<p>&nbsp;</p> <p style="\" align="\"><em><strong><span style="\">PROPOSAL FOR INTENTIONAL COMMUNITY</span></strong></em></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Copyright.</strong></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p style="\"><strong>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: &lsquo;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.</strong><strong> </strong></p> <p style="\">&nbsp;</p> <p style="\"><strong>Introduction</strong></p> <p style="\">&nbsp;</p> <p style="\">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 &lsquo;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 &lsquo;progress to nowhere\' and unbridled prosperity by taking the &lsquo;best from the rest\'. Although this journey has been very &lsquo;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.</p> <p style="\">&nbsp;</p> <p style="\">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 &lsquo;gnow\' that we belong to this planet on this planet.</p> <p style="\">&nbsp;</p> <p style="\">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 &lsquo;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 &lsquo;success\' for who and for how long, it could be argued that all actions and all thinking is &lsquo;right\'! Who is it to say that something is wrong in the face of progress and success, especially economic and financial success.</p> <p style="\">&nbsp;</p> <p style="\">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.</p> <p style="\">&nbsp;</p> <p style="\">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.</p> <p style="\">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.</p> <p style="\">&nbsp;</p> <p style="\">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.</p> <p style="\">&nbsp;</p> <p style="\">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 &lsquo;What\' into \'Why\', to digest the information and distill into wisdom, wisdom urgently needed to take proper action for the longterm benefit.</p> <p style="\">&nbsp;</p> <p style="\">As our current civilization is coming to its demise, future generations will look back at the &lsquo;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.</p> <p style="\">&nbsp;</p> <p style="\">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 &lsquo;right\' mind could be against such economic success, but when we also allow our &lsquo;left\' mind to be heard, we recognize the illusion.</p> <p style="\">&nbsp;</p> <p style="\">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!</p> <p style="\">&nbsp;</p> <p style="\">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.</p> <p style="\">&nbsp;</p> <p style="\">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.</p> <p style="\">&nbsp;</p> <p style="\">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 &amp; other related projects and dreams. Each form has a specific objective, a specific intention.</p> <p style="\">&nbsp;</p> <p style="\">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 &lsquo;make-me-feel-good\' remedies.</p> <p style="\">&nbsp;</p> <p style="\">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.</p> <p style="\">&nbsp;</p> <p style="\">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 &lsquo;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, &lsquo;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.</p> <p style="\">&nbsp;</p> <p style="\">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 &lsquo;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.</p> <p style="\">&nbsp;</p> <p style="\">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 &lsquo;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.</p> <p style="\">&nbsp;</p> <p style="\">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.</p> <p style="\">&nbsp;</p> <p style="\">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 &lsquo;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.</p> <p style="\">&nbsp;</p> <p style="\">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 : &lsquo;Community building for Dummies\' is waiting to be picked from a shelf.</p> <p style="\">&nbsp;</p> <p style="\">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.</p> <p style="\">&nbsp;</p> <p style="\">Finally, despite the common belief that when you build it, people will come, as is portrayed by Hollywood in movies such as &lsquo;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.</p> <p style="\">&nbsp;</p> <p style="\">&nbsp;</p> <p style="\"><strong>History</strong></p> <p style="\">&nbsp;</p> <p style="\">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.</p> <p style="\">&nbsp;</p> <p style="\">Obviously, our currently glamorized western individualism is a fantasy, only possible for a few, good for the economy but a disaster for the ecology.</p> <p style="\">&nbsp;</p> <p style="\">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.</p> <p style="\">&nbsp;</p> <p style="\">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.</p> <p style="\">&nbsp;</p> <p style="\">About a generation ago, our western civilization experienced such a massive awakening as the children of the post second war &lsquo;Golden Age\' rejected the fallacies and the fantasy lifestyle of their parents and paved a future that became known as the &lsquo;Back to the Land\' movement. &lsquo;Flower Power\', &lsquo;Free Love\' and &lsquo;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.</p> <p style="\">&nbsp;</p> <p style="\">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 &lsquo;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 &lsquo;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.</p> <p style="\">&nbsp;</p> <p style="\">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 &lsquo;Hailos Community\' as a way to reflect our secular dimensions and our emphasis on a wholistic approach to life (Hailos, from Greek, means &lsquo;hole\', and &lsquo;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.</p> <p style="\">&nbsp;</p> <p style="\">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:</p> <p style="\">&nbsp;</p> <ul> <li> <p style="\">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.</p> </li> </ul> <p style="\">&nbsp;</p> <ul> <li> <p style="\">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.</p> </li> </ul> <p style="\">&nbsp;</p> <ul> <li> <p style="\">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 &lsquo;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.</p> </li> </ul> <p style="\">&nbsp;</p> <p style="\">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 &lsquo;progress to nowhere\'. The &lsquo;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 &lsquo;head\' instead of from the &lsquo;heart\'. This unbalanced development, known as &lsquo;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 &lsquo;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 &lsquo;Why\' questions versus &lsquo;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.</p> <p style="\">&nbsp;</p> <p style="\">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.