Transitioning To 'Rich by Association'
SHARED PROSPERITY
aligning with the principles & practices of 'ONE CLOAK' to achieve ethically sustainable economic security via communal union
In the fifth year of association, communitarians transition to participation in the sharing economy – the major building block of communal unions – sharing all with all, ‘holding all things in common’. Those who have aligned their lives with the previous four communitarian principles and practices, now make ready to adjust their contributions and consumption to align with the principle and practice of responsible stewardship of communal resources and provisioning services.
During this period, communitarians dedicate their time and attention to acquiring the knowledge and skill-base to enable them to contribute to the responsible management of local, regional and global shared ‘common’ wealth facilities, resources and equipment. Via the tutoring of those who have ‘proven’ right use of the ‘common purse’, novice communitarians now avail themselves of the opportunity to acquire the skills of ‘wise’ administration of the daily production and expenditure of both resources and labor.
The central objective is to skill all those in association with the communal unions to be accountable for ‘right use’ of all that sustains perpetual peace and shared ‘common’ wealth as well as contributes to the ability to support others to move into sustainable secure, communal union.
Transitioning from SEPARATIST economy to SHARED prosperity
Awareness of the literal destructive dead-end of secular separatist economies, is the key driver that generates the determination of communitarians to adapt their methods and modes of household, local, regional and global economic contribution and consumption ‘to hold all things in common’.
Through participation in ‘collaborative provisioning’, those advancing along the path toward ‘communal living and loving’, come to understand that sharing all that is held by networks of ‘common purse’, ‘common wealth’ unions made up of those practicing evolved social, economic and ecological principles, has the proven capacity to deliver sustainable economic security, for all, via the means of ‘rich by association’.
Aligning our lifestyle with collaborative production, (according to ability – talent & skill); and consumption, (drawing from a collectively-held pool of material resources, according to need), also sets in motion urgently needed demonstrations of economic organization able to curtail ‘wasting the world’.
For those who are conscious of the ancient guiding wisdom that relates the innate truth that the Earth does not belong to us – rather we belong to the earth, there is no escape from the reality nor the responsibility that as stewards of the planet, we do not have licence to close our eyes and pretend that we are blind to the consequences of unethical, exploitive and wasteful economic organisation. From the cradle to the grave, the way we produce and procure the goods and services needed to sustain ourselves and our children, affects every aspect of our domestic, livelihood, government and wider-world interactions with others who share this planet – our only home.
Every facet of our lives is founded and impacted by the administration, or lack thereof, of processes that regulate the quality and quantity of goods and services, produced and distributed, which either support or inhibit, restrict or otherwise obstruct life, liberty, and happiness. Without entitlement to access and participate in ‘efficient’, and thereby, stable economies founded on the principles and practices of accurately calculating the resources and services required to satisfy the needs of those counted as constitutional contributors and beneficiaries of this type of socially-just and ecologically sustainable economic organization; each of us is at the mercy of catastrophic tides of economic feast and famine, boom and bust.
Bringing Socioecological ECONOMIC SECURITY to Fruition
Through acquiring skills in collaborative provisioning processes, communitarians aligning their lifestyle and love-style with the aim of contributing and accessing ‘common wealth’ shared prosperity as the base of their economic support, soon realise that the suffering inflicted on people, animals and planet by chaotic, uncalculated economic structures, is entirely unnecessary, and thus curable.
Across the globe, more than 2 decades into the 21st Century, day after day, year in, year out, we see lack of entitlement to access and participate in stable life-supporting economies, inflicting the cruelest suffering upon billions. However as destructive and entrenched as the current chaotic use, waste and unfair distribution of the world’s resources, manifest; intelligent reason coupled to evaluations of planned ‘collaborative provisioning’, demonstrate that the scale of human misery, animal exploitation and environmental destruction, can be significantly reined in through collective organising and action by those who are skilled in ‘collaborative participatory governance of ‘common’ wealth provisioning – starting today – where we are.
During the process of transitioning to common contribution, stewardship and ownership via a system of allocated shares of life-sustaining resources, equipment and accommodations, communitarians come to understand that under current capitalist command and control of resources, environmental catastrophe has not a hope of being averted when this system of unregulated production and distribution depends on continual expansive growth for its very survival.
