Who are we?
People of different ages, from students to pensioners, and a wide variety of professions and specialties: workers and economists, officers and teachers, musicians and scientists, entrepreneurs and programmers. Most have families and children, all had normal living conditions in the city, but decided to leave their homes and move to the "open field", starting life almost from scratch.
Why?
It is not easy to explain this in a nutshell. Probably, in modern urban civilization, we have ceased to see the prospect for our own lives and for the future of our children. Convenient and comfortable urban life further deprives a person of simple and natural values - fresh air, clean drinking water, wildlife around, elementary silence, confidence in the future.
Our children suffer especially, squeezed by the walls of apartments and cramped courtyards, intimidated by the ubiquitous cars, banditry and other attributes of a modern city. And, not finding a place for themselves in this life, they more often go into the unreal world of computer games, television and drugs.
Take responsibility for your life, return the tradition of strong families and good neighborly relations, gain confidence in the future, drastically reduce the negative impact on nature, create a favorable environment for your children, restore the lost culture, covering all aspects of human life and society, regain a sense of joy and creativity is our task.
In essence, the ecovillage is an experiment, a lively and creative search for a new way of life that combines the conservative way of simple and healthy rural life and modern knowledge and technologies used wisely and carefully. About how we are moving along this path, about the successes and problems can be seen by studying the materials of our site.
Our thoughts and experiences
Ancestral Ecological Settlement Ark
Relationship to the Earth
What is an ecovillage? How is it different from a rural area? How can these differences be formulated and secured legally? These are the questions we've been asking ourselves since the beginning of The Ark. When the initial group gathered in the winter of 2001, and the search for land for the settlement began, no one really imagined how the image of the settlement that we had could be legally formalized. However, formulating it on paper was also not so easy, and more than one meeting passed before those few rules were identified, which were later included in the charter. It is clear that these rules cannot cover all aspects of the life of the settlement, and this is not their purpose, but rather to make any person feel the direction of our thoughts. The concept of a family estate, plus these rules and plus a set of ethical norms, not formulated on paper, but felt by any "ark" create an image of the settlement that we are building.
The central concept in our settlement is the concept of a family estate. Our task is to assign a hectare of land to each family in such a way that no one doubts its rights to this land, that no one has the right to invade it, that the owners of the estate can bequeath it to whomever they see fit. At the same time, the land allocated for the family homestead must always retain this status, and it must be legally fixed. Another task is to create a healthy sustainable society in which (and not just on a hectare!) our children will grow and develop, which will help everyone in everyday life and in spiritual growth, and which, by combining common aspirations, will be able to solve problems that are beyond the power of an individual . How to achieve this?
If we consider a universal category, then the earth is an object of a very special property. A person can make a stool, assemble a computer or write a program for it, and this will be his property as a work of his own hands. That is, this object did not exist, the person made an effort, and it appeared. Everything is clear here. The earth was billions of years before us, and will remain after us. It was created by the Supreme Mind, incomprehensible to us so far, as an ideal habitat for countless creatures, from ciliates to humans. Did the Creator sell this land to us? Or maybe he rented it out, or demanded the signing of a contract? (for me, it would be better to demand, but this is not there either). This beautiful, perfect Earth was given to us just like that, in order for us to live on it. And also - the Sun, air, water and soil - everything is given to us.
That is, a person lives on his site, endows him with his warmth, courtes, loves and respects all living things adjacent to him, be it insects or birds, feeds from this land without spoiling it - and wonderful, he left behind an heir who does that the same - even better! But if he went to another place, leaving the site empty, then let another one settle on it - isn't this the law of the Universe? But modern man has created his own laws, declaring himself the master of this land, which was not created by us long before us. We sell (think about this word!) and buy land, which our ancestors called mother land, take a lease and wait for it to rise in price. Buying and selling land is the most shameful invention of modern mankind!
And since the system based on it is contrary to nature, an army, police, courts and prisons were created to maintain it, and all so that some person could say - this is MINE! So that he, living, for example, in Moscow, could own lands in the Kaluga region, lands that he had never seen in his life, and so that not a single person would step on them without his knowledge!
There is another side to this issue - moral and ethical. The very concept of ownership implies complete freedom in the disposal of the object that you own. My chair - I want to repaint it in a different color, or I will cut off the extra leg, or I will burn it in the stove. The same attitude is carried over to the earth. I want to - I will fill the entire area with a herbicide, I want to destroy all the anthills on it (I don’t like them!), I want to roll it all up with asphalt. After all, the land is mine! I bought it with my own money! But among the ancient, wild, as we say, peoples, such an attitude towards the land would be considered a terrible blasphemy. They respected and loved the earth, they were afraid to offend it with a careless word or action, before cutting down the trees, they asked for permission and, unless absolutely necessary, they did not offend or destroy any creature adjacent to man on this earth.
The terrible state in which the earth is brought everywhere is a direct consequence of our attitude towards it. Is it possible to change the situation on our planet, leading to the imminent death of mankind, without fundamentally changing this attitude? Is it possible for you and me to build a new society based on the ideas that led the old one to a dead end? Hardly.
How does this reasoning apply to us? From a universal and legal point of view, the ideal form of registration of a family estate would be perpetual use with the right to inherit. Since there is no such form in the legislation now (it was removed quite recently!), we are looking for one that is as close as possible to it in meaning. In accordance with this form, each person is allocated a plot of land with an area of one hectare for the organization of a family estate for perpetual use with the right to inherit, and any person named as the owner of the plot can be an heir. The contract contains the basic principles that define the site as a family estate, including permanent residence on it. When using the site for its intended purpose, there are no questions, otherwise (asphalt or herbicides, for example), the contract is terminated and a new owner is looking for the site. At the same time, the buildings located on the site, being the property of the previous owner, can be sold to the new one. This form of registration, completely arranging for those who want to live in an ecovillage, blocks the way to it for those who invest money in land for the purpose of speculation, for those who take land in reserve, "to have it" and for those who live by the principle: what I want, then I turn back, and the neighbors in the settlement do not decree me. (For the latter, there is a farm or farm form of life - there is no one around, live as you like). But the question still remains: to whom does the land belong, that is, with whom does a person conclude this very contract of perpetual use?
Let's imagine a very abstract situation, that is, one that you can't even meet in the modern world. A group of people is walking along the Earth, looking for a place to live. He finds a large field, and a forest around, and there is no one in the area. They settle next to each other, each in his own plot, and live peacefully, and no one in this settlement drinks vodka, smokes, or swears. Time passes, and a traveler appears on the horizon. He comes up and says: they say, I want to live here, next to you. Well, vodka from him, as expected, a mile away, and a mat through the word. The people answer him: you know, it’s not customary to drink vodka and smoke here, so either quit this business and settle down, or look for another settlement for yourself.
That is, the concept of a settlement inevitably arises, because even if people (and now it is possible) initially received plots independently of each other, the owners of neighboring estates inevitably begin to interact with each other, creating a society, or, in the old way, a community (not to be confused with a commune! ). Neighbors in the settlement are connected by a lot of threads, people get used to each other, certain traditions and foundations arise. Moreover, these foundations (by the very sound of the word!) are very stable, since they are supported not by one person, but by a whole team. Will people who are accustomed to a certain way of life want to let someone who will obviously violate it be their neighbor? Don't think. And this means that the rights to land should belong to the community (society), and the community should maintain peace and order, resolve disputes and organize common affairs that inevitably arise in the settlement. The community, on the other hand, must allocate plots for estates, and the recipient of the plot must join this community, thereby expressing agreement with its traditions and foundations. The community also disposes of other agricultural and forest lands belonging to it.
