world, whereas many others feel isolated and actively seek to attract more energy but fail to do so for various reasons.

So the land needs more people and the people need more land. The land is there and the people are there – how do we make them come together for the benefit of all? All we need is a little bit of organisation.

The case for openness

It is time to open up, it is time to let go of our attachments, it is time to work hard, it is time to release our fears and be prepared to share our last piece of bread.

In the current discussion, there are two ways to look at openness. One is the openness of groups of human beings, the other is the openness of pieces of land on our planet. Let’s deal with the former first.

Openness is a fundamental rainbow principle. We are all rainbows, we are all the colours of the rainbow, we are everyone. We are the full range of diversity yet we are one. We are autonomous individuals and we are dedicated community members. We want to live in freedom from rules that we have not chosen ourselves. We cannot accept hierarchies and elitism. We are all of equal worth. We literally see our fellow human beings as our brothers and sisters and we cannot differentiate their value. Our communities are as open as our hearts. We do not solve problems with exclusion. Any solution for the world must include everyone.

However, a commonly heard sentiment in alternative circles is that “open communities don’t work”. They are seen as attracting uncontrollable negative energies that might tear communities apart. Some believe that a hierarchy or some kind of system of control must be in place in order to protect the community. An owner feels that they must be able to have the final say on who is accepted into the community and how the land is used, they fear that openness is a potential recipe for disaster. The result of this way of thinking is that the community may indeed be able to avoid attracting the type of people it fears but it will at the same time struggle to attract the energy it wants to attract.

From the nomad’s point of view, visiting these closed, private communities may fill their stomach for a while but the fruits of their labour will literally go into the pocket of someone else, much like what happens through employment in “the system”. Many nomads are happy to work for a while on projects and lands owned by other people but the way to truly harness the nomadic energy for the benefit of the land and the community is to make it their own, or at least no one else’s. A nomad or rainbow will naturally contribute more when they feel that their work benefits themselves, their family and their worldwide community rather than a landowner or a closed community.

When open communities don’t work it is because the community is not strong enough, not because of the openness. Open communities that do work are potentially much stronger than hierarchical communities. With strong, continuous, shared intentions, visions and consensuses, an open intentional community will benefit from being open and the world will benefit from the community.

The world rainbow caravan is an example of an open community that works, albeit in a nomadic setting. The caravan attracts people of all colours, nations, languages, ideologies and walks of life. When the unity of the community is our ultimate intention we can live together in harmony.

Terra Nullius

Let’s look at the openness of land.

The European idea of the division of land into nation states, further subdivided into governmentally, corporately or privately owned plots of land, has spread around the world. Human beings believe they have a special status in nature and that pieces of land can literally belong to them. When Europeans started their expansion more than five hundred years ago, they saw the foreign lands as “Terra Nullius” or “No Man’s Land” that were open for grabs even when native peoples were living there, partly because of the natives’ lack of belief in the idea of land-ownership and partly because of the Europeans’ belief in their superiority as human beings.

We believe all land should in the end be returned to its rightful owner – Mother Earth. Human beings can live on, care for, responsibly cultivate and protect pieces of land but not claim to own them. We believe the term “no man’s land” is indeed the correct one. No man’s land. We want to return the status of all lands to Terra Nullius.

This does not mean that a private landowner has to hand over their land in order to join the Alternative. Under current conditions, it is perfectly understandable that a landowner or a community want to stay in control of their land in order to ensure their survival and the continuity of their land management projects and visions in general. Landowners and nomads can be very beneficial for one another. Nomads can break the landowners’ sense of isolation and bring seeds, energy and the first spark of a community. Landowners provide safe havens for the nomads. Nomads and caravans support the lands, the lands support the nomads and caravans. We are all one big family. Communities need strong focalisers whether or not you are technically the owner.

A possible path of transition into the Alternative for a landowner or existing community would be to first open up to receive more energy from the outside and to freely share their production surplus, without changing the status of the land. The next step for those in possession of large areas of land would be to donate a part of their land to the Alternative as a parallel project to their own. Finally, they may want to return all their land to Mother Earth perhaps with a special condition guaranteeing their right to occupancy.

Any piece of land has a limit of how many humans it can sustain, as is the case with all species on earth. Every piece of land has a carrying capacity. In nature, the maximum density of animals is set naturally according to the food supply and the social structure and territorialism of the animals. With human beings it really is much the same thing, but this limit can be set by consensus by the community inhabiting the land. This is simply an ecological limit demanded by Mother Earth which applies to all humans equally. There could be a quota set aside for visitors and another for people joining the community for extended periods of time. New arrivals should wait until the total number of humans is below the threshold of sustainability before entering. In practice, this means that the communities might want to operate with waiting lists without preferential treatment for new arrivals. We have to show respect and humility towards existing communities, guardians, cultures and land-management projects even if a piece of land is “free” and a community is “open”. Co-operation is key; an urge to contribute energy and to give at least as much as we take is essential.

