When You Visit CulturalRevolutionaries.org...

...You find this:

This is an open experiment.
A putting in words of what is already in the air.
The more this declaration is being read, thought or spoken out, the more its energy will manifest in our world and in our society.
If what is written here resonates with you, make it your statement.
Find ways to read it, share it and put it into action.


DECLARATION OF CULTURAL REVOLUTIONARIES 2009

Cultural revolutionaries in 2009…

_live, act, work with and not against nature
_know that life is too complex to understand it intellectually
_build and support local, self-governed economies
_value and safe-guard diversity of all kind
_value interdependence, since they know that nothing is separate
_regard themselves as equal to all life forms
_protect and support life
_love and support children unconditionally
_work on themselves towards greater awareness
_know about ecological principles and integrate them into their lives
_see music and dance as an integral part of their expression and communication
_live on an animate earth and regard it as sacred
_know how to grow their own food
_appreciate their sensory awareness
_celebrate life
_cooperate
_make the shift from thinking ‘either, or’ to thinking ‘as well, as’
_share their knowledge
_understand and integrate process as a way of being
_are not identified with their body, thoughts or emotions
_see the mind as a tool
_realize that there is no right or wrong
_are not identified with any social tag, their past or their future
_are aware that the very essence of who they are is life itself
_take responsibility for their emotions
_are aware of and value their relationships to their living and seemingly non-living surroundings
_value and integrate the wisdom of women
_value and integrate the wisdom of indigenous cultures
_value generalist knowledge
_are aware of change as one of the core principles of evolution
_work towards diversification and decentralization
_engage in and create bonds to the place where they live
_turn from dependent consumers to responsible producers
_are looking for ways so that their interests and talents may unfold
_have the courage to resist and disobey laws that render self-rule, self-provisioning, and self-sustenance illegal
_are informed about the current money system and identify it as a contemporary form of enslavement
_identify and boycott biological, cultural, social and philosophical monocultures
_boycott monopolies of any kind
_question everyone who promotes one solution
_value environmental and human ethics over profit maximization
_boycott corporations and banks operating for profit maximization
_reclaim land and forests as common good
_reclaim water as common good
_reclaim biodiversity and knowledge as common good
_are aware that they participate in the process of co-creation at all times
_allow life to unfold through them

----------------------

(I edited a few typos.)

On a Likert Scales test of my opinion of the viability of each and every one of these for all times and circumstances, there is plenty of variation, i.e. "Sometimes" to "Always." The main reason for any of the "Sometimes" responses has to do with my acute sense of counterculture tendencies towards the exclusion of regular folks. Especially since I have witnessed and admired how many 'regular' folks have an incredibly robust way of living up to several (even many) of these principles, without the presence of any class irony or inflated idealism (as there is with most of 'us' middle-class white anarchists).

Nevertheless, some of the ideas this manifesto expresses may be rather lost on people whose priorities in life skew towards survival within their native contexts. Cultural creativity, for people locked in cultures of poverty and struggle, may have dramatically different meanings from what can be summarized in a few slogans.

There are a few that just seem weird to me. For example, cultural revolutionaries "are not identified with their bodies, thoughts, or emotions?" And they "regard themselves as equal to all life forms?" The authors seem to be drawn to that scary spiritualist territory that I try to avoid (especially in terms of my political convictions), as well as being willing to negate material reality. Then they turn around and mention the value of sensory experience and of being able to grow food. And what about the urban cultural revolutionary? Does she need to own a jackhammer with which to destroy the streets and start gardens to feed the armies of poor people who will of course be willing to dedicate their time to her project? Yeah, right.

I am not cynical, just skeptical.

Nevertheless, much of this manifesto seems very useful. Maybe I'll go on a postering campaign with an edited version that contains the ones I have no trouble buying wholesale, i.e., many of the items that relate to local economies, interdependence, and decentralization of authority. There are a few that don't fit those categories that I instinctually lean towards agreement with, but they all have easily fathomable exceptions. Most things do.

I think this Chinese propaganda poster (via theeastisred.com) rather captures the psycho-social object of my skepticism.

Thoughts?