Voluntaria Guiding Principles
Love + Fun + Efficiency = Community
**This document is still a draft**
Intro It’s clear to see the world is in turmoil. The globalists have been working overtime on their takeover for a long time and it appears that this is the big push. Voluntaria is a group that sees and understands this and feels the best move now is to check out of society and city life as we have known it and move to a self sustaining living/farming environment. Getting out of the way of the big inevitable societal collapse and then be available to help society form again in a much more sane and free way. It’s time to say no to the governments of the world...time to stop playing their games...remember the quote from the movie War Games? "The only way to win is to NOT PLAY." It's time to stop playing. The Amish seem to have stopped playing the game called government a long time ago and they seem happier than most. Perhaps the new game is:
It’s time for action and there is a lot to do. It’s time to put our personal skills and relationship skills into action and build lifelong friendships and really contribute to each other. As much as many of us say we don’t like people and we would be happier on our own, while that maybe true in the very short term it’s not practical, sustainable or fun in the long run. In other words it just doesn’t work by yourself. We need each other…and a small group of people who share the same beliefs about morality and the ills of government is a great place to start. Imagine a simpler life with all the organic food you could possibly want and like minded people who genuinely care about you and want the best for you. A very simple way of looking at community living is this: I am free and so is everyone else. I am free to live my life so long as I don't infringe upon another’s freedom(s). The first sign of someone’s freedom being infringed on is that person speaks up and says so. If that doesn’t immediately resolve the issue then there will be a community mediation process we will work through as moral, rational, reasonable and moral human beings. By living in this community you are agreeing to abide by the mediation process. Voluntaria might be right for you if…
Our Shared Beliefs… Like all successful groups of people there needs to be a culture of similar beliefs. We think this is a great place to start too. Here is a list of things we find important community members match on:
Shared Values Super Simple Version: Don’t hurt people, don’t take their stuff and be a good neighbor. As a community, we all agree the attributes below will make a community much more sustainable, fun and efficient. The following are the traits we look to embody and would like our community members to embody as well. Think of them as general guidelines you would like to see in your community mates while remembering that everything at Voluntaria is voluntary. >>>Maybe adding in the thing about concordance here. Freedom: There are 2 kinds of people in the world: Those that want to be left alone and those that won’t leave others alone…We are the former type. Freedom is the most important value there is. We support everyone’s free choice as long as it is not detrimental to others. Freedom is key to living peacefully, sustainably and to having fun. Everyone honors everyone else’s autonomous nature and human rights. No one has any more rights than anyone else. A group of people do not have more rights than any individual. We value freedom in all these areas:
Integrity: Integrity is the practice of being honest and showing a consistent and uncompromising adherence to strong moral and ethical principles and values. Integrity is regarded as the honesty, trustworthiness and truthfulness or accuracy of one's actions. Integrity is the opposition to hypocrisy. Integrity is the inner sense of "wholeness" deriving from qualities such as honesty and consistency of character. As such, one may judge that others "have integrity" to the extent that they act according to the values, beliefs and principles they claim to hold. Integrity means honoring your word, not necessarily keeping your word. In the event you gave your word and you realize you can not keep it, honoring your word would include that you communicate as soon as you knew it was not possible to keep your word. Then clean it up, apologize and make a new agreement. Non Aggression Principle (NAP): We value and practice the N.A.P. As Voluntaryists we oppose the initiation of force to achieve social or political goals. We reject “first-strike” force, fraud or theft against others; we only use force in self-defense. Those who violate this “non-aggression principle” are expected to make their victims whole as much as possible. This “Good Neighbor Policy” is what most of us were taught as children. We were told not to lie, cheat, steal, and not to strike our playmates. If we broke a friend’s toy, we were expected to replace it. Simply put, voluntaryists take the non-aggression principle that most people implicitly follow in their interactions with other individuals, and apply it to group actions, including government actions, as well. Natural Law: Natural law is a theory in ethics and philosophy that says that human beings possess intrinsic values that govern