A Manifesto We are the World Changers. We are in our 20's and 30's. Some of us are teenagers, others are older.A beautiful people has been called so many things. Many of them pejorative in nature, most named by those who aren't among us. Have you been classified yet? Generation X; Generation Y; Generation Z; The Net Generation; Reagan Babies; Millennials; iGeneration; the Second Baby Boom; Indigo Children; Crystal Children; the D.A.R.E Generation; the Google Generation; MySpace Generation; Generation Next; the Grand Theft Auto Generation; Pepsi Generation; Nintendo Generation; the Cynical Generation; Generation 9/11; The Next Greatest Generation; The MTV Generation; Columbine Kids; This world is changing fast. Faster than it ever has, and we are the ones who have to figure out how to live in this world. Such a generation was made to do great things. Every day is a turning point, a hinge on the story of humanity. We come in many colours, we come in many shapes, sizes. We come from all over the world. We are the outcasts. Punks, skaters, Street Kids, Dead Heads, Meat Heads, any kind of Heads. Each has her own political views; Each has their own music. The "Main Stream" is no longer mainstream. We are not categorized by our sexual orientation. Gay, Straight, Lesbian, Bi........ Curious? None of us has The Answer that will save the world. Maybe we have a few good ideas. Put together, a few good ideas are becoming a New World. What is your religion, your faith, your lack of faith? Do you know? Do you care? One thing is evident. We all agree on one thing. We must save us from ourselves. Fuck the End of the World. Not Yet. Not on our watch. Just the End of the World as we know it. The current Economic Model is outdated. You can't get a job and rely on the company to take care of you when you are old. Job security? The only security we have is knowing how to market our skills (and our schools don't teach that). You can't get ahead working for someone else. The only way to get ahead is by working for yourself. Our education system is based on a world that no longer exists. Our political system knows only how to perpetuate it's self. Still, all this is changing, because we can see it, and we are making our own path. We are the Now Generation. We are not of our past or our future. We must take a stand Now, instead of lying happily dormant while our liberties are taken from us. Let's stop inaction and take part in a revolution. Jesus said that the Kingdom is at Hand. What does that mean? Does it mean it's close? Is it coming soon? Where is your hand? It's right in front of you. I take my hand with me wherever I go. Revolution is with me wherever I go. If we don't claim the Kingdom now... when will we? This is the day to create your own reality! Now is the time to create Our own reality. There is no one left who can tell us who we are, or who we should be, but ourselves. Life is a Gift, given to each individual to do with what they may. There is no person, or power, or authority on Earth that can take a gift given to US and mold it to their purposes. Today, I won't be labeled by the Media. I won't be labeled by a Corporation. I won't be labeled by the Government. I wont be labeled by the Legal System. I won't be labeled by the generation that came before me. I call this the Rainbow Generation. What do you call it? We are Everyman. Everywoman. Everyone. We are characterized by our diversity. WE shall inherit the Earth. This is my manifesto as it is your manifesto. This is OUR manifesto. An Open Source declaration belonging to any person(s), organization, non-organization, entity or non-entity that claims it as their own. Each has something to add, something to say. If you don't declare what kind of world you want to live in, and make it real, someone else will do it for you. No single person wrote this. No one group can claim it. If you claim it, it is yours, and is manifest in your life. If you don't claim it, re-make it as your own, or write your own. But do not be silent. A Manifesto.
Just try and stay out of the way, some of us are busy changing the world. I should have known better than to expect any real response from "rainbow" kids
man·i·fes·to /–noun, plural -toes. a public declaration of intentions, opinions, objectives, or motives, as one issued by a government, sovereign, or organization. To paraphrase your manifesto, then, your intention is to change the paradigm of society through the rainbow generation coming together..... my questions are: 1. how? 2. who are you and what joinable group do you represent? (how do I join, in other words) 3. where does your power to change come from? Money, land, laws? 4. why did you react so strongly to a comment from agrohippy and insult the board where you posted this manifesto that ended with "but do not be silent"? I am all for change and try to Be The Change myself; however, if your intention is to change everyone in this new generation you cannot drop out and the critical dilemma for all who want change is how to be within the system (basically a citizen of the USA or other country) while changing the system. Communes don't force change globally and neither do government officials. They are both trapped in the system in their own way. I will suggest, since you posted your manifesto here after all, that you try to be the change, which must include not taking comments too personally or insulting a blanket of people after receiving an unenthusiastic response. If you want a revolution agrohippy is going to be on one side of your intention or not, "rainbow" people are going to be on one side or not, and by insulting "us" you lost your chance to affect change. I once wrote a very passionate letter to my local congressman (I write all the time, but have written a passionate letter like to your manifesto just once) and got only a form letter in response. Did I quit on Congress? That organization makes the laws the cops enforce so no way will I let them run with their ideas sans my input. They get it whether they like it or not. I guess so do you, if you chose to read this whole reply. I am loving you to come out here and post that, and hope you don't let me get you down.
