If the goal is infrastructure for a holistic "school" nested within a resilient community, and the GVCS is a means of providing that, how does the GVCS stack up to an ad-hoc, pieced-together version of the same elements?
How much more useful would it be?
Strengths & Disadvantages?
How much more or less would it cost?
How much easier would it be to integrate the various pieces?
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
"Needs" in the 21st century
Maslow's heirarchy of needs:
The physiological basics are more easily met now than ever. The "safety" needs, however, and perhaps the "love/belongoing" needs, are more complicated. What does it take to feel secure in one's livelihood? In one's relative sense of security in the world? Secure in one's health and resources?
Well, the resources "necessary" to be a participant in the modern world have expanded in some ways and contracted in others. Clearly most people do not need to have the land, tools, and knowledge to grow their own food, but they do need access to the internet, electricity, health insurance, a cell phone. Of course, relying on others to grow your food to the extent that you forfeit all ability to do so is predicated on a so far reliable but rather dangerous assumption.
My question is mostly to do with what resources we would need to equip the 21st century person with in order for them to feel fundamentally secure and connected.
- food
- water
- shelter
- fuel/energy
- sanitation (bathing, "waste")
- clothing
- transportation
- computer
- internet & wifi
- cell phone & cellular service
- health care
- disposable income for travel
Now, what would it take to be able to produce all this on a village scale? Add to the above: tools to make and repair everything needed. That's fundamentally the project of the Global Village Construction Set.
The GVCS doesn't tackle health needs. Would a community train its own doctors and nurses? What about specialized medical technology? These could be purchased by regional cooperatives, but these costs are, of course, some of the highest costs of modern life. Without a disposable income, how can an individual or family afford to utilize specialized medical technology even in a regional center?
Similarly, internet and cellular technology relies on networks, and someone has to lay the fiberoptic cable or put up the transponders. What sort of organizational form would arise to manage this? And what about roads, bridges, and other infrastructure? Local is good, but local to the extent that mobility is drastically reduced is a recipe for provincialism.
The physiological basics are more easily met now than ever. The "safety" needs, however, and perhaps the "love/belongoing" needs, are more complicated. What does it take to feel secure in one's livelihood? In one's relative sense of security in the world? Secure in one's health and resources?
Well, the resources "necessary" to be a participant in the modern world have expanded in some ways and contracted in others. Clearly most people do not need to have the land, tools, and knowledge to grow their own food, but they do need access to the internet, electricity, health insurance, a cell phone. Of course, relying on others to grow your food to the extent that you forfeit all ability to do so is predicated on a so far reliable but rather dangerous assumption.
My question is mostly to do with what resources we would need to equip the 21st century person with in order for them to feel fundamentally secure and connected.
- food
- water
- shelter
- fuel/energy
- sanitation (bathing, "waste")
- clothing
- transportation
- computer
- internet & wifi
- cell phone & cellular service
- health care
- disposable income for travel
Now, what would it take to be able to produce all this on a village scale? Add to the above: tools to make and repair everything needed. That's fundamentally the project of the Global Village Construction Set.
The GVCS doesn't tackle health needs. Would a community train its own doctors and nurses? What about specialized medical technology? These could be purchased by regional cooperatives, but these costs are, of course, some of the highest costs of modern life. Without a disposable income, how can an individual or family afford to utilize specialized medical technology even in a regional center?
Similarly, internet and cellular technology relies on networks, and someone has to lay the fiberoptic cable or put up the transponders. What sort of organizational form would arise to manage this? And what about roads, bridges, and other infrastructure? Local is good, but local to the extent that mobility is drastically reduced is a recipe for provincialism.
Monday, October 31, 2011
back to "the field"
I want to finish the field.
3 months to write a 120 page novella.
With this length I will not be able write about every part of it I wanted to write about. I will have to focus on one of the following:
(1) The 2 weeks that I took copious notes
(2) A fictional novella following seven weeks from mid-fall to winter
3 months to write a 120 page novella.
With this length I will not be able write about every part of it I wanted to write about. I will have to focus on one of the following:
(1) The 2 weeks that I took copious notes
(2) A fictional novella following seven weeks from mid-fall to winter
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Example of cooperative farm enterprise
From Rodale Institute Classifieds:
Organic Farm in Oregon
Submitted by Robert Styler (not verified) on Wed, 10/26/2011 - 17:03.
Not sure if this would interest you:
23 acre organic farm just north of Medford, Oregon (also close to Ashland, Or). Three wells (one pumps 100 gallons/min). Two streams that run 8 months out of the year. Mostly flat – irrigation throughout. 20,000 SF of greenhouses. 7,000 SF stone ranch house. The house can easily be divided into three separate living areas, each with their own kitchen and bathroom. There is also a HUGE commercial kitchen to process food in another building. There is also 40,000 SF below roof for shipping, offices, etc. We have a climate similar to Napa, CA…not much rain…we get about two or three snows a year that stick around for a few days.
I am looking for 3 couples or families who each want to pay $2,500/mo to earn equity in the farm. I have a deal where we can pay off the whole mortgage in about 10 years (even faster with the farm producing income…or the income can offset the monthly payments). The families would own the majority of the farm once the loan is paid off. The investor I would own the rest. The farm is worth much more than the mortgage and with a small, committed group working together, we can create a great deal for everyone. It is just too much for me and I want to find the right people who would cherish this opportunity to build equity, live on an organic farm, and create something special together. I am open to other arrangements than the one explained above, as long as it is fair to everyone involved.
