Food for thought

Today I was perusing the new web site launched by the Australian Nudist Federation (ANF) on March 15. I read a very interesting and eye opening article there in which the writer pointed to what he characterized as the ever increasing trend towards conservatism in society and what the trend may mean for naturists (nudists). The writer was speaking of course primarily about the trend he observes in Australia but certainly I could see how that relates to this country as well. Recently I have read dozens of articles where right here in the good old USA,governments from local to state levels are passing and enforcing new laws unfriendly to nudists. The author, a long time member of the naturist community mentioned that he had personally experienced the trends from the ultra conservative 1950s through the expanded freedom and sophistication of the 1970s and 80s, the boom years for nudism as he described the period and stated that in his opinion the firestorm of conservatism has now caused the pendulum to swing backward which should be of real concern for everyone involved in the nudist community. In his opinion the same zeal does not exist among todays naturists as did back in the 1950s when nudists fought hard for acceptance of our lifestyle and rights. He concluded by saying, If we lose our very flimsy hold on our current freedoms, it will be a much more difficult road back. Recent studies of the number of registered voters and voting habits here in America show that we are prone to apathy when it comes to exercising our right to vote and have input into the governmental process. Personally, I have been dismayed by the reduction in our personal freedoms in general in the post 9/11 world that we live in. As nudists I dont think we can afford to be apathetic if we expect to be able to enjoy social nudism as openly as we now can because still there are a great number of people who are not only unsupportive of nudism but are openly hostile to it. As the writer of the above article observed, when you get right down to it, we have a pretty flimsy hold on the rights which were secured for us by the efforts of those who came before and were willing to petition government and the courts to secure them. Often, we ask, What can I do Im only one person? I think all passionate nudists should be interested in supporting the lifestyle to which they belong. The most positive thing you can do as an individual is to join and financially support nudist organizations like AANR and TNS. If you wish to see our lifestyle become more mainstream and want to see more venues available to us, then you owe it to yourself to lend your support. We cant sit around and expect others to do all the hard work and fight for our rights. Unless we are willing to get involved then the future may very well turn out quite bleak. The freedoms and rights we now enjoy can be taken away even more quickly than they were earned.

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