Cohousing-L Mailing List: RE: telecommuting

[Rob Sandelin (robsan]

Telecommuting is a function of your ability and interest in the 
electronic technologies.  Many people have NO interest in such 
technologies and IMHO should be spared having to pay for it as a 
housing option.  Electronic technologies serve work purposes, not 
social purposes.  I discovered one day how my many non-computer 
literate friends must feel when I go babbling on about this technology. 
 I was forced to listen to some folks describing a favorite tv show. I 
don't watch tv and have absolutely no interest in it. Yet here were 
these people babbling away about how great this show was.  I thought 
they were idiots.  Yet that experience made me realize that to the 
people who don't use,  and are not intersted in computers, they no 
doubt feel the same way.

I am about as heavily involved in computer technology as you can get, 
but I recognize that computers are very limited tools and are not used 
by a large number of people.  There is a growing anti-technology 
movement of people who don't want 500 tv channels and interactive 
encyclopedias and all the rest.  Many of these folks live in 
intentional communities in order to simplify their lives and have an 
active dislike of computers and everything they stand for.

So if you make technology a centerpiece of a community, be aware that 
you may be filtering out people who find computers repugnant.  Sure, 
computers are just tools. But they are also a powerful symbol of a 
technocratic society.

Rob Sandelin
Sharingwood