Anarchaforko WhitePaper

This post was actually written two months ago when we decided to make this trailer video to accompany it. It's now been edited and revised to reflect how things are today with the fork and where we all stand. It was dubbed the WhitePaper as it comprehensively explains the how, why, where and what of Anarchaforko.

Since we first announced our intention to fork the Anarchapulco conference then we’ve received a lot of feedback that has taught us a lot and has helped us really develop our vision for this thing. To everyone that has posted their thoughts on the fork, THANK YOU SO MUCH. To those who shared their opinions at the conference that helped to shape this idea, thank you too.

To anyone interested in getting involved, start posting your thoughts about this. I’ll link all the posts about this below (that I know of, if you posted something about this that I don’t know about, let me know) and explain a little more clearly what helping could look like later.

One thing I learned is that there seems to be some confusion with this whole thing, which is going to happen because it’s honestly a new concept. Many people are under the impression that this is just an extension of the Anarchapulco Conference. It’s been called many things including a clone and a parallel. We chose our words very carefully when we said we were forking it.

While we have the support of the conference so far, we are not in partnership with the Anarchapulco conference at this time. It is not an extension in any way and is it’s own event that just occurs after the conference to take advantage of the fact that so many people will already be in town. I know Jeff suggested Afterpulco for the name of this thing and while it is catchy it implies what we aren’t trying to. At this point, we’re calling this thing:

Anarchaforko.

Let us go to the definition of a fork, and I’m not talking the eating utensil. Anyone that’s involved with the anarcho-capitalist movement at this point has at least heard the term bitcoin, if they’re not already invested. When a blockchain forks, like we saw with bitcoin recently, it takes a very different direction from the original. This event is not meant to be an extension, it’s a fork: in the same sense we’ve got a different direction we’re headed in.

Why do forks happen? In the case of bitcoin, people were unhappy with its ability to scale. It was getting bogged down with slow transactions, high transaction fees and small block sizes. When working on a solution, it became clear there was a split in opinion on how to proceed. When this happens, in crypto-currencies anyway, we fork. What was one now becomes two different entities and it’s now up to the market to decide how and if they continue being used.

Some of the issues the conference is facing are scaling issues, as it grows in size and popularity. People expect (and respect for sake of familiarity) a standard conference structure, partially because they don’t know anything else. Anarchapulco has the struggle of wanting to be decentralized while still being centralized conference and there will be issues and growing pains with that.

“And yet,
in several other ways, it's relatively set up in a way that feels familiar to many who've attended conferences before.”
Amanda Rachwitz @dragonanarchist

But I don’t think this has to be the way, so we’re going to try something different.

This is a soft fork in the sense that we aren’t directly competing for the same time and audience, but it is a hard fork in just about every other way. While we have our opinions on the trajectory of the original conference, we just aren’t interested in directly competing in that way, so no, they won’t be at the same time. I’ve had many people ask this so I’d like to be explicit: You won’t have to choose….well, other than making the choice to stay longer to try something new.

However, it is important to note that this non-conference idea was born in our opinions on the original conference and what it’s leaving behind in many ways as it grows and develops. The only way to see true change in this world is to make it happen yourself. If I’ve learned nothing else in the past 6 years, that is it. So we’re just working to try and provide what people want to see, which in a lot of ways is a little more choice and freedom than is possible in the standard conference model.

“As with anything involving a vast group of unique individuals, there are always people who will find themselves wishing the event offered an additional aspect(s) to it.”
Amanda Rachwitz @dragonanarchist

I think it’s important to share that this idea was formed through complaints and criticisms, both ours and of other people we interacted with. At the conference this year, we interacted with so many people through our ventures during that time and we got to hear first hand the honest truth of what people had to say about the conference. Many people were first year attendees, but a lot had attended at least the year before if not all three events.

And these people had a lot to say.

Criticism gets a bad wrap in our society. Even among anarchists we are taught not to be critical of each other, while often ignoring that it was being critical of the government that got us here. I think we’re ignoring an important opportunity here that needs to be talked about by ignoring and discouraging criticism, a chance to grow. By finding out what people think we did wrong, we can figure out a place to start for improving ourselves, our lives and our pursuits.

