Rat Summation
When I think of rats in a maze, I always visualize them
seeking cheese (not unlike we do). Until recently I believed that
whenever such a rat traversed a dead end corridor in the maze he made a
“false” or “bad” decision. However now I understand that in order for
the rat to truly master the maze, he must journey down all of the corridors. This is especially true if he was fortunate enough to locate the cheese on
an early foray -- how else will he know if the cheese is all there is?
Most books or articles that purport to offer a
new method or insight into an existing problem devote twenty to forty
percent of their pages just to outlining the problem. In trying to lay
out in my mind a way to describe what a Co-op Village is, I stumbled across
some interesting questions. Why is a restatement of the preexisting
problem required at all? Is it really necessary to make readers
uncomfortable, fearful and maybe a little guilty by reminding them about the
economic system we have created and live by today? Is it possible to
cut this step out and still get the point across, that is, that the right
time for Co-op Villages is now?
In our legal system there is a rule of evidence
known as “res ipsa loquitur,” Latin for “a thing speaks for itself.”
It is applied when a thing is so obvious that it need not be debated but
rather can be assumed to be a fact. Under this rule the driver of an
automobile is assumed to be in control of the car’s movement, not someone
else. Accordingly, an injured party doesn’t have to prove that the
driver ran over him, in lieu of its back seat driver. To invoke this
rule, the injured party simply says “res ipsa loquitur,” and then the burden
of proof shifts to the driver to prove that it was the back seat driver’s
fault.
So what does this have to do with the Co-op
Village? What does this all add up to . . . the final summation?
I think this. It is entirely possible that 10,000 years ago we made a
wrong turn in the maze in building an unsustainable economic system and
way of life that have led us to where we are today. That is to say, we
have hit the wall. Our social, economic and environmental problems are
so obvious that we can now simply rise and shout from the rooftop: “Res ipsa
loquitur!”
What we are attempting to do here at the
Marianna Co-op Village
is to offer mankind a new form of economics; an option out of the
existing system. Maybe it will work – maybe it won’t, but at least it
is an alternative to continuing to bang our heads against that infernal wall
and pretend all is progressing quite well. (i.e. 3% more people are hitting
the wall over last year).
Serve the Serving Ship top of page
As a teenager, I remember reading sea stories of the
great square-rigged sailing ships and being enamored with them. What
impressed me the most was the utter simplicity of the relationship between
the seamen and their ship. The crew served the ship and the ship
served its crew. If the relationship ever got badly out of balance,
both ship and crew were inevitably lost at sea. It was quite simple.
Using the terminology of the today’s business world,
what we are embarking on here at The Co-op Village Foundation is to take the
essence of a corporation to a new level. Traditionally corporations
are crewed by three classes of people: the investors, management and line
workers. What we are attempting to do is make all three classes
the same persons. And then on top of that we need to make the corporation
serve that one class totally in all areas of life and forever!
I am not aware of this ever having been done. We
are creating a business whose only purpose is to provide wealth, security
and leisure to all involved with it. Instead of how it pays cash
dividends, it would be judged by the amount of happiness it pays out.
I recall reading two historical books that dealt with
the D-Day invasion: The Invasion Of Northern Europe and The
Longest Day. They both chronicled the extraordinary amount of
detailed planning that went into the assault. The thought that kept
occurring to me throughout the reading was this: If this same amount
of planning went into living instead of killing, how much better off the
world would be! Why don’t we do this kind of “planning for the
living”?
The Co-op Village is an attempt to create a corporation
whose business is to mind our own business. This corporation would
balance our collective checkbook, prepare our budget and manage it, shop for
us, monitor our maintenance schedules, help educate our children, research
our legal problems, look out for our well being, etc. We, the members,
would use our collective skills to ensure everyone’s welfare instead of each
of us managing our own personal affairs, as we are now inadequately prepared
to do in some areas and suffering accordingly.
The traditional view of a corporation dictates that it
squeeze the maximum production out of the line workers in order to reward
the investors. When an employee can no longer produce at maximum level
he is discarded laid-off and left to fend for himself. Under
our new vision of a corporation the interest of all concerned would be the
deciding factor. This is because the members are both the employees
and the investors. In this scenario that same employee would still be
laid-off, but the corporation would then have to find another suitable
position for him, otherwise it would be failing in its mission to provide
wealth (in the form of well-being, security and leisure) to all involved.
