o------------------------------------------------o ^^
| | ^^
| N E W C I V I L I Z A T I O N |
| |
| V I S I O N S |- /
| | \
o------------------------------------------------o | - -
Issue 26, 5 July 1998 \ /
/ - - \
|
Here are a few more assorted visions submitted by members.
- Flemming
-------------------oOo-------------------
** Steve <steve@sundrum.force9.co.uk>, Scotland **
BOLDNESS IS IN THE BEGINNING.
So said Goethe.... and it surely must be true, to judge by the many who
dream of a better way of life, to somehow rest more easily upon our Mother,
and on each other. It's a powerful feeling, it feels good. For me, it
means leaving Gaia richer than you found her - she gave you life, you give
her love. And there are as many ways of loving her as there are people to
hurt her.
There is so much talk though. So many words borne on the backs of
disappearing forests; all the facts, the exhortations, the suggested
solutions, but little that seems to be wholly done, still less at an
affordable price! I've long dreamed of living in a house which lived in a
hillside, peeping out from among the rocks and the turf - no idea why, but
it's been with me since I was a child, Over the years I've learnt to call
it earth-sheltered, and added refinements, such as passive solar heating,
biofuels etc. And around that house I'd like some neighbours, friendly folk
who don't mind being asked to go away for while. Folk with children,
because children bring a place alive. And though god forbid it should be
peopled with clones of my intolerable self, still I would like my
neighbours to share a common ground of sorts, like learning to rest lightly
but richly upon our planet.
Our children are important always, but especially now, when the world
they will live in, the world we will leave for them, is so fragile and
unpredictable. I don't know all the answers, but I do know what I feel
called to do with this life - it's to give this dream a chance; once seen
working, others will also try.
-------------------oOo-------------------
** Adam Pollock <polakie@hotmail.com>, Florida **
I would like to see life living by the insights in James Redfields books,
also I have my views and dreams in separate categories, and here they are.
EDUCATION: since everything will be shifting towards the
spiritual some things will be lost but most will change, we will
not have an elementary, junior and high school, just a job college
thing, in our adolescent and later teen years we will be taught
the insights and how to live by them, then we will choose our career
as were suppossed to and learn by people who already have that
occupation.
OCCUPATIONS: as described above would be the ones we are suppossed
to take, and we would learn from those a head of us, as well as
gather information our selves, constantly moving things ahead.
SOCIAL LIFE: would be helping others and finding our birth visions,
would be having fun and enjoying our life, taking the opportunites
that we are meant to, furthurin our growth as we advance towards
being with the ONE.
RELIGION: well you already get the picture, but I am
pagan/new world/a but of chiristanity so I think things will get
pretty mystical, incorporating all religions and finally opening
closed minds to compassion and not the ignorance accepted by most
people who attend church, and ar blocked from achieving thier purpose.
That is my view and I am not bashign christians, just saying what i perceive.
SEXUALITY: well obviously noone will care who is what, we are what we are
a soul is a soul with a mission, noone has the right to suppress
some one else, especally when that person is failing at many things
and full of faults
TECHNOLOGY: will keep advancing to improve things as they were
meant to, not help things a bit and destroy others, technology will
become great
GOVERNMENT: the whole world will unite as one, not under a certain
government but a spiritual consensus of some sort, like in James's books
nothing will be forced just considered for what it is suppossed
to be and nothing else
LIFE: will be about furthering our selves and others, helping
others along as well as enjoying this life so we can enjoy others
till we are spiritually advanced enough to vibrate to another plane,
if there be one and then onto god, the one, krishna, buddah and the
heaven spoken of
ALIENS:space travel and living will be something I have to further think
about but we will go there, and we will I think meet other races
on our planes of existance, we will understand the meaing behind
alien visitation and expirementaion and I think i have a theory
on that, read on for it.
the theory: when the aliens crashed in roswell computer suddenly emerged
they helped us along, were ment to, and those people who see sighting
are ment to and are glad to i think. They do have a purpose, which
is explained in the books about BETTY ANDREASSEN LUCA, the aliens
are spiritual purposes, they come here to preserve the species
of man becasue of polutants we will be come sterile and they are
here to help with the Awakening. These are my ideas and if i thnk of any
more I will post them.
