WeltschmerztoUtopia

or:

AStudyofCommunalismasanAlternativetoExtinction

RobinEverett

FineArtPainting&Printmaking

TheGlasgowSchoolofArt

ContactTutor:Dr.RossBirrell

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Synopsis

Thisdissertationexamineshumankind’sturbulentrelationshipwiththenaturalworld,questioningthe

originsoftheseparationbetweenthehumanandnon‐humanworlds.Istudytheconceptoftheeco‐

commune as a potential avenue to salvation from a self‐engineered apocalypse, querying the

practical effectiveness of this nation‐wide; using information garnered from visits to Findhorn,

communication with members, as well as literature on this situation. Chapter 1 examines case

studies demonstrating the destructive capabilities of early humanity. From this I investigate the

myriadofpossibilitiesforthe causeofthisbifurcation.Chapter2 isconcernedwiththeexploration

intotheeffectsofuse‐valueandexchange‐valuethatisplaceduponthenon‐humanworld,examining

capitalismand itsby‐productsandtheeffectthishasupon interactionandconsumption.Chapter3

contains the presentation of self‐reliant sustainable communities, examining in particular the

FindhornEcovillage. Finally,Chapter4questions thehuman reaction to suchproposalsand studies

the theoriesbehind the formationof societies. Lookingat thewritingsof key figures in these fields

spanning several centuries such as E. F. Schumacher, Thomas Hobbes, and Joel Kovel, this essay

examinesinitiativesandproposalsforaself‐reliantsustainablefutureandquestionsthepossibilityof

apotentialauto‐extinction.

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Contents

ImageList 4

Introduction 5

Chapter1

1.1AHistoryofViolence:FromHunter‐GatherertoUrbanCultivator 8

1.2TheConsequencesofOpportunisticAffluence 9

1.3TheElevationofHumansbytheCreationoftheDivine 13

1.4ReintegrationThroughEcocentrism 14

Chapter2

2.1CapitalismisCannibalism:TheValueintheUseofUseValue 18

2.2SubversionintheShiftandAggressioninResponse 19

2.3ZenAffluence:UnparalleledMaterialPlenty 20

2.4Steady‐StateSociety 22

Chapter3

3.1MakingSalvationOvert:Eco‐CommunalisminPractice 25

3.2TheConstantIdealofCommunalismThroughTime 26

3.3TheBruderhofCommunity:ChristianAnti‐Capitalism 27

3.4TheFindhornFoundation 29

3.5Findhorn’sRelianceontheCapitalistExistence 32

Chapter4

4.1AGrandScaleSurvival:TheCommune’sNotionoftheCommonsNation‐Wide 35

4.2Locke’sThirdPartyFallsVictimtotheHobbesianLeviathan 36

4.3RousseauandtheRecalcitrantMasses

37

Conclusion 40

Glossary 43

Appendix 44

Bibliography 45

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ImageList

Image Page

Figure1:Photographfromthemid‐1870sofapileofbuffaloskulls.

http://papershake.blogspot.com/2011/10/tragedy‐of‐american‐bison.html (accessed

10//02/2012)

10

Figure 2: Map demonstrating the area covered by the ‘Fertile Crescent’ of ancient

Mesopotamia, http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/HarranPlains/ (accessed

10/02/2012)

11

Figure3:Satellitephotographstaken9yearsapart,demonstratingtheintensive irrigation

of the desert landscape to cultivate cotton crops in the Harran Plains of south‐eastern

Turkey,http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/HarranPlains/(accessed10/02/2012)

12

Figure4:Satellitephotographstaken135daysapartdisplayingtheextenttowhichthe

irrigationoftheHarranPlainshasdecimatedthesurroundingvegetation.

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/HarranPlains/(accessed10/02/2012)

12

Figure4:AphotographshowingtheEarthshipstructureinKinghorn,Fife.

http://www.sead.org.uk/wp‐content/uploads/home_earthship.jpg(accessed10/02/2012)

31

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Introduction

When a species, owing to highly favourable circumstances, increases inordinately innumbers ina small tract,epidemics–at least, this seems generally tooccurwithourgame animals – often ensue; and here we have a limiting check independent of thestruggleforlife.–CharlesDarwin,OntheOriginofSpecies1

This dissertation is being written in the wake of one of the most exhaustive financial crises

experienced by contemporary humanity, rivalling that of the Great Depression. The world stood

witnessastheentireglobaleconomycontractedonascalenotseensinceWorldWarII.Themajority

of modern society under capitalist rule is choked with debt, battling ever‐increasing prices for

commoditieswhilstsufferingdevastatingnumbersofunemployment2.Withtheimminentcollapseof

the Greek economic infrastructure, bankruptcy hanging heavy around the nation’s neck, there are

veins of dissent emerging, hinting towards the fall of the Western world. However, despite such

inauspicious conditions, the planet’s population also bore witness to the birth of the 7 billionth

memberofourever‐expansivenumber.In1960theWorldBankcollectionofdevelopmentindicators

showedtheworldpopulationtobemarginallyover3billion3and,byjustunderhalfacenturylater,in

2009thatnumberhadmorethandoubledtoapproximately6.7billion,showinga123.33%increase.

Theexponentialgrowthdisplayedbythesefigures,whencoupledwithstatisticspresented innoted

eco‐socialistandpolitician4JoelKovel’s2007polemicagainstCapitalistsocietyTheEnemyofNature:

TheEndofCapitalismorTheEndoftheWorld,shedslightonatroublingstateofaffairs:

• Oilconsumptionrisingfrom46millionbarrelsadayto73million• Human carbon emissions increasing from 3.9 million metric tons annually to an

estimated6.4million–thisdespitetheadditional impetustocutbackcausedbyanawarenessofglobalwarming,whichwasnotperceivedtobeafactorin1970

• Naturalgasextractionincreasingfrom34trillioncubicfeetperyearto95trillion• Coalextractionrisingfrom2.2billionmetrictonnesto3.8billion• Thedegradationof40%ofagriculturalsoils• Speciesvanishingataratethathasnotoccurredin65millionyears.5

These figures were gathered between 1970 and 2000 in the genesis of what could be titled the

‘environmentallysensitive’age.Sincethen,thecrackshavedeepenedinthefacadeofcontemporary

society,proliferatingfromaconscientiousfewtoanoutragedmajority,adoptingtherecentmoniker

of the ‘99%’. With the advent of this data, the front of capitalist affluence reigning eternal

1CharlesDarwin,OntheOriginofSpecies,inDerekWall,GreenHistory,p.110 2IntheUnitedKingdombyDecember2011unemploymenthadrisento2.67million,thehighestsincein1994.–‘UKUnemploymentContinuestoEdgeUp’,BBCBusinessNews,15/02/2012,http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business‐17039513(accessed15/02/2012) 3PierCarloSantini,ModernLandscapePainting,p.1 4KovelisamemberoftheGreenPartyoftheUnitedStates,runningfortheparty’spresidentialnominationin2000wherehefinishedfourthoverall.‐http://www.joelkovel.com(accessed09/11/2011) 5JoelKovel,TheEnemyofNature:TheEndofCapitalismorTheEndoftheWorld,pp.1‐3

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disintegrates under the profusion of faults and the reality is laid bare: this is also one of themost

environmentally degrading eras of the planet. Now, with the population blasting through the ‘7

billion’markandshowingnosignsofslowing,totakeintoconsiderationthefactofaplanetoffinite

resources,makestheideaofatrulysustainablefutureaquestionablepipe‐dream.

This dissertation will question the existing initiatives and designs; re‐examine the social structures

thatareaimedtowardscreatingasustainablefutureforhumanity,bothofwhichaimtoprolongour

roleintheevolutionoftheplanet.Byexploringtheever‐changingworldofpoliticaltheoryandaction,

aswellasdelvingintothephilosophicalidealsofecocentrismpittedagainstanthropocentrism,Ihope

tobeabletoevaluatethepositionofhumankindand itsprojected stancewithinthenaturalworld.

The first chapter will examine the extent of the domination of nature by man through the ages,

attempting to discover the origins of this great divide and the impact that the rejection of a

pantheisticapproachtowardsthenaturalworldhad,spawninganever‐destructiveobjectificationof

systemsas resources, shifting thevalues.This leads into the secondchapterwhichwill identify the

separation between the ideas of use‐value and exchange‐value, exploring the intrinsic value in the

non‐human world and the rapid eradication of this in capitalist society. Having ascertained these

impressionsIwillthenbegintostudytheminpractice.Thisgivesthemainbodytothethirdchapter;

acasestudyofanactiveeco‐communeintheUnitedKingdom.Iwillexplorethevariousinitiativesin

practice,theecologicalfootprintprojectedbysuchasite,andtheeconomiccostofsuchasite.This

leads to the fourth chapter; aquestioningof inherenthumanbehaviourand thewillingnessof the

majority toaccept, embrace,andpracticea radicalnew lifestyle. Inan effort toproducea full and

objectively conscientious study I will be engaging with a number of sources ranging from texts by

eminentfiguressuchasJohnLocke,E.F. Schumacher,andAldoLeopold,toexperiencingfirst‐hand

the organisation of an eco‐commune, and interaction with members currently residing in the

FindhornFoundationEcovillage.

Thisdissertationtakesintoaccountthefullscopeofhumankind’soccupationoftheplanetandasks

not;howcanwebestmanagenaturetoensureoursurvivalasaspecies;butwhyshould‘manvalue

himself as more than an infinitely small composing unit of one great unit of creation’67. Will the

beckoninglightinthedarknessthatmankindseesatthe inevitableendofitshabitationoftheEarth

infactbetheharshneonglareofitsself‐inflictedapocalypse?

6JohnMuirinWilliamDevall&GeorgeSessions,DeepEcology:LivingasifNatureMattered,p.104 7Thisposesthequestion:Willtherestofthebiosphere,frommacrocosmtocontinentalecosystem,benefitfromoursustainedexistence,andisitpossibleforustocreateasustainableecocentricpositionforourselves?

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‘TalkofHeaven!YedisgraceEarth.’

HenryDavidThoreau,Walden8

8HenryDavidThoreau,Walden,p.188

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Chapter1

1.1AHistoryofViolence:FromHunter­GatherertoUrbanCultivator

Evennowindeedthepoweroflifeisbroken,andtheearthexhaustedscarceproducestinycreatures,shewhoonceproducedallkindsandgavebirthtohugebodiesofwildbeasts.–Lucretius,DeRerumNatura,ca.99BCE–ca.55BCE9

Theconcernwithandquestioningofmankind’srelationshipwithnatureandthedetrimentaleffecthe

hashadupontheworld isbynomeansanewrevelation.WritersasfarbackasPlatoandLucretius

have condemned their contemporary agricultural methods and attitudes towards the non‐human

world, lamentingthe lossofspeciesandthe ravagingof fertile land.Whilst it isbecomingeasierto

obtainandaccess statisticson these issues thisdoesnot byany stretchmean that it is a relatively

new dilemma. Plato, writing between 423 BCE and 347 BCE, hints at an early form of

environmentalism,oratleastthepresenceofanenvironmentalawareness.Bythisearlyageofman,

anthropocentric arrogance seemed to have projected itself in the complete domination and

subjugationofthenaturalworldandwouldappeartohavebeenpresentforlongenoughforthisself‐

interesttohavemanifesteditselfinsevereecologicalrepercussions:

...foralthoughsomeofthemountainsnowonlyaffordsustenancetobees,notsoverylongagotherewerestilltobeseenroofsoftimbercutfromtreesgrowingthere,whichwereofasizesufficienttocoverthe largesthouses;andthereweremanyotherhightrees,cultivatedbymanandbearingabundanceoffoodforcattle.Moreover,thelandreapedthebenefitoftheannualrainfall,notasnow losingthewaterwhichflowsoffthebareearthintothesea,but,havinganabundantsupplyinallplaces.10

This ishowever,not theearliestevidenceofadamaging splitbetween thehumanandnon‐human

worlds. In1969,ecologistWinifredPenningtonpublishedTheHistoryofBritishVegetation inwhich

she references a 1953 case study undertaken by Danish botanists. This study demonstrated the

destructivepower inherent inmanregardlessofevolutionarydevelopmentorhispointinTime.The

Danish study examined the fluctuations in levels of pollen over time; using this to determine the

period in which the decline of the elm tree in the British Isles took place11. When this was first

undertaken in1941 thedeclinewas stillmainlyattributed to climatic changenotofhumandesign.