Is it possible to implement this scheme within the framework of modern legislation? Can! In our case, the community is framed as a non-profit partnership, consisting of the owners of family homesteads. The main statutory goal of the partnership is the organization of the settlement and the solution of all issues related to its existence and development. The land is issued specifically for partnership, which greatly simplifies the procedure for everyone to obtain and register the estate, and the partnership has the ability to give the site exactly the status that we need. That is, we, a team of like-minded people, formalized as a non-profit partnership, have the right to engage in lawmaking on the territory of the settlement, that is, to direct life in the direction we need. We can introduce the concept of the Family Homestead, which is currently not in the legislation, and give it legal force. From our point of view, it is this form of organization that is the most promising and viable, although it is difficult to accept for a modern person who has become unaccustomed to communal life and is accustomed to city, "apartment" law. But this is a separate issue.
So let's get on with it - creating our future! Let us leave envy, a sense of self, petty selfishness and resentment that fetter our thought and our energy! Let's treat the Earth with care and respect, as well as all living things inhabiting it! Let's turn our thoughts away from our petty interests and create a collective thought capable of solving tasks worthy of a Human!
October 2005
How to start creating an ecovillage
In letters, forums and meetings, like-minded people often ask the question: what is needed in order for the administration to treat them with understanding and meet them halfway. We also summarized our little experience of negotiations with the administration. Below is what, in our opinion, is of great importance both when talking with the administration, and for you - who want to create a settlement.
What do you need to start your project.
- Desire, which is expressed not just by the word "I want", but by the awareness of what is happening. Willingness to change your lifestyle, reassess your values and move towards your goal. It is important to have a team (at least 3-4 people) with a common outlook on life and a common desire to change it.
- Gather the most active participants, get into the car and go to the administration, having previously worked out a common position. Tune in to a friendly constructive conversation with a person who is not familiar with your idea.
- Arriving at the administration, clearly formulate what you want. Without reference to anyone and any sources, state the essence as you understand it. The more precise the wording, the easier it will be further.
- Prepare for the questions you will be asked. Whatever the administrator is, he is concerned about the question: what did you bring with you, what will you bring to the district, how will it be better for the district from you? And given that the situation in the villages is, to put it mildly, sad - people either drink too much or flee to the cities - quite natural questions arise. Namely: What will you do and how will you earn? Therefore, it would be good for future participants to realistically assess the situation and discuss the economic program, which has a great chance of being implemented. You need this first of all (something else will appear besides the idea). And the administration will treat you much more seriously.
- After you find a common language in the administration and get "go-ahead" to create a settlement, agree on the form in which the land will be provided. Specify what documents are needed and in what order they need to be processed. In our case, these are: a decision on the allocation of a site, an act of site selection and a permit for design and survey work. Well, if you have the opportunity to use the help of a lawyer.
- It may happen that you will be given the opportunity to choose a site. It is good if in this case you will have a specialist with you who can, by external signs, characterize the place and assess how suitable it is for settlement.
If you have passed these points, there is much more concrete and interesting work ahead. And may you succeed!
Fedor Lazutin, N.P. "The ark".
How do we shape the land?
For the organization and successful development of an ecovillage, it is very important to choose the right legal form of land relations. What does correct mean? This means the most appropriate to the spirit and meaning of the image that we strive to embody. These two things - the image of the settlement and the legal form of land registration are closely related, and it is unacceptable and even dangerous to neglect this connection, as many organizers of settlements, including us, have already seen.
The members of the "Ark" realized the importance of properly built legal relations quite recently, after three years since its foundation. And it’s not that we didn’t deal with this issue at all - this, of course, is not so, we were just carried away by more “earthly” affairs - construction, site development, etc. And so, as a result of the fact that some issues were not clearly discussed from the very beginning, this summer we had a very severe crisis, from which we managed to get out only recently, and even then not completely.
Its essence was that at the beginning of this summer, at the next General Meeting, we decided, before the release of the law on Family Homesteads, not to transfer plots to each person in ownership, but to leave all the land to the Partnership. Some people did not agree with this decision internally, and now they are in a balanced state - they don’t want to leave - it’s very good here, but they don’t want to take on any obligations either. That is, a person wants all neighbors to observe certain rules that correspond to his ideas about the settlement, but do not have the right to demand the same from him. Is it possible?
It is unlikely that it will be possible to completely avoid crises as stages in the formation of society, at least in our time. However, the initial legal clarity of internal relations can mitigate them by not admitting to the settlement those who simply do not belong here at the moment, who are not yet ripe for the arrangement of the estate, or whose ideas, as it may turn out later, do not at all coincide with those of the group that forms the backbone of the settlement. This will simplify life and save energy for truly creative activities.
So, our task is to choose a legal form that fully corresponds to the image of the settlement that we are creating. The matter is complicated by the fact that in the current legislation there are no concepts close to the concepts of Ecosettlement and Family Homestead, but it is facilitated by the presence of opportunities for lawmaking.
Therefore, we introduce these two concepts ourselves!
family estate
The kin domain must be indivisible;
The family estate cannot be an object of purchase and sale;
The family estate cannot change the status or category of land;
The family estate cannot be abandoned or used as a dacha, that is, the owners must live on it;
The products of the Family Homestead should not be taxed;
The kin domain is inherited by the person named by its creators;
On the territory of the Family Homestead, by its very definition, certain rules must be observed: planting a forest, refusing to use pesticides, inadmissibility of raising animals for meat and organizing hazardous industries;
The family estate must be adjacent to other estates.
The requirements are serious, and there are many of them, but we must enforce them, since the violation of even one of them is practically destroys idea.
In the books of Vladimir Megre, in many places the optimal wording is indicated - life tenure with the right to inherit. This wording excludes all questions - a person does not sell or buy land, it not his. He uses the land, creating an estate on it, and lives, and passes on by inheritance to whomever he sees fit. He simply cannot abandon the site, sell it or use it for other purposes - this is obviously excluded.
But there is no such form of land relations in the legislation yet.
How do we get out? Before the adoption of the law on family homesteads, the land is registered in the name of a non-commercial partnership, consisting of the owners of the homesteads. The charter of the Partnership contains image of the settlement and the status of the Family Homestead is determined with all the requirements listed above. The charter is approved by the General Assembly and becomes a binding document for every inhabitant of the settlement. Further, each participant N.P. a hectare of land is allocated for sublease (it seems that now this is the only available form) to create a family homestead on it.
Practice shows that those who came to the "Ark" in order to create a family estate, this form suits completely. If a person starts to get obscure, saying that, they say, everything is right, but now I want to have property, it’s calmer and all that, then something is wrong. This means that he himself is not sure of his goals or is hiding something.
In order to be able to build and register on your hectare, it is necessary to transfer the land of the settlement to the category of settlements. Moreover, it should be precisely a rural settlement with plots for private household plots (personal subsidiary plots) within its boundaries. This form minimizes taxes and gives the official right not to pay taxes on agricultural products grown, that is, it corresponds to our idea.
The transfer of land is a long procedure, it may end in two years, hardly earlier, although we have already collected all the papers that depend on us for almost three years. However, having become the owner of agricultural land, the Partnership has the right At once to sublease the plots to its participants, and you can begin to settle down. For example, I, like many in our settlement, have already built a house and live in it with my wife and child, and when the authorities ask why I am building without permission (this happened more than once), I answer that I would I am glad, but the issue is hindered not through our fault, by the state itself. Are you asking me for permission? So give him up and be done with it!
So, what is the result of our scheme?
If a person takes a plot with the intention to build a Family Homestead, he does not have any obstacles. Over time, he will be able to register, sell products without taxes and bequeath the site to whomever he sees fit;
- All residents of the settlement are sure that the plots adjacent to them will be used for the same purposes;
- We know that the sites will not be empty. If a person does not start developing a site for two years, then he is not yet ready for this. The fee is returned, the site finds another owner;
- If a person decides to leave the settlement, but there are already buildings on the site, together with the application for withdrawal, he submits to the Partnership a paper in which his real estate is valued. Next, the site is looking for a new owner who agrees to purchase this property;
- Only those who are already "ripe" for the arrangement of their estate, surrounded by like-minded people, come to the settlement; - Our settlement received a powerful impetus to development, gaining a critical mass very quickly people permanently living in it. Now 12 houses are wintering (the fourth winter), and this is already a stable team;
- We see the prospect of fairly rapid development all plots as family homesteads;
- Non-commercial Partnership allows to realize the idea of the community in the real sense of the word as the optimal form of social structure. Why is it so important?
