#humanist

I haven’t found others who perfectly align with “my” ideology, but I think I am okay with that. I have a humanist vision for us that includes global communism + anarchy (the two are twin flames and they need each other). Some of it seems to align with marxism.

GLOBALLY, not nationally, we need capitalism first. countries w communist governments that have a splash of capitalism do not count in my eyes. The whole world needs to be capitalist in order for us to be able to safely transition into socialism, which will naturally lead to communism. However, communism as a concept cannot be sustainable as a governmental system. It’s wholly contradictory. For communism to exist on a global scale, there will have to be anarchy. But as I stated previously, this will be an organic transition. Who knows if 100+ years from now we’ll need a communistic governemnt before we dip our toes into full anarchy? Anyways, here’s a flow chart of “my” ideology.

GLOBAL: capitalism > socialism > communism > anarcho communism > anarchy > humanism.

I’ve posted before about Stede’s love of beauty. He’s an aesthete, finding wonder in art and creative self-care rather than the transcendental. Stede’s a freethinker. He challenges the orthodoxies of his time, rejecting forced heteronormative behaviours, and even questioning the accepted traditions of piracy.

The thing about Stede is he often asks ‘why?’ It’s partly what makes him dangerous to some. This slant towards subversion is much of what Izzy observes and detests. It’s one of many reasons Stede must be kept from Ed. Like a number of Renaissance-style thinkers before him, Stede refuses to go along with the status quo. He is ‘doing something original’, questioning dogma. Many find it ridiculous, bizarre even. And it’s significant that instead Ed finds Stede enchanting, because it demonstrates who Ed might be given the chance to find his own path.

Stede is also a polymath and likely an autodidact - I doubt he learned about ‘insane foliage’ at school. He is self-motived and seems to have knowledge across a broad spectrum of disciplines. Literature, drama, botany, entomology, psychology, art, textiles. Stede’s very much about the life of the mind.

And he’ll approach areas at which he’s not so gifted, such as cartography and sword-fighting, with the enthusiasm of a dilettante; when he can’t succeed the traditional way, he simply subverts the discipline and does it his own. However, the most important thing for me in defining Stede as a Renaissance man is his humanism. People are front and centre. Sometimes that person is himself, and he loses sight of others. But it’s okay as that’s the point. Humanism is partly about being a messy individual who can do better. And Stede is someone who can learn and alter his position when circumstances change. He might not do so in the best way all of the time, but he is a quick-learner and highly-adaptable.

Stede also understands that no culture or institution is bigger than the people within it. The most important thing is human dignity - it’s what he shows and teaches Ned’s crew: that they deserve to be respected as people. Stede also has a strong moral core. When he messes up, he feels it deeply. He demonstrates strong ethics towards the natural world too - he’s absolutely disgusted by turtle vs. crab. Stede believes not so much in human superiority, but human responsibility, and this is the flip side of having dignity as a human being.

Another aspect of Stede’s humanism is his belief that culture should be accessible to all. Some of this might be naivety on Stede’s part rather than a well-thought out philosophy, but he believes in it intuitively. Stede wants the crew to have access to his library despite not recognising they can’t all read. He gives them musical instruments and sports facilities - he’s interested in what makes people flourish. And Stede practically invents art therapy!

His ship is also a safe-space for human relationships to blossom - romantic, platonic, and in between. Zheng’s ship might appear to offer collective harmony, but it’s mandated and dogmatically applied. Opting out of morning tai chi for a 24-hour shagathon might be viewed as an act of dissent. No such big brother is judging you on Stede’s Revenge.

José Alberto "Pepe" Mujica Cordano (20 May 1935 – 13 May 2025)

Mr Mujica Cordano was an Uruguayan politician, revolutionary and farmer who served as the 40th president of Uruguay from 2010 to 2015.

He was a former guerrilla with the Tupamaros and was tortured and imprisoned for 14 years during the military dictatorship in the 1970s and 1980s.

"Pepe" was a member of the Broad Front coalition of left-wing parties, Mujica was Minister of Livestock, Agriculture and Fisheries from 2005 to 2008 and a Senator afterwards.