When examining the fluctuations, the Danish botanists, however, discovered a downward pollen

curve just before the elm decline which suggested deliberate forest clearance by Neolithic

agriculturalists.Thepresenceofacharcoallayerinthesoilsampleswasevidenceofforestclearance

9Lucretius,TheExhaustedEarthinDerekWall,GreenHistory,p.37 10Plato,ErodedAtticainTheDialoguesofPlato,inDerekWall,GreenHistory,p.36 11The‘ElmDecline’isgenerallyconsideredtosignaltheendoftheAtlanticera,leadingintotheSub‐Borealaroundthe4thmillenniumBCEinthegeologicalepochoftheHolocene–GeorgeFrederickPeterken,WoodlandConservationandManagement,pp.8–9

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bythefellingandburningoftreesandvegetationtoallowforaprimitiveformofcultivation12.Fora

smallgroupofprimitivenomadicagriculturaliststohaveclearedsuchareasandtohavehadsucha

profound impacton theSub‐boreal vegetation isbynomeansany small feat.However, itwasnot

beyond their capabilities as the pollen analysts demonstrated in 1953, carrying out a brief field

experiment.13 The experiment clearly demonstrated that the Neolithic agriculturalists were able to

destroyconsiderableareasof forest, thusalteringthecompositionoftheprimaryvegetationovera

largeareaoftheBritishIsles.Whilstthecultivationofcerealsshowedanextensiveknowledgeoflocal

ecosystemswhichallowedprehistoricmantoliveinprosperity,thisknowledgewasnotconduciveof

sustainable affluence and showed a disregard for the balances inherent in the ecosystems. The

consequences of this were catastrophic on this small scale.Over time, this has beenmagnified to

transnationalproportions,leadingtothecurrentsituation.Incomparingthegrowthofthepopulation

since, to speculate on the consequences of our endeavours would be to flirt with a fatalistic

morbidity.Yetthisisnottheearliestexampleofthemastersofprofligateruininaction.

1.2TheConsequencesofOpportunisticAffluence

Reachingfurtherintotheannalsofthehumanhistorybringsupevidenceofthemostprolifichunter

imaginedwhoseindifferenceforthebalanceoutstripsthatofhisfutureNeolithiccounterpart.Atthe

endofthelastIceAgeontheAmericancontinenttherearebelievedtohavebeenaround31genera

ofmegafauna that disappeared from the North American landmass14. In his text The Discovery of

America, geoscientist Paul S.Martin postulated that a ‘blitzkriegmodel’ of overkill hunting was in

action. Hunter‐gatherer societies had migrated South from the Arctic circle and, after travelling

through vast areas of sparse vegetation and little animal prey, reached an area of affluence and

proceededtohunttheprofusionoflargemammalsmercilessly,enjoyingtherelativenaivetyoftheir

prey.ThehumanpopulationexplodedwiththisabundancebutinclassicMalthusianfashioninwhich

‘the power of the population is indefinitely greater than the power of the earth to produce

subsistence for man’15 they outgrew their food source and rapidly dwindled in numbers. Martin

summarisesthegeometricrelationshipbetweenpredatorandpreyinstatingthat:

12WinifredPennington,TheHistoryofBritishVegetation,pp.60‐73 13AsmallteamofthreemenarmedonlywithreplicationsofNeolithicaxesclearedroughly600squareyardsofforestinfourhoursbywayofaslash‐and‐burnmethodasmentionedabove. 14‘Nothrotherium,Megalonyx,Eremotherium,andParamylodon(groundsloths);BrachyostraconandBoreostracon(glyptodonts);Castorides(giantbeaver);HydrochoerusandNeochoerus(extinctcapybaras);ArctodusandTremarctos(bears);SmilodonandDinobastis(saber‐toothcats);Mammut(mastodon);Mammuthus(mammoth);Equus(horse);Tapirus(tapir);PlatygonusandMylohyus(peccaries);CamelopsandTanupolama(camelids);CervalcesandSangamona(cervids);CapromeryxandTetrameryx(extinctpronghorns);BosandSaiga(Asianantelope);andBootherlum,Symbos,EuceratheriumandPreptoceras(bovids).’–P.S.Martin,TheDiscoveryofAmericainSciencevol.179,issue4077,09/03/1973,pp.969–974 15‘Population,whenunchecked,increasesinageometricalratio.Subsistenceincreasesonlyinanarithmeticalratio.Aslightacquaintancewithnumberswillshewtheimmensityofthefirstpowerincomparisonofthesecond.Bythatlawofournaturewhichmakesfoodnecessarytothelifeofman,theeffectsofthesetwounequalpowersmustbekeptequal.’–ThomasRobertMalthus,OnthePrincipleofPopulation,p.70

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...a very large biomass, even the 2.3 x 108 metric tonnes of domestic animals nowranging the continent, could be overkilled within 1000 years by a human populationneverexceeding106.Weneedonlyassumethatarelativelyinnocentpreywassuddenlyexposedtoanewandthoroughlysuperiorpredator,ahunterwhopreferredkillingandpersistedinkillinganimalsaslongastheywereavailable.16

Martin’s theory demonstrates the unbridled destructive influence that early man had over his

surroundingsintimesofsuchprosperity.Thisisnotthelastexampletofthe‘blitzkriegoverkill’.The

hunter‐gatherer described here also has a relatively modern counterpart in the early American

pioneertotheWest.Itwasestimatedthataround7.5millionbuffalowereslaughteredbetween1872

and187417by themarchof settlers steadily colonisingwestward.Thebuffalo fell victim to itsown

naivety with regards to the firepower of the settlers’ rifle, having previously been hunted only for

subsistencebythePlainsIndians.Withitsnumbersreachingsomewherebetweenanestimated50–

60millionpriortothearrivalofWesternsettlers18, theanimalwasthemostabundantfoodsource

conceivable on the plains of theMid‐Western States. It was consequently hunted with an attitude

similartotheseeminglyendlesssupply(Figure1).Thisresultedinthenear‐extinctionoftheAmerican

buffalo,theirnumbersdroppingtobelowanalarming1,000bytheendofthe19thCentury.

Theaffluenceexperiencedbythepioneerswouldeventuallybecomeamechanizedindustry,assuring

thatsuch lossesneednotbeexperienced.This industrywouldresult inman losinghis immersion in

the natural systems and becoming an outsider to the biosphere, effectively rebranding the natural

16P.S.Martin,TheDiscoveryofAmerica,pp.969–974 17‘TheBuffaloHarvest’,ICECaseStudies,18/12/1997,http://www1.american.edu/ted/ice/buffalo.htm(accessed10/02/2012) 18DonaldFixico,‘Interview:NativeAmericans’,AmericanExperience,http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/interview/tcrr‐interview/(accessed10/02/2012)

Figure1:Photograph from themid‐1870s of a pile ofbuffaloskulls.

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worldassimplyabankofinstrumentalresources.ProfessorJ.DonaldHughes19,recognisedauthority

onglobalenvironmentalhistory,examinesthemovementofmanfromnomadichunter‐gathererto

urban agriculturalist in his work Ecology in Ancient Civilisations. A part of this text examines the

environmental ill‐effectsofurban life inancientMesopotamia, focusingon the salinization through

intensiveirrigationandconsequentdesolationofthecultivated‘FertileCrescent’(Figure2)thatarced

acrosstheMiddleEastfromSumeria–moderndayIraq–toPalestine.

Asimilarprocessstilloccurstoday inmanyplaces including,despitetheevidenceofthecalamitous

results of the ancient Mesopotamian irrigation, the Harran Plains (Figure 3) in the very area that

suffered so heavily in Turkey. Here, the desert landscape has been similarly irrigated and the

surrounding area decimated as a result (Figure 4), technology barely combating the devastating

results. This reiterates the disregard for the future and ignorance towards cause and effect which

perhapsspawnedfromtherejectionoftheintrinsicvalueinthenaturalworld.Hughesstatesthatthe

‘Mesopotamianshadawelldevelopedsenseofdistinctionbetweenthetameandthewild,between

civilisation and wilderness. The proper effort of mankind toward wild things, they believed, is to

domesticatethem.’20ThisechoestheassertionofearlyChristianity’sclaimthatthenaturalworldwas

createdsolelyfortheuseandenjoymentofmankind,findingsimilaritiesagaininthespeculationsof

AristotleandtheearlyStoicsaswellasthereflectionsofCicero21.

19J.DonaldHughesisJohnEvansDistinguishedProfessor,andProfessorEmeritusofHistory,attheUniversityofDenver,havingpublishedseveralnotablebooksontheenvironmentalhistoryoftheplanetaswellastheecologicalhistoryofancientcivilisations.‐https://portfolio.du.edu/pc/port?portfolio=dhughes(accessed12/02/2012) 20J.DonaldHughes,EcologyinAncientCivilisations,p.31 21‘Wearetheabsolutemastersofwhattheearthproduces.Weenjoythemountainsandtheplains.Theriversareours;wesowtheseedandplantthetrees.Wefertilizetheearth...Westop,direct,andturntherivers.Inshort,byourhandsweendeavour,byourvariousoperationsonthisworld,tomake,asitwere,anothernature.’–Cicero[106–43BCE)in,J.DonaldHughes,EcologyinAncientCivilisations,p.30

Figure2:Map demonstrating the areacovered by the ‘FertileCrescent’ of ancientMesopotamia.

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Figure4:Satellite photographstaken 135 days apartdisplaying the extent towhich the irrigation ofthe Harran Plains hasdecimated thesurrounding vegetation.One must not fail takeintoaccountthedatesofthe images; the firstbeing taken after thewinter precipitation, thesecondinthepeakofthedry summer. Despitethis, the contrast isshocking.

Figure3:Satellite photographstaken 9 years apart,demonstrating theintensive irrigation ofthedesert landscapetocultivate cotton cropsin the Harran Plains ofsoutheasternTurkey.

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1.3TheElevationofHumansbytheCreationoftheDivine

Theseearlyurbansocietieswereamongthefirsttoabandonapantheisticattitudeof‘oneness’with

natureandadoptoneofseparation.ThedominantmythandconsequentrealityinMesopotamiawas

the conquest of chaotic nature by divine‐human order. Such societies it should be noted were

ultimatelyunsuccessfulinmaintainingthebalancewiththeirnaturalenvironment.TheJudaicBibleis

aprimeexampleofthisrejectionofsymbioticrelationshipsandthecreationofahierarchyatthetop

ofwhich is adivine entity responsible forall creation; condemningor condoningactsof the lower

levels.Bythecreationofadeity,theultimateresponsibilityforlong‐termenvironmentaldamagewas

outsideofhumancontrol, as PercyByssheShelleyobserves; ‘Everyman forms,as itwere,hisGod

from his own character’22. This is a point of contention that has been dealt with by a number of

figures to great extent23. To many theorists, God is the manifestation of the polar opposite to

humankind,embodyingtheuniversalwishesthattranscendtheeveryday24.Thisisevidentinpassages

oftheGenesischapteroftheJudaicBible(Genesis,1:26–30)25.Judeo‐Christianityeffectivelydenies

non‐humanentitiesa ‘soul’or ‘indwellingspirit’ essentiallystrippingthenaturalworldofanyworth

other than that which leads exclusively to the satisfaction of humans. This consequently reduces

nature to the ‘status of mechanical contrivance’26. To this ‘mechanical contrivance’ is added the

domesticationoflivestockwhichcreatesanartificialaffluence,andinconjunctionwiththeeconomic

rationality of the maximisation of individual gain over the short‐term, is a manifestation of the

hunter‐gatherersubsistencemodel.Asthis isonavastmechanical scale, itallowsthemanufacture

and stockpiling of abundance and, by the late 1970s, the goods grown under the guaranteed

increasedproductivitysubsidiesoftheCommonAgriculturalPolicyhadbecomesooverproducedthat

they simply could not be sold, resulting in the storage of food ‘mountains’ and ‘lakes’27. Herein,

perhaps,laysthegenesisofthe‘valuationofland’whichpotentiallyaidedinexacerbatingthechasm

between the natural world and the humanworld, expanding to such great widths that, as notable

authorandenvironmentalistAldoLeopoldmused, ‘Yourtruemodern isseparatedfromthe landby

22PercyByssheShelley,AVindicationofNaturalDietinDerekWall,GreenHistorybyp.72 23ChristopherHitchenswroteonthecausalitydilemmaof‘Godvs.Man’that:‘IfweareindeedcreatedinGod’simage,thenthatimagemusthaveroom...forvilethoughtsanddubiousmotives.Muchmoreprobable,really,isthecountertheorythatmancreatedGodinhisimage.’HitchensproposesherethatGodisamanmadeideacreatedtogiveallowancesforquestionableethicalmotives.–ChristopherHitchens,‘Mr.Universe’,VanityFair,12/1992,http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/1992/12/mr‐universe‐199212,(accessed09/12/2011) 24[whatwewishformostis]‘...first,nottodie,notcompletely,notirreversibly;second,tobeunitedwiththelovedoneswehavelost;third,forjusticeandpeacetotriumph;finally,andmostimportant,tobeloved.Now,whatdoesreligiontellus...?Thatweshallnotdie;thatweshallrisefromthedeadandthusbereunitedwiththelovedoneswehavelost;thatjusticeandpeacewillprevailintheend;and,finally,thatwearealreadytheobjectofinfinitelove...Thisiswhatmakesreligionsoverysuspicious,itistoogoodtobetrue!’–AndreComte‐SponvillequotedbyRobertBanks,‘AndGodCreatedManinHisImage’,11/2011,http://www.ea.org.au/Ethos/Engage‐Mail/And‐Man‐Created‐God‐in‐His‐Image.aspx(accessed09/12/2011) 25SeeAppendix1. 26DonaldWorster,Nature’sEconomy,p.29 27MilesCollins,‘FoodMountainsintheEuropeanUnion’,25/08/2008,http://www.milescollins.com/wordpress/food‐mountains‐in‐the‐european‐union(accessed15/02/2012)

