Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Anti-Market System & intentional communities

[Mmariner (Mmariner]

Rob Sandelin said:

>Anti-capatalist rethoric is part and parcel of many intentional communities,

>some of which are completely off the grid, have no mortgages or other 
>dealings with banks, grow their own food and create their own livihoods. 
>For those folks who are so inclined, such places may be a better fit than 
>cohousing.


Like Rob, I hang with a variety of folks from wildly alternative to serious
mainstream and *try* to understand and learn from all viewpoints.  I, too,
know quite a few folks in the intentional communities movement.  Let me try
to color in some more details about IC's beyond Rob's summation:  (Rob, see
if you agree...)

-  First, there is tremendous diversity among ICs, so no generalization
covers them -- not even close.  Check out a copy of the Fellowship of IC's
newly revised directory of over 500 communities and you'll grok this vividly.

-  Yes, most ICs tend to be at least *non*-capitalist, and live simply, yet
joyfully on fewer material goods, more or less separate from mainstream
culture.  Some live more austerely than others.  

-  For some, the simple lifestyle comes from spiritual pursuits of various
flavors.  Spiritual ICs vary from new age to Christian to Buddhist to Native
American to....

-  A few ICs are vehemently anti-capitalist.  And, a few angry individuals
within  non-vehement communities do project hostility to capitalism.  And,
almost everybody who lives an alternative lifestyle lets loose an occasional
tirade against materialism, capitalism, etc.  But so do mainstreamers when
they see gross excesses and injustices.

-  The prevailing attitude I get from listening to wise elders and wise
youngers at FIC meetings and from reading the publications is that most IC
members want to live more lightly on the earth and want to see capitalism
transformed to where it works for all people and for the planet.  But few
want to see capitalism die violently or to transform into something
communistic.

-  Some ICs share profits equally among members from their business
endeavors.  But that's no different than wage-earners in a nuclear family
sharing within the family, right?

-  Most ICs that are successful for longer terms have learned that love has
to predominate over anger and hatred.  Sounds hippy-dippy, I know,  but no
community  can't survive longterm driven only by hate or xenophobia. (loose
paraphrase of the "I Ching")

-  Some older IC's have evolved to more closely resemble cohousing than 60's
communes.  All have to adapt to changing times, survive by jetissoning
unworkable structures.

-  Many IC movement leaders appreciate cohousing as an important step away
from alienation and into community.  Even if cohousing is a somewhat watered
down ("sugar coated" is not the word I'd use) species of intentional
community, it's highly worthwhile in that it lets people wade into community
instead of jumping in.  Few mainstream folks would want to instantly change
their lifestyles to the extent that folks living in most IC's have done -- at
least not instantly overnight!


Bottom line, if you're chaffing a bit at the cohousing paradigm, I'd get the
FIC Directory and go visit some IC's that appeal to you.   And of course,
cohousing is becoming more diverse, witness the last issue of the cohousing
mag and the ideas flying around on coho-L.

Finally, I sense that many folks who feel messianic about either cohousing or
ICs see the availability of diverse choices in community as a good thing.
 Afterall, to state the obvious, the spectrum of people longing for closer
community in their lives is highly diverse.  Viva la diversity!

Mike M