Hi Syn,
Not meaning to be negative but I had a look into the Therah Bylaws up to bylaw 2.2.9 on their website. The worst of my fears about such an arrangement seem to surface quite early in their bylaws. It would appear that a very small group can exercise power over the rest of the group in very short order. People 'in the know' with hands on experience can 'suggest' changes but have no real 'say' in changes to the system directly. I live in a very small town with similar problems and the elected officials don't have a chance to make change AND see the results before being voted out. It's kind of like the first term of majority for a countries leader. It takes about 5 years before a country starts seeing results of the changes. Getting a second term is difficult at best. Unless the 'Barney theme song' (I love you, You love me, We're a happy family...) is freely embraced by the whole community there will be considerable dissent.
The other thing that makes me wonder is the amount of people in relation to the size of the colony. I turned down an offer to take over the family farm (with great soil) the same size of the Therah colony because it was economically unfeasible 25+ years ago. Supporting 29 families on 100 acres of production land would require efficiencies beyond what I can comprehend. Granted 'micro farming' is more efficient than standard commercial farming it would still be very labor intensive. Keeping the paid board members and maintenance staff paid would be difficult at best. Without 'income' provided from 'off colony sources' I can not see this venture being sustainable.
Keeping a family alive on 5.5 acres would be difficult at best but better than attempting to do the same in your urban back yard. I truly hope that the Therah venture proves me wrong but I don't see it being able to self sustain the population they hope to.
Again, nothing personal Syn but lets see how Therah is doing a few years from now. In this case I would LOVE to be wrong.
BTR
Than= I’d rather be rich than poor.
Then= I first became hungry then I ate.
There = She is there now.
Their = They have their things.
They're = They're going to the mall.
To = They came to the house.
Too = That's too bad.
I somehow doubt the subscription buyers are all full time at the community, more than likely quite a few use it as a small recreational get away destination .
I spent my childhood in the islands and it always feels like home to me even now I have been on the mainland for 30 plus years .
HI ALL...
B.C. interior, Cariboo Mnts, quesnel, P.G., Williams lake, all points inbetween.
yes i am interested in building a sustainable community. all the respect for those who feel comfortable by the big water, i cant do that. so im in the mountains, have been for the past five years, prospecting, foraging, and helping out the neighbors. its been a long tough road, but let me clarify something... i havent spent a winter in the hills yet, about six months of the year i live out there, for the winter i come home to alberta.
i have a camper in the bush, and work a claim close by. my cousins do also, and we work together time to time. some new friends iv met over the last cuple years have proven to be good, so ill keep them. slowly iv been trying to expand into pioneering a home stead, in order to research our heritage. thats when i found an old settlement. with water running close at hand, a fertile old garden with fantastic fiddleheads, rhubarb and garlics, limited access and a secluded river valley with two running creeks, wild game and fish, BINGO. this is a work in progress and a sensitive area to safeguard.
a secondary camp for staging has been developed, a first aid station, water storage, base camp with three shelters, and tool depot. close to the river for working the claims. basicaly this is the work camp, sort of. this camp is only a couple miles from the highway, between quesnel and P.G..about 20 miles from the safeguard zone. here is where i am most of the time, with those who come out for the first time i train them in the basics of wilderness survival. my partner will take an interest in training as well, as with the others in the group. in total there are thirty members, some by active participation, others by donation of tools and supplies from time to time. the un-spoken rule being that if SHTF they would have access to the safe zone and play an active roll in the development of the community.
it all sounds great but realy its still a rough cut, and my dream is good but others have different dreams. yet on a community scale we still hold the individual freedom to persue ambitions with the support of those around us. iv been amazed how we all pull together in times of need. these are the folks we are looking for....
either in network, in person, or in kind... my objective is to pioneer a homestead, use new green technology {ancient hydro dynamics} as power supply, natural water purification, home schooling, medical aid, study and research forestry practices as forest steward, develop placer mine, establish a community{caretakers on site.} register a society or create a company with all members as owner.
with a registered company, or society, they are legal entitys and can own a gold claim, where all members automaticaly are owners... and share equaly.
nirad@live.ca is a contact for this group, as im heading out in im thinking end of march id like to meet some folks.
Mc bride prince george hixon cinema quesnel barkerville wells and all points between. we start with dialogue, maybe make a contact, go from there....
Free Range Canadians ...
" Paro-Conservo-Servo "
I wonder how this thread has developed, as of April, 2015.
Looking for a sustainable community in British Columbia.
Source of my concern is an asteroid named Apophis, due here in 2029.
Though of course any NASA scientist will tell you that the asteroid you need to worry about is the one you don't see coming.
For what it's worth, I was raised on a farm in SW SK.
Cosmiccowboy23, Where in BC are you ?
You've Got To Be Tough, If You're Going To Be Stupid.
I would be interested in it. I was thinking about leaving off grid since when I was 15 yo. the problem of hour society is that we depend for everything.
You buy an house and you need to have a job to pay it back with the interest,
You beleive that tomorrow you will find you 3$/lb potato
we depend on a gas station to drive our car, etc.
I have been studying this topic for almost 10 years, the problem is the money! 🙂
- Buy the right land : it needs to be expose to south or south east to catch most of the sun light ( Energy and agricultural reasons)
the land has to have at least 25% of surface cover by tree for Energy reasons and to get some construction material, it also needs to be accessible if you want to build an house.
- Build an house: The cost of an earth ship is approx $260/sqft if it is build by other, if you will be building it the cost can go down approx 100/sqft but it depends by your skills and how many friends can help you building it.
Cob houses: very cheap they are approx $10-15/sqft if it is build by you (a course to learn how to build one is approx 1000 dollars) but they are not energy efficient as a earthship.
- Earthbag house is for dry climates, long topic
-food: if you are vegetarian you will need less acreage to sustain yourself than an omnivorous diet. it also depends of the location-exposition and availability of water,
Aquaponic it is a good way to provide food but you will need to build a green and also keep a certain temperature in winter or the fishes will day.
Skill: is there anyone with Carpentry skill- agricoltural etc. skill of we are all IT guys? 🙂
Those ones are the main point but there are several other that will take long time to explain.
I like the idea of the community etc but it need to by plan in great detail, as I said I am very interested in it.
Cheers