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manymiddlemen,andbyinnumerablephysicalgadgets.Hehasnovitalrelationtoit;tohimitisthe

spacebetweencitiesonwhichcropsgrow.’28

1.4Re­integrationThroughEcocentrism

The progression of such technology has aided in the brutal emancipation of humanity from the

naturalorder.Itisafirmconvictioninmuchmodernthoughtthatthecurrentstateofthehumanrace

is an improvement onwhat was before – that all change is progress. The Collins Dictionary of the

English Languagedefines ‘evolution’ as ‘a gradual development, esp. to amore complex form’”29

Development however, can be seen as a particularly egocentric word and what may compound

‘progress’foronebodywillnotalwaysbeinthebestinterestoftherest30.Theecologicallyinformed

approachaimstoenabletherecognitionoftheintrinsicvalue31notonlyofindividualorganismsbut

also of ecological entities in varying levels of aggregation, from hive populations to continent‐

spanningecosystemsand to theentirebiosphere.Thiswould take intoaccount the impacton,and

well‐beingof,otherbodies inamoreecologically respectiveview.Kovel illustrates this inhis2007

critical rhetoric on capitalism and its by‐products,The Enemy ofNature, with a parable on organic

agriculture:

Anorganicfarmisnotsimplyacollectionoforganisms;itistheorganismsinterrelatedin a universe ofmeaningful recognition through the farmer. This does notmake thefarmer lord over the farm. Itmeans that the farm is integral to the human self whoproducesthroughthem.32

Thisexampleservesasananalogytotheworkingsofthevastlylargerecosphere,statingthatnature

hasmorethanmereinstrumentalvalueasastockpileofresourcesexistingtoservethewell‐beingof

aneliteofsentientbeings.Truetotheanthropocentricarroganceinourinterpretationoftheworld,

these ‘sentient beings’ take on the formof humankind. Kovel’s paradigmproposes that the world

existsinasymbioticstate,embodyingtheecocentricargumentofJ.StanRowethat:

...comparedtotheundoubted importanceofthehumanpart, thewholeEcosphere iseven more significant and consequential: more inclusive, more complex, moreintegrated,morecreative,morebeautiful,moremysterious,andolderthantime.33

Rowecontinuestoassert:[intheecocentricview]‘peopleareinseparablefromtheinorganic/organic

naturethatencapsulatesthem.’34Thismaintainsthat,paramounttothere‐integrationofhumankind

28AldoLeopold,ASandCountyAlmanac,p.224 29CollinsDictionaryoftheEnglishLanguage,p.529 30‘Butwhatconstitutesdevelopment,orprogress,foronepersonmaynotbedevelopmentorprogressforanother.‘Development’isa‘valueword’:itembodiespersonalidealsandaspirationsandconceptsofwhatconstitutesthe‘goodsociety’.’–DavidPearce,AnilMarkandya&EdwardBarbier,BlueprintforaGreenEconomy,p.1 31Here‘value’isnotusedasindicationofexchangevalueormonetaryworth,butasapropertyofimportanceandworthtothewell‐beingofthenaturalworld. 32Kovel,TheEnemyofNature,p.238 33J.StanRowe,Ecocentrism:TheChordthatHarmonizesHumansandEarth,pp.106‐7

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intothenaturalworld isthe ideaofanexistentialattitudeofmutuality; inthatone’sownpersonal

fulfilmentisinextricablytiedupwiththatofentitiesbesidesitself.

Theecocentricapproachtothisseparatedstateofcontemporarysocietyfromthenaturalworld isa

re‐integrationofhumanitywiththenon‐humanworld.Ecocentrisminfersthat,asegocentrismhasas

its focal point the self, the ecosystem is the entity aroundwhich ecocentrism revolves. This would

increasethereceptivecapabilityofsocietytowardsthelargerbiosphericalsystemicmodel;thisdoes

not place humankind as themonarch of species, rejecting the assumption thatwe are the current

pinnacleofevolution.Inregainingsuchanunderstandingoftheinterconnectedness,theequilibrium

is effectively returned to stability, humanity ideally settling into a reciprocal role as opposed to a

egomaniacally domineering one. Mary Somerville35 addresses this in her work Physical Geography

(1848) with another agricultural parable in which man has supplanted himself outside of this

symbioticbalanceinanattempttocontrolit:

A farmer sees the rooks pecking a little of his grain, or digging at the roots of thespringingcorns,andpoisonsallinhisneighbourhood.Afewyearsafterhe issurprisedtofindhiscropdestroyedbygrubs.TheworksoftheCreationarenicelybalanced,andman cannot infringe the laws of equilibrium with impunity. Insects would becometormentsweretheynotkeptincheckbybirds.36

Inelevatinghimself toapositionoutside theworkingsof this systemmankindhasemphasized the

fatally short‐termallopoieticaspectofhisprogression; insofaras theautopoietic is concernedwith

the process of production continually regenerating within, by, and for the system, the allopoietic

reveals humankind as the master of profligate waste.37 This allocation of poiesis is mirrored in

perhaps a slightly simpler form in physicist and eco‐socialist Barry Commoner’s The Closing Circle:

Nature,ManandTechnology,containinghislegacyofthe‘fourlawsofecology’.Thesebeing:

1. Everythingisconnectedtoeverythingelse2. Everythingmustgosomewhere3. Natureknowsbest(i.e.anymajorhumaninterventioninanaturalsystemislikelytobe

detrimentaltothesystem)4. Thereisnosuchthingasafreelunch38

34J.StanRowe,Ecocentrism,Pp.106‐7 35SomervillewasaScottishpolymath,livingbetween1780and1872,whowroteextensivelyonthephysicalsciencesandgeography–M.T.Bruck,MarySomerville:MathematicianandAstronomerofUnderusedTalents,pp.201‐206 36MarySomerville,PhysicalGeography,p.504 37‘Anautopoieticmachineisamachineorganized(definedasaunity)asanetworkofprocessesofproduction(transformationanddestruction)ofcomponentswhich:(i)throughtheirinteractionsandtransformationscontinuouslyregenerateandrealizethenetworkofprocesses(relations)thatproducedthem;and(ii)constituteit(themachine)asaconcreteunityinspaceinwhichthey(thecomponents)existbyspecifyingthetopologicaldomainofitsrealizationassuchanetwork’.Anallopoieticmachineisoneinwhichtherawcomponentsproducesomethingotherthanitself.–HumbertoMaturana,andFranciscoVarela,AutopoiesisandCognition:TheRealizationofLiving,p.78 38BarryCommoner,TheClosingCircle:Nature,ManandTechnology,pp.29‐44

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Thesefourlawshaveslippedtoguidelineswhichhavethencontinuallybeensweptfurtherunderthe

smothering carpet of increasing productivity and maximising economic gain. The third law,

disparaging human intervention in natural systems, appears to be upheld in the conservation

movements of ‘preserved wildernesses’. However, this is a point of dissidence; in that through

‘preservingthewild’ insuchplacesastheNationalParksoftheUSA,humanityremovesthenatural

ecologicalprogressionofsuchareasandplacesthelandinastateofstasis,preservedasasnapshotof

an idyllic situationofnature.Onecouldfurtherarguethattheseareasareonly ‘conserved’asthey

servetoincreaseeconomicgainthroughtourismandthesaleof‘anexperience’39.Thefewareasof

land thus far free from intrusion by humankind which still maintain an unhindered autopoietic

relationship we designate as these ‘wildernesses.’ The concept of a ‘wilderness’ itself enshrines a

bifurcationbetweenhumanityand thenaturalworld. It createsand emphasisesa titleddistinction

betweenthetwoandwhenthemodernmanattemptstoengagewiththis‘wild’landitisapproached

asaseparateentity,ratherthansimplyasatransitionfromonespacetothenext.Thisdemonstrates

theImperialistattitudeofhumankindtowards itssurroundingsandotherspeciesthusfardiscussed.

From this perspective the ‘non‐human world is reduced to a storehouse of resources and is

considered tohave instrumental valueonly, that is, it is valuableonly insofaras it can serveasan

instrument,orasameans,tohumanends.’40The‘wilderness’hasbecomearespective‘tonic’forthe

jadedconsumersoulinwhichit isconsideredliberatingandrevitalisingtospendtimeamongst,and

therein lies theapparent instrumental valueofwilderness, servingasa resource for thebenefitof

humankind. If this attitude is themeans bywhich all land is approached then, despite an attempt

against the hyperbolic sensationalising of the current issue, there can be nothing short of a

cataclysmicend result foralloftheparties involved. If the land istreatedasonlyservingeconomic

gain it is given an exchange value.Objects with such a value are exchanged for equal values. The

commodityof landwillbe expended through suchexchanges, as thepopularmaxim instructs; ‘buy

land,Iheartheyaren’tmakingitanymore’41.Consequently,withnomeanstowardsthereproduction

ofthisnecessity,extinctionwilltapominouslyontheshoulderofhumanity.

39‘Oneiscontributingtolosingtheecologicalwarbyreinforcingtheculturalperceptionthatwhatisvaluableinthenon‐humanworldiswhatisusefultohumans’–WarwickFox,TowardsaTranspersonalEcology:DevelopingNewFoundationsforEvironmentalism,p.186 40RobynEckersley,EnvironmentalismandPoliticalTheory:TowardsanEcocentricApproach,p.26 41MichaelGouglis,‘Bike‐FriendlyBusinessDistricts’,LongBeachBusinessJournal,31/01/2012.http://lbbusinessjournal.com/long‐beach‐business‐journal‐newswatch/85‐lof‐scroller‐articles/330‐bike‐friendly‐business‐districts‐where‐going‐green‐and‐making‐green‐meet.html(accessed07/02/2012)

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Wemayhope,moreoverthat,withtheincreaseofwealth,knowledge,andrefinementwhich happily seems a secure prospect for the long vistas of the future, man willendeavour to preserve the equilibriumwhich exists in themeteorological forces andvitalconditionsofcountries,when intheirnaturalstate,byfosteringadueproportionofwoodland,andthussavefromextinctionthemyriadofbeauteousformsoflifewhichhavesharedwithhimtheinhabitanceofthiswonderfulearth.

‐ MarySomerville,PhysicalGeography42

42Somerville,PhysicalGeography,p.505

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Chapter2

2.1CapitalismisCannibalism:TheValueintheUseofUse­value

From the standpoint of a higher economic form of society, private ownership of theglobebysingleindividualswillappearquiteasabsurdasprivateownershipofonemanbyanother.Evenawholesociety,anation,orevenallsimultaneouslyexistingsocietiestakentogether,arenottheownersoftheglobe.–KarlMarx,Capital43

How then to go about the reintegration of mankind into the natural world when humanity has

createdsuchanintricate,complex,andpurposelydistancingsystemofsocialandeconomicvalues?In

today’s capitalist society, emphasis is placed on themass production and acquiring of goods. The

productionof commodities expandshumancapabilitiesandcommodityproductiononan industrial

scaleexponentiallyexpandsthesecapabilities.However,thishasreachedsuchastagethatgoodsare

nolongerproducedsimplytofulfilneedsbutare insteadproducedtobeexchangedfortheprimary

commoditybywhichallothergoodsaremeasured. Inmostsocietiesthistakestheformofmoney,

whichisthenusedtoobtainothergoods.Inthiswaytheexchangeofgoodshasbecomeparamount

tosurvivalaswemustpersuadeotherstobuythegoodsweproduceinordertobeabletobuythe

goods we ourselves want. This has reached such a destructive extent, fuelling consumerism and

consequently resource depletion by placing the natural world within the framework of a market

economy.Evenmoney itself isexchangedforprofit, treatedasacommodity,whichhas leadtothe

financialcrisisthat iscurrentlychokingmanynations.There issuchagreatemphasisplacedonthe

earningofcapitalthrough labourthatthere isnowagreatdividebetweenwork–themeans–and

leisure–theresult. Inmostcommunitiesthedivisionof labour issuchthattheviewofwork isasa

taskthatmustbecompleted inordertobenefitfromleisure.However,theanti‐capitalistecocentric

approachtoproduction:

...isalignedwiththeproduct;thus,themakingofathingbecomesapartofthethingmade. Sincetheendofproduction is satisfactionandpleasure,pleasurewouldobtainfor the cooking of a meal or making of a garment. The processual pleasures aregenerally reserved for hobbies under capitalism; in a society organised aroundecocentricproduction,theywouldcomprisethefabricofeverydaylife.44

This removes the division between work and leisure and introduces a self‐directed labourmodel,

beginning to eradicate themonetary exchange value placed onmarket goods and the removal of

extraneousitemsproducedsolelyforexchange.Capitalismreactsviolentlytoanyattempttohaltthis

continuousexpansion itrelieson.Thereareamyriadofprimeexamplesofthis,notalwaysovert in

theirexecution,butdefinitelyperceivableasbeingaggressiveretortstowardsagentsofanti‐capitalist

resistance.AnearlyillustrationofthisliesagainwiththeAmericanpioneers.Whentheearlysettlers,

43KarlMarx,Capital,p.776 44JoelKovel,TheEnemyofNature,p.235

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intent on expanding to create a safe network of controllable sources of profit, came across the

alreadysettledPlainsIndians,therelayintheirwayananomalousobstaclethatcouldnotconceivably

generatecapital.ThePlainsIndianspractisedaharmoniouslifestyleofsubsistenceandrespectforthe

regenerativequalitiesoftheirland,meaningthat,astheylayinautopoiesis,theywereofnovalueto

theWesternsettlers,perceivedashavingnogenerative input.Consequentlytherewasanappalling

genocidalattitudeformedtowardstheindigenouspopulation;toremovetheanomalystandinginthe

wayof expansion.Contemporary society,bound ina capitalistmodel,bearsno less ill‐will towards

those unwilling to participate in expansionary economic rationalities. This is clearly evident on a

globalscaleinthecaseoftheFoodNotBombsorganisationthataroseintheUnitedStatesin1980.