Ecovillage
Earth is a powerful unifying factor for us. Despite the fact that each individual estate has the status of complete inviolability, we all feel the territory of the settlement as "ours", and all its inhabitants as a big single family. We gather for general meetings (analogous to veche), where we jointly resolve issues concerning all, arrange holidays, cooperate in work, and help each other. The communal way of life helps to form a society, without which life in the settlement is simply unthinkable.
To many people familiar with the Ark, our terms seem too harsh. I would like to have complete independence from everyone, a paper that guarantees ownership of a hectare for all eternity, but this does not happen. Ownership is an illusion, a trap. There are any number of cases when the state took away registered land, taxed it with unimaginable taxes, forced to redo documents endlessly. It is much more difficult for one person to resist the system than for a large group.
Further. Private ownership of land in its current form is contrary to ALL the requirements for a family homestead. I don't think it's worth commenting. It is enough to ask a couple of questions: do you want your neighbor, seeing that he does not manage to create an estate, sell the land to a person who will keep piglets or, for example, plow a hectare for potatoes? To have abandoned plots next to you, the owners of which can no longer be found? Are you aware that after the death of the owner (God forbid, of course), the law on inheritance comes into force, and the fate of the site can be anything?
I am sometimes told: why create a negative image? If this is not done, then everything will turn out as it should. No guys. The image of the owner of the land already EXISTS, and we simply include it with all the ensuing consequences. Our task is to form alternative image a person who loves and respects the Earth together with all the creatures living on it, respects its laws and feels great responsibility for the treasure that has been given to him.
It has long been clear to many "Kovchegovtsy" that the environment, society is much more important than simply having a plot for the Family Homestead. Buying a plot is not a problem at all now, and no one has yet fully succeeded in creating a harmonious, stable, living settlement out of these plots. Why? It is a question of joint serious research.
But there is a prospect, but there is NO doubt!
Fedor Lazutin, ecovillage "The ark"
December 2005
Does Russia have land?
For many years in a row, the author of the article, on a voluntary basis (that is, without receiving material remuneration for this), was engaged in registration of the land plot on which the Ark ecovillage is located, and giving this plot the appropriate legal status - a rural settlement. In the course of this work, I had to not only communicate with a large number of officials and government officials, study the necessary laws and documents, but also delve into many aspects of the economic and political life of the region, region and country.
Unexpectedly for ourselves, we were faced with the fact that our scanty project on the scale of the region (compare 200 people and more than a million inhabitants of the Kaluga region) affected and puzzled the highest echelons of the regional authorities. It turned out that our settlement was almost the only example of a growing rural settlement against the backdrop of widespread degradation of the countryside, as well as the first attempt in recent decades to form a new rural administrative unit. And this is after hundreds of villages were erased from the map of the Kaluga region due to the lack of inhabitants.
Realizing these facts, we decided that our undertaking should arouse, if not support from the authorities, then at least interest, as a successful experience in attracting new residents to the dying countryside. But the reality turned out to be just the opposite - we were repeatedly told openly that the district and region did not need any new settlements and villages. This fact, along with many others, led us to the need for a new understanding of our position, relations with the authorities and the land issue, not in a small applied sense, but in a global historical process.
This article does not purport to be complete, but it does provide a small personal look at the topics mentioned. The author will be glad if it helps at least a little to those people who are looking for their land in order to live on it in harmony with themselves and with all that exists. Good luck with this!
There is no land in Russia!
This phrase, as applied to the Kaluga region, was repeated three times by the deputy head of the regional legislative assembly in a conversation with representatives of the Kovcheg ecovillage, which took place in December 2008.
For the first time, we did not understand - how is it that there is no land? Yes, there she is, all around! There are huge fields on which no one has been doing anything for ten or fifteen years. They are overgrown with birch trees, and if it were not for the spring arson of the grass, there would already be a dense young forest in the place of these fields. And there are as many such fields as you like, and not only near our settlement, but everywhere. So how is it?
"There is no land in the Kaluga region!"
- repeats the deputy head of regional deputies. Why not? Where is this land? Here we are already starting to think and gradually something begins to clear up. From further conversation it follows that in the Kaluga region, many local residents and people from other regions want to take land - for the construction of a house, for a personal subsidiary plot, for a farm, or simply for mowing their cows - but the state refuses. Why? The answer is the same - there is no land!
But not in fact, of course, but with the state! Therein lies the key to the astonishing statement of the representative of the legislature. The state does not have land. The free land that it could and should give to people for various necessary and useful purposes. To give according to the law available in Russian legislation from the composition of unused lands that are in the redistribution fund. And information about the redistribution fund should be freely made public so that everyone can know where there are free lands. What is free land? Obviously, these are the lands that are not used by anyone at the moment and that previous users abandoned for various reasons. What if they didn't refuse?
So precisely in this case there is power and there is a law. Moreover, our Russian law states that any land that has not been used for more than three years is confiscated from the right holder (tenant or owner) and transferred to the redistribution fund, and the duty of the authorities is to enforce this law. After that, anyone from this fund receives it and uses it, under the control of the state, of course. It seems theoretically everything is clear, but the reality is somewhat different from the theory.
Let's start with the fact that no one will give you information about the lands available in the redistribution fund. Such is the tradition - the employees of the land committees and rural settlements carefully hide this information, which has been verified by the experience of many people. But why they hide it is a question, and we will definitely deal with it a little later.
But even if a response is received from the land committee, it will most likely be disappointing, since the land of the redistribution fund in the most populated areas of our country contains only the most extreme inconveniences, such as swamps and ravines. But by no means the fields located next to the roads and overgrown with birch forest. Why? This is question number two.
Agricultural land 100 hectares on the shore of the reservoir, a mirror of 30 hectares. On the other side is a birch grove. Can be used as a garden partnership. On the site of gas low pressure, electricity at the border. Kyiv highway, 170 km from Moscow.
PRICE: $400 thousand.
How are you? This is question number three.
That is, the picture, as they say, in oil. The land is empty and overgrown with forest, and in huge, unimaginable quantities. This was seen by everyone who traveled at least a little in central Russia. However, it is impossible to get it for any business, even if it is thrice useful and a priority for the country and the government. And then small pieces of these vast lands are sold at absolutely astronomical prices. Comprehension of this circumstance leads us to very interesting philosophical and political spaces. If you are ready for this, then move on.
Let's first try to understand what is the earth? This seemingly obvious question has many answers. Let's cite just a few.
For a market speculator, land is a means of making a profit. For a farmer or an owner of an agricultural firm, it is an instrument of production; for a lawyer or an official, it is an object of law; for a peasant, it is a mother-breadwinner. For a soil scientist, the earth is an object of study, the most complex substance in which interesting and mysterious processes take place, for a biologist it is a habitat for an uncountable number of living beings. And so on.
Many people, including modern civilized ones, consider the earth to be an animated being, having Reason, Soul and Will, many deify it and many worship it. And everyone, without exception, knows that without land, human life is impossible. From her, he receives almost everything he needs - food, minerals, timber and other materials for construction and production, drinking water and even air. The earth recycles human waste and disposes of the harmful substances that humanity produces in abundance, clearing its place under the sun again and again. The earth gives a person beauty and harmony, joy and inspiration...
You can talk about the land as much as you like, and still it will not be enough. Therefore, we will not delve into this topic, worthy of a separate large study, but will return, so to speak, to the ground.
In the modern world, the land issue worries people not as much as in the days when 90-95 percent of the population of most countries lived in rural areas. A modern city dweller, getting everything he needs for life in a network of shops and supermarkets, is unlikely to feel his dependence on the land in the same way as a modern farmer, or even a peasant of the old time. But his dependence on this does not become less, but even increases, since he receives these benefits not directly, but through a long and complex chain of manufacturers, workers in transport, warehouses, shops and many other structures, which he often does not even suspect.