The traditional view of a corporation also dictates
that it grow X% each year. If it doesn’t, it and its management are
deemed failures. This pushes corporations to a higher degree of risk
each year -- and closer to bankruptcy. For what? Forcing a
corporation towards its ultimate doom seems a reckless business plan.
Under our new vision of a corporation, growth is unnecessary. Security
and leisure would be the driving motivators, not growth.
The traditional view of a corporation dictates that it
discard an employee who produces at a slower rate. To retain him is to
reward him — in effect to pay him more for underachieving. For
example, if it takes him two hours to perform a one-hour job, he draws twice
the pay per job of other employees who perform efficiently! Therefore he must go.
The Village is a cashless environment. The
employee, as a member, does not draw pay, but instead receives dividends in
the form of well-being, security and leisure. This system recognizes
that not everybody produces at the same rate. It allows the employee
to take as long as he needs to complete the assigned job. He is not
penalizing the investors (including himself) if he takes longer. Here
everybody gets what they want and the job gets done.
The traditional view dictates that businesses run at
around 80% capacity. When events cause production to increase closer
to 100% companies begin to get into trouble. Our new view allows the
Village, as a business, to run at around 30% – 40% capacity, leaving plenty
of safe fumble room.
To return to the sailing ship analogy, this “new-vision” corporation will serve all collectively to the degree that it
is served. Simple as that. It’s in the best interest of both the
Village and its members for everyone to serve this “serving ship” to the
best of their ability.
Life
Systems Cooperative top of page
We
are creating something new to the business world: a Life Systems
Cooperative. It is essentially a corporation owned by, managed by, worked
by and for the benefit of the residents only. Its sole purpose is to
provide all life support systems to maintain a decent, secure, worry free
life for all residents and their offspring for life. The dividends:
Happiness!
Maslow
Economics top of page
What would happen if you took the best
of communism and combined it with the best that capitalism has to offer, and
in the process dropped the negatives associated with each of them? This
might produce a system that guarantees life necessities such as food,
shelter, heath benefits, pension etc. to insure a dignified living. It
would also offer luxuries to those who are willing to work harder for them
if they so chose.
Currently, the U.S. attempts this to a
degree, but it is not working all that well. One problem is that money is
given to some persons to create parity, such as Social Security. It gets
intermingled with luxuries as well as providing for others who do not
qualify for benefits. What is suggested here is to provide a house; provide
medical coverage; guarantee meals every day to all persons. Simple as
that. If you want more than “just a house” then work towards a fancier
one. But in the meantime there is no suffering.
Warm Fuzzy top of page
The new corporate economic system
created by the village will not be cash hungry like its outside cousin
corporations. Nor will it be burdened by wages, taxes, worker’s
compensation insurance and large overhead. It will be a lean, mean non-cash
hungry machine that can cherry pick the profitable business contracts and
take them away from the large established businesses. It will be like
genetically creating a new small, warm fuzzy animal similar to a rabbit to
be released into the jungle. It will not be very hungry. It will just sit
in the bushes. But when it does get hungry it will be able to easily devour
any lion it chooses.
Reverse Engineering top of page
In the early 1980’s as mainframe
computers began to drop below $250,000 in cost, reverse engineering came
into vogue. Knowing that the current computer technology would be obsolete
in just three years manufacturers decided not to patent the machines.
Schematic drawings were required in order to file a patent. A competitor
only had to review the drawing now made public, make a minor change, apply
for his own patent and compete in the marketplace. Manufacturers
realized that if they didn't file a patent for protection their competitor would be the first to purchase a new
machine. But the reasoning was that it would take competing engineers at least two
years to disassemble the machine, understand it and copy it, which was
longer than the one year to copy it if they had the drawings.
We are reverse engineering an existing
village economy system to work in our time and location. If we assume that
there is intelligent life in space, and some of it is probably much more
advanced than we are, then some of it must be at a higher level of evolution
than we are. If that is the case then we must also have to believe that
they would surly have worked past the inequalities and sufferings our
current culture visits upon millions of people in the form of famine and ill
health, the results of poverty.
What we are trying to do is to imagine
that system of living that a far more advanced race would have in place and
to reproduce it to fit us here and now. We intend to build such a system.
By reverse engineering we are free of all of our preconceived notions of how
things should be, free of discriminations, biases and cultural demands. We
are free to start anew to once and for all eliminate poverty.