ok. let me pick this apart quote by quote.... "We are in our 20's and 30's." Way to exclude MOST of the population. Blatant ageism too. "Punks, skaters, Street Kids, Dead Heads, Meat Heads, any kind of Heads." See? Who's putting the stereotypes and labels on people? You DO IT TO YOURSELF. "Today, I won't be labeled by the Media. I won't be labeled by a Corporation. I won't be labeled by the Government. I wont be labeled by the Legal System. I won't be labeled by the generation that came before me. I call this the Rainbow Generation. What do you call it? " Who needs to label and stereotype you since you've done a grand job of it already? By the way, how original. Did you come up with the Rainbow name all by yourself? These self-important, oooh look at me and how great I am postings need to be exposed for what they are.
I've seen so much negativity in the rainbow forum, considering that "The Rainbow Family of Living Light, sometimes known as the "Rainbow Tribe", is an international loose affiliation of individuals who have a common goal of trying to achieve peace and love on Earth." (wikipedia) So when the only reaction I got was percieved by myself to be a snide remark, I was further discouraged and reacted. Obviously my reaction could only serve to perpetuate this problem, and I apologise. We (The Keepers) do appreciate constructive criticism, however, and will give consideration to your comments. Anyhow... I do want to thank you agrohippy62 for replying again with a better critique of our work
Well besides offering a bunch of well meaning rhetoric, what do you propose? How are you going to make change? How do you want people to help you? How do you join? It's all well and good to espouse an idea but without concrete action that's all it will ever be, so let's have it.
I am sorry. I am perhaps overly snide and biting in my criticisms. I appreciate the sentiments behind your posting. But, let me tell you where I'm coming from. I am very much interested in doing what I can to promote meaningful change in our society. If it takes a revolution to do it, so be it. If I can do it at the ballot box working within an imperfect system, I'll do that as well. I do not fit into your age brackets. Do you really mean to exclude 19 year olds and 40 year olds? There are people older and certainly wiser than I, and there are young people who are wise well beyond their years. Don's dismiss what they have to offer. I'm also trying to point out the ultimately harmful effect of labels and stereotypes. At their most basic level, we use them to define who is friend and who is outsider and potentially enemy (i.e. rampant tribalism, us vs. them). People are extremely apt to label and stereotype themselves without realizing it.
Ok... this is what I'm working on right now. Like minded people (like minded being a pretty wide spectrum i'd say) need a place to congregate. I'm thinking of something like a myspace for revolutionaries. at the moment a few of us have begun the discussion in a few places, one of them being a myspace group I started groups.myspace.com/reevolutionaries Two I'd like to get the Manifesto into as many hands as possible. Many of those hands would be the hands of editors. As it stands it's a rough draft, having been through only a few hands. Regardless, in one form or another, I see this going across the globe. inspiring people to action. I want to see it on the news. So yeah, got an e-mail list? Pass it along. Change it first if you'd like. *I* Certainly don't own it. Three, I've been trying to brainstorm for a name for this generation. I came up with the "Rainbow Generation" based on the fact of all the diversity in this generation... however I recognised the difficulty considering there is already a people calling themselves Rainbow. But it was the best I could come up with at the time. Really, right now I only have a few ideas. The more people join the discussion, the more practical ideas we have, right? As far as how to join, well, you just did. Any of you are very welcome to send me an e-mail to keepersofthemanifesto@gmail.com where I will be keeping people informed with any updates possible. AgroHippy... the purpose of my age classification was to talk about a generation, as such, a generation is mostly of a certain age group, and there are always those younger and older who fit into that. So.... I'm not sure I'd like to remove completely the categorizations, but maybe there is a more inclusive wording... I'm going to be looking at all of these comments for the next revision, do you have a suggestion? I'm on the road and moving to my next location today, I should still have regular access to the internet, but it may be a few days before you hear back from me -peace