Therefore, he - a city dweller - should think about the Earth again, look at it with a fresh look, understand, feel what a miracle lies right under his feet! After all, even insensitive economists, looking at land as an instrument of production, distinguish it from a number of others, since only land can give infinite profit at almost zero costs. Judge for yourself: how much financial investment is needed to throw a cherry stone into the ground? And what is the result! After this simple action, you can get tens, hundreds of thousands of berries for many years in a row! Without any difficulty, except to reach out and pluck.
This is one of the divine and amazing purposes of the Earth - with the assistance of the Sun, to freely supply all living beings of the planet with food. And all that remains for them is to use its fruits, taking with gratitude exactly as much as they need, and without violating the harmony of this subtle and perfect mechanism. And all living creatures, with the exception of just one species, do this. It's not hard to guess what kind...
But we will try not to bore the reader with too long lyrical digressions. The main idea that I tried to bring you to is that a person who has a piece of land at his free disposal can be independent of anyone. Think about it!
How much land is needed for this? Not so much. According to various independent calculations, this is about a hectare per family for a homestead, including all buildings, agricultural land, hedges and windbreaks, and about two hectares of forest (for our latitudes). Plus a little more for mowing and grazing cattle, if any. On agricultural land we grow food and industrial crops, such as flax, and from the forest we take mushrooms, berries, firewood, building materials, and much more.
Do you need to work hard to provide yourself and your family with everything necessary for life? Yes, not so much, a hundred days a year, no more. This figure is confirmed by many modern studies, as well as common sense and personal experience. Summer is for rural labor and construction, winter for crafts. And all this is completely stress-free, for pleasure and for the benefit of health.
May the reader forgive me for such a brief picture, but in this article I did not plan to substantiate it and detail it. This is not difficult to do, but let's leave this topic until our next meeting and move on.
Who benefits from a person who firmly stands on his own land, strong and healthy, free and independent, freely managing his time? No one but himself, his family, relatives, friends and neighbors - the same free people. Wait a minute though. It is also beneficial to the environment, because it does not spoil it, to its country and its people. Yes, and other peoples living as well.
In general, it is beneficial to almost everyone, with the exception of ... Whom? Here we have finally begun to get to the point, and here it would be good for you to break away from the article that you are reading with such enthusiasm (just kidding) and think a little.
pause for reflection).
Ecology of life: Diana Christian has visited more than 120 successful communities around the world over the past 20 years to find out what helps communities start well and develop effectively and harmoniously
Diana Christian has visited more than 120 successful communities around the world over the past 20 years to find out what helps communities get off to a good start and develop effectively and harmoniously. As a result of her research, she has written 2 books, has become a certified Ecovillage Design Education (EDE) teacher and a respected expert on the subject.
Thanks to Dmitry Olkhovy (the settlement of the family estates "Rodniki") and Fedor Lazutin ("The Ark" - "Medvinka"), the name of Dayana Christian is well known in Russia. In 2012, Dmitry and a team of associates translated her book “Creating a Life Together: Practical Tools to Grow Ecovillages and Intentional Communities” into Russian. And Fedor, in almost all of his speeches, strongly recommends studying her book in depth and starting to apply the techniques described in it for creating successful settlements.
Three years later, in March 2015, a world expert on the creation and development of successful ecovillages will come to Russia for the first time from his settlement "Earthheaven" in North Carolina, USA.
We invite representatives of all 420 ecovillages operating in Russia, projects, alternative communities to participate (50% discount on participation). As well as those who want to carefully consider the image of their future settlement and all those who are thinking about moving to the land. For those who are going to create a community of like-minded people, friends, associates with common goals and deeds, the experience summarized by Dayana will be invaluable.
You can download Dayana's book, study the detailed program and reviews of seminar participants from all over the world at the following links:
Topic: "Creating a new successful ecovillage or alternative community" http://gen-russia.ru/diana-piter (rather for beginners)
The topic is “How to help your ecovillage or alternative community thrive”.
http://gen-russia.ru/diana-moscow (rather for old-timers)
P.S. How relevant is information about world settlements for Russia?
Dmitry Olkhovoi (from the book “Creating a Common Future”)
When I first opened Diana Christian's book in 2009, I was amazed. I had the feeling that the author was just sitting in our kitchen, in some settlement "Springs" and heard word for word all our conversations about sore. I open some paragraph "Typical mistakes in creating ecovillages" and see a list of six points, where our Rodnikovskaya reality is described one by one. I start reading the example "In the Willowbend settlement in the interior of Alabama there was such a case ..." - and I get the feeling that whoever wrote this overheard the showdown at our last meeting. I open the paragraph "Here's how successful settlements do" - and read word for word what the guys from the Ark were persistently trying to convey to me. And after all, all this was written by a man who had never been to Russia and at that time had not yet read any books by Megre!
Laysan Mirgazitova (NP "Network of Ecovillages and Ecoinitiatives") www.gen-russia.ru
I met Dayana for the first time in the Tamera eco-village, at JEN 2011. At that time, I still didn’t really know who she was. As part of JEN's (Global Ecovillage Network) annual meeting, there was her little introductory seminar on the basic steps that need to be taken to create a successful community. I was then very impressed with how structured, concise and filled she told her material. There was not a drop of "water" or "lyrics" in her performance and it all looked so anti-American in style of presentation. It was felt that every word she uttered was the result of a great research and analytical work. And it was easy for me to broadcast it in the future in our settler "parties" and "couloirs".
Then we met a month later at Sieben Linden, where she was invited for a day at the Ecovillage design course (EDE). Diana was given little time to speak, and this time she impressed me again. She made a big (more than an hour) presentation about the ecovillages of the world (of which she visited many, more than 120). With ease and artistry, she poured out a huge amount of information for us in these 1.5 - 2 hours. And again, thanks to how skillfully and logically the material was presented, not a single drop of it spilled past the ears, and the long presentation seemed like one minute, giving the audience a vivid and understandable picture of the global ecovillage movement.
The third time we met Dayana was in Sweden, where I happened to be in her full-fledged seminar on sociocracy. And at that time I realized what her strength as a lecturer was. She certainly has the mind of a scientist, a researcher, and she is a good teacher. It is a great fortune for all of us that she is a person who has lived in an eco-village for a long time, and that not everything was smooth sailing in this settlement of hers. This made her at a certain moment ask herself the question - "but how should it be in order to be better?" and begin to study and generalize the experience of the most successful settlements in the world.
In Russia, among the settlers, I often heard the opinion that this is a "bourgeois experience" - they say, we do not need it, because we have our own special way. However, what Dayana says concerns everyone and is significant for almost everyone who creates or is going to create a new community. Of course, her generalizations and conclusions may not be useful for those who leave for nature to live a farm life, that is, to transfer the individualism of our city life to a new soil. But for those who are going to create a community of like-minded people, friends, associates with common goals and deeds, the experience summarized by Dayana is truly invaluable.published
To the delight of all strategy lovers, we are publishing another TOP, this time dedicated to such a rather narrow topic as city-building simulators or city-building strategies!
10. Banished
The tenth place was taken by the recently released construction simulator. In a sense, the game can be called the smallest urban simulator in our TOP. After all, we are not dealing with a city, but rather with a village.
You control a group of exiled migrants starting a new life in the picturesque wilderness of the taiga. There are 18 different crafts in the game, ranging from farming and hunting to blacksmithing, teaching and healing.
There is no universal strategy in the game, the number and ratio of resources on the maps is generated randomly. Surviving cold winters is one of the main and most difficult tasks for the player. To keep the settlers warm, your tailors will have to sew a lot of clothes, and your builders will have to build houses and harvest firewood.
You also have to constantly keep in mind a lot of small details and nuances that determine whether your settlement will survive or die.
Although the game takes the last place, it is an excellent example of a rather complex simulator, especially considering the fact that it was made by a single person - programmer Luke Jodorovich. Although the gameplay Banishd over time, it begins to become boring, you will definitely experience the pleasure of another experienced winter.
