Every year, over 15,000 hippies flock to a national forest and set up an entire civilization for 2 weeks. This is known as the “Rainbow Gathering.” They walk into the middle of a national forest, dozens of miles away from civilization, and just start building.
Kitchens, water supplies, shit houses, tents—they build everything out of the logs and trees in the forest, nothing is wasted. Even an economy emerges based off of the bartering system.
I had known about this event for quite some time, and had always wanted to go. Not because I aspired to be a wandering vagabond, but because I thought it would be interesting to see how civilizations are built, how the bureaucracy evolves, and how human nature plays a role in all of this.
I wanted to get a taste of what it was like for the English settlers to found America. I wanted to see how the women acted, what would happen to gender roles, what the legal system, medical system, and leadership system would look like.
The only problem was that you can only gain access to the gathering if you know somebody, who knows somebody, who knows somebody, all the way back to the “Grand Elders” who determine its location (it changes every year). They do this to keep the “weirdos” or “sociopaths” out, lest they take advantage of anyone.
Fortunately for me, I found someone who had this connection. I ran into this cute little hippie girl that I hadn’t seen in years—we talked for a while, and I found out that she was going to Rainbow Gathering. I told her that I’d always wanted to go, and she invited me along.
Over the course of a week, I helped to build a miniature civilization. I cooperated with the medics, the local park rangers, I helped build the kitchens, and I had my fair share of bonfire parties as well. I saw what the women acted like when they were free from the confines of society, and I saw both the generosity and selfishness in human nature.
Here’s three lessons that I learned from the Gathering:
1. Most Human Beings Are Lazy… And This Is FinePart 1
Part 2
3 comments:
I stopped reading after...
QUOTE ===>"When there was a new shipment in of alcohol or of good quality meat, who do you think the first were to taste it? We were, because we put in the work. When the FOOD TRUCKS came in every day, ..."<===
because the stated purpose of this venture allegedly was:
QUOTE===>"I wanted to get a taste of what it was like for the English settlers to found America."<===
You have a good point there. I noticed that too.
HOWEVER, the article makes some very important points. I would recommend reading the whole thing.
If this article is accurate then the Rainbow gatherings have changed considerably since I attended the one in the Francis Marion National Forest, maybe 20 years ago.
At that time pretty much anybody could go if you knew about it in advance. I heard about it since I live very close nearby.
Probably they are more secretive and selective now. There were no alcohol and food trucks; you brought your own or you mooched. And most people mooched or traded weed for food. The moochers wore out their welcome quick, more responsible attendees referred to them as "Drainbows".
There was a lot of, mostly partial, nudity and the you could easily stumble across a rut in progress. Most folks were just stoned and grooving and I saw no real violence and heard of no sex assaults. A few guys went off the end but were quickly surrounded by neighbors and talked down, primarily with threats of expulsion. There were also rumored to be a few trains pulled by chicks who were likely out of their minds but these were deemed consensual.
The major difference though was a total lack of planning either in advance or on the fly. There were no kitchens just the occasional marsh mellow and hot dog fires. The Smokey's came round mostly to warn people to be safe and police the fires.
The nudity didn't last long since the woods are filled with ticks and chiggers and poison ivy and little thought had been given to first aid. The Smokey's helped out with that at no fee.
The worst aspect was no one really bothered with sanitation. Guys just pissed where they stood and cat holes were dug and only half buried so close you had to watch your step carefully after two days. The Smokey's put up with that because they didn't want to incite the Rainbows and knew they would be gone in a few days.
Most folks arrived in old rusty vans and pick-ups and spread dirty mattresses around to sit on. A lot of folding chairs. A few, mostly ragged, tents. Luckily no rain all week. Folks started leaving three days in because they couldn't hack the insects and arachnids and a couple people freaked out over snakes but no one, to my knowledge, was bit.
Only a hardy few, maybe 10%, stuck it out until the official closing. I was surprised that a number of the guys were former special forces, Green Berets mostly, plus a couple Marines who had done tours in 'Nam. (They were honest, I can spot the fakes in sixty seconds.) They were the best prepared and equipped.
Most of the music was Dead and Willie Nelson and blared from car radios and boom boxes. A number of the vehicles wouldn't crank upon leaving but we mostly got them jumped and out of there. A few were just abandoned, their owners leaving in other vehicles.
Well, that's what I did on MY Summer vacation so many years ago.
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