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This is a 60 page document proposing a detailed vision for returning to a more nature way to live, back to land in a tribal community. PART 1

January 21, 2010

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PROPOSAL FOR INTENTIONAL COMMUNITY       Copyright.   Although this proposal is the culmination of many experiences, the lessons derived from many failures, much inspiration has been lifted from the soon to be published book, entitled: ‘The Nature of our Universe - A wholistic Theory of Everything\'. Therefore it is fitting to respect the copyrights of this book by applying the same restrictions to this proposal. Requests for permission to use any of the material covered in this proposal should be submitted to the contributing authors of this document.   Introduction   Without a doubt, we humans currently living on this planet, are going through one of the most challenging and interesting times in human history. It is becoming apparent that the ‘isms\' of the past are unraveling as they ran their course to keep humanity enslaved and asleep while the exploitation of the planet and its inhabitants has been relentless in the name of ‘progress to nowhere\' and unbridled prosperity by taking the ‘best from the rest\'. Although this journey has been very ‘successful\' for a few, it has brought us to the edge of unprecedented global disaster. Many of us are finally seeing the signs of our limited planet in distress and coming to realize that we humans can and should make a difference before the Laws of Nature make us realize that the planet could be better without us humans on board.   We should not forget that our destructive and exploitive behavior is a rather recent development and is rooted in a growing disconnectedness from nature and the ignorance of the balancing principles which have sustained our living planet since time in memorial. Deep within ourselves, we all ‘gnow\' that we belong to this planet on this planet.   In case we humans decide to remain part of this biosphere, we will have to adjust to the dictates of nature and no longer think that we humans can dictate nature for our personal benefits. Before we can contemplate right action, we have to explore ‘right\' thinking, which implies right for the greater picture, for the longest term possible, which means true and global sustainability. Depending on the measure of ‘success\' for who and for how long, it could be argued that all actions and all thinking is ‘right\'! Who is it to say that something is wrong in the face of progress and success, especially economic and financial success.   But as we look around, we also see how the world is closing in on itself, how economic success is a fallacy as we are running out of natural resources, how we are changing our climate in unprecedented ways, depleting our water reserves and losing the ability to safeguard our food supply, it is becoming clear that the productive and reproductive capacity of our only planet cannot sustain the increasing demand for resources represented in the fictitious money circling the globe. The recent financial meltdown is only a prelude of what is inevitable, of what is to come! Although the recent bailouts might keep the global economy on life support for some time to come, we should not overlook that such bailout moneys are the inheritance of our children and grand children, while the reality remains that all the money currently in circulation are promissory notes representing the resources of at least a dozen earth-like planets. This multiple bankruptcy scam will only come to light when our planet can no longer live up to our financial expectations. We are obviously inching towards that breaking point.   Nevertheless, life goes on and those who intent to be with the living and keep a positive and livable future in mind will feel the urge to come together with like-minded souls, and explore what they truly have in common in order to make serious decisions how to face the uncertain future which is certain to wake us all up to a very different reality. May the following be such an exploration, an attempt to come to our senses and make a serious attempt to bring those of us together in understanding and with common action, to pick up the lessons learned and try to make a difference for the benefit of our planet and all its inhabitants.   That is our only hope! What follows is a mere proposal towards such a sane and sustainable lifestyle, an attempt to bring various ideas together and create common ground on which to build a harmonious future. As such, this proposal is not a stone carving, not a divine bible, but the result of countless experiments by countless people, the result of endless conversations and incredible inspirations, and written by a group of dedicated individuals who have only the highest ideals in mind. Nevertheless, a very important part is still missing : YOURS ! Therefore, we ask you to read this proposal from cover to cover and to cover, and in case you still feel that what we strive for is in line with your aspirations, please contact us, we are waiting for you. We want to hear from you, and especially we want you to make an effort to add to this proposal, to make it better for all, including you, instead of diminishing it.   Although the intentions proposed in this document might seem out of this world, Utopian, we should remind ourselves that humankind has been living in harmony with the natural dynamics throughout the ages in countless civilizations, it has been the norm - nothing new! Our western individualistic lifestyle is a very recent development, only possible through the exploitation and ignorance. Although this might sound contradictory, especially during an age of information with its relentless bombardment of trivial information, but we remain ignorant when we do not take the time or are not allowed the time to convert the ‘What\' into \'Why\', to digest the information and distill into wisdom, wisdom urgently needed to take proper action for the longterm benefit.   As our current civilization is coming to its demise, future generations will look back at the ‘Plastic Age\' as a very dark and destructive age. Hopefully the record of history will remind them that when people do not take the responsibility for their well being in their own hands and allow themselves to be governed by a centralized hierarchy, a monarchy or an oligarchy, they become subject to be obedient, to be indoctrinated, to be preached at, to become law-driven, to be dictated, to be registered, to be censured, to be kept in sight, to be controlled, to be estimated, to be valued, to be inspected, to be taxed, to be exploited, to be numbered, to be enrolled, to be drafted, to be commanded, in short: to be enslaved by creatures who have neither the right nor the wisdom, nor the virtue to do so! Their only morality is self-enrichment.   The prevailing antidote to such undignified life is to avoid those entrapments by living as detached as possible, called individualism. Despite the good intentions, the individualistic lifestyle tends to become the smaller replica of the monster itself, or it becomes clear that with only two hands and 24 hours in a day, the individual quickly becomes the slave of his/her limitations. Although the individualistic lifestyle might seem the solution to stand up against Big Brother, it should not be overlooked that Big Brother thrives on divide and conquer, on instilling competition in all aspects of our lives and therefore individualism is being glorified and is the cornerstone of the promised New World Order. After all, it is much easier to control and exploit individuals, while economic growth needs a constant increase in consumption, and the less we share, the bigger the market, the better for the economy. Who in their ‘right\' mind could be against such economic success, but when we also allow our ‘left\' mind to be heard, we recognize the illusion.   Despite the promotion and glorification of rugged individualism throughout our western culture, most humans still sense the need to connect with others, feel the sense of belonging and meaning when they live in relationship with others, after all, we\'re social animals - it\'s part of our nature!   If we are to thrive as individuals and as a society, it is imperative that we belong in community. In today\'s urbanized environment, dominated by cars, urban sprawl, mass media, and rat-race lifestyles, community can be hard to find and even harder to maintain.   Our only alternative is the self-governing of small groups of people, groups with a common purpose and common resources, governed with a common over-arching motivation which is as benign and as close as possible to those affected, basically an an-archy (no arch). Throughout the ages, such social structures have been called tribes or clans, but in line with the ideology of this proposal and as a way to stay away from the assumptions associated with our understandings of a tribe or clan, the word community seems more appropriate and reflecting the true nature of our endeavor.   Although the word community is commonly used for countless forms of associations between people, beings or things, on the societal level, Community is a general term that represents a wide variety of living alternatives. Depending on the intention of such a group of like-minded people, they range from the highly unusual, to quite conservative arrangements of potential mainstream interest. As such, an intentional community is a group of people who have chosen to live or work together in pursuit of a common goal or vision. Thousands exist today, rural or urban, communal or individualistic, spiritual or secular, big or small. They can be based around any number of themes, such as economic cooperation, equality, gender, common environmental concerns, environmental sustainability, education, health, participative government, personal growth, social activism, spirituality, voluntary simplicity, also, a community can be based on a specific religion, scripture or a followship of a Guru, a charismatic leader, or his/her teachings. The term Intentional Community, \"I.C.\" includes ecovillages, cohousing, land trusts, communes, urban or rural collectives, student co-ops, urban housing cooperatives & other related projects and dreams. Each form has a specific objective, a specific intention.   In light of the global socio/economic situation and the resulting environmental degradation, we realize that most of the above mentioned forms of communities are mere pseudo solutions, prolonging the current unsustainable status quo while doing little to help us face the paradigm shift so badly needed. Despite the communal intentions, most forms of community end up only having the Highway in common, the roads where binding common rules apply. If we choose to be part of the solution, we need more, much more, no longer ‘make-me-feel-good\' remedies.   As a matter of fact, we humans have the responsibility to face the consequences of trying to prolong the current unsustainable status quo, as it is clear that everyday we prolong the status quo, our planet is losing on bio-diversity as species go extinct. As we know, extinction is forever! The faster we humans can help the planet to shift into its new paradigm in waiting, the better changes the planet has to rebound with the residual bio-diversity. Choosing the kind of community is paramount in this process of transition.   Therefore, the community envisioned and as proposed in this document has the intention to be part of the solution of the above described socio/economic/ecological balancing act our planet is preparing for. As such, we, those contributing to this proposal, strive to pattern our thinking and actions on the Universal principles of Nature, as they are currently understood or made possible to be understood by those willing to engage in unbiased exploration and study. We are blessed to be living in a period with unprecedented access to knowledge and information, the ability to communicate instantly with countless people all over the world, and still able to travel with minimal restrictions wherever we see fit. All this gives us the exceptional ability to learn and compare from countless sources and cultures and choose only what is part of the solution. Since we strive for all-encompassing, long-term and universal solutions, it is fitting to call them ‘wholistic\'. Therefore, we see this community as a wholistic community, while the participants of such community are striving in daily life to live in harmony and according to those universal principles. In short, we strive to have an active interaction with the universal dynamics, a comprehensive relationship with the Universe. At this point, it is important to make a distinction between the universe and the Universe (capitalized). It could be argued that the universe is as seen by us humans, at this stage of our evolving comprehension, while the word Universe implies the totality of everything embodied into unity, ‘one version\', from Latin: uni - verso. As such, we strive to see the Universe as being beyond any form of duality, including beyond the concepts of creator and creation, or designer and design, etc. As far as we can tell, all humans have in varying degree a relationship with their environment, the world of nature and beyond, considered the universe. Most of those forms of relationships have, to a certain degree been formulated by organizations or institutions, and captured on stone or in holy books, to become the teachings (doctrine) of a specific religion (religion, from Latin: Religaere, to relate). Since most of the current doctrines are inconclusive, fragmented, conflicting and demonstrating a failing grade in the world of here and now, it will be the ongoing pursuit of this community and its members to explore a workable and realistic wholistic relationship with the Universe. Since such exploration is in its infancy and needs the active participation of the community members, it is beyond this proposal to elaborate in further detail. Nevertheless, this task will stretch our imagination beyond our boundaries and give open-mindedness a very challenging work-out. At this stage, it is equally clear that countless dogmas and theories of our current scientific portfolio will need to be re-examined, challenged and if needed, changed in order to maintain harmony with the Universal Principles. All this will need critical thinking, challenging debates and conversations, open-mindedness with only the highest values and universal solutions in mind.   By now it should be clear that the community envisioned is not intended to become a place to hide from the turmoil facing the planet, not a place to invest during turbulent financial times and hoping to save and possibly gain in monetary value when favorable economic times might rebound, not a place to run away from a failing relationship and regain sanity to rejoin the dysfunctional system all over again, not a place to wait out the economic downturn and lack of employment and eventually reposition oneself to resume the rat-race with renewed vigor. To the contrary, this community will be the coming together of very unique people, very courageous people, people who recognize that it is our birthright to belong and to find meaning and purpose while living on this planet, people who understand that by losing everything - we gain everything! With ‘everything\' we mean the potential to become authentic, the potential to live our lives the way the laws of nature intended humans to live and find harmony within the whole, harmony with our Mother, this Planet.   As it is becoming increasingly clear that our current progress motivated lifestyle is in a losing battle with the balancing dynamics of the biosphere of our planet and as we are inching towards the tipping point of ‘no return\', the quest for an alternative lifestyle based on balance and universal harmony is not only urgent but our only realistic hope for the human species to be an integral link in the biosphere, our only sensible hope for the future.   That is what this proposal is all about - a tool to pave the new way forward, not by instilling fear and uncertainty, but based on a better understanding of the whole, motivated by our desire to live a true sustainable lifestyle, a coming to the realization that we cannot achieve this objective by remaining fragmented and individualistic and at the same time to help us funnel our dedication towards achievable goals.   But this proposal is also intended to help those who are drawn towards a communal lifestyle, to bring clarity and understanding, to help them see if communal living is something they are ready for, to help them make up their mind and make conscious decisions. As such, this proposal is a useful tool to reduce the endless talking and discussions in order to convey the intentions of this community. For those who are spearheading such a socio/economic challenge as is proposed in this proposal, it is very clear that a lot of time can be saved by expressing our goals and ambitions on paper and using the information technology. This helps the reader and potential communard to come to their own decisions on their own terms. Therefore, this proposal is also a tool for self-selecting. Those who have done their ‘homework\' and have come to terms with their personal social and economic problems which keep us to varying degree enslaved in our dysfunctional and unsustainable consumer lifestyle, will quickly recognize if the following resonates in a positive way, will recognize if this proposal is supporting their dream of how to move forward in our troubled times.   Although the following pages are devoted to outline many rules and expectations, from past experiences it was learned that a community of people only have something in common or able to achieve a common goal when they are willing to commit to commonly held principles, commonly held rules. For those who are ready to jump into a proposed community as outlined in the following pages, those rules will be as expected, evident and most likely seen as the best way to achieve the higher goals we hold in common. For those, those rules will have no purpose and will not be needed unless we encounter discourse and fragmentation along the way. During those challenging times, (which are surely to be faced), we might find it important to revisit this proposal and the ideas we have agreed upon. And most likely, we will have to reconsider what we find currently acceptable and restate our new understandings of what it means to grow towards community. As mentioned before, this proposal is not a bible, but a work in progress. Our flexibility and creativity will at times be stretched to new dimensions, but we have to remind ourselves that as far as we currently know, not one book, entitled : ‘Community building for Dummies\' is waiting to be picked from a shelf.   For those to which the rules for this community are beyond acceptance, it is important to ask whether communal living is the next level of your personal human evolution on this planet. Those spearheading this project will understand the numerous challenges potential members are facing and facilitate in appropriate decision making. After all, a community is not served by people who recognize that they do not belong or who have committed to very different aspirations.   Finally, despite the common belief that when you build it, people will come, as is portrayed by Hollywood in movies such as ‘Field of Dreams\', those spearheading this socio/economic challenge are convinced that first we need to create a common foundation from which our common vision will emerge, which in turn will shape a common mission or action plan. In other words, we see the need to start this project from a non-materialistic level, from the ideological plane with as many like-minded persons as possible. By doing so, we hope to be building a community that will serve our needs instead of the people involved having to serve the needs of something that will eventually derail us back into the current status quo. This approach helps us to stay focused on the vision and design of this project, before we get potentially lost in the maintenance of what might not even serve us.     History   Communities are not new. Throughout the ages, people around the world have lived in communities, tribes, clans, extended families for most of the time. Our current western individualistic lifestyle is a rather new and recent development, mainly made possible by our ignorance and our separateness from nature, the exploitation of others and of the natural forces, while helped beyond the natural balancing dynamics by the more recent Industrial Revolution. As a matter of fact, the human species would never have survived the adverse challenges along our evolutionary path if we had not found ways to co-operate with our fellow humans, if we had lived so out of touch with the natural dynamics as we are believed we can do today.   Obviously, our currently glamorized western individualism is a fantasy, only possible for a few, good for the economy but a disaster for the ecology.   Although this emerging disaster could add pressure to revive the need to a more communal lifestyle, the need to seek community stems from a more innate human desire to find meaning and belonging amidst those pursuing that similar goal together with the realization that as individuals we have only two hands and 24 hours in any given day in order to take care of what is supposed to be a collective effort.   