I went to Dayton University to study Mechanical Engineering, where I learned more about community than anywhere else. I lived in about 10 different places with several groups of people, 4 to 6 people at a time. I still dream about the good times we had, just hanging out and doing whatever came to mind. There was little responsibility, just passing courses. Oh, the constant laughter, I miss it. We drank a lot, but didn't really get in trouble, just wanted to have a good time. I got involved with a local engineering fraternity, kind of like "Revenge of the Nerds". Every one of my twenty-something brothers was unique, non-judgmental, fun, supportive, and nerdy (like me). I also helped start Red Scare, a basketball student fan club. Our mission was to party, paint our faces red, and yell.
Sophomore year of college a roommate introduced me to "Ishmael" by Daniel Quinn, it turned my world upside down. I gobbled up all Quinn's books, which led to other research, and quickly learned about the sad state of the world. My interests turned to environmentalism, vegetarianism and activism in general. My super senior year, my favorite professor turned me onto Design for Environment (DFE), a fantastic field within mechanical engineering that teaches engineers to evaluate and reduce the environmental impact of products they develop. Georgia Tech was the only college with a program that encouraged students to investigate Design for Environment as a concentration, so I went there for a Masters.
I was paid a research stipend to follow my interests, so I was happy. I quickly found out how new and disjointed this field was, and that my lab was more concerned with the theory of design, but I was interested in actually improving the process. My research and internship was primarily with a carpet tile company named Interface, based in Georgia, whose CEO (Ray Anderson) changed course in the mid-1990s after reading Ishmael and Ecology of Commerce. He now spends time speaking to groups and fellow CEOs about the looming environmental crises and how its about to change business, like it or not. I learned that they had the will, but not the way to design products with the environment in mind. I spent a summer picking out a software program that fit their needs, set up a few demonstration models, and trained the people who trained other employees across the world. I was tickled when 5 years later at GM, an Interface sales rep whipped out a brochure detailing their commitment to the environment by using this program.
I found out that General Motors had a DFE group, so I took a job there in Detroit after school. I thought that since I've been successful at every other company and group, why not try out the big league? Sigh. I was able to work my way through the company with success, and pounced on a job opening in the DFE group. The group had been downsized from 20 to 6 since I started. The remaining employees were older with no interest in environmentalism, just in having a job. My job was to promote the use of recycled plastics to other employees and suppliers. Sounds great, but the rules were set up to fail. There were over 10,000 engineers, and 1,000s of suppliers, and a million reasons no one wanted to touch recycled plastics, or claim that they used them. With the help of a mentor, we rewrote the rules so that recycled plastics were treated just like their virgin counterparts, approved to the same specifications and parts, with no need for special treatment.
Rewind a few years. Shortly after coming to Detroit I co-founded a Detroit Ishmael club. We sent out e-mails to those registered on Quinn's site to promote the group, and guess who showed up? My life long companion, Nicole Mades (Ostara). Before her, my life followed a logical progression. We spent a few years together in activism and love, and learned that we knew nothing. Every action seems to have an unintended consequence. Activism actually allows society to continue without change. For example, more fuel efficient cars and public transportation enables urban sprawl. Eating vegetarian requires less land, energy, and water, but enables population growth that will ultimately consume more. People recycle and forget about the massive slaughter of wild land and animals.
We need a revolution, not a reform. We need more than a revolution of the Che Guevara type, but a global change of consciousness. The only one I know of big enough to cause this change is Mother Earth herself. I have to believe that she will take care of herself in the long run. This deserves more depth than I want to go into here. Reading "Ishmael" would give you a better understanding of my mindset.
Now: So where does that leave Ostara and I? Searching for a new way of life inspired by Daniel Quinn, customized by our convictions. Between GM and now I worked for a year at Sundance, a plastic recycler north of Atlanta. This allowed us to save a few bucks and try out life away from home. We also got married in a beautiful handfasting this past summer. We also have a one-year-old child, Josie (our beautiful mutt). Now we're in a position to tour the countryside looking for the best community to suit our needs.
What is community? A network of friends and family that support each other through good times and bad.
Why community? Our culture is so obsessed with individualism we spend our days isolated in temperature-controlled cars, houses, and offices. Our needs cannot possibly be met by our immediate family alone. We are obsessed with dying because deep down we know we never really lived. We are hypnotized by TV, programmed to live in the cycle of consumption, terrified of everything, depressed as hell, unhealthy as hell, fooled by the real intention of education, and just hoping to save up enough money for retirement, when we can live the last few miserable years of our live in freedom, often lonely.
Alternatively, Ostara and I believe people deserve to live in a tribal environment. Where security comes from the skills and loyalty of your tribe. Where life happens- periods of hunger make the next meal taste better and cold winters make the warm spring air heavenly. Where there is rich social interaction everyday. Where customs go back generations and rituals are a way of life. Where everyone watches out for each other. Where peaceful meditation in the forest is a short walk away.
I know I know, those days are gone. The next closest thing for a westerner is to join an intentional community, where loyalty and traditions aren't as deep. But we are looking at various intentional communities anyway. In addition, we are looking for a progressive city to settle down in where we can build our community one friend at a time.
My 20 years of schooling taught me nothing about living a healthy and sustainable life. There is so much knowledge to learn from other cultures, past and present, such as natives, Asians, Indians, and even early Europeans. I feel like I'm starting a new life with a new purpose. I'm excited.
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