FAQ

Note: This FAQ is only for the Federation and not for any of the communities.  Click here to view the FAQ for Los Visionarios community in Ecuador

 

Please explain all your email groups/lists, etc.

 

Click here for details: How to subscribe to our forums

Do you have a vision for the infrastructure necessary to support a community, such as shelter, kitchen, waste disposal, decision-making, ownership, energy resources, etc.? Yes, also see The Venus Project They have videos and literature that describe in detail some good goals to follow. In addition we have people who have lived in community and have very good knowledge on decision-making processes that can give you more information.

 

What is The Venus Project? The plans for The Venus Project offer society a broader spectrum of choices based on the scientific possibilities inherent in current technology and direct that knowledge toward a new era of peace and sustainability for all.  Through the implementation of a resource-based economy, and a multitude of innovative and environmentally friendly technologies directly applied to the social system, The Venus Project proposals will dramatically reduce crime, poverty, hunger, homelessness, and many other pressing problems that are common throughout the world today.  We feel that the Venus project includes and embraces our hard-core ideals and takes them many steps further out. Venus addresses many other areas that we at UEVN had not had time to even think about.  We feel that our ideals and long-term goals are compatible and would like to join teams/efforts to work towards a common goal.  The Venus project focuses on enhancing the lives of all people through the best of science and technology and they also have been ready to continue, expand and further their vision.  The Venus Project presents a bold, new direction for humanity that entails nothing less than the total redesign of our culture. We found out that not only can we build a model place for ourselves but also for the rest of humanity.  The blueprints have already been worked out, most details have been ironed out and the time to do it has come by bringing us all together for this special event.  There are many people today who are concerned with the serious problems that face our modern society: unemployment, violent crime, replacement of humans by technology, over-population and a decline in the Earth's ecosystems. As you will see, The Venus Project is dedicated to confronting all of these problems by actively engaging in the research, development, and application of workable solutions.  Through the use of innovative approaches to social awareness, educational incentives, and the consistent application of the best that science and technology can offer directly to the social system, The Venus Project offers a comprehensive plan for social reclamation in which human beings, technology, and nature will be able to coexist in a long-term, sustainable state of dynamic equilibrium.

 

If you have any further questions after reading The Venus Project, by all means, we strongly encourage you to send an email to Roxanne or Jacque at tvp@thevenusproject.com, and they will gladly answer and fill in the details.

 

How can we help?  You can start by joining our email discussion lists.  Go to the link above titled “How to subscribe to our forums.”

 

Do you accept donations? Yes, you may send donations to the address below, under the name of Fundación Ecológica Condorhuana or via www.paypal.com to account donations@uevn.org   

 

How many hours are members required to work?  This and many more issues should be addressed by the individual community.  We suggest two systems.  One that those in the community that choose to share all the earnings, work together in an Egalitarian way.  Two that the community also accepts members who do NOT want to be part of a income and work sharing system, and choose to pay a membership fee.  This is the main issue that set out Federation apart from the Federation of Egalitarian Communities. We believe that both systems can work together in the same community.

 

Can I own my house? This is an issue that must be set by the community.  We as the Federation propose that the answer be yes, but, with the limitation that your house cannot be sold to a non-member of the community.

 

Are there any legal contracts I will need to sign? Yes, see: By-Laws, Membership Agreement, Property Code and Religious Believes.  These are sample contract for communities to use.  There were taken from the Federation of Egalitarian Communities, we modified them to be more flexible on the financial issues. We suggest that all members sign a similar set of contract with the community and make them available to all prospective members.  It has been our experience that not having a basic set of written contracts a rules is the cause of many disagreement and problems.

 

Is the federation in favor of polyamory communities?  Yes we are.  We believe that the great success of any community is based on variety, and poly… s just one more expression of love that should be accepted of those who wish to have these types of relationships.

 

How do you handle conflict resolution if two members don't agree on something? We recommend that a form of Consensus be used.

 

If I were a member and wanted to leave, say 2 months, how does the community handle that?  Would I be charged a fee for being absent?  This is to be set by the individual community.  The Federation is only to help ask these question.

 

Below you will find a list of questions and our answers that we think will be useful to you as a comparison list when searching for an intentional community to join or creating your own…

 

Internal Rules

 

What internal contract do members agree to observe?

 

Are most members satisfied with rules?

 

Have there been basic changes in rules since the community was established? 

 

How are decisions which affect the whole community arrived at?

 

Is there provision for paying back original equity to members who withdraw from community?

 

 

Financing

 

How was it financed, land-holding to begin with?

 

What was the initial joining cost to each person?

 

What costs are borne monthly by community as a whole; taxes, loan repayments, electricity, salaries, wages, community telephone, etc.? 

 

Does the community have financial resources, which allow it to meet continued costs or to undertake capital improvements?

 

What are sources of these funds?

 

Are finances sufficient to finance planned capital improvements?

 

How are required funds raised?

 

Food

 

What are the community's food requirements?

 

Food produced on community's land?

 

Co-operative exchange with neighboring communal groups or by purchase through ordinary commercial channels?

 

Do you aim for greater self-sufficiency in food?

 

Work

 

What enterprises are carried out by members of the community other than those designed to meet community's own needs for food, clothing, housing, furniture, etc.?

 

Is the enterprise designed as a separate co-operative, company or personal venture with one or more community members?

 

What are the main sources of cash income for individual members of your community?

 

Is cash income supplemented by barter or by payment for labor in kind?

 

How many members of the community are on the dole (welfare)?

 

 

Philosophy/Ideology

 

What goals and aspirations led to the founding of the community?

 

How far does the community's present lifestyle fulfill those aspirations?

 

Does your community have shared religious or spiritual beliefs and practices?

 

How would you describe the philosophy underlying the origination of the community? 

 

In your community what aspects of daily living are arranged on communal basis? e.g. bathing facilities, laundry , cooking space, sleeping, etc. 

 

Is there a specific format for conflict resolution?.

 

What is the distribution of power? (governing or anarchistic)

 

 

Salient Characteristics of Ideology

 

Concern to maximize control by individuals over their own lives

 

Anti-repressive, Dionysian impulse

 

Concern for bodily health

 

Environmentalist ecological outlook

 

Desire to restore the sacred or mysterious or the transcendent

 

Ideology - Health and bodily well being

 

Psycho-social growth and personal fulfillment

 

Religion, spirituality, magic

 

Networking

 

Small-scale alternative technologies

 

Practical skills in food production and housing

 

Rural intentional communities want to create alternative lifestyle

 

 

Home Building

 

At the design stage, how does one get necessary government permit to build? 

 

Are locally available materials used in building?

 

 

Children

 

Is the community open to singles or families with children?

 

What are the rules about new children?

 

Home schooling?

 

Are there alternative education schools?

 

Universities?

 

 

Any other links I should read?  Yes…  Consensus Basics