by TheBlackSheep » Fri Feb 28, 2014 5:01 am
Haha, yeah most of the "communities" have not worked out well, even the hippy communities that tried to create safeguards against a dominant figure taking over the whole. I watched a program about it once where they would have group sessions where everyone got a chance to talk and express their complaints, and ultimately it would be dominated by the most vocal of the members flying into a rage while many of the others did not wish to express disapproval and others following in agreement, thus leading to the splintering of the group.
My vision (though I wouldn't be the one creating every communitiy) would be a fairly loose associated community, not living together, giving support most frequently in an indirect way, rather than contributing directly to the work of each individual "community".
When I mention self-sufficient I am trying to get at the type of life often described as "off the grid", of only vaguely associating parties expressing mutual solidarity.
That being said, no doubt any such endeavor would be fraught with complications both internally and externally... Though, that being said as well, I am still not necessarily convinced that the best option is just to forget it and go switch back on the TV, though that is a personal conviction and not in any way an imperative for anyone else.
Thanks for the eat the weeds video. I've been interested in that though after looking deeper into it I realize more and more what a complicated field bontany is...
As for the exchange question, I might personally envision (again I want to be clear that this is my own perspective and not meant to be thrusted upon others) that many people might find it unnecessary to have many of the objects we currently hold to be of utmost importance... and that ideally food could be shared in some kind of banquet hall or similar setting (though this would entail a somewhat close knit arrangement to a prospective community) and that shelter would be separate and somewhat makeshift...
Again those are all personal visions, and I don't really believe that they would come to pass if only because this kind of thing would be by necessity a social arrangement and so entail the desire and collaberation of many diverse people..
I just want to note as well that my interest in that idea is not for the sake of creating any kind of uptopian situation where all people become happy and live in harmony... I'm aware that life will still be in many ways tough and possibly moreso than a lot of people would like to bare, and that is perfectly reasonable... The only reason I even bring up the possibility at all is because I have a fear (justified or not) that our system might be moving towards something like a totalitarian one, and the goal would mainly be to soften that process (however feasible or not that might be). I do not take that cue entirely from certain conspiracy theories, though they have no doubt played an influential role, but also from the idea of Max Weber that as rational planning increases the society will move towards an iron cage of rationality (or a shell as hard as steel), as well as the developing trend of technocracy, which might even be seen as the same thing, so again this is more related to a personal conviction (not so much about the trend towards totalitarianism, as a desire for a spontaneity which is not really possible in such a rationally constructed system... and others might not even care for such kinds of spontaneity at all.)
In other words I want to be upfront that my personal vision for such communities actually entails taking a greater burden onto our shoulders for the sake of enjoying some of the benefits that might otherwise be lost. This might be enough to scare the majority away immediately, and rightly so... I already have my own plans for where I am headed, as sucessful or unsuccessful they will be.I see this more as a personal quest than as a desire to lure other people in, and my asking for suggestions and criticisms is as much a call for aid in my own brainstorming as anything else. Does that make sense? I understand some of what I've said is contradictory and I take full responsibility for that, it is through this process that I wish to iron out my own contradictions.
I think all one can do is guide oneself, but even that kind of radical individualism is to a degree a social process, in that we always live among others even in a degree of isolation, and/that much of our behaviours are learned from or in relation to others.
If none of that makes sense, I might ask:
On another note, if we were to disregard the idea of communities altogether, does anyone have any ideas on constructive social action in a more limited sense of the word, regarding conventional activism, but perhaps avoiding some of the pitfalls I talked about in the first post (the factors which create dependency, put individuals into positions of subjection to a preconceived plan from a designated leader figure, helplessness, apathy, etc.)?
