(WIND HOWLING SOFTLY)
♪ (TENSE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
NATHAN FREEMAN: I remember, like, waking up one morning
-and being very depressed. -LISA FREEMAN: Yeah.
NATHAN: And I was depressed about the realization
that all these people that I thought were gonna be
the greatest people I'd ever get to know,
um, some of them were just flat-out assholes.
And that realization was very dramatic.
When the universe tells us it's time,
-it's not quiet at all. -(CHUCKLES)
At least, I'm listening.
It hits us over the back of the head pretty hard.
LISA: All of a sudden, everything that we had built,
everything that we had loved and embraced,
and was living for, was falling apart.
The freedom movement, the conference,
Acapulco, like everything.
♪ (PENSIVE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
-(WAVES CRASHING) -(SEAGULLS SQUAWKING)
JUAN GALT: It felt like the authenticity had
kinda been drained in a way.
The resounding symbolism, for me,
was that a meteor hit the pyramid.
A meteor crashed on the pyramid, you know? (LAUGHS)
(WATER BURBLING)
We were in love with that place.
Now, Acapulco's just a puddle of bad memories.
So I was determined to leave.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
LISA: We were done, like so done.
NATHAN: Uh, it was, uh, somebody that...
This is no longer an interest for us. It's...
It's just a bunch of shit.
♪ (DREAMY MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
JEFF BERWICK: When you look at true anarchists,
true people who really understand the philosophy,
that's less than point-one percent
of people on Earth.
There's not too many instances of these sort of people
gravitating to one area.
♪ (LIVELY DANCE MUSIC PLAYING OVER SPEAKERS) ♪
JEFF: And in many ways it's been absolutely fabulous,
but it's not perfect, whatsoever.
We started out wanting to fight the government,
but we ended up fighting ourselves.
♪ (TENSE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
But I think that's a stage of evolution.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
JEFF: It's just a-- an evolution of growth.
-(INDISTINCT CHATTER) -MC: Make some noise!
Let's go motherfuckers!
JEFF: I think it's preparing us to be stronger
for way harder times to come.
♪ (TENSE MUSIC SWELLS, FADES) ♪
-(BELL TOLLING IN THE DISTANCE) -(WAVES CRASHING)
♪ (SOMBER MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
LILY FORESTER: I bounced around for a little while...
and then I ended up moving to Morelia, Mexico.
When I moved to Morelia, I was, like... (SIGHS)
...I was a real big hermit.
I was depressed and I was real anxious,
and I was just trying to survive.
I had to first become comfortable being alone
'cause I'd never been alone before.
Everything with John, like that was the first time
I was truly alone.
I was trying to process all of it.
♪ (PENSIVE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
And I started to see the relationship with John
for what it actually was
and not what I had always wanted it to be.
If I'm being honest,
my relationship with John was awful.
It had its great highlights that kept me around,
but, like, neither of us were happy for most of it.
We'd almost broke up many times.
And it just took admitting all of that.
I didn't have very much self-esteem,
and he had a habit of kind of putting the bigger things
on me when they went wrong.
So, I was very much feeling the guilt.
I had kind of internalized it by that point.
Then he told me I was useless,
and that I shouldn't have crossed the border with him.
We had two phases in our relationship...
"I fuckin' hate you,"
and "You and me against the world, baby!"
I just put up with so much shit because I had zero examples
of what love and relationships were supposed to be like.
I had no memories of my parents together, for example.
There were no happy memories of Mom and Dad.
-(INDISTINCT CHATTER) -♪ (SOMBER MUSIC FADES) ♪
(BIRDS CHIRPING)
LISA: Everything just kept pushing us out of Acapulco...
(DOG BARKING IN DISTANCE)
...and so we drove.
♪ (TRANQUIL MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
LISA: We packed up our stuff and we moved.
We had a couple of places that were on our radar
that were within an eight-to-ten-hour drive
from Acapulco.
And one of them was San Miguel.
♪ (TRANQUIL MUSIC CONTINUES) ♪
LISA: We found a couple of places we really liked,
and one of them that we ended up going with
was across the street from a park.
I mean, it was just beautiful.
♪ (TENSE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
LISA: We had talked about another conference
and that inspired us for a little bit.
But Nathan slowly, slowly got more,
um, withdrawn.
♪ (MELANCHOLIC MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
LISA: Nathan had always been a drinker,
but his drinking took on a different level.
He would start drinking at 10:00 in the morning.
He basically became depressed...
'cause there had been so much possibility
with the community, with the conference.
But it had fallen apart, and he felt like it was a shame.
There were so many nights
where he would be crying in my lap
and like hyperventilating and shaking
and just on his knees, trying to figure out
what we did wrong.
-(WAVES BURBLING) -♪ (MELANCHOLIC MUSIC FADES) ♪
(SEAGULLS SQUAWKING)
♪ (PENSIVE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
(BOAT ENGINE WHIRRING)
LILY: I just had to figure out what I wanted
to do with my life and my future.
It was just, like, I had to be able to talk to people
and stop being so afraid of everything.
SUSAN KASSON-KURILICH: As devastating as Shane's death
will always be for her,
it was nice to be able to see my granddaughter-in-law
move forward.
