Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Maintaining affordability

[Guy Koehler, Rivendell Ranch (rivendell_ranch]

Everyone has something they enjoy contributing to the common good. I feel
that there is a misplaced emphasis on individual profit and market
appreciation; that neither of these contributes to well being, happiness,
community success nor commitments of time, labor. Were profit the primary
motivator, the efforts of so many volunteers would be negated. I have met
success and failure, happiness and despair in the full spectrum of financial
success. Profit does not seem to be the key to shelter or contentment.

I submit that co-housing is successful because the individuals who choose to
remain involved create it as successful; that those individuals have learned
to exchange immediate personal gratification for community; that a
significant proportion of co-housers are of median or above income with
mortgages is because the co-housing projects completed have all been larger
than those individuals could manage from their personal financial reserves
or build within a reasonable time with their own labor.

Investing, 401Ks, retirement and home investment is necessary because this
culture has chosen to unshackle the individual from the community.
Individuals are allowed to succeed or fail based on their personal skills,
luck and stamina. Isn't this partly why you are involved with co-housing, to
re-involve yourselves in a community-first gathering? How is it so
incredibly far to consider a community where the Earth is first, its species
second, future human generations third, the current human society fourth and
self as an individual last? What do you need, versus what you want? Some of
the replies to my views have mentioned religious communities or communes;
neither was intentionally implied.

The requirement to depend on personal investments is based on the theory
that each individual is allowed to float; some make it, many don't. I
suggest that community has a responsibility to discover and enable the
creative potential of all its members, even those who make us want to
withdraw behind our gates in protection from the other-not-like-us. I
further submit that this "enabling others" is a natural extension of the
process many of you mention in your consensus process, when you deliberately
find ways to bring each into the conversation and not allow a majority to
out vote a minority.

I disagree that rights and responsibilities are only developed through
ownership, yet agree that the means towards sustainable housing for all is
to:

- use natural building materials to reduce cost (cob, strawbale, earthships,
logs);
- agree to live within smaller private spaces, sharing larger common spaces;
- focusing our development efforts on creative applications of design that
is Earth friendly, encompasses the other species we share this planet with,
and meets the long-term shelter and community needs of humans;
- accept taxation of personal wealth to enable the health of the community
as a whole.


Respectfully,

Guy Koehler
Rivendell Ranch
Hoquiam, WA 98550

http://www.geocities.com/rivendell_ranch

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