Rainbow gathering sticks to the rules

Salt Lake Tribune ^ | 07/03/03 | Linda Fantin

[bedolido]

Steven Hawking did not have to attend a Rainbow Family reunion to understand chaos theory, but for nongeniuses the experience can be helpful. For starters, there is nothing like a naked, hairy 50-year-old man squatting in a meadow to remind you of the power of spontaneity. But individual expression aside, the Rainbows have turned the Uinta Mountains into an outdoor laboratory demonstrating how, with time, order can emerge from undesirable randomness. The Rainbows are a vast, leaderless collective of latter-day hippies, anarchists and street people that congregates once a year on public lands to espouse peace and denounce the trappings of the real world, or as they call it, Babylon. They make decisions by consensus and endorse no hierarchy. They call themselves "the largest nonorganization of nonmembers." But, for all their counterculture vibes, Rainbows are highly organized. They construct elaborate kitchens and campsites using miles of PVC pipe and water-filtering systems. They have a sophisticated system of radio checkpoints and their own security. They even have an information booth. A Rainbow gathering functions much like a commune. It is an experiment in peaceful living and a study in adaptability

[bedolido]

Glad it's in Utah this year. They trashed Idaho last year.

[johnb838]

Just one nuke... just one, and the problem's gone.

[Cate]

Yup, Montana the year before that. These people are not environmental friendly, not socially acceptable, drain the strained resources of whatever state they go to. Somehow a law specifically prohibiting just them from gathering needs to be passed. But no, that would be the politically incorrect thing to do. Oh, and plus, they shoplift and steal whatever isn't nailed down in the communities they go through. No nice thoughts about these rainbows.

[dljordan]

Me and a couple of buddies ran into them years ago in East Tennessee and they seemed pretty harmless. I thought their hippie school bus with the volkswagen van welded on top was pretty cool but I can't say much for women that have more hair than I do.

[horse_doc]

That one nuke would be well-spent.

It would have been a better investment had it been dropped on Max Yasger's farm 30 years ago, and nipped this thing in the bud, when it all started.

[Ruth A.]

Drive too fast and you just might miss the A-camp "wanted" sign pleading for "beer, whiskey, pot and white women."

White women? How un-PC.

As I read this article, I thought it striking how hypocritical these folks are. Driving as many cars as possible into the wilderness, ineffective shuttles, cars without mufflers, squatting in a meadow, teenagers asking for tokes, smokes or jokes, the need to protect the mounted rangers, on for ad nauseum.

[cavtrooper21]

Nah, just throw soap at them...