Susan is a saint of a woman. (LAUGHS)
♪ (LIVELY MUSIC PLAYING ON TAMBOURINE) ♪
LILY: After John died, she hugged me and she was like,
"Take a couple months to yourself.
But in a couple months, if you meet somebody nice,
don't ignore him 'cause you're too traumatized." (CHUCKLES)
And I was like, "Are you telling me
to date somebody in a couple months?"
She's like, "That's exactly what I'm saying."
♪ (LIVELY MUSIC CONTINUES) ♪
I had a, like, friend that was going on, like, weekly hikes.
He was getting me out of the house,
him and his girlfriend.
And I went out on a hike with them,
and halfway up the mountain on this hike...
I met this really, really tall Mexican.
♪ (LIVELY MUSIC CONCLUDES) ♪
♪ (DREAMY MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
BERNARDO EZETA: When I met her in the forest, it was just,
like, an accident.
But, you know, it's like saying,
how is that accidents become so meaningful?
We just saw each other and I began
to ask questions like...
Because I thought she was a mere tourist.
Yeah. He was asking me questions and I was just like,
"Ah, crap, he speaks English."
(CHUCKLES) "I'm not ready for this."
I have been totally alienated from this thing
in the anarchists in Acapulco. I knew nothing about it.
So he Googled me and then he found all of the...
Yeah, that same night. And it was like,
-"Okay. Oh, I see." -(CHUCKLES)
-♪ (TENSE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ -He promptly Googled that night
and shat his pants as he was like, "Murder?"
But he still went for it.
-My mind was... -Running.
...was running quite fast.
I questioned all the things in your story
that were not clear to me, right.
But the story itself was, like, not so surprising to me
because of the drug war in Mexico.
There are so many stories that are so similar.
And, well, I just thought they were very naive
by living as they were.
It was, like, these gringos are certainly alienated,
isolated, from the rest of Mexicans.
JEFF: ...summit there. All kinds of stuff,
so really looking forward to seeing you down
in Anarchapulco.
Uh, this year is gonna be a-- a ton of fun.
♪ (UPBEAT R&B MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
♪ Anarchapulco is so hype I'm tryna tell ya ♪
♪ This the event of the year ♪
♪ And best vacation ever Get your tickets ♪
♪ You don't wanna miss it... ♪
PROMOTER 1: For people who don't know, it's Anarchapulco February 13th to 16th.
PROMOTER 2: An incredible, incredible place.
And we still have our promo code, WRC,
where you get 40-percent off tickets.
Come and be a part of the incredible things
-that are happening here. -♪ (PENSIVE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
PROMOTER 2: This is where the conference is gonna go on.
Let's try to walk in. Let's see what we can get in here...
JEFF: The same thing every single person
that's ever gone has ever said is,
"The best thing about Anarchapulco
is the other people at Anarchapulco."
You just get to meet, you know, hundreds or thousands of people
that you just generally don't get to meet
in your sort of day-to-day life for the most part.
♪ (PENSIVE MUSIC FADING) ♪
LILY: I heard from Anarchapulco.
Somebody called me and was basically, like,
"Would you be open-minded to speaking?"
And I told her, I was like...
"I'll consider it, but honestly, like,
that freaks me out." Like every time I think about it
I get anxiety. I get anxiety for everything
from the fact that I'm afraid to give a speech
on the main stage,
to announcing that I'm gonna be someplace
at a specific time to--
You know, last time I was at Anarchapulco I was with--
Every time I've been at Anarchapulco,
it's been with John and it's like
mostly just paranoia, really.
Like, it's just something happened before,
maybe it'll happen again.
♪ (ENIGMATIC FOLK MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
BERNARDO: Día de los Muertos.
It's kind of a recreation of nature and symbols.
And the entrance of autumn
symbolizes the premonition of death.
♪ (ENIGMATIC FOLK MUSIC CONTINUES) ♪
Hi, honey! Oh, I'm so happy to see you.
LILY: John's grandma came for Day of the Dead.
The whole idea is, it's three days to celebrate
your lost loved ones.
BERNARDO: It's just kind of saying that
no matter how vain we are, we are all going to die.
SUSAN: None of us get out of it alive.
No. And that's precisely...
-We're all dying. (CHUCKLES) -...the comic thing of it,
or the tragic thing of it.
SUSAN: Being able to come back and get to meet her new love,
and seeing that the scabs were growing,
for me, that was part of the healing.
LILY: The whole idea is you build an altar
with these flowers,
which attract a spirit.
And then, you have pictures and their favorite foods,
plus sugar sculptures.
-♪ (ENIGMATIC FOLK MUSIC FADES) ♪ -(BIRDS CHIRPING)
(DOG PANTS)
(RAIN POURING)
JASON HENZA: I feel like I was robbed.
♪ (SOMBER MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
The Day of the Dead has really got me thinking
about John a lot and the anarchist community.
Losing John really, really hurt
because he was a person I wanted to build around.
Um, I'm trying to recover,
and trying to still build a community.