2.2SubversionintheShiftandAggressioninResponse

Thereareamyriadofanti‐corporationgroups that span theearth, all embodying thesamevalues,

fallingunderthecollectivebannerofFoodNotBombs.Overthepast30yearsthemovementbrought

severerepressiononitselffromvariousgoverningfactionsintheformsofmultiplearrestsandcease‐

and‐desist orders. The organisation believes ‘that society and government should value human life

overmaterialwealth,humanneednotcorporategreed,andthatmostofitsproblemsstemfromthis

simple crisis in values.’45 Chapters of the organisation source food fromwhat would otherwise be

deemed waste from markets and stores as well as from local farm donations, using this food to

providefreemealsforhomelessandhungrypeople,aimingtoraisetheawarenessofthebeliefsof

the groups. This, however, has brought about powerful repercussions with many members being

arrested46 and, prior to the raised awareness and sensitivity to police brutality cases, saw many

controversial one‐sided clashes with the authorities, despite the groups’ dedication to ‘non‐violent

protest’.47 The treatment of these activists has gone as far as to draw the attention of Amnesty

Internationalandcreatedmuchciviloutcry.48Whyistheresuchabacklashfromtheveryinstitutions

thatgavetherightstothisnon‐violentprotest,freedomofspeechanddisseminationofinformation

to the public, especially in regards to a group that exemplifies the supposed ‘charitable spirit of

freedom’oftheWesternnations?

Theorganisationembodies theveryantithesisof capitalism. Itdestroys themargins set inplaceby

competition, wealth and class. Food Not Bombs effectively levels the proverbial playing field by

servingfreemealswhichhavebeensourcedforfreeaswell,givingsomethingfornothing,aswellas

‘de‐criminalising’ poverty and vagrancy and equalising the perceived ‘social class structure’. This

45‘History’,SanFranciscoFoodNotBombs,http://sffnb.org/history/(accessed17/01/2011) 46BrianClarkeHoward,‘PleaseDon’tFeedtheHomeless’,DailyMailOnline,06/06/2011.http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article‐1394924/Orlando‐Food‐Not‐Bombs‐activists‐ARRESTED‐feeding‐homeless‐city‐parks.html(accessed17/01/2011) 47‘TheThreePrinciplesofFoodNotBombs’,FoodNotBombs,http://www.foodnotbombs.net/principles.html(accessed17/01/2011) 48StephenLendman,‘America’sWaronFoodNotBombs’,OpEdNews,09/10/2010.http://www.opednews.com/articles/2/America‐s‐War‐on‐Food‐Not‐by‐Stephen‐Lendman‐101009‐275.html(accessed17/01/2011)

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approachdoesnotsitwellwithacapitalisteconomyascapitalismisavalue‐drivensystemforwhich

themantraof‘howmuchcanIgetforhowlittleIgive’49isreflectiveoftheegocentricnatureinherent

inconsumerism.Capitalistsocietyhasformedtoproduce,secure,andexpandcapital;itsself‐reliant

infrastructureexiststogrowordieandthus it reactstoanycontractionasathreatto itseconomic

stability which is based on increasing exchange. Under a more ecocentric labour model; one that

focusesnotonconstantprogression,growthandquantityexchange,theconsumptionofgoodswould

drop rapidly as the longevity of the commodities increases. The emphasis on quantity over quality

severely increases obsolescence and advocates the distribution of less durable products through

cheaperproductionvalues.Asaresult fewergoodsare soldandcapitalismflounders inthisdeficit.

Thus there is an aggressive response and a reduction of nature from organism to object is

implemented. The acts of the Food Not Bombs groups undermine this exploitative ‘supply‐and‐

demand’system; inwhichthe restrictionofaccessto commodities leadstothedemandbeingkept

high and hence the exchange value also. The repercussions of this diminish the feasibility of an

ecocentricapproachtothedivisionof labouraswellastheemphasisonusevalueandqualityover

exchange value and quantity. Consequently this eradicates the opportunity for the economy to be

embeddedwithinthesocietyasopposedtorulingover it. Inordertoachievethis realisationofuse

valueandintrinsicvaluethereisacallforthereorientationofperceivedhumanneed.

2.3ZenAffluence:UnparalleledMaterialPlenty

Theenvironmental crisis,which is thequintessential crisis of capitalism, is forcingus to re‐examine

thecompetitiveandexpansionaryethosofourmaterialist culture. If theearthwas infiniteand the

issuesofenergy shortageand resourcedepletionwere thereforenon‐existent, theanthropocentric

wouldcontinuetomanifestthequestforaUtopia inmaterialexpansion.The infinite resourcebase

woulddestroytheeconomicallyperceiveddangersofscarcityandthe‘supplyanddemand’symbiosis

ofmarketswouldberenderedobsolete,consequentlyriddingtheeconomicworldoftheconceptof

exchange value. This however, is not the case, as was ascertained in the introduction through the

statisticsprovided.However,the issue liesnotwiththestateoftheplanetbeingcomposedoffinite

matter,butwithhumankind’sperceived ‘needs’ vastlyexceeding thatwhich theearth canprovide.

This issue is the basis on which E. F. Schumacher’s book Small is Beautiful (1993) is founded.

Ecocentrism’sadvocatedusurpationofhumanityfromourdespoticthrone isechoed inthesubtitle,

reading;Astudyofeconomicsasifpeoplemattered,givingthereaderaclearindicationwithouteven

opening the book that Schumacher approaches the contorted concept of economics from a non‐

anthropocentric standpoint. To support his declaration that humankind’s wants are not within the

49WilliamMcDonoughandMichaelBraungart,‘HowMuchCanWeGiveForAllWeGet?:RegenerativeCommerceandtheNewEntrepreneurialSpirit’,2003.www.mcdonough.com/writings/how_much_can.htm(accessed19/10/2011)

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capabilitiesoftheplanettoproduce inthe longterm50SchumacherquotesGandhi; ‘Earthprovides

enoughtosatisfyeveryman’sneed,butnotforeveryman’sgreed.’51Regardlessofhowclichédithas

become to quote popular figures such as Gandhi, the statement very neatly sums up the ill‐fated

mismatchingofafiniteworldwithamaterialisticsocietyapparentlyreliantonendlessexpansion.

ForapossibleanswertothisquandarywecanlooktoMarshallSahlins’theoryofthe‘originalaffluent

society’.Sahlins’suggeststhat,contrarytoeconomistJohnGalbraith’sassertionthateraspreceding

the present were times of poverty, hunter‐gatherers were actually the original affluent societies.

Commonthoughtisthatthehunter,focusingallhistimeandenergysolelyonsurviving,ekedoutonly

ameagreexistence ina so‐called ‘subsistence economy’despiteall theexertion.However, Sahlins’

claims otherwise in his essay The Original Affluent Society by presenting us with two contrasting

approachestoachievingthismuchsought‐aftersituationofplenty.Essentially,anaffluentsociety is

oneinwhichpeoplesmaterialwantsareeasilysatisfiedandSahlinsgivesustwopossibilities:‘Wants

maybe‘easilysatisfied’eitherbyproducingmuchordesiringlittle.’52Thefirstofthesetwosolutions

fitsthemodelthatcapitalismpresents:

The familiar conception, the Galbraithean way, makes assumptions peculiarlyappropriate to market economies: that man’s wants are great, not to say infinite,whereashismeansarelimited,althoughimprovable:thusthegapbetweenmeansandends can be narrowed by industrial productivity, at least to the point that ‘urgentgoods’becomeplentiful.53

Here, Sahlins queries the origins and authenticity ofman’s ‘wants’, which he claims are ‘peculiarly

appropriate tomarket economies’54. In building a network of indefinitely increasing exchanges the

markethaspossiblyexpandedhumankind’swants to those thatare extraneous toactualneeds55–

needsbeingthosethatareessentialtosurvival.ThisGalbraitheanmodelofachievingaffluencedoes

not however address the paramount issue of the limits to realistic expansion. The methods of

realising plenty will no doubt become more efficient in a hypothetically indefinite manner and

consequently, there would of course be affluence. But, akin to the Malthusian situation of

geometrically disproportionate exponential increase, humans’ perceived needs would continue to

exceedthecapabilitiesoftheplanettoprovide.Acapitalistmarketwillconstantlyexpandthe‘needs’

of the society over which it rules, continuously diminishing the perception of affluence and thus

feeding theneed for increasedproductivityas itbecomesabasichuman ‘right’ tohaveownership

overmorethings.Sahlinsnowbringsustohisoverridingsolutiontothissituation:

50‘Anattitudetolifewhichseeksfulfilmentinthesingle‐mindedpursuitofwealth–inshort,materialism–doesnotfitintothisworld,becauseitcontainswithinitselfnolimitingprinciple,whiletheenvironmentinwhichitisplacedisstrictlylimited.’–Schumacher,SmallisBeautiful,p.17 51MahatmaGandhi,inSchumacher,SmallisBeautiful,p.20 52MarshallSahlins,TheOriginalAffluentSociety,inDerekWall,GreenHistory,pp.24 53Sahlins,TheOriginalAffluentSociety,pp.24–25 54Sahlins,TheOriginalAffluentSociety,p.24 55Thisthenraisesthequestion:‘didman’sneedscreatethemarket,orhasthemarketmanufacturedneedstobefilled?’

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ButthereisalsoaZenroadtoaffluence,departingfrompremisessomewhatdifferentfrom our own: that human material wants are finite and few, and technical meansunchangingbutonthewholeadequate.AdoptingZenstrategy,apeople canenjoyanunparalleledmaterialplenty.56

Understeadyproductivity,seekingnottoexpand,but insteaddirectlyaddressingonlytheessential

and ecologically appropriate needs of humankind, there is affluence; in that allmaterial wants are

satisfied, thembeing finiteand few.Thiswillonlybeapplicable if theneedsofhumankindare re‐

addressed. Ifhunterswereaffluent itwas inaZenwayas theywouldhavebeen free frommarket

obsessionsofscarcityandtheireconomicpropensitymayhavebeenmoreconsistentlypredicatedon

abundance than our own inclination, which is to consume all stocks on hand.Many anthropologic

theoristspositthatearlysocietieswerebasedonsharingasopposedtocompetitiveexchange,which

allowedthemtoprosperwithouttheneedforconstantexpansion. Itisthisreorientationofhuman

needsthatisanessentialpartofthenextstageofdevelopmentinsociety.Itwouldmoveusfromthe

unsustainable ‘pioneer’ state of existence which we are currently in; in which rapid growth and

aggressiveexpansiontakeplace,toamoremature,steady‐state‘climax’community.Thesteady‐state

society canbedefined, ina somewhatgrandiosemanner, akin to the cosmologicalprincipleof the

universe:matteriscreatedequallyasmatterisdestroyedthroughdyingstarsandtheentropyofsuch

events, thus the features of the universe change across time, but not through space, maintaining

equilibrium.Totranslatethistoasocietalformatonecanobservethatacommunitywouldessentially

becomeanautopoieticsociety,regenerating itssustenanceas it isconsumed,withoutthenecessity

placedonincrease.

