Misnomered communites

I want to address some problems that exist with some current types of intentional communities.

An ecovillage is a community based on the premise that we can counter the environmentally damaging effects of modern lifestyles by developing a physical community which uses little to no oil generated energy, recycles, and integrates other strategies for reducing footprint. This sounds wonderful, but there are some major problems with the idea as it is practiced in reality. One is that practically any neighborhood can call itself an ecovillage or a "green" community if it is using something seen or portrayed as "green". I have seen advertisements promoting gated communities which require organic or "green" lawncare, recycling, and have energy efficient housing. Certainly, this is an improvement on conventional gated communities and on suburbian design in general. However, this is a small bandage that is really an attempt to allow things to continue pretty much as as they have, without requiring any real significant changes or sacrifices to lifestyle. I'll start with an easy example: these lawns could be cared for with certified organic businesses. But that does not begin to even think about addressing the problems of excessive land use/misuse for individual houses. It does not say anything about biodiversity or the huge environmental impact caused by gas run lawnmowers. It does not provide for rainfall dispersal and watershed preservation, and it could still be rare to have a commons.

But the greatest flaw of these types of communities is their exclusiveness. And this is not just a trait of "green" gated neighborhoods.... it persists through the design of many intentional communities. Recently on the community bulletin board at work, there was an advertisement for a "Solar Village" with "generous income requirements". This was $68,000 for one person! It is understandable that since these communities, often newly built, and with expensive features and technologies, need some way to pay for the land, the buildings, materials, and services. However, requiring that level guarantees that, while the community will be financially stable, it will also tend strongly to exclude the following people: many blue-collar workers, young people, blacks, latinos, asians, the handicapped, poorer artists and artisans, small-scale farmers, activists, non-profit workers, and students. Excluding these groups from a community constitutes a huge flaw. Some of these groups, such as activists, artists, farmers, students, and young people represent groups which have very high potential to be vibrant, active, and innovative. But excluding any population of people from a system called "sustainable" is problematic. If only the wealthy can afford "sustainble" lifestyles, what happens to the poor people? Since there is a huge population of poor relative to wealthy, we will not have truly sustainable systems unless they account for everyone. That is to say, if some groups have access to solar power and other forms of renewable energy, but the poor can only rely on coal, oil, and other non-renewable energy sources, then we are not building a future which is truly sustainable. This type of use and abuse of the term "sustainability" makes it into a form of status and propagation of problematic forms of organizing society.

Fog is shrinking

It's 2:30 am. Since I went to bed on time for once, this means that I slept about 2 hours and have been fooling around on the computer for half an hour. I've been struggling with existential anxiety a lot this semester. I have been chanting a lot more and I feel like my vision is clearing. I've said before that this blog isn't so much about the details of my personal life. So why am I writing about this here? Because I am seeing my path clearer, I am working on multiple ends

I wrote a bit recently about the conundrum of whether to become landed first or to break dependency on employ. I am starting to think that it makes sense to work on it from both ends simultaneously, however I can. There is no reason not to go for a land trust and a village and a worker/producer co-op. These things all go hand in hand as part of the diverse economy. There is an opportunity that I have been informed about to make a leap from my current job into an existing co-op. I will be hoping and chanting for it. But I am also able to take a step back and realize that even if I do not obtain this particular transition, a cooperative work environment is not out of reach. I can apply for others in the area, and I can start one more... as long as jobs the current system continue to exist, there will be a place for worker co-ops to develop.

I am not a victim. I do not have to see myself as trapped or overwhelmed or having odds stacked against me. I only need to act and to believe and to persevere.

FYI

I've created a second version of this blog at http://sunflowervillager.wordpress.com/
Feel free to follow it there if you prefer; I intend to continue posting at both sites.

Thanks for your continued support!

Satellite Housing Rewrite

Hyrum left a comment which made me realize I hadn't explained Satellite Housing as clearly as I'd thought, so I"m going to try again.

A central commons building could provide for a large part of common needs, avoiding much of the redundancy of equipment and housing that is created by conventional residential architecture and community structure in the United States (and to varying extents, elsewhere). I would recommend that this structure include a well equipped kitchen (including drying, canning, freezing, and other equipment/spaces used inprocesses for food storage), common dining space, a library/study, a craft and art area, and bathing facilities. It would also make sense to have dorms in this building for part time or temporary villagers.

Miniature dwellings would provide personal space and privacy for families and and long term/full time villagers. At most, these should contain sleeping quarters, intelligent toilets (ex composting), perhaps one or two burners, and limited seating space. These dwellings would be as well insulated as the Central House. Maximum power should be obtained at each dwelling, supplemented where necessary. Long term members would have the option to design their own dwelling, probably in a seniority order. They would have assistance from the village in the construction. The village benefits from this by having more private space, and freeing up rooms/dorms for more and newer members/visitors. These dwellings should be built to have minimal ecological impact, using such concepts as sun-orientation, safe/environmentally friendly insulation, renewable energy, grey-water plumbing/composting, sustainable/recycled materials, simple machines, and low square-footage. Examples include (but are not limited to yurts, treehouses, mini-cabins/houses, geodomes, Spaceship Earth dwellings, or longhouses (for larger families or family groups).