I think that's the difference between me and him is, like,
the whole event, like, kind of PTSD'd me
towards communities, whereas he is hopeful.
-(THUNDER CRASHING, RUMBLING) -(RAIN PATTERING)
He's telling you, "I'm making it rain hard."
Well, it's raining like a motherfucker right now.
(CHUCKLES) On me, currently.
♪ (PENSIVE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
LILY: It is worth noting that life with John was just,
in general, like full of anxiety.
It was full of risks.
(RAIN PATTERING)
LILY: Because we were just going from sunup to sundown
for fucking years straight...
essentially pushing
his idealist beliefs and everything.
(THUNDER RUMBLING)
John's big thing that he was always
real strong about is,
"You gotta know what you're willing to die for."
(THUNDER RUMBLING)
He had it all wrong,
you need to know what you're willing to live for.
-(RUMBLING CONTINUES) -♪ (PENSIVE MUSIC SWELLS) ♪
LILY: So I keep seeing things like Acapulco sand...
dog hair and, like, other weird gunk.
SUSAN: Combing out the past of your life.
Hold on to the memories that are precious to you
and let go of the things that are painful.
LILY: My dreadlocks, that was the closest thing that we had to
like, a wedding ring.
I did that to essentially fully commit myself
to his lifestyle.
Like, devote my entire life to it
and make that my only choice in life.
I was moving on.
I was tired of being associated with all of that.
I wanted to figure out who I was,
and who I was, was tired of fucking dreadlocks.
-♪ (PENSIVE MUSIC FADES) ♪ -(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
LILY: At that point, I decided to take the risk
-and tell my story. -♪ (SOMBER MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
I was going back to Acapulco.
I was going to speak at the conference.
I wanted to send a message and a warning.
♪ (SOMBER MUSIC FADES) ♪
(CAR HORNS BLARING)
♪ (JAUNTY BAND MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
-♪ (MEDITATIVE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ -MC: Sisters, brothers,
hear this!
The time has arrived for a new kind of fearless
as we near this pivotal moment...
DAYNA MARTIN: Our theme for this year is "evolve."
To move past the anger and the frustration
and to live successfully as a sovereign individual.
CONFERENCE SPEAKER: ...Anarchapulco 2020,
as we evolve toward an Earth of purpose,
beauty, freedom, and liberty!
(AUDIENCE CHEERING, APPLAUDING)
RAPPER 1: Yeah.
RAPPER 2: All right, everybody time to stand up.
-Get on your feet -PERFORMER 2: Anarchapulco!
Let's go!
DANNY SESSOM: Welcome to The Crypto Show in Anarchapulco.
And we're lucky enough to have Jason Henza.
And, gosh, I don't know.
Should I go, just Lily Forester?
Yeah, that's what I go by.
That's what most people know me as, or Lily Divine.
♪ (DREAMY MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
Everything about you changed to a completely different aura.
I don't know. You know, I don't like
going into hippy shit, but for real.
Yeah, no, I get what you mean. Like, and it's something...
LILY: People see me getting better now,
but, like, they don't know what all I had to go through
to become what I am.
And it's been an awful process.
I want people to truly fully understand
the ugly side of anarchy and freedom.
(CROWD GRUNTING RHYTHMICALLY)
PRESENTER: Nice, that's it.
(AUDIENCE CHEERING, APPLAUDING)
♪ (UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING OVER SPEAKERS) ♪
VOICEOVER: He stood outside the Federal Reserve
in Philadelphia, shouting "Fuck you, Ben Bernanke."
Rapped "Bitcoin All the Way Up."
He's been drunk as fuck on his podcast,
battled depression,
injected stem cells into his own dick,
and taken every psychedelic known to man.
Ladies and gentlemen,
your host for Anarchapulco 2020, Jeff Berwick.
-(AUDIENCE CHEERING, APPLAUDING) -♪ (UPBEAT MUSIC FADING) ♪
JEFF: How many people were told by their friends, family,
or Facebook friends
that they shouldn't come to Acapulco, Mexico,
it's too dangerous?
(AUDIENCE LAUGHING)
-It's pretty dangerous, right? -AUDIENCE MEMBER: So dangerous!
(CHUCKLES)
If there's one little piece of advice I can give you is,
whatever those people tell you,
do the exact opposite, always, basically and you'll be good.
-(CHUCKLES) -(AUDIENCE APPLAUDING)
JEFF: I do want to say something though.
This is incredibly hard to do, this stuff.
It's like the whole world is trying to fight us.
You know, you can try to change the system,
or the whole system fights you, I guess.
I'm trying to figure it out.
Actually, I don't even care anymore.
It's like, "Whatever."
'Cause I used to want to, like, save the whole world.
And I don't think I-- Well, obviously I can't.
Well, anything's possible.
I don't know if this is, like, some sort of spiritual war,
or maybe it's all in my own head, right?
♪ (UNSETTLING MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
Like maybe I'm creating all this.
Hey, Lucy. (CHUCKLES) Yeah.
That's my girl, yeah.
All right, we're almost done, Lucy.
Let me ask you guys,
should we try to help the whole world?