2.4Steady­StateSociety

Tomovetoasteady‐statesocietywouldmeanareductioninthesizeofcommunities,eachbeingable

tosupportitspopulation,utilisingresourcesinasustainablemannerwithouttheneedforaggressive

expansion. A move towards a bioregional structure in which each region can effectively sustain a

population,theoreticallyavoidingapotentialMalthusianbacklash, isanapproachwhich iscurrently

gaining support amongst many political parties. It can be seen pitched in Robert Heilbroner’sAn

Inquiry intotheHumanProspectwherehecalls for ‘adiminution inscale,a reduction insizeofthe

humancommunityfromthedangerouslevelofimmensenationstatestowardthe‘polis’thatdefined

theappropriatereachofpoliticalpowerfortheancientGreeks.’57Thiscompletelyrejectstheidolatry

ofsize–thelargeranentity,themorepowerfulandprosperous–thatstillrunsthroughthemajority

of modern thought. For every activity and endeavour there is an appropriate scale, a scale which

caters to theneedsof thematterandno further, returninghere to theattempted reorientationof

56Sahlins,TheOriginalAffluentSociety,p.25 57RobertHeilbroner,AnInquiryintotheHumanProspect,p.135

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human‘needs’.Heilbronerbelievesthatwehavegrosslyexceededthisscaleandaresufferingforit58.

Father of ‘deep ecology’ Arne Naess stresses the importance in the reversal of this condition with

specificemphasisonthecontinuationofthenon‐humanworld,relegatingthe‘comfort’ofthehuman

race as of secondary importance: ‘The flourishing of human life and cultures is compatible with a

substantial decrease of the human population. The flourishing of non‐human life requires such a

decrease’.59WhilstNaess’statementfocusesonadecreaseinoverallpopulation,thegeneralgistof

this thought canalsobeapplied to thedispersionof intenselypopulatedurban environments. The

purposeofthisbeingthere‐integrationofmankindintothenaturalworld,are‐associationwiththe

meansofproductiongearedtowardsthecontinuedsurvivaloftheentirebiosphere.

58Oneneedonlystudytheprogressionofterminologyovertimewithregardstosettlementstoseethisinaction:fromtheruraldenominationsofvillageandtown,tothecreationofthenew‘megalopolis’afterthegiant‘metropolis’wasinconceivablysurpassed. 59ArneNaess,SustainableDevelopment,p.140

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An attitude to life which seeks fulfilment in the single‐minded pursuit of wealth – inshort, materialism – does not fit into this world, because it contains within itself nolimitingprinciple,whiletheenvironmentinwhichitisplacedisstrictlylimited.

‐ E.F.Schumacher,SmallisBeautiful60

60Schumacher,SmallisBeautiful,p.17

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Chapter3

3.1MakingSalvationOvert:Eco­CommunalisminPractice

[Theaimis]tocreateaself‐reliantcommunitybasedwayoflifewithintheframeworkofastableeconomyandajust,democraticsociety,sothatpeoplemayliveinharmonywith each other and the rest of the natural environment by acknowledging andadapting to the limitations of the earth’s finite resources. – British Green Party, ThePoliticsofEcology61

Toimplementthisthoughisbynomeansasmallundertaking.Themodernsocietycanbesaidtobe

builtonpillarsofsandand it,playingthepartoftheocean inthisanalogyaswell,destroys itsown

foundations.Schumacheracknowledgesthisandsaysthatit,‘...withallitsintellectualsophistication,

consumes the very basis on which it has been erected...It lives on irreplaceable capital which it

cheerfullytreatsasincome.’62Withthisinmindtherecanbenoquestionastotheneedforashiftin

priorities.But,asWilliamLeiss,authorofTheLimitstoSatisfaction,posits:

...everythingdependsuponwhetherweregardsuchlimitsasbitterdisappointmentorawelcome opportunity to turn from quantitative to qualitative improvement in thecourseofcreatingaconserversociety.63

The creation of a conserver society out of one brought upwith, and reliant on, consumerism is a

daunting prospect. However, it is not a new one, or by anymeans an entirely original and novel

notion.Hereentersthe libertariansocialistphilosophyofEco‐Communalismwhich,borrowingfrom

communism, supports Marx’s popularised slogan of; ‘From each according to his ability, to each

according to his need.’64 This embodies the very ideals of the re‐orientation of needs and the

ecocentricproductionvaluesdiscussed inChapter2. Insuchastructurethedestructivelyexpansive

economics of modern capitalism would be near abolished, instead the syndicated becomes the

symbiotic, the land and the enterprises removed from the grasp of private ownership and placed

undertheusufructofthecommunity.Theresult isadirectcontactwiththemeansofproduction,a

re‐acquaintancewiththe resources,andthe re‐associationwiththeusevalueand intrinsicvalueof

commodities,essentiallyshiftingtheintrusivetotheintegrated.

The idea of creating stable integrated ecological communities has been a long‐standing theme in

Westernsocialphilosophy,albeitoneofthelesserpracticed,stretchingasfarbackasthecollapseof

the Roman Empire. After the fall of Rome, Saint Benedict ofNursia created a number ofmonastic

61BritishGreenParty,ThePoliticsofEcology,1979pamphlet 62E.F.Schumacher,SmallisBeautiful,p.8 63WilliamLeiss,TheLimitstoSatisfaction,p.112 64KarlMarx,CritiqueoftheGothaProgram,transcribedbyBrianBaggins,1999,http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1875/gotha/ch01.htm(accessed13/10/2011)

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orders65intheruinsoftheheartoftheEmpirewhichsubsequentlyspreadthroughoutEuropeandare

the foundation upon which many contemporarymonastic communities are built. Robyn Eckersley

suggests in her book Environmentalism and Political Theory that this conformed to the common

theme among eco‐communal theorists of ‘the idea of disengagement or withdrawal from corrupt

social and political institutions and the establishment of exemplary institutions and/or pursuit of

exemplary personal action.’66 There is no great stretch of imagination needed, or suspension of

disbelief necessary, to draw parallels between the ruin of the Roman Empire and themultifaceted

crises that threaten modern society. Thus this theme is as applicable today as it was to Saint

Benedict’smedieval communalism. The communities offered ‘liberation fromwaste and busywork,

fromexcessiveappetiteandanxiouscompetitionthatallowsonetogetonwiththeessentialbusiness

oflife,whichistoworkoutone’ssalvationwithdiligence’.67Thisisanexampleofthe‘ZenAffluence’

discussedbySahlinsearlierinpractice,inthatthewantshavebeenreducedtofewandallextraneous

complications are condensed to the necessary. In order for such communes to function however,

thereneedstobeabodyofcitizens committedtosucha cause. InSaintBenedict’s casethis cause

wasthesimplesurvivalandpromiseofabetterlifefollowingtheendingofanEmpire.Towaitforthe

ultimatecollapseofthepresent‐dayhuman‘empire’wouldbetrulyfatalistichowever,andthusthere

istheneedforgroupsofdenizenscommittedtoanexemplaryecocentricwayoflivingtospearhead

theshift.

3.2TheConstantIdealofCommunalismThroughTime

It appears that throughout history, whilst the majority of humankind has been wholeheartedly

engaginginthesystematicdestructionofresourcesandecosystemsasdiscussed inChapter1,there

havealsobeenfactionsofthesesocietiesthatstandseparate68.Thereisaconstantthatisapparentin

the values which these groups upheld. Plato writes of this inErodedAttica when describing social

stratification.Wearefirstintroducedtothesocietywithwhichweareallacquainted;variouscitizens

filling an assortment of roles. However, we are then presented with a group embodying values

entirelyseparatetothoseoftheaforementionedcommunity:

Nowthecountrywasinhabitedinthosedaysbyvariousclassesofcitizens;‐therewereartisans,andtherewerehusbandmen,andtherewasalsoawarriorclassoriginallysetapart by divinemen. The latter dwelt by themselves, and had all things suitable fornurture and education; neither had any of them anything of their own, but theyregarded all that they had as common property; nor did they claim to receive of theothercitizensanythingmorethanthenecessaryfood.69

65SaintBenedictcanbeseenasthe‘FatherofMonasticism’and,asmanyoftheideologiesofthisfeedintomoderndayCommunalism,canalsobeseenasamajorcontributortotheriseoftheeco‐commune. 66Eckersley,EnvironmentalismandPoliticalTheory,p.163 67TheodoreRoszak,Person/Planet:TheCreativeDisintegrationofIndustrialSocietyin,Eckersley,EnvironmentalismandPoliticalTheory,p.165 68Whetherthesegroupswereawareoftheultimatelydestructivenatureoftheircontemporaryculturesisunclear. 69Plato,ErodedAtticainTheDialoguesofPlato,inDerekWall,GreenHistory,p.36

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Whilst it is implied that this ‘warrior class’hadbeenappointedahigherplace in thecontemporary

socialorder,settingthemasidefromthe‘commonclass’ofcitizenry,thisinnowayreflectsthevalues

orstatusofthe ‘higherorder’thatcouldbegarneredmodernsociety’sselectelevatedfew. Imagine

thecurrentphenomenonof the ‘celebrity’ status, equating thiswith thewarrior classdescribedby

Plato; and similarly, liken the majority population to Plato’s ‘divine men’, our adulation having

elevatedthecelebritytoahigherclass.NowcomparethishigherorderwiththatofPlato’sand,inthis

instance,tosaythattheyarethepolaroppositeisinnowaysensationalisticorhyperbolic.Thevalues

thatthewarriorclassholdcanbelikenedtomanyMarxistsocialistphilosophies,theirattitudetoward

needsmirroringthatofaformofZenaffluence,whilstthehigherordersoftodayaretheepitomeof

the capitalist consumerist tenet. These ideals emerge again later in the New Testament of the

ChristianBible,oncemorepre‐emptingmanyofMarx’s communist ideals, themselvesappearing in

varyingformsintheeco‐socialistmanifestos:

Andallthatbelievedweretogether,andhadallthingscommon;And sold theirpossessionsandgoods,andparted them toallmen,aseverymanhadneed.(Acts,2:44–45)70

TheNewTestament,beingessentiallyaChristianguidetomoralsandethics,proclaimsallmenequal,

‘aseverymanhadneed’,andthustheownershipofallthingsshouldbeheldas‘common’;theneeds

ofnoonepersonshouldcomeabovethoseofanother.Thisisessentiallyananthropocentricdecree

asitdoesnottake intoaccountspeciesotherthanthatofhumankindand,takingintoconsideration

theearlierquotationfromtheOldTestamentontheGod‐givenrightofmantorule(Genesis1:26–

30), couldhardlyappear tobeanenvironmentally conscientiousdogma.However, thebasic values

describedherearealsothebasisoftheeco‐socialistmovement,andsotheNewTestament getsan

honorary mention as it levels the playing field between classes and pre‐emptively opposes the

privatisationofland.ItisbythiscreedthattheradicalChristiancommunityoftheBruderhofoperate.

3.3TheBruderhofCommunity:ChristianAnti­Capitalism

TheBruderhofCommunityisaChristiancommunitylooselyassociatedwiththeHutteriteBrethrenof

theAnabaptistChristianfaith71.SimilartothemorerecognisedAmishfaith,theHutteritesgrewoutof

theRadicalReformationofthe16thCentury.TheHutterite’spremisewas,analogoustothethemeof

communalism presented by Eckersley, a separation in response to corruption and dissent in the

RomanCatholicChurch,thisbeinglikenedtothesocialandpoliticalinstitutionsRoszaksuggests.One

of the themes most central to the Community is that of all possessions being held common, the

equalising of everymember. This ideology is taken from theNew Testament and appears to be a

70http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts%202:44%20‐%2045&version=ASV(accessed05/12/2011) 71FounderoftheBruderhof,EberhardArnold,developedagreatinterestintheHutteritefaithandbasedthereligiouscommunitythathefoundedinGermanyin1920onmanyoftheirvaluesandteachings.

