Cohousing-L Mailing List: RE: red/blue schism

[Rob Sandelin (floriferous]

 I have long noticed, after having visited over two hundred intentional
communities which includes numerous cohousing groups, that intentional
community in all its forms, and yes, cohousing is a form of intentional
community,  is by nature a liberal activity not a conservative one. I have
also noticed that every conservative based intentional community I visited
was religious in nature.  There are many libral IC's that are religious, but
I have not experienced or heard of a conservative based community that was
not religious. (The survivalist movement in the late 70's appears to have
died out but that might be a source of non-religious conservative
communities).

The facts are, cohousing attracts people who want to live cooperatively, and
this, I think by definition, defines a libral activity. In my experience
Conservative viewpoints in cohousing ARE a tiny minority, and as much as
people want to believe their community is open and diverse, it is not likely
to be, because of the very nature of the activity you are engaging in. 

The red.blue schism has ALWAYS been a part of american politics, and if you
really define it, that schism is 10-20%, the remainder is actually purple. A
person who is strongly conservative would no more be part of a cohousing
group than a died in the wool libral activist would join the board of
Montasano.  There is a place where you need to have some common ground in
order to operate as a group and perhaps the socially libral base is part of
this, since cohousing does not usually define itself with a religious or
spiritual focus.

Rob Sandelin
Sharingwood Cohousing
Where the kids are playing, the birds are singing

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