海角大神

Today we explore nuclear weapons chess, governors grouping on COVID-19, a ground-level take on the unemployment spike, student-loan justice, and where solar meets farming.听First, a look at some lessons in communitarianism.听

The term 鈥渋ntentional community鈥� could arguably describe any human settlement where inhabitants willingly cluster. A more specific definition applies to groups with shared values and resources (child-minding might be an example) as well as shared spaces.

At a time when perspectives on what constitutes 鈥渃ommon good鈥� vary wildly 鈥� including at all levels of government 鈥� it鈥檚 worth looking at communities that bring real intensity to their intentionality.听

When I reached Cynthia Tina, a co-director at the , she had just finished a two-hour call with the Global Ecovillage Network. FIC promotes cooperative, healthy, sustainable living.

Ms. Tina, a self-described former eco-nomad,听ran me through the difference between consensus-based decision-making on community actions and a consent-based process that she sees as a rising alternative.

鈥淭he idea is not to get everyone to agree unanimously,鈥� she says, 鈥渂ut to make sure no one has an objection.鈥� Objections to deviations from agreed-upon values are taken seriously. Experimental approaches 鈥� to any issue 鈥� face a trial period. 鈥淲e have a saying,鈥� she says. 鈥淕ood enough to try, safe enough for now.鈥澨�

Getting to effective unity requires respect, and the suspension of personal or political agendas. A social challenge like the coronavirus 鈥� one that underscores existing social dysfunction 鈥� calls for making community the top priority at the global, national, and state levels. (And, of course, .)

鈥淐ommunity, at its core, really means listening to each other,鈥� Ms. Tina says, 鈥減racticing deep listening, and seeking to understand others鈥� views.鈥