How about the Townspeople of Bratt?
Written by Michael Knight who advocates living in a Sharing Economy rather than a selfish economy. His facebook page can be found hither: https://www.facebook.com/michaelevknight?fref=nf
“By working TOGETHER and SHARING we can use a lot less vehicles which helps starve the money beast/system more/faster. We could have just 1 fifteen passenger van for every 45-60 people in a town. Members can take turns driving other members around town in the vans as part of their 10 – 20 hours a week for the community.
A town that currently has 600 adults in it, each with a car, could sell their 600 cars and TOGETHER buy 10-15 fifteen passenger vans for the town. Now there are 585 + less insurance policies, 585 less vehicles buying gas/oil, 585 less cars paying taxes on, 585 less cars being maintained, air quality in town improves, 585 less cars being parked in town, 585 less vehicles being washed…
Like Jacque Fresco said people do NOT need to “own” cars, they need ACCESS to transportation.
If we consider each vehicle cost each “owner” just $2,000 a year, that gives that town over ONE MILLION DOLLARS in savings to use to build greenhouses and plant food EVERYWHERE in town. Then start using the money for renewable energy for the whole town. Then use all the savings from food, energy and cars and pay down ALL personal residence mortgages.
It won’t be long before that small towns population is hardly using any money at all.
– Michael Knight”
Connecting the dots
This article is worth highlighting because a communal town versus an incorporated town of collective individuals very likely will contribute to sharing and therefore reducing resources. However, the fact that it is coming so late in the planetary dishevelment and breakdown gives it a desperate component. The issue of is it too late looms large. But the self-centered need of this 2000 year old society that culminated with the industrial revolution and the subsequent invention of the corporatists nicely satisfied the self-absorb people who so boldly created for themselves a life after death that turned them to a callous regard for other lifeforms, including their own kind. Under those terms, anything goes. If you have somewhere to go when you die, you can do whatever you want to whomever you want. Now that’s connecting the dots.
fun to consider
Amp it up to another level – we could build sharing sheds in each neighborhood. One lawnmower, snowblower, plus a set of power tools and other big-ticket rarely-use items could be there for neighborhood use.
One thing that goes with sharing, though, is caring. In places where tools or transport and shared, people participating really need to care about the equipment, and take care of it. This is were sharing can fall apart – I might like to clean all my tools before putting them away; others might use them and toss them on a pile. A basic level of respect for what is borrowed has to be part of our psyche of sharing.
Likewise, if something breaks, the person who broke it must own up to it and let others know what happened right away.
So, coupled with neighborhood sharing would probably be a renewed need for basic repair skills. If everyone can fix something, it isn’t quite as bad if it breaks.
In college, there was a lobby with one TV, shared by 180 or so students. It worked out surprisingly well. Often, everyone wanted to see the same big event (election coverage, for example). There was a soap opera crew in the afternoons. People’s varying schedules and tastes seemed to balance out. Occasionally someone would leave a note requesting to “reserve” the tv for an hour to see something. There were probably a few arguments at times but everyone lived to tell the tale. : )
Tool Trade
At one point I know Brattleboro Time Trade was trying to set up a tool trade- saves people from having to buy or rent some piece of equipment they may only need once. I don’t know if it got off the ground or not but it remains a good idea.
Trading Time
Brattleboro Time Trade is one of the really good ventures to become part of our community. There is a sense of antiquity about it.
Yes I love it!
It is one of the many wonderful things about Brattleboro. I love the idea that everyone’s time is considered equal. That must be the mark of a truly egalitarian society.
Where the eagles fly
I think that iBrattleboro is somewhat egalitarian as we equally have the right and opportunity to share this site under the principles behind freedom speech and expression (unless they as flagged as offensive, of course. :~)
My time is probably more
Dward, My time is probably more valuable than yours.
This idea is not particularly
This idea is not particularly threshed out, and would fail upon closer examination.
First, there are these things called buses, and in really big population centers, we even have trains!
Second, I need to go out of state for a few hours every week, I assume I can monopolize one of the vans for that period of time, since it would take longer for the driver to drop me off and come back than it would for them just to wait in the parking lot for me.
Third, I suggest you walk up to the next pickup truck you find on main street with ladders and tools strapped onto it and explain how they should sell it and instead share a passenger van with other residents when it comes time to haul tools and materials to the next jobsite or to grab materials.
I’m certain they’ll love your idea.
Lastly, my time is too valuable for me to waste sitting on a van/bus for an extra hour a day while it picks up and drops off other people. I figured that out in junior high. That is an hour I could be working and I would generate more income in that hour than it costs to own, operate and maintain a personal vehicle for a day.
The result of that math is likely inverted for many lower wage workers, so for those who’s transportation needs can be satisfied 95% of the time with short local trips and who’s requirements are adaptable to an external transportation schedule, we’d be better off just investing in supporting more buses. (Which are like, bigger versions of 15 passenger vans)
A long view gone
The combination of these ideas might work out to a degree. Maybe. I agree, an idea like this would need some serious working out. People’s needs are varied and the coordination of all transport systems had better be based on good plans. Also, if transportation vehicles were a combination of electrified, petrol and diesel, with huge emphasis on electric vehicles, perhaps that could lead to a reduction of using resources.
The whole thing depresses me (not too seriously, though). The younger folks will have to “thresh” this shit out big time.
Too bad the industrial revolution didn’t spawn a long view conscientious concern for the environment. There were plenty of warnings a long time ago.