Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: COHOUSING-L digest 728

[Scott Cowley (SCOWLEY]

Several people have asserted that cohousing is ALL about cooperation and trust.
   At the risk of using the first person pronoun...
    First, I don't go around all day long looking for differences and trying to 
feel superior.
I am actually able to enjoy a considerable part of my life suffering-free.
    And I think that is where Zen can be wrong. 

    Secondly, I extend my trust and cooperativeness to those who I 
feel have earned it by demonstrating it in themselves to some slight 
degree.  Cooperativeness takes some generosity and faith in general fairness.
Trust takes  individual integrity and faith in some degree of personal  justice.

    I think cohousing is only SOMEWHAT about creating communities where trust 
and cooperativeness can be
learned and practiced. 
    But I also think that cohousing is more about creating a community where 
justice and fairness can be learned
and practiced.  Especially for those living in them.

I get real sick of the moralizing about keeping your mitts off of those who 
would be THE LAST to grant civility
to and respect the human rights of those of you who keep defending them.  I 
think enfranchising
the greedy in cohousing runs a terrible risk of having the majority of good 
folks victimized by the lowest common
denominator.

To the person who keeps ordering us to "grow up":  One of the first jobs of 
growing up is opening your eyes.