As the candidate of the Broad Front, he won the 2009 presidential election and took office as president on 1 March 2010.

Mr Mujica had been described as "the world's poorest president" due to his austere lifestyle and his donation of around 90 percent of his US$12,000 monthly salary to charities that benefit poor people and small entrepreneurs.

An outspoken critic of capitalism's focus on stockpiling material possessions which do not contribute to human happiness.

In June 2012, Mr Mujica's government legalize state-controlled sales of marijuana in Uruguay in order to fight drug-related crimes and health issues, and stated that global leaders would be asked to do the same.

Mr Mujica said that by regulating Uruguay's estimated US$40 million-a-year marijuana business, the state would take it away from drug traffickers and weaken the drug cartels. The state would also be able to keep track of all marijuana consumers in the country and provide treatment to the most serious abusers, much like the treatment afforded to alcoholics.

Mr Mujica also passed a same-sex marriage law and legalized abortion.

In September 2013, Mujica addressed the United Nations General Assembly's 68th session, with a long speech devoted to humanity and globalization.The speech called on the international community to strengthen efforts to preserve the planet for future generations and highlighted the power of the financial systems and the impact of economic fallout on ordinary people.

He urged a return to simplicity, with lives founded on human relationships, love, friendship, adventure, solidarity and family, instead of lives shackled to the economy and the markets.

The share of social expenditure in total public expenditure thus rose from 60.9% to 75.5% between 2004 and 2013. During this period, the unemployment rate remained at about 7%, the national poverty rate was reduced from 18% to 9.7% and the minimum wage was raised from 4,800 pesos to 10,000 pesos (average annual inflation rate of 7%).

It also supported the strengthening of trade unions. According to the International Trade Union Confederation, Uruguay became the most advanced country in the Americas in terms of respect for "fundamental labor rights, in particular freedom of association, the right to collective bargaining and the right to strike".

"You have inspired millions of people, encouraging them to do their bit for a better world."

A plain-language contract between the FreeWorld community and our leadership

because we all deserve to be safe & free.

Together, we belong.

Table of Contents

1. Ideals

2. Rights & Responsibilities

3. Procedures (Incident Reporting)

4. Instances

5. Promise

1. Ideals

FreeWorld Ideals

This is our guiding principle:

We’re not free until we’re ALL free.

The purpose of government is to protect the vulnerable from the powerful.

“The FreeWorld Ideals” are a list of values which the idealized government & social structure of the free world would embody.

This list exists to serve as a foundational mission statement—a moral & ethical compass for the FreeWorld Initiative & its surrounding collective, community, & activities, writ large.

Anti-kyriarchy

Kyriarchy is any system that relies on oppression to sustain itself. FreeWorld openly & actively works to eliminate & prevent regrowth of such structures.

“Justice over decorum”

Niceness & politeness are tools of oppression. They serve to protect oppressors & oppressive structures, and silence the oppressed.

Order in the absence of justice is oppression; it is moral, kind, and just to disrupt oppressive order.

Zero profit

Profit is stolen wages, wealth generated by workers but given to owners.

Profit feeds greed. Greed drives exploitation. To starve greed, eliminate profit.

Intolerance of intolerance

If tolerance is to prevail, intolerance must be checked & constrained. Intolerant attitudes, when left unchecked, will inevitably wipe out everything but themselves.

Total enfranchisement

Enfranchisement is the act of being set free, and given full rights & privileges of citizenship/social participation. We openly seek such investiture for every person born.

“Scarcity is artificial”

Issues of resource scarcity on earth (and beyond) can all be traced back to problems with distribution & management, not measurable quantity.

It is demonstrable that there is enough of everything for all on earth to have all they could ever use, and to spare.

The only reason anyone anywhere is without anything, is greed.

Radical cooperation

The first sign of civilization was a healed femur. It is through cooperation that individuals’ and societies’ most devastating wounds are healed.

What we’re able to achieve by working together is so much greater than what any or all of us could accomplish alone.

Radical kindness

In the FreeWorld, we are eagerly & radically: generous, helpful, gentle, considerate, caring, patient, and merciful.

Discernment

Bad actors routinely try to hijack the mechanisms that produce peace for us all, to instead hoard wealth and power for themselves.

