Solidarity

If all I wanted was to get myself off-grid and "free" from the many constraints of modern society, I could do it, fairly easily even. I could simply move to one of the (few) parts of the world where traditional lifeways still persist, although I might have to save a chunk of money to get there, or be willing to be an absolute and utter hermit in the more densely populated areas of our own country. But I want far more than that. I want for anyone who desires it and is willing to work for it to also have the opportunity to live a self-determined life. I want to offer a model anyone could use to achieve that. I want to create the means for American society to transform itself, and thereby teh rest of the world.

This is where solidarity comes in.

Solidarity is the idea that if someone else is experiencing social or other structural injustice, I stand by that person and work with them to change that situation. Many people may be familiar with this through the history of the labor movements in Europe and the United States, and revolutionary movements of former colonies. Really this concept contributes to the strength of any community.

Around the world as industrialization and colonization have occurred and continue to occur, local communities often experience a breakdown in social cohesion. Much of this could be considered to be undermining solidarity by encouraging people to be primarily concerned with their own fortunes and not the whole of the community. Unfortunately, this process divorces people from the reality that the condition of a community's solidarity reflects whether other conditions which support the success of individuals to be empowered are likely to continue.

I feel like here I'm about to get into self and inter-reliance. Just making a break here in case I decide they really are separate subjects.

Reliance can be viewed as 3 potential components: self, inter, and dependency. Ofeten in our (American) society, reference is only made to self-reliance and dependence. This is of great concern because it suggests that only two extremes and no middle ground exist, which doesn't reflect my experience of reality.

Self reliance suggests that people have a number of traits which propel them towards greater achievement. Dependency suggests that a person cannot take initiative or be motivated unless they are pushed by another person. While both conditions occur, neither is really healthy, and it seems to me that most people blend a combination of these two, primarily centered on a third type of reliance, which I term inter-reliance. More on that soon!

Focusing

I wasn't really happy with my last post, and on reflection, it's because I started losing the real sight of what this blog is supposed to be about... explanation of how I see the village forming and not how-to notes or relevance of whatever I happen to be thinking about. So what I intend to do now is explain some key concepts and principles that serve as the motivation for where this is headed, as well as some of the functions that will be based on those things.

In the posts to come I plan to discuss the following:

Principles:
Self and Inter Reliance
Solidarity
Subsidiarity
Sustainability
Symbiosis
Synergy
Self-determination
Egalitarianism
Justice
Dialogue
Seven Generations
Transparency

(I have no idea why so many of these start with an S. )

Functions:
-Food Production
-Renewable Energy Loop
-Sustainable Goods Production
-Proximity
-Interconnected Success

intro forests

I apologize for the half-finished nature of the posts on this blog so far. I hope to become more intentional about posting, instead of just grasping the inspiration to get moving when I have just a couple of minutes. Due to the nature of my life right now, it seems like by the time I return to the blog, some other inspiration or connection has come along that I want to make sure I take note of. I'm not abandoning anything that I've mentioned thus far. I want to come back and address it more fully at some point, but I also want to make sure I capture things when they are immediate so that I don't lose them.

For example, right now I want to do a bit on Forestry and how I see it intertwining with village values and means. But I have about 4 minutes until I need to clock into work, so forgive me for breaking off mid-thought.

Forests and Peoples is definitely a class I needed to take. I appreciate the broad view it gives of American forest history and I'm excited that we're starting to talk about the basics of forest function and management. It is really clear to me that trees are a vital part of success for the village and what it stands for. Forests provide many things, and many indigenous people from all parts of the globe consider themselves "forest people". The village won't healthily subsist indefinitely without close association with local forest and/or woodlots. Not only do forests provide food, shelter, and many other products for human existence, they purify watersheds, recycle nutrients, stabilize environment.... I could go on and on. And I have to go.