9. Emperor - Rise of the Middle-Kingdom
One of the representatives of the so-called city-building series, which began back in 1993. Ten games have since been released, including expansions.
"Emperor: Dawn of the Middle Kingdom"- is the only representative of the series covering the territory of ancient China, which is already interesting.
However, otherwise the difference between "Emperor" and other strategies of the series is not so great - we make sure that the inhabitants are fed and employed, and the gods are satisfied with alms.
You will also have to deal with the production of resources and trade, as well as lead the defense in the event of an attack by invaders.
8 City Life
A game that is often compared to the notorious Sim City 4, and not just compared, but even called names with the offensive word "clone". However, this is not quite true.
The development of the French company Monte Cristo, although it repeats the concept of other games in the genre of city-building simulators, is an absolutely independent project.
In addition to the presence of an extensive social system of socio-cultural groups and the relationship between them, City Life can offer players a standard set of production infrastructure tasks. As usual, we will have to satisfy the whims and needs of the citizens and at the same time try not to empty the city's treasury ahead of time.
In general, this is another entertainment for more than one evening for lovers of construction and management.
7CivCity-Rome
Imagine what could happen if the authors of the cult Civilization and no less cult strong hold unite to create a sort of crossover between Stronghold And Civilization.
So, from Stronghold, the game got the entourage, the scale of the maps and the choice of military or peaceful missions. Inherited from Civilization CivCity wonders of the world and a whole palette of chips, including 75 unique units, 115 buildings and 70 technologies available for research.
And although the game did not find solid ratings, many still liked the idea of such a mix.
6.Caesar
Another series of city building games. Third Caesar is a great example of how a game series, having squeezed the maximum out of the concept, is content with only cosmetic changes. At the same time, it cannot be said that the game came out mediocre - on the contrary, despite many shortcomings, the feeling of managing an ancient Roman city is incredible.
Of the minuses of the game, one can single out the small size of the map - from a certain point there is simply nowhere to build, all that remains is to observe the stagnation of the city and improve the attractiveness of already attractive areas. The second disadvantage is the military component, although on some maps it is the threat of invasion that forces a complete review of the development of the settlement. Finally, trade has not always been adequate.
The rest of the game is just awesome. Here you have a religion with a blessing, and curses of powerful gods, a lot of resources, goods and buildings. In the end, where else will we be entrusted with the management of Roman colonies, entrusting the mission to make a city worthy of Caesar out of a deserted plain.
The fourth part of the game came out more impressive in terms of graphics, but the features remained the same.
5 Tropica
According to the plot, the player takes control of a small island nation somewhere in Latin America. It all takes place during the height of the Cold War.
The game has economic, political and urban planning, as well as interesting companies and multiplayer.
The addition of such innovations as random events that affect the course of events and additional sectors of the industry made it possible to breathe new life into the series.
Your construction site starts with an empty plain and almost zero plot. At first, there will be enough money only for the most necessary things for the country, and even the people will have to live in makeshift shacks for some time.
You can earn money by selling valuable natural resources right and left and receiving handouts from the USSR or the USA, depending on which country you support politically. Over time, it will be possible to deal with tourism and infrastructure.
Recently Released Tropico 5, offering many innovations and a modern graphics engine.
4Cim City
The representative of perhaps the most famous series of the urban simulation genre, which determined its high place in this TOP. It was Sim City, released by Maxis in 1989, that formed the classic look of city-building simulators and a number of mechanics that later became the standard.
The true success of the game brought the fourth part. The game turned out to be a rather complex and detailed strategy with very sketchy, but nice graphics.
You have three modes to choose from, including god mode, which allows you to transform the selected section of the region, where the city will then be built. This mode also allows players to create natural disasters such as volcanic eruption and a number of others. Even in the first games of the series, players were amused by the opportunity to send a gadzilla or an earthquake to an objectionable city and watch how everything collapses and dies.
Mayor mode is the planning, construction and management of the city. The construction of roads, streets, metro lines, bus stops, railway stations will fall on your shoulders. You will also have to deal with the exchange of resources with neighboring cities, garbage collection, medicine, and so on.
However, the fifth part of the game came out damp and in many respects did not justify the hopes of the fans.
3. ANNO
The first game in the series called Anno 1602 came out back in 1998 / The series also includes Anno 1503, Anno 1701, Anno 1004, Anno 2070.
The action of the first game of the series takes place in a new time. Under your control is the construction of colonies and resource management on the archipelago of small islands of the new world.
There is the possibility of research, trade, diplomacy, but to a greater extent the game is focused on the economic component, and you won’t have to fight much there. But you will have to constantly increase income and expand to neighboring islands. And what did you expect? Enemies are on the alert, and the faster your colony reaches a certain population level, the more opportunities and unique tasks will open up for you.
These and other features made the game memorable and unlike other representatives of the genre, which allowed Anno acquire an army of loyal fans and pave the way for playing the now popular online game.
The last part of the game, which went online and became completely free, uses the concept of the classic first part. But thanks to the Internet, the possibilities of the game have increased - now players can wage trade wars among themselves, compete in the level of development of their colonies, and much more.
The game is now completely free, you can play it right in your browser. More about the game Anno Online read my review.
2. Settlers
In the second part of the most popular series of city-building simulators, the authors polished the gameplay and improved the graphics many times over in comparison with the debut project, which was released many years earlier.
The game made a splash thanks to several innovative gameplay elements. Units don't need to be told what to do. Instead, the player's task is to provide the necessary number of buildings and resources.
Needless to say, the economic model in Setlers is many times more detailed and deeper than that of other representatives of the genre, providing multi-level production chains made with German pedantry. The Settlers game even marked the beginning of the so-called economic strategy of the German school. It also includes "Anno" And "Patrician".
All this, as well as multiplayer battles, make this meditative strategy worthy of your attention and guarantee its place in the hall of heroes of fame.
Read more about the Setlers Online game in my review.
1.Strong hold
In addition to the obvious military component, an important part in the games of the series Stronghold is the economy and the balance of many factors. So very important in the game is popularity. The higher the trust of the settlers in you, the faster the number of peasants increases. When popularity falls below half, your inhabitants begin to flee, and there is no one to work in the fields. Popularity can be increased by reducing taxes, expanding the diet, building temples and taverns.
Practically all these actions have at the same time a negative effect - the devastation of the treasury, barns, and even drunkenness, which reduces labor productivity. Of course, you can always build a gallows and other visual structures to motivate the population to work better and faster. But then the popularity will fall, and a dilemma arises that can be solved in various ways.
But still the game is not about that, but about the garden and defense. Troops can take up positions on towers and move along walls, firing at the enemy below.
The player can also start a fire or an epidemic in the enemy's country. Thus, at our disposal is the widest arsenal of tactical and strategic possibilities. How to achieve victory is up to you!
Not so long ago, following modern trends, Stronghold moved online, becoming shareware. Read more about this game in my review.
The community of your dreams.
TRANSLATION FROM ENGLISH:
Olkhovoi Dmitry - Reviews, Preface, Chapters 4‑5, 7‑8, 10‑12, 14‑18,
Applications.
Zagoruiko Oksana – Introduction, Chapters 1‑3, 9.
Bolgare Diana – Chapter 6.
Olkhovy Pavel - Chapter 13.
REVIEWS ABOUT THE BOOK:
Before you, burning with the bright ideals of community life, hold the first meeting of your group,
meet your first realtor and drive your first nail, be sure to read this
important book: it will increase your chances of success immeasurably and will definitely save you
money, time and mental strength. In a friendly but firm (and sometimes funny) way, Diana Christian
offers an amazing amount of practical information and sound, tried and tested advice.
Hooray! Here is the latest, most comprehensive bible for builders of alternative settlements. She
covers all aspects of the problem with vital information and dozens of examples of how
successful communities overcame obstacles and realized their dream of a new life. Cautionary
stories of bitter bad experiences and how settlements fall apart will help avoid a repeat
others' mistakes. Ever since I wrote the preface to Ingrid Komar's Living the Dream (1983)2,
telling about the Twin Oaks community, I have never met such a useful and inspiring
books on this topic.