Ownership/stewardship system is not yet clearly established. While ideally the original designers and inhabitants would ideally continue residence in these dwellings and participation in the village, it is recognized that other scenarios arise and contingencies must be provided. But while the designer-inhabitants are there, once the dwelling is approved, they have residential sovereignty over the dwelling. That is to say, the village will not involuntarily move/relocate the inhabitants and that the inhabitants set the rules and norms about that dwelling, except as shall be illegal or contrary to the village values and mission.

Land Trust Non-profit evolutions!

Today I went to my second meeting of a group of people considering forming a land trust non-profit. I think there have been a couple of other meetings, but I only found out about this in September via Chris. It was interesting, because today the meeting contained an entirely different group of people than the last, except for the central organizer and myself. But it seems like we're boiling down to a few ideas:

One, that we're probably moving towards forming a non-profit Land Trust. This could be a parent/umbrella organization whose main purpose is helping people get access/education about land.

Two, that there is clearly a group of people interested in developing some kind of community related to this Land Trust. This could end up as one community or multiples. We will do more brainstorming about shared visions we have in this area.

There is discussion too, about whether we should try to get onto some land right away, renting or whatever, as a way to practice/experiment/learn about community and developing related skills, or whether we should focus on ideals and bonds.

I'm really excited to be working with people, figuring out practically how we're going to do this stuff!

And Tom and I have been talking about ideas too! Now if so much of school didn't feel like a distraction!

Taking Action

As I mentioned before, Julie Graham started a Wiki for my Economic Geography class. I've just made a contribution to the section I'll be studying for the rest of the semester. You can see it here: Diverse Economy activities of Intentional Communities in Massachusetts, Vermont, and New York.
Doing the research for that felt really productive. I love how absolutely relevant this class is. But it does make me wonder a bit about why I have such a hard time doing this kind of research and writing on my own. I do love it. I think maybe it has something to do with dreaming hard and feeling like there are possibilities but they're so far away all the time. But not learning about them doesn't bring them any closer. So I'm glad that this class is getting me moving.

I fantasize about living in space I have control over all the time. It's something I'll have to drop off and on as school keeps me on it's schedule, but I'm going to start looking at architecture again. I am going to just listen to Goethe more: Whatever you can dream, begin it; for there is magic and power in it. It's alright to have halting starts and half-finished things... they are all part of the building of dreams, of taking action. And action lets me get somewhere, let's me see and others see that these are no mere pipe dreams or infantile wishes. A better world is possible. Some people are already making it better, and I am learning to be one of them.

Standby for Determination Boost.

I am thinking a lot about myself and who I am really, in terms of being an activist, a social theorist, a radical, a scholar/student, a wage-slave, an unwilling but necessary participator in a society with plastic expectations. I find myself failing to meet expectations, not because they aren't something that can't happen, but because I am more scared than I realize. I loose focus and question myself and feel overwhelmed by all the factors.

Now, before you leap up to defend me, please understand I am not trying to be hard on myself. I recognize that I do that a lot, but right now I am just trying to be honest with myself about where I'm at. It's a process I am going through and it probably has a few more phases. But being defensive by enumerating what I'm doing or how difficult it is doesn't get me anywhere. Believe me, I know it. But if this is ever going to happen, I must continue to grow and expand on what I am doing.

Ultimately, this is a declaration: I will be stronger. That strength will be based on meaningful, significant action.

Diverse Economy

I've been wanting to sit down and write a thorough blog post this week, but I've been a bit distracted with my personal struggles. Now I'm back on track and school and heroes like Jenny are feeding me all sorts of sources for things to write about. Most useful, unsurprisingly, is my Economic Geography class. Julie has collected all kinds of great resources for us to better understand the diverse economy. Additionally, she and Leo (our TA) have created a wiki for our class, so we're basically creating a wiki on diverse economy for us all to work on and share with the world. You can see it here: http://geo360.pbworks.com/

Due to the video she had us watch by Hans Rosling, I'm now super-excited about TED.org

Whoops, worktime.

Economic Epiphanies

I had big realizations reading for Economic Geography last night and while listening to Julie talk in class today. Too drowsy to write about that in detail tonight, but plan to address it soon. Going to make my study topic "Intentional Communities and Alternative Currencies in Western Massachusetts/Vermont" and possibly New York.

Edit: FYI, here's a link to what I've been reading: http://www.communityeconomies.org/index.php. I will be making references to this later tonight when I can devote some good time to writing.