Re: Similar scenario for a Costa Rican intentional community

One aspect worth considering when asking "haves" to put up the dough  
for the "have nots" is that most new communities, like new businesses,  
don't last very long. There isn't much one can do about sweat equity  
investment if a community/business collapses (unless serious added  
value such as buildings are involved). On the other hand the landbase  
will most likely retain value. So for the purchasers, a legal mechanism  
that says "in case of failure the land ownership returns to the  
original investors", may overcome reluctance to invest. The down side  
here is that the investors may decide they want out & sabotage the  
project to recoup their input. Trust is at the bottom of most community  
sucesses and broken trust at the bottom of many community failures.

Another consideration is this: I have only $50 but have a nice guitar.  
You have $500 and several really good paintings. X has $5000 and some  
decent antiques. And so it goes. Auctions are an underutilized way of  
raising serious funds. Pool material & people resources (including  
willing friends & family), solicit additional goods from local antique  
& art dealers (if you can show them this is going to be big, they'll  
bite) on a 50-50 split of sale, find a really entertaining auctioneer,  
find a great location for storage & sale, and advertise absurdly well.  
20 people should be able to realize $100,000 after the auctioneer's 15%  
and expenses-a serious chunk of change!  Auctions take time to  
organize-pros may take 6 months or more to put one together. 20 people  
can make the exercise a real community bonding effort, spread the word  
of their ecovillage intentions & have a huge party.

Good Luck
David Cameron
EarthSea Shamanic Ecovillage

On Jan 5, 2006, at 10:42 AM, Proyecto Querencia wrote:

