A Tao Bums Commune

[windblown]

This would be way cool but my husband and teen-aged sons won't be into it! I can't hurt them by up and leaving but it'd be great for younger folks or those without family attachments.

 

Can I come for a visit?

 

I think it would be ideal living...maybe in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Western N.C. or Tennessee? I'ts beautiful there, good climate, lots of teeny farms, a zillion hardwood forests, streams and waterfalls. In Tennessee it would be cheaper and less developed than n N.C. I think Tenn. has the cheapest land in America.

 

Me, I'm just looking for a house out of this crammed in sub-division in the heart of Las Vegas. Something out in the desert with an acre and no immediate neighbors. Some place where I can hear the wind whistle. Maybe even a real tree and grass instead of 'desert landscaping' which means gravel!

 

Keep the dream alive!

[manitou]

 

They also have built in screening processes for lazy hippies that quickly remove rainbow coloured parasites... lol.

 

 

Oomph! This one kicks me in the heart, lol.

 

I too want to come visit! If it's just me, i'd like to live there! Actually, I think at some point it would be fun to just have a convention of sorts - it would be similar to cat herding, i'm sure - but what fun it would be to put faces to the souls that we come across on this forum.

[Encephalon]

Oomph! This one kicks me in the heart, lol.

 

I missed hippiedom by a decade, born in '60, but I did grow up in the SF Bay Area. Not to single out hippies, but successful co-ops frequently boiled down to people not pulling their own weight. I forgot where I read it - one of the historical works on the American communal movement - a joke that went something like "The Revolution will be postponed until we can find someone to do the dishes."

 

I grew up with a copy of The Whole Earth Catalog on the living room coffee table andb haven't been the same since!

[gendao]

I guess what I am looking for is a community that all want to work part time jobs, and split the bills and live like mexicans (no racism intended) who can be respectful and quite enough to let other people meditate and train not get drunk and smoke pot and blast music etc. lol. growing your own food seems like too much work considering a few hours of labor can feed you well with healthy organic food.

Mexicans share a hard work ethic and are well-versed in many practical trade skills. They can all get together and throw up a garage in a weekend. This is similar to the Amish. Rednecks are also very skilled in hunting and somewhat in living off the land.

 

So, although these groups typically get mocked & maligned in our pop culture (since our puppetmasters purposely want to promote consumer reliance and discourage self-reliance), they are actually the ones who would fare the best surviving off the grid, when need be..

 

A shared subculture also helps to ensure that everyone is more or less contributing and taking equally. You run into problems when you try mixing lazy freeloaders with industrious hard workers. Communes quickly sink to their lowest common denominator. That's why Socialism works best only in homogenous countries where the people are more self-reliant by nature.

 

But even if you had a good mix of people - I think you would still suffer some inconveniences due to poor economy of scale. For example, if you needed a laptop, some manufactured car parts, specialized services, medicine, etc. - you might still have to outsource back on the grid for such needs. But I think you could easily live off-grid as much as you can - and then just supplement on-grid when you need to.

[Encephalon]

i have always had a rather silly dream... one that sees the purchase of a large, tropical island off the coastal regions between Malaysia and the Philippines, and set up a (self)sustainable community dedicated to spiritual cultivation and open to anyone who is flexible enough to adapt to communal living, with the added incentive of potentially becoming an awakened soul..

 

This will give you an idea of the location i have in mind: http://www.google.ie/images?q=sipadan+islands&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=og&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wi&biw=1281&bih=602

 

(my plan to get this off the ground would require winning the European Lottery, with a guaranteed minimum prize of 25 million euro, or roughly 33 mil USD. A few years ago some lucky lady in Ireland, from the same city where i am, won (tax free, mind you) 116 million euro in the same lottery game, with a 2 euro investment on a quick-pick ticket [meaning the computer randomly selects the numbers for the player] I reckon that if she could do it, so could i - so far i have invested quite a bit into the game, but the most i have won was 11 euro. I have not given up.... as yet. )

 

I did contemplate writing to her shorty after her windfall to explain my lofty yet noble intentions and to ask if she would be willing to 'support' such a compassionate ideal with a small loan of perhaps 10 million or so, but after a few days of hard thinking, decided that she would probably reject the idea of parting with some of her gains.

 

So if any bums here were to come into a lucky win (B I G one, okay?) please, PUHLEAZE help donate towards this good cause.

 

In the meantime, i really send my very best wishes to you, MPG, and pray that your aspirations are fulfilled. I think its a darn good thing to cherish such a grand notion. Even if you do not succeed in this life, as long as you have the motivation, one of these days, it will happen.

 

I confess to the same silly dream,i.e., winning the lottery, builing a state-of-the-art, off-grid, earth-sheltered permaculture compound and inviting my loved ones to join me. "Music, meditation, martial arts." And the fact is, it's a popular longing for many people.