their reasoning and behavior. Natural law maintains that these rules of right and wrong are inherent in people and are not created by society or court judges. Natural law holds that there are universal moral standards that are inherent in humankind throughout all time, and these standards should form the basis of a just society. Human beings are not taught natural law per se, but rather we “discover” it by consistently making choices that uphold wellness, prosperity, integrity and shared values. This is where the development of wisdom comes in. Spirituality: There are as many paths as there are people. It all seems to be so intertwined; the emotional, the physical, spiritual and all are necessary for a healthy happy individual. A cursory look at history and religion will reveal that religions which were started with the greatest of intentions have devolved to primitive forms of government whose purpose is to control the people. Want the people to do X and not Y? Tell them God loves X and if you do Y you will go to hell. We are happy to have everyone find their own way and would surely hope that organized religion is not brought in to the mix here. Discovering your part in the cosmic play can be very empowering and we encourage you to do this on your own and or with others who value these types of discussions in the community. Individual vs collective: We believe a sustainable model is one that favors the individual over the collective. Take care of yourself (and your family) first! Airline example: Put your oxygen mask on first THEN help others (and not the other way around). You are not useful to anyone if you are dead. Handle your and your family’s affairs then contribute to the community. Any assistance you give should come from your surplus. Individual over the collective. As the individuals in a given collective truly care for themselves and their families and livelihoods, they will have a surplus to contribute. All human beings naturally want to contribute to the whole. Allowing each individual to discover his/her way to that field of self care that leads to contribution is a wonderful thing a community can do to support everyone. Ongoing Growth: Two great quoted come to mind here:
We are committed to constantly expanding our knowledge about the mind, the body and the spirit. We see this expansion as an important life long process. Examples of how some of us continue our expansion include: books/workshops/mentoring/counseling/personal shamanic practices (including plant medicines). ** Need to add something about emotional maturity and choosing a modality or two to share, study and “own” with ongoing mastery training as a collective? Connection: We recognize that people have a need for community and a desire to contribute while benefiting (in a win-win scenario). We see all of this as essential to a balanced, fun and fulfilling life. We aim to foster a spirit of helping one another as needed. Life is not all bunnies and rainbows. There will be curve-balls and being in a community that has your back when needed is a heart-warming experience. Get involved/Participate: We encourage people to participate and get involved with the community members and community projects. Be Aware of others and their needs: It is a nice thing to see someone’s need and ask if you can help them and then help them. When you focus some of your attention on others, you both win. If everyone in the community does this, we all win. The Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have them do to you. Contribute more than you receive: If everyone did this continuously, the world would be a much better place. This will not be true for everyone all the time but it is a good goal and a great way to relate within the community. Honor each other’s idiosyncrasies: This simply means taking others into account especially when it causes you no harm. If you are helping someone with a task or project what’s the harm in doing it the way they want you to do it and making them happy. Privacy: We value privacy. Privacy is paramount in the world that is being created by the tyrants that are running the world now.*** ***the powers that were (not affirming they are running things now) Self Defense/Community Defense: Self defense is crucial too. We are 2nd amendment folks. We encourage people to have at least one gun and be trained how to use it. We all feel strongly that we provide our own security for our community. We will not rely on outside government or police forces.