> Dear Bat-Tzion
>
> Thank you for asking your questions and to Lois who offered some  
> valuable
> recommendations.
>
> We too have a similar situation as you do, at least insofar as the  
> money
> disparity question. My wife and I (she's Costa Rican and I served in  
> the US
> Peace Corps in Costa Rica) will be starting an intentional community in
> Costa Rica (our concept paper is at www.jonkohl.com/querencia ) for  
> which we
> want a healthy mix of Costa Ricans, Americans, and others. Frankly, we
> realize Americans will have the cash that we need to purchase the  
> property
> while Costa Ricans will more likely be able to offer start up energy.  
> We
> haven't decided on a way to reconcile these different kinds of
> contributions. My gut says to ask the richer folks basically to  
> subsidize
> the less wealthy with the understanding that everyone will have to  
> make a
> significant contribution whether financially or sweat-wise.
>
> My studies thus far haven't found any equivalent models (and granted,  
> my
> studies aren't yet that extensive). All the co-housing projects I've  
> thus
> far solicit people with sufficient wealth to pay condominium prices  
> (which
> is quite here in Washington, DC) (we're moving to Costa Rica at the  
> end of
> February), Twin Oaks is a commune with all the property already owned,  
> and
> communities in Costa Rica almost exclusively begin with one rich donor  
> or
> land owner.
>
> Have other people reconciled the rich-less rich gap for founding  
> groups?
>
> Thank you,
>
> Jon Kohl
> Washington, D.C.
> http://www.jonkohl.com
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: [email protected]
> [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of BT Benjaminson
> Sent: Thursday, January 05, 2006 8:11 AM
> To: [email protected]
> Subject: Re: [Ecobal]step by step community formation
>
> Lois, thank you!
> I notice the ic web site is down at the moment but I'll check it  
> later. I
> think a group member has recently shipped me the book you  
> recommended--it
> sounds terrific.
> I'm a subscriber to Permaculture Activist already. My favorite recent  
> issue
> was "Learning from our Mistakes." We Jews have been mostly landless  
> for so
> many centuries that my experience has been to make a lot of mistakes  
> about
> land while getting back in touch with it.
> Anyway, I am intrigued by your comment about "structural conflict."  
> Does
> this relate to money, ownership rights, leadership, decisionmaking, or  
> all
> of the above?
> I see this coming up as I learn that one group member admits his  
> entire net
> worth is $49, while another one is salivating to go out and buy 15  
> acres for
>
> $250,000. How can we possibly reconcile the strong intentions of both  
> to
> make a harmonious community in a  way that is safe for everyone?  
> Should I
> ask the "rich" one to buy the land and put it in trust for the use of a
> community?  Also, how do the volunteers who get the group started on  
> their
> own time obtain compensation from the others who join later, or should  
> they
> even expect compensation?
> Lots of questions like that.
> Jewish law has a lot to say about resolving some kinds of conflicts,  
> mostly
> by vesting legal authority in a single wise and well learned religious
> leader whom everyone voluntary agrees to obey. However this legal  
> system
> does not necessarily resolve power conflicts related to money.
> Does the book you recommended offer various options for how to models  
> of the
>
> financial organization of ecovillages?
> Thanks so much in advance.
> Bat-Tzion
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Lois Arkin" <[email protected]>
> To: <[email protected]>
> Sent: Thursday, January 05, 2006 11:17 AM
> Subject: Re: [Ecobal]step by step community formation
>
>
>>
>> I believe the most important resource book is from:
>> Diana Leafe Christian:  "Creating a Life Together: Practical Tools to  
>> Grow
>
>> Ecovillages and Intentional Communities" available from <ic.org> or
>> <ena.ecovillage.org>.
>>
>> Of particular importance in starting up a community is to avoid  
>> building
>> in structural conflict.  Get it right at the front end, so the group  
>> does
>> not have to spend it's adolescence doing social retrofitting.  She
>> recommends six steps.  Does someone else out there have them handy to
>> share with BT?
>>
>> Also, available on the <ic.org> site is a subscription to "Communities
>> Magazine," the trade publication for the intentional communities and
>> ecovillage movement.  There are dozens of back issues available that  
>> are
>> as timely as when first published.  Also, check out the bookstore at  
>> the
>> <ic.org> site.
>>
>> "The Permaculture Activist" is a handy resource publication as well, a
>> quarterly that you can order on line at
>> <http://www.permacultureactivist.net/>.
>>
>> Much good luck.
>>
>> Lois
>> L.A. Eco-Village/CRSP Institute for Urban Ecovillages
>>
>> BT Benjaminson wrote:
>>
>>> Shalom from Israel
>>> I'm new to the list and new to the process of building a community.  
>>> I do
>>> have a permaculture design certificate and several years experience  
>>> in
>>> hands-on sustainable living in a rural setting.
>>> Some friends and I intend to establish an ecovillage here in the
>>> semi-arid south of our country.
>>> With the help of an experienced permaculturist active in the area, we
>>> have idenfied a likely location in one corner of an existing  
>>> agricultural
>
>>> co-op community ("moshav") and have collected a list of around 20  
>>> people
>>> who are interested enough to receive e-mails about the project. One
>>> potential leader has emerged.
>>> Some of us feel the urgent imperative of establishing a community  
>>> that
>>> can function in a wobbly energy decline situation, others are just  
>>> keen
>>> on connecting with the land or with a loving group of people.
>>> I have very little leadership experience and I sense the difficulty  
>>> of
>>> bringing people into a commitment if they have not already been  
>>> educated
>>> and motivated in community building. Needless to say, in this  
>>> country we
>>> have a great emotional struggle in the face of various political,
>>> religious, and security issues. It is difficult to create a "safe
>>> container" for people and to get them to commit time to a venture  
>>> that
>>> still seems very doubtful.
>>> Now, to the question -- where on the Internet can I find guidance for
>>> successfully building a strong community from scratch, or what one  
>>> book
>>> would be suitable in order to study this topic?
>>> So far no one has appeared that has the kind of money needed to  
>>> attend
>>> Findhorn or other ecovillage training programs, so this is the best  
>>> we
>>> can do in the meantime.
>>> Any suggestions?
>>> Thank you in advance.
>>> Bat-Tzion Benjaminson
>>>
>>>
>>>
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>>
>>
>>
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