-AUDIENCE: No. -It's about 50/50
-yes and no there. Yeah. -(AUDIENCE LAUGHING)
I'm trying to figure that out.
♪ (UNSETTLING MUSIC FADES) ♪
(SIGHS)
-AUDIENCE MEMBER 1: Love you. -AUDIENCE MEMBER 2: Thank you.
-AUDIENCE MEMBER 3: Yeah. -I'll leave it there.
Enjoy your time, thank you very much for coming.
-(AUDIENCE CHEERS, APPLAUDS) -Thank you.
-♪ (LIVELY POP MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ -PROMOTER 1: Have a magical Anarchapulco 2020.
PROMOTER 2: You are surrounded by evolving
human beings. And that is what it's all about.
-♪ (POP MUSIC CONCLUDES) ♪ -(PLANE ENGINE ROARING IN THE DISTANCE)
Wow.
I haven't got that concept.
I don't quite understand what this is all about, you know?
♪ (EMOTIONAL MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
STAFF: We're way back here, somewhere.
RANDY WEBB: I got past these airports. These airports--
I don't like airports.
I had no desire to ever cross that border.
Closest I've been to Mexico was Tucson.
Acapulco...
you know?
I had to look at the map. "Where the hell is that?
It's way down there." (CHUCKLES)
RANDY: Um... Since, um,
her and Shane got in trouble.
Uh, five years or better.
TODD SCHRAMKE: Why did you continue to stay disconnected
from your father for all these years?
♪ (EMOTIONAL MUSIC CONTINUES) ♪
Because I couldn't contact him. I wasn't allowed.
It was very much like, if I contacted him,
then I picked my family over John,
and John was gonna make a big thing out of it.
-(SIGHS) -♪ (EMOTIONAL MUSIC SWELLS, FADES) ♪
(ROOSTER CROWS)
♪ (DREAMY MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
LILY: (SNIFFLING) Welcome to Acapulco. (CHUCKLES)
-RANDY: (CHUCKLES) Yeah, I made it. I made it. -(LILY SNIFFLES)
Welcome. This is baby dog. Renegade.
RANDY: He's a big puppy.
(PANTS)
LILY: This is Bernardo.
-Hello. -He's very good to me.
Wow, this is beautiful.
LILY: I'm gonna go stick my feet in it.
RANDY: You have fun.
(LILY CHUCKLES)
(SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY)
RANDY: It was good see her after all that time.
It's just sad that it had to take Shane's death
for me to get back in contact with her.
So where you guys originally were over on the other side...
-On the other side of that. -...of that big mountain.
Yeah.
♪ (DREAMY MUSIC FADING) ♪
LILY: The murder was a big shakeout of people.
(BIRDS CAWING)
LILY: Like, there were a lot of people that kind of gave up
on the anarchy thing because somebody got killed.
I'm like, "Okay, at least you're admitting
that you aren't, you know, this."
TODD: Despite efforts to rebuild
from the chaos of the previous year,
Anarchapulco 2020 saw a 70-percent drop in attendance.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
JEFF: Every year, there was always a few people
who were just causing a lot of problems,
and they don't seem to be coming anymore,
which I think is fine. (CHUCKLES)
♪ (UPBEAT SYNTH MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
JEFF: There's just such a different vibe here now.
A lot of people in this community
have really transformed themselves a lot.
RON PAUL: I figured they were really into this philosophy
and I made a statement, and I said, "You know,
some of my best friends are anarchists."
JEFF: A big part of the problem in the past is,
it was a lot more kind of just-- What's that saying in the US?
"Give us your broke and your downtrodden."
That's kind of similar to what we've been doing
for the last few years.
♪ (UPBEAT SYNTH MUSIC CONTINUES) ♪
JEFF: Everyone's damaged, of course,
but the people who kind of wake up to what we know
are some of the most damaged people.
And you get them all in one place
and a lot of crazy stuff can happen.
-♪ (HIP-HOP MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ -♪ Each and every one them ♪
-♪ Fuck government ♪ -Sing it!
♪ Fuck government ♪
-♪ Fuck government ♪ -Sing it!
♪ Fuck government Fuck government ♪
-Sing it! -♪ Fuck government Fuck the government ♪
♪ Each and every one of them ♪
♪ Dollar vigilante All up in your hearsay ♪
♪ Yes, I'm back, once again Here to rock the party ♪
♪ And I ain't talkin' 'Bout political parties ♪
♪ Those parties suck ♪
♪ I'm talkin' bout Wreckin' the party ♪
-♪ Fuck government ♪ -♪ What, c'mon ♪
♪ Fuck government Fuck government ♪
-♪ Say what ♪ -♪ Fuck government ♪
-♪ Yeah ♪
♪ Fuck government Fuck the government... ♪
♪ (TENSE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
TODD: How much the conference had truly changed
wasn't immediately clear.
And things only got muddier
that first night when Jeff was confronted
by one of his new speakers.
QUINN EAKER: I don't care.
Like he can do whatever the fuck he wants.
I'm not gonna fucking try to ruin him.
QUINN: I mean, this is his conference,
and it's just a fucking religion.
They pretend, and they go to the fucking conference
like they go to church on Sunday.