-------------------oOo-------------------
** Flemming Funch <ffunch@newciv.org>, Los Angeles, California **
I imagine the world on the other side of information overload and
population control by selective information filtering.
I believe that most people are capable of making wise decisions if they are
supplied with a correct picture of the circumstances they're in and the
options that are available to them.
At this point most people in the developed world suffer from an overload of
irrelevant information. This causes a kind of alienation from the ability
to make a difference in the world, a feeling that there's just so much
going on that it is better left to the "experts", whoever they are. It is
obviously impossible to keep up with everything there is to know, even if
it is important, so most people stay in their own little compartmentalized
world. Or, they take in a manufactured picture of the reality we live in,
through news media and education, feeling they're very knowledgable and
involved because they have opinions about the "major issues" that are
presented to them. Having followed the "news" about the investigation of
Bill Clinton's sex life, and having an opinion about it, makes it seem like
one is involved in important issues of the day.
The other aspect is the lack of information, feedback, and direct
experience of the things that really matter. Maybe one in 10,000
individuals have any clue whatsoever about how the economic system really
works, which governs most of their lives. Most people have no direct
experience of the effects of many of their actions. Ecological concerns,
recycling, etc., are a matter of theoretical problems that one hears about
on TV, but we don't have any direct experience of what the effect is of
throwing a styrofoam cup in the garbage. And we don't make very good
choices if we don't feel the direct impact of our choices.
We've become used to being separated from the sources of information.
Information becomes packages of propaganda delivered by people who don't
know either, but who interpret the reports of the people who actually have
access to the sources, and we're easy victims of mis-information, omissions
and distortions, because we simply don't have time to go and verify things,
or we don't know how.
So, my vision is that we enter a new paradigm of information distribution.
The media will appear that will make raw information available to the
common man to a much higher degree, and the tools will appear that will
allow anyone to analyze and understand the information, and make their own
choices.
In the first wave of society, the agricultural revolution, those who
controlled the land had the upper hand.
In the second wave of society, the industrial revolution, those who
controlled the production machinery owned the world.
In the third wave of society, the information revolution, those who control
the information and the presentation thereof own the world.
I believe that in the fourth wave of society, power will come from the
bottom up, from individuals and communities that realize what choices are
available to them, and who act on their own. Wisdom, inspiration and
creativity becomes the currency.
There are some obstacles to overcome. The outcome of the first three waves
has been that most of the land, the production equipment, the worldwide
economic system, the governments, the armies, and the information
distribution system is owned by very, very few individuals. But, however
all powerful this aggregation of wealth and force is, it is really very
fragile, as it all depends on you, and all the rest of us, unknowingly and
voluntarily going along with it all. If each of us had the proper
information, and we acted on it, the world would be turned upside down very
rapidly.
We're not really as stupid as we think we are. Most of us would act in the
best interest of ourselves, our families, our communities and our planet,
if we weren't blind and afraid. Our blindness is generated by a lack of
information about our circumstances, or by an overload of misleading and
irrelevant information, and our fear is the result of a false picture of
our options.
I think we're waking up. No amount of economic or media power can keep the
next level of evolution from occurring. When a critical mass within the 6
billion people on the planet realizes that it is all up to *US* and that
there is no *THEM* worth paying much attention to, all is going to be
different.
-------------------oOo-------------------
** Larry Dobson <stilt@whidbey.com>, Washington **
The Quest
I am convinced that us human beings must evolve and transform, like
caterpillars become butterflies, and very soon before we perish. We must
prepare cocoons with loving nurture and create a safe haven to birth the
slumbering truth of our grander human potential, a new humanity of loving
unity in a field of delightful diversity. Until we do, our crotchety old
'civilization', stuck together precariously with bonds of fear and
insecurity, will continue to cannibalize our own Mother Earth in its
insatiable hunger for fulfillment.
I seek my tribe, my family of loving friends and coconspirators to found a
radically new society, a close community of cooperation, trust and service,
one designed to heal ourselves and the surrounding community, where all
aspects of living are thoughtfully and elegantly integrated into an organic
whole. I want to live and work in concert with like-minded souls, to
discover how much richer life can be when we discover a common vision and
strive to realize it. I want to be part of a global village network, where
fellow Gaianauts connect in larger purpose and we feel our intimate kinship
in the family of (wo)man. Without community I am powerless to accomplish
this grandiose yet imperative dream.
