Hey everybody, hope you're all doing well--I wasn't sure where an appropriate place to post this would be. I assumed Open Discussion would be ok but of course feel free to move/delete my post if it belongs better someplace else.

So I’m not really sure where to begin with this, so I’m going to just jump right into it and do the best I can. I would like to ask for the help of anyone and everyone on the nexus who is willing and able. This is a desperate cry out to any others here who are tired of watching the world around them carry itself into destitution and ruin. I want to make a disclaimer ahead of time that I am NOT trying to promote conspiracy theories of any kind, nor am I trying to make extremist claims about the end of the world; I am simply reaching out to those who have the insight to see the current planetary situation for what it is, and who acknowledge that as individuals we can do something to stop it. I do not pretend to know the solutions to, or even the roots of, all of the problems that face us today; but I do know that there are enough people who are dissatisfied enough to do something, and that something must be done about it. Period.

Without rambling too much, and with as little introduction as possible, I’d like to present an idea to the nexus. I have no idea how this will be received, but I hope that empathy, compassion, and sensibility will drive your judgment.


So here goes.



I do not believe that it takes someone of notable or superior intellect to recognize that as a planetary society we are dangerously close to the brink of catastrophe. I don’t think it takes an empathetic personality or overwhelming sense of compassion to acknowledge that not only is the world system degrading into ruin, but that because of this system most living things, including our fellow human beings, have received the short end of the stick. Most people on planet Earth are living in conditions of suffering; whether it be physical or psychological, most of it is suffering which surpasses anything that the majority of us here could ever know. Once again, I don’t think it takes someone all that smart to see these things--in fact, I believe that the majority of people you ask will say that they too see them and are themselves disillusioned, but they believe that there’s nothing they can or should do about it.

This continuous cycle of extortion, plundering, self-gratification, and justification has gone on for far too long and there are serious repercussions. It has to stop.

I think we need to quit skirting around the real issues and confront them head on. Doing this requires that we don't put blame on governments, institutions, or other people; but that we take direct responsibility for the choices we make every day. I believe that we need to move past the blame game and take a good long look in the mirror.


I cannot speak for all of you; but I can confidently say that as Nexians we come from immense privilege. As predominantly Westerners living in industrialized nations, we are the most expansive, wealthy, and powerful people in the history of planet Earth. You do not need to be of the supposed ‘1%’ for this to apply to you. Even as someone of middle class, lower middle class, or a struggling kid straight out of college; you have more available to you right now than any other generation of humans has ever had, and you have more available to you right now than most people alive on this planet today. This is true of most individuals in industrialized nations.

As such, there is no reason whatsoever that we cannot do better. Throughout history people have been capable of organization on incredible scales; often-times our ability to organize and carry our collective will is scary, and in my opinion the modern age reflects some of these dangers--but people are also capable of organizing in the most challenging and unlikely conditions. People have frequently been able to rally together and defend themselves and what they cherish, even despite conditions that seemingly make coordination and organization impossible. Thinking back just on our modern history, it is incredible to think of how efficiently people were able to organize and create movements with nothing but their bodies, voices, and their hope. They did not have the internet; no Facebook, no Twitter, no Nexus, no planetary network for the (relatively) free exchange of information. The fact that you are on the internet reading this right now gives you an enormous advantage over even the most successful organizers of our time. We are quite literally plugged in to the rest of the world. Think of Ghandi or MLK, or any other obvious figure for mass social/political change--they were able to change the world for the better without this tool. (Granted much of what they fought for is still being fought for today, but that’s a whole other discussion).



So to cut to the point, I’m sick and tired of watching the world fall apart. I’m sick of talking to people about it who claim they want to help, but who turn into Nazi’s the moment you ask them to give something up, or who are convinced that there is nothing they can do because the system has grown too big and things are much too complicated now to ever be solved. I am abhorred by the constant denial of our role in the planetary situation, the denial of our immense amount of privilege, and the subconscious assumption that we are entitled to everything that we have and that the world just is the way it is. I’ve decided that I’m going to take advantage of my privilege and the resources I have, and put them to good use. I don’t have much money, I don’t have an influential job, and I don’t have very much worldly experience which qualifies me for this sort of thing; but I am still an individual with an extraordinary amount of power simply because I choose not to play the game that so many others have fallen into blindly. I’m posting this as a personal cry for help to all of those who wish to be proactive and stand for something greater than themselves, even if it might be inconvenient to their ideal lifestyle. No more excuses, no more justification.



What I would like to do is form a multidisciplinary group with the help of anyone here who is willing. Like I said, I know I need to do something but I don’t know where to start. I thought the Nexus might be an appropriate place to start simply because of the abundance of open and like-minded thinkers here; that and the fact that we all share an interest in a common experience which could lend itself as a unifying point in said “group”. The psychedelic experience more often than not appears to evoke experiences which have a kind of ‘universal theme’, so to speak, that can be life-changing and eye opening. I was thinking that we could take what we have learned from our collective voyages and create, essentially, a new paradigm on which to base the rest of the group on. 



