I just heard 30 to 50 Rainbow Family members are in the forest up by Red Feather Lakes in Colorado. They just had their annual July gathering in Utah with about 8,000 people in attendance. The group up at Red Feather Lakes has already had one stabbing when a guy with a knife attacked a guy with an ax. I've seen the kids panhandling in Boulder when the RF comes to the area, and they're rude and very aggressive. They carry knives and axes, for instance.
I decided to read a few webpages devoted to The Rainbow Family of Living Light. They look good on paper but their reality doesn't seem to match someone's good intentions.
Here's some of the vast amount written by members:
"Another interesting thing is that there is no formal organizational structure. There are no membership qualifications, no fees or dues, no leaders, and virtually no rules other than the one of 'peaceful respect.'
...Participation, communication, and cooperation are how things get done."
"Picture twenty thousand people in a sunlit meadow, standing silent in prayer, holding hands in one huge, unbroken circle. Picture a parade of children approaching, singing songs, their countenances bright with enthusiasm and face paint, balloons and banners waving in the breeze..."
I'd say, "Sign me up," except I hate crowds and the Rainbow Family is famous for environmental damage. Medical facilities get stuck with unpaid bills, animal control was stiffed in 2006 after treating a parvovirus outbreak among the numerous dogs, trash is often left behind as well as human waste and compost, and there always seems to be some violence. The U.S. Forest Service in got stuck with a $573,000 expense after the gathering in Montana in 2013.
The area they are gathering in this time is next to where our horrific High Park Fire occurred two years ago. The mountainsides are still dangerous in many areas with flash floods and trees falling down. The land and the people are not healed, and monetary resources are stretched thin. The county doesn't need 8,000 wild cards building their campfires and damaging the fragile forests.
I am minutely encouraged to hear that an advance team of nonmembers arrive to organize kitchens, water treatment, latrines, first-aid, a children's area, and a place for the "troublesome" drinkers.
I don't know why these gatherings intrigue me. I am similarly fascinated by the Burning Man event that occurs regularly. Burning Man also pays its way with the local government and tries to get along. If anyone knows of someone who has written a book about the Rainbow Family, please send along the title. There is obviously a good, idealistic core to this cultural phenomena, but has it gotten to the point where it is attracting the wrong people? Is the destruction of the land is making it untenable?
I want to know more but, more importantly, I don't want to see hide nor hair of any Rainbows when I'm up at the cabin in August.
I decided to read a few webpages devoted to The Rainbow Family of Living Light. They look good on paper but their reality doesn't seem to match someone's good intentions.
Here's some of the vast amount written by members:
"Another interesting thing is that there is no formal organizational structure. There are no membership qualifications, no fees or dues, no leaders, and virtually no rules other than the one of 'peaceful respect.'
...Participation, communication, and cooperation are how things get done."
"Picture twenty thousand people in a sunlit meadow, standing silent in prayer, holding hands in one huge, unbroken circle. Picture a parade of children approaching, singing songs, their countenances bright with enthusiasm and face paint, balloons and banners waving in the breeze..."
I'd say, "Sign me up," except I hate crowds and the Rainbow Family is famous for environmental damage. Medical facilities get stuck with unpaid bills, animal control was stiffed in 2006 after treating a parvovirus outbreak among the numerous dogs, trash is often left behind as well as human waste and compost, and there always seems to be some violence. The U.S. Forest Service in got stuck with a $573,000 expense after the gathering in Montana in 2013.
The area they are gathering in this time is next to where our horrific High Park Fire occurred two years ago. The mountainsides are still dangerous in many areas with flash floods and trees falling down. The land and the people are not healed, and monetary resources are stretched thin. The county doesn't need 8,000 wild cards building their campfires and damaging the fragile forests.
I am minutely encouraged to hear that an advance team of nonmembers arrive to organize kitchens, water treatment, latrines, first-aid, a children's area, and a place for the "troublesome" drinkers.
I don't know why these gatherings intrigue me. I am similarly fascinated by the Burning Man event that occurs regularly. Burning Man also pays its way with the local government and tries to get along. If anyone knows of someone who has written a book about the Rainbow Family, please send along the title. There is obviously a good, idealistic core to this cultural phenomena, but has it gotten to the point where it is attracting the wrong people? Is the destruction of the land is making it untenable?
I want to know more but, more importantly, I don't want to see hide nor hair of any Rainbows when I'm up at the cabin in August.
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