This dream is not mine alone. I only write it down to help gather the
tribe. The specific forms of the ideas presented here are not important;
the underlying principles, values and goals are.
The Goal
Let us plan a work-residence community. Include, perhaps, a symbiotic
selection of cooperative businesses, where each worker is an owner,
consensus decision making the norm, and a local employment trading system
replaces most of the internal money transactions. Experiment with bold new
approaches to mutual support, sharing of resources and investing in the
future. Adopt a cohous-ing approach to the residential area, sharing of
facilities, a land-trust approach to ownership, while at the same time
encouraging individual initiative and uniqueness.
Unity in Diversity
Explore new frontiers of communication, architecture and the arts. Build an
inspirational and efficiently designed center for meetings, conferences,
communication, recreation and entertainment.
Incorporate a broad cross-section of the healing arts along with organic
farming and new approaches to waste disposal, alternative energy, building
design and group dynamics.
Assist each other and the outside world in becoming whole, creative, loving
and joyful embodiments of our divine potential, to be humble instruments in
the transformation of the earth into a symphony of harmonious life.
The community scene
Cohousing
A good starting point for discussion is the Cohousing model. Pioneered in
Denmark, this housing option is spreading in popularity throughout Northern
Europe and now also in the U.S., initiated by Kathryn McCamant and Char-les
Durrett. Much of the information presented here is derived from their
excellent book, Co-housing, A Contemporary Approach to Housing Ourselves,
1988, Habitat Press.
Planned with the extensive participation of the residents themselves,
cohousing combines the autonomy of private dwellings with the advantages of
shared facilities and community living. A modest private home (with small
kitchen and other private areas) is augmented with extensive common
facilities shared with the larger group -- kitchen & dining hall,
children's playrooms, workshops, guest rooms, laundry facilities, office
space, media room, game room, music room, storage spaces, photographic
darkroom, etc..
Outdoor spaces are also utilized much more efficiently. Instead of having
20 separate lawns, gardens and play areas, the dwellings are usually
clustered around a central commons where neighbors can socialize while the
children play in the playground, protected from traffic and out-side
interference. There is often a large covered area for the children to play
in during inclement weather and a large community garden, secluded orchard
or other spaces. These are all made possible by thoughtful planning of the
community as a whole , in contrast to our pre-sent happenstance collection
of isolated and expensive single-family houses on postage-stamp lots.
Such a village-like atmosphere fosters a strong sense of community and
naturally results in mutual undertakings such as ride-sharing, child care
and community projects. Families with children have found the close
"village" setting particularly attractive.
In Denmark, the common kitchen has be-come an important institution in all
cohousing communities. In the dining hall the community really gets to
know each other, and a strong sense of cooperation and camaraderie is
devel-oped. The onerous responsibility of preparing and cleaning up after
90 meals a month is delightfully relieved. One only needs to cook and
clean up a few days a month at most; the rest of the time can be spent
relaxing and enjoying the company! Food is purchased in bulk with
substantial savings for the community. A buying coop is a convenient and
economical extension of the food procurement activities.
The invitation to get involved in meaningful community projects is
ever-present, from kitchen and grounds duty to planning the ga-den,
organizing the shop or participating in a work party. It is an ideal
remedy for the all-too-typical American problem of alienation.
In his book, The Different Drum, Community making and Peace, M. Scott Peck
says, On my lecture tours across the country, the one constant I have found
wherever I go--the North-east, South-east, Midwest, Southwest, or West
Coast--is the lack of--and the thirst for--community...Trapped in our
tradition of rugged individualism, we are an extraordinarily lonely
people...It does not have to be that way. Yet many--most--know no other
way. Children have grown up in cohous-ing communities for eighteen years
now, and they know a different way. They and their parents express an
overwhelming enthusiasm for that environment.
"Home" comes from the Greek word Kome, meaning Village. Home is not an
isolated house, it is being intimately involved with a larger social group.
