Articles on this website attempt to explain why it’s now so hard to live a healthy and happy life in the modern world and particularly why the current working, living, social and political environment has so many pitfalls that even an independent, resilient person can easily fall into the well-laid traps that eventually lead to physical and mental hardship.
One part of this website proposes a new manifesto for governments that might turn around the deteriorating situation, but as every demonstrator and commentator knows, modern market-economy governments only listen to big businesses and have cloth ears to their people. What’s more worrying is that and many voters seem to be mesmerised by their methods and propaganda. So, whilst campaigning for change is worth a try, expecting change may in the end be fruitless.
“Modern market-economy governments only listen to big businesses and have cloth ears to normal people.”
So far, all that’s been left for people wanting a better life than that offered by the current system is to leave their country and find somewhere better. And yet, all countries in the world now seem to be following the same global formula.
So what can you do?
An autonomous, self-sufficient community may be the answer.
Such an idea may throw up images of outlying, hippy communities with poor housing and little connection with the outside world, but that no longer needs to be the case. We now have the technology and skills to build a modern community of everyday people, that sits within the rest of the social network, but without all of its obvious pitfalls.
Advancements in sustainable home building now make it possible to build new personalised homes at relatively low cost, homes that use less energy and ones that are more easily maintained.
House building has become an industry dominated by big businesses who often supply poor quality housing at relatively high costs, but technologically advanced eco-houses can now be built without big business and at comparable or lower cost.
Technology now also allows an autonomous community to be self-sufficient in sustainable power, not reliant on the grid or large power providers. If sited well, water and sewage treatment can also be handled in a self-sufficient and sustainable way without introducing the chemicals and inefficiencies typical of municipal water supplies.
Improved farming methods and wider experience with sustainable, regenerative farms makes it possible for a community to have its own farm and be self-sufficient in most foods. Small local artisans also now have the skills and equipment to turn basic food supplies into many of the familiar products people now enjoy, but of better quality than those you typically find in supermarkets.
Such a community could also have its own school and life-long learning centre, designed to allow children and adults to acquire skills necessary and valuable to the community (and of course the wider world), a place where skills needed by the community could be prioritised such that every member of the community has the opportunity to establish useful skills that are appreciated by people who they have a face-to-face relationship with, giving everyone a true sense of purpose and contribution.
A central area of the community could have collection facilities for distributing locally farmed foods and artisan food products, have a sharing centre for tools and equipment that people don’t use every day, a free-cycle centre where people can leave unneeded items for use by others and a hack shop with tools and skills needed to repair most equipment.
A central arts, music, sports and entertainment hub could be used for recreation, socialising and creative projects.
A new community can also be built with generous space for each premises and no need for internal roads, with all vehicles parked on the periphery, but with retained access for supplies that need to be brought to the door. Such a layout would allow for a more natural and safer environment.
With most people either working from home or supplying the local community, children being schooled within safe, walking distance and with residents getting most of their food and supplies from within the community, there would be much less need to spend time driving with all the savings and low carbon footprint that would bring.
When vehicles are needed, shared-electric cars and vans could be booked by residents using an internal booking system and recharged where they are parked. Residents with their own vehicles could also park in peripheral and safe community garages with petrol/diesel available at wholesale costs for as this type of fuel is still needed.
And a new autonomous community would have little or no need for surveillance or policing and decisions about the community could be made in an egalitarian way, with everyone’s voice heard and considered.
Such a community would have an environment where people weren’t always in a rush, ate better food, moved around on foot more, was more sociable and less isolated, all of the things that lead to a more happy and healthy life. It would also offer the chance for everyone to be useful to each other with all of the sense of purpose and fulfilment that this comes with.
What’s more, such a community would have little need for local council services and could negotiate lower band rates and would have the ability to decide on its own social values such that the edicts of big government would be less pervasive.
Technologically, the community could have superfast, communal access to the internet, but use its own community-wide IT security system to keep out cyber-criminals. It could also have its own intranet to keep everyone informed of local activities and give help and advice on any information and services people need.
Having more to do within the community, people would be less reliant on television for entertainment and with less connection to the problems facing the rest of conventional society, would be less transfixed and affected by the national news.
Such a project may sound fanciful and indeed it is still just an idea in its infancy, but if a benevolent landowner can be found in an accessible part of the country and the local council can be persuaded that allowing planning permission for a sustainable community of say 200 houses for 500-600 people was in its housing interests, then the project could quickly become very real. It would then just need to attract a suitable farmer and a range of people with the skills needed to keep all the services internal and therefore the economy local and a group project where everyone contributes and everyone benefits could easily be born.
Such a community should draw people from all walks of life and have enough families and children to make it socially inclusive and not peroquial. It would be self-sufficient but not cut off from the rest of the world.
If you are interested in being a founder member of such a community and have skills or other benefits to offer, then contact us at…..
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