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Author Topic: Intentional Community  (Read 4613 times)

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LoveFreedomAndLiberty

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Intentional Community
« on: December 20, 2011, 03:29:20 AM »

What is your opinion on intentional communities?  Do you know of any short and/or long term communities?  How important is it to live among like minds?  For those that can not afford the high property tax or cost of New Hampshire, an intentional community may be the only solution. 

If someone moves into a community in their 20s are people allowed to live out their lives in the community?  Do people have to leave and go into a retirement home once they are of a certain age or in a certain condition?  How much does it cost to enter and remain a part of the community?
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Diogenes The Cynic

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Re: Intentional Community
« Reply #1 on: December 20, 2011, 03:59:23 AM »

Hell, there are all types of these now. My parents are in an HOA and its filled with drama. I lived in an insular religious community, and it was the happiest time in my life.

It all depends on what the framework is, because a lot of things can suck, or not, depending on how they're set up.
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LoveFreedomAndLiberty

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Re: Intentional Community
« Reply #2 on: December 20, 2011, 01:32:19 PM »

HOA are out of a lot of people's price range, plus fees can increase.  Why did you leave the religious community?  Did people choose to get along or not?

I recently heard that more people are choosing not to marry nor have children.  So, it seems the only solution is to have a close network of people you can trust.  There are some families that don't speak to one another, so that makes the need for friends more important.   

Have you spoken with people that don't have children?  Have you spoken with unmarried people?  What are their plans as they age?

The native Americans really seemed to have this worked out as the tribe took care of each other for a lifetime.  There are people that want to choose to live as a tribe, but have their own space too, and in today's world how is that accomplished?
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Turd Ferguson

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Re: Intentional Community
« Reply #3 on: December 20, 2011, 01:41:02 PM »


The native Americans really seemed to have this worked out as the tribe took care of each other for a lifetime.  There are people that want to choose to live as a tribe, but have their own space too........

This.

This is the reason I have so much respect for the native indians of the past, as well as Amish communities. They have their voluntary communes, no fees necessary. They just agree to get along voluntarily with the understanding that things just work a certain way. If you dont like it.....leave.

Compare that to labor unions who make members pay fees to a small group of individuals up at the top who CLAIM to represent the members of said union, when all the while, the dumb asses on the lower rungs dont even realize they have the  power right in their own hands to voluntarily get together and speak for themselves, especially with todays social networking technology.
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Sam Gunn (since nobody got Admiral Naismith)

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Re: Intentional Community
« Reply #4 on: December 20, 2011, 01:48:37 PM »

Tribal societies have historically been failures.  The lack of individualism and private property in communal living tribal environments squelches innovation.  All dominant cultures in the world today are cultures that surpassed tribalism and embraced individualism.  Classic examples include all of the indigenous tribal peoples of the Americas.  They all pretty much died out, for a reason, and those who still embrace communal living and tribalism are among the poorest of this hemisphere.  Western society embraced individualism and ditched tribalism and communal living with the advent of agriculture, which led to the greatest acceleration in technological advancement ever seen.  Notice how easily the non-tribal non-communal western cultures took over this hemisphere.  Within a small handful of generations the non-communal culture eviscerated the tribal communal culture from these continents.  Another classic example of this is the original Thanksgiving story.  When the colonists ditched their idealistic religious communal lifestyle and embraced individualism and private property their colony thrived.

Intentional communities can be fine though, but in my opinion they will never flourish nor will they produce anything innovative unless their basis for association is founded in individualism and anti-communalism--but then they aren't really communities anymore, or are they?  The only working communal societies I know of in the world today are the Kibbutzim in Israel.  And much of their profits are based on individuals who live in the kibbutz, yet work in the outside world in the non-communal society and return their profits to the kibbutz.  They also function in a capitalist fashion with regards to the outside world, yet in a communal fashion inside the kibbutz, with the goal being to increase production and profits in order to benefit the collective.  Unfortunately they never seem to be as efficient as non-communal companies.

Perhaps I am misunderstanding your question though, or am reading too much into it.