So here’s what I’m thinking. As far as I know, there isn’t any organization or group which lends itself to a single goal that unifies all of the major issues facing us today and that demands total reform. This is understandable, as there’s a LOT of issues that face us and to have one group try to encompass all of them would be unrealistic. However, I do think it’s plausible to break up issues into major “fields of knowledge”.

For example, a group would need a central goal, idea, or paradigm. In our case, this is something we would discuss and it would be subject to reform. I think our ‘paradigm’ could be based loosely on the importance of the insights gained from psychedelic usage. As a disclaimer, I am not suggesting that our central goal should be the legalization or distribution of psychedelics in the hopes of some global ‘awakening’. I am suggesting, however, that we could use what we have learned from psychedelics in order to loosely define what it means for an individual to live in balance with the world both psychologically and physically, and to stress the value as to why this is so important. After establishing our paradigm, we could set some realistic goals. Perhaps we could break into sectors; depending on expertise, some people focus on the education of individuals; others focus on petitions, protest, etc…; others focus on community projects, lifestyle choices, etc...In this way, instead of trying to spread ourselves out way too far; we could set realistic goals and affect our local communities. I think having people from as many fields of study as possible would be ideal, in this way we could cover the environment, medicine, hunger, economics, war, we could even look into the psychology of a dysfunctional society.

I can envision small but free study/conversation groups which discuss the social/political climate of the modern age, sustainable gardening, drug law reform, incarceration reform, gender studies, the role of spirituality and science, the dangers of rampant materialism and dissociation from nature; I can see small scale environmental petitions; I can see tiny sit ins and protests making local news, small localized communes, facebook groups calling for support, fundraisers, group organizing at festivals, the list goes on….


I don’t know what the scale of this would be, I guess that depends on how many people are interested. But what I think would be awesome to see is a unified group of people doing a wide variety of positive work throughout many different areas, but under one name with one goal. I believe that if we want to see real change we need solidarity; one movement that demands total reform. Reform in the way we work out problems with other nations, reform in food production and distribution, reform in transportation, reform in our understanding of nature, reform in religion, reform even in the way in which we think of ourselves and our interaction with the exterior world. We need to redefine what it means to be a human on planet Earth in the 21st century.

I think that until we establish a new paradigm, everything we do will be in vain--it’d be like trying to fix a house with broken tools, or tools that are designed for something else entirely. How can we hope to try to fix the world from within the system that created so much harm in the first place? I believe that’s why there is no leader in global reform right now--there are too many corporately sponsored lobbyists and groups calling the shots and speaking for the people. As the people, we need to take responsibility upon ourselves and lead the way if we wish to see real change; even if we believe we carry little influence, we need to start somewhere. As rational, logical, thinking human beings, how could we do anything else?



I want to add that I don’t have the vain idea that here at the nexus we could create world peace--but I do not deal in absolutes either. There are still many things we can do which are productive and beneficial, and a hell of a lot better than what we’ve got in place now; and at this point almost anything is better. And why not aim high? Sure, we probably won’t ever achieve a completely peaceful society where everyone is happy; but unless we keep it as our goal, we will never even come close to reaching that mark.



So what do you all think? Is this something you would want to help me with? I genuinely believe we can do something great--we have such a fantastic and warm community here with so much knowledge and varying fields of expertise…regardless of your personal beliefs I am asking you sitting there reading this to consider lending yourself to a cause. I obviously do not have the specifics worked out, just a vision. If this is something that people express interest in, we can work out all of the details--I have no lack of faith in our ability to reason and come to common ground. I understand the privacy issue, so if this actually works out I would suggest hosting another forum (similar to Share the Seeds) in which members here could organize events, discussions, etc...without fearing association with the nexus. If this is going to work we are going to need real human interaction. I also think we could incorporate the work of the Coalition for Entheogenic Liberty into this project, so that our concern for the issue of entheogens and their use could have some context within the much larger issue of industrialized civilization. I know some people here on the Nexus have been looking at sites of land to start a sort of Nexus commune--I think we could work with this...if we’re going to be going around telling people how to live, I think it’d be a great idea to have at least one (if not a few) small communes to demonstrate.



Anyways I’d love to hear what you all think--I think we’re in a crucial point in history; and we here on the nexus have quite a unique perspective on it. I feel that there are enough of you here who are both fearful and excited at the prospects of the future, like I am, and would like to do something. We live in an exciting time, and there’s nothing to stop us from living out the lives that we would like to see--why hold yourself back? I am a real person reaching out to as many other real people on as personal a level as I can without actually meeting any of you, and in all seriousness I’m saying here, right now...why don’t we just do it? What do we have to lose? Let’s go for it and see what happens! I believe that our generation can either build a new world or watch what we have fall into ruin, and the choice is ours alone. So what do you guys say? Let’s start something crazy! Let’s go wild and see if we can’t do something righteous!