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frequentpointofdiscourse inActs. Thisadds further confusionas to the stateof capitalist society

today;alargeportionofthepopulationadheringtoandpreachingthevaluespositedinthisbookand

yetactingouttheexactreversetooneofthemostcentralthemes:

Andthemultitudeofthemthatbelievedwereofoneheartandsoul:andnotoneofthemsaidthataughtofthethingswhichhepossessedwashisown;buttheyhadallthingscommon.(Acts,4:32)72

WiththisasoneofthekeythemesaroundwhichtheCommunityrevolvesitcanessentiallybeclassed

asacommunistsociety,upholdingmanyofthephilosophiesonthedivisionoflabourandtheholding

ofallgoodscommon.MembersoftheCommunitypossessnopersonalbelongingsandstandbythe

emphasisonusevalueoverexchangevalue,beingtitledasan‘intentional’communeratherthanan

‘instrumental’one;thingsbeingdonewiththeintentionforproductionandnotforaccumulationand

consumptionofcapital.TheworkoftheBruderhof73 isentirely self‐directed, impacting littleonthe

productivityandprofitabilityofthefactoriesas,withnonecessityplacedoncapital,themembersare

not driven to accumulate and increasemarket share. Instead the production is aimed towards the

incremental profit sufficient to meet the requirements of the Community and the continued

production under a steady‐state model. Thus, without the emphasis on accumulation and

consequently quantity production, there is an emphasis on the quality of items, ensuring the

longevity and well‐being of goods, as well as the larger ends to which the objects are put. This

socialist organisation of labour, echoing communistic conditions, causes the capitalist creed to

collapse. As a result of this structure the Bruderhof Community manage to operate outside the

capitalistmajority,maintainingathrivingsocietythatremainswithintherealmsofsustainability.74

Having successfully supplanted themselves outside the capitalist economy, the community must

retainasizethatequatestothesteady‐state‘climax’societymodelaroundwhichtheirprofitmargins

and resources are structured. If this is not controlled then the community will fall victim to the

indefinite expansionary models under which the majority of societies today function. This would

result inthemconsequentlyhavingto increaseoutputtomaximiseprofit,panderingtothegrowing

numberofmembers.Thesolutiontothis issimple;when theCommunity reachesa certainsize75 it

divides, creating a new settlement, essentially preserving the sustainable base of the parent

community. Whilst this is still technically an expansionary process it is a step towards a more

ecocentricapproachasthenecessityforastablepopulationsizeandcullingofaccumulationtoalevel

ofrequirementandnofurtherisrealisedandpractised.TheBruderhofCommunity,followingafaith

ofradicalChristiandenomination,operateunderastrictreligioushierarchicalmodel.Thisstructure,

72http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts%204:32%20‐%2035&version=ASV‐forfullpassageseeAppendix2(accessed05/12/2011) 73Thisisprimarilythatof‘CommunityPlaythings’–aclassroomtoyandfurnitureline. 74Kovel,TheEnemyofNature,pp.207‐208 75Thissizeroughlyequatesto‘Dunbar’sNumber’–atheoreticalnumberofpeoplewithwhichapersoncanmaintainreciprocalsocialrelationshipsinastablemanner.

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echoing Edward Goldsmith’s rejection of social security institutions in favour of family or religious

hierarchies,isalsoapointofcontentionamongsteco‐communaltheorists.Itallowsforthepossibility

ofautocraticruling,embodying–onasmallerscale–thebasisofthesurvivalistschoolofthought;

self‐sufficient communities engineered and executed by a nation state.76 This totalitarian rule risks

the manifestation of the many pitfalls shown by humanity thus far. The power behind the ideals

creatingthesestablecommunitiesiscorruptedanddestroyedinwakeofautocraticruling.Oneneed

only look to the many socialist nations of the Eastern Block enacting, however eventually

ineffectively, someof the idealsheldbyMarxandEngels. In thisportionofhistorywecan see just

how subversive the authoritarian rule can be; from the ‘the leading people’ of post‐World War II

Russiatotheeventual collapseoftheSovietUnion in1991andthedissolutionofCzechoslovakia in

199377. There are, however, communities existing today which fully embrace and embody the

ecocentric ideologywith regards todivisionof labouraswell as social structureandenvironmental

awareness,movingtowardssecuringasustainablefutureforhumankind.Thesecommunesspanthe

globe,givingweighttotheideathatthebasichumanidealsofequality,communityandanawareness

of the ecological systemic surroundings are universal. A forerunner in this ecocentric field of the

intentionalcommuneistheFindhornFoundation.

3.4TheFindhornFoundation

SituatedintheFindhornBayofMorayontheNorthEastcoastofScotland,theFindhornEcovillageis

a synthesis of ecologically applied technology, holistic educational, societal, and communal values.

ThisapproachgivestheEcovillageanecologicalfootprint78thatishalftheUnitedKingdom’snational

average79. Currently comprised of around 90 ecological buildings, all using environmentally sound,

energyefficientmaterials,thecommunity isuniqueinthefactthatitsitsonitsownelectricitygrid,

generating its own power through four privately owned wind turbines. The turbines providemore

than100%ofthecommunity’senergyneedsandthustheexcessesofproductionareexportedtothe

nationalgrid80.ThisgreenenergygenerationcreatesamajorsustainablebusinessfortheEcovillage.

The concentration on renewable resources is a focal point in the construction of the community

buildings,eachhousebeingmodelledona‘cradle‐to‐cradle’design.Theconceptof‘cradle‐to‐cradle’

was introduced by architectWilliamMcDonough and chemistMichael Braungart asan ecologically

intelligentapproachtodesignandarchitecture.Theconcepteffectivelygives: 76Eckersley,EnvironmentalismandPoliticalTheory,p.13 77Itcanbeproposedthatthesenationseventuallypractisedaformof‘statecapitalism’asopposedtosocialism. 78‘AnEcologicalFootprintisameasureoftheamountofbioproductivelandandsearequiredtosupportaperson’slifestyle.Itincludesthelandneededtogrowtheirfood,disposeoftheirwasteandabsorbtheircarbonemissions.Thefootprintcountsalltheimpactsofpersonalspendingaswellasthebusinessandgovernmentexpenditureontheirbehalf.’–AlanCalcottandJamieBull,EcologicalFootprintofBritishCityResident,p.5 79TheUKNationalAverageis5.4gha(globalhectares)whereastheFindhornFoundation’sEcologicalFootprintisamere2.56gha.–TakenrespectivelyfromCountingConsumption:ExecutiveSummary,pp.1,andEcologicalFootprintoftheFindhornFoundationandCommunity,p.4

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...an entirely new relationship tomaterials, energy, and themaking of things.Whereeco‐efficient designs aim to dematerialize – minimizing the negative effects of toxicmaterials and polluting fuels – cradle‐to‐cradle design seeks the rematerialization ofsafe,productivematerialsinsystemspoweredbythesun.81

Thedesignsystemadvocatedherehasgrownfromarealisationoftheenvironmentalsituationanda

rejection of the short‐sighted nature of many supposedly eco‐friendly industries whose aim is to

simply reduce the harmful effects of products. McDonough and Braungart see these industries’

effortsasbeingmisguided,as ‘theyaremerely reaching for sustainability,which is, afterall,onlya

minimum condition for survival.’82 The cradle‐to‐cradle principle is based on that of a system of

decompositionand recomposition,a closed loop cyclical systemmirroring thatofnature.This is in

placeofthe‘cradle‐to‐grave’focusofshort‐termwastemanagement.Theconceptoftheentireworld

existinginasymbioticrelationwitheveryorganismisakeythemeamongstecocentrictheoristsand

practitioners. In the non‐humanworld the environment is an objective fact, and its effects can be

ascertained and formulated in laws. Man, however, creates his own environment, circumventing

these lawsand thusattempting todominatenature,alteringanatural situation to thatwhichbest

suits him. Re‐addressing this system is integral to the ecocentric approach, effectively undoing the

supplantednatureofhumanity,andensuringthesurvivalofthebiosphere,asphilosopherJanSmuts

states:

Nothingexistsfor itselfalone;thereareno isolatedunits,butonlystructuredpatternsand inter‐relations, from the primordial electrons to the most developed physical ormoralorsocialcomplexesintheuniverse.83

The philosophy of interconnectedness is applied to the technology that the Ecovillage employs. In

1995,eminentenvironmentalistJonathonPorritopenedtheecologicallyengineeredLivingMachine®;

a unique sewage treatment plant based around living systems84. The design follows the cradle‐to‐

cradle model, shifting from chemically intensive, wasteful processes to one of zero‐impact. The

resultingwaterispureenoughtobedischargeddirectlyintothesea,freeofchemicals,orre‐used.

The importance of the revolutionary design and architecture of the Findhorn Foundation is that it

invertstheviewofthenon‐humanworldasastorehouseofresources.Underthedesignprinciples

and building methods it is instead the human world which is conceived as existing solely in the

previouslydiscussedstateof‘mechanicalcontrivance’.Thisapproachconvertsmaterialsonacradle‐

to‐gravepathtohavingarecycledandequallyvaluablefunction.Amongtheinnovativedesignsofthe

buildings is the ‘Earthship’ model. First introduced by the founder of Earthship Biotecture Mike

Reynoldsin1970sNewMexico,theEarthshipstructureisprimarilymanufacturedfromusedcartyres, 81WilliamMcDonoughandMichaelBraungart,TowardsaSustainingArchitectureforthe21stCentury:ThePromiseofCradle‐to‐CradleDesign 82McDonoughandBraungart,TowardsaSustainingArchitectureforthe21stCentury 83JanSmuts,TheHolisticDoctrineofEcology,inDerekWall,GreenHistory,p.98 84Theplantemploysasetofsequenced,completeecologiescontainingcommunitiesofbacteria,algae,plants,snailsandfish,allactingasbiofilters,mirroringthenaturallyoccurringprocessesonanintensivescale.

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reclaimedandgivenanewuse(Figure4).Packedwithdirt,thetyresformasolid,structurallysound

wall; waterproof, effectively heat‐retentive and less flammable than conventionalmaterials due to

thedenselypackedsoil.

Thedesignofsuchstructuresreleasestheresourcesembeddedinthealreadybuiltenvironment,thus

including the humanworld among the moniker of ‘the commons’85. Thesemodes of construction

havespread,withprojectsbeingundertakenglobally86.Theethosofthedesign ispivotaltothatof

the Findhorn Foundation and other eco‐communes: the return to the natural world and the

integration of sustainable means of production into naturally occurring systems. This involves

embracing a holistic approach to the world similar to that perceived by Transcendentalist author

RalphWaldoEmerson:

From thebeginning to the endof theUniverse, shehasbutone stuff–butone stuffwithitstwoends,toserveupallherdream‐likevariety.Compoundithowshewill,star,sand,fire,water,tree,man,itisstillonestuff,anditbetraysthesameproperties.87

Thisdeclarationof ‘oneness’ is,asstatedbefore,a centralthemetotheeco‐commune88.However,

the Foundation, unlike the Benedictine monastic communes and the Bruderhof Communities

86ThereareEarthshipprojectscurrentlyexistinginTexas,Montana,theNetherlands,France,Canada,andGeorgiawithmanymoreunderconstructionandatvariousstagesoftheplanningprocess.–‘RadicallySustainableBuildings’,EarthshipBiotecture,http://earthship.com/buildings(accessed20/10/2011) 87RalphWaldoEmerson,NatureinEssays:FirstandSecondSeries,Library,p.311 88‘Recognisingtheinterdependenceofalllifeisattheheartofalllearningandpracticehere.Thisbecomesincreasinglyimportantaspeoplecometotermswithglobalconflict,depletionoftheworld’sresources,changesinourclimateandaskquestionsaboutthepurposeofourlivesandthevaluesweliveby.’–‘LivingEducation’,FindhornFoundation,http://www.findhorn.org/aboutus/vision/living‐education/(accessed20/10/2011)

Figure4:TheEarthshipstructureinKinghorn,Fife.Anexampleofthetyremethodofconstructioncanbeseenintheforeground.

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discussed earlier, employs no formal creed or teaching, instead accepts, and borrows from, all the

world’smajor religionswith thekey ideologybeing the interdependenceandequalityofall life–a

principle found inalmost every faith. Asa resultof this, there isno sethierarchy–other than the

familial – by which the Foundation can be ordered by. This is the direction in which libertarian

founder of the social ecology movement Murray Bookchin urges humankind. Bookchin postulates

that: ‘Tocreateasociety inwhichevery individual is seenascapableofparticipatingdirectly inthe

formulation of social policy is to instantly invalidate social hierarchy and domination.’89 This is the

state towardswhichmoderndayCommunalismstrives,believing thatwithin the eradicationof the

power of oneman over another also lays the eradication of the subjugation of the natural world.

Bookchin goes on to describe what achieving a situation like this entails: ‘we are committed to

dissolving State power, authority, and sovereignty into an inviolate form of personal

empowerment’90. As the Findhorn Foundation employs no formal hierarchy they are free of

sovereigntyandStatepower,existing innearautonomy. In1997theFoundationwasrecognisedby

the Department of Public Information of the United Nations as an official Non‐Governmental

Organisationandparticipates inmanyUNevents91.UndertheNewFindhornAssociation,controlof

all aspects of the affairs of the Community remains under that of themembers, being carried out

throughvariousdemocraticprocesses.Althoughthereisanelectedvoluntarycouncil,itappearsonly

asanearfor,andconsequentvoiceof,themembers;organisingmeetingstodiscusscommunity‐wide

issuesandfacilitatingintra‐andextra‐communalcommunication.