Wise members & leaders of society will see through these ruses and name them directly as what they are, in full view using plain language.

Harm reduction

There is no ethical consumption under capitalism. Yet our duty remains to minimize or eliminate harm wherever it’s within our power to do so.

“Clean up this mess”

Clean up your own mess. Help your neighbor clean up their mess. Clean up mess in your area that someone else abandoned. If we see mess that’s not supposed to be there, we do our best to clean it up.

***

Each of these concepts represents a blade that strikes directly at the root of oppression in a powerful, lasting way.

We declare that a world without oppression is achievable within this lifetime. The thing we have to do to create it, is decide collectively to do so.

We’re not free until we’re ALL free.

2. Rights & Responsibilities

Every life is precious.

We all, every one of us, come into this world with our own body, nature, and dignity.

That body, nature, and dignity each deserve to be honored and protected, always.

As FreeWorld community members, we:

- protect who we care for, and we care for everyone

- believe survivors & help them remember & recover, until the evidence says to stop

- trust power holders who verify their claims

- ask meaningful questions & receive direct answers

- follow the evidence, wherever it leads

- take responsibility readily & consciously

- embrace vulnerability & frank honesty

- admit & correct mistakes, especially when harm has been caused, regardless of intent

- make room for mercy; everyone comes in the same door

- reject dogma of all kinds; instead, we invite good-faith questions & discussion of all kinds

- put the safety of the vulnerable before comfort of the strong

- hold sacred our duty to protect the vulnerable from harm, with our fullest effort, as well as our memories of those we failed to save

- share freely with those who have less; if there’s enough for one, there’s enough for two

- give power to those who will use it to make our lives better; our leaders serve Us

- stop harm by taking power away from those causing it

As community leaders, we:

- listen to, trust & believe community members, especially the most vulnerable ones

- hold sacred our responsibility to first protect the communities we serve from ourselves, before protecting them from others

- understand our place as part of the community we serve, and accept the power vested in us as the promise of care & protection that it is

3. Procedures / Incident reporting

Believe survivors, notice patterns, move deliberately, follow the evidence

Transformation not exile

Impact before intent, always

You’re responsible for the harm you cause, even if you didn’t mean to cause it

If someone in our community harmed you, please tell us! We, your community leadership, want to know so we can help protect you and do what we can to make the situation safe again, for you and for others.

Steps of reporting process

Reporting process in action looks like

1. Target or advocate makes report to leadership

2. Leadership meet together & review the report record, panel must include: no more than 1/3rd sitting members are men, no more than half are white, at least ¼ are disabled

3. Leadership notify reportee in writing of accusations made, then interview reportee regarding the report, giving reportee ample opportunity to defend themselves

4. Leadership meet again to make & record action plan, including how to meet support needs of target & reporting person, what action against the reportee is appropriate based on all information gathered during investigation, and what restitution requirements are appropriate to set for the reportee

5. Leadership notifies reportee in writing of: results of investigation, actions being taken against them, and restitution requirements, as relevant

6. Reportee accepts terms & complies with restitution requirements, or does not and is suspended fully until they do

Making a report (as a community member)

If you report that someone has harmed you or another community member, leadership will:

- take your report as de facto accurate/true & treat you with gentle kindness

- make a permanent record of your report & provide you with a copy

- accept the report anonymously, if desired

- help you make the report, if requested

- take care at every step to protect your safety & privacy

- permit an advocate/witness of your choice during the reporting process

- ask what action you would like us to take to help you be & feel safe in our areas of influence

- take meaningful action as possible & necessary based on your report to protect you & other community members from future harm

- notify you in writing of actions taken against the person/people you report, if any, as well as any restitution tasks assigned, whether their membership standing changes, and their written answers to the Restitution Questions, if given

Types of harm a member might report that could trigger an investigation:

- harassment, stalking, bullying

- assault, rape

- abuse (pattern of using power dynamic to cause harm)

- breaking trust/confidence

- lying, bearing false witness, defamation (slander, libel)

- dereliction/abandonment/neglect

- theft/property damage

Responding to a report (as leadership)

Harm vs discomfort

Leadership should be keenly aware and on the lookout for those who would attempt to weaponize this reporting process against survivors. Discernment between harm (real, measurable damage) and discomfort (an unpleasant but ultimately benign sensation) is essential to ensure that the vulnerable remain safe from our attempts to help them.