Over the years I've decided that the odds of this kind of luck are not good, but it has forced me to seriously prepare for moving to an already established community that is a mere $4,000 to buy into and uniquely situated for long term survival. Three years and counting. I have to accept that the growing season - April to November - will have longer days, but the winters will offer plenty of extended cultivation time. I've wanted little else for most of my life; now we're actually going for it.

[sifusufi]

Mexicans share a hard work ethic and are well-versed in many practical trade skills. They can all get together and throw up a garage in a weekend. This is similar to the Amish. Rednecks are also very skilled in hunting and somewhat in living off the land.

 

So, although these groups typically get mocked & maligned in our pop culture (since our puppetmasters purposely want to promote consumer reliance and discourage self-reliance), they are actually the ones who would fare the best surviving off the grid, when need be..

 

A shared subculture also helps to ensure that everyone is more or less contributing and taking equally. You run into problems when you try mixing lazy freeloaders with industrious hard workers. Communes quickly sink to their lowest common denominator. That's why Socialism works best only in homogenous countries where the people are more self-reliant by nature.

 

But even if you had a good mix of people - I think you would still suffer some inconveniences due to poor economy of scale. For example, if you needed a laptop, some manufactured car parts, specialized services, medicine, etc. - you might still have to outsource back on the grid for such needs. But I think you could easily live off-grid as much as you can - and then just supplement on-grid when you need to.

 

Yup!

 

Painful eh?

 

I read on a post the other day that folks aren't swimmin' to Cuba!

 

I believe I love Cuban culture more from the perspective of a Chicagoian.

 

Castro did kick some ass though, just ask any Cuban, Floridian, Republician.

[lazy cloud]

This would be way cool but my husband and teen-aged sons won't be into it! I can't hurt them by up and leaving but it'd be great for younger folks or those without family attachments.

 

Can I come for a visit?

 

I think it would be ideal living...maybe in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Western N.C. or Tennessee? I'ts beautiful there, good climate, lots of teeny farms, a zillion hardwood forests, streams and waterfalls. In Tennessee it would be cheaper and less developed than n N.C. I think Tenn. has the cheapest land in America.

 

Me, I'm just looking for a house out of this crammed in sub-division in the heart of Las Vegas. Something out in the desert with an acre and no immediate neighbors. Some place where I can hear the wind whistle. Maybe even a real tree and grass instead of 'desert landscaping' which means gravel!

 

Keep the dream alive!

In Tennessee a reward for climbing to the top of a mountain would be able to look down to the clouds.

Also the spring water coming out of the mountain could be useful. There will be a few hermits already there.

Edited February 21, 2011 by lazy cloud

[Thunder_Gooch]

I have a lot of respect for them.

 

I am trying to get an acre and a camper and minimize my bills to their absolute minimum, so I don't have to work more than necessary.

 

I think though the cost of living would go much lower if there were many people acting as room mates, sharing the expenses.

 

I'd love to grow my own food and be off grid and all that but unless I win the lottery I don't see it happening any time soon.

 

 

Mexicans share a hard work ethic and are well-versed in many practical trade skills. They can all get together and throw up a garage in a weekend. This is similar to the Amish. Rednecks are also very skilled in hunting and somewhat in living off the land.

 

So, although these groups typically get mocked & maligned in our pop culture (since our puppetmasters purposely want to promote consumer reliance and discourage self-reliance), they are actually the ones who would fare the best surviving off the grid, when need be..

 

A shared subculture also helps to ensure that everyone is more or less contributing and taking equally. You run into problems when you try mixing lazy freeloaders with industrious hard workers. Communes quickly sink to their lowest common denominator. That's why Socialism works best only in homogenous countries where the people are more self-reliant by nature.

 

But even if you had a good mix of people - I think you would still suffer some inconveniences due to poor economy of scale. For example, if you needed a laptop, some manufactured car parts, specialized services, medicine, etc. - you might still have to outsource back on the grid for such needs. But I think you could easily live off-grid as much as you can - and then just supplement on-grid when you need to.

[Astral_Anima]

I like to fantasize about a real life commune for cultivators that allowed them to work a small part time job and live the rest of their life focusing on cultivation.

 

Not like a cult where there is some centralized leader, but more of a group of like minded cultivators just doing their own thing, and getting the cost of living down as low as is absolutely possible.

 

I've looked into the intentional communities site but haven't really found anything that sounds good at all.

 

Living as a large group the cost of living would come down exponentially, and working a part time job would be possible while maintaining a high quality of life and having plenty of time for cultivation.

 

Do you guys ever think we could make something like this work?

 

It's of amazing coincidence you bring this up I've been thinking of starting something like this myself. Of course I wasn't going to limit it to just cultivators (as I was thinking it could be more of a refuge for if when the economy collapses) but that does sound quite fun. I've been studying sustainability, permaculture and such and damn yo if any of us could get one going I think it'd be EPIC. I think it could definately work but only with the right people. but it definately sounds like a great idea. I've searched for something like this MANY times, but no success.

 

Best of Luck with it.

-Astral

[Gerard]

Communes, communities and herds make the energy stagnant. It's better moving around, going with the flow like a high mountain stream...that would avoid the water pooling and breeding mosquitoes (people fighting in the commune).