In essence, Terra Nullius are open, borderless and ownerless pieces of land where all the creatures of Mother Earth are free to roam within the limits of sustainability.

World rainbow caravan mission

Our purpose is manifold.

We travel to reach the next world rainbow gathering and we create our own mini-gatherings on the way. We spread our love and light throughout the world with our show and a message of unification and of making the world green again. We are a community that unites all the colours of the rainbow and all the people of the world; everyone is welcome and we would be proud to include people of every nation. We make consensuses for world peace in the towns and cities we pass through, a consensus being a unanimous decision taken with the inhabitants in a talking circle – a talking stick must pass all the way around the circle in silence, without objections, for the consensus to be made. We spread and plant seeds and construct buildings. We find and link existing communities and help them grow; they in turn can become safe havens or “rainbow points” where our family will always be welcome.

Moreover, we scout, discover and potentially acquire or free new lands. It is important that our nomadic community always includes people who are prepared to leave the caravan and settle down on a new piece of land to create new, open intentional communities that grow food and other resources to support themselves, neighbours and future caravans and nomads passing through.

The caravan is one way to find and liberate new pieces of Terra Nullius. Pieces of land can be purchased with money, received as donations or simply occupied. There are endless opportunities; in many parts of the world land is plentiful and unoccupied, sometimes extremely cheap or even free or abandoned. Some governments award ownership of land after a few years of occupancy. The possibilities are only limited by our imaginations.

The full contents of this article are, however, far beyond what our caravan solely can take responsibility for. We cannot guarantee the continuity of projects in sedentary communities, for example. We are, after all, a nomadic caravan; we are not, primarily, farmers. This article is a proposal for a way forward for the rainbow family and indeed for the whole world. We are sending out a spark that can trigger widespread discussions to find solutions our family can unite around and take practical steps to realise. We must all be ready to create strong communities and put our sweat into the soil. The caravan will continue to be a caravan within this bigger picture.

For more information on the caravan, go to www.worldrainbowcaravan.wordpress.com.

Legal structure

The rainbow family does not need a legal structure internally for ourselves. We know how we operate, we make our consensuses and solve problems in circles, we follow natural flows of energy and treat our fellow human beings with respect, we choose trust over control. The world of law, business, politics, bureaucracy and policing is a distant reality to us.The idea of Terra Nullius is to us a fundamental law of nature that, in the right circumstances, we are ready to accept without any consideration of how this system will technically operate. It is the natural state.

But if a private landowner wants to free his land from ownership and informs the land registry office that he is no longer the owner of the land, this is insufficient to make the land free. From a legal perspective, the land will be reverted to government control. Terra Nullius, according to the legal framework of “the system”, is government property. If a piece of land is declared to be truly free, what is stopping the soldiers and bulldozers of “the system” to come in and take over? Our rainbow consensuses are not recognised in the outside world where legalities matter more than respect. We could nevertheless occupy the land but there would be a great potential for conflicts with authorities and we don’t want to spend our energy fighting, we prefer creating.

So if a name on a land registration paper is needed to satisfy “the system”, whose name will it be? We could choose a rainbow focaliser (temporary project initiator, sometimes consensed) for this job just like any other, but this would potentially create an imbalance and a hierarchy within the community. In the eyes of the law, one individual would be personally responsible for anything that happens on the land and for the payment of land taxes. This is not ideal.

And who, outside of rainbow gatherings, is capable of understanding that “focalising” does not involve status, power or special rights? Let’s not forget that what is being discussed extends far beyond those tens or perhaps hundreds of thousands of individuals who currently associate themselves with rainbow gatherings. Land is being sought and fought for all around the world. Native peoples everywhere are fighting a losing battle. The legal status of their tiny indigenous reserves is often worthless as soon as the next mining or logging company comes along offering authorities large sums of money. The name on that piece of paper must represent and be beneficial for us all, whether we go to rainbow gatherings or not.

A solution would be to set up some kind of a company, such as an NGO or land trust, which is entitled to hold money and own land all around the world on behalf of the rainbow family. We could protect ourselves from “the system” by also playing their game according to their rules until the day “the system” finally collapses. Our rainbow structures would have to be described in terms that are legally acceptable to “the system”. For example, the members of our family could be the members of the company, a world rainbow caravan talking circle could be the legal representation of a board meeting and the world rainbow gathering could be our annual general meeting.