Again, I don’t have the answers. All I have right now is an idea in my head, and that idea is: Would any of you here on the nexus like to join me in forming a multidisciplinary group which aims to educate the public about the major concerns/issues facing our world today and how we got here, while also aiming to put pressure on those in power so that their decisions may be for the greater good of a planetary society and not just for a limited few of us who are born into privilege?

I don’t know how far we will go or if we will succeed at all, but I really do think it’s worth a shot. I mean hey, less than 50 years ago a bunch of kids with no cell phones or internet got together and came pretty damned close to changing the world; and where they fell short we may succeed. What did they have then that we don’t have today? What reason is there that we couldn’t do something great?

Don’t undermine yourself; you have value, and I’m begging you to do something with it.




Broadly speaking, I agree, and I am willing to help with this. It's a bold idea, but nothing ventured, nothing gained.

I believe education is key. A frightening number of western citizens aren't aware of many important issues. Making sure the public is informed should be a priority, in my opinion, because it will make it much easier to break the destructive cycles we are currently undergoing. I don't think drug policy or spiritual themes should be the focus though.
As for a commune, it's a nice idea but we have to be realistic. I'll leave that for others to comment on though, I'm still a newbie.

I think it's important to always be motivated by compassion and not be too preachy or pushy. People can be resistant to new thinking if it's presented in the wrong way. Changes in lifestyle can be quite easily to implement, but it can appear difficult to people used to certain habits. As consumers, our choices affect all sorts companies and organisations because they depend on us to exist.
There is a quote 'The marketplace is a democracy, where every penny buys the right to a vote', that helps illustrate what I'm getting at. Your 'vote' can seem very small and insignificant but ultimately it does matter. And informing those around you matters.

"If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him. … We need not wait to see what others do." - Mahatma Ghandi

I'm with you.

Thank you Shenzi! I agree, I think education is paramount, and it's scary to hear some of the many misconceptions people unquestioningly hold as truths.

I agree, I think we would need to be realistic in our goals; I'm not picturing a revolution or anything like that by any means--but I do think it's possible to get a group networking across a widespread area with pockets of members or sporadic individuals doing various things in their local area.

As far as communes, yeah that idea might be a little far out. Again though, I'm not saying like entire villages--but a couple acres for a few amount of people is definitely possible, or renting out a barn; I think it's doable. I'm not living on a commune right now, but something similar (off the grid living, but the dwellings are relatively separated and there isn't much community), and I did it with less than 600 bucks. So I think having a few lots or barns or something in a couple areas is not improbable, and could serve all sorts of uses.

I also agree that drug regulation and/or spirituality should not be the focus. That said, I don't think it would hurt to have some kind of coverage of them in the form of education. But again, if enough people are on board we can discuss finer details such as this later.

I appreciate the response--I'm hoping at least a couple more people pipe in; even if you think it's a dumb idea I'd love to hear your thoughts.

My advice would be to have a look and find who is already doing similar things.

A lot of grass roots movements and collectives spring up for various purposes and causes and i think the real key to any kind of successful impact is collating different groups and collectives together under a bigger 'movement'.

Individuals working together to form groups is great, but i feel now should be the time to put emphasis on the already established groups working together , but also still pursuing their individual projects and expertise.

Stay determined any way.

Sometimes altruism can lead to lofty goals to help X ammount of people when it can be just as, if not more beneficial to help those nearest or nearer to where we're based.

Create a forum. Where to start?
I guarantee if you come back to this thread with a link to a board there will be at least a few people to help you start.

There's a fairly clean enthusiasm coming out of you, sustain it and refine your direction.

The reason I wouldn't be a part of this is because I'm a part of a group of people who isn't even trying to publicly inform anybody and there is still unspeakable atrocities we have experienced by all sorts of Official Groups.

And so, believe it or not, this kind of thing puts you on a list.

Which is okay, if you're willing to suffer tax audits and difficult to bear investigation, they're opportunist vultures

We're willing to suffer these things, but after forty years a group becomes skilled at being careful.
And the willingness comes from a deep spiritual conviction, so spirituality is important in this types of endeavors.

I think that's solid advice, d-T-r, thanks! I agree it might make more sense to work within a pre-existing group and work with other groups under a sort of 'umbrella' cause, like you said.

And yes, I think I might work on finding a free host for a simple forum and report back to you all here with the URL. That way we have at least something semi-solid to jump from, and people can throw out some ideas freely.

Anyways appreciate the support guys!