Therefore, this community is not about getting ready for the impending social/economic/ecological adjustments upon us and finding ways to survive those difficult times to come, instead this community is our way to reclaim our natural birthright, about standing up against the manipulative forces of consumerism and capitalism, our way to create and maintain harmony with our Mother Planet, our way to find harmony and satisfaction within ourselves.   About a generation ago, our western civilization experienced such a massive awakening as the children of the post second war ‘Golden Age\' rejected the fallacies and the fantasy lifestyle of their parents and paved a future that became known as the ‘Back to the Land\' movement. ‘Flower Power\', ‘Free Love\' and ‘Back to Basics\' became the new mantras and countless communities of all stripes and colors dotted the land, not only in North America, but into the far corners of the world.   Inspiring voices from clear minds were shaping a powerful new vision which became a movement that had the potential to change the world within a few decades. There was a new breeze blowing which was emerging in politics, racial attitudes, justice, gender equality, the arts, entertainment, economics, environmental awareness, social conduct, religious tolerance, etc. The end of the Vietnam War became a significant milepost, not only for those championing the New Age, but also for those who had lots to lose with all that ‘Turn on, tune in and drop out\' talk that inspired the Hippies who dared to challenge the status quo. During that time, many friends in various European countries with various backgrounds became inspired by the calls to build community and as they gathered, ideas became formulated in the words that would become the outline of a proposed community. Our first Proposal for Intentional Community was distributed to prospective members in 1974 and has undergone many changes ever since. The latest version is the one you hold. Since the community we envisioned was to bring a new beginning, it was fitting to name the community ‘Genesis\', despite the secular undercurrent of the new community. Within a few years, those trying to keep it going in Belgium saw the need to look beyond the European landscape in order to keep the community on track of where we wanted to see it going, instead of where the surrounding socio/economic forces were tempting to pull us. Eventually, in 1978, we obtained emigration status to move to Canada. Not having a clue where we would want to start such a community, we consulted the Book of Changes, the I\'Ching, from which we came to understand that we had to move to the West, to a city of Fruit. After we obtained a more detailed map of the province of British Columbia, we had no doubt that we had to move to Cherryville, and so we did! Little did we know that Cherryville in those days was nothing more than a fork in the road with a modest community hall and a parking lot. In line with our socio/political orientation, we took the left fork in the road and at the end of North Fork Road, that is where the Genesis Community found a new home.   Several years later, we decided that we needed a more secluded place, sold the farm in Cherryville and moved into the nearby Bear Valley, an ideal place, surrounded by Crown lands and away from the outside world, totally off the grid. Eventually, we changed our name into ‘Hailos Community\' as a way to reflect our secular dimensions and our emphasis on a wholistic approach to life (Hailos, from Greek, means ‘hole\', and ‘healing\'). But as numerous communities at that time, gradually we found ourselves struggling to keep the community going. For those from Europe, the transition proved to be harder than we had anticipated and many realized that the world offered richer opportunities, than what a back to basics community could possible offer. Eventually, we decided to terminate the community and the Hailos community came to an end. And although it all seems like a failure and a waste of time, we also learned tremendous from the experiment and had a good chance to reflect on the dynamics that shaped and also failed the communities of those days.   As most communities of those days, we had no experience how to build community, there was no such a thing as a manual or step-by-step community building workshops to help guide us through the many challenges. But the main forces that we came to recognize as detrimental for community are:   <ul> <li> The use of drugs: Although the Genesis community had a very clear anti-drug use policy, the drug culture was definitely part of the time and became part of the scene. And although the use of drugs and especially hallucinates had the potential to be a very important tool to open the minds to new horizons, to see one\'s vision for once and for all, it also diminished that vision as a more frequent use of those substances helped to fragment the minds. Together with the loss of vision came also the loss of will-power, which accelerated the end of numerous communities. </li> </ul>   <ul> <li> The entrenchment of competition: Our western culture is steeped in competition as a potential way to feel good about ourselves. It is a human virtue to have a good feeling about ourselves, but this natural characteristic has been exploited by those who use the Judeo/Christian ideology to make us feel as sinners and losers from the moment we were born on this planet. According to this manipulation, no matter how hard one tries, one can never live up to the exceptional standards of the role-model they fabricated and to be followed in order to be saved... This doctrine has been very successful to make us believe that we are losers, that we lack self-esteem and are in need of outside recognition in the form of being loved and being respected in order to have a sense of self worth. The common disease of our western culture, which has embarked us on an endless pursuit of happiness to be found out there. Although many of the communards have walked away from this blatant manipulation, deep entrenched remains the urge to compete in order to feel good about oneself, in order to feel a sense of self-worth and deserving respect, in order to feel superior. A community is supposed to be the opposite, a place where people recognize that they cannot and do not need to be at the top of the game to be happy, in order to lead a purposeful and meaningful life, rather need the complementary help and co-operation of others to make the larger whole functional. Nevertheless, the spirit of competition is poison to the community, it not only separates and divides, but also it sustains a sense of perpetual unhappiness. Although this attitude is very good for the current economy, which is based on growth and never good enough, and therefore competition is encouraged, but a community that strives to become sustainable has to make choices and find value in very different virtues. </li> </ul>   <ul> <li> A third reason why many communities of those days failed was the successful introduction of the women\'s liberation movement. One of the hallmarks of the hippie-movement of the Sixties was the recognition and acceptance of the complementary nature of males and females, the acceptance that both genders are very different and do not have to become the same in order to find satisfaction and happiness in life. There was the tendency to create family based on shared and complementary responsibilities, based on traditional values and roles, there was a strive to reclaim responsibilities for many aspects of life and to find our own solutions (natural and wholistic healing methods became the new options, growing our own food as much as possible, bartering instead of using a taxable monetary system, home births and midwifery was a direct way to stand up against the medicalization of very natural aspects of our lives, anti-consumerism and non-conformism were attempts to reclaim our independence and find a new and sustainable way to live, reclaiming our connection with nature). Small became Beautiful as it became evident that we were heading towards Silent Spring. From an economic viewpoint, those New Age tendencies were poison and stood in the way for economic growth which was and is still needed to be maintained in order to outrun the reality that our economic and financial systems are bankrupt, that we\'re living a big illusion, living beyond the means of our limited planet, living beyond the productive and reproductive capacity of our only planet. It was the time when it became increasingly clear that the great hopes for unlimited food production through the newly developed Green Revolution were being dashed by the reality that nature eventually regains its balance and made humanity realize that what we gain at the expense of nature, we eventually lose. Also, the hippie movement was effectively undermining the consumer/capitalist state and the growing wave of drop-outs was jeopardizing the productive and military capacity of the nations. Use of hallucinates became the new sin, became criminalized as it gave too many the insights the controllers and beneficiaries of the status quo did not want anybody to ‘see\'. As the global economy was heading downwards, new willing slaves were needed while new ways to generate competition had to be introduced. Very few saw how the emerging women\'s liberation movement was just that, not designed to liberate the women, but hijacked to enslave them in the workforce and as they became the new competitors for the same jobs, for the same rewards and the same of everything else their male partners were striving for, they were being promised that they could also become their equals. </li> </ul>   As it is all too obvious, but throughout the Universe, equals always repel, while opposites attract. As a result, relationships were failing and their splitting up resulted in the doubling of the market place, as twice as many houses, cars, household appliances, etc were needed to accommodate the new landscape of fragmented relationships. The doubling incomes also doubled the prices of the commodities, since in a market driven economy, the highest bidder determines the price and as a result we all have to work harder, faster and longer for the same basics such as housing, food and energy. All this has been the new driving force for the economy ever since. As more women were led to believe that they had good reason to be unhappy in their traditional roles as parent/mother/householder, more were adding to the workforce and the resulting productive capacity, which gave a steady growth to the economy as seen during the last four decades. Besides the manufacturing of unhappiness for the women, the propaganda through the media was designed to glamorize the women as multi-taskers and as being on top of the world, while at the same time depicting men as helpless losers and buffoons. Along the same trend, the gift to think, the capacity to analyze and to come to a logic solution were (and still are) despised and seen as masculine, negative and in the way of ‘progress to nowhere\'. The ‘Right Brain\' doctrine became the new gospel and guiding criteria for everything that needed a decision, while the left brain was seen as an obstacle and to be ignored, seen as from the ‘head\' instead of from the ‘heart\'. This unbalanced development, known as ‘feminitis\' has in recent years adopted a new dimension and became much more undercover, much more subtle but nevertheless very effective. This latest strive to undermine masculinity has shifted from what we hear and what we see to what we eat. Thanks to the genetically modified food technology, we westerners now eat close to 100% feminine foods, whether we eat seedless watermelons, seedless oranges, seedless grapes, terminator seeded vegetables, chicken (not roosters), unfertilized eggs, beef that comes from heifers and steers (castrated bulls), milk products (all) from female bovines, etc... - just look in our fridge and see what is on our dinner-plate. The true-ism: You are what you eat has never been more applicable, never been more effective. Growing our food organically does not restore the Yin/Yang or female/masculine balance in our food if the plants or animals have been redesigned to favor some genes above the others. And as if that was not enough, the plastic packaging of our foods and bottling of our wholesome drinks adds even more female hormone mimickers to our food chain ... Although our western culture is obviously becoming more feminine dominated, we do not question how this wave of passive and acceptant energy is being ‘used\' to sustain the economy, and since most men in general are not able nor allowed to think anymore, the future belongs to those who plan it. Included in this plan is the notion that as men in general have become more passive and short-sighted, they rather do conform with the trend that seems to work perfectly, otherwise they not only jeopardize their relationship with their female partner but also have to face their dysfunctional co-dependency and become labeled as a true loser. Whether all this is part of a well planned conspiracy or a coincidence of several socio/economic trends, remains to be seen, one thing is sure: those in the business of planning the future for their own benefits prefer a docile and obedient society, a society in which potentially rebellious males are marginalized and silenced, a society in which asking ‘Why\' questions versus ‘What\' questions is discouraged. The cultivation of a fear driven economy since 9-11 is a case in point. Although the increased female input in our economy has been significant to maintain the status quo, the women have never been recognized for their contributions and sacrifices. The many New Age communities of those days did not get spared of this new trend either. As a matter of fact, many communards fully embraced the new ideology, saw it as making progress, evolving towards a new reality which turns out to be a fantasy, unsustainable and dysfunctional. The tragedy is that it could, and most likely will, take seven generations of failed relationships with our partners, children and with nature before we might come to our senses and see through the scam which was designed to serve the economy at the expense of the ecology, including at the expense of our personal sanity. Obviously, the resulting increasingly individualistic trend of the last decades has been very successful to bring a stop to the community movement as we are led to believe that we can do everything ourselves, that science and technology will solve all our problems, that we are personally responsible for our well-being (or the lack thereof), that we do not need the other.   At the end of the current Mayan cycle, at the visible end of our western socio/economic aberration, and as the changes in our climate are waking us up, many humans are called upon to move forward, to redefine our values and start over. It is hoped that we have learned from the past, learned from our history, if not, the mistakes and agony will only be bigger.     Motivation for Community   The motivation to create an intentional community rests on the following fundamental reasons:   <ul> <li> We humans are social mammals. Our innate desire to live in community is not solely because of our economic co-dependency and the better chances to survive economic hardships, but has a socio/spiritual dimension which is our innate strive to belong and to find meaning in our lives. Such a sense of belonging is far easier to find and maintain amidst a small group of like-minded people, a group in which our skills and gifts are not only appreciated but needed for the well being of the group with a common goal. As a result, our input and association with the group becomes meaningful and gives the individual a sense of purpose, a sense of belonging and satisfaction, the ingredients for personal happiness and mental and physical wellbeing. </li> </ul>   <ul> <li> Especially in western society, based on the Judeo/Christian philosophy, great efforts have been made to break down the community/tribe power of such small but dedicated groups of people. After all, it is nearly impossible to govern, control and exploit a tribal society by a central government with a king or emperor at the helm. The introduction of a personal God/Saviour helped to break that communal cohesiveness and turned society into the current competitive man against man society, known as divide and conquer for the benefit of a centralized government. Nevertheless, we humans tend to reshape the communal urge in us all by creating pseudo communities, such as social clubs, neighborhoods, common interest groups, religions, political parties, sports groups, race based groups, gender based groups, language defined groups, or by erecting fences, walls and borders, maintaining socio/cultural commonalities, creating nations, etc. Although none of these special interests groups give the individual a full sense of belonging and meaning within that group, it is in the best interest of those currently in power to keep the people asleep and divided and therefore keep those fires burning, making the masses believe that those groups are important and are to be maintained. Nevertheless, this innate strive to belong in community has been exploited over again and sent countless people onto the battle fields to fight another war, wars over political differences, religious differences, socio/economic differences...and to finish the enemy. As long as we humans are unthinkingly willing to follow those exploiters, as long as we are not taking the time to rethink the ploy and agenda we are urged to follow, as long as we do not see through the propaganda of ‘progress to nowhere\', we are doomed to perpetuate the status quo. Therefore, this community is an attempt to break that cycle of exploiting our innate need to find commonality, an attempt to respect and support the personal need to belong in a group, to find meaning and purpose within that group on as many levels as possible while maintaining a sustainable socio/economic/ecological environment. As such, creating small tribal communities is the direct antidote to international conflicts, the antidote to large scale wars and the need to exploit others, a direct antidote to globalization and corporatism. The community in mind is a potential example of how a local group of people can reclaim and maintain ownership and control of their local resources, such as soil, water, minerals, food production, with their survival and wellbeing in mind. </li> </ul>   <ul> <li> Our strive to find happiness has become ever more successfully exploited by our current capitalist economic system, and has made most humans come to believe that happiness is to be found somewhere out there, not here and now, not within the individual, even in the afterlife, to be purchased, to be worked for, to be found in external things and acquired and validated by others who are enslaved on the same endless treadmill of more, faster and better. This fabrication has been very profitable for the economy, but a disaster for our personal wellbeing, a disaster for the biosphere, a disaster for the global ecology. A community as the one planned is intended to remind its members that happiness has to do with living in harmony with our surroundings, with nature, with the people we have a sense of belonging, belonging within a family, has to do with a basic comfortable living space, with having adequate water and food, with having the basics for life, which in turn allows time to explore our personal creativity and skills we have lost or forgotten we even had them. The current rat-race society is not interested in personal growth and finding personal happiness, mainly because there is no money to be made by living a ‘Small is Beautiful\' lifestyle and voluntary simplicity, there is no money to be made when people are happy with what they have. As such, creating a sustainable community is the best strategy to achieve the sense of happiness as described above, the best strategy to curb globalization and the further destruction of our biosphere. </li> </ul>   <ul> <li> As mentioned earlier, the state of our planet is urgently demanding that we take a look at our lifestyle and the way we plunder and destroy our host planet. The only way we humans can survive on this limited planet is by living the way nature intended that to be, in harmony with nature and with our fellow species, within our means. As such, community is the solution, the only alternative. In recent years, various forms of pseudo community have come about, such as eco-villages, co-housing projects, etc. Despite their good intentions, they are mostly perpetuating the status quo, enshrining socio/economic individualism, making housing more affordable, while falling short of common spiritual and ecological intentions and a sustainable lifestyle. </li> </ul>   <ul> <li> Although the eco-village model is a step in the right direction, we have come to recognize that we humans have to go further, make the extra step to break out of our enslavement and entanglement of the consumer society and take control of our own lives, take control of the energy we dedicate towards that, instead of living the zombie lifestyle. The community proposed is more than a ‘make-feel-good\' lifestyle by changing light bulbs, recycling our wastes, composting, driving more gas efficient cars to work, converting our energy needs from fossil fuels towards renewable energies, making bio-diesel, eating local and organic, etc. This community is more than the above, but should offer the right framework, the supportive socio/economic structure to help those who are willing to make the transition from economic enslavement and entrapment into socio/economic responsibility and empowerment in balance with the ecological limitations.   </li> <li> The community envisioned is also an experiment: As it is becoming increasingly clear that our western society is in deep trouble, bankrupt, dysfunctional and unsustainable, heading towards global disaster, impossible to change from within, impossible to change from the top (political leadership). We humans don\'t seem to understand that global climate change cannot be solved by carbon emission reduction, carbon trading, windpower and all the rest, but is caused by our misguided lifestyle. Therefore, this community is trying to adopt a lifestyle based on the alternatives and see if they work, while fine-tuning them as we plug along. In the face of climate change and the realization that the various solutions on the table to curb global disaster are in vein, and as pseudo solutions are only intended to prolong the status quo while we keep going in the same direction, (maybe a bit slower), we realize that the problem causing global climate change is the result of our lifestyle which is divorced from the natural order that governs the planet and its bio-sphere. We see a community as this as a potential solution, an experiment worth trying. As such, this community does not offer any guarantees, just a lot of challenges. But since nothing else is working nor offering any long-term solutions, an experiment as this is long overdue.   </li> <li> This community is also intended to help any individual to find and achieve their own purpose in life, making time for oneself to pursue what is important for individual growth, instead of trying to keep feeding the ever more demanding Monster. Ever since the Industrial Revolution, the Monster has been growing exponentially, while we as individual humans are still the same, still with only two hands and 24 hours in any given day. At the same time, the gospel of ‘Supply and Demand\' governing the market place dictates that the prices of any commodity are determined by the highest bidder and as a result they determine the value of the lifestyle for anybody else. The only way to maintain a healthy and sane lifestyle amidst ever more pressure to conform and oblige, is to work together between like-minded persons on what is more important for oneself. Sharing our resources whenever possible, helping each other, bartering our valuables, etc are the best antidote for our consumer driven society. Coming together as an Intentional Community is the best solution, the best alternative.   </li> <li> Besides our desire to create community as our way to see humanity survive on our planet, this proposal is also intended to help us avoid the mistakes many communities seem to make, which is falling back into a feudal system of servitude to a landlord or overlord. Too many communities which started with good intentions eventually fall back into the landlord/ownership power-structure, in which those with less material fortitude become second class members, serving an endless debt load, very similar to what we experience in our current capitalist system or what we experienced during the middle ages, in which the land-less peasants were in life-long bondage to a landlord. May this proposal help us to avoid this common mistake, help us to move forward instead of going backwards.   </li> <li> Our western civilization is not only constantly on the lookout for new markets, expanding trade with far away nations as the only way to ensure continuous economic growth, our associated treadmill lifestyle gives us very little personal satisfaction, creates an emptiness within oneself that we tempt to fill by our desire to ‘do-good, to feel-good\' attitude. Countless NGO\'s and governmental organizations are covering the globe, trying to bring all those poor, ‘primitive\' and underdeveloped people as fast as possible into the 21th Century, selling them ‘democracy\', bringing them education, sanitation and medication, giving them sophisticated technology for cheap. In this process, we westerners pretend that our socio/economic model is the blueprint that fits all, as if that is the best model one can imagine and that there is nothing wrong with our western socio/economic lifestyle based on consumerism and exploitation. We tend to forget that our system is bankrupt, dysfunctional and unsustainable and yet we feel justified to wipe out indigenous cultures that have been thriving within a specific habitat for millennia, have been sustainable until we westerners came along. We have the audacity to replace their spirituality with our dysfunctional religions, to replace their social structures with our corrupt and misleading hierarchies, replace their nature based health system with our profit driven pharmaceuticals, bring them our education as if they know nothing, etc. The community envisioned is an attempt to learn from those indigenous cultures and incorporate various aspects of their sustainable cultures into what we see as a culture and civilization for the future. </li> </ul>     Statement of Purpose:   <ul> <li> We share a world view which includes love, awe, wonder, reverence, beauty, mystery and trust in the deeper structures of the Universe.   </li> <li> We search for greater understanding of the interconnectedness of all life, striving to extend and deepen that what makes us fully human, as part of the Universal Oneness.   </li> <li> We affirm the equal worth of all human beings and respect people\'s ability to form their own opinions and belief systems.   </li> <li> We foster a warm, open, supportive community, celebrating life.   </li> <li> We look to each other for intellectual stimulation and emotional support through all stages and difficulties of life.   </li> <li> We strive to give our children a nurturing environment in which they may explore and learn to live in realms of unknown possibilities.   </li> <li> We support each other to maintain a sustainable lifestyle which has seven future generations in mind.   </li> <li> We seek to act as a moral force in the world, accepting the challenges of the here and now, striving to promote one universal peaceful humanity, undivided by nation, race or creed. </li> </ul>     Vision Statement:   To live in close harmony with Nature and its Universal dynamics as our contribution to re-create a peaceful world, an earthly paradise!   Mission Statements:   <ol type="\"> <li> To create a sustainable intentional community with like-minded people.   </li> <li> To inspire others outside the community by living a sustainable example.   </li> <li> To heal our bodies, our minds, our spirits and our souls, to cleanse and purify ourselves from old negative patterns, beliefs and lifestyles, in order to make space for learning new ways to live harmoniously with Nature and each other.   </li> <li> To be committed to our growth in conscious awareness which will be necessary to discover new and better ways to achieve harmony on earth. </li> </ol>     Community Values:   Throughout history, societies the world over have been striving to live a dignified life in harmony with their surroundings, in peace with their fellow humans and with a hopeful outlook for the future. In our western civilization, those innate values became formulated by the various religions, mostly based on a Judo/Christian world view, a world view to a large extend ‘borrowed\' from the ancient Pagan cultures and reformulated to fit the beneficiaries of social, economic and environmental exploitation. Despite the mostly altruistic intentions, it has become evident how most religions have failed humanity and; <ul> <li> have become tools for social and economic control, </li> <li> have failed to create a peaceful world as most religions have been and still are instruments for war and genocide, </li> <li> have failed to create and promote a lifestyle in harmony with nature and within the means of our limited natural environment, </li> <li> have failed to offer true hope and prosperity on this planet during our current lives. </li> </ul>   As a matter of fact, most religions offer advice and direction for how to live somewhere else, and see the world of nature as an aberration to endure while we strive for a piece of prime real estate in the ‘here-after\'. As such, most religions have become part of the problem by promoting a lifestyle ever more alienated from true nature and at the same time maintaining a status quo, a status quo which is dysfunctional and unsustainable.   Many wars and revolutions later, we humans are still struggling to achieve a lifestyle based on universal values which are fair and true for all fellow beings.   A major breakthrough to shape our sense of direction was offered by the French Revolution, as a generation of people the world over found resonance with the core values represented in the revolutionary slogan:\' Liberte, Fraternite and Egualite\'. Obviously, humanity was not ready to comprehend the magnificence and the wholistic dimensions of this lofty slogan. As the North American continent became the refuge for countless people which were prosecuted for their religious beliefs, they saw the need for freedom as their main objective and applied this value to everything that came their way. Without noticing, freedom of religion became freedom of action, freedom of doing which translated into ‘freedom of enterprise\', which became the cornerstone of Capitalism. Today we see the results of this ill-fated transgression.   On the opposite side of the world, the Russian revolution called the masses to a bloody revolt as a desperate need to create a more equal society, a society in which all citizens would get an equal share of the resources and of the results of their labor. A new doctrine was born known as Communism. Today we see the results of this ill-fated transgression. At the same time, Western Europe was recovering from epidemic diseases and widespread famine, and in reaction they saw the need to create a more compassionate society, based on brotherhood or fraternity. Basically a society which would take care of those who were less fortunate, and therefore take responsibility for the welfare of its citizens, now known as the welfare state. Various forms of Socialism became the new political agenda. Eventually, Socialism has become Charity, while free enterprise has become the driving force to maintain economic growth and the status quo and has become a global issue. At the turn of the millennium, it is clear that none of those doctrines has achieved what the original strife of the French Revolution was set out to achieve, while it is equally clear that none of these very different socio/economic movements can offer a sense of hope for a sustainable future, as all are based on the alienation from nature, as if nature, the limits of our only planet are not in the picture, not important and the gospel of continued economic growth is the only constant. Even the original motivation of the French Revolution did not envision the need to live within our means, to live an ecological responsible lifestyle. Therefore the values of this community not only focus on Freedom, Equality and Fraternity but also includes Sustainability.   From history we also see that when any of those values is separated from the others, or when only one value is promoted above the others, such society eventually becomes unstable and is doomed. Therefore, it is essential to keep those four core values together as the foundation, inseparable and interconnected, a wholistic way to allow a society to grow to its full potentials, the basis of a happy society, a happy community.   In addition, it is equally important to maintain a clear distinction between those four very different values as they apply to four different aspects of human behavior, or four very different needs. As such:   <ul> <li> Liberty or Freedom is only applicable to the domain of the mind. Therefore this value guarantees freedom of thought, freedom of expression, freedom of religion, freedom of association, and not freedom of doing, freedom from justice, freedom of being responsible of the welfare of others. </li> </ul>   <ul> <li> Equality is only applicable to the domain of justice. Therefore, all members in this community are equal for the law, regardless their status, their financial state, their spiritual aspirations, their name or fame. But the value of equality does not apply to our individuality, as every member is very different, has a different background, different upbringing, different education, different skills and expertise, different understanding of their place in the Universe, different reasons to be part of this community. As such, equality is the cornerstone for an honest and just society. </li> </ul>   <ul> <li> Fraternity or Brotherhood is only applicable in the domain of economics, finding a way to share the resources and our economic wealth according to our needs and not according to our greed or wants. As such a family of several children needs more economic resources than a single person. Although in our current western civilization which thrives on individualism and separation, the idea of co-dependency and socio/economic commitment is frowned upon and seen as negative, mainly because community and being co-dependant is bad for the economy. In light of this, co-dependency is the cornerstone of Fraternity, the ability to help each other in a complimentary and trustful way, to be reliable for each other. Fraternity has nothing to do with our current understanding of contributing to charity as a way to appease our consciousness after we come to realize that we are taking too much from the communal domain and feel motivated to give something back to those less fortunate or less privileged. This attitude not only creates and maintains a class system of ‘haves\' and ‘have-nots\', but also perpetuates a socio/economic system in which competition and ‘survival of the fittest\' is the justification for our excesses. Therefore, competition is only applicable in the domain of the mind, where the freedom of thought and freedom of expression makes way for the best ideas which are in harmony with all the other core values. Only those ideas which survive the critical thought process of the open minds of the community members should be allowed to move forward into implementation. </li> </ul>   <ul> <li> Sustainability is only applicable in the domain of our relationship to the larger picture, some call this the Creator, the Environment, the Planet, the Universe. Sustainability is the domain of our religion, the way we relate to the world beyond the here and now, about the way we live. Sustainability is not about saving an economic system that is doomed, not about changing to energy efficient light bulbs or recycling our junk, or driving electric cars and promoting clean energy as a way to prolong our current status quo. Sustainability is not about making changes in our lifestyle designed to make us feel green while at the same time continue our entanglement in the consumer society, in the hope to find happiness by constantly trying to outsmart the balancing dynamics of our environment by working harder, faster and smarter, called ‘Progress to Nowhere\'. Sustainability is about walking our talk by living within our means, reducing our footprint on the planet by living a lifestyle of voluntary simplicity as a way to honor the gift of life and honoring our innate desire to give the same socio/economic/ecological opportunities to future generations. Therefore, the values of this community are focused on how we can do with less, how we can gain a sense of happiness and satisfaction by pursuing values different than those promised by our consumer society. </li> </ul>   In addition to the foregoing distinction between those four core values, equal attention needs to be given to the exclusive use of those values as a tool to resolve problems in their respective domains. In other words, it is a mistake to solve a problem in one domain by implementing a solution from another. For example, in our current competitive lifestyle, it is acceptable to use force or violence in order to implement a decision, or the use of money to swing justice in our favor. This ‘might is right\' attitude is obviously using economic power to force justice in which equality reigns. Another common cross-over is the use of positive thinking to solve a problem in another domain, such as acquiring wealth or restoring good health (Using the freedom of thought to justify our economic wealth or restoring our health without appropriate action is nothing more than believing in miracles, while when the miracle does not come through,

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PART 2 - Proposal for Intentional Community

January 21, 2010

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it falls back onto the individual who obviously did not think positive enough, or did not belief enough in what was at stake). Many of such cross-overs have come to infect our civilization and cause much of the dysfunctionality we see in our current society and confused humanity about what is life about, on what is the purpose of our existence.   The common value that motivates peoples throughout the world is the pursuit of being happy, but throughout the ages, this pursuit has been reformatted by countless ‘isms' for the benefit of the few. The latest such ‘ism' is consumerism, the propaganda that makes us believe that all the stuff we obtain and have and all the things we do can make us happy.   In line with the foregoing values of this community, our pursuit of happiness could be redefined as follows:   "We, the people of the New Age, we want to be Happy!"   Happiness that comes from living a meaningful and responsible life. Therefore we want Sovereignty based on: <ul> <li> freedom of thought and speech, </li> <li> freedom of expression and of press </li> <li> freedom of religion and association. </li> </ul>   Happiness that comes from living a life with purpose, a life with a sense of belonging. Therefore we want Justice based on: <ul> <li> equality for the law, </li> <li> equal rights to all, </li> <li> equal respect for all, regardless our differences. </li> </ul>   Happiness that comes from living a prosperous and dignified life. Therefore we need to share the wealth and resources of our community in a brotherly way, based on need and not on greed: <ul> <li> brotherly make life affordable by sharing whatever we have in common, </li> <li> brotherly maintain and share the common good, </li> <li> brotherly share the workload and compensation as the way to stamp out poverty. </li> </ul>   Happiness that comes from living a life with Hope and a positive outlook on the future. Therefore we need security based on sustainability: <ul> <li> sustainable economy, </li> <li> sustainable environment, </li> <li> sustainable lifestyle based on voluntary simplicity. </li> </ul>   Interests of the Community:   Although the interests of this community will largely depend on the interests of the members, we nevertheless would like to direct our focus to those aspects which will support our vision and mission.   <ul> <li> Coming together as a unified group in order to motivate and strengthen our commitment to our common vision. </li> <li> Permaculture, Bio-dynamics, Organic ways of food production. </li> <li> Recycling and Re-using wastes. </li> <li> Reducing our energy requirements and living with less. </li> <li> Balancing all aspects of living and time <ul> <li> Family time, work time, communal time, celebration time, educational time, maintenance time, planting and harvesting time, personal time, quiet time. </li> </ul> </li> <li> Celebrating life in meaningful ways expressed through music, art, theatre, and dance etc. </li> <li> Socializing with friends and neighbors. </li> <li> Wholistic Healing of ourselves and assisting others with theirs. </li> <li> Connecting and interacting intimately with Nature. </li> <li> Communicating compassionately, openly and freely with others. </li> <li> Giving and sharing our time, energy and resources with others inside and outside the community. </li> <li> Co-operatively building energy efficient homes from natural local materials i.e. 100 mile housing. </li> <li> Sharing communal work load with others in a joyful way. </li> <li> Inner reflection and contemplation through Meditation, Yoga, Tai Chi, etc </li> </ul>   Goals and Objectives:   <ol> <li> To share this proposal with others interested in community. </li> <li> To gain commitment from other people who really want to contribute to this vision. </li> <li> To create a name for this community with the involvement of everyone who has committed at this point. </li> <li> To create a legal entity set up as a corporation named "XXXX" as a way to safe guard the material and financial interests of the members. </li> <li> To create a separate legal entity set up as a non-profit society as a way to safe guard our common vision. </li> <li> To find suitable land for the community. </li> <li> To solicit adequate funding in order to manifest the envisioned community, property and all. </li> <li> To acquire the land; possibly purchase the land under the corporation. </li> <li> To set-up temporary dwellings on the land. </li> <li> To begin preparation of the land and soil for planting trees, gardens etc and plan towards adequate infrastructures. </li> <li> Build a self-sustaining infrastructure to support our basic needs. </li> <li> To begin building our homes and some necessary common buildings. </li> <li> To secure funds (possibly apply for government grant money) for the development of a wholistic healing lodge and any related initiatives. </li> <li> Initiate communal cottage industries towards economic viability with minimal dependence on the current global market system. </li> <li> Create and nurture a space for our spiritual sanctuary. </li> <li> Empower the children of the community to design, decorate and build their own educational space with the assistance of the adults. </li> <li> Build the healing lodge and associated buildings. </li> <li> To establish the higher educational, leadership, internship, and other such programs that will enable us to be of service to others, communicate and share our experiences, and link with similar local and global efforts. </li> </ol>   Natural Law - A Guide for a Return to Harmony   Without a doubt, the state of our planet has lots to do with our state of mind, especially the way we live alienated from the balancing dynamics in nature. This alienation finds its roots in the Judeo/Christian religions, which is the undercurrent of our Western civilization. About five hundred years ago, Gallileo was able to make those in power come to realize that our planet Earth is not at the center of the Universe. All that time later, this paradigm shift has not shifted to the personal level as we are still very much in the mindset that we humans are the center of the Universe, the most important creature on earth and within the known universe. We seem to be convinced that all there is, is for our personal benefit and satisfaction, that our economy is above and beyond the ecology of the biosphere on our planet, etc. As this fallacy is becoming apparent, some of us do question our economic privileges and see the need to reconnect with nature and restore harmony with the balancing dynamics which gives nature the stability we come to recognize. One of the aims of this community is to seek that harmony and to adjust our way of life accordingly. Although most major religions the world over found their inspiration in nature and its eternal dynamics, those same religions have done an excellent job to obscure those natural laws and principles and reframe them in order to maximize economic benefit through human enslavement and exploitation. Needless to say, most religions do no longer live up to their mandate, the mandate to help people relate to the world beyond common comprehension, to help people find meaning, purpose and happiness within the limits of our Planet, to help people survive the adverse challenges they faced when out of touch with the natural dynamics, to give people guidance and direction for a sustainable future.   As a community, we find it essential to re-examine those fundamental principles and to make them part of our lifestyle. Without a doubt, we humans and all manifestations of life on our planet are mostly influenced by the cyclical interactions of our planet, the sun and the moon. Their cyclical movements in relation to each other determines day and night, the passing of the seasons, the tidal movements of the ocean waters, the life cycles of countless animals, insects and plants ... Pre-religious cultures, those we consider pagans, had no choice but to seek harmony with those re-occurring cycles in order to survive. For them, a direct relationship with nature was essential.   One of the natural cycles that has been tempered with the most is the solar calendar which combines the days, weeks and months into a solar year, known as the Gregorian Calendar. Early Patriarchal cultures found it more effective to control the masses by disconnecting the people from their inborn cosmic resonance, and what better way to disrupt the lunar synchronicity, especially from woman's experience, by disconnecting the man-made calendar from the true lunar cycle. Therefore, the solar calendar became divided in twelve arbitrary months, while the natural solar year of 365 days is naturally divided by thirteen moon-months of each 28 days in length, the same periodicity woman experience as their mooncycle. As a result, we live totally disconnected from the lunar seasons, each seven days in length, with the seventh day being the day of transition, the day of rest in nature.   Although the Judeo/Christian religions recognize the Sabbath or the Sunday as their day of rest, it is obvious that the true day of rest, the day during which the moon makes its transition through its solstices or through its equinoxes is very different than what the human made calendar proclaims, has no relationship, as they occur on very different days and vary from year to year. Therefore, adapting a more natural lifestyle could also include the adherence to such natural cycles by restoring the lunar calendar.   Similar efforts could be made to reclaim the true meaning and influence of special days throughout the year, days such as the solar solstices and equinoxes. Those days too have been Christianized and lost their true natural dimension. As a community, we will make space to celebrate those days in a meaningful way.   Another important natural law which we westerners have come to misunderstand are the dynamics of change. As a matter of fact, we have come to accept change as being the only constant, the gateway for a future with unforeseeable dimensions, called progress. Although change is being experienced as challenging and unpredictable, we nevertheless accept the ‘No pain - No gain' predicament as a necessity in order to change beyond the present situation.   To the contrary, in the world of nature, change is always a sign of instability, a sign of imbalance, the prelude for extinction. After all, the hallmark of Nature, of the whole Universe is balance, is the resistance against change. As a matter of fact, the most successful species which have been on the planet for the longest time, never changed, are still the true replicas of their fossilized ancestors which roamed the planet hundreds of millions of years ago.   Even the way we understand the seasonal changes (Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter) needs re-examining. In our shortsightedness, we accept the seasonal succession as a perfect example of how nature is nothing but change, but the fossil record shows that the same seasonal succession has been very constant, very predictable for at least the past 65 million years, never changed. In other words, using the past 65,000,000 seasonal successions as evidence of changes in nature demonstrates our lack of understanding the bigger picture. As the evidence of climate change is upon is, now we have a perfect example of change! And although we have been socialized to believe that we should embrace change, we all know that we're in for very unpredictable and unpleasant surprises as the planet will surely find ways to rebalance our destructive activities which are causing global warming.   Equally important is it to come to understand that what we have come to accept as changes in nature, are in reality reactions against change! May the changing seasons be a clear example: As we know, the seasons have a direct relationship with the inclination of our planet in relation to the sun. In the summertime, the northern hemisphere is leaning towards the sun, making the days longer and hotter for the northern part of the world. In response, the northern biosphere on the surface of our planet tries to maintain stability, tries to resist the rising temperatures by stimulating expansion, by stimulating plant growth which in turn helps to evaporate water in the atmosphere as the most direct way to create a cooling trend, to stabilize the temperature. Therefore Spring and Summer are the seasons vegetation in the Northern hemisphere expands and buffers the warming trend during that time.   Oppositely, during the Fall and Winter, that hemisphere is leaning away from the sun, making the days shorter and colder. In order for the biosphere to survive those harsh times, the trend is to contract and insulate the biomass. As such, plants contract into their root-systems, their flowers transform into seeds, which eventually fall onto the ground, and become covered with the insulating leaves, animals and insects find shelter underground, and as winter approaches, water contracts into crystals while the landscape is covered with a blanket of white insulation, snow. Evidently, the seasonal ‘changes' are not changes, rather reactions against change, reactions to stabilize and minimize the effects of fluctuating solar energy reaching a certain region, reactions to protect the biosphere in order to restore and maintain balance.   Obviously, we westerners have it wrong when it comes to understand change. Nevertheless, the call for change is a constant on the political agendas of countless political campaigns and socio/economic movements. This perpetual call for change finds its origins in the early Judeo/Christian doctrine, the ‘make-belief' that we humans have dominion over the world around us, over the plants and animals. This paradigm not only gave us the entitlement of superiority over whatever we consider we have dominion over, but also gave us the heavenly stamp of approval to change things as we see fit. We no longer had to accept the world of nature as perfect and sacred, to the contrary, we see ourselves as called upon to improve whatever we do not like. Several millennia later, our disregard for the intricate natural balance, our arrogance to think that we know better together with our increasingly profound changes to the natural world, has pushed the rebalancing dynamics of the planet beyond the subtle re-adjustments. Instead, as we drive the bio-sphere further away from the natural balance, more extreme forces manifest in order to regain the natural balance. This is no longer a vicious circle, but a downward spiral which keeps humanity entangled in a race to the bottom, a race in which we think we can outsmart, outrun the balancing dynamics of nature. In order to stay ahead of the inevitable consequences of our arrogance, we try to work harder, smarter and faster, make things bigger, better and more efficient, constantly looking for changes as our only hope for that better future at the end of the tunnel. Despite the signs on the wall, most humans believe the propaganda of the political leaders who capitalize on our fear and offer the promise of ‘progress to nowhere', prosperity without limits, continued economic growth without end. Obviously, the change they envision is not the recipe for a happy ending, but the way of the Dodo for countless species, the way for ecological collapse, our own demise.   Of course, the reality is that we as a human collective cannot change! First of all, our democratic systems are designed to maintain the status quo. Not only are those who proclaim to be elected by those who unthinkingly accept the common propaganda owned by the big multi-nationals, those same multi-nationals also manufacture the propaganda which will guarantee most popular support. The "Big Monster' is not in the business of solving problems for the better, but to create needs and problems and sell us pseudo solutions and call it economic growth and progress.   Secondly, all manifestations in nature always move forward in time, never go backwards! Very much like the second Law of Thermodynamics, which postulates that energy moves forward, from the higher energy level towards the lower, but never in reverse. As such, once a new trend or manifestation is set free, it can only grow, never to return to its original start-off point, however wrong, disharmonious or out of balance the new manifestation might become. The same applies to the Big Monster. Even when we as humans would dedicate countless resources to change the course of our current out of control economic system, nothing can make it change midcourse. Instead, the balancing dynamics of nature will eventually decide when enough is enough, when the tipping point has been reached and disintegration makes room for the new.     Along that line, what we most likely see as change, is nothing more than hanging onto the current status quo, or maybe setting the clock back just a little bit to that time when we felt a greater sense of purpose and meaning within the system. It could be argued that even the status quo is not sustainable and already very dysfunctional, while every day we support and prolong the status quo, we add to the demise of numerous species, impoverish the biodiversity of our planet - a biodiversity which will be in demand the day after the collapse of the Monster we created.   Evidently, change can only come about by small groups of people, people who take their responsibility in their own hands, are dedicated and in agreement. Such a community of people has to decide where to put their energy towards: to maintain and prolong the status quo or to help the planet to give birth to the new, to restore paradise that could be. Therefore, the choice of this community is not to jump on the bandwagon of change for the sake of change, or devoting much efforts to various energy saving solutions, or devising ways to create more and cheaper energy, etc. Instead of ‘Greenwashing' our consciousness, it is time to bring our knowledge, energy and resources together to create ways for humans to live on this planet within the means of the planet. Therefore, the intention of this community is to prepare for a lifestyle which will be needed after the current system is no longer functional, without being tempted to repair or rebuild the current monster.     Land Size of the Community   Throughout our western culture, success is translated in more, bigger and faster. As a result, we westerners have become socialized to associate size with success. Intentional communities did not get spared from measuring their success by assessing their size and did not see anything wrong by expanding their membership. Slowly, we have come to realize that as an intentional community becomes bigger, it loses its common intentions, and eventually sinks back to the level of community we have come to accept in our western society, the kind of community in which we only have the highway in common. (In order to survive our commutes on the highway, we have to oblige to common laws, common agreements. Those agreements have been dictated from the top down, from a governing authority, without much say or input from those affected the most, from the bottom).   The community proposed is one in which there is a balance in communication between all members (horizontal communication) while at the same time maintaining open communication between the members and those in a leadership position of the community and vice versa: an open communication between those in leadership and all the members of the community (vertical communication). It is evident that when the membership is too large, members cannot maintain regular communication with their fellow members, while the communication with the leadership becomes delegated and channeled through committees. As it is evident in nature that any cluster of equal sized shapes (eg: spheres) can only keep in contact with their neighbours and at the same time be in contact with the central shape, when such cluster holds no more than thirteen spheres or shapes. (In pagan cultures, 13 is a holly number). As such, human interactions are no different, and time and again, it has been proven that a group of about a dozen people are the most efficient number to maintain an all encompassing communication without duplication and where all are able to contribute in a meaningful way to the whole. Along the same line, in order for a community to thrive without burnout of its members, and without duplication of its various functions required to keep the community functional, it could be argued that the optimum amount of people is about a dozen. Not enough members requires that certain members take on more than one function, while more than about one dozen members creates duplication and eventually competition between those competing members, which eventually leads to resentment and loss of purpose and commitment. In practical terms, it means that the size of an optimal community is around twelve to thirteen families. In case more members want to become part of the community, it is imperative to consider the creation of a new sister community, independent from the first.     Land Criteria   The criteria for choosing the ideal place is as follows; <ul> <li> Climate: warm sunny summers, with adequate growing season and enough moisture to keep vegetation growing. Also, moderately cold winters with some snow so that nature comes to a standstill. Hardiness Zone of 4 or better. </li> <li> Fertile soil for growing fruit and nut trees, herbs, vegetables etc. </li> <li> Good road access to the property but not along the highway. </li> <li> Availability of good pure water on the property. Ideally spring or glacier run-off water. River or lake close by for recreational activities like swimming, kayaking etc. </li> <li> Surrounded by mountains and hills. </li> <li> If possible with not too extreme neighbors around. </li> <li> Within close proximity of an old growth forest, and with lots of trees on the property and surrounding the property. </li> <li> No more than one hour from the nearest city or town. </li> <li> Hydro-power access is not really important as we intend to live with alternative energy sources. </li> <li> Telephone access good but not priority as cellphones and satellite internet could be utilized depending on the service for the area. </li> <li> Size of land; 80 + acres to give everyone enough space and to contain the healing lodge and leave lots of land untouched. </li> <li> Land must have good southern sun exposure to maximize the benefits of growing and utilize the sun energy for heating homes and buildings passively. </li> <li> Must have proper zoning in place or have no zoning established yet. </li> </ul>     Layout of the Land   <ol type="i"> <li> Kin Domains </li> </ol>   Generally the family or individual who have become provisional members will choose their own lot and home site of approximately 2.5 acres. The lot will be with no greater density of housing than one home per 2.5 acre plot. Each family or individual is encouraged to design and lay out their own plot of land which should include their own garden, orchard, pond, greenhouse, chicken coup, and pastures. It would be expected that the building and initial planting would be assisted by the community members, as a group effort! The finished design should resemble a food forest so as to always have a fresh supply of food available, straight from the source, example; plenty of fruit and nut trees, shrubs, perennials, herbs, and an annual vegetable garden. This type of design will eventually require very little maintenance once it is established. All members should make an effort to build their buildings out of sight of neighbors, by either blending into existing trees or plant new trees around the perimeter of the lot as a living fence, so as not to break with the existing natural harmony. Homes should be modest in size, sized only to service our needs not our egos. Preliminary buildings, sheds, shacks, buses, vans etc used as temporary shelter should be removed from the home site after the proper buildings have been erected to replace them. It will be the responsibility of members to maintain and repair their own homes and domains.   <ol type="i"> <li> Healing Lodge and Guest Cottages </li> </ol>   Adequate space will be set aside for the Healing Lodge, guest cottages and associated buildings. At this moment, we envision twelve small hut like buildings arranged in a circle with a larger round building centrally located containing a dining room, kitchen, bathrooms, showers, laundry and a second floor social lounge. Fruit and nut trees along with many other food bearing perennials to be located within the spaces between the hall and the small lodges. The small huts to contain two rooms each with shared fireplace, one bed, one table, and two chairs in each room. Small personalized gardens to surround each hut for the growing of the lodge food and the healing of the lodge guests. Lodge guests would seed, maintain and harvest the gardens.   The main lodge and all its facilities (showers, laundry, lounge, dining room and kitchen) would be open and common to everyone in the community. This is were people could come to informally socialize with others (members and guests), for a meal or for tea etc. More formal gathering could also be planned here, like weddings, celebrations, pot-lucks etc. The huts of the healing lodge would also serve a double purpose, where some of the huts could be available at times for new potential members, visitors (friends, family etc), people giving service in exchange for treatment and room and board. Members of the community would need to book the lodge or huts ahead of time to ensure the lodge is not full or utilized for another purpose. Only a certain number of lodge huts should be dedicated to lodge guest only, to ensure there is always room for our healing guests.     <ol type="i"> <li> Sanctuary - Space for Inner Contemplation </li> </ol>   We intend to create a space, another 2.5 acres or so dedicated to an indoor space for meditation, spiritual movement, spiritual meetings etc., an outdoor space for silence and inner contemplation like a labyrinth and healing/therapeutic gardens containing a variety of flowering plants, shrubs and trees, and ponds containing fountains. This space should be kept simple, efficient and sound, where all can find peace and love and the presence of Spirit, Creator...whatever our concepts might be or religion we individually have chosen to follow that gives deeper meaning to our lives.   <ol type="i"> <li> Educational Grounds and Buildings </li> </ol>   Education will pertain to all aspects of learning for the children members, adult members, visitors, Healing Lodge guests, and workshop/course participants. The educational space should be located in the center or heart of the community. To be relatively equidistant from each Kin Domain as well as the Healing Lodge and Sanctuary (this will largely depend on the lay of the land and size of the property). This space should also be approximately 2.5 acres in size.   The children's areas (inside and outside) are to be designed, built and decorated by the children with the assistance of their parents and other members. One or more buildings to contain the following sub-spaces: library, music room, theatre room, bathrooms, classrooms, craft/art room. Some rooms could serve a double purpose to keep the footprints of the buildings low. The outdoor space to include but not limited to: tree houses, play houses, garden, food forest, pond, and amphitheater. The garden and food forests will be designed, planted and maintained by the children as part of their education. The food will also serve them and feed them while they are learning in this space.   The outdoor amphitheater could be multipurpose; for outreach workshops, community meetings, festivals, etc.   <ol type="i"> <li> Workshops </li> </ol>   There should be one or two building available to serve as workshops for woodworking, metalworking, engine mechanics, etc. All the common tools and equipment would be stored in or near these workshops.   <ol type="i"> <li> Common Gardening Area, Fields and Greenhouse </li> </ol>   As all members will be encouraged to grow their own food on their kin domain, common land will be designated to grow crops such as cereal and seed crops etc. The planting and harvesting of the communal fields would be a communal effort. Where the rewards of the harvest from the communal fields would be shared with all community members according to their needs. Over the winter, the community could gather together to make certain products from the seeds and grains or from the stocks, example; hemp rope, hemp rugs, cold pressed oil, etc.   A greenhouse might be considered as a nursery for the use of propagating our own fruit and nut trees or for assisting individual members in extending their growing season, if they don't have a small greenhouse of their own.   <ol type="i"> <li> Roadways and all other undesignated areas </li> </ol>   As in some other communities, we could keep a 10 foot setback on each side of the roadways, which is designated for use by the community. No person could rightfully build or maintain any structure inside said setback without board approval.   All other areas not assigned a purpose would be available to everyone for common use. No permanent structures should be built unless agreed to by all members.     Personal Space   Gardens, greenhouses, orchards etc. within kin domains, will be considered private space of the person/family it belongs. Because of topological reasons and different soil quality, it may be necessary to have one's garden located somewhere more suitable than on the lot used for a home site. Although with proper permaculture practices, it is likely to improve the quality of the soil, and keep the garden within one's kin domain. Nevertheless, gardens, orchards etc. away from the home site are not considered as common ground to other members or animals.   Members rooms, their houses, workshops, yards, gardens, greenhouses, orchards etc will be treated as inviolable and will provide as much privacy for their occupants as is wanted at any time. We hope "personal space" of others will be treated with respect; personal space also being something which people will be able to carry around with them. This implies that no-one enters another's living space or uses personal belongings without the consent of that person, and no-one consciously invades the personal space that someone else may be in, regardless of their location. It is also important that the personal history of members, prior to entering the community is regarded as part of that persons "personal space" to be shared or not at the persons own discretion. We accept a person for what he or she is or will be, and not for what he or she has been in the past.   Shared Space   All land on the property, except the kin domains already assigned to members, will be common space to all member. Common space also includes water ways, roadways, and buildings used as common buildings, common workshops, common gardens, educational spaces, common equipment and vehicles, common tools, the forest and cleared areas not in use by any particular member.     Sustainability   Ever since the Brundtland report (1987) made the world aware that sustainability is the way of Our Common Future, it became equally clear that the proposed models of sustainable development were beyond the carrying capacity of our planet. Instead of sustainable development, the new focus is on sustainable living. This lifestyle promotes the reduction of the individual and society's use of the Earth's natural resources, <ol> <li> reducing our carbon footprint by altering modes of transportation and especially by reducing the need to transport and travel, </li> <li> reducing our energy consumption and our dependency on fossil fuel energy, </li> <li> changing our diets by using seasonal and local grown foods, organic grown food, grown on a small scale and as low as possible on the food chain - a vegetable based diet is therefore seen as less taxing the environment -, </li> <li> by conducting our lives in manners that are consistent with sustainability, in natural balance and respectful of humanity's symbiotic relationship with the Earth's natural <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecology">ecology</a> and cycles, therefore called ecological living. </li> </ol>   Obviously, this level of sustainable lifestyle is beyond what is currently being promoted by the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Worldwatch_Institute">Worldwatch Institute</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_Policy_Institute">Earth Policy Institute</a>, which describes sustainable living in the 21st century as "shifting to a renewable energy-based, reuse/recycle economy with a diversified transport system." Noticeably, this form of sustainable lifestyle is not only promoting the status quo, but is still disconnected from the ecology, from the limited productive and reproductive capacity of our only planet. In other words, it constitutes business as usual as if there is nothing wrong with our lifestyle, just redistribute our wealth, reduce harm to the planet and live happy ever after, all in our own little cocoon. The sustainable lifestyle the planet ‘demands' from us in order for humans to become part of the planet is far beyond that and forces us to look beyond our individualistic lifestyle, but by organizing ourselves into the next level of our evolution: communal living.   This community shall be as sustainable as possible and as rapidly as makes sense to us at the time. We shall be producing almost all of our own food organically, building our own buildings, carrying out our own maintenance and repairs, delivering our own babies, enabling our children and ourselves and others to learn, running our own medical assistance, entertaining ourselves, and no doubt burying ourselves in the course of time. What we cannot find within the community we will find outside as long as what we find outside is in line with our community vision. What we cannot provide for ourselves we will import, but we will only import what we can afford financially and morally, and only if we do not have any other choice or alternative. Construction   The community dwellings that the members reside in would be built with simple, natural materials found mostly on the property that we live upon. This will provide for a certain uniformity throughout the community whilst at the same time allowing us the freedom to express our individuality as an extended family through the design and layout of our dwellings. Our aim will be to surround ourselves with attractive accommodations, simply built from readily obtainable materials providing us with beautiful facilities and comfort compatible with our chosen lifestyle. We envisage creating an environment which will bring a source of delight for ourselves and others. We will use mostly wood, rock, sand, straw and clay for our needs and stay away as much as we can from artificial materials like plastics, vinyl, composites. Whatever we build should conform to the local building regulations, as well to the health and safety standards.   Appropriate Technology   One definition of alternative technology is "ways and means of doing things with minimal environmental and social adverse consequences." We plan to make the fullest appropriate use of alternative technology, attempting to run the community on ecologically sounds principles. For example, we shall be using wind, solar panels and possibly methane to generate our power and electricity. Using water as a source of energy maybe possible depending on the property we find. Solar (passive and active) and wood burning to heat water and room space and food etc. will most likely be the primary energy sources. We can reclaim almost all of our waste as compost and fertilizer. Where possible we could use low energy methods of transportation, like ethanol, bio-diesel or straight vegetable oil as fuel. It may be necessary to utilize a generator to power larger equipment and tools if no hydro-power is available on the property. To reduce operating costs and the acquisition of tools for communal use, it would be essential to share our tools, workshops, and co-ordinate our working hours. Furthermore, we should keep a noisy (polluting) generator away from the home sites in the industrial area where we plan to keep the different workshops. For lighting in the houses low energy use LED's, candles, kerosene and propane lights could be used. If hydro is not already present, it should be our priority to reduce our needs and be creative in our energy sources. As a reminder, this community is not intended to exist only to solve our ever increasing energy demands, rather we shall strive to bring back our energy needs to a more natural balance and to change our needs and dependencies by choosing voluntary simplicity.   By changing our food choices and the way we prepare them,and avoiding the use of a fridge, stove and freezer (meat locker in town), we can do without hydro power. The use of dried food or food stored in a root cellar over the winter is just as useful as all the rest.   Telephone service line may not be available but cellular phones and satellite internet maybe possible depending on the service coverage for our intended community location. Telephone can be a handy instrument to communicate with the outside world and an important energy and time saver.   Gardening   We would like to find a balance among permaculture, organic, bio-dynamic, and natural gardening. In any case, we are avoiding the use of chemical fertilizers, sprays, pesticides and artificial preservatives as well as products to disinfect the soil. We also want to stay away from hydroponics and other unnatural growing methods. It will be necessary to save our seeds and ensure we have a safe and secure seed bank to draw from, one that is positively free from all genetic modifications. We would like to utilize passive solar as much as possible for the greenhouses with the possibility of using the Sol Viva design (chicken greenhouse). We would like to use the greenhouses for extending the shoulders of the growing seasons rather than growing plants and food out of season or from other parts of the world (as further explain in the section covering our diet). Needless to say that growing our food will be a huge focus for this community, it will be in our gardens that we will spend most of our time connecting with Nature.     Transportation and Equipment   We could try and maintain the smallest amount and variety of motorcars, four wheel drive vehicles, trucks, minibuses, tractors and other vehicles as necessary. For reasons of expediency we may well use hired earth moving equipment during our first stages on the land, this to clear land, to prepare access roads, and to level building sites. We will almost certainly use tractors and machines initially in order to get our land rapidly under cultivation. There may not be time to do it any other way, but as early as possible we will be reducing to a minimum our reliance on machinery of any kind. We could try to maintain and use our vehicles on a communal basis, so that we do not end up with every family owning a tractor, a 4x4 truck.... we could ride horses and bicycles and are likely to use horses for drawing carts and sleighs. We shall be working a lot with horses and we may breed heavy horses for our own use as well as for use outside the community.   Pets and Working Animals   We will be riding horses, working with horses and probably talking with horses, also having a working relationship with cows, goats, chickens, ducks etc. We will co-operate with bees for part of their honey, and with sheep for part of their wool. To keep in harmony with the bees needs, only a small portion of their honey should be harvested. The manure from cows, goats, horses etc. serves as necessary composting material. We should have a limited number of dogs and cats living with us - far fewer than many of us would like to have around.   We, and including our children, want to cultivate an environment in which we have many opportunities for relating to wildlife and to the animals which share our lives. Our aviary will be the sky and the trees, and our aquarium will be the rivers and lakes and sea, but at the same time we will b

Tags: proposal intentional community tribe sustainable permaculture kin domain intentional community sustainability anastasia permaculture kin-domain eco-village

PART 3 - Proposal for Intentional Community

January 21, 2010

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Our aviary will be the sky and the trees, and our aquarium will be the rivers and lakes and sea, but at the same time we will be relating to our domesticated animals with the same awareness with which we shall be relating to other aspects in nature.   It should be kept in mind that only the best intentions and love should be brought forth in the raising and keeping of these living beings. We shall be keeping a loving space for the animals to share our lives with, rather than unappreciated and misused ways which we see as slavery of another being, another soul.   Hunting shall not be permitted any where in the community.     Water Use   Rain water capture in barrels or ponds would be ideal for watering plants and for domestic use like laundry etc. All toilets should be dry or composting instead of flushing toilets with septic tanks. Human waste to be properly composted and re-used on individual gardens and the common garden area. All grey water from kitchens, bathing, laundry, cleaning should be re-cycled and re-used in our orchards and gardens. Therefore we should avoid any activity or use of substances which pollute or contribute to the pollution of the land or water. Cleaning substances that are bio-degradable and made from plant sources would be essential.   Garbage/Pollution   With the lifestyle suggested for this community, we expect there to be far less non-recyclable garbage and waste materials. Shying away from canned and factory packaged products and foods would reduce the garbage to occasional oil cans from vehicles, broken jars etc. These things could be collected and periodically taken to the municipal waste disposal site. All paper can be collected for recycle or utilized as fire starters. All organic matter goes to the compost for the benefit of our own gardens.   To keep the community lands peaceful, we should eliminate or repair noisy vehicles or excessively noisy machines on the land - except when there is no alternative. Also no noisy recreation forms such as motorbikes or stock cars on the land.   Voluntary Simplicity   The only way to achieve the foregoing objectives is by simplifying our lifestyle, by adopting the principles of ‘Voluntary Simplicity'. Voluntary simplicity is a lifestyle characterized by minimizing the "more is better" pursuit of wealth and consumption. Simple living as a concept is distinguished from those living in forced poverty, as it is a voluntary lifestyle choice. Basically a choice to live outwardly more simple and inwardly more rich, a way of being in which our most authentic and alive self is brought into direct and conscious contact with living. Voluntary simplicity is deliberately chosing the freedom of having less stuff to worry about. Being happier with fewer trappings is easy when it saves you money, benefits the environment, teaches children meaningful values and helps others in need. Best of all, simple living delivers the personal satisfaction that only comes when you decide how much is enough for you. In short, simpler living is not backward living, but forward living. Less time spent on material goods and serving the Monster means more time spent with family, friends, children, nature, and unlocking the real passions and values of your life.   Voluntary Simplicity is also about lifestyle, about living more with nature and what nature has to offer as the ultimate convenience store. Its about more free time and less complicated routines. Freedom lies within simplicity, less to worry about, less to fix and repair, less distractions from what really matters.     Community Culture   As mentioned earlier, our western culture has become what it is by cultivating our separateness from nature, seeing us humans as co-creators and in charge of our destiny. Since the people attracted to this community see through these fallacies, we therefore strive to create our community culture that embraces our interconnectedness with nature and the world beyond, therefore focused on an inclusive or wholistic lifestyle. Although there is confusion about the term wholistic versus holistic, the former implies the totality of the being, all aspects - the whole - , while the latter finds its origins in holy, from which healing is derived. Therefore, a wholistic lifestyle implies the integration of the four levels of being: the physical, the emotional, the mental and the spiritual dimension. As those dimensions have been neglected in our fragmented western lifestyle, they might need some healing...   Wholistic Health   In line with the foregoing, wholistic health covers the four dimensions of our being: body, mind, spirit and soul, where all are interconnected and interdependent on each other to affect real healing. As we strive to become in harmony with nature, as our being is also nature, therefore we must recognize the need to become in harmony with those four dimensions within. Undoubtedly, everyone in this community will undergo healing on some level. We foresee the healing lodge as the focal point of our healing while more subtle healing continuously occurs living community life. The community we envision is one of health, wholistic health, where everything we do to ourselves, to others, to all life and to the planet has a higher meaning and purpose of moving towards harmony.   Diet   Enough evidence exists to demonstrate that food plays an important role in human behavior, and since a community is based on human behavior, food is seen as pivotal. Food choice, although very personal, requires open discussion. Based on the primary law that input equals output, or "we are what we eat", we as a society should be very concerned with everything that passes through our mouths. Obviously, those that benefit from our ignorance not only prefer blind mass consumption but also know that non-wholesome food (fragmented food) maintains a fragmented mind. Although people are becoming aware to this reality and as supporting information comes to light, the general consensus still remains that "if the government regulatory bodies say it's fit for human consumption, then it must be!" Regardless, the "food-like-substances" that are deemed safe are not only causing most degenerative dis-eases we face today but slowly poisoning us to a dead end. Changing one's diet not only changes how we think about ourselves, it is also instrumental to overcome life threatening diseases, to live a much happier and long lasting life, and gives ourselves a different perspective to our place in the universe. As such, building a sustainable community will require a sustainable personal lifestyle. Diet is the cornerstone!   