Ecovillages? Intentional communities? What in the world?

[SterlingAcres]

Quote:
That movie totally freaked me out.

 

[Chickndaddy]

Yeah...lol Remember how you felt at the end of the movie. I kept getting that feeling as I read through the thread.

 

[Nichole77]

I want to see that movie now. OK so here's the thing with the leaders/democracy/decisions, I make the rules, I can change them at will and if you don't like it or follow them you face the Thunder Dome. Problem solved. But I agree with the who wants to backwards thing. We can live ecologically responsible lives with out living like filthy hippies (no offense). They have a new toilet called the biolet. It's great and you get a real toilet. And tankless water heaters, those are great. And what about solar power, how green is that. I say live green and clean

http://www.biolet.com/index.html

 

[coffeemama]

Quote:
That movie totally freaked me out.

 

[curliet]

Cetawin, I can feel your chagrin at having your grandmother walk into your class to tell the truth. You may have been embarrassed then, but I bet you are proud of her today. You and I both know that there is still today a very big void in what is being taught about the history of what happened in this country, and what really did happen. It's important that someone fill that void. And what you said about the way the tribes were run or ruled or managed was right too. Many other people had a voice in the decisions that were made, the war chief, and the main chief, and the counsel of women...any decision had to be made with the welfare of the entire tribe in mind. And that's the way the decisions should be made in a communal society of any size. I've said before, that no one member of a group is more important than the whole group together. Someone once gave me a box with one hundred pounds of potatoes. I was very happy to get this, and the person asked me how I could possibly use that many potatoes. I took them to a place where many of the members of our Native American community come to gather. The box was set down and a pile of paper sacks was put near it. All day, people came and took just the amount of potatoes they could use for their family for that day. It takes a certain mindset to understand that for that one day, it was more important that one hundred families had one pound of potatoes, and not that one family had one hundred pounds. This is the thought behind true tribal living.
I apologise for the long post, felt that I needed to say this.

 

[Timmo]

Great posts, Cetawin and Curliet. The Native American experience should be taught to a greater extent in the nations schools, and more acurately too.

Some of you were freaked out by 'The Village'? Hmm... I thought it was a great flick. OK, I knew ahead of time it wasn't a monster movie, so I wasn't disappointed. Maybe I'm just too big of a Shyamalan fan. Haven't seen the lastest one yet, though.

Dangerouschicken, thanks for the link to ecotopia. That looks interesting, I need to read more about it. It's been around since 72? You'd think it would have made the news more.

BOCOMO, thanks for the link about that nuclear reactor. Interesting stuff, but those sodium-cooled designs are dangerous. I've wondered before about something similar, those high-pressure water reactors on nuclear naval vessels will power an aircraft carrier with 5000 personnel for years, they are relatively small and accident free. If it only there wasn't any waste, or we could figure out a way to deal with it better.

Thanks to everyone else who left links, stories, or thoughts on this topic.

It seems to me that the biggest obstacles to a sustainable society have nothing to do with political or philosophical viewpoints. I think the biggest problems have to do with technology -- waste water treatment, large-scale agriculture, large-scale power production, industrial production of commercial products, etc...

How do we provide for an ever-growing population without polluting the planet beyond the point of no return? It seems like all the ecovillages work great -- for a small group of like-minded individuals who enjoy living an almost 'camping' type of lifestyle, but that's just not gonna cut it for the rest of the world, 6 billion and counting.

Tech, Tech, Tech! I saw a show on either Discovery, or History, a while back about a waste water treatment plant that took human waste and turned it into sterile composted fertilizer. We need one of those in every town in the world. That knocks out maybe 1 and 1/2 birds with one stone (it may not be enough to replace chemical fertilizers entirely, but it certainly takes care of the waste problem). I've seen other shows that dealt with recycling commercial and residential trash on a vast scale, which should be everywhere too.

Cost is the kicker, though. Initial set-up costs for those types of facilities are staggering, or so they say (and I don't doubt them). But wouldn't they pay off in the long run?

The world needs one of those billionaire philanthropists to invest in the construction of a small modern experimental city that is almost entirely self-sufficient, with a population in the thousands, to set an example. Local agriculture, local pollution-free power generation, local production of durable goods, local production of building materials (and replentishment of wood resources), local waste dealt with locally, as well as locally funded education and health care. I know everything can't be produced in just one location by one group of people, but it would be an interesting experiment, it may even pay for itself in the end.

Anyone have Bill Gates' phone number?

 

[moodusnewchick]

I want a biolet and solar power and wind power. I kinda wanna live in a commune b/c I don't have a ton of manual skills. But then, I want to be by myself. I don't really like people who share philosophies and feel the need to impart their opinions all the time. I just want to live simply without the rhetoric. So, I like the idea of being able to rely on people for and to give help...but to live together all cumbaya-like, not really my cup of tea.

 

[Beekissed]

My mother is coming to live with me soon and we are like-minded in wanting to live self-sufficiently. We eventually hope to move out west and live on a place with my sons.....we plan to have a cooperative arrangement. You never know until you try it. I think it takes intelligent and rational thinking to get along and work toward a common goal. For now, my mother and I can do organic gardening and poultry, preserve our own food, and create a good life by sharing ideas, work and expenses. I can't wait!