The elderly in traditional communities serve important roles in family and
village life. The interaction of age and youth is crucial to the
wholeness, the wellness of a society. A full spectrum of ages, races and
socio-economic backgrounds would add richness and balance to our cohousing
community.
Another segment of our society we must provide for is the growing numbers
who rent rather than purchase their own home. The practice of changing
jobs and residences every five years is normal in our mobile society.
Buying a house is a long-term commitment that many people, especially the
quarter of our adult population who are single or single parents, do not
wish to or cannot make. Burdensome loans, Realtor fees, closing costs, and
property taxes that put high demands on time and finances are not realistic
alternatives for many in our society. The average Seattle renter pays a
third of their income for rent, while the poorest third pay two-thirds of
their income for a roof over their heads. We must provide for these
"functionally home-less" citizens of ours. They especially need to feel
"at home" in a close community.
Cohousing communities in Denmark are increasingly providing rental units as
part of the scheme, because they have found that, contrary to expectations,
renters not only make just as good and responsible neighbors as owners, but
they appreciate the social setting so much that they move even less
frequently than the owners!
Temporary housing for workshop participants and visitors from other walks
of life, other intentional communities, other cultures may also be
provided. The resulting stimulating interchanges of diverse perspectives
can rejuvenate both sides and add fresh new energy to ongoing endeavors.
Energy, pollution and recycling can be addressed in an elegant fashion
through the cohousing model. First, the dwellings can be built to require
very little heat, with super-insulated outside walls and fully soundproofed
common walls. Costs of construction and maintenance are considerably
reduced when housing is clustered, especially where insulation, plumbing,
wiring, foundations, exterior protection from the elements, and heating are
considered.
The Danish experience has shown 15 to 35 cohousing units to be an optimum
size range for effective group interaction. This would also provide a good
core group for a complementary collection of cooperative businesses.
Cooperative Businesses
Offering opportunities for employment in the immediate community can
considerably improve the quality of life for the residents. The tension,
expense and pollution of distant commuting is avoided, and numerous
economic and social benefits are also realized. A stronger sense of
community and a more locally responsible citizenry is developed. Children
get more time with their parents and the family is strengthened.
Employment at home is becoming increasingly popular, especially where
computers are involved. One Danish governmental report sees cohousing as a
model for the future as technology allows more people to work in the home.
Our cohousing community could include office facilities for the tenants'
businesses, where equipment such as printers, plotters, scanners, fax and
computers could be shared. Such a vibrant hub of activity for the larger
surrounding community would be a natural site for meeting rooms, a day-care
center, recreation facilities, a store to sell the products of the
community -- all could be planned for where they would be most convenient,
to improve the quality of life in the whole neighborhood.
Alternative communities throughout history have proven over and over again
that new approaches to human interactions must take root in the surrounding
community or they will perish. The new community must interact with and
serve a valuable function in the "host" society. Our intentional community
is no exception.
Recycling Energy Center
A recycling/energy center for the surround-ing neighborhood could be
central to the economy and service of the community. At the core would be
a highly efficient biomass waste combustion/energy system, developed by
Larry Dobson and his company, Northern Light Research & Development. It
will burn house-hold refuse and biomass waste more cleanly and efficiently
than most residential and commercial heating systems. A prototype has been
tested by Bonneville/DOE to burn cleaner than any wood burning system yet
tested.
When trees and biomass crops are planted to replace the burned fuel, the
carbon dioxide and water emitted from combustion is again turned into plant
matter and stored solar energy, so there is no net gain in greenhouse
gases, no pollution from the energy cycle.
This technology can be incorporated into the community energy system and
serve as a recycling center for the larger community, providing jobs for
some of the residents. The central furnace can be fueled with locally
available paper and wood waste not otherwise recyclable, tree trimmings
from local tree trimmers, even the most common household refuse, including
plastics, can be burned with virtually no emissions other than carbon
dioxide and steam. A chipper could be part of the recycling center to
process neighborhood prunings and windfall trees and branches into fuel.
Recycled alumi-num and glass could be melted down and turned into useful
products.
In Germany, where tile roofs last several hundred years (rather than the 15
to 25-year life-span of our asphalt and wood roofs), glass tiles are
interspersed between the clay ones for light. These glass tiles last
indefinitely and would be a useful and profitable product from our glutted
recycled glass market. Other new recycled products, such as light-weight
foamed glass roofing tiles and building insulation from recycled glass
could be developed by the community to provide income and important
directions for other recycling endeavors throughout the world.