Jobs top of page
Because the village is a cashless society, 80% of the
jobs typically found in an economy will no longer be needed. Such
unfilled jobs might include cashiers, sales, marketing, truck drivers,
advertising, security, payroll clerks, bankers, bookkeepers, etc. The
village must fill only those jobs that directly benefit the village, such as
constructing and maintaining buildings and raising and preparing food.
With fewer jobs (only 20% of the usual number) the need for the standard 40
hour workweek will be eliminated. Assuming most members want to have village
jobs, a typical member might work 20 hours per week or less. Job
sharing would be the rule rather than the exception.
Training for some jobs
might be provided through on the job training received from those already
skilled. It might also require some additional classroom time, in the
village and/or at a local vocational school, with the costs born by the
village. Because members might not sell their trained services outside
the Village, typical certifications might not be required. With this
in mind many requirements could be ignored, such as a plumber having to take
a general education class in order to obtain certification.
Some members might
choose to keep their outside jobs. The Village would support them in
this endeavor by maintaining those constants in their home life such as home
repairs, preparing meals, babysitting and maintaining the car and lawn.
In exchange the Village might receive an agreed-upon percentage of the
employee’s wages. All would be happier and less stressed.
Restructured
Jobs top of page
Jobs in America are plagued with the
polar problems of either consuming too much time (up to 60 hours a week),
and no jobs available to others. What if you restructured the jobs so that
there were far fewer jobs, but able to be worked by most everybody, paying
the same rate to all, with a maximum workweek of 20 hours?
This is doable! By going to an internal
cashless society, 80% of most jobs are eliminated. This would then create
the above situation in which job sharing is the rule. Because there would be
no competition for jobs, those with the skills would be most eager to share
their knowledge and skills with the untrained so that the 20 hour maximum is
not exceeded – the pay is the same.
Caballero top of page
The Spanish word for
gentleman is “caballero” from the root word “caballo” meaning horse.
Thus a gentleman is a man with a horse, a nobleman that can afford a horse
and mobility, much the opposite of a peasant.
Wouldn’t it be more
honest if the English language had such a word for a high classed single
parent. Such a word would differentiate him/her from a peasant single
parent, that being one with no car or an undependable car; no permanent
dependable baby sitter; no ready supply of cash for commuting to work or
for gas – and therefore one without the possibility of ever having a steady job. Maybe its
time that we can be honest about the hell our current economic system puts
some people through. Lets call it what it is.
Slap Around top of page
During the
time of the great square-sail ships, sailors of the British Navy took
joy in playing a game I dubbed “slap around”. Their huge warships
carried 500 men and a dozen or two young cabin boys. Invariably on each
voyage there were at least half a dozen new boys around the age of nine
venturing to sea their first time. Once at sea the sailors would get bored
and initiate those first timers.
A short
piece of rope was tied to each boy’s left wrist with the other end being
lashed to the mast placing the boys in a circle facing each others back.
Their right hand held a board. There were only two rules to the game.
When you were tapped by the boy behind you, you had to tap the one before
you. You could hit as hard or soft as you wanted; you were free to choose.
After
several rounds of slightly tapping each other someone would always feel that
they had been tapped too hard and would accelerate his blows. Before long
the sailors would be roaring with laughter at the sight of the boys beating
the hell out of each other. What was so funny (or sad) was that all that
was needed was for one boy to choose to go back to tapping, but they
couldn’t comprehend that what they did was a delayed version of what was
coming back around to them. All they had to do was to simply stop!
We are
playing in an economic game of slap around that is also torturing us. All
we have to do is to simply choose to stop playing it.
Lies top of page
In his book Looking Backward,
written in 1863, Edward Bellamy describes the current economic system as
one in which everyone is forced to lie in order to survive. To sell our
product or services we must hype them as superior to all others, not
reveal weaknesses and defects, obscure competitors’ benefits and make
recommendations which we know might not be in the buyer’s best
interest. Bellamy goes on to say that lying to survive is so rampant
that if an angel came to earth and decided to stay and raise a family
here he would have to join our economic system, a system that “would even
perverse an angel”.
Michael Lerner goes even further in
his book The Politics of Meaning in detailing the lies we must
tell. He describes a culture based on so many lies that we come to
expect them from everybody all of the time. We look each other straight
in the face and no longer question the fact that we have just been lied
to -- as if it should not bother us in the slightest. We come to expect
it. In fact it would be considered rude to call someone on it. And thus our whole culture is based on lies and untruths.
What a terrifying way to base a life
on.
