post-Planet-X Fest

This coverage of our trip will not be on a day to day basis, but rather a summary of what I got out of it.

There was four of us and the slickest oldsmobile you ever seen, packed to the rim. Our grand trip was to begin on the early morning of July 5th during the 2006th year of anno Domini. I had not totally realized that I was not only leaving my home but also almost every obligation I have for an entire week. My heart melted with joy, as I turned the ignition key.

We made it to our campsite okay. The ride was filled with various events which include, but are not limited to; liberating silverware from an undisclosed restaruant, cussing at bad drivers, seeing a 8.6 foot tall police officer while making sandwiches. The driving aspect went well, for we were not pulled over. At one point we were worried because the officer would've asked "do you know how fast you were going?" I'd have to tell him, "I'm not completely sure, my speedometer stops at 85."

The campsite was alright, with three exceptions. First, it cost money, and I later learned a few places we could've camped for FREE. Secondly, it was a forty mile round trip every day. And last, we had little thieves visiting out campsite. A racoon, or what I later learned was it could have been several(they work together), took two apples and two entire loaves of bread!

So I met alot of neat people, ate good food, and heard alot of good music.

The biggest thing about the entire trip was learning about myself. Two things that struck me most was the feminists and the knowledge base.

First, being around so many feminists made me really think alot about my role, as a male, in the feminist movement. I thought alot about breaking free from traditional gender roles. I actually picked up this book called "ecofeminism: women, animals, and nature". At first I was unsure if i should get the book. I really didn't want to read about some extremists rambling about how men are evil and how they need to take nature back from us. I was mistaken, and suprised. This idea really combines all of my ideas into one.

Basically, ecofeminism's premises is that ideologies that authorize oppression on race, class, gener, sex, physical abilities, and species is ultimately the same idealogoy that sanctions the oppression of nature. Reading through the introduction, I am glad to see that ecofeminism realizes that men must play an equal role, and should be liberated aswell. Ultimately, I have been briefly shown that one cannot liberate women, animals, nature, or anything else without the system eventually falling back into the previous oppressive state. The absolute freedom from repression must be put forth by ecofeminism, because its goal is to liberate all from the idealogy of oppression. It sounds good, but we'll see how this idea turns out in writing and in practice soon enough.

The next major thing I got out of Planet-X Fest is the realization of the knowledge base available without ever reaching a university. It really made me reconsider my future. Originally, I wanted to go to school to be a teacher. I set that idea aside when I realized the education system isn't fucked because of the teachers, but because of how it is organized. Then I decided I just want to go to school to learn all sorts of social, biological, and ecological things. The problem with this is, trying to pay off 4 years of college off of a useless degree. Joy. So then I decided I could probably learn what I need to know by simply going to workshops, getting to know the right people, and going to radical workgroups. Also, I considered it may be most effective to just go to a specialized university, even for just a semester or two. Either way, I decided I am going to do some traveling in the next decade.

Overall, Pix Fest was great. I missed Brittany and my bicycle, but that's pretty much it. Bloomington, Indiana treated us nicely, as did the car. The car ride was long, but I shared it with friends.

posted by Billly Fomenter @ 5:25 PM