Commuity - What does it take?

[Spuzzana]

Thanks Charles yet another good link to information.

Quote: Scythe13
List of 'required' skills for community to function.
Farming
Shelter Building
General Labour
Medical
Military/Militia
Clothing
Engineer (to come up with solutions to problems)
Education
Peace Keeping (think police, judge, etc)
Mechanic (if going higher tech)

Great this is more or less the list I had in mind of the skills that would be needed.

They can be broken down into the four areas:

Builders
Shelter Building
General Labour

Carers
Medical
Clothing

Workers
Farming
Engineer (to come up with solutions to problems)
Mechanic (if going higher tech)

Defenders
Peace Keeping (think police, judge, etc)
Military/Militia

Basic education (reading, writing, mathematics).
Yes I agree that basic education is good to have. However, reality is there are a growing number of people around the globe who do not have access to education or as in this country did not gain much in the way of educational skills. The larger portion live in communities and manage very, very well by using their innate capabilities. E.G. My brother in law is not able to read, write or do maths in any way that we would recognise as being educated. Give him a set of tools, spanners etc and your broken vehicle. Within a few hours he will have fixed it. His job is to drive machines in the building industry. Ask him to dig that trench, dig that hole to xyz specs and he will do it without any measuring equipment. How he does it, I do not have the faintest idea. How he is able to take an engine apart fix the problem and put it back together beats me.

Physical combat – We all need to think like women. Strike first then go into remorse if you have made a mistake other wise you will be the one that is dead. When it comes to martial arts, my sensei always hammered that into me.

Quote: bigpaul paraphrased
first of all you need people WILLING to be part of your community….you have to pick your community members with care and not just take ALL COMERS….or you have enough people for the resources you have already….can you afford to turn people away who then know where your community is located….how do you deal with theft from the community? or maybe even worse crimes?

All very good points BP and yes you can come and knit curtains and peel the vegies

Would just like to highlight....first of all you need people WILLING to be part of your community.

and change it slightly to read....first of all you need people WILLING to be part of a community.

It may not be a community that any of us wishes to put together. However, at some stage humans will reorganise into communities if they have not set out with that in mind to start with.


There is just one area that has not been mentioned. Exchange systems so that each person receives a fair share for their efforts.

So how does each person received their share for their labours for the good of the community?

My thoughts are along the lines of WIR alternative banking system that was adopted in Switzerland in 1934. It has come under heavy attack in terms of legislation in attempts to make it conform to international banking regulations and practices in recent years. What they are trying to do is turn WIR into another form of usury which is completely against the principles the currency was set up for.

Another alternative currency that was successful for a number of years was the Argentinian alternative currency when the country suffered severe internal problems. I believe this currency was called Petron.

Waiting for The End of Money and the Future of Civilization
Greco, Thomas H. to arrive as this subject is covered fully in the book.



So what next? What else does a community need to have in order to be cohesive and function?

My thoughts are along the lines of land and somewhere to grow sufficient food to last all year round with some surplus.

Preferably the food growing would be using alternative growing systems as put forward by Rick Austin with his "Secret Garden of Survival". YOU don't need any herbicides, pesticides or insecticides because nature does it for you. In any case after TEOTWAWKI you would not be able to obtain such chemicals, so you would be dependant on nature to provide.

Its very impressive at how small an area is needed to grow everything you need to feed the average family of 4.5 people. Half an acre for 4-5 people.

Regarding land - should this be owned by a single person? Preferably not. The better way forwards would be under a "Community Land Trust". That way everyone has a say in what happens and the running of the property. No one person can step up and be the leader and tell everyone else what to do because everyone is the leader.

Any comments on these ideas?

For information only. There is a sizeable area of woodland available 55.3 acres for £100,000 in Mid Wales. This has the potential of being a suitable place to hole up and develop a series of Secret Gardens of Survival that could support a reasonable community of 20-30 people.

It has several steams running onto the land which backs onto steep hillsides to the north. Principally the land has a south facing aspect. This is important in terms of natural daylight for a hidden food garden.

What thoughts if any on land?