I think the scale of significant self sufficiency is the bioregion. But I can imagine a network of ecovillages and other support structures across each bioregion collaborating to create the systems needed for the flourishing of life.
I'm an expat living in Brazil and, as crazy as politics get here, I've never been happier to not be in the US, which seems positively, yeah, nightmarish at the moment.
I loved the post and the ideas you presented. I want something like this so badly, it makes me want to cry. No lie. Part of why is, I think, because it feels so within our reach; a matter of will not technology or even money or some other resource.
Cary, I totally hear you. It must feel overwhelming when you want something like this so badly. It is completely within our (and your!) reach. I believe in you to find or build something like this, and I'm here to walk this journey with you.
Thank you! I am in the process of buying 100 acres to start up a village, using the Integration Center model. The model incorporates all of the above along with two more factors.
First, most eco-villages (at least in the US) require a heavy buy-in. The IC model allows people with no means a path to entry.
Second, while we need to heal the environment and heal the culture, we also need to heal the individuals, as the mainstream culture is profoundly incapable of helping people heal from past traumas. (And so they replicate their traumas on to the next generation.)
The first Integration Center will hopefully be open within a year or two, acting both as a model for others, and as a seed to start more. The business plan is still in development, but it is open source so anyone may adapt it: https://integrationcenter.org
This is a new and interesting concept! I have been planning to do something similar to this, but I really like the concept of integration retreats as a means of income.
If you link up underground car parks in medium density either back to back or down the length of the street you could free up whole streets to be community space. All new medium density should have this as a part of their architectural design for the future.
"if you know where the resistance is gathering, make sure to invite me."
I think there are at least two paths to sanity. One is "resistance", but it is tenuous, and it makes you a target.
I prefer "Non-conformance" and keeping a low profile. Don't even be perceived as a threat. Get off the economy, to the greatest extent possible.
They may not even know it yet, but their power is waning. As fossil sunlight goes into permanent, irrevocable decline, so must growth, and thus, so must capitalism.
So, I'm patiently and joyously awaiting the coming phase-reversal of all those curves that have been continuously progressing up and to the right. If something cannot continue, it *will not* continue.
Love your work Nicole. Stay strong! A friend just shared your article with me--we are part of the resistance here in Australia. We hear the news from the US and feel your pain. We are describing the redesign as a Network of Circular Economy Villages (CEVs) (as per Kelly Clark's comment). We borrowed ideas from the many ecovillages we visited to create the CEV concept.
Our aim is "to facilitate the planning, design and construction of a network of tech-enabled, regenerative villages that strive towards self-sufficiency and zero waste within their bioregion. Each village will house a diverse but discrete community, integrating affordable living and work spaces with a renewable energy micro-grid, a water micro-grid and a regenerative agricultural system."
One begins to form a country when 1 million people obtain/file a land patent in place of a Warranty Deed for their land. Send a copy of your deed to your area's BLM along with $20 to request three certified copies of your property's original land patent. Then the land patent must be perfected.
Sign me upppp. I love the phrase “turn on, tune in, rise up”, because we have the opportunity to do a hippies 2.0 where we don’t try to completely drop off the map, but rather exit and still influence and change the world from where we are.
I read this on the heels of another piece on the “freedom cities” some of the technology oligarchs are promoting - it’s an interesting concept and I would rather join your kind than theirs, that’s for sure!
I've been thinking along these lines for a while now.
This is a quick summary of what I think is possible. Rethinking our relationship with nature enables us to be radically beneficial to the environment, by tightly integrating our housing with food production and ecosystem functions.
During times of existential uncertainty, we need to rewild what is possible, and you are doing just that with your exquisite emergent being and valuable experience. THANK YOU!
I think you do a good job articulating the solutions. I've been somewhat aware of many parts you've mentioned throughout the few posts I'veread so far, but you bring them together in a sussinct and easy to understand way (or maybe I just already agree with it all and like the way you say it).
We need to focus on what we want to create, not what we don't want, because either way we get what we focus our attention on.
I think "the resistance" is as natural and ubiquitous as the wind, rain, and snow which act in cycles over time to strengthen trees (and plants) all over the world; it's in the very air we breathe, and is infused within every breath we receive that carries us forward on this journey through time-space realities/illusions.
*And while it's happening in many places, Colorado is the most local context that I am aware of (but I also don't get out/travel much, so my perspective is inherently limited).
Love this! I wrote an article here about the Conscious Community, which is very similar to what you are saying! I also take a lot of inspiration from the idea of a network state.
I think the scale of significant self sufficiency is the bioregion. But I can imagine a network of ecovillages and other support structures across each bioregion collaborating to create the systems needed for the flourishing of life.