[I am looking for 3 couples or families who each want to pay $2,500/mo to earn equity in the farm. I have a deal where we can pay off the whole mortgage of $670K in about 10 years. The families would own about 60% of the farm once the loan is paid off. The investor would own about 25%, and I would be left with 15%. The farm is worth much more than the mortgage and with a small, committed group working together, we can create a great deal for everyone. It is just too much for me and I want to find the right people who would cherish this opportunity to build equity, live on an organic farm, and create something special together.]
If you have farming, construction, or general handy skills...all the better. This farm is magical...and an amazing opportunity for the right people. Each family will need to buy in with a minimum of $30,000 each, which will go into a farm account to make sure we have plenty of reserves.
Please only reply if you are solid, responsible, and have the financial resources to be a partner.
My focus right now is CREWfund.org, a nonprofit that I launched to fund the green economy…and I would enjoy living with and working with positive people who have an inspired vision for a future were we all can thrive. 541 232 1020
Robert
Organic Farm in Oregon
Submitted by Robert Styler (not verified) on Wed, 10/26/2011 - 17:03.
Not sure if this would interest you:
23 acre organic farm just north of Medford, Oregon (also close to Ashland, Or). Three wells (one pumps 100 gallons/min). Two streams that run 8 months out of the year. Mostly flat – irrigation throughout. 20,000 SF of greenhouses. 7,000 SF stone ranch house. The house can easily be divided into three separate living areas, each with their own kitchen and bathroom. There is also a HUGE commercial kitchen to process food in another building. There is also 40,000 SF below roof for shipping, offices, etc. We have a climate similar to Napa, CA…not much rain…we get about two or three snows a year that stick around for a few days.
I am looking for 3 couples or families who each want to pay $2,500/mo to earn equity in the farm. I have a deal where we can pay off the whole mortgage in about 10 years (even faster with the farm producing income…or the income can offset the monthly payments). The families would own the majority of the farm once the loan is paid off. The investor I would own the rest. The farm is worth much more than the mortgage and with a small, committed group working together, we can create a great deal for everyone. It is just too much for me and I want to find the right people who would cherish this opportunity to build equity, live on an organic farm, and create something special together. I am open to other arrangements than the one explained above, as long as it is fair to everyone involved.
[I am looking for 3 couples or families who each want to pay $2,500/mo to earn equity in the farm. I have a deal where we can pay off the whole mortgage of $670K in about 10 years. The families would own about 60% of the farm once the loan is paid off. The investor would own about 25%, and I would be left with 15%. The farm is worth much more than the mortgage and with a small, committed group working together, we can create a great deal for everyone. It is just too much for me and I want to find the right people who would cherish this opportunity to build equity, live on an organic farm, and create something special together.]
If you have farming, construction, or general handy skills...all the better. This farm is magical...and an amazing opportunity for the right people. Each family will need to buy in with a minimum of $30,000 each, which will go into a farm account to make sure we have plenty of reserves.
Please only reply if you are solid, responsible, and have the financial resources to be a partner.
My focus right now is CREWfund.org, a nonprofit that I launched to fund the green economy…and I would enjoy living with and working with positive people who have an inspired vision for a future were we all can thrive. 541 232 1020
Robert
In Search of An Education
Timeline
10 years
Objective 1
Gain a solid foundation in all the skills necessary to be reasonably self-sufficient in the 21st century
Objective 2
Gain a specialized skill set that provides for a secure, disposable income
Objective 3
Prove that both have been adequately gained by demonstrating success
Objective 4
Do it all while starting a family
Objective 5
Document the whole process transparently, as a contribution to the study of learning and livelihood in the 21st century
"Jack of all trades, master of one."
10 years
Objective 1
Gain a solid foundation in all the skills necessary to be reasonably self-sufficient in the 21st century
Objective 2
Gain a specialized skill set that provides for a secure, disposable income
Objective 3
Prove that both have been adequately gained by demonstrating success
Objective 4
Do it all while starting a family
Objective 5
Document the whole process transparently, as a contribution to the study of learning and livelihood in the 21st century
"Jack of all trades, master of one."
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Don't stop till you start to get a lot of overlap
Another very useful concept. When researching or learning something new, keep going till you start encountering the same things over and over. At the point, you'll know you've covered the field, and you can begin to orient within it.
The weather
Another useful way of thinking about things. What's weather and what's not? What is beyond our control and what is not? How do we decide? The risk is in expending ourselves against something insurmountable, on the one end, and expending ourselves unnecessarily against something surmountable, on the other.
"People are happiest and healthiest when there is an optimal fit between self and environment, and this fit can be substantially improved by altering the self to fit the world" (Rothbaum, Weisz, & Snyder, 1982).
Fit self to world or world to self?
"People are happiest and healthiest when there is an optimal fit between self and environment, and this fit can be substantially improved by altering the self to fit the world" (Rothbaum, Weisz, & Snyder, 1982).
Fit self to world or world to self?
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