But the world of business and bureaucracy is the one we are trying to leave behind and we do not want to change the way rainbow operates. We are a non-organisation of non-members. All we want is a name on a piece of paper that simultaneously satisfies “the system’s” need for organisation and our need for non-organisation. That name could be “Terra Nullius” or simply “Mother Earth”, but what is behind this name? How can we make this name legally acceptable to authorities around the world without getting trapped in their game of bureaucracy?

A legally recognised social movement, perhaps like MST in Brazil, could be the solution. Neither a person nor a company, it could be described in legal terms as the rainbow family or the human race in its entirety holding and caring for pieces of land on behalf of Mother Earth. Such a legal entity must not create any kind of hierarchy or concentration of power.

We do not currently have all the answers. To find them we would probably need a team of volunteering expert lawyers working in the background, keeping this reality away from the rainbows working on the ground. This legal team would be completely non-executive and unable to make decisions on their own; by liaising with one or more rainbow focalisers they would follow instructions from rainbow circles to help realise rainbow visions.

Such a legally recognised movement could inspire confidence among the rainbow family to give money to unorthodox “magic hats” (communal money pots), such as the current world rainbow family project to acquire or free land in Guatemala for the next world rainbow gathering in November 2012. The world family vision for Guatemala is to create a sustainable gathering where we at least grow our own food, and we could even leave behind a permanent community if we free, own or occupy the land. This could be our model Terra Nullius project but we need focus, help and energy right now to bring it to fruition.

To summarise – internally in rainbow, Terra Nullius is simply the concept that land cannot belong to human beings but that we are all equally free to settle, create communities on and become the guardians of Terra Nullius lands. To the outside world, Terra Nullius is some kind of an “organised non-organisation” or legally recognised global social movement that is entitled to hold land or describe land as free in legally acceptable terms on behalf of the worldwide rainbow family. One day, when the concept of Terra Nullius is stronger than “the system’s” need for legal definitions, the organised part of Terra Nullius would cease to exist.

Who holds the key to this conundrum? Please step forward now.

The Alternative Map of the World

So how do we put it all together to create the Alternative, a completely new way for human beings to relate to each other and Mother Earth, open for all to join no matter who you are or where you come from? How do we make the Alternative widely known and available to all?

The internet is an easy and effective solution.

A team of web designers will create an elaborate website on an independent platform with a map of the world and profile pages for people, lands, communities and caravans. This will be our Alternative Facebook, Couchsurfing and Wwoofing. The world map in its pure form shows terrain and physical features but it does away with imaginary political divisions. On top of this basic layer differently-coloured dots will pop up in various locations around the world to create a completely new Alternative Map of the World, like a parallel universe to “the system’s” map until the latter seizes to exist.

The coloured dots show the locations of the various categories of lands and people associated with the Alternative. These include:

• Terra Nullius. Land freed by the Terra Nullius social movement, autonomous entity free from private ownership and even free from the influence of national governments. May or may not have a community associated with it. The community is answerable only to itself.
• Terra Nullius under national government. Land freed by the Terra Nullius social movement but still subordinated national governments. May or may not have a community associated with it.
• Free land under national government. Not freed by the Terra Nullius social movement but occupied legally within the framework of government law, such as abandoned or inaccessible lands and perhaps rare cases of national parks or indigenous reserves. Sometimes empty, unused pieces of land that can be squatted and later become Terra Nullius.
• Privately owned rainbow community. Communities which do have owners but are run according to rainbow principles, which essentially means openness, inclusiveness, personal freedom, tolerance, non-commercialism, unanimous communal decision-making and high-consciousness land-care. Your community does not have to change its character and become all “rainbow” as long as these fundamental principles are followed.
• Privately owned community with hierarchy. Communities that may not be open and where owners have the final say in decisions. Other rainbow principles may or may not be followed. They nevertheless support the Alternative and new residents and visitors may be welcome.
• Farm / country house. One or more houses with surrounding lands, perhaps farmed, occupied by a person or family but not yet with a community structure. A non-commercial place to visit, camp and perhaps work for your food, a bit like wwoofing (Willing Workers on Organic Farms).
• Safe house. Houses or flats in towns or cities with no or very limited cultivatable lands. May or may not be Terra Nullius, may or may not have a community structure or could be empty. Might operate a bit like couchsurfing. Could also include squats which later could become part of Terra Nullius when the local government awards ownership.
• Business. Companies that may or may not be run commercially within “the system” but which nevertheless have an intention of non-commercially supporting the Alternative as much as possible with whatever service provide or product they produce.
• Person. Individuals, sedentary or nomadic, who may still be working partially within “the system” but who have an intention of non-commercially supporting the Alternative in whatever way they can. People in cities, especially, may offer each other non-commercial services within the Alternative in parallel with their activities within “the system”.
• Caravan. Nomads travelling together by any means in organised, intentional communities that may be open or invitation-only. Caravans bring energy, knowledge, art, manpower and potentially new long-term residents to the sedentary communities, as well as food and goods freely passed on by other communities. The caravans can be travelling seed banks and get involved in any kind of ecology, art, community building, education, conflict resolution or healthcare project.
• Event. Rainbow gatherings, free festivals, other non-commercial events. Some gatherings prefer not to be publicised on the internet but those who choose to can be put on the map.
• Other. Seed banks, tool sheds, workshops, libraries, groups, projects, transportation, other resources… There is nothing that can’t be put on the map and shared.

