solarpunk-anarchists-cookbook

[solarpunk-anarchists-cookbook]

This is the first post of what will probably become something of a manifesto.

I'm a person who is tired. I'm tired of being an economic slave. I'm tired of continuing to live without a concept a sustainability and consumption.

I'm handy, knowledgeable and curious. I'm also lazy, and poorly self motivated. The fact that I'm even writing this all down is me trying to break free of that.

I want to work with other individuals who have similar views and goals that I have. I want to continue to learn and refine, and ultimately break free everywhere I can.

I want to minimize my impact to the planet, while improving my impact on the humans around me.

I want to generate my own power, capture my own water, process and minimize my own waste.

I want to live in a community of support and comraderie, while also maintaining some independence and privacy.

The challenges of these intersections is important to manage, however I want everyone to subscribe to a common view. I've joked that this will be the beginning of my cult, however my partner refers to it as an anti-cult commune. I want to give money back to the people who live here. And I don't want to have sex with all the women.

The cult aspect will ultimately come in the form of a donation, which I would rather have as a stakeholder loan. The land, the start-up resources, the things we can't produce or use on our own will all cost money. Money I don't have. Money, I don't want to be solely responsible for. If, instead it was arranged as a not-for-profit corporate partnership, we would all be vested stakeholder in this, and have a vested interest in its growth. I also believe with a reasonable financial plan, the stake holders would get their investments back.

There would be persistent costs, as is a result of simply existing in this country. Property taxes, fees, tariffs, logistical costs, etc. The land would need to hopefully be able to generate some form of revenue. Wether it be from re-selling energy back to the utility, sales of eggs, vegetables, etc, or other avenues I haven't thought of.

I want to recycle paper and cardboard in notebooks and paper, made right on this land. I want to sort plastics into their types, melt them down, mix them with crushed glass and extrude my own building materials.

I want to minimize how much we consume, maximize how much me know and do. I am an electrician by trade. I will wire every tiny home on this land, for only the cost of the materials, which I would attempt my very best to procure second hand. I want to lead by example. I want a gathering of the minds. I want to wire efficiently. I want to work with a plumber who could help me design and build a better system for minimizing water usage. Grey water, black water, pumps, pressure tanks, etc.

This is long enough. I will try to focus my ideas moving forward. Try to keep the posts as less of a ramble and more poignant.

I also want you, the reader, to learn about me. Maybe tap into this fire in me to be better. To break the chains of convenience, and apathy.

I want to rally some help around me. I live in western Canada, and I really want to make this a reality. I don't know everything. But I can know people, and through that, I can know so much more. Ask me questions, break down my ideas, give me new ideas, give me solutions to problems. Maybe we can collectively build something without the intent of monetization and exploitation.

Okay okay. I'm done.

K