As it is our dream to become in harmony with nature and the underlying Universal Forces, the instinctive way to do so is to accept the food from Nature the way it is, not processed, in season, locally and organically grown. In principle, we would like the community to be as vegetarian as possible, since a vegetarian diet is less demanding from our ecosystem. Besides the ecological demands an animal inclusive diet results in, it is equally important to remind ourselves that animals are mostly manifestations of horizontally polarized energy, energy parallel to the ground, parallel to the surface of our planet. Compared to vertically growing plants, animal like manifestations lack a strong direct cosmic connection and as a result are mostly motivated by competition and fear. Plants to the contrary, are not only manifestations of vertical energy, with a direct connection to the heavens and beyond, and once they take root, they tend to stand their ground.   In addition to the foregoing attributes, it is equally important to strive for a balanced diet, a diet as much as possible cradled between the expansive forces manifested in our food versus the contracting forces manifested in the same food (their seeds and roots). Basically, food that is wholesome and in balance between its opposing Yin and Yang forces. The mistake most vegetarians make is to rely mostly on greens year round (manifestations of mostly expanding energy) and a diet predominantly consisting of vegetables from the nightshade family (cucumbers, eggplant, peppers, tomatoes, potatoes, zucchinis, various squashes...), As is known, food from the nightshade family is in varying degrees not only slightly toxic, acid and low in energy, but also very intensively influenced by the current trend to genetically modify whatever is easy to grow and in high demand. Although it is not clear what the long term influences of Genetically Modified foods will be on human health, including our mental and spiritual health, it can easily be predicted that whenever we change the energy patterns in the foods we consume, we eventually interfere with and change the energy patterns in ourselves.   As a group of people interested in forming and sustaining a community based on the principles outlined throughout this proposal, one of the reasons we as individuals feel attracted to this lifestyle is the potential to become who we truly are, free and authentic. Therefore, our diet should underscore those very same values and refrain from causing on others those infringements we try to walk away from. The use of dairy products is surely one of those ingredients. Not only are we humans the only mammal on our planet that eats and drinks the milk (and the derived products) from another mammal beyond the period of lactation, we also add greatly to the enslavement and exploitation of those milk producing animals.   The use of common stimuli such as coffee is for most people another difficult habit to reconsider. Not only is coffee a product from a far away country, not even considered food and yet using a lot of fertile arable land in countries who have come to rely on a cash crop such as coffee, sugar and other commodities we can do without. Even the Fair Trade coffee which has added to the new opportunity to ‘greenwash' our consciousness, is a bad solution for the people trying to make a living from growing coffee to satisfy our endless demand for more energy and faster lifestyle. In line with the foregoing, it is understandable how a more balanced diet consisting of wholesome food adds to a more balanced human being, which in turn manifests in a more balanced and wholesome view and understanding of the world around. This quality helps the individual to see both sides of a situation at hand, helps to see the whole picture. This attribute is increasingly important in an ever more fragmented and disconnected world.   In practicality, we strive to focus our diet around whole grains, seasonal vegetables, including root vegetables, nuts and seeds, fruits, honey or maple syrup, maybe the occasional egg in spring and summer, and in case we come face to face with starvation, the occasional animal will keep us alive without losing the spirit of this community endeavor. Regardless, no-one is going to regulate whether a person eats meat or not, what you eat is not the concern so much as the effect of ones diet in reference to our goal which is creating community. The raising and killing of animals for the purpose of eating them, while there is plenty of other high quality food sources available, is in contradiction with the community vision. We have come to the conclusion that for humanity to live in harmony with nature, we need to stop the enslavement and the needless killing of all living beings on earth.   Physical Movement   The proposed sanctuary could be a place were all could gather on a daily basis, if one desires, to join in group movement. The type of movements would depend on the group and those willing to lead the group that particular day. Examples are yoga, tai chi, pilates, qi gong, martial arts etc.   Drugs - Tobacco & Alcohol   We trust that the individuals who will be attracted to this community will have a level of awareness and willingness to change their undesirable habits and dependencies. Living our lives in a more natural environment and being in harmony with nature will make it easier for most of us to grow towards balance with our surroundings without artificial stimuli.   Nevertheless we could see the use of an organic homemade wine for special communal celebrations. The use of communal organically grown tobacco for ceremonial purposes only.   Soft Drugs, Hallucinogens & Hard Drugs   There are many convincing arguments in favor of the use of marijuana, hashish, mushrooms, LSD, etc. but our choice as a community should be to find ways of being high on life without the assistance of drugs - as Ram Dass points out "The goal of the path is to Be high, and not Get high." Besides, one of the missions of our community is to heal body, mind, spirit and soul, whereas those substances easily obscure the mind and undermines true health. Some people believe in the use of drugs as mind openers to other realms, for vision quests or gaining clarity. From experience, we see people gaining sustained clear visions and open minds by simply purifying their body, mind, spirit and soul through natural means. We know from our medical sciences that the use of these drugs is harmful for ourselves and our future children, therefore this is one of the very few matters on which this proposal is not flexible. We recommend that people who want to stay with their drug habits, stay in that kind of community where these drugs are made available. On the other hand, we hope to be able to create a community where people who are struggling away from their drug addictions will find a home of love and understanding, and will find a helping and supporting hand to reach their goal.   Internal Cleansing   Creating and sustaining the intentional community we envision will require clarity of mind of all members. As we all know a clear mind resides in a clean body. Therefore, the Healing Lodge will be an integral part of the community and will offer all members of the community services to support internal cleansing, such as holistic food preparation education, herbal remedies, massage, sauna, sweat lodges, fasting, colonics etc.   Inner Reflection and Contemplation   We would hope everyone adapts some sort of practice to assist in their spiritual growth. Having a regular practice of inner reflection also helps us to cleanse our bodies and minds to receive higher wisdom and knowledge. We must give ourselves the time and space to do this, as the benefits far reach beyond ourself and extend to everything around us. The sanctuary space will be available for individual and regular group meditations.   Spiritual Counseling   We hope to have people within the community who have walked the spiritual path with integrity and are able give assistance to others in times of emotional, physical, and spiritual crises. They could also be instrumental as spiritual advisors for the community as a whole, as counselors for the Healing Lodge and communal celebrations.   Communication   The community would benefit from workshops for all community members on the fundamentals of 'Compassionate Communication' or 'Non-violent Communication' so that we can avoid dysfunctional communication. This will help to reduce and resolve conflicts and increase a greater sense of group cohesion.   Some of our communications in regards to community matters will take place silently and reliably by posting messages on the bulletin boards in common area, such as workshops, laundry room, sanctuary, dinning hall etc. Meetings will be organized from time to time to discuss any issues brought forward.   Medical Assistance   In terms of health, we shall be using all methods available to us and as appropriate to each individual: <ul> <li> from straight medicine to alternative medicine, </li> <li> from medication to yoga and auto-suggestion, </li> <li> from digging ditches to ocean and wilderness survival programs. </li> </ul>   Whatever form of healing people feel ready for, it is their own responsibility.   Our whole way of life will be synonymous with good health. Everyone who wants it, will have a sound diet in relation to nature, regular exercise, sunshine, fresh air, ample rest and relaxation and huge amounts of love and friendship.   In maintaining and restoring our health, we should give our preference to methods which are in harmony with nature, and only when no alternatives work should we use modern scientifically based medicines, which are in principle, mostly working against nature - against life with anti-bios - drugs and medication.   Sooner or later, our members will include herbalists, spiritual healers, mid-wives, homeopathic doctors, acupuncturists, colon hydro-therapists, massage therapists etc., offering various life-enhancing skills. These skills should be available to every member of the community.   We recognize sickness and disease as a normal, natural reaction of the body to restore balance or health. These reactions of our body are to be supported instead of being suppressed. Along the same line, we don't subject our children to immunizations and injections as it contradicts our striving to live naturally.   Clothing   Our clothing reflects our state of mind and the stage we are in now. The same can be said about the quality of our clothes, neglected clothes not repaired regularly, not refreshed or washed when dirty reflects a similarly neglected mind. Attention should be paid to obtain clothing from ecological responsible sources, fair trade, and organic while recycling our clothing as much as possible. It is our hope that members will be aware of the influence that different kinds of fabrics have on our wellbeing. We might have already experienced the difference between synthetic fibers versus fibers from vegetation versus animals. As far as clothing optional, if one feels the need to walk around their personal domain and home without clothing that is personal business, but for common areas, except say for a beach designated so, it would be expected out of respect for other residents and our guests that we all wear appropriate clothing.   Laundry - Washing   A common laundry facility would be the simplest and most cost effective for the whole, while at the same time, taking it one step further in our commitment to sustainability. Individuals could occasionally wash their cloths by hand and air dry. A laundry facility for the Healing Lodge is part of the plan and should be available to all. Another option would be to take large loads to a commercial laundromat in the nearest city or village. We should agree to the kind of soap used, either homemade or store bought but definitely bio-degradable, this to limit the impact to the surrounding eco-system.   World Affairs   The community and it's members will hopefully be well informed on world affairs by monitoring sections of the world press, radio, and internet. This community is not intended to be a place of escape from the daily realities which face our world. We want to remain part of that world we live in now. Keeping ourselves informed about the different struggles the world is going through will give us strength to live the way we choose to live and also inspire us to work out solutions and alternatives which we feel are needed for ourselves and mankind.   We will encourage all members to share the magazines and subscriptions they receive, with the other members interested in the same subjects. Maybe we can come to the point where all magazines and information, books, etc can be purchased by the community and kept in a common library room. We feel it is a big waste of money and resources if many families are buying the same magazines.   Relationship with Society   If the community is to serve as an example to society, it will have to be closely in touch with and open to that society. Through our connections in town (cafe/store), through the healing lodge, workshops and special events, outside work, and regular dealings with the surrounding intentional communities, we shall be building a trust based on an understanding and appreciation of our mutual lifestyles.   Politics   This will be a multi-national, nondenominational community with as much as possible no political party affiliations. As far as we are concerned neither race nor creed nor political leanings will ever of themselves be barriers to membership in the community.   As a community we shall in no way support a particular political party, although in another sense our very existence will be political. Our unique stance will be there to provide and demonstrate alternatives. We are likely to participate in local or national politics only insofar as we feel it to be essential for the community's welfare. In this case we may cast votes en bloc, or otherwise take joint action. We are unlikely to stand in the way of political action by individual members of the community.   Religion   As mentioned earlier, we humans are social beings, continuously redefining our sense of purpose and our desire to belong as a way to make our existence meaningful. In order to be able to do so in an effective and responsive way, we strive to fit into a group of like-minded people. Creating group cohesion around spiritual and religious commonalities goes back in history as far as we can see. Long ago, in Pagan times, the strive to survive was dominating human interactions, especially their interactions with their environment. Eventually, a very clear and precise relationship developed with their surrounding environment, a relationship which became gradually institutionalized by those in control, who in turn made that relationship into a religion (the word ‘religion' comes from the Latin word :Religaere' which means to relate). In those days of pagan tribes working together, their way to relate to their surroundings were rather uniform and worked well for countless generations living in a certain bio-climate. Now, we humans come from all over the world, all bringing our very different traditions and religions with us and we expect to find harmony with each other. That is a tall order and works seemingly well as long as there is enough space and distractions between the very different social groups. Although this level of tolerance and acceptance has been a hall mark for the people living in Canada, mainly because there is always another valley on the other side of the mountains and because there has always been plenty of everything to go around. This peaceful co-existence is quickly challenged when natural resources, jobs, lifestyle and living space are being compromised. The community we envision is no exception and as people from very different walks of life, different traditions, different religions come together, it will be essential to explore a common and acceptable 'religion', a common way to relate to each other, a common way to relate to the environment and the relationship to whatever or whoever we perceive to be behind the visible manifested world. In other words, we will have to face the reality to find or create a common religion, a way we can all feel accepted and a sense of belonging in the way the community relates to the above mentioned levels of connection with the world around us. Throughout history, it has been observed that when push comes to shove and survival comes in question, only what humans hold in common in their relationship with the environment makes the difference. Therefore, it is fitting to see a common relationship with each other and our environment to be focused on ecological principles, basically a nature based spirituality.   Nevertheless, in this community, we hope to provide the space for each of us to travel by whatever spiritual path we choose, provided that those paths in no way impede the passage of others.   This community will not provide the space for any "one way" to be presented as the only way. If for instance, the Christian way or Yogi Whoeverananda's teachings or any other creed or path is what it is all about for you - to the exclusion of all other possibilities - then that will be fine by the community at the same time as being unsupportable by the community. Some people are convinced that "all religions are opium for the people" and that is fine for them, because they can spend all their time and energy in the material aspects of life, supporting those needs of the Monster. Nevertheless, we hope that the members of the community will not get trapped in a material lifestyle, although the material based lifestyle i.e. science can surely help us in our understanding and relating of the universe.   At the same time, we hope that the members of the community will be able to help each other in finding their own truths and in making their own religion or spiritual path meaningful. Therefore, we should set aside common time to reflect about our communal way of life, its purpose in this vast Universe and to explore our own purposes.   In conclusion, our way of life should be a reflection of our spiritual awareness, by walking our talk and in keeping to the vision of the community.     Rituals - Traditions - Routines - Celebrations   Rituals, traditions, routines, and celebrations are important in the life of any society. In this community, whatever forms they take they will be of our own choice. Therefore, we shall be free to discard the trappings of society and ways of socializing in which we see no merit, while at the same time create our own celebrations that reflect our community values. Departures and new arrivals, rituals or customs are likely to spring up spontaneously around each of us. We are likely to design our own weddings and funerals, and our Christmases are likely to bear little relation to society's commercialized version.   For us this community is about exploring and learning to understand our traditions and using them to improve our lifestyle. Our destiny is going back to our origins. We find a lot of valuable concepts in the traditions and religions of the ancient wisdoms. These traditions have been obscured by the way they have been passed on through history. Therefore we should reclaim those ancient traditions we find in harmony with community vision.   Although all forms of religion and traditions are accepted within this community we should be aware of the practical consequences and to avoid ending up with a chaos of rituals - celebrations - holidays and all sorts of events which could interfere with or disrupt the smooth functioning of the community. For example: Christians take Sunday off as a holiday, while Seventh Day Adventists and Jews accept Saturday as a holiday. A communal project which involves all members eg. Fixing the road, would probably only be possible during the weekends - the Saturday or the Sunday... If we want to have one day a week for rest, then we do not have much choice. Therefore we should come to a consensus and give our choice for a day of rest a higher priority common for all members, a level higher than all man-made religions and rules. It is the suggestion of this community to adapt to our relationship to Nature, applicable to all.   By the same token, we recognize the influences on mankind when people all over the world celebrate the same fact at the same moment. For example: Christmas is a worldwide celebration beyond Christianity and although overly commercialized, it results in an increased vibration of love and peace, surely influencing mankind.     Relationships   We would like to be part of a community in which relationships are positively and consciously handled with high awareness. The quality of our relating will not be left to chance. This community will be an expression of our search for balance and harmony with nature. The more we become balanced within ourselves and the more we come in harmony with nature, the better we feel and experience ourselves as sensitive beings with an outspoken polarity: male or female. As we all miss a major part of the other polarity within us, our search for wholeness and balance brings us closer to a human being of the opposite polarity, with a vibration pattern in harmony with our own (understanding, feelings, emotions, love etc..).   