A town-a vacant town, a disheveled frumpy little town, not a hip happening town (That's our role, to make it happening & beautiful). Maybe a town with a main street or a square full of boarded-up businesses (there's plenty such towns). Preferably, a town with a small college: in which case 'twould have a good library, and perhaps more educated, liberal folk (though we mustn't make the mistake of educated = cool, smart, etc.). A town that's big enough to have jobs available for newcomers-say, over 10,000-but a town that's small enough to make a difference in and really change the energy of-say, fewer than 35,000. A town yet undiscovered.
This town should be somewhere with forests and water (water conflicts will be a thing of the future, I'm afraid), somewhere fairly seasonable, somewhere without too many polluting factories or power plants. Somewhere where the cost of living is cheap; somewhere dying of neglect. Somewhere not close enough to become a suburb of a major city (& not downwind from a major city) but (possibly) somewhere near enough-say 100, 150 miles-from a city that has at least a couple hundred thousand people, so one could make day trips there, perhaps set up a base there.
Then, you team up with eight or ten committed, creative, hardworking people. You pool your resources and buy some good, arable land, hopefully with trees & water around, perhaps an old farmhouse & a barn. You also buy a house in the town, and live in both houses: a relatively peasant lifestyle, with shared resources� not everybody has to own a car, say� and life is super-affordable, given your shared expenses. You find part-time jobs in the town, and get to know people in the community. You start some poetry readings, maybe, play some shows, put up some art� Then, you start up a business downtown, in the ailing downtown. That's your public space & you compete with Starbucks. People will be drawn by your energy & aesthetic, drawn that something's happening (especially in a college town, with youths about)� and you build a coffee shop, a dance club, a bookstore, whatever� a petrol station that doubles as a dance club that sells good coffee, a restaurant, something that probably won't make a ton of money but that won't make you completely broke (cause you're still pooling those resources & living on the cheap).
Maybe you open your land to travelers, and have retreats there, or festivals, or drum circles, costume balls, bingo tournaments, whatever. Perhaps you open up a hostel� a dojo� whatever your interests are. You set up a press, a publication, a low-power radio station. You buy a building in the neighboring larger city & set up shop there, get into its scene, make connections. You run free or nominal-fee classes in whatever you know about, and people get drawn in: by your energy, your art, your music, your words. They become attracted to the spirit you've brought to the town, and they settle down-between the ones that are drawn and the interested people that already live there, you've got a bright community of people.
Meanwhile, the land's being cultivated; people start building their green houses upon it, and the wind generators and solar panels are making their way to self-sufficiency; the fruit trees are planted, and in a few years they'll bear fruit. By the time your children are grown, they'll be able to pick peaches and walnuts in the forest� and they'll have children in town to play with, too; maybe even a city to visit.
It's a hell of a lot to do,
but what else are you going to do with your one and precious life?
The same thing you're doing now-you're a writer; you write� you're a musician, you make your music� and you teach, you work, whatever: just with more conscious planning and organization to make everything that much better for everyone. The above vision, if you could call it that, isn't even that revolutionary: it's what the future would look like if we lived in a good world. (According to me, of course: what's your future look like? what kind of a world do you want to live in?) We don't ignore what's happening in the world, we take it all into account, we do our activism: but our way of life is also our activism / the means is the end, if that makes sense.
It's simple, but it's not simple. It's simple to think that a group of people should combine their talents and resources to live in a way that's better for the planet & each other. But we don't live in a system that encourages that: we live in a competitive society of wastefulness & consumption: so there's obstacles. Not to make light of the financial obstacles, but I think they can be overcome with calculation and cunning (if we start now, while the world still seems affluent). The main obstacles, from my research & intuition, are 1) getting along with other people; and 2) finding people that are really committed. The first can be worked with, and it will be an ongoing process of learning to get along and work together, but taken with maturity, one to learn from� Let's prove that after countless centuries, humans really can get along. The second is trickier. You have to really want to build something like this with all your being. (At the same time, how could you not want to? What's the alternative? For me, it's a choice between living a connected, social life and a solitary, individual, lone-wolf type of life� the second has a great appeal for an introvert like me, but I feel like I've been there / done that already� the social life is appealing because it's a challenge, it's new, it's what the world needs to survive).
so, how do you proceed from talk to action? There's initial talk: you meet up with some people, you discuss your feelings, and make a list of the qualities / skills you'll need. You look inside yourself to find what you're interested in, and you match these up-then you go out in the world & learn what you need to. By that I mean� Anna takes a class in solar power, Jose does a permaculture workshop, Jane learns the regulations involved in starting a business, Kelly works on her carpentry skills and Kevin studies septic system design and Lise starts up a press and� meanwhile, they're keeping their eyes open for a town that fits the criteria they've negotiated�
At least, that's my best guess� informed by my travelings, intuitions, and journey through America, with its desperate vacancy and it's glimmers of whimsy� This is a really strange, exciting place and time to be alive: what can we do with it? what do you want to do with it? we can let it unfold-or we can unfold it-or both, we can be intellectual observers to America's decay and decline, or we can create, destroy, and enjoy it all��� / i want to hear your thoughts.