Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Housing enmasse/kibbutz/hello from Sacramento

[areinert (areinert]

> don't get why I, an atheist Jew, don't like having a tree in the common house 
> in December. But we manage that. 

Repeat after me: Christmas is a secular, capitalist holiday.  It was once
a pagan solstice party (probably, as ever, an excuse for a good bash)
coopted by Christians for propaganda purposes, now reverted back to
something more like the original in spirit, adapted to an industrialist,
consumerist culture.  The tree is just a bit of proto-Germanic pagan
ritual [re]introduced into this Anglo-Saxon ritual. 

> As for polyamory (is that the noun?) I'd bet that a lot of us were once, but 
> as far as I can tell, we're all too busy attending committee meetings and 
> trying to keep our established relationships right side up to give it much 
> attention. But then again, maybe I'm being left out, too. 
> 
> right?) to design a housing development of 170 units on 25 acres, queried as 
> to whether a sense of community could be developed in such circumstances. 
> 'Could this be cohousing?' I read him asking, between the lines. And shortly 
> thereafter, someone else (oops, I'm not sure how to look back for the name 
> without killing this message) responded:

> >Hmm.  I don't think that something that large could be "cohousing" 
> >community in the sense of a small group of households defining and 
> >operating it cooperatively.  It could be a real nice small town to live 
> >in though, the sort of natural neighborly small town (bigger than a 
> >village) that we hope cohousing is a deliberate recreation of.  But it 
> >couldn't be cohousing in the details of, oh, 100's to dinner and forums 
> >and meetings.  And the grounds committee meetings over trying deal with 
and > >ameliorate the terrible site would probably tear it up anyway.
> 
> >Gee.  I guess that means No.


That was me.  Stupid, thoughtless, uninformed  statements prompt 
intelligent, thoughtful, informative responses.  And thanks for the welcome 
flippancy.  More earnest religiosity than I care to digest.

> failure of the kibbutz dream of creating socialism by utopian example. But I 
> knew that was unrealistic and at least one can aspire to a more fulfilling 
> community of neighbors within capitalism... and maybe that will just turn out 
> to be even more subversive than the isolated utopias of before.

Does have to always display Ideology; isn't it sufficient just be a more
sensible than the aberration of suburbia? ("practical" vs "idealistic" was
a continued thread with Robsan)

> Anyone else been at a kibbutz even more recently, or better yet, anyone 
> following this polylogue from one now? 

Enquiring minds want to know.

Hi.  Just wanted to say I enjoyed that.

****************************************************
* Arne Reinert  <areinert [at] linknet.kitsap.lib.wa.us *
* Winslow Cohousing Group, Bainbridge Island, WA   *
****************************************************