Eras"3.
A really valuable guide for anyone who dreams of creating an alternative settlement.
I wish I had something like that years...twenty years ago!
A long-term resident of an alternative settlement.
1 Ernest Callenbach , “Ecotopia” and Ecotopia Emerging.
2 Ingrid Komar, "Living the Dream".
3 Hazel Henderson Creating Alternative Futures” and" Politics of the Solar Age” .
4 Starhawk, Webs of Power , "The Spiral Dance" and "The Fifth Sacred Thing".
Every potential eco-settler should read this. This book will be the most important
guide and guide for many Permaculture activists living in communities or
doing projects for them.
Bill Mollison, co-founder of the Permaculture movement, author of Permaculture:
Designer's guide 5.
Creating a new culture of living in peace with each other and with nature is our number one need.
And here is the right book at the right time! "Creating Life Together" will help organizers of communities
avoid fatal mistakes. I can't wait to tell people about it.
Hildur Jackson, co-founder of GEN (Global Ecovillage Network), editor of the almanac "Life
In an ecovillage: the revival of the Earth and its people”6.
"Creating a Life Together" is an all-encompassing, exciting, practical, well
an organized and fully applicable labor of love. God grant that the masses of the blazing bright
images of the founders and fans of ecovillages discovered it for themselves before they started their
adventure, and avoided the meaningless and sometimes so painful lessons that arise from trying
reinvent the wheel. This book is a gift to mankind, facilitating the movement towards such a difficult
achievable ideal of the community, providing fuel for a quantum leap to a flourishing, just and
sustainable future.
Jeff Kozny, producer and editor of the video almanac "Images of Utopia: Experiments towards
sustainable culture”7.
Anyone could build a village, town or housing estate, but the big problem is to fill them
people who can get along with each other, come to an agreement and together really achieve
more than one by one. If you still decide to go down this path - and this amazing book
show how, then perhaps you have a real chance to start living sustainably and by example
change this world. Every day I admire this all-encompassing, practical and
exciting guide.
Albert Bates, Director of the Ecovillage Training Center and International Secretary of the Ecovillage Network
America8.
Creating a successful community requires a special mix of imagination and practicality,
woven together by wisdom. You can think of this book as a magic mirror. If her
exhaustive, experiential practicality fascinates you, which means you probably have
enough wisdom to make your dream come true.
Robert Gilman, founder and editor of sustainable culture quarterly almanac In
So many communities with the best intentions fail because they don't know not only where
seek answers, but also what questions to ask. This book offers a rich and detailed
information that can help settlements understand what is more true in their particular situation, and
significantly increase their chances of success.
Katherine McCamant, homeowner, architect and project manager,
INTERPRETER FOREWORD.
5 Bill Mollison, Permaculture: A Designer's Manual .
6 Hildur Jackson, Ecovilage Living: Restoring the Earth and Her People .
7 Geoph Kozeny, “Visions of Utopia: Experiments in Sustainable Culture”.
8 Albert Bates, Ecovillage Training Center, Ecovillage Network of the Americas.
9 Robert Gilman, “In Context” , Ecovillages and Sustainable Communities.
10 Kathryn McCamant, “Cohousing” .
When in April 2005 I came to the Anastasievskaya ecovillage Rodniki, I didn’t really think about it.
that to create a full-fledged living alternative settlement, something more is needed than
just "come to earth and settle there." I didn't look at the people who were supposed to be
my neighbors and co-workers, nor the relations, customs and conventions that have developed between them (and
equals the absence of any), neither on the financial conditions, nor on the legal documents of the future settlement
- I just arrived, stuck a peg in the ground, set up a tent and stayed there to live. So hot
was my longing for my own land and my freedom, which I did not see in city life,
that nothing else mattered to me. I was not looking for a settlement, I was not looking for authentic
like-minded people - I was just looking for a land where I could live, which could become my home.
And the first six months after I built my first house on my own land, I was happy.
Without all these urban artificial complexities, without years of work and mortgages, without a million papers.
- simply thanks to my determination, perseverance, my hands and the help of loved ones, I became the owner
his House and his own piece of the Motherland. Probably happiness always accompanies those who remain
faithful to his dream and brings it to the end.
However, already in the second or third year of my life in Rodniki, it became clear that to build my own house and
to build a living settlement where I could live and work surrounded by friends and like-minded people is
two big differences. To create a settlement requires the concerted efforts of many people, it is necessary
a certain reasonableness and purposefulness, the ability to agree with each other, understanding is needed
the laws by which human societies develop. None of this was in Rodniki. People
came to the settlement, expressed a bunch of grandiose ideas, started doing something, came across
misunderstanding and opposition of neighbors, unsuccessfully tried to negotiate, quarreled and cursed,
disappointed and left. And in the sixth year of life in the "settlement" I felt the same
a hermit, "a stranger in a foreign land", as in the first. After seven years of existence, the "settlement"
consisted of 11 people, mostly elderly single women. No production, no
there was no school, no management system, no clear rules in the fields. It was the Wild West, where everyone
tried to survive in his own way and defend his personal interests, and a clear understanding of why we
here gathered together, no one had.
Today, six years after my arrival in Rodniki, the situation with the organization of the Anastasiev
settlements have changed little. Of course, those landowners who settled on their land from the very beginning and
over these 5-7 years we have gone through all conceivable and inconceivable “grinding” and conflicts, now it is already very
seriously think about such things as the community, the charter, uniform rules, common agreements,
financial transparency, equal distribution of power and responsibility, etc. These people start
be interested in the experience of the Ark and other successful settlements, begin to analyze and look for
patterns. However, newcomers - all those who today come to existing settlements "to look for their
land”, as well as the overwhelming majority of the organizers of new settlements – both Anastasievsky and
others, they still think today exactly as I thought in 2005: the most important thing is a good land, and all
the rest is “applied”. If you manage to find a picturesque site on the southern slope on the shore of a mountain
lakes - then everything else does not matter. Even if it turns out that out of 100 people who took hectares
your neighborhood, no one will ever be your friend.
As a result, the first step, from which the organizers begin the creation of the settlement, is the search for land.
The more beautiful the place, the more you want to think, the greater the chance of success. And few people think that
in reality, everything can be just the opposite: the more beautiful the land, the more
passive investors who want to profitably invest their funds in attractive real estate and
not at all in the mood to do something on their estate and live in it. While the relatively inconspicuous
land (as in the Ark or in SvetoRus), the victims of the “hectare temptation”, as a rule, are bypassed,
leaving room for really active settlers… Who would have thought?..
it will be populated by permanent residents, and not vice versa?
Who would have thought that in those settlements where there are strict rules and everyone is cut the same
plots, people will be happier and live more peacefully than in the settlements where the
freedom, and everyone can take as much land as he wants?
And who would have thought that those beautiful people with kind views, singing inspirational
songs about the bright future of New Russia, and so loving nature and animals, will turn out to be so
irresponsible, selfish, mercantile neighbors and simply inadequate people when it comes to
will it come to resolving the issue of the behavior of their dogs on the territory of the ecovillage? Who would have thought that
some question about dogs will split the settlement into two irreconcilable camps and bring the former
like-minded people to open hatred for each other?
But such imperceptible, at first glance, but, nevertheless, statistically inexorable
There are a lot of regularities in the creation of alternative settlements. And, most surprisingly,
the same "rake" is repeated from time to time in a variety of settlements, even those that are
on different continents and inhabited by people of seemingly completely different cultures! And so,
it turns out that many of those who participated in the experiments of building a new, happy life left us
interesting, lively descriptions of all these difficulties, problems, searches, successful and unsuccessful solutions,
through which they had to go. It turns out that people were interested in the question of how to build
successful, happy, sustainable society, a very, very long time ago. There's already a lot on this subject. written! - Not
only beautiful ideas, but also real experience! And, as with everything, there are all sorts of stories here - and
glorious victories and crushing defeats. Looking at them, we can with a sigh of disappointment
say: “Well, since people have been trying for so long, and there is still no paradise on earth, then we have nothing
come out!”, or we can straighten our shoulders with inspiration and rush into battle: “If at least
one out of ten, so it's possible!"