So I sat and listened to what these people said they didn’t like about the conference, as well as what they did. I asked them questions on what they would have liked to see and it was pretty simple to put together. By the time I was sitting on that floor with the @dragonanarchist Amanda Rachwitz, I’d been digesting not only my own thoughts of the whole thing but of many of those who attended. There was a lot riding on this last year as the conference gains in popularity and as is common with these sorts of events, a lot has been lost.

“That event holds the record, to this day, as the best conference experience I've ever had. The atmosphere and the energy at that conference was incredible.”
@modprobe's feelings on the second Anarchapulco in 2016

Let’s be honest here, Anarchapulco was originally Jeff Berwick’s drunken brainchild that everyone was secretly craving. He had the balls to throw it out there and then people responded by saying “YES, WE WANT THIS.” Realizing he started something he couldn’t turn back, he threw together what was the first Anarchapulco conference. The first conference was realistically made awesome not just by the concept and place he provided, but by all the people that put all the work in to make it happen in the way that it did. It was imperfect, but awesome enough to keep people coming back and to inspire so many more to come here, including us.

We couldn’t attend the first one but we talked a lot with many people who did and from what I can tell, it was a lot more anarchist and free-form than it is now, as it moves more towards the standard conference structure. The atmosphere was very conducive to all types especially those considering this place (or a foreign place in general) as a new home. I remember many people saying they loved that they could just walk out of the hotel, free to roam the fun, foreign and cheap city that is Acapulco. Last year, they had to pay too much (gringos pay more) for a taxi to the main bay last year to have any of those sorts of memories.

Anarchapulco started in the main bay, first at the Copacabana Hotel, then moved to the Grand Hotel the next year which is where I first attended the event. Even the first year I was there, we loved the free form but still somehow close nit atmosphere that was going on. Given the nature of the bay, we were always running into Anarchists all over; it didn’t matter where we were.

After almost two years of living here, I will testify much of that atmosphere comes from the big sunny bowl of Acapulco. To this day, we have a habit of running into my friends all over, locals and expats. Its a great place to have a decentralized event like this, as the atmosphere here has a near small town feel to it good enough to keep anarchists somewhat close without making them feel like they’re centralized.

“The attempt of the Great Forkening, it seems, is to look at what people enjoy doing when hanging out in small groups with other anarchists, and incorporate the favorite things about Anarchapulco -- people connecting to do business, people connecting in life-changing discussions and activities, people of varied backgrounds learning from one another about all sorts of things, people all getting to learn about valuable projects being worked on by like-minded people, in areas of their own personal interest-- and then flinging all those things together in some region of the city of Acapulco.”

Amanda said it well in the paragraph above, although she didn’t share how much she missed the bay like she did with me that day on the floor. We just want to capture the magic in what people really love about Anarchapulco and smear it across the bay for long enough for people to get what they want out of the experience. The place DOES matter at the end of the day and we found that out last year as that was one of the things people brought up the most. Those who had attended the previous years reported that they missed the life and energy of the bay. Those who came expecting to see Acapulco for the first time were disappointed.

“The conference was moved from the Acapulco bay to the Diamante suburb, hosted in the Resort Mundo Imperial hotel and conference center. It was a luxury hotel/resort experience, the conference center was modern and pristine, the resort grounds were expansive and beautifully decorated. The conference proceedings themselves were passable; everything went fairly smoothly, but the second stage wasn't being recorded, so those talks were lost unless the presenter brought his own recording equipment, and the concert was held in a subpar acoustic environment/equipment that didn't do justice to the artists' talents. I had a great time, and enjoyed many conversations with interesting people, but I didn't find those effortless connections like I did the first year. Overall, Anarchapulco 2017 was good, but it wasn't as good.”
@modprobe's Thoughts on Anarchapulco 2017

Several people complained to me that Acapulco was much different and more expensive (referring to the small area they stayed in, one of the most expensive areas I’ve experienced here) than they expected and planned for. Many didn’t understand that Acapulco was actually a very lively, affordable place on the other side of the mountain where I happened to live until I told them so. The location of the resort center made it so that only the surrounding area was available to most of the conference, leaving the Acapulco to the more adventurous.

