"Prophets tell
people not what they want to hear, but what they need to hear" by
Reinhold Niebuhr
What is ethical
behavior? What should "community" norms be?.........might these be
1. To refuse to engage in
usury
to any degree, and "exploitative"
capitalism in any form
2. To grow, produce and
consume only
whole and organic food
3. To steadfastly uphold the
position of
pacifism as the ethical high ground
4. To practice procreation at a
steady-state, non-growth level
What is a, if not
THE primary goal of life?......might this be
1. To achieve maximum freedom as
defined by the individual, oneself....
("Freedom" in this context,
admittedly, is more about time and
"being and doing"
than in the generally
understood context of "having" or acquiring.)
That there are
suggested
foundational ethics, or norms; and a
suggested primary goal for this proposed
intentional community is not, nor will it seem, I believe, a contradiction regarding
"freedom of the individual", nor does it deny essential "self-determination"
(or even incentive and reward i.e. differences in individual
"wealth")........if....
(1) one
has tried, or been interested in living with as much
freedom as one can possibly
imagine
(2) one wishes one's life, or oneself to be more than defined
simply by the "work" one might be primarily engaged in
(3) one wishes to escape that individually isolating, capitalistic, opportunistic, economic
bubble we all become trapped in......defined by what one individually
possesses (either regarding property, talents, or some favored
job
position)
(4) one wants a life defined by
something more than simply material possessions, and
(5)
wants to live in a JUST world free of war, crime,
environmental degradation, needless strife and needless degenerative
disease. THIS IS A PATH TO THE MOST INDIVIDUAL FREEDOM, NOT THE
LEAST. THE DIFFERENCE IS: THIS IS A PATH ALL COULD PARTICIPATE IN, NOT
JUST SOME.
We always live and function within a
human culture, in relationship with fellow human beings, whether near or
far, complex or simple, the few, or the many......always, ALWAYS there are agreements and
expectations. To
pretend we exist and function (solely) as unrelated, isolated individuals,
and without agreements and expectations, simply
ignores the facts. When one realizes this, one realizes
too, that to move beyond "what is" to what might be, what could be,
what might mean a much better and more peaceful way of living........MEANS
GOING THERE WITH OTHERS.
Simply
put, what would living in this proposed, large
(approximately 100 to 300
people.....no one knows the exact best numbers) rural, largely self-sufficient, INTENTIONAL COMMUNITY be
like?
What would living in this proposed community be like?
Perhaps something like
living on a university campus, or being at a summer camp, or really, any
sort of slightly higher density human habitation living situation, such
as condominium, suburban neighborhoods or villages would be similar except
they would be
much more spacious, spread out and would have a feeling of being much
closer to, or part of, the natural surroundings they found themselves in. The
buildings and grounds would be more creative, unique, diverse and beautiful.
There would be vegetable gardens, fields, fruit and nut orchards, and many
kinds of animals. There would be an equal distribution of ages, from the
very old, to the very young. One would share a room with one's "partner",
spouse or best friend, work two days a week, or four hours a day in the
garden, kitchen, or doing maintenance work
(or make some sort of other arrangements to fulfill
one's minimal requirements to the community in return for receiving one's
basic requirements of food , shelter and a few other of life's basic
amenities). The rest of the time one would be free to
do as one wished. There would be many shared facilities, such as kitchen,
cafeteria, laundry, men's and women's bathhouses, library and Internet/phone
access. And because there would be an abundance of land, resources and people,
there would be plenty of opportunity for collaboration, self-employment,
cooperative business ventures, commercial farming, socialization (or the opportunity to be, or to work, alone if one so wished).
In
other words, the resources and people would be available for fulfilling and
meeting ones individual needs and desires, whatever they might be. If all
this sounds, well, horrible, I'm sorry. I am trying to envision something
that would be REALISTICALLY POSSIBLE.........ECOLOGICALLY
SUSTAINABLE,
AND BE SOCIALLY, AND ECONOMICALLY JUST.
In other words, something fair, and that everyone could
participate in
regardless of economic status. This would be a way of living that could
(optionally and potentially)
substantially reduce the need for barter, business and money....thus,
freeing up huge amounts of time and energy for ("higher"?) pursuits, or
simply for the enjoyment of life's simple pleasures. Are not the best things
in life free? Isn't that what we are always told? Why, then, don't we wish
to live this way?
To reiterate and equally important, it would be a
way of life that would be immensely interesting, creative, freeing,
meaningful, secure, healthy and enjoyable........for us as individuals;
irrespective of its positive effect on the rest of the world, and its modus
operandi based on being responsible world citizens.
If I were to guess why the resistance to communitarianism.......besides
our desires based on culturally conditioned, compulsive, and/or an
extravagant sense of materialistic entitlement, our addictions, or
simply because of our FEARS.............(truth
is we'd have a much higher quality life in every respect living in a
communitarian way, I believe).......ANOTHER reason for the
resistance....might be because men would be far less likely (or
find it impossible) to be
able to
(control-entice?) women through economics/capital/force.........and women
would be far less likely (or find it impossible) to be in a position to
(control-entice?) men through
economics/sexuality/love.