And just because you go to a conference,
you're fucking free, you're an anarchist. No.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
(INDISTINCT CLAMORING)
-CROWD MEMBERS: Yeah! -♪ (TENSE MUSIC CONTINUES) ♪
CROWD: Ooh!
JEFF: I think when I hit him in the face once, he--
Maybe he has a memory from when he was younger
of someone really hurting him, and he lost it.
(INDISTINCT CLAMORING)
I didn't actually have my bodyguard there,
or he'd be dead.
But, uh, yeah, he-- Yeah, yeah. It's all good, it's all good.
My nose is bleeding right now. Okay?
-(CROWD CHEERING) -♪ (PENSIVE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
JASON HENZA: When we give in to these negative urges
and we act like completely wild, crazy people,
we're putting up this persona
that we're a bunch of high school kids
with no-- no consequences.
We're all lumped together down here,
like it or not.
And when I see these people fail,
they make Statism look like a better idea,
and that pisses me off.
♪ (PENSIVE MUSIC SWELLS, FADES) ♪
TODD: The low turnout and general lack of cohesion
made me wonder if things might have been different
had Nathan stayed involved.
How did it seem Nathan was handling all of this,
just for him to see this happen to this conference
that he worked so hard to build?
LARKEN ROSE: I think it was just a travesty.
You know, first of all, he loses control of it
and then he watches it turn into this giant mess
because he wasn't there to make it not be a mess.
♪ (UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
LARKEN: He did a lot of juggling acts in the earlier years.
I got called back to the floor 'cause there was a crisis.
And then I got called away to another crisis.
Sorry, just hang on there for a second.
And there were little peppers of problems in between,
but they weren't crises, they were just problems.
So, finally, I got them all taken care of.
AMANDA ROSE: Like everybody involved cared about everybody,
-because he also cared about everybody. -LARKEN: Yeah.
AMANDA: He just desperately wanted to see the world
much more happy and much more free.
And Anarchapulco was just his way
to help make that happen.
♪ (PENSIVE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
LISA: Nathan is a very, very sensitive, loving person.
But... he just lost the-- (SIGHS)
I don't know, he lost faith in the goodness of people.
♪ (PENSIVE MUSIC CONTINUES) ♪
LISA: At the time, we had kind of gotten
into a not-so-financially-stable place
because we invested in a lot of people's projects,
especially around the Freedom Movement,
books being written or podcasts being produced.
We gave a lot of our own money to the conference,
both of them, Anarchawakening and Anarchapulco.
And Nathan always believed the better of people,
that they would inevitably-- It would come back around.
(IRA BELLE FREEMAN FUSSING)
LISA: It's just one of those times
where everything is just hard to do everything.
META FREEMAN: Can you imagine...
LISA: Just like grinding, you know, when you're just--
Nobody wants to pay, everyone's got issues.
Nathan started getting snappy. His personality shifted.
He was always under the influence.
And he just was working all the time,
even on Saturdays and Sundays.
And it was him in his office drinking,
trying to wrap his head around the world.
♪ (PENSIVE MUSIC SWELLS, FADES) ♪
LILY: Living like this is not easy.
-♪ (SOMBER MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ -LILY: If you fully commit to this lifestyle,
you're gonna lose a lot.
MC: Our first presenter today
is very special to the Anarchapulco family.
She and her partner, John...
LILY: It's not that easy and it's not that fun.
It's fucking hard and it's getting harder.
MC: Please welcome Lily Forester.
♪ (LIVELY MUSIC PLAYING OVER SPEAKERS) ♪
(AUDIENCE APPLAUDING, CHEERING)
(LILY CLEARS THROAT)
-♪ (LIVELY MUSIC CONCLUDES) ♪ -Well, hi.
This is in case I get too-- too light-headed
'cause I'll admit it, I'm a little nervous.
Um...
I was a little naive when I was 18
and I found anarchy, and I was like,
"Fuck yeah, we're gonna do this.
Taxation is theft and voting doesn't work,
and, you know, we're all slaves and all this bullshit."
-And, uh... -♪ (SOLEMN MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
...it kinda seemed a little abstract at the time.
Not necessarily, anymore.
My story is all about
what happens when you live free in an unfree world.
When I first moved here, I was like,
"Anybody can do what I do." And, um, no. (CHUCKLES)
If you're not ready to live truly in anarchy,
don't worry about it 'cause it's hard.
It takes a special set of cojones.
♪ (SOLEMN MUSIC CONTINUES) ♪
LILY: I don't think everybody should move to Mexico.
Not anymore.
(MOUSE CLICKING)
LILY: So when people say, "I'm thinking about going
on the run too."
-(MOUSE CLICKING) -LILY: And I'm just like, "You can't handle it.
I can barely handle it."
In 2019, this happened.
And it was the loss of everything.
Everything that could go wrong did go wrong.
And I was like, "All right, well, I'm totally fucked."
When the event happened, there were two types of people.
There were the people that were fucking there.
And then there were the people that were like,
"You are a security risk in yourself."
We used to say, "Acapulco is safe,"
but I've learned that safety is an illusion.