While the city was lively and dynamic, with people commuting between various hotels and exploring Acapulco, which is a surprisingly anarchic city on its own; the suburb was sparsely populated, with an ostentatious shopping mall next door, but otherwise relatively little to see or do.
@modprobe's comparisons of Anarchapulco 2016 and 2017

There’s been a lot of debate on this issue, but at the end of the day the conference was held in an area called Zona Diamante. It’s a federal zone and is for all intents and purposes a suburb outside of Acapulco City, although it lies within it’s municipality (which is like a large US county). There’s no issue with the fact that it’s suburbia, other than the fact that it’s just not the bay. It’s the same thing in the states, where cities just outside a major city often have a similar legal address, even though they’re a suburb.

Diamante has a lot to offer but there is something about the bay that is distinctly different. The main bay is what many people, including myself, think of when they think of Acapulco. Part of it is the fact that it’s much more dense; everything is so much closer together. The layout of the roads and the city in general makes it interesting to travel around, so anarchists will have a lot to experience while they travel from function to function during our non-event.

I figure many fun events will come about from the things we find within the bay going about our anarchist business. This thing will likely grow and expand in real time as it’s happening and the calendar will be designed to be able to handle sudden changes, allowing for impromptu events or parties. Families will gravitate towards the fun water themed parks; clubbers to the numerous clubs, like the one with the bungee jumping.

There are many people that came here with the intention of considering this place as a home but because of the structure and location of the conference, they found themselves unable to even consider any of the things that would go into building a life here due to lack of time and interaction with the bay.

I’ve been blogging about life here extensively well over a year now, but I know first hand it takes raw experience with this place before it all finally clicks, and many people just didn’t get to have that last year. The way this is structured will be perfect for those in that situation, as there will likely be property viewings and meetups to help with that process.

If you’re considering this place or any out of the country place as a home, this would be a great place to start in terms of figuring out what that sort of thing would take, from finding a place to getting around and living life. This is a great opportunity to dip your toes into the Acapulco and in many ways just more free lifestyle. This is a crash course in living in Anarchy, how it goes is up to you!

The biggest point here is we want to try something that hasn’t been done before in terms of conferences and liberty themed events. This is totally going to be audience generated, meaning those who are coming are responsible for making it awesome, in even the smallest way. If there’s something you think Anarchapulco or any other liberty conference is missing, consider finding a way to fill that void within the pretty loose parameters of this non-event we’re working on planning.

It’s easy to get involved although I know a lot of people are currently pretty confused with how to go about doing that. I’ve gotten a lot of “I’m here to help it if you need” which is awesome but not quite the goal here. This is partially my fault because I’ve been vague at best, but I’m glad for it because I’ve learned a lot about what people want in the process.

In short, getting involved now means posting about what you want to see this thing look like. This will get the discussion flowing. It could be about a specific event or the whole concept, whatever you want to see at this thing I want to hear about.

If you’re the type to make it happen, we want to talk to you to help you make it happen. That’s what we’re getting at here. This isn’t our event, we’re just the folks on the ground helping to make it happen. Here to provide fertile ground.

We’ve got a vision at this point for this thing which should give people an idea of where to start with how to help with this. Everyone’s role will be different, some large and some small. We aren’t here to tell anyone how big their role is. That’s up to you. If you’ve got something valuable to share, contact me or write about it here on Steemit and we’ll do what we can down here to help something set up for you. This is an equal opportunity sort of thing in that those with the opportunity have to take it and make it happen.

I’ll pause here to say that my favorite part of this so far has been the involvement we’ve already received. I’ve had long conversations about this with @dragonanarchist in which it’s clear we share a very similar vision for this sort of thing. As one of my favorite lady anarchists (actually possibly my favorite for sure….) it’s been awesome to talk about this thing and develop the idea while sharing it with the world.