The same knowledge can be the salvation of one who persistently strives for victory, and
a concrete excuse for his own failure for someone who does not dare to take another step forward.
How important it is to defend your exclusivity, repeat thousands of mistakes, but still find a solution
yourself? How important is it to achieve what you want quickly and effectively? Ultimately, everyone
chooses answers to these questions; our task is to convey news that for someone
it can be life-saving:
Successful experience in creating alternative settlements exists, and there are even
descriptions of the path to it, down to specific steps. And if you listen to the voice of those who passed
before us, we can start our own journey without crawling through the thorny
wire, but standing on the shoulders of giants.
When I first opened Diana Christian's book in 2009, I was amazed. I had this
all our conversations about sore. I open some paragraph "Typical mistakes when creating
ecovillages” and I see a list of six items, where our Rodnikovskaya is described one by one
case ... "- and I get the feeling that the one who wrote this overheard the showdown on our last
assembly. I open the paragraph “Here’s How Successful Settlements Do It” and read the word in
the word is what the guys from the Ark persistently tried to convey to me. And it's all written by a man
who had never been to Russia and at that time had not yet read any of Maigret's books!
There were a lot of similar things. So much so that it immediately became clear that the book was a must.
convey to our Russian eco-settlers. And especially because the author is not at all limited
describing these problems so well known to us - the author writes very, very specific things about what
you can do with them! What they did with them, how they were solved by those settlements that are considered successful. AND
although the differences between “us” and the “West” also turned out to be quite a few, the very vision of these differences turned out to be
surprisingly useful - both for understanding people with "unorthodox views" within the
Anastasiev’s movement, and for understanding “where our country is heading” and where it will go
and the government.
And so, we delved into this text and began to work with it.
In the process of working on the translation, I saw many interesting and important points that affect
the development of ecovillages, which I had little thought about before. First of all, I saw a fundamental difference in
motivation - why people create alternative settlements - here in Russia and there in the West.
The dream of almost every citizen I know who is interested in the topic of ecovillages is
whether he read Megre's books or not, is to become the Master, the self-sufficient sole ruler of
his land, who himself decides all economic and political issues so that "these guys from above"
he is "no longer a decree." So we all got tired of the Soviet coercion, collectivization and leveling,
that "I AM!!!" becomes simply a painful necessity for any man who has more
unbearable "be silent in a rag." And so the image of a self-sufficient family estate, in which "everything
mine" and where I let "only my own", becomes the ultimate dream.
In the West, as it turned out, everything is different. All this American Dream, the age-old cult of the "strong
men” and this very “I AM!!!”, the cult of private property, “my house is my fortress” has reached
such a limit, when people simply forgot how to communicate with each other, lost the meaning of this communication.
Neighbors practically do not communicate with neighbors, do not go to visit. As they say, in the morning "Hi!", in the evening
“Bye! » 11 A neighbor, another person, another man, another woman, already at a subconscious level, cannot
perceived otherwise as a rival, competitor, another hidden contender for my space, my
land, my husband, my success... And under these conditions, the idea that possible to live peacefully and happily
TOGETHER!, sounds like unexpected, like revolutionary, like utopia: again these unfinished commies12..." AND
this idea is live together - becomes a cornerstone in the ideology of the American counterculture,
alternatives and eco-settlers. If the average American householder (especially if he managed to
11 Quote from a letter from a Russian woman living in an American village. Source -
http://shkolazhizni.ru/archive/0/n-43797.
12 Communists, commies (Amer. slang).
pay off his loans) to say: “We are for a self-sufficient family estate!”, he will not understand
chips: “I HAVE my own land, I am self-sufficient!” But if you say "We will live TOGETHER in a circle
like-minded people, close people "- this will be Idea!
In a sense, we can say that the West is ahead of us, and in order to understand the whole
the deep meaning of this strange desire be together , create together , to build houses group, by
neighborhood, we first need to play enough in our commonwealths of family estates in full
independence and the Wild West with cool cowboys and revolvers. As one of our landowners said,
Does Rodniki need a Common House? Of course you need it! After all, if there are only generic
estates where everyone will be self-sufficient, then where can we boast to each other,
who is more self-sufficient than whom? There must be some neutral territory, a kind of saloon, where everyone
self-sufficient cowboys can get together on an equal footing, flaunt chrome revolvers and
tame bears, to measure their heroic strength, make a brawl, break dishes and
fraternally chip in to pay for it ... Otherwise ... What's the use of the fact that you are your own master,
if no one ever finds out about it?
But, probably, it may also turn out that in some ways Russia is ahead of the West, because people who understand from
There are more “Green Books” than others who will be able to experience in a new way their connection with their piece
land - not like own , but how complicity And responsibility for this land.
History does not like extreme and final decisions, and each new generation, each new
civilization in its own way prioritizes these eternal questions - his And public , myself or
together. And today every eco-settler has a chance to try, to experience several possible
options and give your answer.
Another difference between the West and Russia, which impressed me very much, is that there, in Europe and
America, there are no Maigret books , but in different parts of the planet people still have amazing
unanimously create their own little "societies of the Future" and just like our eco-settlers, with
at first glance, they distinguish each other in the crowd, they recognize “their own”. How do they do it, how do they know that
this man here is "ours" if they can't ask him " Have you read Anastasia?"? If not
there is some formal symbol, a sign by which one could recognize
like-minded people? I was at the European Ecovillage Conference in Portugal and saw with my own eyes,
How does this happen. They recognize each other by the style of clothing, by their eyes, by intonation, by unknown
from where the sympathy that arises, by some kind of synchronicity of thoughts - they recognize each other on
non-verbal level, at the level of feelings, and for this you do not even need to know a common language. I've been through it myself
a magical feeling of closeness, synchronism with people of various nationalities - Germans,
Italians, Slovenes, Americans ... As soon as we saw each other, we already understood that this person -
close, one of us...
Any ideas written in the best book can be distorted, turned into dogma and
used to divide all people into "correct practitioners" and "enemies", "misguided ones". Can
set up an official website of the Movement and post there guidelines on how to
understand idea, and what understanding is considered substitution of images. You can break spears for years about how
save the movement from substitutions or figurative period errors. You can choose as your neighbors those who
read ALL books and drew a plan of the estate - and still make a cruel mistake. But this is amazing
a feeling of recognition, this love at first sight, this synchronism of thoughts and feelings - I really
it's hard to imagine that THIS may lead that THIS capable of being wrong. And it seems to me that if
we in our settlements, choosing those who will live nearby, looked not at what kind of books a person read, but
listened to this feeling of closeness, we would live much more harmoniously.
Finally, the third important thing that Diana Christian's book revealed to me is the clear
convex panorama of what is the notorious private ownership of land , which today
so much propaganda, including the Anastasievites themselves. When you read the arguments about what
tricks should be resorted to so that the bank will have mercy and give the group a loan to buy land when, as
taken for granted, one hears the idea that the community provides its needy
members money at interest , When as a successful solution describes a situation where the community was able to
pay off your debts in the 12th or 18th year - it is very difficult to keep from shuddering and
disgust. However, this is the reality in today's United States - almost any purchase
real estate is carried out through a private loan (at best) or a bank loan. From all
of the total amount that the buyer pays for the land, up to 2/3 (!!!) goes to banks in the form
credit interest, i.e. whoever buys land from whom and for what purpose will benefit the most from this
the bank that will finance the purchase. And it is easy to buy land for available cash
turns out to be unrealistic. And, of course, we should not forget that up to 10% of the property price
will receive another realtor - a person who was hired by the seller to find such profitable buyer, How
And land prices are constantly growing, and much faster than inflation, for a banal reason: every
of the proprietors who bought their few acres at such an expense of sweat, blood and tears,
Naturally, he wants to at least get his money back when selling. Suppose the market price of the land was
$200,000. But to buy it, I had to take out a loan and pay 200,000 to the seller and another 200,000
bank. Is it possible that after this a person will agree to cede his hard-earned property for less than
400000? In addition, when selling, 10% will have to be given to the realtor, which means that, again, nothing
lose, you need to raise the price to 444000! And then, do not forget about inflation: 400 thousand,
received today is not the 400 thousand that I spent a few years ago. So it would be good
Throw some more interest!
