JWR,
Wanted to comment on your reply to Rourke. I agree with you that independently
managed homesteads are superior to the communal style that Rourke describes,
but for a different, much simpler reason: human nature.
In ANY communal system where fixed resources are shared, some members
consume more than others, and the others get jealous. This is the basic
reason that communism is untenable. A small group of people (family
size) can emphasize frugality and make it stick, because wasting resources
really may kill a loved one. The more extended the group becomes, the
less well people
know each other, the less 'real' the threat is to any individual, and
the more envious of others any one may become. Rourke's idea of banding
together for common defense is certainly a good one, but unless someone
can ensure that all of the participants begin with equal resources
and consume
anything communal at an equivalent rate, then the seeds for destruction
will have been sown. Just to be clear, I am not denigrating human selfishness
in any way. I, in fact, defend rational self-interest as the well-spring
from which society has emerged. But I also know that while self-interest
is in the nature of every man, rationality is not. Keeping the groups
small and self-managed, in a voluntary association with others, is
the only
tenable arrangement for long term survival. - M.W.
Jim,
I received this earlier this morning: "You might pass this on
to the blog from Joel Skousen. Rourke doesn't have a clue about how
ugly the infighting and disagreement can be in among independent-minded
and argumentative survivalists--especially those that start out as
religious communities. I've seen virtually every survival community
blow apart or split into various factions over the knotty decisions
about shared facilities! Bad idea. JWR is right--keep it all private except
for perhaps the water supply." Great site and blog, - W.
James;
I just saw your letter from Rourke regarding survival communities.
What he's describing is very similar to a concept called "Co-Housing".
[It] combines both private property with commonly-owned (or controlled)
property. Good information about the concept and implementation variations
available at http://www.cohousing.org/.
Hope this helps! Debra (at The
Claire Files)
Mr. Rawles,
The Rivendell community in rural Virginia was set up along similar lines in
the buildup to Y2K. The folks
there were interested in forming an explicitly Christian, Reformed, home
schooling community that would foster group self-sufficiency. Their website
(http://www.mistymountain.org/)
is still active, but seems to have changed to theological study. -
TFA303
