Landlessness and wage-bonds

Long week... already, catching up from being sick
not just from school, but that, yes, always that, doing what I can, and communicating like crazy, to profs, TAs, SGI people.
Still not caught up with myself. Got to do some dishes after finishing homework tonight, and yeah, I said *got* to and meant it. Thank goodness Daniel did the laundry. We're both running hard and doing all we can, and our lives are becoming ever more gargantuan.

Lots of things I want to write about - my connect/disconnect to Marx, marxism, labor. My passion for Upton Sinclair. Thinking about economy and organization of labor. Reconsidering my approaches.

There are two bandages that hold us in thrall, physically in this society.

(I know there are others, many others, in spiritual, intellectual, other areas, I know, know too that they are all interconnected, but I have a PoinT here... that is to say, there are two bondages)

There are two bondages: Being, still, after milennia, the landless peasantry, the land ripped away from us (ill-ly)legally....( we, the working class, the producers, the makers of vitals or the chain of people who get them from the makers to You, consumer.) In short: we rent, we do not own our castles, our abodes where we may at last have our Say. I rent, so I do not define my own space, except on the surface, my trappings, my coverings, things I bring every place I live to remind-pretend that this is not someone else's. I doubt again that I will grow corn next spring or summer, and who knows if/when ever I'll get that cat door. Because it is not something I really have a say over. So, the bondage that I rent, that I am landless, like every lowest class. And there abounds the myth that there is not class in *America. So, the idea, the revolutionistic desire that once again, we should have an abode, for us, not for the profit of another, but a place to finally hang our hat at the end of the day and not worry whether the second bondage threatens us in the security of our sleep.

The second bondage: to work filling the pockets of others to bursting, and not being able to tell whether we fill ours just enough to eat, to sedate ourselves a little into acceptance, or whether we are actually benefiting from the arrangement, making progress towards freedom from the first bondage or following dreams or saving the world or merely having a fulfilling occupation. Yes, that second bondage is, (and I *will* be so bold as to thank Marx for this line) the slavery of wage.... that endless work that we too often cannot tell what happens to, who it benefits, if it is what we are told it is. Is this the best we have to offer? Too many inconsistencies, and always this cycle of how much do we risk to speak up to appease our angry sense of justice , how much do we live with in order that we may attempt to someway, somehow, accomplish our nobler ends? The means ARE connected, invariably to the ends. There must be better means, or our ends are sure to haunt us as tainted. To which solution, then do I dare?

I don't know yet... again, more research, more dialogue, more experimentation and self-delving.

Again, and more. A few snippets of new connections, fresh determination, I leave here tonight. There is certainly more whirling around, but tomorrow has, again, many demands.

The Dream Gets Closer

Yesterday went to a meeting of "the Valley Community Land Collective". This baby is in it's inception. There was a lot of thoughtful dialogue, and it was exciting to be around 7 or 8 people with similar interests. A representative from a Land Trust in Franklin County was there, and she fielded a lot of questions about the logistics of how a land trust actually operates. The conclusion of the meeting was that we need to continue getting to know each other and what our goals are, finding the intersections there. I have a lot of appreciation for Matt, who's been working hard to get people together around this, and for Chris M, who sent me the info about the meeting in the first place. The dream gets closer.

P.S. This meeting was a block and a half from my house, and pretty much all the people live in Northampton...

I also ran into Sara P. earlier in the day. I keep thinking about her but not calling her, so this was a gift. I have so much admiration for her, and wish to learn from her.

I've been thinking a little about how an egalitarian society needs to function. Two of the greatest failings of past communities that I've studied so far were 1) maintaining leadership as the role of a single person indefinitely, and 2) obtaining land prematurely and not on premises in line with the ideals of the community. Ergo, I have a strong desire to do things differently. While it is important that I be willing to do everything necessary to the development of the village myself, I must maintain my desire to have people strive *with* me, and not inherently below me. I am aware that there are always those who lead and those who are either not ready to lead or are content not to. The important thing is that I remember that as human beings we are fundamentally equal. I must be willing to accept that other people may have ideas just as good or better than mine, and I must strive to make the Initiative's leadership multilateral. I also must remember to respect the different stages of interest, commitment, and practical action that people and their lives are at. One of the ways I am going to do this now is to allow people the space to stand up, without badgering. I have been learning a lot about this from Buddhism over the course of the past two years. I have a lot more to learn about leadership I know. I am grateful for the opportunities I have with the SGI that are teaching me so much that will prove useful in the future as I develop this dream into reality.

As for land, while it is an exciting and desireable aspect of a community/village which strives for self-sufficiency, the land itself is not the core or glue of a village. Unfortunately, many people have not initially realized this. A telling sign of this tendency is that so many people like to immediately ask where the village will be. Right now, as cheesy as it sounds, the village is in my heart. When others begin to share that vision and desire with me, it will begin to live in our hearts. When there is a core of people unified around the village vision, then we begin to make it a reality, by working on it and planning it together. And finally, when we have developed unity and a strong sense of community, the village will find land in a place which is most appropriate. There have been various proposals of "finding a rich friend" or getting someone to donate the land. This attitude is dangerous. As is demonstrated by the early history of the Twin Oaks community, one person who is part of owning a community can lead that person to believe he (or she) has special priviledges, especially in saying how the community is run. So although I or someone else may own property on which villagers initially live, either eventually that property should be sold in the pursuit of other land, or there should be some kind of transfer of the property to ownership by the village as a whole.

I could, perhaps elaborate on that further. But it will have to wait another day. I will be away for about 4 days, so there may not be any posts until next week. But I am intent on continuing to build a rhythm of writing daily about the village, apart from this time span.