Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: COHOUSING-L digest 663

[Scott Cowley (SCOWLEY]

Thanks, Chris Blaisdell, for responding about the politics of the 
"land grab".  I want to underscore a couple of other nuances:
- It isn't AS important that we simply take the land off "the market".
What is important is that it is used wisely.
We have too many people with too few resources, and too many wealthy
with too much land.
We need to stop the explosion of the population for the stupid 
imperative of "market growth", and use the land we own well.  These 
are real, wonderful human beings we are speaking of here.  They are 
going to need all the things you need to enjoy and sustain life.

If one thinks that they have beaten the system by putting the land 
into "permanent open space designation" then they will be awfully
surprised when the system comes to take it away.  It will be pretty 
sad watching cohousers proclaiming the absolute right to 
hold private property... theirs.  The point is to stay vigilant, and 
show the larger community a better way to use the land.

- Population growth does not have to be an absolute.  That we will go 
through resource hell is pretty much assured, but hopefully there will 
be an historical social lesson by the end of it.  I think the value of 
CoHousing and its occupation of land resources is that it can serve 
as an example of a transitional model for rational land use and modern 
community building.  To that end I am completely supportive of 
grabbing any land we can.

- Rob Sandelin:  You missed a factor in the efficiency equation:
    Energy input.  Lot of lights in a 24-hour growing cycle.
  You weren't kowtowing to the god of technology, were you ?         
 
    - Love ya all !