All the commune ideas-- list here

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I'm not sure if I can be in a commune. I might not feel very comfortable socially. Even here, I am ignored and I'll probably be ignored right now.

Yurts! Permiculture! Militias!

Land Ownership

1. Land ownership is to be considered separate from living shares.
2. Every $50,000 invested in land is to be considered one land share.
3. Every land share entitles the owner to one living share.
4. Actual land shares may be sold, inherited, or otherwise transferred in a normal fashion.
5. Land shares do not entitle the owner to evict the co-op or any portion thereof; it is simply a means of maintaining capital value for the individual.

Living Shares

1. The unit of exchange is to be the hour.
2. One hour is equal to 1/40 of the living wage for Provo, Utah.
3. Living wage is to be defined as the sum of

1. ¼ if monthly rent and utilities for a three bedroom, one bath house comparable to the one at 727 N 1000 E, to be determined at the low end of market value

2. $42 per person per week in 2007 dollars, to be inflation adjusted as necessary, in food allowance
3. The average weekly amount paid to purchase Health Savings Account compatible health insurance for a family of two adults and four children, assuming no pre-existing medical conditions and an annual deductible no greater than $1,000.
4. A transportation allowance equal to ¼ of two adult monthly bus passes and four child monthly bus passes for the UTA bus system.

4. A living share may be purchased with dollars, labor, or an equivalent combination thereof. For share purchase only, the dollar value of an hour is to be doubled.
5. A living share is valued at 400 hours per adult, 200 per child.
6. A single person who does not own a land share may only purchase one living share.
7. A living share may not be cashed out for one full year after the completion of purchase.
8. When purchased by labor, a family unit may have 10 weeks per person to complete the share purchases.
9. A child's share automatically upgrades to adult status at the age of 16; this is without any additional capital investment required.
10. A family must purchase living shares for every member; purchase is not considered complete until all members have the appropriate living share.
11. In the event of pregnancy, the family involved is expected to purchase an additional child share during the course of the pregnancy. In the event of miscarriage, this child share may be held as credit for future children or simply held as credit.

Living requirements

1. All family units of the co-op are required to provide 80 hours of labor or equivalent monetary contribution per week.
2. Any individual adult of the co-op not part of a family unit is required to provide 40 hours of labor or equivalent monetary contribution per week.
3. The continued weekly contribution of a family unit is to be provided by the designated adults only; children's labor does not count as contribution to the weekly requirement, but goes to their individual accounts.
4. Family units with more than three adults are required to contribute an additional 30 hours per week per additional adult.

Living provisions

1. Upon initial buy-in, an individual shall be provided with one complete yurt.
2. Upon initial buy-in, a family shall be provided with one complete yurt and one partial yurt for every three children, with number of partial yurts always to be rounded up.
3. A complete yurt includes stove and chemical toilet; a partial yurt may include stove or may have a stove added at during the next fall season if necessary.
4. Every member of the co-op shall be provided with food, clothing, and a functional bicycle; also, the opportunity to use a motor vehicle at least once a week for religious activity and at least once a week in a separate trip for economic activity.
5. Clothing shall consist of maintenance of sufficient wardrobe for each individual to do laundry only once a week.
6. Health care shall be provided to the extent financially possible; WHETHER THE CO-OP SHALL SELF INSURE IS TO BE DETERMINED; PURCHASE OF A GROUP POLICY IS ALSO AN AVAILABLE OPTION.

Creditable activities

Activities which shall be credited as contributions include, but are not limited to:

Childcare by a single person or for children belonging to a family other than the relevant care provider's;

Building construction;

Road or other infrastructure construction, including windmill or solar power supply construction

Attendance at a college, community college or trade school shall be credited provisional upon the attendee not cashing out for at least one year following graduation; attendance shall be credited in the amount of one study hour per lecture or discussion hour, in addition to actual lecture or discussion hour time.

Logistical support in the form of maintaining inventory, sewing, woodworking, or otherwise crafting necessary goods, purchasing necessary communal supplies including travel time, doing necessary research for communal purchases, and so forth.

Miscellaneous

1. For the purpose of ecological soundness, no more than half of the land shall be developed.
2. Should the co-op be lacking in funds, receipt of funds for the purpose of cashing out shall be ranked last in priority; funds to be withdrawn are to be ranked in order of the common good. In the event of the departure of a member without the appropriate funds, a payment plan may be required.
3. Until such time as the full share purchase has been met by a newly joining family unit, care of their own children shall not count as a credit, regardless of number of adults participating; however, neither are they required to contribute except to purchase of shares.
4. Living shares cannot be permanently transferred between persons, only loaned. Indefinite loans are permissible.
5. A ¾ majority of adult shareholders must agree inadequate work is being accomplished for there to be a debiting of any family or individual account due to lack of contribution.
6. If the debt of an individual or family account should equal or exceed the value of their living shares, a unanimous vote of all adult shareholders not being voted upon shall be required in order to require their departure.
7. While undergoing share purchase, a minimum weekly progress of 30 hours is expected.
8. Partial purchase of shares for any reason other than a child share for an unborn child shall be considered to have no monetary value whatsoever.
9. Unless it is otherwise determined, one hour of child labor shall be valued at one-half hour.
10. For any task, the child in question may request that their labor be valued as equivalent to that of an adult; in the event of this request, the relevant adults may determine the fairness of this re-evaluation and credit may be altered accordingly.
11. A “Family” shall consist of at least two adults, and any relevant children; no-one with children and without a second designated adult may join the co-op. However, a single parent is permitted to ask an existing co-op member to act as the second designated adult; they are also permitted to bring any second adult with a pre-existing relationship of some kind to the children in as the second designated adult. For example, a single mother and her sister or brother could act as the designated adults for a family.

Well, the problem with the US or any other large nation for that matter - is there's no low-level structure that the people can actually interact with, and thus they're disconected from the government at the top. I would organize things as a proper revolution is organized, in a cellular tree, as this can react quickly and specifically to solve local problems in an efficient manner and gives the individual a much greater importance; he/she can interact directly with the cell leadership, and an individual's or cell's influence can reach all the way to the top in ways a traditionally structured democracy is incapable of providing. Additionally, the influence of demagogues and mass propaganda would be greatly curtailed, since it would be more difficult for a nebulous majority to force its will on minorities. Finally, it creates situution where the individuals will actually meet and interact with each other and come to decisions in a group format, thus every voice will have a chance to be heard.



Back on topic - is this commune project still running? Things are looking like I may be able to get on board sooner than I'd thought.