Trace lives in Durham, NC with his partner Kristin. He works for Eastern Carolina Organics and is actively engaged in supporting local and organic farms through his work and personal life. Trace, along with Kristin, used to be a part of Circle Acres, a collective land project. That project was an example of misplaced optimism in the ability of humans to transcend their hierarchy of participation. Orwell wrote “if you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face forever”. That would sum up Circle Acres if anyone there could be bothered to put down the home-brew for long enough to put on a boot.
Orwell also said, “Either we all live in a decent world, or nobody does.“ If your objective is to live a simple life, apart from wage labor or the vagaries of the economy, I support that fully and hope that I can join you. What I do not support in any way is living that life at the expense of folks who must navigate the outside world for you, shelter you from all the ups and downs, take care of your correspondence and make sure the bills get paid on time. That is how I feel about the current state of Circle Acres and my part in it. I feel punished because I was not willing to take more than my share while others were unburdened by such parameters. The feeling is that everything is for them no matter who bought it, brought it, harvested it, built it or found it. That is a perversion of anarchism. That is freeloading – plain, simple and acidly true.
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Trace has been involved with community gardening, Community Supported Agriculture, Food Not Bombs, housing collectives, bike recycleries, Really Really Free Markets, and just about every radical DIY project you can think of. Since its inception in October of 2008, Trace has also been involved in Crop Mob, a loose organization of young farmers. Trace loves to dumpster dive, so let him know if you are going; he is a digger and not a surface snob.
In 2008 Trace finished his first book, an anthology of his zine Quitter. His solo photography show, New Blood for the Old Body, documenting the young agrarian movement is currently touring North Carolina.
Trace is not a talker. Trace also thinks it is a little weird to talk about himself in the third person.
Trace can be reached by email at traceramsey -at- gmail.com
