Wow, this makes me feel like I’m getting in rhythm, especially given yesterdays’ events.
“Let’s continue to meet,
converse and establish
heart-to-heart bonds with
as many people as possible.
Our efforts to expand dialogue
is a struggle to spread trust and
friendship in society.”
- Daisaku Ikeda.
Similarly, I opened up the March-April Living Buddhism this morning and Sensei’s writing heard my soul’s cry!
Hello all, I apologize for my long absence from posting. The end of the semester was pretty busy for me, and then I was gone for a few weeks to visit my family. One of the things that I got to do before I left was to meet with some people who I have been discussing the possibility of some kind of land trust with. We still haven’t come to any conclusions about what form that might take, but we’re getting closer and coming to know each other better as we go along.
I have been considering the village from a broader perspective lately. Part of this is due to the Economic Geography class I had last semester. Another influence is my desire to study abroad, probably India, but perhaps Brazil. What I’m finding in my search for the right study abroad program is that my interests lie mostly in Sustainable Development and studies which connect Sustainability to surrounding cultures. Also, I have been considering my personal situation. I find that myself and many friends I know are uncomfortable with the options for developing what are often considered reliable or strong finances. This is because some of those options are based on the exploitation of other peoples and conformity to societal norms which discourage so much inspiration, self-fulfillment, and compassion. However, what happens is that a lot of these people, including me, find themselves at low level, low paying jobs, in little position to take the kind of action capable of shifting where things are going on the broad societal level. At first when I decided to focus on Anthropology and Geography and to continue to grad school, my primary consideration was to establish the knowledge and credentials to support the development of the village. But now my thoughts also include how to support myself, possibly earning more than I need to live to create savings towards the village. It now includes a stronger desire to be a vibrant force to contribute to the international intentional communities movement, and to the broader issues of Sustainable Development and the kind of work that Anthropology is capable of supporting.
Towards this, my goals for the next couple of years are looking something like this: Study Abroad in India (or perhaps Brazil), Graduate from Umass, and be accepted to SIT (School for International Training) for their one year’s Graduate program in Sustainable Development. I might also consider Goddard, which I think has a program in Sustainable Communities. After that, I’m not sure whether I’ll pursue more education or concentrate on finding a long term work position. I know that one of the things that has also occurred to me is getting my teaching certificate, and I am considering becoming a professor.
Watching the “Visions of Utopia” DVDs is an educational and inspiring experience for anyone interested in intentional community and sustainable social movements. One of the things that I found most eye opening was the incredible diversity of intentional community styles. While I knew from reading and study that intentional communities could be very diverse, it was quite a different experience to hear about the development of the communities, to witness some of the physical culture of the communities, and to hear the perspectives and experiences of a variety of community members. A special treat for me was the inclusion of Twin Oaks. I first encountered Twin Oaks while researching sustainable living and intentional communities at the Boston Public Library. I discovered Twin Oaks, a Walden Two Experiment, which is an accounting of the first five years of the Twin Oaks community. I was very inspired by the history and practices I found. Later, I was delighted to discover that the community still exists, now with a membership of 85 adults and 15 children. I have occasionally visited the Twin Oaks website. To see the place and some of its inhabitants in the “Visions of Utopia” documentary was very exciting. In watching the videos, I came to better appreciate the cohousing model. Still, I am most excited about the intentional communities which have a sustainability focus, particularly those which incorporate gardening and other sustainable, self-sufficiency supporting practices. I thought it was interesting that in some communities, founding members were initially primarily interested in the practicality of sharing material resources, but found that one of the most important resources were social, revolving around the deep emotional bonds that formed from sharing high proportions of activities and people’s lives. The multi-generational aspect of all the intentional communities portrayed is an important indicator that this kind of approach to living is something that does not just function for people in any one age group. I am glad that the documentary allowed space for children and young people to talk about their experiences growing up or living in these intentional communities. It demonstrated their appreciation for this lifestyle. All the children appeared healthy and happy, and those who were interviewed had glowing, healthy countenances, and spoke clearly and intelligently. They seemed to share an appreciation for access to many different adults and for the diversity that surrounded them. Parents valued the sense that children were safe in the community, even if they did not watch them every moment. Many people also commented on the value of sharing responsibility for raising children. Some communities do have a low proportions of youth, but they are generally aware of this and taking steps to enable the intentional community to pass to following generations.
As I mentioned before, Julie Graham started a Wiki for my Economic Geography class. I’ve just made a contribution to the section I’ll be studying for the rest of the semester. You can see it here: Diverse Economy activities of Intentional Communities in Massachusetts, Vermont, and New York.
Doing the research for that felt really productive. I love how absolutely relevant this class is. But it does make me wonder a bit about why I have such a hard time doing this kind of research and writing on my own. I do love it. I think maybe it has something to do with dreaming hard and feeling like there are possibilities but they’re so far away all the time. But not learning about them doesn’t bring them any closer. So I’m glad that this class is getting me moving.