Likewise, those preparing to participate in ‘common purse’ communal living, recognise that the threatened collapse of our life-support systems is far-worse than famine, epidemic disease, war, pestilence or economic crisis; though in the near-future, current and future generations are likely to suffer the consequences of combinations of all, and more. However, if history tells us anything, it is that we can recover from these apocalyptic events; yet our collective chances of recovering from the loss of top-soil that leads to a deficit biosphere culminating in the demise of habitable climate, are null and void. ‘Green growth’ coupled to ‘robotics’ will also not save us or future generations from the pain and suffering of insufficient access to all that sustains life.
Responding to the call to 'Love-In-Action'
Every intelligent ethical person brave enough to open their eyes and actually acknowledge the dreadful suffering of people and animals, along with the massive pollution, waste and destruction inflicted on the planet in the pursuit of ‘economic growth’ at any cost; must arrive at the conclusion that the time for protests or rallies to install a political party opposed to another faction that promises, yet fails to deliver as always; is over.
Those who have modified their diets, personal character traits and habits, along with social relationship capacities, as well as, sexual draws and inclines to live and love to align with the first four principles and practices of communitarian union; in the fifth year of association, now demonstrate the comprehension that contribution to ushering in the promised era of perpetual peace born of shared birth-right access to all that supports life, liberty and happiness, begins with a conscious divorce of primitive social & sexual relations, economic formulars and environmental harvesting that no longer serve, people or planet.
Beyond the current corrupt profit-driven chaotic modes of production and dysfunctional unjust distribution that continually demands the make and remake of the nature of laborers and machines to work harder, faster and cheaper, regardless of the catastrophic socio-ecological impacts, lies the seeds of sanity waiting to be planted, watered, nourished and tended by those who ‘hold the consciousness of their true purpose’ to be gardeners – restorers and extenders of the earth.
Those who have advanced along the path to living and loving according to ‘communitarian principles’ are acutely aware that complaining and simply rehashing all that is wrong, will not materialize the social, economic and environmental-resource use and conservation reforms, urgently needed to bring people, animals and planet back from the brink of irreversible ruin.
Collaborative Grassroots demonstrations of Socio-economic Eco-Sustainable Shared Prosperity Projects
From the position of well-grounded recognition of ‘what is to be done’, communitarians are called to practical ‘Love-In-Action’, beginning with decisive collaborative grass-roots – from the ground-up, locally planned, regionally and globally networked ‘common wealth’ projects that bring to fruition, communal living facilities, eco-collaborative clean-green food production, MAKE clothing, footwear and furniture shared-production equipment workshop Hubs, renewable energy generation equipment installs, electric-vehicle transport fleets, contracted mine & land restoration, renewable energy generation and sustainable-building skill-training, etc.
If the mass of socioecological as well as animal right-to-life and liberty activists are to effect the changes demanded of the general population, governments and corporations that span the globe; on an individual and collective level, those conscious of the means of remediating the present trajectory – if they know the gears to engage to reverse, to back up and away from the cliff; then they must be prepared to lead by example.
First and foremost, those awakened to the path to perpetual peace through ‘common wealth’ shared prosperity for all, must put their money where their mouth is. By collectively pooling their funds, assets, time and talent, those ready, willing and able to live and love by evolved socio-ecological principles and practices, can successfully establish shared living and right livelihood projects able to deliver economic conditions that are socially just, while aligned with responsible ecological stewardship of land and sea.
For social, animal-right-to-life and environmental activists to collectively design and organize systems of production and distribution that are sustainable, all projects must begin at a local level, rather than allowed to be schemed and implemented by singular representative appointees or distant non-local committees. The traditional modes of top-down economic organisation that are ‘done’ for, and imposed on those who ‘toil’ must be vigilantly rooted out from within ‘common wealth’ provisioning project governance’ processes. These archaic slave and master driven, tyrannical dictates, take power away from those who are entitled to participate in economic determination.
Learning the ropes of Participatory 'Common Purse' Provisioning
Those embarking on the transition from separatist livelihoods and ‘self’ only consumption, to participation and entitlement to share in common purse provisioning, must from the outset, banish all thought and habit of indolent mental sloth that results in an unwillingness or lack of capacity to productively contribute to decision-making and practical implementation of ‘common’ wealth provisioning projects.
For the good of the whole, licence to be excused or ‘exempted’ from constructive contribution to collaborative production and distribution planning, must never be accepted. Likewise, laying blame or else passing the buck to others who are forced to lead because some are only willing to ride on the coattails of others, must never be allowed to substitute for actual involvement and satisfactory completion of assigned ‘work’ tasks.
