Open Thoughts - 90's Friday Pt. II

A useful facet of the pilgrimage to Becka (10.14 / 7)

Villages all over America will know where their idiots are.

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by: Timbuk3 @ Fri Aug 27, 2010 at 16:24:22 PM UTC

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The co-op idea is interesting, and so is bartering, (15.00 / 3)

but one has to really know the people that they're really involved with in order for them to really do that.  There was a great deal of experimental (communal and co-optal) living that often involved bartering back in the late 1960's and through much of the 1970's, which failed miserably.  So, in order to get that to work, it has to be done by people who really know, get along with, and like each other.  One of the reasons for the failure of 1960's-1970's experimental living was  due to the fact that many people went too far in adopting the "whole wide world as family" attitude, taking in whoever happened to come along,  often enough with disastrous results.   Plus many small communities also encourage "group thinking", which isn't necessarily and always the best thing either.  Excessive amounts of drug-taking and experimentation and all-too-frequent disputes about what type of food went into the refrigerator and/or pantry were the most common cause of these failures, as well.  

As a transplanted suburbanite who happens to prefer urban living and visiting the country from time to time, instead of the other way around,  I'm very satisfied with that kind of lifestyle.  

Thanks for your compliments about my sterling silver boxes, Youff.  It must've been painful to have to uproot oneself from a place that one grew up in, knew and loved.  Some people can handle that kind of heartache better than others, and I know that I could not have dealt with leaving the Boston area.  I stuck around the Greater Boston area through my own volition after finishing art school in the early 1980's, although I could've gone anywhere, since I've never had a family that ties me down, and I'm glad I did.

Regarding my sterling silver boxes,  the prices that I've charged for them over the years range from 75 dollars to around the 200.00's, depending on their size, shape, and the kind of design that I have on the lid, and how much material went into making the box, as well as labor.  Since I've learned to make them somewhat more efficiently, I've been able to bring the prices down some, which also helps.  The same goes with making a raised, textured sterling silver bowl.  Making a box or whatever for somebody for a year's supply of eggs or whatever, or any kind of bartering is an interesting idea.    I also might add that there are communities here in the city, in Boston, which also have a history of not being receptive to outsiders, which can also be a problem, although that may be changing in many respects, due to gentrification.

In our community, we now have a "Caring Committee", whose activities involve doing errands or whatever for people who're laid up due to illness or injury, consolation for people who're bereaved in some way or other, and a number of other things.  This Committee is relatively new.  

Thanks for your input, Youff.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

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by: mplo @ Sat Aug 28, 2010 at 10:50:05 AM UTC

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