Canadian Commune that makes sense

Everyone here seems to agree that they'd like to live within a commune..Though a successful one seems to elude us...and those that succeed are short lived... To truly succeed, my thought is that a communal common theme or prime directive is lacking... or at least a good one is. We all seek to be communal mainly because our present situation is unfulfilling and empty in some personal way, though what hasnt been discussed as far as I can tell is the importance of taking "Human Nature" into consideration when planning a new commune. My opinion is that above all good intentions and purist goals there will ultimately be only 1 truth .. and that is .. the one thing that can always be counted on is HUMAN NATURE. So this being said why not accept this and cater to this truth?
example: Commune Directives
1. to prosper and grow the commune in all ways that are good.
2. to promote sustainability socially and environmentally
3. to embark on endless journey to learn to think freely and to discover ways to spread "free thinking" to non commune members ( the public)
4. instead of shunning all that is outside from our commune, rather to use what is good (eg:free market, democracy) while adding/replacing the bad/destructive(eg: corruption, elitism) elements with logical or yet to be discovered alternatives. (eg: providing true value to communities outside our group in exchange for $$/services/goods/...)
5. to understand our Human Nature (pride, hate, love, jealousy, etc..)so to discover ways to be truly content and fulfilled.
6. to provide an example to outsiders of a way of life that better provides for all Humans... without extremism an example desirable for all.. all except the elitists that surely would despise losing control over the population...
A true commune is a powerful entity, more so as it grows in size and wealth (financially, and influentially). Potentially, it may change the world!!

before I continue... am I alone in this idea? your thoughts please...

 

My thoughts on communes are pretty clear. I've been into it for sometimes and it might not be the case for every places but I think it's a major issue I had to deal with...

THE LOVE FOR WORK

I've always found myself working my ass out all week long while the rest would work 4 days a week. Call'em names and you loose'em. The fuck is you still need people to do the job, so you deal with what you have you know what I mean. It's always the same people the do the work, the cooking, clean the places, repair stuff. ya know what I mean.

I'm all about self-subsistance - not slavery, is that clear over there. Don't take it personal but I think most hippies are lazy ass, and they are the people that show interests in communes --- Find the problems --- You have lots of work to do, and you have some potheads that want to talk about philosophies and how the grass is greener overhere. Fuck that.

About greener grass, people go there thinkin' this life would be so much better and easy. It's just different problems, it's NOT a stressless life. You find so much people going trough different hard times of their life and the commune isn't their answer, they will tell you that they commit to it for the rest of their life, and after 3 mounths you loose'em because they can'T handle it.

I've been trought a lot of places and situations and my point is clear, I am about self-subsistance, not communes. Work for YOUR people, your familly, not for some lazzy ass bibo. I'm currently working my ass out to save enought money to buy a piece of land in the mountains for me and my gf and hopefully have kids and maybe one other friend that could build his log cabin too. We built so much together, I can trust him on the duty work.

 

Thanks Barbuchon for the input.. its just the kind that I m hoping to receive on here... Your personal experience seems to fit my understanding of typical Human Behavior in that humans are in most cases are "lazy" and more so when tasked to work on things that do not interest them or when the task doesn t suit their talents. Present society deals with this by using monetary incentives, which serves to motivate the "lazy" to accomplish what is necessary. The money is then used to buy material things such as a house or a car.... this is then used to get Recognition. To be recognized for most is as important as money and most times is the reason humans want money at all.
In keeping with my original post, my thought is this. First and foremost, whenever possible tasks should always be assigned to those who possess skills and aptitude relating to the task... not only does this help the task to be done correctly it also provides a strong sense of usefulness to the one who is charged to it. When one feels useful it provides for a measure of pride. Pride being a big part of our Human Nature has often been dismissed as an undesirable characteristic, I believe that properly fostered it can be a great resource for personal growth. When there isnt a chance to do this and there is a need to task mundane jobs to those who are generally unsuited for them there is a strong need to offer suitable rewards and equally important, suitable recognition.
This said, the matter of "Suitable Rewards" becomes all important. What can be offered other than cash? It should be noted that possible rewards are tied directly to the financial prosperity of the commune as a whole... the bigger and richer the commune the better the possibilities and the opposite is true for a small poor commune. On the surface the desire for a large and rich commune seems at odds with commune values.. and it is to a point but consider that the commune exists within established and unavoidable requirements rules/laws. A commune is in effect a society within a society so in order to prosper certain allowances must be allowed to influence our idealism. This is why I think that as a commune the first objective should be to grow the commune in financially and in membership.. with success it would allow for ever increasing quality rewards. These rewards should not be CASH!! No reward should ever be in a form that allows for it to be horded so that to avoid the ability of anyone to rise in importance through the use of wealth alone. Rather, rewards should take the form of the true currency in life, which is "Influence". In short I believe "Influence" to be a honest representation of Human currency. As in many computer games influence (measured with a number), could be gained by working and earning it as a wage, the level of which determined by the value the work provides the commune (value to be voted for by all). Influence can be used for improving ones life much like money does but differs in that it cannot be used to acquire material things (mostly, could be used to acquire material things for a period of time to be released for others to acuire). As the definition says, influence also can be used to modify things to ones benefit and also to save your butt when needed. An example would be if one has already worked hard or through a high value task accumulated enough to avoid a task or after the fact pay it as a fine for being "Lazy".
Of course I am aware of the difficulty there is in creating a value chart for each unit of influence and the susceptibility for corruption in this area, surely it would take great care to create an open system that is able to evolve and adapt with time. Corruption can always be found in the area of leadership and can be avoided in this case if the rewards offered to the leadership are based on the "Value" provided. Such as, if you are the communal director or whatever title and part of your job is to make sure the commune stays on the budget... and through your actions you succeed to be 25% under budget while serving well the goals then your wage of influence should increase proportionally and the same true if the opposite. The incentive is rooted and tied to the task which when compared to what is around us today is a shift from leaders that purposefully exceed budgets in order to solicit larger budgets the following year which leads to the growth and importance of the position. Presently, incentives are paid not for value provided... salary is just to pay bills remember? The goal is to provide jobs to buddies and in return "Influence" is earned...
Surely Im dreaming and this is just yada yada.. sigh Im an idealist..

anymore thoughts?

 

yeah...if you are going to do it on rewards...it will not work...the motivation has to be self empowerment and growth.

when you gather a core group they are the spark plugs...and most often tend to leave when the rest show up and try to make it based on human nature instead of the bliss that being true to Self brings on
and to that end sacrifices become something that is the meat of the meal....and you eat what is in front of you.
my own hope is that after several growing of communities to be handed over to those that come after now that it's done...there may be a growing of the core group...so that you are together with those of like mind who Do....and you see most of us are rugged individualist and nomadic and so we could take turns holding down our own community while the rest traveled and grew and come back to share....kind of like breathing.


so you are an idealist....tell me do any other than idealists ever become so motivated by an idea that they finally stop just talking about it and ...Do it...omy god is this possible...yup it is...
Hay there have a great day....and yeah I do think you are trying to make the cart pull the horse.


but we all gotta learn and experience is the teacher


(O and I see you are new here so you may not know that I enjoy laughing, mostly at myself ,and most on this forum do not take me too seriously...after all I keep on ranting about the same thing)

Blessing along the Way

Namaste

 

i'd think a commune of human nature wouldn't even know it is a commune . what in the language of human nature is a commune ?

sharing , i suppose .

then what sort of identity would you share ? a living identity . it's this identity you can give to your children .

may it speak the One community voice of kindness . may it speak with clouds , and feathers , in deeply booming a gentle cry of existence .