Co-op village life should change
this as there would be nothing to lie about. No one is trying to sell
anything. No one is being forced to take advantage of another. There
is nothing to conceal; no money or power shifting. There is only the
truth for all to share. Surely creating a culture based on truths is a
turn in the right direction. No lie!
Transparent Corporations top of page
Many corporate histories reveal common
practices of self serving back-room deals, discrimination and acts that are
beneficial only to the corporation and its people while not exactly good for
mankind. Although there may be little actual board room discussion on these
subjects, many corporate decisions are indeed flavored this way.
Several hundred years ago, when
corporations were first chartered, a reserved right of the chartering
government was to recall that charter if the corporation no longer served
the common good. Somehow we have lost sight of that reservation. It is now
accepted that a chartered corporation lives forever no matter how it serves,
or fails to serve, humanity. We seemed to have willingly given up the right
to recall them.
The village will require and own several
corporations to run itself. Some will be charged with running the village
itself while others will be created to provide outside jobs and income for
those that choose it. To insure that the Village corporations serve the good
of all the residents, the corporations must be both transparent and ever
watchful of losing their chartered purpose – that being to serve the best
interest of all concerned. Transparency means all decisions, transactions,
activity and risks, both current and future, are actively disclosed
to all residents. This implies that not only are the records readable and
available, but that all residents need to have been trained to review and
understand those records. To insure equality and justice all residents
would need to be trained as auditors and board members.
Non-typical disclosure might include
listing of the names, benefits received, rate of pay and time worked of each
person associated with the corporation, as well as the overall benefits to
the community at large. All residents would then know who benefits from
those activities.
These disclosure tools would then make
it easy for the village to understand the benefits of the community
supporting that particular endeavor and to continually evaluate the risks
involved with it. This would also be used to determine if the corporation
has gotten out of hand and perhaps needs to be reined in, personnel changed
or the corporation be closed down as it may no longer serve the greater good
of all concerned.
This is how corporations were originally
intended to be run. The only difference is that this was originally the
power of kings but now will be the power of all concerned.
Do No Harm top of page
We all know that the first rule of the medical profession is “First: Do No Harm”. We all know that the only rule for corporate officers is to “Maximum Profits”. But we may not all know that this profit rule is based upon common law. Legally, a corporate officer cannot circumvent this rule. It is not his right to do so. No matter what his heart tells him, he is liable to the stockholders if he willingly violates this rule.
Wouldn’t it be nice if the Maximize Profits rule was replaced by the First Do No Harm rule? Why not? It’s easy to do. All you have to do is amend the articles of incorporation or bylaws of each corporation associated with the Village. This could be accomplished by an article such as this:
“Article ??? Do No Harm
All directors and officers of the corporation are hereby relieved of their common law duty, responsibility and resulting liability, to maximize profits. Instead these persons are charged with the duty to do all that is reasonable to minimize harm to persons or the planet while still maintaining life for the corporation.
The board of directors must dissolve this corporation if X% of the stockholders deems the corporation is creating an excessive amount of harm or no longer serves its intended purpose.”
The term reasonable is used because, like humans, a corporation cannot please 100% of the people 100% of the time. Such as, a corporation purchases land to build a factory and discovers squatters living on the construction site for four months. The corporation must assert its right to the land no matter what. Or consider the factory is on fire and in the course of saving it shrubbery is drowned and trampled by the fire brigade.
Keep in mind however, that based on the Transparent Corporations article above, an annual review will be made to determine whether or not the corporation is serving both its purpose and the community, and if it is not then it should be dissolved.
Dreaded “D’s” top of page
The village economy would provide a lifetime shield
from the financial impact of the dreaded “D’s”, that being: downsized, divorced, death of a
partner, disease, disability, dementia and delinquent mortgage and utility bills.
Divorce top of page
So how might divorce be handled within the co-op
village? First of all divorce might not be as traumatic in the village
because the economic stinger would be removed. There would not be any doubt
about how the family would survive economically. For them the economics
would remain the same. No one would be homeless. No one would lose their
job, be in turmoil over child care, have to leave town or move in with
family. There would be no near bankruptcy currently associated with
divorce. No one in the family would worry about their next meal. What
would remain the same is the emotional turmoil of “I’m not loved”. But that
should be a lot easier to deal with insulated from the economic upheaval of
traditional divorce.
What would change is that one party would move to
another home on the other side of the village. If the spouses worked
together, one may choose another work group. But in the meantime both
parents would be there for the children. The spouses might only see each
other at the softball field, and that would be at their choosing.
