Jackalope Freedom Festival, A Beautiful Example of Anarchy in Action (And Why I Prefer it Over Porcfest)

Last week our family attended the Jackalope Freedom Festival as a part of our cross country crypto-currency only tour Dash Across America in the Bitcoin.com Bus. We were able to witness and participate in a truly beautiful example of anarchy in action.

Upon arrival you immediately notice the lack of fees to camp and vend. There are no designated campsites, so you basically get to set up camp as close or as far away from the other campers as you choose. The event is set up in a secluded part of the national forest and we literally required an escort to drive us into the remote spot. No law enforcement, no general public, just a group of peaceful agorists engaging in peaceful trade and abundant community.

Once we exited our bus I was pleased to see the dogs were existing in a state of beautiful anarchy. Hardly any dogs were on leashes, and the ones who were seemed to be the only ones making any sort of trouble. The dogs were free to roam, and none "ran away". They stayed near their people, and often took trips to frolic in a pack. The smallest dogs were roaming free with the largest. It was adorable and inspiring to watch.

The children also existed in a state of beautiful anarchy! With the exception of one family that stood out like a sore thumb, we were surrounded with peaceful parents and unschooled children. They all played together well with no spanking or authoritarian shenanigans involved.

The event is an "unorganized" event - this means there are no pre-planned events or talks and you can sign up for a speaking slot the morning of. I was ticked pink to see a talks on #steemit, #freedomcells, and #bitcoin. My husband John will be uploading all 3 of those presentations to his podcast feed at sovereignbtc.com shortly. The picture above is of me watching the Steemit talk.

There was even one MAJOR instance of conflict that was dealt with beautifully by the community. An individual who was taking psychedelics had a very very very violent and bad trip. After a few men spent the entire night trip-sitting him through his rage, the sun rose to a group of men who gathered, calmly and peacefully surrounded him, restrained him, and delivered him to the local fire department. This was done after much community discussion about what to do, and the individual's dignity was respected the entire time.

He needed medical attention and this group of anarchist made sure it happened with no harm done to the agrressor. Sure, the fire department probably receives tax dollars, so some could argue that this was a lack of consistency.. When you consider the lack of resources yet developed by our growing agorist community, this was the best solution they could come up with at the time. The man was released after he had stabilized and we are all happy that no more aggression was witness at Jackfest.

There was even a community art mural and a community potluck. Can you find the picture of the bitcoin bus painted on by John?

Overall, this was probably my first time living in community with a group of people who abide by only one rule - the Non Aggression Principle. I have attended the Porcupine Freedom Festival 6 times over the past 8 years and there are so many rules that it became a disincentive for us to drive all the way from Texas to New Hampshire. Things like vendors needing to be there the entire week - that just simply wasn't a possibility for us after having children and taking over Brave New Books - but we could not afford to attend the event if we were not vending. At Jackfest, we could do as we pleased and everyone (attendees and vendors) seemed much happier for it.

Just a side note about Porcfest - one year they had actual checkpoints, looking for Chris Cantwell because he was banned for a controversial opinion. They also took 3 years to ban my stalker who molested not only me but other women... Also, they banned Ian Freeman immediately when he was falsely accused of a controversial crime, despite the fact that his popular radio show Free Talk Live is probably the number one recruitment for attendees at the event! Real predators are allowed to attend Porcfest repeatedly, but people who share controversial opinions are not. Wild. At Jackfest real predators are surrounded with love and escorted out. Beautiful.

If you are going to make a liberty camping festival in 2017, I cannot recommend this primitive / off grid experience more. Visit jackalopfreedomfestival.com to watch for next year's event dates!