Re: Should individual "sponsorship" be allowed of community
From: M.Studer (mstudersssnet.com)
Date: Thu, 25 Sep 2003 16:13:07 -0600 (MDT)
Can you please clarify? :

Is there an assumption here that if I (me, as an individual) have X amount
of dollars free (over and above what my set "obligation" to the community
is) that I would be willing to use to buy a hot tub for the community, and
the community has decided that an arbor is more important - then I will
graciously give my hard-earned money (remember this is money I have to spend
at-will out of my personal household - not my dues or whatever that I have
already paid into the general fund)  to the General fund instead of spending
it on myself for a trip to tahiti if I can't get the hot tub?

Is this an accurate assesment of the thought process?

Thanks.

Michelle Studer
Canal Fulton, OH

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Elizabeth Stevenson" <tamgoddess [at] comcast.net>
To: <cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org>
Sent: Thursday, September 25, 2003 5:41 PM
Subject: Re: [C-L]_Should individual "sponsorship" be allowed of community


>
>
> > I understand what you are saying, but I guess what I don't understand
is:
> > The things in your hypothetical story:
> >
> >> What I would object to is that other projects would be left undone. If,
for
> >> instance, everyone also wanted an arbor for shade, but there was nobody
> >> willing to pay for it out of pocket, and the three poorest families
really
> >> wanted it, it would still not get done. Those three families did not
get
> >> what was really important to them, because the group never prioritized
it,
> >> and they don't have the resources to gift it to the community.
> >
> > What I don't understand is that if nobody donated things, the poorer
people
> > still wouldn't get their arbor.
>
> Why not? If people put their money into the general fund as a gift, the
> arbor might actually get built, if it were higher on the priorities list.
>
> >So what's the difference?  Either way they
> > don't get the arbor, but at least they get a hot tub.
>
> Something for which I'm sure they would be grateful. But as the French
will
> tell you, nobody wants to be grateful forever. Making decisions about what
> is important for the group to have builds community. Making decisions
based
> on who can afford to pay builds resentment.
>
> >Something is better
> > than nothing, but I guess the neighbors who were going to gift the hot
tub
> > could just put it in their backyard instead, thereby making everybody
> > beholden to them every time they came over to "borrow" it.  We have
gifting
> > all the time in my community, which is more closely knit than cohousing
per
> > se, and everybody recognises that a gift is a gesture, it doesn't give
> > anybody more power or less compassion, we all understand that I might be
> > afford to buy the big screen TV, but I sure don't have time to mow the
lawn
> > an extra time.  My gift is no more valuable just becasue some
corporation
> > has attached a price tag, than the gift of another member of homemade
dolls
> > for the children, who spent 20 hours working on her beautiful creation.
> > (which, BTW, were immensely popular for a while with some members, but
> > others enjoyed more the TV)
> > In my mind the giving of a gift shows caring and love for the receivers,
and
> > the acceptance of said gift both honors and responds with love to the
> > givers.
>
> Gosh, I can hardly argue against something so incredibly warm and fuzzy,
now
> can I? This certainly is a different tactic, however I find myself not
> distracted by it. I have not been talking about homemade dolls (although
> accepting a big screen TV would certainly be something my community would
> talk about beforehand, and has), and I've taken pains to state that at
least
> twice.
>
> -- 
> Liz Stevenson
> Southside Park Cohousing
> Sacramento, California
> tamgoddess [at] comcast.net
>
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