Refining The Path to Freedom: Veganic Homestead Communities

For at least the past two weeks my boyfriend and I have been talking about things that keep us in the material/consumerist/monetary gain world. Some examples would be McDonalds, Movie Theaters, Walmart, and Lowe's. These corporate businesses come into our small town areas so there for it tricks our minds into believing that it is "local". Technically, yes it is local but it is not small time business. Also we have been discussing how out of convenience and lack of conscious decisions people go to McDonald's when in reality it is much cheaper to take your fifteen bucks and go to the grocery store instead and buy what you want for a week. It is a lack of conscious effort and programming that it is "okay" to utilize places like this without even thinking twice. We, as a society, have been programmed from childhood that McDonald's is good, cheap, and fast therefore we must get our cheeseburger or recently our McCafe.
I feel that we have the power to consciously control our behavior and have the capability to stop the pre-programmed actions dead in its tracks. Yes, I still catch myself doing things I shouldn't be doing but it is all a learning and practice cycle. To end the pre-programmed information we must consciously take efforts to reverse our actions..Example: Take your ten bucks to a grocery store or to farmer's markets instead of fast food, grow your own food, and do not use plastic or paper at grocery stores. I do agree with you that places like Walmart make it so cheap for people to shop there that they feel they do not have the choice to shop elsewhere, and perpetuating the cycle.
I agree with you on the land issue, no matter if we pay a quarter of a million dollars we are still obligated to pay taxes on the land every single year...It just never ends. Ownership is a falsehood. We cannot own land nor water. It is not here for our taking, but for our intermittent use. As long as we have the ability to use the land, and be stewards of it I feel okay with it. Although it would be an awesome thing if we could somehow overturn the sale of land...Something I have been watching lately is the Zeitgeist Movement (( Definitely check it out!!)) As long as there is gain or profit to be made, there will be ownership over it. As long as there is a depletion of water, oil, land, diamonds, etc there will be a high price to pay for such items of belonging. I have been feeling a pull towards technology and innovations of alternative power, because if you can create your own energy, along with a garden to feed yourself, you have everything you need. Technology can bring us the power we need to over throw such monetary systems such as land ownership. Thank you for the awesome synchronistic post!

Peace,

Alex

I seriously need to connect with you and pick your brain about all of this! I am quite committed to the vision of creating a new way to live with the land, but admittedly know little about how to do this... can you share more about ways in which to actually acquire land as things stand now?

Namaste,

Ginnie Jester
www.everyempress.com

In Eric Markus' recent book, Meat Market, chapter 7 p. 87, he details the tragic flaw within the 'progressive' movement, and that is "Hostility towards Hierarchy". Here is a passage-
"It's axiomatic that violent, heartless people are often ruthlessly efficient at uniting and carrying out their goals. Progressive organizations, by contrast, tend to be hotbeds of internal bickering and failed leadership.
Mistakes made in leadership are often compounded by mid-level staff. Progressives are often hostile to structures of power, and they don't take well to the role of being subordinates. I've witnessed a number of prominent animal protection groups that generated more drama than the most unhappy of Tolstoy's families. Ineffective organizations generally have two things in common; leadership that lacks appropriate management skills, and subordinates who create a poisonous environment of behind-the-scenes second-guessing.
Management is a skill that can be learned. And while there are a few born leaders who come into any movement, most leaders need to devote significant time to working on their management abilities.
Just as leaders need to devote serious attention to learning management skills, so too must subordinates sharpen their abilities to contribute. In the role of a subordinate, it's vital to carry out responsibilities faithfully and without ever undermining the group's leadership."
My experiences have taught me that negating the efficiency of hierarchy is counter productive to many of the ideals that well intended progressives set out to achieve. Applying these observations to those who seek to create cohesive community I would encourage each person to embrace their sovereignty from within the hierarchical structure; celebrating diversity that congeals into a cohesive community. Although the end result is definitely egalitarianism, the many of us whose psyche's have been forged through contemporary society's structures would be served by a framework that provides a check and balance system that guides us into genuine egalitariansim. This framework, thusly, would need to be instituted by someone or a group of someone's with enough tenacity to forge it. Shunning a framework simply because it was someone elses idea and not mine would be a 'Catch-22' of evolutionary potential. Those who pursue egalitarianism would be defeating their own aspirations because they refuse to support anyone who would take the initiative to lead them to it. A fun analogy of this scenario is for anyone who genuinely desires to create an egalitarian community without hierarchy is to encourage them to go out and do the ground work. Study the principles that promote cohesive community, design the infrastructure and outline the guiding principles for the community, spend copious amounts of time perusing classifieds, talking to neighbors, real estate agents, and the internet to find the ideal piece of land. Then go through all of the legal requirements to obtain the land, whether through a lease or purchase and allocate all of the funding required to formalize this transfer of title or responsibility. Once all this is complete, post ads informing all interested parties that you have the foundation built for an evolutionary community. Invite them to come and be a part of it. Then when they all begin to show up and start to wonder what to do first and second etc., stick with your plan to avoid all suggestions of hierarchy and, whatever you do, DON'T LEAD, and just in case some smart alec has the audacity to take the initiative, DON'T LET THEM LEAD either! As I'm hoping you can now see, this is a wonderful formula for a tragic comedy. As long as we continue to validate attitudes that condemn others for having the audacity to assert them selves and offer others the opportunity to learn about the vision that they hold to create a wholistic, compassionate, evolutionary, and yes, egalitarian community, we also condemn ourselves to failure. In a truly evolutionary community hierarchy will be appropriated to the skills and talents of those who commit to the success of the community. Gardening can be overseen by those who excel in gardening. Childcare by those who are passionate about the childrens welfare. House keeping, Office organization, maintenence, and outreach can all be managed by those who are the most adept at those areas. The hierarchical structure will be in support of those who most vividly conceive of the needs of that facet of the community. Of course this is not meant to imply that they are required to perform all of the labor in those areas, only to oversee the efficiency of their post. Such a position would justly also be held by a visionary who oversee's the direction of the community. No different than the captain of a ship or the founder of a co-op or non-profit. All members are encouraged to provide input and perspective but it is those who hold the post that need to decide and delegate the performance of those who work in their departments. All of this is of course, is one persons perspective. You are welcome to apply as much of it as you like to the springboard of your imagination to design and manifest the community of your choosing. More than anything however, I would recommend that you refrain from the folly of condemning leadership under the guise of promoting egalitarianism. If such is your present inclination then I would suggest that you look deeper into yourself for the roots of your aversion to authority figures. You might find your stumbling block there.

Excelsior!