The big twist might occur regarding court ordered child
support. If both parents continue to work within the village, the village
might decide to pay the child support on behalf of the paying spouse. This
would be done with the expectation of the village receiving that support
check back from the receiving spouse monthly. Thus it would merely be a
sham to keep the paying spouse from having to work outside the village for
wages. These payments would continue as long as both spouses continue to
reside in the village. This might even force the spouses to be more
cooperative in the breakup so as to not drive the other party out of the
village from loss of dignity. Because the work output and well being of
each resident is of importance to the entire village all residents close to
the divorcing couple would probably assist in the healing and recovery
process and helping each retain their dignity.
Courting top of page
Young single persons and divorced persons might wish to
meet and date outsiders. This might be accomplished by providing
transportation for outside schooling or employment. That person also would
have the benefit of seeing the outside world in more detail so that they
could decide for themselves which culture to live in. The village might even
provide housing in the nearest town for these people for a year or two.
Genealogy records would be maintained on all residents
so that eighty years down the road inbreeding could be prevented.
Required Work & Personal
Income
top of page
Of great concern to residents are the questions: “How
much time would I have to work?”, “Will everyone have to work the same
amount of time”, “Would I have to share my pension” and “What happens if
someone refuses to work?”
These issues would be decided by the entire community
itself through three of its twelve Focus groups, being:
1. How will we share our
abundance?
2. How will we enrich
ourselves?
3. How will we coordinate
what we enjoy doing?
But in the meantime, simple answers are offered here as
to how the Focus groups might resolve these issues in the early
startup stage.
However, before these questions can be answered
residents would need to understand several factors about the village
economics, that being:
Factor #1 Transition
Periods: It will take time to get residents to go from “each man for
himself” mode of thinking to “What’s in the best interest of all concerned?”
mindset. It will take time to go from the current cash culture to a self
sustained cashless culture. It will also take perhaps ten years for
startup, that being financing the construction and land acquisition and then
to payoff that financing, before the village is truly running as envisioned.
Factor #2 Cash
Requirements: At startup a great amount of cash will be required to
purchase land and building materials. Success of the village will always be
at risk as long as outside parties (banks) have a mortgage on the property.
Therefore it would be wise to raise as much cash as possible from the
residents and at the same time prioritize paying off any third party
financing as soon as possible, insuring that the community land trust will
be free to manage the property for hundreds of years as envisioned. After
startup a small amount of cash will be required for some utilities and other
outside services the community simply cannot provide for itself.
Factor #3 Limited
Pensions: Some residents will come into the community receiving
pensions, annuities, Social Security, or passive business income. It is
probable that after 30 years no resident would have these income streams.
Factor #4 Room & Board:
Each resident would be expected to provide the cash or cash equivalent to
pay for their share of the land, infrastructure and house. Each resident
would also be expected to provide the cash or cash equivalent (labor) for
their living expenses.
Factor #5 Timecards: Initially an
accounting office would track payments made and time worked by
residents. After all property has been paid for and the village has
shifted its mindset successfully this function might cease.
Factor #6: The Focus group “How do we
coordinate what we enjoy doing” would attempt to assign jobs in
accordance with our personal likes, thus we would enjoy the tasks
assigned and not feel like we were working. This Focus group would also
do all it could to coax residents to socialize and at the same time
perform additional efforts on behalf of the community that only
outsiders might consider work.
Possible Solution #1 Purchase Money: The
first issue would deal with the “purchase money” needed to pay for a
resident’s share of the land, house and infrastructure. Cash would be
needed to pay outside vendors for the land and materials. Village Companies
could be formed so that residents without the up-front cash could perform
outside work. This job might be for 20 hours a week for three or four years
until the debt is paid.
Possible Solution #2 Living Expenses: Each
resident would have to contribute for their share of food, utilities,
property taxes, etc. Because cash would be needed mainly in the formative
years, those with cash incomes might be able to provide cash, at a
pre-decided rate, instead of performing work. Those without an income
would be required to work a village job, internal or external, for perhaps
20 hours a week, forever. This might be in addition to the temporary
“purchase money” job some would hold.
Please note that in a short period of time the
“purchase money” job would be eliminated. Also note that in time those with
outside cash incomes would die off so that eventually no one would be in a
position to cash themselves out of performing work.
Some residents may be exempted from work due to
inability to perform any type of work. The village may allow an elderly
family member in that fits this description, as we all may be in time.