Through the website all these categories can interact to find, attract, exchange, give or take land, communities, food, products, services, people, places to sleep or live, various projects, knowledge, events and all kinds of care. Everyone will become less reliant on “the system”, trust will grow and little by little we will create a viable Alternative.

Freedom from governmental control

A piece of land within the borders of a nation-state will still be under the control of the state’s government even if it is freed by the Terra Nullius social movement; a state’s laws are applicable to all lands within its borders no matter who owns them. How do we free ourselves from this last level of external control? Perhaps the most appropriate answer is not to get involved in the political processes of “the system” but simply not recognise them and live our lives as if “the system” doesn’t exist and trust that sooner or later it will naturally fade away.

However, if we do choose to seek freedom from politics by engaging with the political system, the next step would be to create a Terra Nullius anarchist political party which would represent all people and lands connected with the Alternative everywhere. As more and more people join the Alternative, more and more people would vote for the Terra Nullius party in nation states everywhere. When eventually in power of an entire nation-state, the Terra Nullius party would only have one item on its agenda – to make all present and future Terra Nullius lands free and autonomous from the nation-state in question, essentially redrawing the map of the country. The Terra Nullius party would then abdicate from power and let the remaining parts of “the system” hold another election in what is left of the original nation-state. The nation-state will continue to operate independently of the Alternative for as long as it wants – we don’t want to force anyone into a new reality they don’t yet understand or see the benefit of supporting.

A rainbow world

Here we arrive in a place where the Alternative stops being the alternative and instead becomes the accepted way for human beings to co-exist on a planet without borders. We share what we have, we do what we love, we are free from hierarchies, we live in harmony with nature.

We live in a world where we give what we can and take what we need. We are free from the fear of lack, we live in abundance.

We live autonomous lives, the natural laws of Mother Earth being our only limitation. We organise ourselves in whatever way we choose, some kind of communal existence being an obvious choice for the most of us.

Communities live according to their own intentions, visions and consensuses. The need for some centralisation may arise in order to coordinate our communities into larger-scale action. Communities, meeting every day, could consense for a focaliser to join a common circle or council for all the communities in a certain bioregion, perhaps meeting every month. Each bioregion could consense to send focalisers to a continent circle, perhaps happening every six months. And finally, each continent could consense for a group of focalisers to join a global circle happening once per year. Each of these circles make consensuses that are passed back down the system for each and every community to approve or disapprove, therefore taking every individual’s opinion into account on every matter. Or perhaps each bioregion, continent and the global circle would be open for everyone to attend, making them large, slow and ineffective, but also completely non-hierarchical, dignified and empowering.

In the end, a consensus made by a circle is an un-policed guideline that has a sufficient effect if most people voluntarily choose to follow it.

The time is now

It is time to mobilise. When you are ready, join the Alternative; we are waiting for you with open arms. Everyone is invited.

We are sending out an urgent call to expert lawyers to help realise the vision of the global Terra Nullius social movement. We also need a team of web designers to start working on giving us the web presence that will help unite us all.

We request the support of communities, businesses and individuals. It is time to take a step into the unknown. Have no fear – nothing will be demanded of you, you will simply give what you feel happy to give and you will continue to organise your life in whatever way you choose. To what degree you leave “the system” and enter the Alternative is your own choice, it is a gradual process for all of us.

The Alternative only seeks to remove authority, not create another one.

Please help spread this message, on the internet and by word of mouth. Let’s start discussions and unite around solutions as a family.

Make yourself known to the world, join hands with your fellow human beings, take care of Mother Earth, become part of the Love Revolution…

Place yourself, your land, your house or your community on the temporary Alternative Map of the World here: http://www.thealternativenow.wordpress.com, or contact thealternativenow@gmail.com.

Peace to all our hearts

Some rainbows