Given in today's world, the coveted "good position", as
well as personal capital is largely split equally between men and women
(or even weighing statistically in favor of
women.... especially regarding total capital assets-this is a statistical
fact),
and given that the idea, or ideal of an "equal partnership"
has been gaining ground for some time.......the deciding factor regarding
the play for power, domination and control (might?) seem to lie in
the area of sexuality and love.
This subtle play
for power and control in our most intimate relationships, appears to
have become so caustic and poisonous to relationship, large numbers
of people are finding it increasingly difficult to form intimate, loving and
meaningful relationships, as well as live a
satisfying and healthy life. And those that are living in
relationship, are often quite miserable. All this contributes to a rather
loveless and joyless life. And because of our general callousness and
dullness caused by our greed, Puritanism, and the lie of capitalism
and usury with which we live, and refuse to acknowledge, we seem only
vaguely aware of what's going on....both inside ourselves and the world
around us. This blaming the "boogie man", be it terrorists, or the "Bush
administration" is typical of this lack of awareness.
Capitalism entirely lacks the most important ethic at
all, this being: "To love thy neighbor as thyself".
This original biblical text is entirely different than the common saying of
today "do unto others as you would have them do
unto you", the latter simply being a protocol for business,
whereas the former is about equality, justice and compassion.
Capitalism, regardless of the hype, has nothing to do with democracy or
freedom. Capitalism (other than the act of providing goods and services)
is simply
thievery; either by luck of circumstances, or cleverness. And regarding
goals: Puritanism and
greed hardly suffice as meaningful goals for a society, for a culture.
Further complicating the issue, we are now, almost all of
us, trapped in a highly individualistic, highly money dependent, complex,
expensive, exploitative, highly circumstantial and individualistic
opportunity based economy.........and so, we are in no position to enjoy a
simple, optional, and equally valued labor-based (skilled labor, of
course, plays a part)
economy with opportunities for all, and tied to the justice of
sharing the natural (as well as certain necessary man-made)
resources, simpler living and a great deal more cooperation, and
self-sufficiency. Just talking in this communitarian way, exposes the
uncomfortable reality that most relationships, including the most intimate
between men and women, are based more upon something resembling a business
model, a hierarchical power structure, or contract, or "partnership", rather
than upon love, trust, sharing and cooperation.....the latter requiring
clear ethics and goals.
How love/sexuality "capital" and, or economic/material
"capital" is, or is not used to control another human being(s) has a
profound effect on the socio-economic paradigm of a culture (it's
agreements and expectations) as well as the physical setup of
society. Not surprisingly, in a culture based on
exploitative economics......exploitation and control seem to trickle
down to, or bubble up from (whichever the case may be)
our most intimate relationships. This situation all but
guarantees a rather joyless and loveless life
on the personal level, ultimately leading to poor health, both physical and
mental. And on the larger physical level, this paradigm leads to a
devastated and degraded environment.
Another problem, or so it seems, is that if one stands up
and says there is a "problem", the "crowd" will shout back, no there isn't.
And yet, on the other hand, if one stands up and says there is no "problem",
the "crowd" will shout back, yes there is. The great sociologist Eric Fromm
even addressed this issue late in life, when he said something to the effect
of society, appearing as a whole, to exhibit a form of low-grade
schizophrenia.
A society that can pretend that
its cultural norms of usury, as well as "buying low
and selling high" without adding value, charging of "rent", and personal
ownership of land (all of which lead to horrendous exploitation
and corruption, either immediately, or inevitably of our fellow human
beings, and the environment; and is opportunistic in the worst sense of that
word).......that these norms could possibly be thought to represent
"ethical" behavior (even sanity)
surely must lead any society (ours included) to lie to itself about nearly everything; and ultimately lead to our
self-destruction.
This
terrible lie with which we live (usury and exploitative
capitalism), creates wars, crime, the destruction of the environment and
contributes to a degradation in the relationship potentialities
between of men and women.
watch this interesting video clip
I'll gladly read any proposal, or counterproposal you may have, as long
I feel I'm being treated in kind.
It is likely that the only
way to
CONSISTENTLY live
these ethics, and ACHIEVE this goal
(to it's fullest and most enjoyable potential)............would
be to live in some fashion in a
COMMUNITARIAN
way.
This is the point of these words. It is not simply a
call for intellectual agreement. It is a call to actually come together
physically, and live this way; to "walk the talk" as the saying goes.
"Mindfulness must be engaged.
Once there is seeing, there must be acting. Otherwise what is the use of
seeing? " and also, "The most noble task is to build community"
by Thich Nhat Han
For a more "wordy" explanation of this idea, go
to
www.cooperative-community.info
(TOP)