The way members relate to each other will only depend on themselves. If they want to live as individuals and journey through life on their own, that is fine for the rest of us, but if members have closer relationships with each other and live as married or as partners together, that is fine also. The manifestation of our relationship should be open and understandable for the rest of the community. That means that if two people decide to live together in a closer relationship in the community, this fact should be expressed towards the other members. From then on, that couple should be accepted and supported as united by the rest of us. We do not want to become members of a community with wishy-washy relationships, or where promiscuity is a common fact and where couples split up as soon as the first problem arises in their relationship. On the other hand, in a relationship that does not work, there is no reason to support an unsupportable fact. We are not looking forward to living in a community which is a duplication of our present society, rather this community should be a place of peace and growth on all levels. This community should not be a place or a tool to solve family-relation problems, if the problems do not involve the community or community members. Many people will be attracted to a communal form of lifestyle, having problems with themselves, their partner, children, job or society, etc... and expect the community to solve their problems. In which case, they may see community as an escape to get away from it all and from their current reality. To some extent, the community is also a solution for our everyday problems, but the community we propose is not intended as a babysitter for those who cannot handle their children, or see children as a burden or handicap for doing other "important" things in life....it is also not a tool that conflicting partners can use to work out their differences....   Instead, the community should be a relationship on another, higher level, quite different than the common nuclear family relationship. One way the community could support the unity of the partner relationships in the community, is to accept each couple or family as being one - one voice or one vote on communal matters. That suggestion implies that both partners or the whole family will have to work out their differences between themselves and not in the community, not at the meetings, but in their own kitchen.   As a new age community, we should be careful not to get trapped in the opposite extreme, where we push our partners in a role they might not like. Therefore, the community will require the constant efforts of its members to break down the conditioning implicit in phrases such as: "my wife, my husband...." Within the community, no-one should have the right to "ownership" of another. Each member should belong to himself or herself, and in freedom, each member belongs to the other he or she chooses. The same principle applies at the community level: the community itself belongs to the members, and not they to the community.   The likelihood is that in a loving, caring community in which everyone is receiving an abundance of love and support and warm physical contact with each other, promiscuity will be at a very low level indeed. If love and trust and real communication exists between members of the community (and that is the only sort of community in which we will be interested), there will be little risk for members being abused by the dominance of others. None of this will threaten the security of any couple whose relationship is sound. It may well threaten or break-up relationships which are less than sound - but that happens also every day in present society.   Children   We have a responsibility towards our children to help them on their path to the future, a future which we see as a challenging New Age. By letting them learn from the experiences we went through, we parents, aware of the New Age, should be able to guide our children through the chaos of the present modern society into a more harmonious future. If we parents are not able to give our children the right examples and values which we experienced for ourselves as valuable and workable, we should ask ourselves what the purpose of our life is about.   Most people in our present civilization believe that being successful in business or on other materialistic levels is what life is about. We should not get trapped in a busy lifestyle where there is little room for children and the beautiful things in life. We can easily forget our spiritual destiny and how our children help us to grow along our path, as we allow ourselves to become brainwashed with all the "important" things we can and should do in order to sustain the status quo of economic growth.   Life is so simple, the only thing we have to "teach" our children is by showing them our lifestyle - by being true examples.   <ul> <li> If we want our children to be good parents later in life, we have to let them experience how good it feels to have good parents, </li> <li> If we want our children to be loving and peaceful, we have to let them experience how warm and relaxing it feels to live with loving and peaceful parents. </li> </ul>   All children that bless our lives are here to teach us important lessons, constantly reminding us to stay true to ourselves. They are pure refections of our beliefs and the patterns we carry within ourselves, expressed often through their behaviors and actions. Honoring our children as our teachers rather than "owning" them like property, instills respect and love that flows both ways. Therefore, we should respect and encourage the children's natural learning and growth by involving them in community projects such as the design, building and decorating of their own school.   Within this community, parents should be able to help each other to care for the children. Being good neighbors to each other should not be any problem.     Education   Present day schooling in conventional education sends our children into a future to nowhere. As such they are being prepared for easy money careers and soulless jobs, all adding to the collapse of our western civilization. Although we see the signs of where we are heading when it comes to educating our children, we lack the motivation to make effective change. As such, our children's upbringing will face the challenges of the future, and will depend on the skills and resources of those involved. Nevertheless, our children's upbringing should be very different from the parodies of education and freedom which most of us have experienced. Our children will grow up as New Age people with every opportunity throughout their childhood to experience things as they really are, to acquire knowledge and acumen and wisdom which will equip them for life rather than for positions in a dysfunctional and unsustainable system. They will not be growing up in a world in which 'careers' will matter or where pensions will be paid to those who persevere to the end. Continuous and versatile though our children's education will be, it will still have to comply with the requirements of this province, which is something which we should be able to take in stride. Our children will be given every opportunity throughout their childhood to be aware of and experience life in the outside world. They will be very familiar with the alternatives to living in the community.   The children's education should be a more child-directed type of learning. Where they follow their interests and learn whatever topic they like until it is exhausted or they are exhausted! The children should learn in one classroom setting where all ages are present and participating at whatever level they can. Older children would be encouraged to mentor the younger ones. The teacher is to be a guide rather than an enforcer or encyclopedia, gently guiding them towards their goals. All members, including adults and even sometimes visitors and guests, can partake in the learning offered by the children in the school. Topics that they may investigate: wood working, horticulture, practical crafts, cloths making, astrology, biology, food preparation, wild crafting, permaculture, meditation, building design, music, languages etc. The children may invite members from the community to assist them in their learning of topics that the member may have skill, talent or higher understanding of. The children would be encouraged to spend ample time outdoors exploring nature doing activities like: skiing, skating, snowshoeing, winter wilderness camping, hiking, swimming, canoing, camping, wilderness survival, etc   Community Structure   Who's in Charge?   We submit that anyone who takes part in the development of this community will discover exactly who is in charge: It will be you!!! You will be in charge of whatever happens to you, and each of us will be responsible for what happens to the others.   Leadership   Although we envision a community without a guru, charismatic leader or executive manager, as a group we nevertheless will need constant guidance and direction in order to stay the course we choose. As outlined in the chapter below, the decision making process of this community is based on consensus which gives all members an equal voice in all matters decided. As such, leadership within the community and towards the outside world will be as organic and flexible as can be and will require the involvement of all members when required and whenever they see fit. In practical terms this means all members will be encouraged to be a leader in their own way, in their own field, while at all times respecting the consensus based decision of the whole group.   <p style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in; FONT-WEIGHT: normal; TEXT-DECORATION: none" a

PART 4 - Proposal for Intentional Community

January 21, 2010

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Lessons from Geese:   Although our Western civilization claims to be modeled after the natural principles such as self interest and survival of the fittest, when we take a better look how animals such as geese manage to overcome great odds, a very different picture emerges:   <ul> <li> When geese fly great distances, they fly in V-shaped formations. As each bird flaps its wings, it creates an updraft for the bird directly behind. It is estimated that as a result, birds use 70 % less energy to reach the same destination compared to birds flying the same distance by themselves. </li> </ul> Lesson: People who share a common goal and direction can get there easier and faster with less resources if they co-operate.   <ul> <li> When one goose falls out of formation, it feels the drag and has to do extra work by him/herself to keep up. Therefore geese try hard to stay connected in the flock. </li> </ul> Lesson: If we would feel as much support from each other as geese do, we would try hard to stay connected, to accept help and help others along the way.   <ul> <li> When flying in formation, the leading goose has to do all the hard work, but when tired the lead-goose drops to the back of the formation and the bird immediately behind him/her takes over leadership. </li> </ul> Lesson: If we had as much common sense as geese have, we would share leadership and recognize when we run out of energy or ideas to lead.   <ul> <li> Geese in the back of the formation honk to encourage those in front about speed and direction. </li> </ul> Lesson: If we had much interest in what is happening to us from our leadership, we would make sure that our protests are being heard and are in support of our common goal.   <ul> <li> When one bird gets sick, weak or shot at, one or two able-bodied birds will fall out of the formation and stay behind with the sick or injured bird to help and protect it. They will stay with the weak bird till it dies or in case it regains strength, they will help it to fly in their formation and eventually join a larger formation.   </li> </ul> Lesson: If we had as much compassion for each other as geese are demonstrating, we would support each other not only during the good times but equally so during the times of hardship.   <ul> <li> Geese mate for life, and during the northbound spring migration, the males move ahead to the nesting grounds where they will claim their nesting site about one week before their partners eventually arrive. </li> </ul> Lesson: If we humans had as much sense of belonging to a soul mate as geese do, we would take our relationships more seriously and follow our inner voice to guide us to where we belong at the right time and place, and not compromise into a relationship which is going nowhere.   <ul> <li> Geese flying in formation do not follow behind their leader, but fly of to the side in the V-formation, so they can all see where they are going. </li> </ul> Lesson: If we had as much interest in where we are going as geese have, we would not follow our leaders blindly and believe what they are saying, instead we would keep an eye on the common outcome.   <ul> <li> When a flock of geese is feeding or resting on the ground, one or two geese are constantly on the lookout for potential danger such as predators, and they will inform the flock about what they observe and alarm them when needed. </li> </ul> Lesson: If we had as much concerns about the wellbeing of our community as geese have, we would make effort to inform the community about what we see as dangerous and a threat.   <ul> <li> Geese eat a variety of foods which are growing along their migratory pathways. As they migrate, they will congregate onto those patches of food at the right time of the year, and move onto the next stop-over and eventually reach their final destination. When geese are being fed commercial foods, processed, not grown in the region and not in season, those geese lose the ability to migrate, miss the window to migrate and most likely perish in the harsh winter or become urbanized and come to depend on human intervention. </li> </ul> Lesson: No wonder we humans are so out of touch with nature, we only have to look at our diet.   <ul> <li> Migrating geese fly from one food source to the next, trusting there will be enough along the journey for all. They will stay in such a food stop-over, only long enough to regain strength and move on, leaving enough behind for those who follow. </li> </ul> Lesson: If we had as much social and economic integrity as geese have, we would share our food and our resources, instead of claiming ownership, erecting fences and creating borders. Also, if we would trust the providence of nature the way geese do, we would know that there is plenty to go around, and no need to hoard and secure for ourselves if we only take what we need, not what we greed. Membership   Provisional Membership   People who want to become provisional members are invited to come to discuss their ideas and the values they want to see protected for themselves. A visitor or someone who is already known to us may be accepted for a period of one year as a provisional member. During which time, the community and the provisional member will explore their compatibility with each other. Any person may request or be invited into a provisional membership. The acceptance of anyone as a provisional member will require an overall agreement of all existing provisional members and of all full members as well as agree to the community's bylaws and proposal.   Membership will also include the signing of an individual agreement with the community - this agreement will require certain commitments from the new member, including financial obligations. In return, it will guarantee to the new member an equal share of whatever the community has to offer.   As soon as an agreement is reached and the membership fee is paid, the prospective member will be considered a "provisional" member and be invited to choose a home site and garden area of approximately 2.5 acres to be surveyed and registered by ourselves. In the first year, the provisional members can start working the land assigned to them and set-up their own temporary dwellings on the land like a van, school bus, yurt, tee pee, temporary building etc. If a provisional member does not become a full member for whatever reason within the first year, then all modifications to the land (trees planted etc.) and permanent dwellings built on the land will not be compensable back to the provisional member.   Those whom we accept as provisional members will be those who intend on being part of the community as far into the future as they can see. Those who want to be with us for a period of 'training' rather than as a way of life will do so as long-term visitors. They will be encouraged to join us for a minimum of a year on the basis that it is likely to take that length of time for a new-comer to become fully integrated and to reach the point of being able to commit fully to the community.   The community will provide no grounds for discrimination over membership other than the impressions of the existing members. All members will, needless to say, join of their own free will and will ensure that they do so neither lightly.       Full Membership   Those eligible for full membership in the community will become full members after all other full members agree on the acceptance of those who were successful provisional members for one year.   Membership of Children   The children of full members will be entitled to the acceptance, care and protection of the community up to the point in their lives at which the community invites them to become full, contractual members of the community. This point will vary from child to child and may be at any time, from puberty onwards. It may follow a period of time in which the young person has been given space in which to live for some considerable time outside the community. It will mark the end of the period of unconditional acceptance and the point at which the young person decides whether to accept or reject his or her place within the community.   Founder Members   Founder members will be those joining the community prior to the time of the establishment of an organized community. At this moment, we are still in our formative stages. Each of us joining as founder members will at the same time be provisional members, untried by the test of time. The status of each of us, however secure it may be in practice, must be regarded in legal terms as being provisional, regardless of the commitments which we will have made to the community.   Membership Investment   As is explained in more detail under the chapter for community finance, we see two types of shares, a class "A" type share and a class "B" type. Anyone seeking provisional membership will be required to invest $10,000 Canadian in return for class "A" shareholdership in the community and for a home site ownership. That amount is the material investment required to become a provisional member, as well as for full membership (only paid once) per family unit. This amount would be non-refundable after a one year provisional membership as it is comparable to one year rent in regular society. Full membership can only be granted to provisional members who fulfill also their financial commitments.   Those seeking provisional membership with inadequate funds will not be prevented from becoming a member of this community. Although, new members should understand that setting up a community is impossible without money and the requested financial commitment is barely even a one-year working and saving question. Easy membership can make it easy for people to come, but also easy to go, and that is not the kind of community we are looking forward to establishing.   Every member who can afford to invest more than the agreed amount of $10,000, will be encouraged to do so as a means of enabling the community to expand. The optional investments will be recognized as class "B" shares, refundable as agreed upon case by case.   When it comes to deciding whether a visitor or other person will be accepted as a provisional member, or whether a provisional member will be admitted to full membership, that person's financial status, whilst it may be known to certain individual members, will not be published generally. A member's shareholding in the community will not be widely known and will certainly not be something to which any significance is attached.   The class "A" invested capital of a new provisional member will not be used by the community - it will remain in the bank on a one year long interest bearing term deposit. That makes it easier to pay the portion of the investment back corresponding to the length of stay, in case that the new member decides to leave or is no longer acceptable by the rest of the members. The interest of such investment comes to the community and will be used for the general benefit.   Instead of a capital investments towards the class "B" shares, a new provisional member could also contribute to the community by paying with material goods, such as livestock, machinery, vehicles, etc, the values of these items at the going price in regular society.   After a provisional member becomes a full member, his/her class "A" investment could be used for the benefit of the community - ex. To build common building, workshops etc. or kept available for purchasing adjoining land.   Another way is that the community finances the share of a member who is unable to pay out his share. The new member can put down a down-payment, and the balance he can pay back to the community on a monthly basis. This special arrangement requires approval of all full members.   