Re: Raving on...

[geoffw@nexsys.net (Geoff White)]

> Brian says:
> 
> >Hmm... the problem is I don't think a majority of the people at raves are
> >focused enough to concentrate on something as technical as that (I KNOW it
> >isn't technical to you and me, but the average raver doesn't even
> >know what the word encryption means).  HOWEVER, raves ARE the ideal place
> >to hand out info about what's going on, something the raver can cling onto
> >to read and understand when he's not high on {vibes,music,drug,etc.}.  Give
> >pointers to where to get more info or where to obtain PGP, and perhaps 
> >most importantly, WHY THEY NEED IT.  Within a certain amount of time, but
> >most likely sooner than any of us anticipate, there will be more people with
> >email access than without, so "taking the message to the streets" is becoming
> >less and less of a fanciful idea....


Speaking as someone who has been a pretty hardcore raver for almost 2 years now
my view on this is as follows:

	1) Most ravers don't want to be preached to, they do want to be
	informed though, the best approach is an "access to tools" approach
	of invite and education.  I think that as of right now, not many
	ravers even have e-mail, although there is a very organized group
	that does and is strongly networked already.  Some of them know
	about PGP.  We have already discussed whether our e-mail lists
	should be encryped and the idea was rejected by the group at large.
	Some of us do send encrypted messages back and forth sort of
	as a novelty, sort of for practice.  I think the best thing to do for
	this organized group is to educate them and at least get them to
	generate keys for themselves IF THEY WANT TO.  Education is important
	they have to realize  that the key is like a bank card password , you
	don't tell everbody what it is.  Many people are in altered states
	at raves, this is NOT the set or setting to have them generating
	keys with pass phrases that they have to remember.

	2) I am on a drive to "wire-up" the rave community, in the
	next issue of CyberTribe-5, I have an article on PGP and why
	ravers should get hooked up to e-mail. The e-mail advantage is
	clear for many ravers... the ones who are wired always seem to
	know where the best parties are.  Why we need encryption is not
	as clear.  The scene is about openess, we are well aware that LE
	folks are most likely on our lists, we don't post the truely
	underground events anymore to public list.  We set up phone trees
	and private e-mail trees for events like the Full Moon Rave.
	This has been sufficient to keep the authorities from having 
	preknowledge of our events.  I personally hope that most organizers
	learn about e-mail and at least generate keys in case there comes
	a time that the Scene really needs secure communication between
	people (I think this time is not too far off).

	3) I have seen some activity by the libertarian party around
	the rave scene in SF.  I've thought this to be curious but as
	I think about it, it makes sense, many ravers would most likely
	embrace large portions (but not all) of the libertarian ideals.
	Most ravers are not overtly political in the classic sense of the word.
	Although there is sort of a "Politics of Ecstasy" :) so to speak,
	we find that a lot of the problems that the left is still struggling
	with like, equality for women and people of color (within their
	own ranks!) are non-issues for us.  We don't need affirmative action
	policies because as a social group, we are intensely homogenous, 
	when you party with people across race,gender,sexual orientation,
	lines, it become easy to work with them, you naturally build a network
	of trust that is multi-cultural.  As far as capitalism is concerned
	many young people in the Scene have developed their own companies
	from the selling of T-Shirts to "other things" that people buy at raves.
	They have no great love for "taxation" or interfearence by the "State"
	The scene is forging its own economic web and they are finding that
	economic co-operation is more productive then traditional competition,
	e-mail and encryption can help here. Raving IS a social political
	statement, sort of like the people in (pre) nazi germany who danced
	to swing,jazz,blues music which the nazis said was a "degenerate"
	type of music from the negro.  You can go to a rave, dance to socialy
	unacceptable music, confront Authority with a statement but not land
	in prison (at least not in this country).  Ultimately raving is not
	just another disco, it IS NOT a pick-up scene as most people going
	for that reason have discovered, it is not even a drug scene although
	there is drug use at raves (there are also some folks who have sex).
	The Scene IS about a persons right to CONSCIOUSNESS, knowledge and
	the right to think what ever thoughts s/he might want to think using
	whatever tools are at their disposal.  The main goal of the raves that
	I go to are to reach that ecstatic state that some refer to as
	"The Vibe".  This usually happens in the wee hours of the morning
	after 2 am when all the alcohol drinkers go home.  This state is
	accessable via drugs but you need the beat as well, advanced ravers
	don't need the drugs any more to go into trance, this type
	of trance dancing is little understood in the west but is common
	throughout africa, india and parts of the middle east.

	4) OK so the bottom line is I think that a SIMPLE flier informing
	these young people what is at stake as far as their present and
	future freedom of thought/speech/privacy sould be handed out.
	Low on rethoric, high on information.  Have a lap-top available
	for the advanced ones who know/comprehend what PGP is and want to
	be able to use it.  Don't blindly give out floopies, most will never
	be used.

	This message has been long but I wanted to INFORM the group who might
	have had preconceived ideas about the scene.  I am willing to
	answer any questions that anybody might have, off-line.

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