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Our Lives Ahead

category north america / mexico | education | other libertarian press author Thursday February 23, 2006 04:58author by organizer - Our Lives Ahead Organizing Groupauthor email fightplight at riseup dot net Report this post to the editors

confronting and dismantling capitalism from anti-authoritarian, anti-statist perspectives.

From this basis, the Our Lives Ahead organizing group seeks to gather a community of anti-capitalists and anti-authoritarians, or anyone curious regarding such approaches, to discuss the theories and practices of confronting and dismantling capitalism. The Our Lives Ahead conference will be strongly focused on invigorating an anti-capitalist approach to our theories, activism, and lifestyles while showing working examples of the many ways we can reclaim our lives from the strongholds

Our Lives Ahead
Because capitalism is worthless

a focused conference exploring the theories and practices of confronting and dismantling capitalism from anti-authoritarian, anti-statist perspectives.

Introduction

Capitalism isn’t the only system that restricts, demeans and sacrifices our personal desires while striving for a liberatory life, but here and now, it is the most identifiable, pervasive, consuming, and destructive. It creates and perpetuates unfulfilling and exploitative relationships through hierarchical frameworks. It swallows the time and space needed to construct our lives on our own terms.
To put it succinctly, it is a monster that strives for totality.

If we desire to eliminate the exploitation and disparity of hierarchy, to save all life from an increasingly desolate and mon0-cultured environment, to reclaim what is necessary for the realization of our desires, then we must act to confront and ultimately dismantle the institutions, relationships, and controls constructed and perpetuated by the capitalist system.

From this basis, the Our Lives Ahead organizing group seeks to gather a community of anti-capitalists and anti-authoritarians, or anyone curious regarding such approaches, to discuss the theories and practices of confronting and dismantling capitalism. The Our Lives Ahead conference will be strongly focused on invigorating an anti-capitalist approach to our theories, activism, and lifestyles while showing working examples of the many ways we can reclaim our lives from the strongholds of a capitalist framework.

So yea yea, the same ‘ol anti-capitalist jargon we’ve all been repeating for some time now. What makes this conference any different from the rest and why should I make yet another trip across the country?

Trust us, we too are tired of spending all our resources traveling to conferences, sitting in the same old workshops year after year, feeling our time is better spent socializing then developing our perspectives, and frankly, being bored. So instead of offering up the default conference structure of the past, we are making an attempt to invigorate our culture with something more exciting, more engaged, more effective at understanding what it’s going to take to create our own lives right now and on into the future.

We’ve thought a lot about what turned us off at radical gatherings, and most importantly, what inspired us. Taking these dynamics into consideration we’ve set up a framework for the Our Lives Ahead conference that puts our values into practice by instantly engaging everyone in the conference creation and leaving behind as many of the soul-sucking elements of capitalism we could think of.
We hope you are inspired by our efforts and want to come to Indy for Our Lives Ahead. See you in May!

The Our Lives Ahead organizing group
www.ourlivesahead.org
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Alternative Framework

Radical conference structures often fall into a trap of duality, of desiring alternatives while residing within a system of capitalist controls. The OLA organizing group understands this dilemma and sympathizes with the compromises some have to make, however, in order to leave behind the ineffective theorizing of our ideals (instead of putting them into practice at every possibly opportunity) we are making an attempt to organize this conference around alternatives of structure and exchange. The ways in which we plan to practice such alternatives are listed below.

Entrance "Fee"

Monetary exchange at an anti-capitalist conference? No Thanks! As an alternative to the dominant economic structure, we have decided to rely on a system of bartering and/or gift giving in exchange for the facilitation of the Our Lives Ahead conference. So leave those symbolic pieces of green paper at home! Not only will a barter/gift-giving system act as a very real and working alternative to capitalism, it will also help us complete some logistical aspects of the conference. Those needs are as follows:

• Food

In order to offer meals on Saturday and Sunday we are asking that participants bring food items that can be prepared for everyone to enjoy. We will make sure to have some basics on hand in case of inadequate supplies, but we do ask for foods that can be prepared in bulk, such as canned foods (vegetables, meat substitutes, etc.) and dry goods (pasta, beans, breads, etc.). If you'd like to chow down on some dumpster juice soaked desserts and pastries we ask that you do that on your own. Also, so as to minimize an institution of exploitation, pain, and suffering for other sentient beings, we ask that you only contribute vegan foods.

