1.0Global Ecovillage Networkhttps://ecovillage.orgAlbert Bateshttps://ecovillage.org/user/thefarm/rich600338<blockquote class="wp-embedded-content" data-secret="zoUpghgP9I"><a href="https://ecovillage.org/ecovillage/thefarm/">The Farm</a></blockquote><iframe sandbox="allow-scripts" security="restricted" src="https://ecovillage.org/ecovillage/thefarm/embed/#?secret=zoUpghgP9I" width="600" height="338" title="“The Farm” — Global Ecovillage Network" data-secret="zoUpghgP9I" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" class="wp-embedded-content"></iframe><script type="text/javascript"> /* <![CDATA[ */ /*! This file is auto-generated */ !function(d,l){"use strict";l.querySelector&&d.addEventListener&&"undefined"!=typeof URL&&(d.wp=d.wp||{},d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage||(d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if((t||t.secret||t.message||t.value)&&!/[^a-zA-Z0-9]/.test(t.secret)){for(var s,r,n,a=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret="'+t.secret+'"]'),o=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret="'+t.secret+'"]'),c=new RegExp("^https?:$","i"),i=0;i<o.length;i++)o[i].style.display="none";for(i=0;i<a.length;i++)s=a[i],e.source===s.contentWindow&&(s.removeAttribute("style"),"height"===t.message?(1e3<(r=parseInt(t.value,10))?r=1e3:~~r<200&&(r=200),s.height=r):"link"===t.message&&(r=new URL(s.getAttribute("src")),n=new URL(t.value),c.test(n.protocol))&&n.host===r.host&&l.activeElement===s&&(d.top.location.href=t.value))}},d.addEventListener("message",d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),l.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded",function(){for(var e,t,s=l.querySelectorAll("iframe.wp-embedded-content"),r=0;r<s.length;r++)(t=(e=s[r]).getAttribute("data-secret"))||(t=Math.random().toString(36).substring(2,12),e.src+="#?secret="+t,e.setAttribute("data-secret",t)),e.contentWindow.postMessage({message:"ready",secret:t},"*")},!1)))}(window,document); /* ]]> */ </script> https://ecovillage.org/wp-content/uploads/2002/01/TheFarmmasthead7.jpg1999764In cases where the 20-year senescence of alternative communities is successfully thwarted, the community has done so by 1) raising the age of marriage - especially for men - and develop institutions to deal with non-productive men and women (nunneries and monasteries, or the normalization of the spinster aunt and the bachelor uncle who lives with and assists in the farm and household labor of a farm family) 2) developing strict rules to prevent over-exploitation of the remaining "commons" in the village, usually a mixed zone forest and wild pasture land. This prohibits any members from exceeding the "per-family" livestock or space numbers, or exceeding the per-family allotment of wild food and firewood collection and usually also prohibits anyone from either selling such material or developing it for cash income - this means you can't develop a firewood business that will eventually use up all the deadwood that other families in the community need, etc. 3) prohibits sale or lease of any part of the commons, or the timber on it, or the grazing rights on it, on the part of the village government, either to village members or to outsiders.