However, even physically disabled residents might be able to answer phones
or snap peas. Again, all of these issues would be decided by the community
through its Focus groups.
Possible Solution #3 Personal Income: If a
resident has cash income more than his share of living expenses, he should
be allowed to keep that excess. Remember that in time this disparity will
go away through attrition.
Possible Solution #4 Work Refusal: In the
event that the Focus groups cannot get a resident to perform his required
work then the community could decide to refund his purchase money and
perhaps provide additional help to get him established to live elsewhere.
The refund amount would be as pre-defined in the Community Land Trust
Bylaws. This would not be an act of ill-will towards that resident, but
rather a recognition that some persons might not adjust to this way of life
and would be happier elsewhere.
How Will The
Village Finance Itself?
top of page
Before this question can be answered,
the reader must first read the prior article “Required Work and Personal
Income”, paying close attention to the economic factors discussed.
Working under the economic factors
mentioned above, village construction and maintenance financing might be
achieved utilizing a combination of the following methods:
A. Resident Entrance Fees:
A nominal fee ($1,000) might be required from each resident so that he will
be considered seriously.
B. Resident Full Payment:
Residents with the means to pay their share of housing and village costs
up front would be expected to do so.
C. Resident Investment:
Those residents with excess cash or investments could invest funds into
Financing, Inc. This corporation would hold a mortgage on the land and
buildings and would pay interest to the investors at a rate more than CD
rates at a typical bank but less than the typical return on stock
investments. The stockholders of this corporation would be only the
investor residents. As soon as these funds are repaid, this corporation
would be dissolved, leaving the land free and clear.
D HUD Financing: Up to 70%
of the finished market value of the land and buildings might be borrowed
from the Federal Government at a low rate for up to 40 years.
E. Outside Jobs Creation:
Outside village businesses and jobs as well as village industries could be
created so that those without the up front full payment could earn the cash
needed for their share of buying into the village. After the mortgage is
paid off some of these jobs could still be filled so that some cash
continues to flow into the village for outside purchases.
F. Entitlement Revenue: Some
residents might qualify for HUD Section Eight rent assistance based on low
income, some might qualify for Medicare home nursing assistance, Family
Housing Assistance or some other government assistance that might go towards
“rent”.
G. Pensions and Passive Incomes:
Those residents with pensions, Social Security or passive incomes might wish
to share some of that income with the village either as a gift or instead of
performing labor.
H. Grants: Grants will be
applied for whenever possible.
I. Deferred Options: A
fraction of the land needed might be purchased with options to purchase the
remaining fractions at later intervals. This would lower cash requirements
until the village is prepared for its next expansion.
Most of the above would be managed by
the Focus Group “How Do We Enrich Ourselves”.
Finding 500
Members
top of page
The following suggested ad might
be run in the Sunday newspaper once a month in order to spark younger
membership when we are ready to build. The ad would be in the General
Employment section.
Perhaps it is time that
we establish villages or communities small and large enough to house both
moneyless and the wealthy, providing security for all. Only affordable
housing costing around $40,000 each would be constructed. The
community would not be dependant on transportation as most jobs would be
provided to all who wish to work there. This would be a place that would be
internally sustainable forever. This would be a place where the
professionals who would work themselves out of a job would rather be at
anyway. From start to finish, no one would make a profit on the
venture.
Fighting over the few
remaining affordable houses is not the long-term solution. Building a
surplus of affordable houses is.
Discrimination top of page
To an alien it would appear that practically
all "civilized" cultures, as defined by historians, had and have homeless
and poverty level people. All “civilized” cultures had and have second
class citizens and discrimination. It can be deduced that this is to
balance out the economic system and allow those in control to profit on the
unfortunate lower class. If it were not profitable it would not continue.
Because this is too hard to admit, over
generations humans have replaced the real reason with bogus reasons that
make no sense at all, but allow those in power to live with themselves as
they continue to profit.
Aliens might conclude that the root basis for
all of this is humanity’s fear that “there is not enough to go around”.
Oddly enough though, “uncivilized” cultures on earth (indigenous tribes) do
not have second class citizens, homelessness, poverty or discrimination.
Nor do they share the belief that “there is not enough to go around”.
One of the founding principles of the village
is that there is more than enough to go around, therefore no one would be
able to profit from discrimination - social, racial, economic, religious or
any other type - and that all of the village would suffer if any one member
was discriminated against.
Factories top of page
Just because
the village is small doesn’t mean that all created jobs would be low-tech.