This inexpensive source of high temperature heat could support other
manu-facturing and employment opportunities. Glass-blowing, pottery
kilns, a bronze foundry and wrought-iron facilities could be incorporated
into the plan, as well as other low-level heat needs such as processing
steam, curing and drying facilities. A steam or heat engine could produce
direct shaft power to replace electric motor power for operations such as
pottery wheels, public washing-machines, clothes dryers, fans, grinders,
saws, drills, etc.
Northern Light R&D has worked with Sun-power Stirling to commercialize a
residential cogeneration sys-tem incorporating their advanced Stirling
cycle external heat engine electric generator. It will provide all the
electricity, hot water, space heating, cooking, drying and waste disposal
needs of a household. The integrated components of the system will be
fully automated to provide efficiencies several times that of separate
stand-alone units. The community could continue the development of this
technology.
With second and third-level heat cycling, all the heating, hot water and
laundry needs of the larger community could be efficiently met. Other
businesses serving the surrounding community could take advantage of the
available heat in such facilities as a sauna, steam bath, heated pool,
aquaculture ponds and greenhouses. Food processing from the extensive
community gardens, as well as the surrounding community, could take
advantage of this free heat for canning, blanching, drying and other
activities.
By integrating the energy needs of the whole system, unparalleled
efficiencies many times better than presently available could be easily
realized. This is a primary key to success in making our businesses
profitable, eliminating our dependence on fossil fuels (and the consequent
greenhouse gas buildup) and making our lives more elegantly simple.
Health/Play
Health, in the fundamental senses of "Whole" and "Heal" is absolutely
essential to the nuclear community as well as their interactions with the
outside world. We should have a variety of facilities for developing
strong, balanced and rhythmical bodies and integrate a healthy variety of
activities and quiet into our daily lives. We need group members skilled
in a variety of healing arts such as herbal medicine, nutrition, massage,
homeopathic, naturpathic and chiropractic medicine, yoga, meditation,
dance, psychodrama, physical education, conflict-resolution, etc.
Providing facilities for the outside community and offering a variety of
workshops will make the ideal affordable. Incorporated into the heating
system could be a steam bath, sauna, shower & laundry facilities,
year-round heated swimming pool with massage room, etc.. (The infra-red
heat radiating directly from wood combustion through ceramic has the finest
therapeutic properties of the Native American sweat lodge.) We could have
a playground for all ages, with swings, trapezes, tree houses, nets,
trampo-line, balance & workout equipment.
Having multiple opportunities & services grouped together would be most
attractive to outsiders as well. They could bring the whole family, with
recyclables and laundry, while various members played, bathed, swam,
attended a concert or drum circle, yoga, pottery or glass-blowing workshop,
browsed through the community store, worked in the community garden, or
availed themselves of the many services provided by the community.
Multipurpose Hall
A large multipurpose hall should be planned into the facilities, with
emphasis on music, dance and theater. This would compli-ment the emphasis
on holistic living and service to the outside community, affording the
opportunity to host visiting cultural events, sponsor events like weekly
dances, exercise classes, public meetings, conferences, etc.. If well
designed for acoustics, lighting, ventilation and aesthetics, with large
openings to incorporate an outside courtyard/garden into the space, it
could be a very important hub of activity and provide significant income
for the community.
Farming
Nature's dance is a study in interdependence of specialized organisms. Our
community should emulate this model, both in our interactions with the
outside world and internally. Yet there is also wisdom in striving for
local self-sufficiency, in creating a totally balanced eco-system where all
the links in the food chain and basic pieces in the puzzle of human needs
are provided for. Farming, livestock, bee-keeping, aquaculture, and
silviculture are important ingredients in our integrated community concept.
Through such involvement with nature we come to understand the weather, the
seasons, the sacredness of food and the interdependencies of life. We know
where our food comes from -- we know it is wholesome, and we also provide
for the larger community.
