Cohousing-L Mailing List: Culture

[William Johnson (0005638134]

Lynne Farnum wrote...
> Gee, I don't know whether cohousing supports cultural consistency or not.
> What is it?


Maybe I didn't phrase the question right.

It appears that CoHousers are called upon to spend REAL time and money on
principles that are not universally held -- principles that rarely get more
than lip service in other contexts.  The level of sharing, mutual concern, and
desire for consensus among CoHousers seems "inconsistent" with the rest of the 
world.  The question might be restated ... "Does a CoHousing community also 
provide support for the growth of a shared culture which would otherwise 
struggle in discord with the larger culture?  Would the sense of sharing, and 
consensus yield to the selfishness, and personal empire-building which is 
generally so common?

Someone (?) on the list even mentioned a community spirit among the children
that extended to group responsibility for gathering stray toys.  I find that
unusual when compared to reports of teens and pre-teens cursing at seniors.

I was curious about how CoHousing supports these positive values which seem 
inconsistent with the larger culture.


William Johnson
5638134 [at] mcimail.com