I'm an expat living in Brazil and, as crazy as politics get here, I've never been happier to not be in the US, which seems positively, yeah, nightmarish at the moment.
I loved the post and the ideas you presented. I want something like this so badly, it makes me want to cry. No lie. Part of why is, I think, because it feels so within our reach; a matter of will not technology or even money or some other resource.
Cary, I totally hear you. It must feel overwhelming when you want something like this so badly. It is completely within our (and your!) reach. I believe in you to find or build something like this, and I'm here to walk this journey with you.
Thank you! I am in the process of buying 100 acres to start up a village, using the Integration Center model. The model incorporates all of the above along with two more factors.
First, most eco-villages (at least in the US) require a heavy buy-in. The IC model allows people with no means a path to entry.
Second, while we need to heal the environment and heal the culture, we also need to heal the individuals, as the mainstream culture is profoundly incapable of helping people heal from past traumas. (And so they replicate their traumas on to the next generation.)
The first Integration Center will hopefully be open within a year or two, acting both as a model for others, and as a seed to start more. The business plan is still in development, but it is open source so anyone may adapt it: https://integrationcenter.org
This is a new and interesting concept! I have been planning to do something similar to this, but I really like the concept of integration retreats as a means of income.
If you link up underground car parks in medium density either back to back or down the length of the street you could free up whole streets to be community space. All new medium density should have this as a part of their architectural design for the future.
Another handy link: https://thenetworkstate.com/
"if you know where the resistance is gathering, make sure to invite me."
I think there are at least two paths to sanity. One is "resistance", but it is tenuous, and it makes you a target.
I prefer "Non-conformance" and keeping a low profile. Don't even be perceived as a threat. Get off the economy, to the greatest extent possible.
They may not even know it yet, but their power is waning. As fossil sunlight goes into permanent, irrevocable decline, so must growth, and thus, so must capitalism.
So, I'm patiently and joyously awaiting the coming phase-reversal of all those curves that have been continuously progressing up and to the right. If something cannot continue, it *will not* continue.
https://HearthstoneVillage.ca
Great article, Nicole, as always. Lucid, passionate, inspiring, intelligent. Thank you 🙏
Love your work Nicole. Stay strong! A friend just shared your article with me--we are part of the resistance here in Australia. We hear the news from the US and feel your pain. We are describing the redesign as a Network of Circular Economy Villages (CEVs) (as per Kelly Clark's comment). We borrowed ideas from the many ecovillages we visited to create the CEV concept.
Our aim is "to facilitate the planning, design and construction of a network of tech-enabled, regenerative villages that strive towards self-sufficiency and zero waste within their bioregion. Each village will house a diverse but discrete community, integrating affordable living and work spaces with a renewable energy micro-grid, a water micro-grid and a regenerative agricultural system."
One begins to form a country when 1 million people obtain/file a land patent in place of a Warranty Deed for their land. Send a copy of your deed to your area's BLM along with $20 to request three certified copies of your property's original land patent. Then the land patent must be perfected.
Sign me upppp. I love the phrase “turn on, tune in, rise up”, because we have the opportunity to do a hippies 2.0 where we don’t try to completely drop off the map, but rather exit and still influence and change the world from where we are.
I read this on the heels of another piece on the “freedom cities” some of the technology oligarchs are promoting - it’s an interesting concept and I would rather join your kind than theirs, that’s for sure!
I've been thinking along these lines for a while now.
This is a quick summary of what I think is possible. Rethinking our relationship with nature enables us to be radically beneficial to the environment, by tightly integrating our housing with food production and ecosystem functions.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1FEIpP7rLp8OnrGD-7_2Aswrynw6qHBvPWauAUlciJgw/edit?usp=sharing
During times of existential uncertainty, we need to rewild what is possible, and you are doing just that with your exquisite emergent being and valuable experience. THANK YOU!
I think you do a good job articulating the solutions. I've been somewhat aware of many parts you've mentioned throughout the few posts I'veread so far, but you bring them together in a sussinct and easy to understand way (or maybe I just already agree with it all and like the way you say it).
We need to focus on what we want to create, not what we don't want, because either way we get what we focus our attention on.
I think "the resistance" is as natural and ubiquitous as the wind, rain, and snow which act in cycles over time to strengthen trees (and plants) all over the world; it's in the very air we breathe, and is infused within every breath we receive that carries us forward on this journey through time-space realities/illusions.
*And while it's happening in many places, Colorado is the most local context that I am aware of (but I also don't get out/travel much, so my perspective is inherently limited).
My article - What is the Conscious Community: https://open.substack.com/pub/mindfulalice/p/the-conscious-community?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=35a0di
Love this! I wrote an article here about the Conscious Community, which is very similar to what you are saying! I also take a lot of inspiration from the idea of a network state.