If it was done as a worker's co-op it should be possible to use the idea to avoid the worst apsects of capitalist immmiseration through group cost savings. Living with a group of politically like minded people seems attractive. Allowing comrades you live with to hold you accountable for your organizing, lifestyle and productivity would probably be a positive thing for everyone here tbh. Am guilty. A lot more theory would be read in general lol.
I mean, it's probably better suited to single people that would be willing to relocate, but it seems surprising that it's not a bigger thing, especially with the cost of accomodation.
Got this fantasy of a derelict office block at the end of a cycle path, say 40mins cycle from a city to get the cheaper real estate, converted for communal living.
It’s cool in your younger days but at least for me being older it gets more tedious. Especially having a long time partner, at some point you just don’t want to have a bunch of people around all day
Think you're focussing on the negatives.
Something like a hostel situation, except everyone has their own room, with shared cooking and other facilities, is a cool way to live. I am also someone who needs a door btw.
There would only be as much accountability as you want. After building relationships with comrades that you live with, you'd probably want to be more accountable to them if you're serious about any kind of political activity tbh.
nononono. that's too much chaotic fun.
I'm talking about something stable, longer term, that saves you money so you got more time and energy for reading theory and activism.
I mean, Artist lofts are pretty common and always have been, and the cliche Anarchist urban squat or rural commune is pretty entrenched in Europe, though most aren't as squalid as the cliche. It works best if it's not tightly tied to an org, you don't want to take your struggle sessions home.
I know some friends who've done something like it at a household level as well, but at some point it just becomes leftist flatmates.
Yeah this is like basically living in a "wohngemeinschaft" which is just having flatmates.
wohngemeinschaft
"Living in a WG allows you to save money. This is the main reason people across the world live in communal settings, and the savings can often be dramatic. One of my friends who studies in Siegen pays less than 200 euros for his room, and I knew people in Berlin who paid around 100 euros per month."
sign me up.
I'm doing this, currently have leftist flatmates. It'd be a lot nicer if it weren't COVID though, that's interrupted most of the work that we could do together in our region.
I was a member of a food co-op that bought a warehouse in a city (when property was cheaper), rented some land to grow, ran a shop and weekly market.
I'm suggesting something similar probably. A cheap building as close to a city as possible, converted to hostel-style single rooms with communal areas, run as a workers co-op or whatever, Maybe 100 people?
cant there just be a dedicated bar for this stuff where I can just drink/smoke with similar people?
TERF Island has many flaws, but leftist-focused pubs are a bright spot.
Whaaaat There’s leftist pubs in Britain? If I ever go back I have to go to one of these
Exactly. Those bonds get shit done.
It doesn't even have to be that communal. Everyone gets their own room.
Basically the life you're living now, but living in a hostel with 100 like minded people.
Research "intentional communities" which is the overarching term for this sort of thing which encompasses communities with or without political intent (though many of the logistical challenges remain the same).
aren't most of those just neoliberal shit like treehouse and/or neocolonial projects (like the one in Guatemala iirc)
Nah, there's plenty of them in the US. Lots of anarchisty, eco-lib, and eco-socialist options as far as existing projects go. Some are just friends who bought property together and are land-mates. It's generally not something I would consider "revolutionary" in nature, but comrade OP sounds like they want to take it that direction, and good luck to them in pulling it off.
Yeah, wasn't suggesting something revolutionary tbh. I suppose I'm talking about something where the communal cost savings on accomodation/expenses would give people the time and space and energy to be more active politically. Living with comrades is naturally gonna result in an increase in motivation and activity.
A way to live in a capitalist urban environment without all of your efforts going to rent and expenses. It could be as political or active as people choose.
I suppose I'm visualising something like a large hostel, run as a co-op or something similar, where everyone has their own room with loads of other rooms available for whatever.
