For the overwhelming majority of human history, our ancestors cohabited in small clans of 40 to 50 individuals, living in perfect harmony with nature. But today, most of us live in cities with neighbors numbering in the tens of thousands, if not millions, all plundering the planet for food, energy and parking space.
Yet somewhere, in the backs of our primate brains, we still long for that sense of closeness and community, to be surrounded on a daily basis by familiar faces we know and trust. More and more people, especially young families, but also singles and the elderly, are expressing an interest in living in more communal, like-minded and tightly knit collectives.
Of course, it’s easy to romanticize the brutal lives of our ancestors, and the course of history is not something that can be switched into reverse. We can, however, take lessons and models from the past and incorporate them into our modern day existence. To do so, we must approach the situation with eyes wide open, with very clear goals and a genuine awareness of the risks involved.
Before you sign up for communal living, you need to think long and hard about what you want and expect from it. Here are some of the benefits that our family envisions.
Living in a community requires certain compromises as well. As a member of the group, you are expected to contribute and participate. You also have less autonomy than if you lived in a completely private home. It’s a give-and-take arrangement. So it’s necessary to understand the issues and find ways to minimize problems.
So who’s on board? I think everyone I talk to agrees that this is the way forward. Without turning away and rejecting the larger global community, we need to find ways to live more closely with others.
How can we cooperate with our neighbors on the other side of the earth if we can’t even work together with our neighbors next door? We need to mend the divisions and learn to coexist on a small scale, not only for the sake of our own mental health, but for the health and happiness of our children, our planet’s future.
Now what are we waiting for? It seems like everyone’s just waiting for someone else to step up and buy a 40-acre plot of land where the rest of us can come and park our tiny homes and set up our yurts.
But for the community to succeed, I think every member has to have some skin in the game, or own a piece of the pie. At the same time, individual ownership must be in something both tangible and fungible. In other words, it’s not enough to say that each family owns 12.5 percent of the compound. They need more than a dream and bushel of kale at the end of a rainbow.
People need security, they need privacy, and they need an exit strategy. Each family or household should own a discrete parcel, a distinct unit. And whether it’s a small plot of land, a detached home, or an apartment, the individual household should have the possibility to sell their clearly defined parcel and move on, without compromising the community.
If I had answers to all these questions, I would probably be living the dream by now. Instead I’m looking to you, the community, to help me out. With just a few more pieces, I think we can complete the puzzle. Of course, I don’t expect a one-size-fits all solution. Every community should have its own distinct character, depending on its members, their unifying philosophy, their geographic location, and so forth.
My best idea so far has been to get two or three families together, find an abandoned village or neighborhood, and just start moving in and fixing it up. Three founding families, for example, could purchase four neighboring houses, reserving the fourth house as a common property for community events and activities. They could start renovating, building gardens, playgrounds and art studios, and it wouldn’t take long for more like minded families to follow suit. If you build it, they will come, right?
That’s one idea, but I’m sure there are better ones. So share yours with us, because I can’t solve this on my own. It’s going to take a village.
FURTHER READING: To learn more about our ideas for community building, be sure to check out these other articles.