We’ve also spent hours locally talking to people, both people who live here and visitors. Some of the most vocal and involved have been @erikaharris and @modprobe and it’s worth mentioning them as they are key parts to this puzzle.

So imagine this: a month long enveloping atmosphere centered in the sunny bowl of Acapulco Bay. It’ll involve hopefully an anchor event at a resort like the Emporio or something else in the bay, right in the heart of it all on the beach. I’ll be honest when I say that’s dependent on whether or not we get enough funding to secure a location and whether there’s enough interest for that sort of thing.

While we’re envisioning an anchor event at a resort or hotel, consider that the structure of that is still totally wide open.

Will It Be A GOODBYE To The 'One Guy/Girl + Audience' Style, Perhaps?
@dragonarchist on the Great Forkening

There could be a room/building/circle for people all discussing health/food, sharing recipes, vendors selling foods, discussions arising about it, where anyone can end up having the floor to speak, depending on how the conversations go.
@dragonarchist on the Great Forkening

Amanda and I discussed the idea of circles, in which there are different circles on different topics with whoever wants to be involved, both regular people and those known as celebritarians. The topic of the circle would determine the format, whether one or many people are speaking. Maybe no one will be speaking and all will be singing or playing instruments in the form of a music circle. Sharing value for value in the form of a vendors circle. I don’t know if the circle term will stick but I like the concept, it implies that anyone has the chance to stand up and take the attention if they can prove they’re valuable.

But beyond this anchor event, this is intended to be an all encompassing month-ish long non-event. We’ve discussed renting mansions for the month all over the bay, just for the use of anarchists both as a place to stay and a place to assemble. All we really need to do is provide the ease in where to do this and I honestly think what comes out of this will be amazing without me having to pick, choose and plan what this thing is going to look like.

The decentralized nature of the fork (longer duration, multiple locations, presumably fewer competing events happening concurrently) should allow for a deeper and more thorough focus on different interest areas or "disciplines" of anarchist living.
@lesliestarrohara Anarchopreneurial Track

So consider staying in the music mansion if you’re a musician, or maybe the foodie mansion with the awesome kitchen (not actually located or rented just theoretical, guys, but I’m sure it exists.). Those interested in crypto and blockchains might have a place at @modprobe’s mansion.

Being a capitalist conference we welcome you to try and find ways to monetize this for yourself. Teach a class with a fee or sell your products! Anyone can hold an event with a fee if they think people will pay it and can sell whatever they think people will buy.

For those who cannot come up with a way to monetize this there will be an affiliate marketing program for selling tickets. When you buy your ticket you’ll receive an affiliate code to sell tickets. Any tickets you sell using that code will earn you a kickback of half the ticket price for every one sold. We don’t have the cost determined quite yet but we are aiming for less than a hundred USD. With the cost of living down here, it is totally possible to cover your expenses by selling tickets.

When we do sell tickets we will only be accepting cryptocurrency, leaving an opportunity for people to middle man with fiat currency if they’d like. We envision trusted ticket sellers who will handle the conversion for those who want to come but don’t have any crypto to spend.

We’re in talks with a web designer and have purchased the domain anarchaforko.com for the website. We’re working on a way to communicate as well as a calendar to help facilitate planning and reduce schedule conflicts. If there’s something you want to do or see in this city, make an event and I’d be willing to bet there are a lot of others who’ll be interested in it too. The planning is up to you guys, so if you can only be here a few days and you want to have an event, we can make that happen. If you want to stay the whole time and be heavily involved, we welcome that with open arms.

If there is anything you can think of that you missed last year or that you don’t want to miss this year, find a way to coordinate with us and those involved in this and lets help make it awesome. Chances are I’ll be there with my camera, there to take photos to share with everyone. This is an experiment in anarchy; anything goes so long as it doesn’t hurt people.