*** ***for this to work, truly balanced and emotionally stable healed individuals would be the only ones in the community. I have an example we can discuss some time. We strive to be YES people: When a community member wants something, it works out well for the community’s default position to be a “YES” unless there is a compelling reason to be a “No”. This is not to say you have to say YES to everyone’s requests this is just a mindset to be aware of that your initial thought could be a “YES” and or how you could be a yes to a request. If you are living with a group of friends and one friend wants something don’t you want them to have it? This goes back to the golden rule and how nice would it be for you to have your wants and desires supported. Jill story…(chad to insert) Sometimes not getting what they want is an opportunity for growth The property: ideals How far from a smaller city: 30 min How far from a city: 45 to 60 min How far from a big city: 1.5h to 2h How big: 10 to 50 people / 100+acres Where: somewhere good weather / great growing season 8 or 9 Running water/Lake/Well/Natural springs Next to national forest Common Amenities that have been proposed: Communal Common Areas: Pull info from Kent’s Pole Junkey survey Event center / community building / big kitchen / large bathrooms Healing center Airbnb rooms/RVs: We could host freedom minded visitors so they could see how we do things they can see a working model then go out and do it themselves. This would be a great way to give back. Meditation Center Horseshoe court Tennis court Sauna Large field for events (could have music/speaking events with car/RV camping) Walking paths between the lots (have a long 3 mi loop or something were people can get out walk Media Studio for video, audio, photography Exercise station Maker’s Hub Art Center • Woodworking Shop • Kiln • Clothing / Textiles Food Processing Area - freezing, dehydrating, etc. Animals: Centralization of animals / shared maintenance of animals Large pond for harvesting fish ** what about slaughtering and stuff? some will not be into that. is that a dealbreaker if they’re not? ie, is there definitely going to be slaughtering on the grounds? Farming: Centralization of most farming so that the production is done by a lot of people and schedules can be made. Of course anyone can do what they want on their land but it would be more fun and less work to share the bulk of the food production. ••• it’s great to make room for people to have their own gardens in addition to the community garden. Creativity in designing growing one’s own garden for me is a cruical thing. I’m also happy to help with a co-created garden. The Practical...How we do it: The Property: How to handle the property purchase Land and common structure Ownership: Option #1: Property is owned by a trust. Depending on the $ invested individuals own x shares in the organization. Option #2: Property is formally subdivided and everyone owns their lot. There would be criteria on who they could sell it to (it would have to be an approved new person). Option #3: Option #4: We seem to have consensus Everyone wants their own land whether its ½ and acre or 5 acres or 10 acres. A lot of people would like to share things like: Common area gathering room with kitchen and bathrooms Common farm with animals Money: Buy in fee for property Buy in fee for the community Annual fee to cover ongoing expenses ••• is there an option for rent to own or something like this available in this model? just curious Property Layout: Hamlet Layout? Kent’s suggestion A lot of the community stuff is in the center….the event center etc. Lots are in concentric circles around the center •••I have tons to share about this at the right time Decision making Many forms of consensus group decision making exist. We believe a values-based approach helps make decisions more cohesive in the community. Look into sociocracy Animal slaughtering: Minimal slaughtering on occasion. Lots of people are not too interested in this happening anywhere near them another possibility is we outsource this part of it. ••• move this up to the animal area Handling disputes: An initial thought it we could have multiple people trained in mediation and these people would be willing to resolve conflicts as they arise. All community members would agree to abide by the decision of the mediator. An appeal could me made and the whole process would repeat with a different mediator. If the result was different then the first mediation a 3rd and final mediation would happen. The 3rd result would stand. Community members would agree to this process of mediation before entering the community. ***there’s a good process called Unitive Justice my friend Sylvia Clute learned / created that could be adopted --> might be worth looking at it was suggested by someone. C.T. Butler’s On Conflict and Consensus advocates values-based consensus, although some view this procedure manual as not sufficiently emphasizing the most important perspectives about the process. CT shares some of the important pieces of the consensus attitude and spirit in the following video, audio interviews and in this recorded talk.. To watch these, please see **Link***** When someone would like to move out: Ideally, we have a pool of money and the community could buy them out then look for another community member. The amount to buy them out is determined by: price they paid + inflation for # of years they were part of community. How new members are vetted and accepted: How $ issues are resolved: What if someone can’t pay for 1 month …. 3 months? 