The village might construct a factory or lease one off site, employing both
residents and non-residents with the resident employees being bused.
The factory
might manufacture a non-steady demand product such as composting toilets.
Or it might be a seasonal business that capitalizes on its ability to lay
off its workforce without harming it and then to rehire it when demand is
up. Two or more villages might cooperate in establishing a small clinic / hospital in
the region, supplying some of the labor.
Redundant
Pensions top of page
One of the biggest problems facing
Americans today is the continuing loss of pensions, benefits and the
probable shrinking of Social Security benefits. One’s entire security
system could be wiped out by the actions of one bankruptcy attorney or the
vote of congressmen. This scenario is not hard to imagine as it is repeated
over and over again.
But now imagine an economic system in
which you earn a 100% vested interest in your entire pension benefits
package the first year on the job. Now imagine that you control that
pension plan totally; not outside investors, not bankruptcy attorneys, but
you. You decide if the benefits should increase or decrease.
This would make current pensions that we
sell our soul for obsolete, redundant! Imagine the impact that would have
on this nation. Now imagine the Co-Op Village . . .
Stored Wealth top of page
In order for one person to profit from
gaining power over another and taking wealth from them, the taker must be
able to store the wealth gained. Early in our history the storage method
was most likely grain or precious metals whereas our current storage medium
is cash. However, in a cashless society, such as the village, there is no
storage medium. Because food and utilities are given equally to all, even
those cannot be used for wealth storage. Therefore, unless someone was
willing to eat more than their share of beans for dinner that night it would
not be profitable to gain power over another.
Missed Mark top of page
The first few Co-Op villages constructed may miss the
mark in some areas of environmental sustainability. Why?
Tremendous effort has to be focused on that first giant step: creating
community. It entails getting five hundred people to “check their guns
at the door” and take on 499 other persons as their main concern. This
is a huge undertaking for people. It could safely be said that
building a caring, committed community represents 70% of what it takes to
get a Co-op Village going. Being environmentally responsive is the
other 30%.
Therefore, trying to do
both at the outset may be too much. In the minds of many prospective
new members, we could be seen as “environmental nuts,” extremists who eat
rice cakes and live in homes made of Budweiser bottles. It might be
better, therefore, in the planning stages, to focus initially on the 70%
(community building) by shooting for less extreme environmental goals: a
smaller environmental footprint, less materialism, less waste and less
consumption. Then, with further education and by consensus, gradually
more comprehensive, responsive sustainability goals could be implemented. However, I can see some excellent potential members being offended by this
suggestion.
What we are undertaking is
similar to building a railroad spur. In our endeavor to divert the
train off the main line we will be offering the option to turn. If the
turn is too abrupt or steep the train will derail. To be
successful, the turn has to be a comfortable inviting one. Once the
turn is made, our train can continue in any direction we, the members,
choose, but over time.
Transformer Toy top of page
Please keep in mind that what we are attempting to do is build something similar to the transformer toys of ten years ago. You know, the ones that looked like a candy bar but then with a little manipulation transformed into a jet plane. We are building a Village that utilizes technology of today. But we are also mindful that some of this technology may become obsolete in a few years if financially things should go bump in the dark. We intend to be both resilient enough and in a position to quickly transform ourselves so that we can help others. So now you see "A" but maybe in a few years you will see "B".
After the
first village is built hundreds of others will pop up around the country as
this will be the only viable option that millions of people will have to
live in dignity. This will transform the country. These villages will
provide what our culture and governments promise but cannot deliver.
This is
probably the only current viable option for mankind to mitigate the
disasters that lay ahead globally both financially and environmentally.
Cowboys know that you can turn a bull’s body simply by turning its head, so
too can the world be turned if the U. S. culture can be turned. This is a
means to accomplish that quickly before governments can stop it. Currently
we are just silently marching towards a cliff. But when enough villages are
built society will then have an option to choose how it will create its
future.
We have
designed a village for which there is a strong demand, is a sound business
investment, blueprinted so that it can be replicated anywhere and
economically dovetails nicely with our current capitalistic system. All
that remains to be done is to build them.
Un-Checkmate top of page
As a result of globalization, the United
States now has two principle industries: war, as a result of the military
industrial complex and the looting of the rest of the world through its
multinational corporations.
During the past fifty years our
democratic form of government has been hijacked by the lobbyists of that
military industrial complex and those multinational corporations. We have
now arrived at the point that the direction our country takes is dictated by
those lobbyists. The voiced opinions of the common citizens no longer
matter contrary to the wishes of our founding fathers. How could this have
occurred?
