Cohousing-L Mailing List: COHOUSING AFFORDABILITY Conference

[Sharon Villines (sharon]

I’ve been listening to the recordings of the presentations at the Affordability 
Conference. I registered but wasn’t able to attend on the day. It’s very nice, 
actually, to listen to the tapes now because I’m more relaxed than I am when I 
listen real time. While I have reached for the mouse a few times to put a 
question in the chat, I can relax and stop and start. Nothing is expected of me 
by anyone else or me of myself.

That said, does anyone have an email address for Matt Stannard who spoke on 
Classism? 

He was explaining all the ways money influences everyone’s ability to 
participate equitably in cohousing and elsewhere. I thought everything he 
presented was accurate but that his focus on money was narrow. Social class has 
a hierarchical structure but it also has a horizontal structure. Old money vs 
new money. The education that a tradition brings is as important and sometimes 
more important than the perpetual trust fund. There are also some interesting 
studies on how households with equal income and wealth spend both their money 
and their time. The studies are thus controlled for money and the variations in 
lifestyle and belief systems are still very wide and not particularly 
predictable.  I think many of us make assumptions about wealth and income based 
on what we see in a person’s lifestyle when there is no relationship, or little 
relationship. 

Sharon
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Sharon Villines
Takoma Village Cohousing, Washington DC
http://www.takomavillage.org