6 months? Removing people who are no longer a good fit: When / Why / How do people get asked to leave and what if they don’t go? Food preparation: How to handle allergies / Various diets Common Areas: Maintenance Cleaning laundry • if everyone has the attitude of doing a bit more than the mess they just made that will go a long way in ongoing daily maintenance Farming Food production: planting & harvesting food preservation of food and seeds How to handle Technology? WiFi TVs in common areas only for computer presentations? Maintenance & repair of common things Appliances / Farm Equipment / etc People who like to party vs those who don’t Smoking cigarettes Smoking Pot •••yeah, no, dealbreaker ie - smokers yikes! What about Plant medicines? generally my personal preference is community with occasional celebrations that include any kind of substances. I wouldn’t want to be with a group that regularly partakes personally. when things are used recreationally, and without knowledge of a proper container, people’s etheric webs can get damaged allowing entities and other types of unconsciousness. that doesn’t mean i never partook or would never again. just very rarely and for a very good reason if at all ever and I’m not attached. i do have a glass of wine occasionally. i can let go of that at any point and often do for long periods of time. it’s not a dealbreaker for me to have a no alchohol community. it is a dealbreaker to be around a bunch of smokers and recreational partiers / daily habitual mind altering substance users ;) Fun Stuff: Weekly Meetings/dinners: Make an effort to have the meetings be fun. I can tell you from experience where I lived they were not very fun. If we combined dinner and some sort of fun activity it could actually be a fun social thing in which a community meeting happened. Quarterly bring in an outside speaker To talk on how we can relate better…and have more fun Think fun community building Think mediation/communication or ?? Something that is like a workshop that is supportive of connection and community Annual holidays: Anniversary of the Guiding Principles 1.0 (where we all feel they are ‘Good Enough’ to proceed) Anniversary of the property purchase?? Anniversary of the first person to move onto the property?? Anniversary of the 10th person to move onto the property?? Solstice Holiday parties (this could be our jam…super fun quarterly parties!) Mar 22 Jun 22 Sept 22 Dec 22 Misc Resources: The Intentional Communities Manual, from the Australian National Intentional Communities Conferences & South East Australia Communities Gatherings, discusses, in depth, a variety of topics for those interested in joining, establishing or developing intentional communities. Recommended Media:
(8+ hours) Mark Passio Natural Law full version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWwQCvg1W7w An attorney talking about how to assess information for validity: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-quash/id1517421323?i=1000546711224 Notes about starting a religion: DOES it make sense for us to start our own RELIGION? ••• think of it as a “church” rather than a “religion” John Oliver episode https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7y1xJAVZxXg&t=5s Would it buy us freedoms from the state? I am thinking it would. Our religion would NOT allow for: Gene Therapies / Vaccination Any medical intervention without permission Anything that is not voluntary Force, Coercion and extortion are strictly forbidden Our religion would ENCOURAGE everyone: To declare their own Sovereignty and freedom as a divine human This would be a ceremony and taken very seriously To own a gun and be trained to use it get trained in farming and everything else that fosters self sufficiency Compassion for all animals If animals are eaten they are to be killed humanly Maybe a confirmation of sorts of self reliant skills…. (think eagle scout stuff) so when done with the learning there are some tests to pass and one becomes an official in the religion Have the solstices be the BIG holidays! Parties start with someone reading the sacred solstice/equinox texts (a different text for each event….and secret santa gift exchanges (everyone brings one gift and everyone goes away with one). Music/dancing/food and fun and anything festive. Sacred monument: Stonehenge like thing….with 4 big rocks positioned to were the the sun goes down right over them at each solstice/equinox when viewed from the exact center. ______________________________________________________________________________ Random notes: This is like a relationship….need to add more here…. 1st is dating (honeymoon phase) 2. Relationship (there will be some rough parts) 3. Married (you are committed and willing to work through the tough spots) survey: put in email for email list (to email a brief of the chat….get VA to do it) sent it out weekly. 1. Preservation of individual liberties. 2. Protection of the home. 3. Promotion of economic security. 4. Prevention of disease. 5. Compulsory education. 6. Compulsory employment. 7. Profitable utilization of leisure. 8. Care of the unfortunate. 9. Race improvement. 10. Promotion of science and art. 11. Promotion of philosophy--wisdom. 12. Augmentation of cosmic insight--spirituality. Oath / intention *** we talked about annual and ongoing concordance as an alternative to oaths and vows what about an oath kind of thing....to join... a reading of a well worded paragraph where people accept that they are a sovereign person choosing to live in this community (and support it and be supported by it) and are in agreement with the guiding principles. We could have witnesses who attest to them agreeing and choosing the community. |