I have been working with some similar ideas too, it's difficult, but it's been done before. Good luck on your research and possibly undertaking this challenge, my friend!
step one: buy a bunch of oil rig lifeboats for cheap and outfit them as houseboats with solar panels. oil rig lifeboats are bigger than they sound, they're designed to evacuate 100 people each. also these things are durable and seaworthy as hell, they're meant to be dropped from a height into heavy seas without taking damage. the seaworthiness is good in case you want to relocate.
step two: find a pretty spot with calm water where you can dock boats for cheap or for free, and just live there with your mates. somewhere you can look at trees and nature but still buy groceries.
step three: more boats. you make a greenhouse boat or two for composting and growing food. a desalination boat. a workshop boat for making and repairing things. and uhh... idk, a communal boat where people can eat breakfast together sometimes or just chill and read together, watching the dragonflies on the water and the leaves floating past. once in a while someone cracks a joke, etc.
note: you need some couples in your group, or people who are willing to live on the same boat together. that way you have extra people to pilot the non-residential boats during a move.
step three: more boats. you make a greenhouse boat or two for composting and growing food. a desalination boat. a workshop boat for making and repairing things. and uhh… idk, a communal boat where people can eat breakfast together sometimes or just chill and read together
I want a colony builder game like this. Just sail around as a colony/fleet, occasionally stopping to get supplies and such.
There’s an indie game somewhat kinda like that where you have to manage a boat with resources and build machines and stuff and you stop off at various islands to gather resources but I can’t for the life of me find it through all the other similar sailing indies lol
Edit: it’s called flotsam, you use resources to be a sort of house boat network that can be moved around and you hop off on islands. I saw a streamer play It once but It has mixed reviews on steam rn.
Hmm, looks along the right lines, but not quite and not amazing execution. I know it's not easy though.
Really I think there should be whole "traveling colony builder" subgenre. A train one would be cool af.
Yeah the execution def leads something to be desired but your comment just made me think of it.
Honestly I’d love a commie indie game that had a non-settler/colonialist perspective on community management. I thought about making a stardew valley but communist game but I don’t have the time or skills lol
endgame is when you buy the hull of a decommissioned oil and gas floatel, stick a propeller and support truss under it, fill the pillars and underwater hull with some kind of solid waterproof foam (closed-cell polyurethane? idk) so you no longer have to worry about ballast pumps (i'm not an engineer, but i figure constant buoyancy should be fine since there's no heavy cargo to load and unload) and build a cute town on top. those platforms are stable even in crazy seas
this cozy platform serves as the home base of the fleet. it has everything you need to survive at sea forever in relative comfort (it's even got microbial bioreactors (mostly genetically engineered E. coli) for producing drugs anyone might need). when the fleet is ashore, the platform is anchored off the coast with a rotating skeleton crew. during long sea voyages all the other boats of the fleet are either loaded onto the platform or towed behind in some separate structure (if the mass of the fleet is enough to destabilize the platform). the crew is made up of all sorts of delightful people with all sorts of skills and knowledge, and you basically do Communism In One Fleet and during downtime you grill on the deck and watch the stars and bioluminescent plankton at night.
also the platform has some kickass guns on it that are hidden when not in use.
then you just travel around the world helping small coastal communities with whatever they need help with, exchanging recipes and hosting cookouts. you launch all the little boats and live ashore for a while, then you return to the platform and sail on.
Captain, my Captain. Cast the fuck off lol. Shanghai yourself and evryone around you.
I like this a lot tbh. You sound like you've got some experience?
Saw a youtube video about a couple who are living on an oil rig lifeboat, it looked great. The realities of living on the water would be made easier by living in a group for sure.
I have zero experience, I've just been thinking about it lately as a form of escapism lol. i've been going a bit nuts fighting my way through school and it makes me want a simpler life.
It's an extremely attractive and doable fantasy. Read about a group of people who bought a plot together and put tiny houses on it, with a comunal workshop, kitchen, garden and other things. Something like that not far from a city seems very achievable.
Exactly! On a public transport route or a cycle path, near a city, shared vehicles, they avoided many municipal and planning fees because everything was technically a temporary structure. The kitchen building was a large container sized office-type cabin . It looked pretty idyllic tbh.
that's how I want to live. I actually really enjoyed living in a cramped apartment in college
yeah living in shared accomodation is great. There's definitely downsides lol, and not for everybody, but overall it's a massively positive thing imo.
Sure. Whatever we need to call it - basically a way to exist in a city without most of your efforts going to a landlord, while living with like minded comrades.
