This statement, a constant work in progress, is the result of a combined effort to address the common ideology of each member of the collective. The following are the results of this exercise, and are composed of the collective's common ground, which we plan to use as a foundation for our future ventures.

-INTRODUCTION-

Mourning Commute is concerned with our society's lack of empowerment and participation, both individually and communally. If there ever was a place that truly ached for a strong community with increased citizen participation, it is the suburban sprawl of East King County. We believes that many of our problems can be solved though the implementation of Social Anarchist ideals.

-SOCIAL ANARCHISM VS. HIERARCHY-

Social Anarchism embodies the belief that power should rest in the hands of the people, without the existence of hierarchies or centralized government. All people deserve the freedom to democratically determine their own methods of social, political, and economic practice within their own community. The absence of hierarchy is necessary for true equality and democracy to exist. However, hierarchy is ever present in our current institutions, ideologies, and social relations: it is the very foundation which allows discrimination and exploitation to permeate our society.

-ADDRESSING GLOBALIZATION-

The gap between the rich and the poor continues to widen dramatically on both local and global levels. Multinational corporate conglomerates possess vast amounts of power through the wealth they have gained from the exploitation of workers and the environment. These corporations control most aspects of our lives, from the food we eat and the clothes we wear, to the products we buy: even the way we perceive the world, via their domination of the media. With the aid of organizations like the WTO, multinational corporations have the power to overturn any democratically instituted environmental, health, or labor law which threatens their exploitative methods for profit. These organizations are not comprised of democratically elected individuals, chosen by the people most effected by their decisions, but rather, of officials who are on the payrolls of the very corporations they are supposed to monitor. It is becoming increasingly evident that power must be returned to the grassroots level, before exploitation and total environmental collapse spreads to every corner of the globe.

-ECOLOGICAL CONCERN-

The hierarchy of human over human, and the domination of human over biosphere, are directly related. The commodification and exploitation of the environment are just as important to address as the commodification and exploitation of humans and cultures. The Earth's biosphere is a closed system with finite resources, which means that growth cannot be unlimited. Our present economic system and population growth trends both attempt to defy the inherent limits on growth. Regardless of technological advancements (many of these are insustainable in and of themselves), a goal of unlimited growth cannot persist and will inevitably result in global collapse. Something which grows unchecked is cancerous and will eventually cause it's own destruction.
An interdependent diversity of species and an abundance of natural resources are necessary for a stable ecosystem and, therefore, a stable society. Mourning Commute encourages a course of action that runs counter to the present trend of our political and economic systems: i.e., to be concerned only with short term goals, without assessing their long term effects, at a great expense to future generations. Instead, we hope to improve the quality of life not only for ourselves, but for the entire community of life, and to insure that our descendents will be able to maintain and enjoy the fruits of our efforts.

-STRATEGY, CONCLUSION-

Instead of putting our political energy into electoral campaigns for either of the corporate owned parties, we should be asserting our power and revolutionary potential to govern ourselves. We should not sit idly by and expect the wealthy elite, or the government who bends to their will, to save us from economic and ecological hardship. We aspire to a world where ecological disaster, worker exploitation, mass depression, warfare, disillusionment, prejudice, and the other problems of a hierarchical society, are the sad memories of a tortured past.