Some specific food items we are requesting follow:

Pizza ingredients
Spaghetti
Spaghetti sauce
Vegan cheese
Chili beans
Tomatoes
Onions
Cornmeal
Kale
Potatoes
Bread
Gravy
Flour
Margarine

• Entertainment

We will be leaving a block of time open for performers of all kinds to share their passion and talent, whether you are a poet, performance artist, singer/songwriter, juggler, firewalker, full on band, or whatever! If you have any special needs or if your performance requires extensive resources (amplification, instruments, and audience, etc.) please let us know in advance.

• Art

If your passion is a visual art (painting, printmaking, writing, etc.) that can be exchanged as a gift, we would be honored to accept it. All art that is gifted to us will be compiled and shown at the conference as well as included in a future art show in Indianapolis that will serve as a benefit for our local radical projects.

• Agitprop

Do you create incendiary literature or art in mass quantities? Bring us any quantity of propaganda as an exchange item and we will compile all contributions to offer to conference goers as something of a memento and practical souvenir of the weekend.

These initial suggestions for barter/gift exchange or service are only primary needs for the Our Lives Ahead conference. If you have any other suggestions to offer us as items/services of exchange, we will be more than receptive to them.

Further, as a show of solidarity among non-local anti-capitalist projects, we are asking that you contact us with any specific items you might need for a project in your area. We will be posting these requests on our website, gathering all donations at the conference, and dispersing the items to the respective groups. As an example, a local non-profit is asking for door locks to use for domestic violence survivors who need added security from returning abusers.

"Experts" vs. Figures of Experience

One of Capitalism's subtle (or not so subtle, actually) forms of establishing a hierarchy in relationships is the creation of "experts" and "specialists." We do recognize an inherent level of difference regarding experience in a system of divided labor, but we reject the idea that such a difference makes "experts" out of people. The notion of an "expert" tends to foster information exchange that leaves out the receiver as a creator of theory/practice and invalidates her or his own ideas. To address that notion of intellectual separatism, while still calling on the valued contribution of experienced individuals, we will be seeking out those who may be high-profile thinkers/activists, but including them in the process of theory/practice just the same as those of us who hold a less visible profile. We value the experience of the high-profile thinkers/activists and will be asking them to generate and facilitate workshops rather than fill their usual role as lecturers, so don't be surprised if the workshop you are interested in is being facilitated by an author (or someone posing as your favorite author), thinker, writer, or activist you hold in high regard.

Space Politics

Colleges and institutions of academia are logical choices in deciding where to facilitate large conferences due to their sheer size and the ability to secure them for free through a student or faculty member. Despite these benefits, a critique still stands that the institutions of academia foster a sense of removed learning and experience. Colleges are more spaces for theory than they are for practice, which certainly is not the manner in which we hope to shape our lives. The mentioned critique was a matter of discussion within the Our Lives Ahead organizing group, but in the end, due to a lack of sufficient space alternatives, we chose to rely on a free academic institution. We hope the framework and active examples of our ideals serve to overshadow any feelings of passivity and removed experience during the conference. Just please note that this was a topic of debate during the organizing process.

Tabling

We encourage any interested group to bring information with which to table. Although we are instituting alternatives to capitalism within our own organizing and structuring, we will not be placing any guidelines upon groups interested in tabling, though we certainly encourage tablers to engage in their own ideas for alternative exchange.

Workshops

It is not uncommon for a conference participant's experience to be marred by a sense of disconnectedness and outright boredom from uninspiring workshops. In hopes of minimizing such sentiments we are making attempts to encourage workshop facilitators to structure their presentations in a handful of ways, which are suggested below. In our selection process we will be giving favor to those proposals that are not structured as lectures, but rather as dialogue and focused workshops pertaining directly to anti-capitalism. We are offering these suggestions of workshop structure not to foster a sense of elitism but rather just the opposite: to minimize the notion of "expert" and "specialist" and a removed learning experience where workshop participants are merely receivers of theory/information instead of actively engaged in theory/practice creation. We want to strongly reiterate, these are not offered as guidelines to follow, but rather suggestions and ideas for you to work from or discard.