I'm tired of the whole "Acapulco is perfectly safe,"
when it's not.
We acted as if it was, and it never was.
Acapulco's not safe,
but I never came here to be safe,
I came here to have freedom.
And I got that, but you have to take that if you come here.
If we do that, we need to recognize
there is inherent risk, loss of life, freedom or both.
So, just be careful.
-Thank you. -♪ (SOLEMN MUSIC CONCLUDES) ♪
(AUDIENCE APPLAUDING, CHEERING)
Proud. (CHUCKLES)
Um...
Um, most definitely, if she'll be here. (CHUCKLES)
-(INDISTINCT CHATTER) -I'd like to see her come home,
or be able to come home.
I get it, you know, I've seen what she loves about Mexico.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
I can see the friends that are surrounding her.
I'm gonna feel a lot more at ease going home tomorrow...
knowing she's with good people.
♪ (PENSIVE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
I mean, that I don't get deported.
JASON: Don't get deported. That's a real good birthday wish.
(LAUGHS)
That's the only one I really care about. I like my life.
Fuck it.
What are you hoping for with your legal status?
I just want to not have to look over my shoulder.
It doesn't really make sense to force me back into the US...
into a culture that I never belonged in.
LILY'S FRIENDS: ♪ Happy birthday to you ♪
LILY: I love Mexico.
I've been in here for six years and I've never left the country
and I don't have interest in leaving the country.
Fuck you, guys.
♪ Happy birthday to you ♪
-(FRIENDS CHEERING) -(CHUCKLES)
We have to sing the Mexican version.
TODD: What's the Mexican version?
♪ (BOTH SINGING IN SPANISH) ♪
LILY: There's a program in Mexico
called The Asylum Program. It's a refugee program.
And if you can convince Mexico that you had a good reason
to flee your home country
and then come into Mexico illegally,
they'll give you permanent residency.
-♪ (SINGING IN SPANISH) ♪ -LILY: That's something I'm hoping for.
♪ (CONTINUES SINGING IN SPANISH) ♪
♪ (VOCALIZING, SINGING CONCLUDES) ♪
(ALL LAUGHING)
RANDY: That was really good.
PRESENTER: As you take this opportunity to turn inward
and allow yourself to sink deeper
and deeper and deeper into this space...
-And instead be your sound. -...and into this moment.
-(CROWD CHANTING) -♪ (TENSE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
(CHEERS, GRUNTS)
(AUDIENCE CHEERING, APPLAUDING)
You know the tagline, and I think we're doing this.
It is, "We are, it is time to evolve." Thank you.
(AUDIENCE CHEERING, APPLAUDING)
TODD: In the past, there's been a lot of effort to promote
Acapulco as a safe place.
But then Lily gets up on stage and says,
"Well, Acapulco actually is kinda dangerous,
but anarchy isn't about safety."
Have you changed your mind at all on this?
People sometimes say, well...
"You guys are utopian. You think if you get rid of government,
then there'll be never anyone who would get robbed anymore.
Or anyone will have a-- No one will die anywhere."
No, the-- Life is a very dynamic, very--
Anything can happen in life.
(PRESENTER VOCALIZING)
JEFF: One thing I've noticed too,
is there's too many men out there.
I can't believe it when a man comes up to me
and goes, "Is it safe to go to Acapulco?"
Or, "Is it safe to go to..."
Name any other country?
Are you a man or not?
♪ (MEDITATIVE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
JEFF: Men need to become much stronger men again.
And that's really what it's gonna take, in my opinion,
to get to a stateless world, is men becoming men again
and protecting their communities.
(PRESENTERS EXHALE RHYTHMICALLY)
(RHYTHMIC EXHALING CONTINUES)
♪ (MEDITATIVE MUSIC FADES) ♪
(DISHWARE, CUTLERY CLINKING)
LISA: When you have a very injured community...
even when the shit hits the fan, they're still naive to it.
♪ (TENSE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
It took a while to get people to believe
what was happening with Nathan.
(THUNDER RUMBLING)
ROGER VER: Nathan T. Freeman,
a once-thriving and active person
in his family and his community
is struggling to get out of bed,
use the bathroom, or even drink a glass of water.
TODD: For most of the community,
the first update from the Freemans
in over a year came from a GoFundMe page created by Lisa.
-(MOUSE CLICKING) -♪ (MELANCHOLIC MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
LISA: Everything around Nathan was falling apart...
-(MOUSE CLICKING) -LISA: ...including his health.
He had missed about a week of work
because he was so ill and in bed.
-(WATER BURBLING) -(BIRDS CAWING)
LISA: We had a visit to a doctor.
The blood work came back.
His liver was really not in good shape.
It was stage four cirrhosis.
♪ (MELANCHOLIC MUSIC CONTINUES) ♪
And then I-- We had a scam that happened
and we lost a bunch of money.
ROGER: His caring heart created the circumstances
in which our financial security was erased.
He fell victim to a financial scam
and we lost our family savings.
Controversies aside...
LISA: Roger Ver made a video
talking about what happened with Nathan.
TODD: Roger Ver, the headlining crypto expert
at Anarchapulco, helped to boost Lisa's fundraiser,
after discovering his likeness was used by the scammer.
