LUF Orientation

The First Millenial Foundation (Living Universe Foundation) is not

dead. Neither is it what you are likely expecting to find. Failed

paradigms have been abandoned in favor of new ones that have begun to

yield results. For many the lack of infrastructure appears to be

evidence of organizational collapse. It is not. Costs have been

aggressively cut through a program of radical decentralization. What

is left is a meeting place, a networking hub if you will, for like

minded individuals to gather for discussions regarding their own real

life projects.

We have found this approach, partly by accident, to be far more

productive than a highly centralized top down approach to

coordinating people across the country and the world. If you have a

project in mind, you should begin work on it immediately. Critics

will outnumber cheerleaders. You should listen carefully to what

your critics have to say, then if you remain convinced of your

position, proceed anyway. While we certainly all enjoy a good

discussion, we are busy people who prefer action to words. Those who

prefer to roll up sleeves and get to work on existing projects should

follow the list for a few weeks, pick something that interests them,

and contact the lead person of the project directly. They should

also expect that their offer to help might be rejected for a number

of valid reasons or a lesser number of invalid ones. Sometimes

people can be irrational, territorial, secretive, or just plain

stupid. The continued existence of Western society indicates that

such behavior is not sufficient to halt the progress of a man with

initiative.

There are some social norms that have developed on the list over a

period of over a decade. As a newcomer you may find that long time

members of the list can be hotheaded, irresponsible, or even rather

daft. You are advised that while such persons may be morons, they

have proven conclusively that they are exceptionally patient and

stubborn morons. They will not back down no matter how right you may

be so do not waste your time unless you have spent at least a decade

practicing your persuasion tactics on a rock. You will find that the

group values the contributions of these stubborn morons over your

intelligent enthusiasm. Please learn to cope with this slight to

your ego and get back to work. Or move on to another organization.

The stubborn idiots are eventually going to outlast you anyway.

Are you seeing a pattern yet? Colonizing the entire Universe is a

rather large project. Quite a lot larger than anything you have

personally done in the past. Making a noticable dent in the problem

requires a thick skin, a long view, and a very special kind of

insanity. Many political and religous beliefs are tolerated here

(precedents have indicated we draw the line somewhere on the other

side of anarchism on the political spectrum and beastiality on the

social one.) We do ask that you make the case for any atypical

social or political position politely. This permits us to silently

giggle at you in private rather than causing a huge scene where the

entire list can see your folly. We are also too busy to correct

social faux paus one on one. Instead we will allow you to make a

fool of yourself for weeks or months, then suddenly ban you without

warning when you get on one of the many moderator's last nerve.

Since our moderators are all subject to the normal human foibles as

well as the aforementioned insanity, this threshold is truly

undefinable and rather unpredictable.