The following words on PLUR were submitted by Steven Tsang aka Stevie T in a post to
NE-Raves dated 8 January 1996. Minimal editing for space considerations is shown by square
brackets [].
as for what Cat sed about PLUR meaning Please Let Us Rave, that was a joke
started on ne-raves about a year ago. i didn't think people really believed it. [....]
alot of ravers think PLUR is some philosophy dating back to Woodstock. true,
hippys were big on peace & love. but that's not where PLUR came from. [....]
Frankie Bones introduced raves (in the underground party sense) to the east coast by
throwing a series of big underground partys. they were known as the STORM raves.
[...] at one of these Storm raves [...] mr. Bones gave a very important speech after
one of his very powerful sets. he explained what the scene was about and why he had
brought it to New York: peace, love, and unity. when he finished everybody in the
warehouse waved their hands in the air in complete unity[....]
When NE-Raves was started [...], many of the old skoolers still talked about this
peace, love, and unity thing at partys. but it wuz old skool ne-raver Laura LaGassa,
who included 'respect' at the end of it. [This point has been debated, and the
attribution may be apocryphal.] coincidentally it was on NE-Raves that PLUR
became the acronym for Peace, Love, Unity, and Respect. But it was Dan FreeLove,
the list adminstrator, who really popularized it by using PLUR in his sig. [Also
debatable.]
however more recently the meaning of PLUR started to fade. but one netter (from
montreal canada actually) tried redefining it the best he could. it is his definition that
really brought about the PLUR revival on ne-raves[....]
this is ecto's [Brad Finlay] definition[....]
`we are all connected. and do you know what connects us all? on the
net it's called PLUR. no it's not a dishwater detergent, its an acronym
that stands for Peace, Love, Unity, and Respect. these are big words
and may be difficult to define but here are some ideas:
`Peace : the calmness you find with those around you, and also inside of
yourself. it's tough, we often have to work at it but when you're at peace
with others, with ourselves and with our planet only good can come of it.
`Love : the caring you feel for friends, for strangers, for those in need
and also for caring you show for yourself. it's symbiotic, it's about
sharing whatever energy you put into something will be returned to you!
`Unity : this means we all share a lot of common things, regardless of
our age, gender, race, orientation, whatevah! we are all human beings,
we all need other people, & we're all in this for the happiness
experienced being around others. though we may have differences, we
all arise from the same source.
`Respect : this may mean respect for others, their ideas, their music, &
their lives. it's also respect for one's self: one's body and the needs that it
has (food, sleep). educating yourself on the substances you ingest shows
love and respect for your body; passing on the knowledge to others
shows respect and love for your fellow person.'
that is PLUR as defined by ecto. however how one chooses to practice PLUR in their
everday life may be different. here is how SpikE [Rafael Colon-Gonzalez] from
ne-raves chose to practice it:
`I believe in PLUR for myself, in that I will practice it, and I know that it
is an IDEAL, not everyone follows it and not every- one believes in it...it
is a personal choice I make in an attempt to continue to develop new
morals and values as I continue on through life. That persoanl choice
affects others and they react to my choice in a way which they
personally choose also, this will not make me change my values for
them, but it will cause me to react to their reactions of my actions. Thus,
i will be for- ever changing my ideas based on the actions of others
based on my initial actions...what does this mean? Well, it is just a way
of saying that my views of PLUR are because I do feel it is possible for
me to love until i am acting on someones belief that I am not to love.
basically, I give peace when given peace; i give love when given love; I
am united with one when they seek union with me; and I respect when i
am respected.
`For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. There is evil
and ther is good, and without one there can not be the other. It is a
philosophy of balance and wholeness that I believe PLUR is. And no i
dont always see it, no i dont think it exist everywhere, but I have it, and
in a way that is all that matters, since if it is within me, it is possible to be
everywhere. one is all. we are all connected.'
that is how Spike chose to practice it. and believe u me, he does. how u choose to
practice it or whether or not u choose to practice it is up to u.
Hope that gives you a better understanding!
PLUR (Please Let Us Rave....hehe),
-climbing
