I never said I was gonna do anything particularly bad – its just that I’ve put a load of time into “community” stuff over the last few years but seen little positive happen, i’m not a youth any more and my time/resources to do anything “out of the ordinary” are limited

I just feel I should concentrate on close friends/family, and situations where I can make a positive difference (such as how my family business wants to move towards 100% renewable energy for their new building)

In this area of the country “grass roots activism” does exist but its amongst groups of friends and families (thats why the whole hall parties fiasco is such a shame, as the hall committees are often otherwise a fairly good example of diverse communities working together!) – but a lot more people on the rave scene are no longer interested. The crossover between ravers and activists, once very strong in East Anglia, seems to have all but disappeared.

OTOH People aren’t daft here. They do also know about peak oil, climate change, infrastructure decline (5 power cuts in Suffolk alone in the past few months) the coming global recession etc – a lot of them aren’t blindly accepting the systems demands but just putting in the effort to build up their skills and their reserves for when things do decline (farming and construction skills for instance, or learning how to work on vehicles).

The way things are going I’m just not sure though if parties/music/drugs are going to be as much part of that equation as they once were (they seem more of a distraction than anything at the moment).

Even a fair few of my real life friends seem to be feeling that as well and they are only in their early 20s…

I sussed that out and did exactly that when I left Reading in 2006.

I have however actually met some good people here in East Anglia, despite the shock of having to rebuild my networks in a new area. Its often just distance, others’ equally busy lives and perhaps my own reticence due to past problems (and me trying to keep away from excessive drugs/alcohol use ) which stops me getting more involved in the community, and/or partying like how I did back in Reading.

what sparked off this thread was that a party was put on by two of Suffolks most friendly crews who had a good ethos, it was supposed to be our celebration after rebuilding the rig but things all started going wrong…

by end 2005 if I am honest with myself raves weren’t actually making me that happy. I was considering quitting them anyway, and TBH getting an extra 2 years in East Anglia was a bonus. maybe I was just a bit greedy, hoping for the “old times” back again but at the start of the season it was almost like that!

A lot of the things that make me happy are now just in my “normal” life, even solving problems at work or investigating new technology,particularly with the amount of actual freedom/flexibility i get today compared to many other lifestyles/occupations. its almost like the dot-com era again for me but a bit more grounded and in nicer country surroundings..

I think its more of a shame for my younger friends it all went sour so fast for them (when some have only been partying 2-5 years)and that people like Kan couldn’t deliver the full “community” ideals ,if you get what I mean…

I think we may be debating two separate but sometimes interlinked things.. raves and wider social activism.

Not every raver is a social activist like many on here, even back in the 90s that was the case. For all the Exodus/Spiral tribe spin doctors, many people were just there for the drugs.

Anyone with sufficient resources, motivation and “muscle” (by this I usually mean force of numbers rather than overt intimidation although this occasionally happens) can take over a space temporarily and host a free party. They may not necessarily be particularly “politically right on” – but into the drugs/hedonism, for them doing a free party is a cheaper and less restrictive method of enjoymment than getting a TENS or other license which means working with the mainstream local community.

This is unfortunately how a lot of current crews in Southern/Eastern england seem to operate.

Cops may shut down the party or confiscate rigs, but the equipment is replaced by selling drugs, particularly ketamine, to produce cash quickly. People are often also replaced quickly when they burn out / grow up or go to jail as there are lots of young people willing to start at age 15-16 upwards here! If one group falls out they just start up their own rig (there were at one point 30 crews in East Anglia).

These sorts of parties tend to flourish when resources are plentiful and since the start of the 21st century this has been the case..

lots more youths seem able to afford cars and petrol (a not insignificant cost), and the cash to purchase tons of drugs. They aren’t all doing crime (otherwise they would be caught), round here its still easy enough to get an entry-level, non-demanding job like delivering stuff or working in a call centre, the construction industry is booming (and resources can be diverted here too, think of how much stuff from a building site like scaffolds, electric accessories etc can be used on rigs)

its also now easier to get work up North in some sectors than down south as a lot of public sector work moved up North.

This IMO unfortunately is what is keeping the party scene going in many areas, not a genuine alternative spirit. So as soon as the feds properly clamp down, people go back to commercial clubs or just “grow up” and “drop back in” to normal society. Surrey, Hampshire, Suffolk and Essex in particular have been hit hard by this.

There are parties/gatherings organised on the original 80s/90s alternative culture ethos particularly but these now tend to be smaller affairs amongst friends who know and trust one another.

Temporary Event Notification System

you find a suitable and safe venue, fill in a form (slightly but not excessively complicated) you pay your Council 21 quid – if they and the cops agree with your plans you can then hold a party for up to 500 people in the venue.

its a bit more formal than a free party but doesn’t demand the commercialism of somewhere like Fabric to fund it.

for parties or social activism?

it may seem strange what I feel but I think the social activism bit will be a lot better in 2008.

Already, “normal” people with mainstream/conservative views are changing in some respects, everyone wants eco-friendly stuff in their house, managers at work say “we want to design a new building and data centre and as much of it as possible is to be powered by renewable energy and we want to use local suppliers etc”

at work some congratulate me for riding a bicycle 7 miles each day to the office (whatever the weather) rather than wonder why I don’t use a car, and I’ve noticed loads more people cycling to work recently.

people (at least in East Anglia) are also becoming (even grudgingly) more accepting of those from other races/cultures etc – they’ve got it into their skulls that “these East European/Asian people are here to stay and they work hard, lets all try and work together”

That said it wasn’t originally out of the goodness of peoples hearts but because of pressures such as increased fuel prices, worries over weather etc (floods) making people think about the environment out of self-preservation

for parties I think there will be a lot of changes and they might not look that good but its not that bad.

I think the days of the large illegal raves anywhere in the UK are long gone and not coming back, or even if they do they are not safe. also drugs might become slightly harder to get as the economy shrinks a bit.

Ketamine will definitely become harder to get as HM Revenue and Customs has had words with their counterparts in India. a lot of work from the UK public sector is outsourced to India, so theres a big incentive for the Indian authorities to help make their country a “safe environment for investment” if you get what I mean.

its no good dealers taking the risk of HMP or getting robbed or killed if the punters can’t afford your wares, and I’m talking about party drugs rather than addictive drugs and often when things get tough people just stop taking them…(I saw a couple of similar situations in Reading during the 1990s)

The Police aren’t suddenty going to give up trying to stop raves either and their surveillance and monitoring will become even smarter … (so we have to smarten up)

Also people will have less spare cash so won’t want to risk their rigs on bait parties, where bad shit happens that may lead to stuff being confiscated.

I’ve just realised I read one of raj’s earlier posts as if “everyone is trying to be the man and pigeon” (like a human-bird hybrid strutting about). This actually makes sense with the way some bird-brained so-called party crews carry on, but these are the crews what aren’t gonna survive 2008!

I think therefore there will be less and smaller parties but they may be a bit better!