Within the communal unions, everyone is expected to ‘shoulder the load’. For these reasons, there are no concession cards issued to those only willing to sit on the sidelines and heckle and criticize those who are actually ‘pulling the cart’ up the hill. From the fifth year of association and beyond, every communitarian, without exception, must, to the best of their natural and developed abilities, take on local as well as regional and global network, collaborative stewardship and leadership roles.
To be considered ‘eligible’ to reap the rewards of ‘common’ wealth provisions and services funds, those transitioning to ‘common purse’ economic support, are required to demonstrate readiness and capacity to responsibly steward collective resources for personal and collective use and consumption. This means drawing from the common purse only what is required to satisfy our immediate support needs, or a provisioning projects ‘next task’ material and labour components.
In practical terms, stewardship of communal resources involves requisitioning only the funds and stores of provisions such as food, accommodation, clothing, MAKE materials, tools and equipment, access to vehicles, as well as, reserves of skilled labour, as ‘needed’.
Entitlement to draw from the common pot of communal resources also demands that communitarians wisely allocate, and conservatively consume.
The process of ‘drawing from the common pot’ imposes the constitutional tenet that we only take what we need for the present, while resisting the impulse to take more than we require at that time, and in doing so, deny others a share of the common goods needed to preserve and enhance their lives also.
Beginning the Journey to Shared Economic Security
The fifth year of association sees communitarians embarking on personal and social development on multiple fronts. While the One Cloak tenet is practiced by common purse provisioning, the principles and practices of living simply, cleanliness, conservation, making and contribution are installed to provide the essential nourishment of the living breathing organism that is ‘common wealth’ shared prosperity.
These seven key principles and practices that constitute the tenet of ‘One Cloak’, combine to prepare those seeking to make a relatively smooth and successful transition from separatist living to communal living and loving.
Living Simply
The adaption to simple living is best understood and transitioned into, from the perspective of ‘minimalism’ – a lifestyle embracing reduction and simplification of material possessions with the goal of living more intentionally and purposefully, while making the best use of our time here on earth rather than fussing and chasing after ‘things’ that rot, rust and moth consume.
At its core, living simply so others can simply live, divorces the accumulation of things associated with the trivial traits of glamour that soon fade and go out of fashion. It is the recognition that minimizing our possessions provides us with more time to focus on pursuits that matter – things that last and have a positive impact on our lives as well as contribute to the betterment of current and future generations.
Cleanliness of Mind, Body & Environment
Merging into the lifestyle and love-style of common purse – communal union that lays the foundations for sharing all with all, with many, requires that communitarians ‘make habit’ the ‘One Cloak’ protective tenet of cleanliness, which includes conscious daily effort to ensure high standards of personal hygiene, along with modest grooming is practiced to the best of our ability and circumstances.
From both an individual and collective perspective, communitarians consider habits of inner and outer cleanliness essential identifiers of those aligned with the lifestyle and love-style of evolved social, economic and ecological principles and practices. For these reasons, communitarians make considerable effort to maintain both inner and outer purity.
Conservation
Aligning with the communitarian principle and practice of ‘One Cloak’, demands the conscious effort to contribute to maintenance, protection, preservation and stewardship of the planet as a whole.
In practical terms, the tenet of conservation requires communitarians to do everything they can to reduce consumption through sharing rather than buying, using and holding things for exclusive use. The principle and practice of conservation also requires that we repair rather than throw away, as well as, recycle, reuse and repurpose to prevent ‘wasting the world’.
Dedication to conservation also includes not wasting other people’s energies, life or share of entitled resources that support physical and mental health, fulfilment and continuance through achieving longevity.
MAKING to defeat waste & exploitation of PEOPLE & PLANET
Throughout the fifth year of association and beyond, communitarians adopt the practice of ‘toiling’ to clothe themselves. Under this principle, novice associates devote considerable time to acquiring skills to create quality, durable and practical clothing and footwear, as well as, learning furniture-making skills, along with creating basic natural skin and hair care products.
On the basis of ‘toiling’ consumption lessens. The principle and practice of Making is specifically designed to bring practical awareness of the harm caused to both people and planet through accepting and supporting sweat shop labour.
Contribution
Love-in-action is the chief motivator of contribution while serving as the vital component of the communitarian character as well as collective identity. Throughout the course of association, every communitarian integrates ‘contribution’ into their everyday routine and long-range life planning to execute both personal and collaborative missions and projects that better the conditions of current and future generations.