I have no interest in joining any kind of intentional community.  I'd rather do my own thing on my own property and deal with other individuals on an individual basis.
« Last Edit: December 20, 2011, 01:50:53 PM by Sam Gunn (since nobody got Admiral Naismith) »
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LoveFreedomAndLiberty

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Re: Intentional Community
« Reply #5 on: December 20, 2011, 05:43:13 PM »

I understand what you are saying.  However, I remember a time when people lived in their own homes but helped one another.  For example, people were willing to train a person that could not afford college.  Someone without college could support their family on one income and even save some money.  If someone caught someone stealing, they gave them a job and allowed them to pay back what they stole instead of sticking them in a cage.  If you were working in your yard, you could ask the neighbor for help and they happily pitched in.  Now, instead of helping the elderly widow down the street keep her yard up, people call the police on her instead.  A very different world now.  So, it would be nice to have 100 people that are like minds come together voluntarily to take care and watch out for one another.....especially for those without a biological family.  I do think it is important for each person to have their own private space too, but to have a non-judgmental community willing to help one another is a really nice thought.    

I think something where each person has a home but chooses to get along and help one another, and also have a center for meetings and discussions is a nice idea. 
« Last Edit: December 20, 2011, 05:46:53 PM by LoveFreedomAndLiberty »
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Sam Gunn (since nobody got Admiral Naismith)

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Re: Intentional Community
« Reply #6 on: December 20, 2011, 06:39:55 PM »

I understand what you are saying.  However, I remember a time when people lived in their own homes but helped one another.  For example, people were willing to train a person that could not afford college.  Someone without college could support their family on one income and even save some money.  If someone caught someone stealing, they gave them a job and allowed them to pay back what they stole instead of sticking them in a cage.  If you were working in your yard, you could ask the neighbor for help and they happily pitched in.  Now, instead of helping the elderly widow down the street keep her yard up, people call the police on her instead.  A very different world now.  So, it would be nice to have 100 people that are like minds come together voluntarily to take care and watch out for one another.....especially for those without a biological family.  I do think it is important for each person to have their own private space too, but to have a non-judgmental community willing to help one another is a really nice thought.    

I think something where each person has a home but chooses to get along and help one another, and also have a center for meetings and discussions is a nice idea. 
I get what you're talking about.  It sounds just like traditional western culture to me.
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Fred

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Re: Intentional Community
« Reply #7 on: December 20, 2011, 06:47:26 PM »

I understand what you are saying.  However, I remember a time when people lived in their own homes but helped one another.  For example, people were willing to train a person that could not afford college.  Someone without college could support their family on one income and even save some money.  If someone caught someone stealing, they gave them a job and allowed them to pay back what they stole instead of sticking them in a cage.  If you were working in your yard, you could ask the neighbor for help and they happily pitched in.  Now, instead of helping the elderly widow down the street keep her yard up, people call the police on her instead.  A very different world now.  So, it would be nice to have 100 people that are like minds come together voluntarily to take care and watch out for one another.....especially for those without a biological family.  I do think it is important for each person to have their own private space too, but to have a non-judgmental community willing to help one another is a really nice thought.    

I think something where each person has a home but chooses to get along and help one another, and also have a center for meetings and discussions is a nice idea. 
I get what you're talking about.  It sounds just like traditional western culture to me.

+1  But, which generations?
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LoveFreedomAndLiberty

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Re: Intentional Community
« Reply #8 on: December 21, 2011, 02:13:52 PM »

Western civilization doesn't seem to be doing great right now.....  Then, there is the history of the Roman Empire.

Is Bardo Farm working out?  Do they offer long term living or only short term?
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sillyperson

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Re: Intentional Community
« Reply #9 on: December 22, 2011, 12:24:24 PM »

Is Bardo Farm working out? 
Yes.

Do they offer long term living or only short term?
I'm pretty sure there are people who intend to live there indefinitely.

Sam Gunn (since nobody got Admiral Naismith)

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Re: Intentional Community
« Reply #10 on: December 27, 2011, 06:35:57 AM »

Western civilization doesn't seem to be doing great right now.....  Then, there is the history of the Roman Empire.

Is Bardo Farm working out?  Do they offer long term living or only short term?
ok lets compare it to eastern civilization, gee I really think life seems better in vietnam or east timor right now. Lots of innovation coming out of those places too right ...
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"Do not throw rocks at people with guns." —Hastings' Third Law
"Income tax returns are the most imaginative fiction being written today." —Herman Wouk 

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