Expulsion of Members   The specific grounds on which a member may be required to leave the community will be one of the subjects covered in more detail in our bylaws. It is an area in which the community's and an individual's security could be at stake, whilst it is highly likely that in times of difficulty we will not need recourse to our legal framework, it will be essential that we have one.   This subject should be discussed in more detail, along with everything else in this proposal. In this sort of community, the level of awareness of its members and of those attracted to this kind of community will normally enable matters of this kind to resolve themselves.   Members Leaving the Community   Members who want to leave the community can do so whenever they want. They are responsible for the liquidation of their class "B" investments, by either selling their investments to a new provisional member, who is also acceptable to all the other members, or refinancing through the community. How the community will be able to return the class "B" investments is at this moment not clear. It is to be hoped that a departing member will be able to leave with at least as much, in real terms, as he or she originally invested, and that the investment may have appreciated as a result of the community's growth. All improvements a leaving member made to his homesite - such as building a house, outbuilding etc. will have to be considered when selling; s/he has to sell that also to the new owner/member.   The community will track membership requests from people outside the community, so that the changeover of membership would not be a problem.   Absentee Membership   With obtaining membership is it implied that the owner(s) will immediately become a contributing resident member(s) of the community. Therefore, new members will be encouraged to let go of their past commitments and embrace the community fully at the time of receiving provisional membership.   Legal Entity of the Community   The members of the community, their activities and the operation of the whole community is to be covered by two separate legal entities:   <ul> <li> The first legal entity would be a non-profit society to cover all members in non-economical activities. The non-profit society consists of all the members of the community which entitles them voting rights in all decision making. Nevertheless, the member of that society can operate any business of their own or in common with other members or non-members as long as it is in line with the community vision. </li> </ul>   <ul> <li> The second legal entity to be incorporated is a holding company to cover all commonly held profit making activities within the community. The company will hold and own the land, common buildings and all other facilities of the community for the enjoyment and benefit of its members. The company will be owned by the members of the community through their shareholdership. The members of the community and only them will have an equal voice in all community matters, regardless of the size of their holdings. </li> </ul>   Finance   Capital   The community's capital will be the money invested by its members and by others. By "others" we mean, people who support our projects but who do not want to reside within the community. "Others" can only obtain class "B" type shares which does not entitle them to voting rights within the company. "Other" shareholders will be entitled to recover their investment under the terms of their agreement. It is our expectation that this proposal will bring together a team of people who feel committed to put this plan into effect and who will be prepared to invest in this operation, not only financially but also emotionally, physically, mentally and spiritually.   Debts   All personal debts and financial obligations of any kind outside the community (other than those legitimately incurred on behalf of the community) will be the responsibility of the individual who incurred them, regardless of when they were incurred. As a community we will strive at all times to avoid indebting the community to any financial institution. Instead we will fundraise, solicit funding from "others", or work within our means.   Personal Income or Private Income   Each member is responsible for his or her income to support their own family and dependents. They can make their income doing whatever they like on community land as long as it is in-line with the community vision and in agreement with all members. It is the intention of this community to have the Healing Lodge as well as several community owned cottage industries as sources of income for members and the community. Therefore, income made on the common land, be it in the cottage industries owned by the community or individually owned businesses, will have to be split, part remains personal income, part becomes communal income. But the matter will need to be discussed and agreed upon as the situation comes along.   Personal Expenditure   As much as possible, member's needs will have to be met by her/himself. However, expenses for communal project, workshops, experiments, improvements for the benefit of the community will be paid by the community. To keep these expenses straightened out, all members should keep records, receipts, etc. so they can claim communal costs.   Community Income   Although all assets, possessions, buildings, land etc will be owned by the community, in reality it all will be owned by the shareholders. In order to keep the land and facilities of our community in good condition and in correspondence with our needs, expenses occurred will be covered on a communal basis. It is important that a distinction be made between income, which is invested money from shareholders and communal income. Expenses returning on a regular basis should be covered by income from the Healing Lodge, projects, workshops, fairs, classes, invested capital etc. run by members of the community in the facilities of the community. Improvements to the land, like building roads, installation of waterlines, building of communal buildings should be covered by capital from investments, because once the improvements are done they will have appreciated the common possessions.   This policy makes it easier to run the community economically. It gives the members and shareholders good security in their investments, with no problems returning one's investment if someone wants to leave the community. To keep the above matters clear and open to all members and shareholders we will have to keep good records, a form of open accounting so that all members always have a direct insight into what happens with the community on the financial levels.   Another way to cover maintenance costs would be that all members contribute a small amount every month. The amount paid by its members in some other communities is around $100, but also this will have to be discussed and agreed upon by all members. Economically seen, the financial basis and transactions of the community and its members, proposed in this proposal, are in no way different than in regular capitalistic society.   Distribution of Work   Personal Work   This community will essentially be a "back to the land" community, where people should try to live on the land and from the land, within the means of the land. Therefore, we see the benefit of all members having their own gardens to grow most of their food. But to be self-supporting and to be able to stay on the land requires an income of money on a regular basis, an income we make ourselves, the responsibility of each individual. Instead of scattering our energy in an outside job, any member could set-up his or her own cottage industry, craft shop etc. or become involved in the proposed communal industries ex. Healing Lodge. Another way to make some money is by doing carpentry work or building and construction work for other members, who are unable to do it themselves, or by fixing cars, baking bread for the group and the outside world.   Communal Work   As a group we will have to maintain our commonly owned possessions. For example fixing the communally own vehicles, repairing waterlines, keeping the road in good shape etc....we will have to agree when these things will be taken care of and by whom.   Therefore these various needs should be in the care of a member focusing on these specific tasks. This means that we may end up with all kinds of different "focalizers". Ex. A farm focalizer to co-ordinate all the farm work, a visitor focalizer who receives all the letters from potential visitors and makes a visitor schedule, a library focalizer to be in charge of the books and resources in the common library. A focalizer will be one of the members best qualified by temperament, experience or interest to handle its budget and make all decisions necessary for it, with or without the help of other members. When a focalizer needs help from other members, he/she brings it to the agenda of the next meeting. Giving the responsibility of the different departments to the different focalizers simplifies the workload of a community considerably. It also eliminates a lot of boring meetings and saves a lot of time.   Focalizers would hold their appointments for up to twelve months only, during which time they will take responsibility for finding and training their own replacements. Their roles will be as teachers, supervisors and coordinators of their departments. This way no-one gets stuck in or monopolizes a role. Almost every member will be or will have been a focalizer at some point and many will have been responsible for a number of different departments over the years. These positions will be voluntary. Being a focalizer will not in any way remove from a member the need to work as hard as everyone else. It will just be an added responsibility. This system discourages undue specialization. How we, all other members of the community, will pay the different focalizers who are working for the communal benefit is still to be worked out. We all will have to do some more thinking on that matter. There are two possibilities:   <ul> <li> All members become a focalizer of any kind and do that work so it is averaging about the same time and effort compared to the other focalizer jobs.   </li> <li> Another good system to consider is the Labor Credit System, outlined by BF Skinner's Walden Two and evolved since Twin Oaks. It is an infinitely variable system, from which we would gain some insight. </li> </ul>   Other communal work, which is not of any specialized kind, will have to be done by all of us. For example, maintaining the roads, planting and harvesting communal crops. We could spend a couple days a month to do such communal projects. When we all co-operate on such a day, a lot of hands will make a big job play.   Government   Governing is proposed to be on the principle of consensus, not by the rule of a majority against an unhappy minority. This implies that all members, full and provisional members, have to agree before any decision becomes effective. This principle is being practiced in different communities, some are successful while others have a hard time to keep it together. Although consensus building is at times slow and painstaking, in return it guarantees cohesiveness between the members and ensures that the community keeps building and moves forward on common values and decisions accepted by all. Although a decision has reached full consensus agreement, it is our practice not to implement such a decision until at least one full day has passed. This gives all members the chance to ‘sleep' over the matter and re-evaluate the potential outcome. It gives those who could not attend the decision-making meeting a chance to bring their voice to the table, also the time to discuss the matter with their partner, with other community members or with their children and explore in how far they are in agreement with the decision at hand. In order to ensure that all members know about the decision, all decisions are being posted on a community bulletin board, visible too all. Any disagreement has to be addressed not later than 24 hours after the agreed decision. In case no dissent has been filed, the decision moves forward. From our experience, the easiest way to achieve consensus in case all else seems impossible is threefold:   <ul> <li> Ensuring that any decision to be made is solved by a solution of the same domain. Earlier in this proposal, it is explained how the domain of Freedom, Equality, Fraternity and Sustainability are not only separate but also that a problem in one domain cannot be solved with the solution from another. (eg: might is not right, money or wealth does not give power or access to more than what is needed...)   </li> <li> Redefining the outcome of the decision in reference to the overall picture of the community. Basically looking at the larger picture, at the whole community and all its members. At times it is easy to forget about the larger and only see what is personal as important. That is where our vision statement and mission statement can make a big difference. At the same time, it is essential that every individual, even those who disagree are being listened to and that their point of view is taken in consideration. All too often, it came about that a single individual's dissenting voice was the higher road to be taken, while the majority already in agreement were not thinking clearly, were following the most convincing argument, or had no particular stake in the matter.   </li> </ul> <ul> <li> When only one member is in disagreement, whether during the decision making meeting or during the 24 hour re-evaluation period following the consensus decision, the decision is not implemented and put on hold. This results that the question or problem is coming back onto the agenda of the next group meeting. At this time, it is urged that the dissenting person brings in supporting information or evidence, or at least one other member of the community which he/she was able to convince of the importance of the dissent. We figure that when more than one person can become motivated to dissent the original decision, that there is plenty of reason to revisit the whole problem and its proposed solution(s). In case no additional voices can be added to the dissent within the set time frame, while no redrafting of the argument can help the deadlock, the original decision stands and is implemented as for the benefit of the rest of the community. </li> </ul>     Outreach Programs   Visitors   Every community attracts visitors and we are likely to be no exception. Visitors are part of the lifeblood of a community, and yet inadequately handled, they can be a major problem. Therefore we will have to develop our own policies to cope with visitors as the community develops. Our aim will be to demonstrate the values of community life, to express a natural harmony and sustainability to as wide a circle as possible. There is likely to be a high exchange of energy between us and those who pass through the community. Almost all of our new members will once have been visitors. Although we are unlikely to turn away someone who has slugged miles up from the highway to be with us as night is falling, our visitors will normally have contacted us beforehand and be scheduled. They will obviously come for varying lengths of time. One of our objectives could be to run programs of one or more weeks duration which would give them as rapid and deep insight into the many facets of community life. Our visitors will contribute financially to their stay and those who are with us for a longer time will be encouraged to take an active part in the community's daily workload, meetings etc. They will be able to interact freely amongst themselves and with members, and will have access to almost all of the communities facilities. But we may decide to give ourselves the protection of asking them not to wander into certain areas such as workshops. Visitors will not be allowed in the members personal spaces except after the invitation of the member involved.   Healing Lodge   One of the major attractions of the community will be the Healing Lodge which will offer a diverse selection of healing treatments and educational programs. A more detailed vision for the Healing Lodge is currently being developed with the input of the current members. The purpose of the lodge would be to facilitate wholistic healing to anyone who wants to participate. Ideally all members of the community should be participants at the early stages of the lodge formation. It is necessary for everyone to learn tools in order to facilitate their own healing. This will also bring a sense of unity to the group and members may embody more compassion for visitors or guests partaking in a healing from the lodge. The type of people the lodge may attract would be people who are more self-aware of their need for change. Only those people who are really ready for change and healing will find this place and will truly have effective healing. For this lodge will be a facilitator of healing, really a safe place to release and let-go, but the true healing is up to each individual. We (some members) are there as facilitators only to guide, to offer some tools which maybe emotional, physical, spiritual or mental tools and to hold their hands if need be. Once they have completed a one to six month stay, they may find that they have a new perspective in life, one that gives them more confidence to make the necessary changes to live their lives more fully.   Visitor Programs   These programs would be directed towards potential members of the community, introducing them to our communal way of life, from building homes, to planting gardens and food forests, to the children's education, working and supporting the cottage industries, attending meetings, making communal arts and crafts, etc   <ol> Courses and Workshops </ol>   The options and ideas are unlimited to what we could offer to outreach to the outside world. Examples could be; Natural Law, Healing and Cleansing, Belonging, Reclaiming our Divine Feminine or Divine Masculine, Meditation, Permaculture, Food Forests, Raw Food Preparation, Compassionate Communication, Sweat Lodges, Cob Home Building, Discovering your Spiritual Gifts, and so on.   <ol> Spiritual Cafe </ol>   We will try to run a shop or cafe on the property or in the nearby city or village, as a further contact point with the outside world. This would also provide us with an available outlet for the home-grown and hand-made goods of the community.   <ol> Selling of produce and crafts and other services outside community </ol>   The community could become involved in selling excess produce in local farmers markets, craft fairs and other type of seasonal markets.   Meeting Us- Meeting You   Once we have established a core group of members, this proposal will evolve and become a more complete core proposal which will be flexible and adaptable. Any changes would be for the benefit of the community as a whole and not for the benefit of individuals. It is our intention to meet people who are interested in the setup of community and to explore in what way they can help us. One of the purposes of this proposal is to eliminate a lot initial screening. Nevertheless, you will be in a position to meet us with an overall picture of the community and discuss those ideas that need clarification.   If you would like to meet us concerning this proposal you can contact either Norbert at <a href="mailto:nmaer10s@gmail.com">nmaer10s@gmail.com</a> or Marie & Pedro at <a href="mailto:marie.hyde@rocketmail.com">marie.hyde@rocketmail.com</a>   Let us know the nature of your interest and location so that we may arrange a meeting place. Our task for the moment is to bring together those people who will most effectively launch this community which has yet to be named.     Commitment - Challenge - Change   There will be a high level of commitment required of those seeking to be a part of this community. This community will not be an easy one to join. Commitment is required to obtain the good things in life and this community will be one of those which demands the most. Whilst we are out to create a stable, well-run community, it will be one which will be anything but boring or challenge-free. The sort of challenges in which we are likely to be most interested are the self-imposed or highly-selective, life-enhancing ones.   From the beginning of the formation of this community, there will be ample scope for everyone in the developing community to take on responsibilities. Everyone with talents and energy to contribute will have room to shine like they have never shone before; but one of the few things for which there will be no room for in this community is personal power-tripping.   This community will be built to last, but how long it will survive in any one place, or how long individual members will choose to live in it, is not our current concern. Although, many paths will cross within the community, some will end here while many more will continue beyond. The framework of the community will remain, whilst parts are constantly changed. As we know, the world is entering a period of great change in its recorded history, nevertheless we shall be in tune with the changes that are taking place and will often be several jumps ahead of them.

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