ThusfartheFindhornFoundationhaspresenteditselfasaprecisesynergisticcommunity,embracing

themanyfacetsofsocialistandecocentricthoughtandpracticefrompastandpresenttoconstructa

society in which the possibility for sustainable survival can be seen. The immersion back into the

naturalworldisfirstandforemostinthemajorityoftheliteratureoftheFoundation.Thisiscoupled

with the labourmodels proposed by Kovel and Heilbroner, and Naess’ call for a reduction in the

appropriate reach of communities following a bio‐regionalist format. In all essence, the Findhorn

Foundation appears to suggest the perfect model to achieving a Utopia void of subjection,

opportunisticdestructionandhierarchicaldominanceandcontrol;offeringunparalleledaffluenceand

sustainable means of accomplishing this. However, further examination of the Foundation and its

historybeliesthisnearself‐sufficiencyitsopromotes.

3.5Findhorn’sRelianceontheCapitalistExistence

The Findhorn Foundation presents itself as having near economic autonomy. In May 2002 the

Foundationlauncheditsowncommunity‐basedcurrencycalledthe‘Eko’.Thecurrencyisdesignedto

89MurrayBookchin,EcologyofFreedom,inEckersley,EnvironmentalismandPoliticalTheory,p.134 90Bookchin,EcologyofFreedom,inEckersley,EnvironmentalismandPoliticalTheory,p.134 91Thevariousorganisationsandassociationsofthecommunitywithina50squaremileareaallexistedindependentofeachotheruntil1999whentheNewFindhornAssociationwasformed.

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workasanalternativetoPoundsSterlingintransactionswithparticipatingbusinesses.Thisisbasically

a means of generating income in Sterling as visitors and residents purchase the Eko notes with

Poundsandareunabletoredeemanyexchangednotes92.OutsidetheFoundation’sowngeneration

of income theyhave received grants fromvariousorganisations, associations, and trusts thatequal

theapproximatesumof£11,00093.Thisstands independentofthevastsumsofcapitalrequiredfor

thewindfarmlocatedattheEcovillage.Thecostofpurchasingandinstallingthefirstturbinein1989

requiredaninitialinvestmentof£75,000.Whilstthisprimarypaymentwasregainedafterthefirst5

years,theexpansionofthewindfarmwiththreeadditionalturbinescostafurther£605,00094,relying

onexternal industriesandco‐operativestocomplete.Thepowergeneratedbytheturbines ismore

than enough to fulfil 100% of the Foundations energy requirements, excesses being sold to the

nationalgrid.Thiscreatesalargeportionofrelativelyecologicallybenignsustainable incomeforthe

Foundationwhich,despitemeetingtherequirementsofa ‘green’ initiative, isentirelyreliantonthe

existenceofanoutsidecapitaliststructure,panderingtotheformativeneedsofsucha community.

Theseextravagantcostsappearrightdowntoanindividuallevel.Tosimplyobtainthelandfora170

squaremetrehousecostoneresidentapproximately£178,50095.Hereonehastobegthequestion:

whathasbecomeofthestruggleagainsttheprivatisationandownershipof landandthecommons

andunderwhichcapitalistdoctrinedidthewordsofKovel96becomeobscured?

Withregardstoananticipatorystancetowardsenvironmentalpoliciessuchcostsaretobeexpected.

To incur a larger financial cost in anticipating damage far outweighs the environmental cost of a

reactivestance;thatbeingtodealwithsuch issuesonlyaftertheyhavearisen.However,onemust

questionthelongevityofthisparticularanticipatoryapproachwhilstitisstillsoreliantonthefatally

flawedcapitalistsystemdescribed inChapter2.Suchasystem issuggestedtobewhollyultimately

unsustainable.Therefore, if theapproachthattheeco‐communeadvocates is sodependentonthis

system, perhaps it is less of an anticipatory stance and more of a temporarily preventative one,

merely introducing a provisional stalemate between contemporary society and the multifaceted

ecologicalcrises.

92ThisincomeisthenputtowardsfinancingandloanswithintheCommunity,makingsuchgrowthanddevelopmentessentiallyreliantonthecurrencyitaimstoreplace. 93‘GrantAidedProjects’,EkopiaResourceExchange,http://www.ekopia‐findhorn.org/grantaided.shtml(accessed20/10/2011) 94‘FindhornWindPark’,FindhornEcovillage,http://www.ecovillagefindhorn.com/findhornecovillage/wind.php(accessed20/10/2011) 95R.Everett,EmailtoM.Startre.Housingcosts,02/02/2012 96‘...theremustbebasicchangesinownershipofproductiveresourcessothat,ultimatelytheearthisnolongerprivatelyowned;andourproductivepowers,thecoreofhumannature,havetobeliberated,sothatpeopleself‐determinetheirtransformingofnature.’–Kovel,TheEnemyofNature,p.160

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Societyisajoint‐stakecompany,inwhichthemembersagree,forthebettersecuringofhisbreadtoeachshareholdertosurrenderthelibertyandcultureoftheeater.

‐ RalphWaldoEmerson,Self‐Reliance97

97Emerson,Self‐RelianceinEssays:FirstandSecondSeries,p.31

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Chapter4

4.1AGrandScaleSurvival:TheCommune’sNotionoftheCommons,Nation­wide

Ceding complete political autonomy to the existing local communities that inhabitbioregionswillprovidenoguaranteethatthedevelopmentwillbeecologicallybenignor cooperative. Norwill it provide any guarantee that theywill form a confederationwith neighbouring local communities in their bioregion so as to enable properbioregionalmanagement.–RobynEckersley,EnvironmentalismandPoliticalTheory98

Suppose,forallintentsandpurposes,thatthemodelofeco‐communethattheFindhornFoundation

exemplifiesisinfactasolutiontoalltheworld’swoes;environmental,social,andpolitical.Thelogical

nextstepwouldbetodispensethisformnation‐wide.Forthispurpose,imaginetheEcovillageasthe

zero‐impact,harmonious, fulfilling,andecologicallybenignwayofliving it ispromotedtobe.Surely

there is no reason as towhy this should not be everyone’s lifestyle? The only other visible option

beingthepathtocertainextinctionthathumankindiscurrentlyracingdown?Firstlythough,thereis

thetheoretic issueofhowexactlythisnew intranational structurewouldbeformed,assumingthat

the populous has agreed to this radical newway of life and has formed numerous eco‐communes

across the country. Exactly what defines the appropriate borders; political, judicial and resource‐

based,ofeachcommune?

Theformationofsocietiesandthebondsintowhichindividualsenterisamatterofmuchcontention

andhasbeentackledfromamyriadofanglesbyanumberofpoliticaltheorists,theirdiscoursefalling

under the title of Social Contract Theory. Key in this school of thought are John Hobbes, Thomas

Locke, and Jean‐Jacques Rousseau; each presenting perhaps the seminal arguments of their

respectiveeras,exploringthe‘agreement,enteredintobyindividuals,thatresultsintheformationof

the state or of organised society.’99 ThomasHobbes wrote of the situation in which individuals, in

grouping, cede some of their individual rights so that, mutually, other would cede theirs, thus

enteringintoaformofsocialagreementandcreatingthebasisofasociety.However,whenamplified

toa level atwhichmultiple statesarecreated thereunfolds the issueof individual statesacting in

self‐interest, with no leadership to regulate the social interaction. Hobbes believed this to be the

State of Nature; each individual acts in self‐interest to improve their own situation through the

pursuitofpleasureandavoidanceofpain.Inthiscasethefigureofthe individualbecomesthebody

ofpeopleinacommunity.Hobbessawthisanissuetowhichtherewasonlyonesolution:‘Duringthe

timemenlivewithoutacommonpowertokeepthemall inawe,theyare inthatconditionwhichis

98Eckersley,EnvironmentalismandPoliticalTheory,p.169 99CollinsDictionaryoftheEnglishLanguage,p.1447

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calledwar.Andsuchawarasisofeverymanagainsteveryman.’100Hobbesadvocatednearabsolute

authoritariansovereigntyasa‘commonpower’,essentiallycreatingafederationofsemi‐autonomous

statesunderamonarchy.ThisiswhatHobbesnamedthe‘LeviathanState’.Foundingmemberofthe

GreenParty,EdwardGoldsmith,promotedthisideainanimmediatetransitiontowardsdecentralised

communities,visualisingthistobeengineeredandexecutedbytherulingnationstate.Thisideology

almostdirectlyopposestheeco‐socialistapproachwithitspaternalisticradicalconservatism.

4.2Locke’sThirdPartyFallsVictimtotheHobbesianLeviathan

ContrarytothistrainofthoughtisJohnLocke’sideaproposedinhisSecondTreatiseofGovernment.

Whilst keeping the basis of Hobbes’ philosophy; in that individuals naturally gravitate towards one

anothertoformasocialstate,thisisasfarasLockeagreeswiththeHobbesianpolitic.InsteadLocke

arguesthatindividualsjoiningtogetherwouldcreateaneutralthirdparty‘judge’whichwouldprotect

thelivesandthepropertyofthose individuals.Thisgovernmentwouldactasanimpartial,objective

agent of self‐defence, opposing the condition ofNatural Law inwhich each individual acts as their

own judge, jury, and executioner,promoting extremesof self‐interest. The contemporary state sits

slightly confused somewhere between these two theories.McDonough and Braungart address the

basicpremiseandidealofLocke’stheory,claimingthat:

Itisthegovernment'sjobtoprotectthesharedbenefitsofthebiologicalcommonsforall to enjoy. Ideally, regulations create a social framework in which commerce canoperateresponsiblyandfreely...Ifacompanyputsaburdenonthepublicsphere, if itdestroys the water, pollutes the air, or degrades the land, it is the government'sresponsibilitytostepinandregulateitsactivities.101

In this examination, the government does indeed act as a third party true to Locke’s suggestions,

protectingthe livesandpropertyoftheindividualsunder itssafeguard.The‘biologicalcommons’of

which they speak essentially ‘includes theairwebreathe, thewaterwedrink, the sunlightand soil

thatprovideournutrition.Theseareoursharedbirthright,ourinheritanceandourlegacy’102,anditis

these which the government should seek primarily to protect as they are the very core of our

existence.However,howisonetoensurethatthissupposed‘impartialthirdpartyagent’,defending

thelivesandpropertyofthesubjectsofthestate,doesnotactin itsownself‐interest?Humansare

passionatebynatureandself‐regulation isamajor issue inthissuggestedreform. If this isnotself‐

imposed there then becomes the need for an external sovereign power to impose checks on will,

consumption and appetite. This then takes on the form of the Hobbesian situation, creating a

federationoverwhichthereisasingleautonomousrule.Tosolvethelatentdilemmaapparentinthe

100ThomasHobbesquotedbyMelvynBragg,InOurTime:Hobbes,01/12/2005,BBCRadio4website.http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p003k9l1(accessed25/01/2012) 101WilliamMcdonoughandMichaelBraungart,RegulationandRedesign:TappingInnovationandCreativitytoPreservetheCommons 102McdonoughandBraungart,RegulationandRedesign

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social contract of Locke we find ourselves returning to Hobbes’ Leviathan state. However, as was

discussedbefore, thispotentiallypaves theway for theextremedespotic self‐interestof the ruling

party. In light of the recent Occupy movement and pan‐global riots shaking the world, Richard

Barnet’s‘hungrymob’isanaptdenominationfortheoutraged‘99%’.Barnet’ssolutiontothehungry

mobcallsforthesocialcontractofHobbes,‘aworldofstruggleoverinadequateresourcesthatcries

out for Leviathan, the authoritarian state that can keep minimal order’103, a worryingly fitting

ultimatumforthecurrentsituation.TheMalthusianfantasyofnaturalorderhasbeenthoroughlyput

tobedwhendealingwiththesituationofhumanitywithourcreationofartificialaffluence;itexistsas

alawoforderonly intheconfinesofthenaturalworld. Insuchanaturalworldthere isnoneedfor

authoritarian rule simply because Nature intermittently thins any over‐expansion of its

counterparts.104 Whilst this rule is currently in effect in large areas of the planet with regards to

humanity, such as the impoverished nations of the African continent andmany areas of the Asian

subcontinent,itisoflittleconsequencetotheexponentiallymitoticmajority.

4.3RousseauandtheRecalcitrantMasses

Jean‐JacquesRousseauoffersarespitefromfindingourselves impaledonthehornsofthisdilemma

betweenLockeandHobbes;bothofferingtheoreticallysoundsocialcontractsbut,whendealingwith

theinnateegocentrismofhumankind,appeartobepracticallyflawed.Rousseaurecognisesthisweak

characteristicofourdevelopmentandappealsdirectlytothisveryissue.Addressingthenatureofa

socialcontract,heidentifiestheneedforacommongoal,auniversalideatowardswhichacollective

bodymay strive, all aiming for the same result and thuspromoting equalityandmutual existential

beneficence. Under such an idea, all mean egotism vanishes, self‐interest becoming a destructive

impediment.Fromthispositiontheremayriseagoverningfigureorbodywhowouldleadthevalues

of the individuals in the direction of their best interest. Whilst this appears to be similar to the

Hobbesian condition of a state under sovereign rule it differs in that the body of the people has

created this ruling figure to direct and regulate them. Essentially the citizenry is performing self‐

regulationthroughathirdparty;keepingchecksonwill,appetite,andconsumptionbyaself‐imposed

governinglaw.

