Re: Power, Money, and Values.
From: Racheli Gai (rachelisonoracohousing.com)
Date: Tue, 30 Sep 2003 11:57:07 -0600 (MDT)
I see it pretty much in the terms Robert put forth, ie: if someone puts
lots of money into the community, there could very well be strings
attached, mostly in terms of power unbalance. While there isn't a clear
line between what amounts to a lot of money and what isn't, I think this
distinction is important. I want to comment, though, on one point made by
Robert,
in reference to a prioritization list: I'm not sure that the
fact that item A is higher than item B on the list means,
necessarily, that the group wishes to have item A before
item B *under all circumstances*.  It could mean that that's
how the community feels regarding the use of *community
money*, but that if some other money is found for something
lower - then this might not present a problem.  I often feel
that way: Some low-priority items are not something I'm 
dying to have, but if it was really important to someone in the community
to the point that they're ready to shell money
for it - I'd have no objection.  The group should have a discussion, of
course, to make sure that it's not low on the list because some people
truly don't want it, and haven't bothered to  comment because it seemed
out of reach anyway.

R.


>From Robert's valuable post is this excerpt...
>Now, it's true that these are things that the whole community wants--the
>question was originally whether a policy should be made to "accept gifts
>but only to fund the items in the VE priority order."

>*********

>Here's what I don't believe I've seen addressed here. Forgive me if I
>missed it...

>Let's imagine that I have some money, not a lot, but more than I need. (I
>wish that were more than imaginary.) I know my community has not raised
>enough money to get everything on their value engineering list. I
>certainly don't have enough money to donate the cast-iron plumbing for
>the community, but I would like to donate the patio, which I could
>afford. I know the reason the community put that choice off was because
>it felt like something they could raise money for in the future or try to
>build themselves.

>Is that a power thing if I get it for them even though it wasn't as high
>a priority as the cast-iron pipes? Is it a power thing if it wasn't as
>high a priority as screen doors? I see the patio as an important part of
>the community and the screen doors as an important part of the individual
>units.

>It's not the wide-screen TV or wine cellar. It's something always planned
>on by the entire community and it supports the *community* of the group.

>See, here's the concern I've had about the thread so far. It seems to be
>focused on the thought that those with money are going to buy luxuries
>not used by the entire community. I'm looking more for the things that we
>all really want.

-----------------------------------------------------------
racheli [at] sonoracohousing.com (Racheli Gai)
-----------------------------------------------------------


_______________________________________________
Cohousing-L mailing list
Cohousing-L [at] cohousing.org  Unsubscribe  and other info:
http://www.cohousing.org/cohousing-L

Results generated by Tiger Technologies Web hosting using MHonArc.