idea.

Last edited Thu Feb 12, 2015, 12:05 PM - Edit history (1)

Montdragon Cooperative system (google it).

I wonder if this is connected to that?

And we in the US should consider these kinds of worker ownership systems.

Wait for it though . . . pure hardcore capitalists will howl any minute now that we can't go down that socialist road.

192 sq meters is a good sized home, not a shoebox by any means.

Definitely not a shoebox. My grandparents raised 6 kids in a house 2/3 that size.

the house where I was raised until 18 years old, with 8 kids total and 2 parents
was only 943 Sq. ft.

The 3 oldest boys, shared a bedroom with 2 beds, the 3 girls shared 1 bedroom
with 1 bed and bunk beds, and the 2 youngest boys shared 1 bed in a bedroom.

We had a basement, that we converted an area into a bedroom for the 3 oldest,
to accommodate the 2 youngest sleeping closer to the parents, but the basement
really wasn't living space, more storage, and tornado shelter.

we also need to get rid of ppl like the late j.p morgan who had a strangle hold on this country. id love to see a community like this in our country good luck to them

Potter's bank = j.p. morgan.

And is in between Grenada, Seville and Cordoba.

World's 10 best cities to retire on a budget

Malaga Spain:

Spain was hard hit by the global economic crisis, but that provides opportunities for those looking for real estate, which is in abundant supply. Malaga is the gateway to the Costa del Sol -- one of Spain's primary tourism regions. The city of more than 1 million people is both quaint and vibrant, with plenty of shops, museums and food "to die for." Spanish is the primary language, of course, but you can get by with English, too. Apartments and condos in the city center are relatively small by U.S. standards -- averaging a bit under 1,000 square feet. But a nice place can be had for $950 per month, and less if you're willing to live farther from the beach or the center of town. You can also move to one of the nearby seaside villages, where living is cheaper. Buses and trains into town are frequent and convenient.

http://www.cbsnews.com/media/worlds-10-best-cities-to-retire-on-a-budget/2/

I'm surprised Malaga is that expensive. If I'm going to put up with the negatives of being an expat in retirement, it will have to be in exchange for a substantially lower cost of living than in the U.S.

Thanks for the link! Some of the other places on that list seem worth checking out.

--$1600 Euros would work out fine.

Kudos for demonstrating (again) that social democracies work.

It’s taken a long, long time to recover.

There's no way they would let this happen, why, why -that's just pure socialism and doesn't punish folks for being poor.

Can't have that - no way.

there is little in our capitalistic system that would get a thumbs up from Christ.

They were quite nice. They had family living quarters but all shared a common kitchen. They shared all the latest farm equipment and were very successful farmers compared to their neighbor independent small farmers. They limit their size to 100-150 and then split into a new colony. They often buy out their neighboring farm's or acres.
This is an interesting Bible verse, even though I'm agnostic.

especially in this day and age when "prosperity gospel" preachers tell us that we can all get rich by donating to their "ministries."

could learn a lot from these people.

not a whole lot of disabled people though. There is no welfare system, you have to work if you want to get paid and its reasonably hard work.

Its worth noting that only one person per household is allowed to work. This means that family structures tend towards being traditional.

Also worth noting that there are still non communists living in the town from before the communists took over 30 yeas ago. Currently there is a two year waiting list and they are only interested in people who are prepared to work and participate as communists.

I think a lot of people think of this as some kind of funky gated community or something. Its not.

Bear in mind that they only won their land by occupying it from the landlords. Not sure how that would fly on good old du.

someone who could not work and needed a caregiver.

Having said that I think this is an experiment that does not allow for the real world. There are disabled and elderly everywhere.

until industrial capitalism came along. If any of us survive its demise then it will become the real world once more.

letting anyone who cannot work join. That is not the real world. And for many of them aging and disability will become a reality because of their work. To plan a community for the future one must take into account that reality unless they are planning on getting rid of anyone with the normal problems of life.

What are you getting at?

I'm touched to see the replies and recs on this thread--I've had the article in my browser tabs for a couple of days and hesitated to post it, thinking people here might think it was stupid. Sure, things about this city might be hard to scale, and there are limits to this kind of small-scale cooperation, but...it's also good to have dreams and see there are paths, and people walking on them.

Thinking about Marinaleda is one thing that cheers me up and gives me hope. That and the Kurdish communities in Rojava and the Zapatistas.

months ago: http://www.democraticunderground.com/10245442

But then I never get many recs. I guess I kind of suck at writing good titles to draw people in. It's an interesting concept and there are others out there. The first criticism thrown out is that these types of society will only work for small groups but I don't buy that. I think the bigger problem, as we see going back to the Paris Commune, is that people in power now are very reluctant to give it up.

I suck at writing titles!

These days, since the Bay Area is so dog-eat-dog economically, it is heartening to see a city existing in a spirit of cooperation. It gave me the feels.

elements of real life - aging and disabilities. I would like to see them included in this model. This model should be taken seriously as a replacement of our greedy corporations and capitalists - worker owned is the best way to go. For a replacement of a whole community I think it falls short.

and one I share as I have a father who was disabled due to his service in the Vietnam war. He was a young man (enlisted at 17 with parental signature) and managed to work 15 years in a factory after his military service before giving in to retirement. At the end he could only drive forklift as his disabilities worsened - but he was proud to be able to do that as long as he did.

I talk about the Venus Project a fair amount in here because it's one of the models that focuses on distribution of resources as needed. That seems like a far better system given the environmental challenges we are facing. We are literally destroying the planet in our quest for profit. Any new system I'd design would eliminate currency completely.