Many of us as children wondered how
Hitler could have remained in power. We pondered how the citizens of
Germany could have allowed their government to cause a world war killing 20
million people. How could they have stood by and allowed this horror to
unfold? And now we know: one day at a time - because it was profitable.
In our political situation, we too find
ourselves frozen for that same reason. We wage war and arm other countries
because it is profitable to our businesses. This is also why we export our
jobs, quit manufacturing and instead import, escape our pension debts, etc.
So why do we do it to the peril of the
common citizen? Why don’t we stop this madness before it goes further? Why
don’t we simply change what we are doing? I suggest it is because we
can’t. We are in checkmate; we are powerless to move from our current
position. What is ironical however is that we willingly allowed ourselves to
be placed in checkmate!
We allowed ourselves to be maneuvered
into the corner by believing we all deserved to live as the wealthy.
Madison Avenue convinced us of it. Advertisers proved we couldn’t live
without it. Our 401(k) plans dared us to demand maximum returns on
investments in multinationals. The military industrial complex scattered
itself over all 50 states to insure that we would fight for its growth. Our
multinationals leave just enough jobs behind to secure our support. All in
all we allowed ourselves to be bought out. We have no alternatives; no
other jobs; no place else to go. And yet our personal investments are tied
up in the very machines that are destroying our way of life! We have the
proverbial tiger by the tail.
The reason no one has stepped forward
until now to offer a comprehensive solution solving most of our problems is
because we are in checkmate because of those investments and the fear of
losing the few remaining jobs - we can’t see ourselves letting go of the
tiger. So we continue moving closer to that catastrophic cliff.
Our option out is to reduce support for
the run away industries by moving displaced workers into co-op villages,
returning to them more than they forfeited by letting go. In affect, this
gives a citizen the option of unchecking himself. When enough citizens have
unchecked themselves, those industries will have been deflated enough to
where they can now be brought back under control, yet still remain in
business. This is the only way out of the mess. We have to offer lifeboats
to remove enough people so the overcrowded pleasure boat can stabilize
itself before it capsizes.
Bragging To Aliens top of page
Suppose a traveler from a highly advanced planet came here collecting books or other evidence for the Intergalactic Library demonstrating how advanced we, the inhabitants of earth, are. What type of books would you suggest we give him to brag about the achievements of mankind?
History books? Probably not. They would only depict how for thousands of years we could not learn how to love one another and simply live in peace. History books would only show how civilizations continue to kill other civilizations today.
Medical books? Probably not. Although they might show our current but still incomplete understanding of health and medicine, they would still be viewed in light of the fact that the vast majority of humanity is unhealthy and does not have access to medical attention. We can’t impress anybody with that.
Science and technology books? Nope, as these would only demonstrate that most of our strides here came as a result of the military, warfare or the desire for people to control others, even if just economically.
Religion? If so which religion? We still continue to kill each other over this one. Probably not law books either. Its obvious that the more laws we pass the worse things seem to get. How about books about government and how it helps mankind? Doubt it. Just look at where we are today.
Let’s face it - after several thousand years we still can’t just love each other, appreciate our differences and simply live in peace together. This is probably the only thing that would impress an advanced culture and we haven't done it yet. Is building a Village a drastic step? You betcha, but maybe it’s time we focus on that and stop embarrassing ourselves.
Largest Living Entity top of page
What is the largest living entity on the planet today? The elephant? The whale? Redwood trees? Not even close. As it turns out it is a three inch high mushroom plant near the northern border of the state of Washington. What appears on the surface to be individual plants is actually a fifteen hundred acre common root system! It's all one giant fungus.
Our economic system is our common root system. We have been trained by Mother Culture to believe that we are separate from each other and that the harm we visit on others does not affect us. This is wrong. We are all connected to one another and the life support system we create together affects us in the same manner that it does the lowest member. If this is too hard to comprehend then I invite you to just look around yourself. Does what you see really appear to be working? Do you feel safe and secure in such a system? Are you afraid to grow old or slow down in such a system?
We have perpetuated an economic system that truly does not work for all. We bought into it by default as that was all we knew. But now we are waking up to the fact that it is wrong. So we have two choices: continue to perpetuate it and continue to make ourselves ill in the process, or abandon it and create a new system that will work for all of us together. How healthy do we intend to be? Now that we know we are free to choose.