 

Who wants to join me as a Wandering Daoist and leave everything behind for several years?

 

Visiting places like Xinjiang Province with places like the oasis-city of Turpan or Urumqi in which the very heat and dryness of the summer, when combined with the area's ancient system of irrigation, allows the countryside around it to produce great quantities of high-quality fruit (cantaloups, korla (fragant) pears, grapes, apricots, flat peaches, pomegranates, hami melons, figs) and the world's best raisins. In Xinjiang earth absorbs water (controlling cycle); it has within its borders the point of land remotest from the sea, the so-called Eurasian pole of inaccessibility in the Dzoosotoyn Elisen Desert, 1,645 miles (2648 km) from the nearest coastline (straight-line distance).

 

 

Urumqi night market

 

 

 

King Mother's Temple, Tianchi (Heavenly lake) 2000m. Mountain and Lake interchange their forces.

 

 

Or the ancient city of Samarkand, one of the greatest cities of Central Asia and a key landmark along the Silk Road:

 

 

 

I think, I need to start rolling soon again.

[Seth Ananda]

Cow Tao, Id advise not Islanding it or seting up anywhere at sea level unless global warming miraculously goes away. The future forecast for equatorial and coastal regions is bigger, stronger and more and more frequent cyclones, tsunami's, volcanic activity, sea level rise...

 

But it does look beautiful though doesn't it. Palm tree meditation

[Astral_Anima]

Cow Tao, Id advise not Islanding it or seting up anywhere at sea level unless global warming miraculously goes away. The future forecast for equatorial and coastal regions is bigger, stronger and more and more frequent cyclones, tsunami's, volcanic activity, sea level rise...

 

But it does look beautiful though doesn't it. Palm tree meditation

 

Counterpoint

 

Pt. 1/13 (stick with it, it's a great lecture)

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gpa8o1hrrK4

[Seth Ananda]

Counterpoint

 

Pt. 1/13 (stick with it, it's a great lecture)

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gpa8o1hrrK4

lol, forget what a political mouth piece like moncton says and just have a look.

There are far more natural disasters in the last 10 years than in a very long period, and It is only escalating.

Chipmunks are wise to prepare for winter.

 

Moncton is famous for trying to claim his work is peer reviewed, but the only [at least at the time] ones who had done one, was his own company that he was head ceo of.

He is another Idiotic champion of 'progress at any cost' and stands against the Idea that anything is wrong environmentally, or at least that humans can do anything about it if there is a problem.

[ben]

[manitou]

Communes, communities and herds make the energy stagnant. It's better moving around, going with the flow like a high mountain stream...that would avoid the water pooling and breeding mosquitoes (people fighting in the commune).

 

Who wants to join me as a Wandering Daoist and leave everything behind for several years?

 

Visiting places like Xinjiang Province with places like the oasis-city of Turpan or Urumqi in which the very heat and dryness of the summer, when combined with the area's ancient system of irrigation, allows the countryside around it to produce great quantities of high-quality fruit (cantaloups, korla (fragant) pears, grapes, apricots, flat peaches, pomegranates, hami melons, figs) and the world's best raisins. In Xinjiang earth absorbs water (controlling cycle); it has within its borders the point of land remotest from the sea, the so-called Eurasian pole of inaccessibility in the Dzoosotoyn Elisen Desert, 1,645 miles (2648 km) from the nearest coastline (straight-line distance).

 

 

Urumqi night market

 

 

 

King Mother's Temple, Tianchi (Heavenly lake) 2000m. Mountain and Lake interchange their forces.

 

 

Or the ancient city of Samarkand, one of the greatest cities of Central Asia and a key landmark along the Silk Road:

 

 

 

I think, I need to start rolling soon again.

 

I went to China with a group of photographers about ten years ago. I was in a small town along the Li River (omigod, that's gorgeous!) and I ran into a young girl, maybe 19 or 20 years old.

 

She was from America - she was adorable, short curly blonde hair, and a backpack. She had been in China for 3 months already, by herself. She didn't know the language when she arrived, she just picked stuff up. She was having an absolute ball, you could see it on her face. She was very excited to hook up with us for a day.

 

But even if you don't find someone to join you, perhaps the very best trip would be the one you took by yourself. You'll definitely learn what you're made of. I had nothing but admiration for this kid. What a champion.

[.broken.]

[Encephalon]

Communes, communities and herds make the energy stagnant. It's better moving around, going with the flow like a high mountain stream...that would avoid the water pooling and breeding mosquitoes (people fighting in the commune).

 

Well, all metaphors aside, small-scale, quasi-sustainable, kibbutz-like lifestyle models are infinitely wiser alternatives than covering the face of the earth in a vast suburban slum. After all, they may not be perfect, but we did depend on small social units for thousands of years.

Edited February 22, 2011 by Blasto

[bindo]

This has probably been posted here before, but I didn't see it.

Off The Grid; Life On The Mesa

[ralis]