</p> <p style="\">&nbsp;</p> <p style="\">&nbsp;</p> <p style="\"><strong>Motivation for Community</strong></p> <p style="\">&nbsp;</p> <p style="\">The motivation to create an intentional community rests on the following fundamental reasons:</p> <p style="\">&nbsp;</p> <ul> <li> <p style="\">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.</p> </li> </ul> <p style="\">&nbsp;</p> <ul> <li> <p style="\">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<span style="\"> into t</span>he 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 &lsquo;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.</p> </li> </ul> <p style="\">&nbsp;</p> <ul> <li> <p style="\">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 &lsquo;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.</p> </li> </ul> <p style="\">&nbsp;</p> <ul> <li> <p style="\">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.</p> </li> </ul> <p style="\">&nbsp;</p> <ul> <li> <p style="\">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 &lsquo;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.</p> <p style="\">&nbsp;</p> </li> <li> <p style="\" align="\">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.</p> <p style="\" align="\">&nbsp;</p> </li> <li> <p style="\" align="\">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 &lsquo;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.</p> <p style="\" align="\">&nbsp;</p> </li> <li> <p>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.</p> <p style="\">&nbsp;</p> </li> <li> <p style="\" align="\">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 &lsquo;do-good, to feel-good\' attitude. Countless NGO\'s and governmental organizations are covering the globe, trying to bring all those poor, &lsquo;primitive\' and underdeveloped people as fast as possible into the 21th Century, selling them &lsquo;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.</p> </li> </ul> <p style="\">&nbsp;</p> <p style="\">&nbsp;</p> <p style="\" align="\"><strong>Statement of Purpose:</strong></p> <p style="\" align="\">&nbsp;</p> <ul> <li> <p style="\" align="\">We<strong> share</strong> a world view which includes love, awe, wonder, reverence, beauty, mystery and trust in the deeper structures of the Universe.</p> <p style="\" align="\">&nbsp;</p> </li> <li> <p style="\" align="\">We <strong>search </strong>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.</p> <p style="\" align="\">&nbsp;</p> </li> <li> <p style="\" align="\">We <strong>affirm</strong> the equal worth of all human beings and respect people\'s ability to form their own opinions and belief systems.</p> <p style="\" align="\">&nbsp;</p> </li> <li> <p style="\" align="\">We <strong>foster</strong> a warm, open, supportive community, celebrating life.</p> <p style="\" align="\">&nbsp;</p> </li> <li> <p style="\" align="\">We <strong>look </strong>to each other for intellectual stimulation and emotional support through all stages and difficulties of life.</p> <p style="\" align="\">&nbsp;</p> </li> <li> <p style="\" align="\">We<strong> strive</strong> to give our children a nurturing environment in which they may explore and learn to live in realms of unknown possibilities.</p> <p style="\" align="\">&nbsp;</p> </li> <li> <p style="\" align="\">We <strong>support</strong> each other to maintain a sustainable lifestyle which has seven future generations in mind.</p> <p style="\" align="\">&nbsp;</p> </li> <li> <p style="\" align="\">We <strong>seek</strong> 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.</p> </li> </ul> <p style="\" align="\">&nbsp;</p> <p style="\" align="\">&nbsp;</p> <p style="\"><strong>Vision Statement:</strong></p> <p style="\">&nbsp;</p> <p style="\" align="\"><em>To live in close harmony with Nature and its Universal dynamics </em></p> <p style="\" align="\"><em>as our contribution to re-create a peaceful world, </em></p> <p style="\" align="\"><em>an earthly paradise!</em></p> <p style="\">&nbsp;</p> <p style="\"><strong>Mission Statements:</strong></p> <p style="\">&nbsp;</p> <ol type="\"> <li> <p style="\">To create a sustainable intentional community with like-minded people.</p> <p style="\">&nbsp;</p> </li> <li> <p style="\">To inspire others outside the community by living a sustainable example.</p> <p style="\">&nbsp;</p> </li> <li> <p style="\">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.</p> <p style="\">&nbsp;</p> </li> <li> <p style="\">To be committed to our growth in conscious awareness which will be necessary to discover new and better ways to achieve harmony on earth.</p> </li> </ol> <p style="\">&nbsp;</p> <p style="\">&nbsp;</p> <p style="\"><strong>Community Values:</strong></p> <p style="\">&nbsp;</p> <p style="\">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 &lsquo;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;</p> <ul> <li> <p style="\">have become tools for social and economic control,</p> </li> <li> <p style="\">have failed to create a peaceful world as most religions have been and still are instruments for war and genocide,</p> </li> <li> <p style="\">have failed to create and promote a lifestyle in harmony with nature and within the means of our limited natural environment,</p> </li> <li> <p style="\">have failed to offer true hope and prosperity on this planet during our current lives.</p> </li> </ul> <p style="\">&nbsp;</p> <p style="\">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 &lsquo;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.</p> <p style="\">&nbsp;</p> <p style="\">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.</p> <p style="\">&nbsp;</p> <p style="\">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 &lsquo;freedom of enterprise\', which became the cornerstone of Capitalism. Today we see the results of this ill-fated transgression.</p> <p style="\">&nbsp;</p> <p style="\">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.</p> <p style="\">&nbsp;</p> <p style="\">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.</p> <p style="\">&nbsp;</p> <p style="\">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:</p> <p style="\">&nbsp;</p> <ul> <li> <p style="\"><em><strong>Liberty or Freedom</strong></em> 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.</p> </li> </ul> <p style="\">&nbsp;</p> <ul> <li> <p style="\"><em><strong>Equality</strong></em> 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.</p> </li> </ul> <p style="\">&nbsp;</p> <ul> <li> <p style="\"><em><strong>Fraternity or Brotherhood</strong></em> 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 &lsquo;haves\' and &lsquo;have-nots\', but also perpetuates a socio/economic system in which competition and &lsquo;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.</p> </li> </ul> <p style="\">&nbsp;</p> <ul> <li> <p style="\"><em><strong>Sustainability</strong></em> 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 &lsquo;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.</p> </li> </ul> <p style="\">&nbsp;</p> <p style="\" align="\">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 &lsquo;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,</p>