I just want to talk about these crooks that are out there.
There's a bunch of these accounts
that are pretending to be me.
One of these fake accounts convinced Nathan that he was me
and that he should send him some money, for whatever reason.
They're using cryptocurrency to do that.
LISA: There had been other fraud situations happening
in our community. There was definitely a target
on our community's back.
ANNOUNCER: Known as BitClub Network...
LISA: In the moment, I said to Nathan,
"Wouldn't it be kind of ironic if this person wasn't real
and they just stole our money?"
And he was like, "Yeah, it would be ironic,"
and he passed out, he was very drunk.
Well, it turns out that's exactly what happened.
Nathan didn't want to go to the doctor,
because he didn't want to spend
our last bit of money on saving him
because he felt so bad about what happened
with the-- the scam.
So, he's literally dying
because he doesn't wanna spend our money. (BREATHES SHAKILY)
-♪ (SOLEMN MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ -(MOUSE CLICKING REPEATEDLY)
LISA: I keep showing him. I'm like, "Look, look,
we have, like, 10,000 dollars,
we can go to the fucking hospital now."
(SOBS)
And he wouldn't-- He still wouldn't go.
(BREATHES SHAKILY)
(SOBS)
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
-STAFF MEMBER: This way. -CREW MEMBER: This way? Perfect.
-Come on in. -♪ (SOLEMN MUSIC FADES) ♪
Sorry, I couldn't save you, my love.
(SOBS)
Please watch out over us.
We'll be fine.
(SNIFFLES, BREATHES HEAVILY)
♪ (SOMBER MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
LISA: Goodbye. (SNIFFLES)
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
(LISA SNIFFLES)
-(LISA WHIMPERS) -LISA'S FRIEND: Hey.
(LISA SNIFFLES)
(SOBS) I never-- I don't know.
(SNIFFLES, EXHALES DEEPLY)
-(INDISTINCT ANNOUNCEMENT OVER PA) -♪ (SOMBER MUSIC FADES) ♪
LISA: The diagnosis didn't look good...
but nobody wanted to believe... (SIGHS) ...that it was...
I mean, looking at it now,
he definitely was in stage five cirrhosis,
and kidney failure.
♪ (SOLEMN MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
LISA: We were-- we were in ICU, in a special ward
for people that are about to pass.
When I went to go visit him at the hospital to say goodbye,
because there wasn't much I could really say,
because I could-- he couldn't even respond with anything
'cause he could barely speak, I only said, "Hello."
♪ (SOLEMN MUSIC CONTINUES) ♪
AXIOM FREEMAN: Now, I've learned a lesson,
that alcohol is...
Why the fuck did he keep drinking?
He said he'd stop.
LISA: To be quite honest, as soon as we got
into the room, I was like, "You can go, just go.
Just-- There's no reason for you to hang on.
I got this, the kids and I are gonna be fine.
I'm really mad at you, and if I ever see you again,
I'm gonna punch you in the face.
But past that, you can go."
-(VENTILATOR HISSING) -(ECG MACHINE BEEPING)
Okay.
(SOBS)
LISA: I played Rush for him.
The Rush song, "Time Stands Still."
One of his favorites.
♪ ("TIME STANDS STILL" BY RUSH PLAYING) ♪
♪ Time stands still ♪
♪ I'm not looking back But I want to look around... ♪
-♪ (SOLEMN MUSIC RESUMES) ♪ -LISA: You know, every moment matters,
and holding on to the moments,
you know, to slow down time a little bit more.
♪ (SOLEMN MUSIC FADES) ♪
LISA: And I said, "I love you and I hope to see you again.
You can go now. It's okay."
And about ten minutes later, he left.
♪ (PENSIVE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
LISA: I think losing purpose and passion
around the freedom community really hurt him, significantly.
I think he may have died
a little bit from a broken heart, you know?
I mean, he helped a lot of people,
and sometimes it-- often it wasn't reciprocated.
♪ (PENSIVE MUSIC CONTINUES) ♪
LISA: A lot of people reached out to me...
I-- but never heard a thing from Berwick.
Nothing.
♪ (MELANCHOLIC MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
LISA: Even in the death of someone
who supported the community and the conference...
it only shows how broken...
we are.
No! Cielo, no. Cielo, Cielo, Cielo, ven.
I wasn't sure what to do,
because as far as I knew, Lisa hated me.
That's-- that's what it seemed to me.
So, I didn't actually reach out to them,
which I feel a bit bad about now.
You know, Nathan has now passed away,
but I would say, if he was here right now, I would say...
"You did a good job, with what you had."
♪ (SOMBER MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
JEFF: Nathan even said, the first year, he was like,
"It's gonna be 60,000 people in a football stadium,
'Anarchy!'"
Beautiful vision. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful.
And you know what? He came close.
That last year he ran it,
it was just amazing.
(PERFORMERS RAPPING INDISTINCTLY)
♪ (SOMBER MUSIC FADES) ♪
-♪ ("BEHIND THE WALLS" BY DOUGLAS DARE PLAYING) ♪ -NATHAN: All right,
and now we're gonna do one where we wave and smile.