However, each of these options presents issues when attempting to orchestrate and manage a

nation‐widebioregionaldivideofcommunities.Undereveryconditionthereisthelurkingfatalismof

obdurate human characteristics that cannot be ignored. Such damaging inclinations have been

presentedandexaminedinChapter1ofthisstudy.Noneofthetheoriesthusfarpresentedofferany

reprievefromtheindividualcommunity’sstateofconflictwiththelargersociety.Theissueofsuccess

103RichardBarnet,TheLeanYears:PoliticsintheAgeofScarcity,p.296 104‘TheMalthusianfantasyoffersanalternativetotheLeviathanstate.Thereisnoneedforcivilauthoritytoregulatescarcegoods,becauseNature,crueltobekind,periodicallythinsthesurpluspopulationbyfamine’‐Barnet,TheLeanYears,pp.296–97

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in theaspectof longevity is approachedbyno‐one,and thecommunitiesappear tobedestined to

exist in either perpetual or intermittent conflict with any governing body that arises. Perhaps the

issuehere is thatmany theoristsappear to conflatehumanity’spotential naturewithouressential

nature: thepotential natureofhumankindbeing the idealwhichwepreachand towardswhichwe

strive,astateofreciprocalmutuality105.Opposingthisistheessentialnature;thisbeing,attheriskof

appearingdecidedlymisanthropic,theunfortunate realityofrecalcitrantegotism.This isoneofthe

main downfalls of the eco‐communalist movement; when considered on the national scale the

anarchistic and utopian aspects open the many vulnerable facets in the fundamental ideology to

criticism.Theverynatureoftheconceptitselfappearssimplisticandmyopic,relyingonvoluntarism,

andhaving relativenaivety tomanyof theseobdurate issues thus fardiscussed.Thisbynomeans

invalidatestheprevailingtheoriesbehindthetenetbywhichsuchcommunitiesareformedbutonly

givesrisetoissuesyettobeeffectivelytackledinthepracticalapplicationofsaidtheories.Thematter

of contention here is the apparent inability of collective states of humanity to achieve a level of

interactionthatismutuallybeneficialforallparties involved,noneacting intheexpressself‐interest

that is the underlying theme throughout the occupation of the planet. Each situation proposed

eventually leads back to the need for a formof authoritarian control in order for the stability and

senseofindividual libertyalongsidecommunitythat isconclusivelyanovertrequisiteforapotential

sustainedexistence.Thecontinuedendeavouroftheeco‐communeseemsfutilewhenconsideredon

thisscale.Itnolongerbecomesanacceptableresolutiontotheplightwhileitstillfailstoaddressthis

nextstep;insteaditemergesasmerelyatonicservingtosooththeguiltysoul,adoptingasurvivalist

demeanour somewhat akin to an ostrich, head buried in the sand,whilst preaching from an elitist

pulpitontheignoranceandillsofcapitalistsociety.

105Eckersley,EnvironmentalismandPoliticalTheory,p.171

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Thus we see that, just as industrial society is fundamentally unstable and subject toreversion to agrarian existence, so within it the conditions which offer individualfreedom are unstable in their ability to avoid the conditions which impose rigidorganisation and totalitarian control. Indeed, when we examine all the foreseeabledifficultieswhichthreatenthesurvivalofindustrialcivilisation,itisdifficulttoseehowthe achievement of stability and the maintenance of individual liberty can be madecompatible.

–HarrisonBrown,TheChallengeofMansFuture106

106HarrisonBrown,TheChallengeofMansFuture,inSchumacher,SmallisBeautiful,p.45

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Conclusion

How is the common interestof the collectivity tobeachievedwhenman throughouthistoryhave shown themselves tobepassionate creaturesprey to greed, selfishness,andviolence?–WilliamOphuls,Reversal istheLawofTao:TheImminentResurrectionofPoliticalPhilosophy107

It is evident, even through such a brief study as this, that themultifaceted dilemma humankind is

facing is a potential catastrophe that grows seemingly impossible to avoid. There is a veritable

cornucopia of literature on this quandary, each detailing the various short‐comings of the

contemporary societies, condemning all that has happened and all that is happeningwhilst barely

attemptingtobroachthesubjectofaneffectivesolution,simplyaddressingthisonalocalscale.From

thesewritingstherehavebeendrawnvaguetheoriesandhypotheses,someputintopracticesuchas

thenotionof theeco‐commune,onpossible solutions to sucha state.However, eachof theseare

themselves flawed, retrospectively discredited and shunned with each new publication and

humankindsinkseverdeeperstillintothemireofimpendingextinction.

As initially presented, the Findhorn Foundation and Ecovillage market themselves as being

tantamount to a self‐reliant, autonomous, sustainable community, and, for all practical purposes,

verging on aUtopia. However, through the examination of the ongoing reliance on capitalist input

thatappearstobethecruxoftheFoundation’secologicallybenignexistence,ithasbeenascertained

thatthisisnotentirelyso.TheFoundationhassimplyemergedasasuccessfulbusinessmodel.Unless

an individual has partaken in, and greatly profited from, the very system against which the

Foundationstands–therulingcapitalisteconomy–then inclusion intotheelitisteco‐club isproven

tobeproblematicatbest.Thefeeforentry isalargesumofthecapitalearnedpriortobecominga

conscientiousobjector to the systemonehasbeen enveloped in, that is required topurchase land

andestablishresidency.Onceaccepted intothisorganisationonewouldexpectthenirvanaofself‐

reliant sustainability to be instantly achieved, freeing oneself from all ties to the prevailing failing

state.Yettherestill remainthevariousfeestobepaidandservicesprovidedthatrequire incomein

ordertobebenefitedfrom.Thusthereisstilltheunderlyingissueofthegenerationofprofit.Ascited

earlier, many of the residents still maintain employment in businesses outside the Foundation,

bringinginoutsidecapital.Whereistheautonomyandself‐relianceinthis?

InharkingbacktotheexampleofnomadicNeolithicagriculturalistsofthefirstchapter,onecansee

thatthecharacteristicsevidentinsuchasocietyhavenotwanedwiththeprogressionoftime.Ifeach

107WilliamOphuls,ReversalistheLawofTao:TheImminentResurrectionofPoliticalPhilosophy,inStuartS.Nagel,EnvironmentalPolitics,p.37

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element of the study is exchanged for a facet ofmodern society, with the sub‐boreal forest being

replacedbythecapitalisteconomyandtheagriculturalistswitheco‐patriots,thenaparallelisdrawn

betweenthenomadicnatures.Thestatehasstrippeditselfbare,resemblingtheexpendedsoilofthe

Neolithic landscape; exceeding the ability to reproduce at the same rate as consumption requires.

Consequently,therearetheconscientiousfewwhomoveontogreenerpastures.Inourmodernday

parable these ‘greenerpastures’ take the formof the intentional eco‐commune.However, like the

newforesttobeclearedandcultivated,this issimplyatemporary solutionthatwill run its course.

Withouttheabilitytomanoeuvresuchanoperationasthistoanation‐widesituationfreefromthe

trappingsofadominantcapitalistinfluenceitcouldbesurmisedasimpossibletoliveouttheidealsof

suchphilosophiesashavebeenpresentedthusfar.Themultitudinousanti‐capitalistinsurgencyofthe

eco‐communalistbodyleadstoaninadequateconclusionoflittleconsequencewhentheissueofthe

commonsisnotaddressedontheglobalscalethatisrequired.Themajorityofliteraturepublishedon

suchmattersissadlyjusttherehashedrealisationofimpedingapocalypsesthatfirstappearedinthe

1960s. All major initiatives undertaken to solve the environmental crises examined to date have

involvedvariousrearrangementsofenclosuresregardingthecommons.Thisonlyservestoenablethe

potentiality of a Mesopotamian ecological disaster for each state as there is no thought towards

interregional animosity and self‐interest, feeding the struggle for dominance. The obdurate

characteristicsofhumankindarenotaddressedandtheHobbesianideaoffreewillmerelybeingthe

manifestations of passion and appetite; objectivemorality and reason disappearing in the stead of

pursuitofpleasureandavoidanceofpain,becomesincreasinglydifficulttoavoidaccepting.

What has been addressed here displays the beginnings of a movement in the direction of a

sustainable future thatbenefitsboth thehumanworldand,more importantly, thenon‐human,all‐

encompassingbiosphere.Theseare,however,justthebeginnings;thegenesisofapotentialsalvefor

the ills of modern society. The foundations that ecocentric theory has laid down are establishing

deeperrootsinmainstreamsocialandpoliticalthought,givingrisetoahouseunderwhichtheissues

ofglobal involvementanddistributioncanbediscussed.Asusufructuariesoftheplanetthere isno

otheroption than toaddress these issues.Theycannotbe seenasmerelyapossibility,but instead

must be seen as an eventuality. However fatalistic this may sound, it is the reality that is being

draggedkickingandscreaminginfrontofthecollectivepanelofglobalcitizens.Ithastakenmillennia

forustohaulitsleeringcarcasstotheforefrontofourconsciences,butithasfinallymanifesteditself

inthemultitudinousrecenteconomicandecologicaldisastersandcannownolongerbeobservedin

the periphery as a shadow lurking in the realms of potentiality. The ideas presented are the

examinations of the beginnings of a paramount discourse affecting every organism existing in the

presentandeveryorganism that is toexist in the future.There isnodenying it; thishasbecomea

redemptivecauseintheeyesofthebiosphere.

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‘Forweshallmakeafterallafairconclusiontothebriefmusicthatisman’

OlafStapledon,LastandFirstofMen108

108OlafStapledon,LastandFirstofMen:AStoryoftheNearandFarFuture,p.288

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Glossary

Weltschmerz

German.n.sadnessormelancholyattheevilsoftheworld;world‐weariness.[literally:worldpain]

Utopia

n.anyrealor imaginarysociety,place,state,etc.,consideredtobeperfector ideal.[C16:fromNew

LatinUtopia(coinedbySirThomasMorein1516asthetitleofhisbookthatdescribedanimaginary

islandrepresentingtheperfectsociety),literally:noplace,fromGreekounot+toposaplace]

Communalism

n. 1. a system or theory of government in which the state is seen as a loose federation of self‐

governingcommunities.2.thepracticeoradvocacyofcommunallivingorownership.

Communal

adj.1.Belongingorrelatingtoacommunityasawhole.2.Relatingtodifferentgroupswithin

asociety.3.Oforrelatingtoacommuneorareligiouscommunity.

Extinction n.1.theactofmakingextinctorthestateofbeingextinct.2.theactofextinguishingorofbeing

extinguished.3.completedestruction;annihilation.

–CollinsDictionaryoftheEnglishLanguage,SecondEdition,WilliamCollinsSons&Co.Ltd.,1986

Page|44

Appendix

1:

ThenGodsaid,“Letusmakemankindinourimage,inourlikeness,sothattheymayruleoverthefishintheseaandthebirdsinthesky,overthelivestockandallthewildanimals,andoverallthecreaturesthatmovealongtheground.”

SoGodcreatedmankindinhisownimage,intheimageofGodhecreatedthem;maleandfemalehecreatedthem.

Godblessedthemandsaidtothem,“Befruitfulandincreaseinnumber;filltheearthandsubdueit.Ruleoverthefishintheseaandthebirdsintheskyandovereverylivingcreaturethatmovesontheground.”

ThenGodsaid,“Igiveyoueveryseed‐bearingplantonthefaceofthewholeearthandeverytreethathasfruitwithseedinit.Theywillbeyoursforfood.

Andtoallthebeastsoftheearthandallthebirds intheskyandallthecreaturesthatmovealongtheground—everythingthathasthebreathoflifeinit—Igiveeverygreenplantforfood.”Anditwasso.(Genesis,1:26–30)109

2:

Andthemultitudeofthemthatbelievedwereofoneheartandsoul:andnotoneofthemsaidthataughtofthethingswhichhepossessedwashisown;buttheyhadallthingscommon.

AndwithgreatpowergavetheapostlestheirwitnessoftheresurrectionoftheLordJesus:andgreatgracewasuponthemall.

Forneitherwasthereamongthemanythatlacked:forasmanyaswerepossessorsoflandsorhousessoldthem,andbroughtthepricesofthethingsthatweresold,

Andlaidthemattheapostles'feet:anddistributionwasmadeuntoeach,accordingas

anyonehadneed.(Acts,4:32–35)110

109http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+1%3A26‐30&version=NIV(accessed05/12/2011) 110http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts%204:32%20‐%2035&version=ASV(accessed05/12/2011)

Page|45

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