Cohousing-L Mailing List: The Tofflers and CoHousing

[Mmariner (Mmariner]

Did anybody else catch the Terri Gross radio interview on Fresh Air (on NPR)
 last week with Heidi and Alvin Toffler, the "futurists?"  They were
advocating home-based businesses, but I don't know how they feel about
coho/intentional communities.

IMHO, restoring a sense of belonging is critical to our future survival as a
culture.  I feel we can rebuild our civilization from the grassroots if every
neighborhood, condo complex, apartment building, etc., can become at least as
nurturing and cooperative as a cohousing neighborhood.  

I read "Third Wave" and "Future Shock" when they came out and only partly
resonated with Tofflers' views on the future.  Has anybody read their latest
book, entitled something like "The New Civilization?"  What, if anything, do
they say in it about the communities movement?  Is it worth reading, or just
a new edition of the gospel according to Newt? On the radio, the Tofflers
said they strongly disagreed with Gingrich in many areas.  [BTW, I don't
*totally* disagree with Gingrich, but think he's myopic (or downright wrong)
in many areas.]

I would love to see more futurists espouse community/ neighborhood closeness
as a antidote to the rootlessness and alienation felt by so many in these
changing times, whatever "wave" futurists call it.

Mike Mariner
Planet Boulder