It’s up to you. We will help in any way that we can to make it happen with securing location and promoting it, but at the end of the day this will be as good as each of us wants to make it. In a way, this will show who’s really out there to make change happen and who’s out there just to talk about it. We are just here to provide fertile ground, let’s get growing people!

So far, we’ve gotten a lot of great responses in the form of both comments and posts. Here are some comments from others on this and links to the posts!

During the forking time, I'll be hosting a few small events at the house; including a series of events called: "Dinner, Discussion, and a Drum Circle", some cooking classes, workshops, and at least one Magic: The Gathering tournament (thinking of you sterlin 😃).
@kennyskitchen

So for the Great Forkening, I think it would be amazing to have workshops and panels focused on how to make your art profitable. How to share your artistic message of emancipation--your novel, your comic, your short film, or whatever it is you're creating--with as many people as possible, and how to get PAID so that you can devote more of your time and energy to creating and sharing that message.
Starr O’Hara: Anarchopreneurial Track

I remember being consistently shocked at how easy it was to meet people, skip past the fluff, and connect at a deeper level. The conference attendees I met while riding the elevators, wandering the hotel, and exploring the city, were open and friendly, and the conversations were substantive and engaging.
Modprobe: Why I am Forking Anarchapulco

It will be easier for many of those on the american continent to get to Acapulco packed with a shorter, easier flight and front-run by an already awesome conference Anarcupulco sometime in Febuary!? Perfect.
The Arcane Bears Thoughts on Possible Americas Steemit Fest Addition to Anarkoforko

Most conferences are organized according to the vision and tastes of a few, or a handful. But what happens when you fling open the doors and windows... and you invite creative collaborations that are only limited by our morals and imagination?
[Erika Harris: Anarchapulco: When You Fork It Will Folks Come?](@erikaharris/steemfest-anarchapulco-when-you-fork-them-will-folks-come)

It’ll be an open source organic function in which the awesomeness of the outcome is determined by those who participate. It’ll be free form right to the end, subject to change on demand as life often does. We want to start an open discussion of what people want to see, do and talk about while they’re here. If you want to see it addressed, say something or do something about it!
Lily Da Vine Announcing Our Intention to Fork the Anarchapulco Conference

Even if NONE of this is what the Great Forkening ends up looking like, I don't care! It's just neat to watch a bunch of like-minded people co-create something for the sake of connection, good work, relationship, creation and fun!!! I hope to hear from others what their thoughts are on all this.
@dragonanarchist on the Great Forkening

There was a huge love for Steemit present at last years Anarchapulco conference, we’re looking at getting those people together to celebrate the things that have happened as a result of this social experiment and to discuss new ways to develop and use this technology together!
Steem Fest Forking Acapulco Edition

Here's a list of all the posts I know of relating to this.

Anarchapulco Gets Forked: Anarchaforko Trailer Dtube
Anarchaforko Anarchapulco Fork Update: Shoutout to Those Who Have Gotten Involved and How to Get Involved Now
Announcing Our Intention to Fork the Anarchapulco Conference
Anarchaforko Anarchapulco Fork Update: It's Still On Here's How to Get Involved
@modprobe Why I am Forking Anarchapulco
Can't Make it to Steemfest 2? Consider Our Steemfest Fork in Acapulco!
Steem Fest Forking Acapulco Edition
Steem Fest Fork 2018 Movement of Jah People
@erikaharris Hempoin Proposed Anarchaforko Event
@dragonanarchist The Great Forkening of Anarchapulco: A counter to the counter conference or a Best Buddy
@lesliestarrohara Anarchopreneurial Track My Vision for the Great Forkening of Anarchapulco
@erikaharris Steemfest Anarchapulco If You Fork Them Will Folks Come?
@arcanebear Cant Come to Steemfest2? What if it was in Mexico?

In case you missed them, some of my recent posts:

Lily's Tips and Tricks for Proper Molcajete (Mortar and Pestle) Seasoning and Care
Acapulco Sunsets: A Stop at @modprobe's
Acapulco Sunsets: Winding Down After a Pizza Party

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