Vision/Vision Statement (most theoretical, grand principals)
We strive to create amongst ourselves and in the world around us a society of equals, each giving according to their ability and taking according to their need. We will govern ourselves cooperatively in a way that both respects our autonomy and acknowledges our interdependence. In this way we seek both to develop a model to be emulated and to actively engage in transforming the world around us. We are in the world to change the world. We know that this is a challenging and ambitious goal and so we require members who are well suited to this ambitious and difficult work.
There is nothing truly independent in the world and we commit to striving for the enrichment of all while we strive for our own enrichment. There is much suffering in the world and we feel bound by our compassion to strive to relieve it. It is not enough for us to turn inward and make a good life for ourselves only. Our work is to make a more totally awesome world for everyone, forever and ever and ever. Our method is to make sure that everyone can be happy and free and that, as a society of whatever scale, we are caring for and being cared for by each other.
We are locating ourselves in the heart of the city where the web of economic and social relationships is densest, where it is the hardest to live your life outside of those relationships, and thus where the damage from the relations of capitalism - enforced by the violence of the state - is most evident. However, by living there in the heart of the city, we are also locating ourselves where our solutions are most applicable and opportunities to resist and undermine the structures of oppression are most numerous. The chance encounters of the city cause us to engage with people who do not share our values or our culture, forcing us to examine and hone our ideas and challenging us to expand the inclusiveness of our vision. The density, wealth, and exposure of the city are also incredible resources for our ambitious project of social transformation.
Mission (what are we trying to do)
Our Commune
To create a productive & expressive, feminist, non-violent, egalitarian, income-sharing, ecologically sustainable, consensus based commune in Washington, DC. To make a common economy where we hold our land and property, labor and time, and the products of our labor in common to be distributed according to need. To have as a commune and as members of that commune, a commitment to interpersonal work and our relationships to each other.
Our Work
To be always engaged, as a commune, in the work of social transformation whether that be growing our own commune, starting new communes, or supporting other cooperative & creative projects aligned with our mission. To make possible by our collectivity things that are not possible in isolation.
Goals (concrete measurable goals that we’re immediately headed towards)
• Create a residential urban commune of 20 or more people.
• Devote at least 10% of our money and labor to good works.
• Be financially self sufficient including a pension fund for our members.
• Be at or below a sustainable level of consumption of globally limited resources.
• Once established: Complete at least one large collective project a year in each of the following areas: Art & Art Grants, Improving the Commune, Direct Neighborhood & Regional outreach, Global Impact
Aspirations (far future goals)
• Help start a new commune.
• Overthrow capitalism.
