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Hello Ted, I just got done reading your submission to the utopian world championship in 2004. A fellow named Ian MacPherson from New South Wales, pointed me in your direction and I'm so glad he did. It is very heartening to know that there are others thinking similarly and especially to see it articulated in such a clear and detailed way. I want to share my proposal with you, www.cooperative-community.info and also to share one thought or question. While I agree with 99% of all that you say, I just wonder, if we are going to go as far as what you and I and Ian and others suggest, why not just go the extra 1% and go communal. Having been interested in the communal or intentional community all my life, my vision for communal living is far and away removed from the popular concept of a small group of people living together in an egalitarian way. That doesn't interest me at all and I do not believe we have to be strictly egalitarian..... even if we are living mostly communally. Put another way, it's the idea of the "personal home" and its sheer cost in terms of time and/or money that I wonder about. Also, as someone who spent 20 years as an organic farmer and also as someone who has tried to do the simple self-sufficient homesteading trip, the inefficiencies there, both as a "producer", or as in simple self-sufficiency are glaring. It's heartening to read your words and what you feel is possible. I share those visions. But I'm just not so sure we could meet them if we needed say, more than a "room to sleep in" for accommodations and if we didn't eat communally. Now I'm not saying these should be "required", just that to actually achieve what you're writing about, the quality of life, free time, low-cost, culture and all, it seems to me we would need greater cooperation, simplicity and sharing….. and I don't see this coming as a cost to our freedom. Another problem that I see is that "capitalism" is being practiced not just by large corporations, but by each individual in our society; if they have capital that is, and of course almost everyone has some, and some a great deal more than others.. And, to a great degree, individuals are actually taking care of their daily needs by using that very capital to exploit others. For instance, sometimes I think in my head that the IC.org website is not an example of the "promise" to come, but rather the nightmare. What I mean by this, it seems to me, is if you really study it closely, a great deal of what's going on is people with capital trying to attract people without any capital and then using that capital for their gain or to achieve their goals. There is actually very little sharing of "natural resources" going on. And sharing of natural resources, i.e. the land and forests, seems essential to achieve self-sufficiency. I don't want to rattle on. Thanks for the work that you do. I just recently discovered your website and I'm sure I will do a fair amount of studying there as well. Sincerely, Chris
www.cooperative-community.info
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