A large herb garden can supply healing herbs for the community and its
resident healers and stock the store for outsiders. The central energy
system can heat large greenhouses with waste heat for a highly profitable
business. Likewise, waste heat can be cycled through baking ovens,
food-drying cabinets, and canning facilities to give an additional economic
advan-tage to the production of processed foods by a cooperative business.
The community kitchen could serve economical, highly nutritious fresh food,
and even a bakery or restaurant could eventually be incorporated into the
business mix.
Water & Waste
The world desperately needs new models of sewage and wastewater treatment.
In addition to the recycling endeavors already mentioned, our community
should boldly pursue alternative approaches to these problems, such as
compost toilets, bio-gas generation, wastewater irrigation, biofiltration
systems and other alternatives to sewers, septic tanks and landfills.
Machine Shop/R&D Facilities
To complement the emphasis on self-sufficiency and innovative elegant
approaches to living, the community should include a fully equipped shop
with the capacity to fabricate much of the equipment needed for the other
businesses and facilities. In addition, it could serve ongoing research
and development activities to develop new products for the recycling
businesses and alternative life styles. Emphasis should be on simple,
efficient, low energy technology designed to last and be easily repaired.
This could produce a lucrative income to finance more ambitious
undertakings.
The Store
Because a major focus of the community will be serving and providing a
model for the surrounding populace, it may include a store to distribute
the products of the local businesses. Items for sale might include fruit,
vegetables, herbs, dried & prepared foods, honey, meat, fish, poultry &
other farm products; products made from recycled glass, plastic & aluminum;
handicraft items like art glass, ceramics, wrought-iron works; recycled
appliances fixed in the repair shop; etc.
Multimedia/Communications
Communications is an equally vital link in demonstrating this alternative
society. The latest advances in video, sound-recording, multimedia
presentation, graphics, printing, publication and telecommunications should
be pursued by the community to develop more powerful and effective ways of
communicating that which the old paradigm cannot yet see. This business
will also serve most effectively the advertising and communications needs
of the other cooperative enterprises.
Money Matters
As long as money controls what we do and what resources we have at our
disposal we will not fulfill our potential for a rich and coopera-tive
society of productive individuals. This is a multi-million dollar dream,
but if enough devoted workers join together in pursuit of it, the money
will come. The values and efficiencies we build into the community model
should help us free ourselves from poverty mentality and over-dependency on
outside money. The community should investigate the numerous ways of
achieving this goal. One promising approach to economics and job linking
is a Local Employment Trading System (LETS).
Additional Ideas and Ideals
Design for the future, build to last and be improved upon for seven
generations. Many public dwellings and residences in the world have been
in continuous use for longer. Invest whatever it takes to do it right.
Think in long-term econom-ics.
Build structures of Fundamental form: Move in the path of the Tao,
cellular and molecular consciousness of physical reality. (This is a topic
for another paper)
Use earth and ferrocement in construction, with emphasis on underground
with roof gardens, blending into landscape. This incorporates permanency,
thermal and sound insulation.
Include an underground cave for meditation and silent contemplation.
For the playground we already have a trampoline, a giant stellated octagon
swing & tumbling mats. Playground equipment should be designed for young
and old alike, to develop coordination and rhythm in all parts of the body.
Some equipment could facilitate group cooperation and synchronization.
We are closer to the primates than we acknowledge, and we can benefit
greatly from more swinging with our arms and tree climbing. We should
include a treehouse community, with well-built structures that could be
lived in full-time. The art of tree house construction has been perfected
by supporting the tree house as an integral part of the host trees without
harming them, where the sup-port becomes stronger with age. Trapezes,
swings and ropes could connect the dwellings, with long-lasting safety nets
below.
CONTACTS
These are only preliminary ideas, to be modified and added to by all who
are seriously interested in forming such a community. If this includes
you, contact:
Larry Dobson
7118 S. Fiske Rd.
Clinton, WA 98236
360-579-1763
http://www.whidbey.com/stilt
-------------------oOo-------------------
Send in more visions to ffunch@newciv.org
o o
/ \------------------ Flemming A. Funch -------------------/ \
/ * \ New Civilization Network / Synchronicity Networks / * \
/ * * \ ffunch@newciv.org / * * \
o-------o----------- http://www.worldtrans.org/ -----------o-------o
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Thu Dec 07 2000 - 23:22:12 PST