Those with power advantage often mistake their discomfort at being inconvenienced for being more harmful to them than the real injuries they cause, and may even try to fool leadership by playing the victim or preemptively accusing their target of crimes they imagine to be worse than their own; wise leadership will include power dynamic analysis in their investigations to correctly identify & focus on reducing real harm, however they become aware of it.

Creating Permanent Reports

Each permanent report should contain:

- written responses to Report Questions from reporting person

- Power Analysis Worksheets, completed by:

- person reporting

- reportee (person being reported)

- leadership committee

- third party community representative

- all written correspondence with reportee

- written responses to Restitution Questions from reportee, if given

Report Questions – do not begin answering until you’ve read thru all the questions first.

1. What is today’s date?

2. Who is this report about?

3. Who is making this report? Leave blank if anonymous

4. Who was harmed?

5. What happened to them? Focus on describing the harm they experienced, include details like who/what/where/when

6. How was that harm caused? Name specific actions, who took them, whether those actions were part of a pattern, and whether they used a leadership role or power dynamic to engage in the harmful patterns described

7. Optional: use this space to attach, describe, or direct leadership to additional reports, evidence or witnesses, as relevant/desired

8. Is the harm described in #6 still affecting the injured person today? If so, how? Describe symptoms & accommodations they live with that result directly from the harm discussed in this report

9. Have you, the person reporting, tried to address the problem directly with the person causing it? If yes, what happened? If no, is it because there is a likelihood of retaliation? If retaliation is likely, use this space to describe what that you expect that will look like

10.What steps are you taking to protect yourself & those in your care from this person?

11. What actions would you like the leadership & community of FreeWorld to take to help you be and feel safe from further harm?

12.Is there anything else you would like to include in this report, that you have not had the chance to include?

Power Analysis Worksheet

Each completed form should have responses for both the person harmed and the reportee.

Person harmed:

Reportee:

For each question, circle one answer.

What is their race? 1 Black / Indigenous – 2 Brown / Asian / ambiguous – 3 white

Are they a man? 1 No – 2 yes

Are they queer/LGBTQIA2S? 1 Yes – 2 no

Are they disabled? 1 Yes, visibly – 2 yes, invisibly – 3 no

What is their current housing status? 1 Unhoused – 2 housed, with assistance* – 3 housed, independent

Are they food secure? 1 No – 2 yes**

Do they have health insurance? 1 No – 2 yes, technically*** – 3 yes

What is their highest education level? 1 Below high school graduate – 2 high school graduate – 3 college graduate, Associates/Bachelor’s – 4 advanced degree, Master’s/Ph.D.

Total: out of/22

*: assistance includes but is not limited to: direct housing/rent assistance, income-based rate reductions on utilities, having essential bills paid regularly by non-household members, living in a one-income household while not a wage-earner

**: if they receive SNAP benefits/food stamps, or use community services like food banks, they’re not food secure

***: circle this answer if they go without care because of inability to pay despite having insurance including Medicare/Medicaid

How to score: Add up the numbers next to each answer circled.

How to interpret & use results: scores are to be read relative to each other. The person with the lower score has less power. Therefore, more weight and credibility should be given to them, and more scrutiny & responsibility for personal change given to the person with more power as indicated by the higher score. Use the table below to compare multiple results.

Assigning restitution tasks

The purpose of restitution tasks is to give the reportee the opportunity to model for leadership that the FreeWorld community and its members will be safe from them, should they be readmitted.

If they had action taken against them because of problematic behavior, restitution tasks should have them model:

- their newly-acquired mastery of that behavior

- what behavior to expect in its place going forward

- understanding of the harm they caused

- acceptance of responsibility for the actions that caused it and for ensuring that they stop causing the harm

Restitution Questions

When deciding whether a reportee is safe to be readmitted, especially after establishing that they have caused harm (knowingly/intentionally or otherwise), leadership should also have them answer the following questions in writing, and keep a copy of those responses in the permanent report:

1. Who experienced harm?

2. How was that harm caused?

3. Did they experience that harm as part of a pattern? If no, explain how the harm

occurred, and why it is unlikely to happen again. If yes, answer next question.

