Blackhawk Intentional Community Project

The Composting Toilet I seem to learn quite a lot from each and every person I interact with. The composting toilet is a matter of personal responsibility. I don’t want to turn it into a morality litmus test, but one person has seen it as the hill to die on (possibly he was just being manipulative, too soon to tell), and this brings up something deeper. Yes, the materials must (caps?) be recycled. One of the huge crimes of our time involves throwing both our waste (detergents, etc.) into the waterways, but also squandering our resources (soil nutrients). While we throw away all of the phosphorus we eat, we also import non-renewable phosphates from Western Sahara. This is the quintessential non-sustainable act. But there is a personal awareness issue here too. “Set it and forget it,” is damned convenient. But it abdicates personal responsibility. Having to be aware of something can be quite enlightening. Our reliance on convenience is why hand washing, as a habit, is so hard to teac...

Research on Other Places Camphill , near Sauk Center appears to rely on disability income and volunteers (no expenses while there, no investment in time and labor spent) Can visit (weakness in reliance on social services income – I rely on SSI, which is likewise vulnerable) Consider most of this without gov’t payments. How could that work? Dancing Rabbit (Missouri) is a Trust group – wants to become a whole town. Onsite “work” is usually paid but will be insufficient, so have outside income (my SSI for example– relate this to Camphill) , or “online” consulting. “Not income sharing” and no community business (which seems short sighted) FIND MORE

Most Utopian Communities fell apart over sex and jealousy. This may be well beyond the scope of “House Rules,” but will be, in at least some cases, a deal breaker for individuals and couples, so how does the community protect itself from the vagaries of the individual’s … failings. Drugs will fit right in here too (the whole gamut of arguments about legal vs illegal (and concurrent risks to whole group), my needs vs your unhealthy desires, “Gateway,” and other common myths, and the range of solutions to either self-control or social disease (self-medication). Cannabis vs heroin, alcohol, etc. Poppies vs heroin. Meth damages those around you, making “personal” use no longer a purely personal choice. Thes all dovetail with “slacker” issues. Think of some members as “coming of age” and wanting to move on, like children who grow up in Amish communities. †Perhaps savings accounts would be appropriate for each member, a percentage of all income going into personal or collective investment...

LEGAL AND MEMBERSHIP What if I/we form a non-profit corporation, and lease the farm to the non-profit? Currently I’d be paying the corp for nothing but as the commune grows the payments can be spent on additional land. Incorporate and Lease option: Commune incorporates and leases farm from me (Bubba Free John’s thing was quasi religious and required members to donate (up to) everything to the collective. This reeks of CULT, and disallows the leaving of the commune (unless asset-less). Contrast this with Heinlein’s line marriage (fictional, but so was My Side, Erewhon, and Huxley) which set up assets for kids wanting to do something else with their lives. (That said, I do think we should buy up any nearby building sites and marginal pasture, even small plot field land that we can. Investment/future growth.) Commune leases land (and town bldg? Apt only?) from ME but much/most (after expenses)/all goes into trust fund to fund another piece of land wholly owned by commune (a...

Commune Thoughts Communal definition; public vs private (needs; spaces; tools; etc.) all need be discussed. Bylaws (wow, “You’re not doing it right!” bugaboo, but this is both personal, and easy to attack by exactly that type of personality) “Twain’s Nose” … and some kind of council to make decisions Provisional membership and the “culture” bugaboo Temporary and “Intern” members? “Visitors” Rights within the community Responsibilities within the community Expulsion causes and appeals Assets on enrollment Assets on abandonment (by individuals, by whole group / last member) Secular: Imaginary friends and fathers/mothers are woefully unreliable. “Mysterious ways” excuses don’t feed us. Sex: Personal choices, no “policy.” In my experience only sociopaths can handle free love and they are willing to sacrifice you for their whims. Always. Food issues are a basic window. Lactose intolerance, vegetarianism, veganism, nut allergies Assigned governance rather than voluntary (Greek Democracy) ...

I should start at the beginning, but that is not where I am right now, so I'll work back to it. In a nutshell, I intend to start an intentional community based on democratic managment, socialist social structure, and sustainability in everything as fondational (mission) points. Interested paties should contact me. Tell me who you are and why you are interested.