In the city!

Inspirational..

The Pacific Northwest is a hotbed for sustainable building approaches, such as Cob Buildings..

Here is a cob building in Devon, England that was built in 1539!

I thought the necessity of Camp Quixote was to let homeless people have a sense of safety and to let the city council and the anti-homeless establishment know that they exist, that they're human beings, and that they won't just disappear.

Now it's turning into a commune where, instead of trying to help get everyone food, showers, clean clothes and interview skills they're wanting someone to give them property, give them supplies, build them specific buildings.

The self-sustaining environmental Utopia you describe could be nice, but why should the residents of Quixote just be entitled to it? What happened to them just wanting a chance to get on their feet?

Read the post, everything starts with We Want, We Want, We Want. I want things too. I work first to acquire what I need and then to earn the right to pick and choose among the things I want. Most everyone else does to. By all means I want to give everyone a chance to better themselves, but when I'm hearing We Want We Want We Want I start to understand where the anger and venom comes from.

Your anti-homeless bias has completely jaded the intention of the campers. The campers want all of these things, either have the skills to do it or the intelligence to learn and don't have any other way of going about it. The fact still is that bosses don't hire houseless people. Why? Because they're houseless. Houseless people are not protected from discrimination. You have no idea how hard it is to "pull yourself up". People need people.

I'm really sick and tired of the ignorant classism displayed by some people in this community. Merwyn, do realize most of the things you spout about are stereotypes, untruths, or just plain mean?

In the end, we will build a community that will serve as a stepping stone from the woods and storefronts into permanent housing, we will do it with the help of many very amazing people that will lend their talents and resources.

Merwyn, I promise, it won't affect you in the least.

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I like it all, especially those green loft structures. Creating a collective vision is the way to go, you all are inspiring.

I'm amazed that we love our cars so much that we build houses for them.  In some of the newer house farms sprouting up all over this country, our love of cars causes us to build houses large enough to hold 3 of them, sometimes even large enough to hold a mobile house with wheels.  Imagine a house large enough to hold a house!  I've thought why not create some kind of fund from a tax for those who love their cars so much they build houses for them.  Why not a small excise tax if the car lover has a car house big enough to hold 3 cars?  Tax the 3rd.  That way the people who love cars but hate the people who not only don't have cars or houses to hold cars but not even a house to hold people might be able to build a well fitted garage to hold people.  A 2 car garage would be plenty big enough to hold a small family.  Hell, the average size house for a family of 4 in the 1950's was smaller than many of the houses people build for cars nowadays.

We are all often prone to thinking that self-sufficiency means being able to support one's self, independent of others.  In this viewpoint, the goal of every homeless person ought to be a temporary and stable place to live while seeking gainful employment.

But the truth of the matter is that for those on disability, that is a pipe dream.  The closest thing to the individualistic "self sufficiency" that is available to these folks is to live on a tiny check from the government, in an apartment subsidized by the government, and on food stamps paid for by the government.  And these government programs are often horribly demeaning.

It is important to note that the individualistic model of "self-sufficiency" is also inherently flawed.  People are not atomatons.  The human creature is fundamentally a social creature, and we are all interdependent... even if the means and mechanisms for interdependence are alienating.

Tent City represents a more authentic kind of self-sufficiency, and the only kind available to those on fixed incomes.  It is the self sufficiency that is found in community, through collaborative effort.  The disabled are not incapable of work; they are incapable of gainful employment.  Though they may not be able to compete in the market for full time employment, they are fully capable of working together to improve their conditions of living.  This is the basic intent of the folks at Tent City.  It will serve as a fantastic stepping stone for some; it may be a permanent solution for others.

Tent City is NOT actually asking for much, particularly in view of what is already being spent on the homeless.  A housing project can cost millions of dollars.  A squatter's village costs little more than the land it rests on.  HERE'S WHAT'S REALLY WILD ABOUT WHAT TENT CITY IS REQUESTING:  They want more for less (out of YOUR pocket).  They want self-determination, and they are suggesting that meeting their request would cost the government FAR LESS MONEY than its current approach to resolving homelessness.

The government, of course, is highly suspicious of this.  Self-sufficiency is not valued by government, because government is fundamentally founded on control.  And efficiency in particular is TOTALLY FOREIGN to the government bureaucracy.  Why spend less money to meet a greater need when you could spend more money and keep people totally dependent?  Such is the logic of a bureaucracy.

A few small things could help the the Tent City to build up its vision: 1 Access to a small base of capital and 2 Access to the knowledge base of Evergreen students and faculty. 

The first need should be viewed as an investment.  Putting a little money into obtaining a permanent location for Tent City will save a massive amount of money in the future.  It also doesn't need to cost much.  The City of Olympia owns land that was donated, which it cannot legally sell.  It doesn't have much in the way of plans for this land.

The second need is one that I think would be gladly met.  Ecology and design students at Evergreen would go apeshit over the opportunity to help develop a zero waste community built of cob structures.  This is the stuff of their dreams.

When you consider the bigger picture, there really is no reason to oppose their plans.

The Canaanite's Call

"I want a bigger apartment. Better yet, I want a home with at least one acre for a backyard. I want a hot tub on the back deck just out of sight of the neighbors. I want a garden for all my veggies. And I've always liked sheep and goats, I'd like some of them. Is someone just going to give this to me? I'll work my own garden and the house can be as green as green can be."

You can have acreage, a hot tub, a big garden, and livestock, Merwyn.  In fact, you could probably have it for little more than you spend now... but it would have to be shared.

People can accomplish much greater things together than they can separately.  Communal living, collaborative labor, cooperative credit, collective ownership all increase quality of life at little cost.

Example: Meta, Selena, and I (the three of us live together at the B&R house on 8th) each had a fair number of books individually.  The overwhelming majority of these books were unused at any given time; we each only read a few books at a time.  So we put them together in our community rec-room, and found that we had a full library.  Now everyone in our little community (made up of about 17 people) has access to these books.  More of the books are being used at any given time, reducing waste, and we each have access to a much greater range of books than before.  And it cost nothing.

Just imagine what could be accomplished if we all began gathering together with our friends and neighbors to share our wealth.  We all would be so much wealthier.  And, as a result, we wouldn't all have to work so damned hard.  Parents could spend more time with their children.

Think about it.

"All the believers were of one heart and mind, and they felt that what they owned was not their own; they shared everything they had... There was no poverty among them, because people who owned land or houses sold them and brought the money to the apostles to give to others in need." -Acts 4:32-35

The Canaanite's Call

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