Like, we're talking to Anarchapulco.
(ALL CHEER)
♪ I saw it in the day ♪
♪ And again at night... ♪
TODD: I first went to Acapulco
curious to understand the community's dream
of one day finding absolute freedom
and personal sovereignty.
But it was the novelty, the hope,
and the absurdity of the experience
that kept me coming back for six years.
And regardless of whether or not
the anarchists succeeded in their dream,
lessons were learned from this journey.
ERIKA HARRIS: At the beginning of it, I went to a conference
and I had my mind blown,
and I had my life totally just sort of, like, shaken.
You know, like the amazingness of everyone else here...
But, as far as living in a community,
one of the things that was missing was intention.
♪ But you don't fool me... ♪
ERIKA: You know, after a point you just didn't understand it.
When there's emergency, when there's need,
when there's pain and there's no one around
to have your back,
I would question whether you're in a community.
JUAN: My twenties are profoundly interlinked with Anarchapulco.
Hola, amigo.
♪ I don't find it funny... ♪
But, at that point, I was kind of done with it,
like, I was just kinda like...
you know, tired of it.
So I grabbed my stuff and I left Acapulco
and I started traveling, did a little tour of the world.
I was such a hard anarchist...
that the only way that I could possibly become deradicalized
was by living there and experiencing it...
-(EXPLOSION) -CAMERAMAN: Whoa!
JUAN: ...and seeing the reality of human conflict,
and drama and crisis, and shit hitting the fan.
JASON: Like the main principle
is, "Treat everybody how you want to be treated."
And it sounds pretty basic, right?
But everybody wants
to be treated a little bit differently,
and it makes it a very subjective situation.
♪ I've lived here all my life I've seen it all... ♪
JASON: Stay here, Beans.
This is my life.
What I do now for a living is
I run expedited freight across country.
It's hard to live with a dog in a van,
and it's hard to live without a dog in a van.
I've gotten rid of all my property.
I don't live in a house, I don't pay for rents.
Our properties become such a hindrance of freedom.
A lot of the people with money in the community,
they have so much security, they've gotten to a point
where they're really comfortable.
And they feel like everyone can just interact voluntarily.
But if you take away our comfort, our food,
and all that kind of stuff, we're animals.
We will do the worst things to each other.
We have to see the animal side of ourselves
before we advocate for the responsibility
of freedom.
-♪ I know about the beach... ♪ -(WATER BURBLING)
(SEAGULLS SQUAWKING)
♪ And the roadside hotels... ♪
LISA: We had created this world
with people that we looked up to that believe in a philosophy,
that wanted to change the world,
but had their lives in shambles.
Had a drug problem.
Had no idea what the hell they were really talking about.
-IRA BELLE: Mama. -LISA: Yes.
IRA BELLE: I need to pee...
♪ You underestimate The child with you... ♪
-(BABBLES INDISTINCTLY) -LISA: Even though people are awake
and want to follow their philosophies,
it still doesn't make everything work. Like, you...
You need a lot of personal growth.
Yeah, all right, I'll tell-- Oh, my God.
LISA: Very recently, have I started to set up shop
in the grey area, the nuances of life,
not these blanket belief systems
that only keep you trapped in the right or the wrong.
(WIND WHISTLING)
LISA: Like, it's either anarchy or nothing.
That is such a bullshit, baby belief system.
♪ I'm not scared ♪
♪ I'm not scared... ♪
LILY: At this point,
I don't care what anybody else does.
And I just care if people are good people.
So, I have a lot of friends that I've connected with
from home that are what I would consider
statist as fuck.
But I also know that they're on their own life path
and, you know, I've got nothing but love and respect for that.
I just want to be left alone,
like a state can exist if it's gonna leave me alone.
(LAUGHS) You know, like...
♪ (SONG FADES) ♪
♪ (PENSIVE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
JEFF: Yeah, some people will be watching this
and laughing, going, "Ah, I told you,
that's what anarchy is, you know, it's crazy."
Well, yeah, life is crazy.
There's a lot of crazy individuals out there,
and someone might get killed.
Well, that's what happens every day,
in every place on Earth.
(SEAGULLS CAWING)
JEFF: But, you know, one thing that I've learnt
is, as bad as the world is...
you can kind of just ignore it, really, and work on yourself.
♪ (PENSIVE MUSIC CONTINUES) ♪
JEFF: There's quite a few people who came here,
people who were just damaged...
you know, just because they didn't fit in, in society.
But they kind of felt like they had a bit of a...
bit of a community.
♪ (PENSIVE MUSIC FADES) ♪
I don't know why that makes me emotional.
♪ (TRANQUIL MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
♪ Oh, see you later ♪
♪ Oh, this is not the end ♪
♪ Oh, do me a favor ♪
♪ Tell me this is just ♪
♪ Everything, everything Is tied to you ♪
♪ I don't know, I don't know What I'm gonna do ♪
♪ Do you ever think ♪
♪ That everything That you receive ♪
♪ Is simply ♪
♪ You seeing yourself In the mirror ♪
♪ (SONG CONCLUDES) ♪