politics | <– Date –> <– Thread –> |
From: Scott Cowley (SCOWLEY![]() |
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Date: Tue, 24 Oct 1995 12:48:32 -0500 |
I think that it is time to address several of the recently list-ed issues in a political way... Because "Politics is every breath you breathe." I think CoHousing is about meeting Human needs. I think that one of the biggest Human needs is for community. I think that our Community has been stolen from us by a system which is, in practice, anti-Community. I think that we are trying to win that Community back and build it in a modern way. You might also view CoHousing as another attempt to beat them at their own game. Religion: Although I know many fine people who practice noble acts under the banner of Religion, I think that Religion has been one of the biggest tools of death and oppression in Human history. I think people should stop acting as apologists for that fact; and just do their good deeds because they want to. Also pervasive in my experience is the observation that most of the people I know who claim to be "spiritual" have a much deeper set of personal problems to work through about their relationships to themselves, their past, and other people. We owe it to ourselves to create NEW celebrations based on our need for Community. That cohousers are "Circling our wagons" is probably a very apt observation. However, that is nothing new in a country run by anti-community priorities. We are not cowering in a corner, though, and are anxious to share wisdom and experience with those who will listen. It is also important to observe that those living in the suburban neighborhoods now in place are a direct product of the capitalist "selection process", and if you think you are going to buck that in a general way, you are in for another long, lonely, and frustrating battle. Although Nidar says that CoHousing is still viewed as alternative housing, it is the existence of such "alternatives" which have so humanized his Danish culture. The land grab: You might look at the acquisition of land as beating them at their own game, because there is a finite amount of it, and it's going fast. If we don't get it, they will. I think James Kalin has a fine idea: using the property we get to grow food and building materials. That way we can continue to try to beat them at their own game... control of our basic needs. What does CoHousing offer ? For me it is that you-me-we seem to have a sense of the needs for a MODERN community: non-paternal, cooperative, eco-sensitive. There also seems to be a vague sense of class struggle in there somewhere. And finally, I think there is a real need for those on the political Left to make the effort to get working again on a hopeful general social Vision for our future. I think that our conferences should always celebrate these great values. - Scott Cowley, Wasatch CoHousing, Salt Lake City, UT, USA, Terra Firma, Milky Way ...philosophers throughout time have tried to interpret human history. The point is to change it. (K. M.)
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politics Scott Cowley, October 24 1995
- politics Scott Cowley, October 24 1995
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