 
Date: Sun, 19 Apr 92 01:24:36 -0400
From: grigsby@occs.cs.oberlin.edu (Spiral Death Trap)
Message-Id: <9204190524.AA05936@occs.cs.oberlin.edu>
To: +dist+/afs/andrew/usr10/js9b/Public/camc.dl@andrew.cmu.edu
Subject: Just a random response


to "Just a random point" --

I would be willing to do whatever is necessary to start such a tribe, 
provided I am not helping to create another of the structures I have
been trying to get away from these past years.  We must heed Nietszche's
warning (paraphrased): "When fighting monsters, one must be careful not
to become a monster.  And gaze not overlong into the abyss, lest the 
abyss gaze into thee."  I don't mind tossing darts at the System/Abyss, 
but the noisier we are about being revolutionary the more likely we are to
get squashed like bugs.  The squeaky wheel gets the grease -- or, more 
likely, gets discarded, replaced, and melted down into slag.

More concisely:  BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY.  We may have to start small -- I
know that the target size is fairly large ( > 100) so that all the major
specialties needed for autonomy are covered, but building for that many is
insane when the seed group is likely to be rather small.  Once we get our
basic greenhouses, hydroponics, wind/solar power, and living space beyond 
absolute basics going, we will have more than a promise to offer and should
be able to recruit from the ranks of people we know or encounter.  We may
want to have an urban branch/sister communal business (type depending on
skills of the seed group) to provide some cash inflow -- I recall that Twin
Oaks had rotating "urban shitwork" spots, but with our skills we should be
able to do better than work for temp agencies.

Assuming a US location, I recommend the Midwest, where many small towns are
becoming deserted due to family farms selling out and having no buyers.  
There are some surprisingly cool cities to base near -- don't joke about
Omaha, NE until you've been there -- and we could probably end up with 
actually beautiful surroundings if we look in the right places.  I personally
need some woods and a body of water to feel truly connected.  Brachiation
is underrated. 

BTW:  Did my last (and first) message ring any bells or push any buttons?
I was trying to be controversial and deliberately take the extreme social
position, which I happen to espouse, and if no one bothers to disagree I'll
just have to assume everyone here is a bunch of sexually perverted drug-
suckin' black magician nudist techie freak eco-anarchists and go from there.
Like I said before, it's the social prospects that worry me:  I have no 
doubt that we are technically capable, and the money game takes time to 
play, but I am worried that people will hit a Weirdness Threshold sometime
after we get going and shut off: "I can't deal with you  or
your ."  I am willing to do the work, and I speak as
a veteran of several cooperatives: are we as willing to redefine our social
interaction with each other as we are with society in general?  Small 
example:  I live in a co-op with gang showers (i.e. big room w/a bunch of
nozzles and no dividers.)  They are co-ed, and a subject of much discussion
among the rest of campus.  To accomodate the squeamish, signs outside 
basically state Men only/Women only/Everybody/Nobody else.  There are a
couple of people who, even after seven months here, still can't shower with 
anyone else.  This was their Weirdness Threshold.  Where is yours?

To deal with this, I suggest this algorithm:  Everyone has some space that 
is theirs onl
(oops)
is theirs and theirs only.  In the long term (barring expansion and other
temporary setups) this should be at least one room or other enclosed space.
In common space and outside, anything goes -- but we all need, if only 
occasionally, a place to retreat into that no one else fucks with.  Good
building design can make this tons o' fun, especially when you can design 
and help build your own.

I guess it boils down to the fact that I'm a hardcore neophile, and it is
my firm (yet tender and juicy) belief that any such experiment must 
consist entirely of such hardcore neophiles.  Put this way: there are any
number of co-opted "alternative" lifestyles within the accepted capitalist
mainstream for the neophobic, and I do not wish to waste time in any of
these already-explored territories.  I close with a quote from 
Henry Rollins:

"To try and walk through walls...brilliant people sit very still with
 contented smiles on their faces, their end calculated down to their
 last breathing moment.  They know damn well that you can't walk 
 through walls.  That's brilliant.  This brilliant guy once asked me
 "How did you get all those bumps on your head?"  "From trying to walk
 through a wall, you idiot!" I replied."

// g

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