I fantasize about living in space I have control over all the time. It’s something I’ll have to drop off and on as school keeps me on it’s schedule, but I’m going to start looking at architecture again. I am going to just listen to Goethe more: Whatever you can dream, begin it; for there is magic and power in it. It’s alright to have halting starts and half-finished things… they are all part of the building of dreams, of taking action. And action lets me get somewhere, let’s me see and others see that these are no mere pipe dreams or infantile wishes. A better world is possible. Some people are already making it better, and I am learning to be one of them.
I’ve been wanting to sit down and write a thorough blog post this week, but I’ve been a bit distracted with my personal struggles. Now I’m back on track and school and heroes like Jenny are feeding me all sorts of sources for things to write about. Most useful, unsurprisingly, is my Economic Geography class. Julie has collected all kinds of great resources for us to better understand the diverse economy. Additionally, she and Leo (our TA) have created a wiki for our class, so we’re basically creating a wiki on diverse economy for us all to work on and share with the world. You can see it here: http://geo360.pbworks.com/
Due to the video she had us watch by Hans Rosling, I’m now super-excited about TED.org
Whoops, worktime.
I had big realizations reading for Economic Geography last night and while listening to Julie talk in class today. Too drowsy to write about that in detail tonight, but plan to address it soon. Going to make my study topic “Intentional Communities and Alternative Currencies in Western Massachusetts/Vermont” and possibly New York.
What is Economy?
It seems strange to me that people are so constantly referring to “the economy” as being bad. Obviously the flow of money has become much tighter, especially in the past year… and people are worried about the future of their jobs and education, the country and the world. What strikes me as so odd is that saying “the economy’s bad” suggests that this is a temporary state. But I feel like we have had a bad economy for a long time… the entire premise of our economy is bad… the attitude we have towards land and resources, the lifestyle of consumption in the United States, the way people accept authoritarian definitions, the way we allow external entities to organize our labour, our access, and our individuality. That is not good economy to me. A good economy would have more respect for the earth, allow more people more opportunities, and be more globally responsible, for starters.
In the broadest sense, economy is the sum of human activity: it is how we get things done. Often economy is used as referring to trade, cash, capitalist economy, or even capitalist globalization. However, it also includes cottage industries, barter, gift economies, volunteer work and service, the work of clubs and religious groups, intentional communities, collectives, co-ops, and Community Supported Agriculture, and the, basic, ancient unit of family work. Excluding these aspects of economy restricts the understanding people have about what economy is and what control they have over it, including how to organize it.
I jotted this down last week for my first assignment in Economic Geography. We have to make a YouTube video about how we define economy. When it’s up on YouTube, I’ll make note of that here. In the meantime, here’s a script:
What is Economy? In the broadest sense, economy is the sum of human activity: it is how we get things done. Often economy is used as referring to trade, cash, capitalist economy, or even capitalist globalization. However, it also includes cottage industries, barter, gift economies, volunteer work and service, the work of clubs and religious groups, intentional communities, and that basic and ancient unit of family work.
Now let’s see how long it takes me to actually speak that and if I can keep myself from saying “um” and “and” too much.
I’m starting classes on Tuesday. This fall I’m taking Quantitative Methods in Geography, Portuguese I, Visual Anthropology, and Economic Geography. I’ve been wanting to take Economic Geography ever since I found about it and the professor, Julie Graham. Economic Geography studies how economic systems work and impact people in different geographic locations. It also examines capitalism, class, local and alternative economies. The language used to describe these things resonates with me strongly, and I believe it will help me describe my ideals as I work for sustainable and subsidiaristic community. I’m also very excited about taking Portuguese. So much is linked to Brazil and the Amazon, including indigenous rights, sustainability, and the divide between the economic “north” and “south”. For me, there are also religious links, since the Soka Gakkai International has been greatly strengthened by the response of the people of Brazil to Dr. Daisaku Ikeda, the President of the Soka Gakkai International. In fact, very recently, Dr. Ikeda was presented with a doctorate by Rohdonia University of Brazil in recognition of his scholastic and active contributions to world peace. I am also looking forward to expanding my understanding of Anthropology, as it has already begun to prove its relevance to my goals.
I’ve been reading Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma. I thought I knew a few things about food, and granted, I already had a good handle on a number of subjects. But the way Pollan strings it all together and makes many “invisible” processes relate to food aspects of our culture brings a number of vital issues and concerns to the forefront. I don’t want this to become a book review, but I highly recommend this book to anyone who is concerned about food, capitalism, or sustainability, among other things which I see as related, like the worry about surveillance I heard people discussing in the breakroom at work or classism.
One thing that concerns me about modern trends and efforts to integrate “sustainability” into a capitalist economy is that it tends to be primarily “available” to those who already have the greatest advantages in our society. In otherwords, sustainability as it is currently being interpreted in our society is only for those who can afford it. This contradicts every real meaning of the original definition of sustainability.
And now, back to working at “Big Organic”
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