TIPS FOR ENGAGING OTHERS IN A WORKSHOP ENVIRONMENT:

• In a typical group, 46% of individual learners are visual learners, 35% are kinesthetic learners (physical movements), 19% are auditory learners. If you are presenting information, try to accommodate for these different modalities.

• Have participants act as significant individuals or fictitious people with first hand experience with your topic (a survivor, a sweat-shop worker, etc.) via scripts or prompts, then engage responses.

• Start a story, anecdote, historical truth, or fact of any kind and have the group finish the idea. They can either write their predicted ending of this story, anecdote, etc. or discuss it verbally. Examine how close to reality these predictions are by then presenting the truth.

• Pass out puzzle pieces or index cards with words or phrases relevant to your topic and invite people to share them and discus which words or phrases can be connected. (i.e. "I have the 'income tax' card.", "I have the 'inequity in school systems' card and they are connected because...", "Well, I have the 'disparity in income card' and that is connected to both of those because...")

• Explain a concept or significant event. Invite the participants to write a journal entry from the perspective of a person, animal, or entity affected by that concept. Allow participants to share and discus. Or have some journal entries made, read them aloud, and have a group discuss how they are connected to a concept.

• Create a simulation and have people act out various individuals, ideas, etc., as a way of exploring those concepts in a more head-on manner.

• Have participants write letters to an idea (gender issues, capitalism, corporate domination, etc.) and invite them to offer personal information. Have some share with the group. See what happens.

• Offer definitive statements ("Smashing windows is violence.") and have the participants stand on opposite sides of the room as a visual representation of how they feel about the statement (agree, disagree, unsure) then ask for justifications.

• Begin with a KWL chart. What do participants KNOW about the topic? WANT to know about it? Then end with a quick review of what they have LEARNED. This can easily and quickly help guide the discussion and make it worthwhile for all involved. It is useful on chart paper, so that all can view it.

• Have prepared discussion questions and allow people to divide into smaller groups to discuss, answer questions, present information. The more active participants are, they more they are absorbing of the dialog.

• Have people write questions on cards that they would like to see answered by the workshop. Try to answer as many as possible during the workshop, then discuss others at the end.

• Have the group categorize ideas, items, words, and generate discussion based on these divisions, connections, etc. made by the group.

• Draw a map on a large piece of paper or on the board onto which participants can continually add to (i.e. a map of the different aspects of ______ affected by capitalism).

As workshops are the bulk of conferences (this one being no different) we hope you are inspired to send us a proposal for a workshop on anti-capitalist theory or practice. Please send us a proposal that details the topic you will be addressing, its' title, how you will be facilitating the workshop (structure, activities, etc.), any resources you might need, and any other information you feel is pertinent for our selection process. We will do our best to include all proposals that fit our basic criteria of addressing the ways to confront and dismantle capitalism.

Childcare

This conference will bring us together to explore anti-capitalist perspectives and we strongly believe that children should also have a place to foster their own ideas. There will be childcare provided and any specific needs you or your child/children might have is something we need to hear. Please feel free to tell us of any food or physical requirements for your child/children so we can accommodate them ahead of time. If housing is a concern for you, let us know and we will do our best to assign you to a supportive environment that is both safe and fun. If you would like to volunteer to help with providing childcare or activities (talent show, kid anti-capitalist protest, whatever!) during the conference, please let us know. Childcare contact is supplied at the end of this booklet.

Housing

Our housing group will be doing its best to secure sleeping arrangements for all conference participants, but unfortunately Indianapolis is not always a haven of excess when it comes to human resources. We will be seeking out supportive groups and individuals with housing space as well as looking for areas sufficient for camping (campgrounds, backyards, etc.), so keep the camping option open if at all possible.

Registration

Please visit WWW.OURLIVESAHEAD.ORG to register. If you can’t register online, please mail us the registration information at:

Our Lives Ahead
1112 W. 36th St.
Indianapolis, IN
46208

Or email us at registration@ourlivesahead.org or
info@ourlivesahead.org

Related Link: http://www.ourlivesahead.org
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