I'm an old guy, single, not rich, but looking to get off the grid for the remainder of my "golden" years. So...I thought I'd plumb the depths of Permies.com to see if there is any interest, among other folks of my general type, in pooling resources to purchase
land in the Pacific Northwest for the purpose of creating an
intentional community.
Of
course, the term "intentional community" has pretty broad meaning, so here are some of my personal preferences in this regard:
1.
Whosoever doth not shovel the sh*t, neither shall they suck the teat. In other words, everyone shares the work of dealing with the waste that is an inevitable part of being alive.
2.
"The Humanure Handbook." If you haven't read Joe Jenkins work on the composting of...well, I'm sure you know what I'm talking about...then you
should. After all, it is free to anyone who has an internet connection.
3.
Many hands make light work. Not looking for solitary hermits, here.
4.
One person, one vote. An intentional community leader I knew (she's dead now) said there are three possible outcomes to conflict (excluding one side killing off the other): separation, compromise, and synthesis. In my
experience (about 5 years in the afore mentioned community) synthesis (meaning everyone gets what they truly want) is pretty damn hard - requires a lot of talking, soul searching, more talking, self reflection, more talking - in other words, requires the kind of deep commitment to finding a fully satisfying solution that few folks are really willing for. Compromise, meaning everyone gets part of what they want, but never all, is possible but is rarely satisfying
enough to produce a long-term solution to the conflict. Separation - well, like I said above, not looking for hermits. All together, in order to get started, one person, one vote. Then, if all can agree, work toward synthesis.
So, I'm thinking in the neighborhood of $10k per person, minimum 10 acres, land trust...what else?
Just putting this out there...
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