4. Describe the pattern. How does it keep happening? What would have to be different for the harm to not happen again? How does that relate to you?

5. Is there anything else you’d like to add, that you haven’t had the chance to say?

Care should be taken when assigning tasks to avoid hazing, retribution, deliberate humiliation, shunning, or other dehumanization. The reportee is invited to ask clarifying questions and put right any good-faith misunderstandings. Leadership is directed to move deliberately and with gentle discretion when investigating allegations. Leadership shall not ever misrepresent allegations or evidence, use force to obtain information or answers, or deliberately mislead or unjustly coerce anyone in any other way. Institutions that cannot survive the scrutiny of oversight do not deserve to do so.

Care must also be taken not to cause additional harm when taking reports and actions; everyone involved is a person and community member.

Responding to a report about you (as a reportee)

If someone has reported that you harmed them, leadership will:

- notify you in writing of the accusations made against you

- ensure you have a meaningful opportunity to answer questions/address concerns directly, and respond on record, if desired

- notify you in writing of actions being taken against you, if any

- if action has been taken against you: notify you in writing of the steps necessary to restore your membership standing, and then restore your standing upon your full, good-faith completion of all steps listed

- protect you from retaliation but not from consequences

During investigation, leadership should ask reportees:

1. Is the reporting person telling the truth? How do do you know?

2. If yes, answer all five restitution questions

3. If no, explain your understanding of the situation

4. Complete Power Analysis Worksheet

Failure to cooperate fully with investigations or complete assigned restitution tasks should be taken by leadership as notice of reportee’s disinterest in maintaining their FreeWorld membership

Types of Action

- dismissal: you may be asked to immediately leave a gathering, activity or event, but your formal membership standing is not affected

- suspension: you are temporarily disallowed to participate in certain or all community events & activities, details to be outlined in writing, and pending resolution of an investigation or completion of restitution tasks

- cancellation: your membership is terminated and you are banned from all community events & activities

- re-admittance: your membership and permission to attend and participate in community activities & events is restored

Grounds for action

- unresolved crimes or severe/repeated wrongs against one or more community members

- making a false report to leadership

- failure to complete restitution tasks properly or doing so inadequately, reluctantly or in bad faith

Grounds for re-admittance

- resolution of all pending investigations and full, good-faith completion of all restitution tasks assigned

4. Instances

Whenever & wherever we meet, we connect & build community.

Let the evidence of our presence be growth & healing.

What is a FreeWorld Instance?

Ideally, the “real world” would be governed by a list of principles like the FreeWorld ideals; until that is the case, we will be limited to only the parts of the world we influence directly.

From time to time, we gather from our disparate homes and spend time together living in a world of our own making, where we: work together to protect each other and the vulnerable from those who would use their power to harm us; enjoy being ourselves safely; and celebrate being free at last.

Each time we do this is an “instance” of FreeWorld.

Ideally, on or around the winter solstice (the shortest day of the year), we would gather together to reconnect & hold an all-night bonfire vigil to celebrate the returning of the light and the beginning of a new cycle.

Ideally, we would use this time to connect with & build the community around us/in the area hosting our event, in addition to reconnecting with ourselves & each other.

Ideally, let the itinerary look something like this:

Date of winter solstice: Sat, Dec 21

Thursday: Barn Raising (set up camp), Family Meal (meet & greet meal/mixer), light the Camp Fire

Friday: service project, camp feast & art/music festival

Saturday: “Come As You Are” (morning-after) Brunch, all-night fire & light festival (think “New Year’s Eve warehouse rave/underground speakeasy”)

Sunday: “Continental Breakfast”, Benediction & Camp Fire “containment” (“watch” it go out), strike camp

The purpose of meeting together is to connect, heal, and build.

However and on whatever occasion we meet, let those be the outcome.

5. Promise

Our Promise to Each Other

I will lift thee, and

Thou will lift me, and