Preliminary Thoughts and considerations

First, let me say how excited I am and have always been at the thought of projects such as these. In my mind they represent the next step in the evolution of mankind. Currently we reside in societies exemplifying the bottom rung of Maslow's hierarchy of needs. We are concerned primarily with our safety and having our basic needs met; these being food, shelter medical care and so on. It is only when we have our basic needs and safeties met that we able to progress onto the next levels, primarily mental and spiritual actualization.

In self sufficiency lies the freedom to progress into truly spiritual and intelligent beings. To transform into societies where power and respect are given not primarily toward those who champion the acquisition of material goods, but whose thoughts and concepts have elevated them in order to better lead their counterparts.

From this standpoint I believe that the project thus far has brought many people through its doors who were and are willing to work toward this common goal. They shared in the dream of sustainable living. The concepts of earth homes, freshly grown food, and a spiritual basis greatly appealed to them. Some had their basic needs met through outside work or saved money, others were willing to work toward this through full donation of their time. I found it incredible how many talented people from all walks of life were inspired by these goals. Architects, engineers, spiritual healers, not for profit managers, etc.. Unfortunately, many of these individuals ultimately left the program in search of other ways of accomplishing this shared goal.

While it is unfortunate that we lost so many potential contributors, I also believe it was necessary. The universe is cyclic in nature. We are bound by seasons of change, birth, life and death. Through this first cycle we saw the first concepts come into being and we saw that there was a great enthusiasm among many varieties of people. We saw that there were people who were literally ready to divert all previous plans and devote their lives to this cause.

So in the spirit of falling of the horse, getting back on and falling less hard, we should examine what was missing from the plan to ensure future success. Below I have outlined some preliminary points of discussion I feel will give a better understanding of were we were and where we would like to be.

Many of the individuals who came to donate their time and efforts lived on the property and thought of this as home base. As a home base it should provide shelter, food and safety for the individuals involved. This of course costs money. I believe it is unreasonable to think that John or any one individual should have to foot the bill continually as that would be an unsustainable venture. In light of this, the project in and of itself must bring in some sort of income. This could come in the form of grants, donations or earned income. We must hash out the details of how money is to be raised, how it is to be spent and how we will provide for those who are willing to work toward the common goal. This may mean several projects are proceeding in parallel with some solely devoted to generating income, while others are devoted more toward long term research and development of various concepts.

Another aspect I feel was missing was the concept of how to handle prototyping and mass construction. Many aspects of the project were grandiose in scope. They represented many man hours and were of large physical scale. While this is not in and of itself wrong, it was in my opinion premature. While we had knowledge of such projects working in other locations, we had no first hand experience with the nuances of completing such projects. This is why small scale trials are essential to dial in the process so that large amounts of resources and man hours are not expended due to unforeseen difficulties. This also plays into peoples innate need to see progress. Both

those working on the projects and those granting money to the projects want to see proof of concept and the development / completion of goals. Being clear about intermediate goals, completion of small scale projects and so on will continually feed the enthusiasm of all involved.

The third aspect which could use a shine was the overall structuring of the project. I for one have always hated the death by meeting syndrome, but also realize how necessary it is to have all contributors on the same page. We need to outline specific responsibilities, expectations, roles and rewards for all involved. We need to decide how decisions are made, nurtured and accomplished. We need to understand how to handle situations which are falling off track. We need to decide who has the helm in various aspects so as not to fall into the trap of micromanagement.

I believe the 3 aforementioned topics outline the major core of what is needed for successful completion of various projects which will lead to the ultimate goal of self sufficiency, inspiration of others and general prosperity. While they are only topical and need to be fleshed out, I believe they are a good place to start. Please feel free to comment or add to anything discussed!