Hello all, I am new here and wanted to introduce myself and hear y’all’s opinion on something’s I’ve been working on.

I am a multidisciplinary designer with a concentration in architecture and environmental design. Lately I’ve been researching and exploring novel approaches to organized efforts, infrastructure development, and strategic implementation. The above image is mostly an unrelated snapshot example of my past work and design approach. It utilizes 80% up-cycled transportation repair materials such as scrap road-plate steel, treated lumber, common masonry, common schedule steel pipes, and polyethylene tubing to create an expanded public transit stop which uses solar heat gain to de-ice the surrounding ground during colder months.

Currently my focus has been on complex business model design. While I can’t share much of the details yet, I will say that it interlocks with more than a dozen symbiotic business models and social governance solutions into an approximate one square mile area through 400 pages of documentation; and can serve up to 1,000 people with a minimum of 100-120 people’s maintained efforts.

Everyone here would be doing me a huge favor towards such ends by providing short feedback to a brief set of questions related to the broad-stoke lived experience of what belonging to such an effort may be like.

Questions:

  1. How willing are you and how willing do you believe millennials and gen-z are to relocate their life some number of hours away to participate in a funded solar punk initiative?

  2. How willing are you and how willing do you believe millennials and gen-z are to share a 800 square foot all seasons yurt with one other person for 5-6 years?

  3. How willing are you and how willing do you believe millennials and gen-z are to participate in a flexible productivity schedule which typically requires 8-24 hours of blue collar work, 8-24 hours of white collar work, 8-24 hours of learning/teaching, and 8-24 hours of leisure weekly?

  4. If satisfactorily completing question 2 and maintaining question 3 legally assures lifetime private residency in a 2,000 square foot passive house with no rent or mortgage, utility or repair expenses, and gives rights of first refusal to ones children; would you still be interested if it means you do not own the house on paper?

  5. If your only income is from a cooperative owner-operated business model which straddles a couple of symbiotic businesses and professional expertise how satisfactory would this be to you?

  6. How willing are you and how willing do you believe millennials and gen-z are to work towards perpetually improved labor automation by sweating approximately 8-24 hours a week for as long as it takes?

  7. How might your answers change if the above things together resulted in a housing addition from 2,000 square feet to as much as 4,000 square feet after 10-12 years?

  8. How might your answers change if you are assured direct democracy over virtually all collective efforts supported by subject experts advocacy?

  9. What is your first reaction to the idea that the only way for someone to be removed from their residence and the community is through reaching a 85% community-wide vote?

  10. How might your answers change if the above allows for relocating to another networked community with a largely similar framework and governance as may be necessary and or available?

  • moonlight@fedia.io
    0·
    9 days ago

    I think many of these questions are too vague to be answered productively, but I’ll try. I’ll just answer for myself, as I think there will be plenty of people who agree with me, and it seems kinda irrelevant what the average person thinks as long as enough people are into it. Also, your brief set of questions isn’t very brief, and I think you’d get more answers if it was more focused and pared down.

    1. Very willing if it looks well thought out, has some assurance that it will stay around, and provides a good quality of life. Otherwise, no.

    2. Is this just a random person? That’s a reeallly hard sell. A friend, or better a partner? Yes, assuming it’s nicely furnished, and is in a nice surrounding area, and has supporting infrastructure.

    3. 8-24 hours is such a big range that I couldn’t possibly answer, but I’m guessing it adds up to 40 hours. but I’m not sure how leisure factors in here, is this . I think a flexible 40 hour work schedule that factors in learning and unstructured productivity would be very appealing.

    4. Definitely, and think it does change my answer for question 2, but only if there is a strong assurance that this community will exist indefinitely, or in the event that the community dissolves, that the house would then go to me.

    5. Without hearing details I can’t really give an answer, but maybe? Also would I not be allowed to generate income from external sources? That sounds a bit controlling, but I’m not categorically opposed to it. I also think it would be good to capitalize on individual skills when possible, not just a few set businesses.

    6. Again, 8-24 hours is a huge range, but generally yes, although I would want vacations, and exceptions for disability, sickness and old age.

    7. No change, I don’t really need a big house, anyway the yurt would be the limiting factor. I think that making common spaces might be a better use of resources.

    8. Direct democracy is pretty much a requirement for this sort of thing, but it would also need a ‘constitution’ that is guarantees the basic premise is maintained and nobody gets screwed over.

    9. I think this is going to be the hardest part to get right. , but I think there would need to be some criteria for this, otherwise it would be abused.

    10. I think this could be a real positive if done well. If there are multiple sites, I would also consider making short term stays possible. I don’t think this really changes any of my answers though.

    Anyway from what you’ve hinted at, this seems like a pretty compelling idea for a commune. I would look into existing communes like Twin Oaks as examples of what works. I do think the Solarpunk/automation angle could make this really unique, though, and it could result in a really high quality of life.

    I know this is probably for a school project or something, but if it’s actually something you’re thinking about for real, I have a lot of ideas, and I would be very interested in discussing it more (and maybe joining!).