The Naktiv Manifesto

1. To support and encourage nakedness everywhere.
2. To educate society concerning nudity.
3. To decriminalize the naked human body.

1. To disassociate sex, advertising, violence, nudity from one another.
2. To offer advice, and to recommend actions, against negative pressure.
3. To encourage environmental awareness, peace and contentment - world peace if you like, via nudity.

1. To ensure nakedness is acceptable, everywhere, at all times and circumstances.

   Being Naktiv means that it is acceptable for anyone to be naked, with no conditions, everywhere, at all times, in all circumstances. Although many naktiv people may wish to be naked primarily in outdoor and natural environments, and to generally avoid being naked in built-up areas, and on tarmac for example, there should be no such actual restrictions in a free society. This does not mean that everyone has to be naked if they do not wish to be, or even that naktiv people must always be naked - this does mean however that those who want to be naked at any given time, can be, and in all cases without prejudice.

2. To educate society concerning nudity, civil rights and being naked.

   Naktiv people have a responsibility to educate society about the rights of each and every individual to be naked, or to be clothed, or anything in between at all times, without prejudice. Everyone has the right to look away, if they see something they do not like. Just as it is possible to turn off the television when a program is aired which you do not wish to view, just as you can choose to look elsewhere if you do not wish to look at the man with the hairy nose, the woman with the bright pink hair, the punk with the safety pin through his tongue. You may not be able to avoid seeing some of these things from time to time, but you do not have to continue looking at them. I have the right to express myself, and I have the right to be offended. I do not have the right to expect the nanny government to do all my thinking for me. This is freedom.

3. To decriminalize nudity.

   It is a ridiculous state of affairs for anyone to suggest that to see the natural human body should be illegal, in any context. If someone sees a cat, and has sexual thoughts, is this a problem with the cat, or with the person looking at the cat? If someone sees a human foot, and has sexual thoughts, should we cover up the foot, or suggest that the person with the aberrant sexual fetish should seek help? Being naked is not illegal in many countries, but many people think it is, and many more people think it should be. These people appear to think this because "that's just how it is", without thinking for one moment about what they're saying. Naktiv people insist that being naked is not a criminal act, and it should not be treated as such, in any context. The freedom to wear clothes, or to wear particular clothes, or to wear no clothes, is an individual and inalienable right of each and every person on the planet earth.

4. To disassociate sex, advertising, violence, nudity from one another.

   Nudity is often associated with sex through pornography, linked to selling goods via advertising in the media, and bound to violence in films and on television. Images in our modern media-driven world constantly bombard our collective psyche with unreal associations where the naked girl in the movie is so predictably murdered, like some kind of unconsciously wagging "and let that be a lesson to you" finger, or the only-just-dressed pretty woman wants to sell you a fast car, and so on. It's just so twisted and unnecessary. Surely advertising executives can find some other way to sell their plastic, than to strip all the girls on the street? Men and women continue to bind themselves to the servitude of this mindless behaviour, which suits the people in power, of course, as a means of control. Separating nudity from all the violence and sex, will help free the people of the world from their hot hatreds and from their hidden habits.

5. To encourage environmental awareness, peace and contentment, through nudity.

   Naktiv activities, indeed all naked activites, whether nudist or otherwise, help to contribute to a cleaner environment by using less chemicals, wearing out less clothes and by people feeling more at peace with themselves when they are naked. Naturally this is an unpopular viewpoint, when considered from the position of the multi-national chemical corporation who want to sell more drugs, or petroleum based products. This viewpoint is equally unpopular with the military machine who wants more than anything else to see the entire world dressed in their depersonalising uniforms, and marching towards mutual destruction. There are many vested interests here to stand against, but at the end of the day, the only vested interest which we should consider, is that of the future health of our children, and of their planet - being Naktiv has an important role to play here.

6. To offer advice, and to recommend actions, against negative pressure.

   Naktiv people are essential peaceful people, who believe strongly that being naked is ok. There are many people who believe otherwise, and it is not generally our business to force others to do what we do, but we expect them to leave us alone, and will naturally reciprocate. When a conflict situation does arise, the approved response would be to peacefully allow the situation to dissipate, like water. Mahatma Gandhi's very effective response, of employing peaceful civil disobedience, would be valid.

This is currently a work in progress, and the author/s appreciate your feedback - send your comments to: naktivism.manifesto[at]nakedeurope.org . If you would also like to keep up to date with information regarding the formation of a European Naktiv Foundation you may also join the mailing list by sending a subscription request to subscribe.naktiv[at]nakedeurope.org