Welcome, Ann Onimus .
I see a very particular demographic represented here: white, urban, privileged, youthful, amerikan and idealistic. There are few outliers. I'm categorically not really any of those things. Where I could be, I'm marginalized to the point where I'm no longer recognized as such.
I see where you get the idea about the demographic. Certainly, you could use several of those adjectives to describe quite a few people here. That doesn’t mean that they all apply. And it doesn’t mean that doesn’t mean that we don’t welcome more than that specific section of the spectrum.
I think if we have a certain demographic here it comes probably from the fact that folks within that demographic feel the problems within civilization very strongly, and they have been the first to arrive. Keep in mind that this site only started running in – March, was it? – so I feel like we have just barely gotten past our infancy.
I certainly hope to attract more “seasoned” folks who have worked their way farther along the spectrum than I have. The whole point of rewilding rests in the journey, not the destination.
Some of the threads have elicited in me a reaction of punching the air and giggling that you, too, recognize what I do. Other threads have got me so pissed off that I simply can't recognize the part of you that I once connected with. A lot of threads just simply confuse the hell out of me. You seem to sometimes speak a language that is demographic-specific, and not easily discernable or understandable to an outsider.
So engage the conversation. The participants in that thread may very well welcome a new voice and a different perspective.
However, you say “you” as if all of the users here fit the same mold. I definitely don’t think we do. The demographic may not feel diverse enough to where you feel like you fit into it easily, but that doesn’t mean that we all fit into the same way either. I have a lot in common with some of the users here, but I often disagree with others’ perspectives as well.
I think the only remedy for your confusion, though, lies in addressing the threads that confuse you. I definitely welcome conflict and counter arguments in any thread here. I always feel eager to see a new perspective presented.
So, if you agree with me that your current membership is reflective of a rather exclusive bunch, are you wanting to broaden that at all? If you disagree with my observations, can you tell me where I went wrong in those observations? Are you open to embracing and even actively attracting folks who are unlike yourself? Folks who have perhaps lived past their idealism and are now more focused on walking the walk rather than just talking the talk?
While I agree that you may notice a lot of similarities among the membership here, I would never use the word “exclusive” to describe it. I have only ever excluded one user from this forum, and that happened because he threatened violence against another user. Up until that point, I openly welcomed his differing perspectives and even his antagonism as long as it served to further conversations on these boards.
I feel pretty sad about the fact that you seem to take the state of the current membership as matter of exclusivity. Again, keep in mind that this site has only existed for a few months and that it has grown mostly via word of mouth – which words usually travel from friend to friend within already existing groups. As the word travels farther, it will eventually reach groups that have less in common than the core from which the word started travelling. So I think the conclusions you have come to about the membership have more to do with the age of the site than any demographic status of the people on the site.
As for idealism: you are not the first person to come to this conclusion about this site. I think the site comes across as more idealistic than practical because:
(1) We do a lot of questioning here. Certainly the philosophical discussions have attracted more attention than most of the practical discussions. I think this stems from the fact that even for those who focus on practical things, we all have a philosophy, and we enjoy discussing it.
(2) We don’t all discuss our practical things here. A lot of us have blogs where you can see more of our “doing”. And some of us don’t even talk so much about our “doing” there. But that doesn’t mean that the doing doesn’t happen.
(3) Urban Scout comes across as an idealist. I find that a shame because he really does a hell of a lot. But he also has a very loud persona and very strong (and emotional at times) opinions. None of that precludes his ability to walk the walk about which he talks, but it sometimes overpowers the walk in the minds of people who chose to make quick judgements against him due to the fact that he does talk. I guaran-god-damn-tee you, though, that I would not have come so far in my own walk without all that talk that goes on here.
Which comes back to the whole purpose of the site: a place to discuss rewilding. A lot of people need a lot of discussion (I fit that category). But the goal behind the discussion (for me) rests in rewilding my thoughts as much as I rewild my actions.
But I challenge everyone who comes to this site to understand that any idealism expressed (or perceived) here does not preclude action past the idealism. Perhaps for a lot of users here, the idealism will fade in time. But for now, I hope that it fuels their actions as I try to let it fuel mine.
I sense that you probably have a very well defined perspective that you can bring to this forum. I openly welcome that, and I encourage you to engage in the discussions going on. Even if a thread has died down, feel free to revive it and shed your own light on it.