highdesertranger said:
what's going on that's so secret? I mean you are not breaking the law or anything like that, I hope. is this the group that wanted to cut CRVL out and use Facebook? I don't understand, help me out here. highdesertranger
I really have to agree with HDR, here. As soon as you start saying that only certain people are allowed in a discussion and only certain people can know what was discussed, you are getting really close to the slippery slope of exclusionary behavior. Now, I am all about privacy. That's precisely why I won't go on Zuckerberg's Monster unless absolutely necessary. And there are times when people do need their safe spaces (the WRTR, for example). But they don't keep the location and schedule of WRTR a secret.
However, Bob Wells was very, VERY specific that the caravans should be "all inclusive." That people can just show up any time they like. That there is absolutely no concept of "joining" or "belonging to" a group. And, other than a few simple guidelines about being considerate and not breaking laws or the BLM rules, that no one would be telling anyone what they can and cannot do. You are either camped in an area or you are not. That's it. The whole idea of having meetings (where a small minority actually attend) where decisions are made about an entire group... The idea of creating an exclusive Facebook group where information is disseminated to only a few, is really starting to sound like someone is trying to start a (big-G) Government instead of building a loose community among nomads.
The next step is that certain people start deciding that other certain people don't get to join the FB group. Oh wait, the original stated purpose of the FB group was to keep out undesirables. So, we are already starting down that slippery slope. The next step is that people get booted out of the FB group or denied access in the first place just because they disagree with the direction this whole thing is going.
Even the way that the FB group was initialized and the way the Caravan One Leader dealt with people who did not like it smacks of mild authoritarianism to me. He just essentially said "This is what we are going to do and if you don't like it, you are a rabble-rouser."
Well, I'm sorry if standing up for the principles of freedom and openness are "rabble rousing." I'm sorry if trying to defend what I believe Bob Wells is trying to achieve here is called "causing trouble" by some people.
I wrote a private message about this to the Leader of Caravan One. His response left me feeling even more suspicious of his actions. He said, "It is obvious you have a problem with
me..." (emphasis added). I want to be very, very clear. I do not have a problem with this person. I do not know this person at all. Until this person became a Leader of a caravan, I had never heard of him (assuming gender) or knowingly read a post by him. For all I know, this person may be my undiscovered soul mate
. I do not have a problem with this person as an individual. I have a problem with this kind of behavior. This kind of "leadership" style. Even the way he responded is part of a pattern that is well documented in the history of both countries and office politics. Rather than deal with the issue at hand, this person chose to pretend that the only possible reason I might have a problem with his behavior is because
I have a personal vendetta against
him.
There may be nothing I will ever be able to do about this. It may be that I have gotten a completely wrong impression of what is going on "over there" in Caravan One. But I can say that I am very uncomfortable about camping anywhere where Caravan One is. I just don't want to have to deal with a coterie of people who have decided that they get to "decide" for other people about... well.... anything.
P.S. Anyone who starts in about how I must be against all government is missing the point. I am talking about the context of these supposedly loosely knit, specifically ungoverned caravans.
P.P.S. Any one who thinks I am just spouting off here is mistaken. I have been thinking about this issue for a very long time and trying to decide how I should respond. I saw Bob's video from December 30. And I noticed how they specifically pointed out that the Caravan Hosts are no longer called "Leaders" but "Hosts" and specified that they only do a minimum of things. Far, FAR less that the Leader of Caravan One is doing. So I finally decided that I needed to speak up. Maybe some people have moved all the way out here in the desert so they can have other people "decide" things for them. But I doubt it. I certainly did not. Though it is a shame that I (and possibly others) will feel the need to shy away from wherever Caravan One is located because of this.