And it's only natural desire to compensate actually incurred expenses! What
let's talk about those who are also trying to make money on resale? So, without any malicious intent,
every 10-15 years land prices more than double.
Is it necessary to guess who benefits from such a system? How long does it take to understand that
lose in this situation both buyers and sellers because the one who sold the old house needs
same will now buy a new one! And yet, this whole system continues to be preserved, because somewhere
the American dream of "rich dad" Robert Kiyosaki continues to live in the subcortex of every American -
get rich solely by investing in profitable real estate. If real estate prices
will not grow, where will there still be that win-win stability in which it will be possible to invest money
and easily earn a stable income?
I dwell on this issue in such detail for one simple reason: Russia now ... no, not
goes, or rather, rolls along the same path. We already have a lot of places sold to resellers
former collective farm and state lands, we also have a mortgage, and land prices are already
grow 10 times not in 20 years, but in just 3-4 years. And we already hear the same tempting slogans:
“If you want stability, invest in real estate!” I don't know if anyone is in control of this process
consciously, or is it just natural inertia, but, as in the United States, the only side that this
really profitable, obviously. Will we Russians support this system? Will we fight for
private ownership of land or will we find another, more humane and generally useful option? Will we
cherish the American dream of becoming a "rich dad" or find a way to get rich at the expense of our neighbors? We will
whether to take mortgage loans and support the banking system? Here is another historical choice,
faced by today's eco-settlers.
So, about all this -
how to create not just a self-sufficient estate, but a vibrant community, strong
team, a new model of relations, a new culture;
how to realize idealistic dreams in existing tight financial,
legal and economic conditions, how to combine "physics" and "lyrics";
how to reveal the true intentions of people gathered in one group, and under what
conditions they will be able to create a single settlement;
what can unite people more strongly than shared books;
how to prevent and how to solve typical problems of ecovillages and
alternative communities;
how to find "your" people and how to resolve conflicts without making anyone guilty?
how our American construction comrades live and breathe
a happy future, and in what we are more fortunate than them -
with great love and healthy humor tells the book "Creating Life Together" -
the result of summarizing the vast experience of various settlements and communities.
Starting work on the book, we proceeded from the fact that we are preparing an applied edition for
a specific circle of people - the creators of Russian ecovillages and communities. It is this one - applied -
approach determined some of the features of our translation, which I would like to talk about.
1) Clarity of thought is more important than literal translation. While working on the text, we aimed to
in order, first of all, to thoroughly understand the idea of the author, and then convey this idea in the most appropriate
in Russian words, even if the final phrase did not literally coincide with the source. In the original text
there were many places that, with a literal translation into Russian, could be interpreted
ambiguous or not understood at all. In such cases, we have tried to reformulate the proposal in such a way that
so that the meaning becomes unambiguous, somewhere by inserting additional explanatory words, somewhere,
on the contrary, reducing too bulky designs. In places where there were questions we didn't
could decide on their own and with the help of Yandex, I asked questions by e-mail personally to Diana
Christian and received detailed explanations.
Although, with all this, our translation is by no means free - it is quite literal as
in terms of matching the specific sentences of the original to the specific sentences of the translation, and
2) Clarification of the incomprehensible and immersion in culture. Differences between American and
Russian cultures are inevitably reflected in the language, and not every English word is easily
choose a match even simply because in our reality there are many phenomena that
well known in the USA. And if we give in translation simply transcriptions of words denoting such phenomena,
– Consensus Facilitator, CSA Pharm, Multilisting Service, Developer, Land Trust, Suite
lodge, etc. - without explaining the meaning of all these terms, then a lot of “black holes” would form in the text,
because of which the readability of the book as a whole would have deteriorated significantly. Therefore, to give the text
maximum transparency, we had to immerse ourselves in the study of a wide variety of areas
life - from the device of an autonomous sewerage of a country house to the administrative structure of the United States,
from the history of the United States to the specific slang of American alternatives, the community
activists and New Agers. To clarify unknown words, we used a wonderful dictionary
ABBY Lingvo, the all-pervading Yandex, Wikipedia and many other websites - both Russian and
English-speaking - and, in the most extreme cases, wrote letters with questions to Diana herself, the author of the book. Bottom line
this work became one and a half hundred footnotes, which, as we want to believe, are successfully
will serve as a bridge between cultures and allow the reader to significantly expand their horizons.
I write more about the translation of some particularly significant and complex terms below.
3) Small reductions in specifically American realities. We thought for a long time
whether to translate the whole book or omit some chapters. The fact is that the situation with the acquisition of land,
legal registration and financing of ecovillages in Russia and the United States is very different (in
USA - for the "worse" side), and if you write an applied manual for Russian organizers
realities, in our conditions will be not only useless, but, perhaps, even harmful. Therefore, at first
we thought that since our text is applied in nature, there is no point in wasting time on translation
reasoning about what type of corporation is more suitable for registering a community as a legal
person in terms of taxation, or where and how to find a bank loan on acceptable terms (because
without a loan, land prices in the United States are unaffordable for many groups). However, the more I
read all this and was horrified at the enslaving conditions in which our American
brethren with all their mortgages and private ownership of land, the more I realized that
to keep silent about it, too, the language does not turn. After all, many Russians seriously say that
want to live “like in the West” and have a very poor idea of what it really means. Therefore, in
Ultimately, I decided to keep most of the financial and legal issues. Some part
of what has been written on this topic will really be useful to Russian eco-settlers, and some of it will simply
will allow you to feel “how they live in the West” and see how blessed the conditions for
we have, in Russia, the creation of ecovillages. In the final version of the text, we completely omitted
only one chapter 16 and made several small cuts in the text of other chapters - i.e. removed cleanly
technical points (what articles of American laws to apply, how to bypass them, etc.). At the same time, everything
places of abbreviations were marked with the sign <...> so that, if necessary, you can contact
original and find the missing place. So it is possible to consider the translation authentic here as well.
There were several moments that caused particular difficulties in translation and forced a long and
it was painful to choose between several options, none of which seemed ideal. ABOUT
I would like to mention some of them here in order to answer the possible bewilderment on the part of those
readers who consider the chosen option not the best.
1) intentional community- the key concept of the entire book, which has no analogue in Russian.
Literally, it translates as “target community”, “community with intention”, “idea community”
- all literal variants in Russian, in my opinion, sound either clumsy or too exotic and
do not give rise to a direct association with “a group of people who have chosen to live together for the sake of realizing a common idea of
right way of life and a desirable future. The closest in meaning of the Russians known to me
concepts that evoke a more or less clear image in the head, an “alternative community” and
"alternative settlement", and although these phrases are not an exact translation, they are much more accurate
convey a picture, an idea, and therefore we decided to leave them in the text. Sometimes when it suits
meaning, we translated intentional community just like "community".
2) cohousing. The double complexity of this concept is due to the fact that it is not in itself
the original American term, but is a tracing paper or a translation from the Danish original,
which, as Mikhail Shestero, who studied English-language literature on cohousing, told me, literally
translated into Russian as "living community". English same word cohousing literally means
"joint construction", "joint household". Any Russian tradition in the translation of this
the concepts were also not found - books on cohousing have not been translated into Russian, we found on the net
the only Russian-language site on this topic - and even that was compiled by the same volunteer without
linguistic experience, just like us.
ideological trend, to convey the meaning of the name and preserve the harmony, we, in the end
