Why I went
Coming from a leftist background I found myself disproving my own formed opinions in the last few of years to a point where about a year ago I stopped and went “holy shit, I might actually be an anarchist!”.
This has taken me on a journey which has led me to an outright distrust of government and central banks; to discovering cryptocurrencies and understanding the potential of blockchain technologies changing the world; and to commentators and journalists such as Bix Weir (
Aside from my parents (who discovered they were anarchists a lot earlier than I did), I have struggled to find like minded souls in my existing social network, including my wife of 12 years who I love dearly. Although she supports my journey she has struggled to come with me on it. This is ultimately what drove my decision to attend Anarchapulco 2018.
I wanted to learn more about the libertarian/anarchist community. I wanted to freely express and debate my views without judgement. I wanted to meet new people and form new networks and yes, the entrepreneur in me wanted to explore new business opportunities relating to blockchain.
What I expected to see
I went in with an open mind not sure what to expect exactly. “Would it be just full of crypto enthusiasts, or gold and silver bugs, or right wingers, or left wingers or those who just want to take drugs and not pay tax?”. Whatever it was I was determined to at least get to know and understand this community better to see if I was a fit or not. If not, well then hey, I’ll just sit by the pool and drink beer for a few days. Not a bad downside!
I thought “well, even if this conference is a bust, you can’t beat that view!”
What I found
The reality was I found a bit of all of the above and more. However, the common thread was a desire for no/less government and removal of centralised banking. Also, no matter their views, people were very open and approachable. I came across little judgement of my views even if someone didn’t agree with me. In fact, most people were very accepting of other people’s views and happy to engage in healthy debate if they had other opinions.
From the moment, I queued for the Acapulco flight in Mexico City, it struck me just how multicultural this conference was going to be. Standing next to me were people from Iceland, Germany, United Kingdom, Canada and the US. It wasn’t long before we were sharing our views of the world in that queue, then sharing a taxi van form the airport, checking in at the hotel and then resuming the discussions at the bar
Outside of the regular conference, there was no shortage of social events, such as a private concert with no other than Wu Tang Clan, beach parties with releasing of turtle ceremonies, morning yoga and a taco pool party to name a few. All the while I was able to meet new and interesting people and continue my learning journey. It is fair to say that I have made some great friendships along the way and look forward to continuing those.
Taking in the pool party from above with 2 kindred souls, James and Gavin.
Main takeaways
I would be lying if I said the boom in crypto currencies wasn’t also a catalyst for me attending. I’m guessing that would be true for a lot of people there. Meeting Bix Weir and hearing him speak on his RoadtoRoota theory was definitely a highlight for me. However, there was so much more to this conference than crypto.
Listening to legends such as G Edward Griffin, Jeffery Tucker and Dr Ron Paul and feeling the energy in the room was amazing. Also, as a father of 2 young children, I was especially interested in the concepts of un-schooling and peaceful parenting principles. Something I intend to look into further and put into practice and probably an area of common ground with my wife for me to build upon and hopefully get her on this journey as well. I’m seriously considering bringing the family next year.
To be honest though, whilst I found a lot of the speaker’s presentations interesting and enlightening I think I gained the most benefit from talking and socialising with the attendees outside of the sessions. For someone who has struggled to share my views without judgement at home, it was a huge relief for me to be able to ‘download’ a lot of the views and opinions I had inside to a receptive group of people. Like I said, I’ve made some great friendships on this trip and that has to be the main highlight for me.
The main keynote by Dr Ron Paul. Amazing energy in the room that evening.
Me with one of my heroes, Mr Road to Roota himself, Bix Weir. http://www.roadtoroota.com
Conclusion
To fly from New Zealand to attend Anarcapulco was quite an investment in both money and my time. I made that investment because I strongly believe that all of us need to do our bit to change a world in which we are largely controlled. I think Jeffery Tucker summed it up best when he said that change happens bit by bit as we start to opt out of the system where we can. Then there will eventually come a tipping point and real change will happen.
Overall, I got what I wanted out of attending and more. 1,500 people attended this conference and I’m sure more where around the hotel. Next year they are aiming for 4,000 attendees. If those 4,000 leave, and spread their message and views in their communities you can see how this will scale fast. I came to understand the community and the movement. My overall conclusion is that this movement is real, with genuine people looking for better solutions. It is growing fast and here to stay. This has given me a lot of hope for the future and that of my children.
I will be back next year, hopefully with my family…
and yes, I still managed to spend some time at the pool with a beer .
For those interested you can get discounted tickets at the link below. Although, it is planned to be a larger event next year it is likely to sell out again so get in quick! I did