notes from Michigan Union

[nibot]

The conference is winding down. I know we'll ride the wave back to Rochester, this time arcing through Canada, completing our circumnavigation of Lake Erie.

Walking through the University of Michigan campus, one of our co-opers told me, "I didn't get it before. But now I do. It's about independence." And there, succinctly, is the kernel of the idea of co-op members collectively owning their houses and directing the fates of their organizations.

Watching everyone light up with understanding is a huge relief, in a way. This weekend has done huge amounts, I think, to really put our co-op into the hands of more of its members. Everyone, of course, had an equal say before, but now many more of us have a much better idea of what is going on, where we are going, and why. It is with gratitude that I see my role in actively steering the organisation diminish.

One disappointment here is that the co-op we stayed at wasn't particularly co-opy. We never did meet more than one or two current members of the house. A group of alumni did gather there last night to hang out. They were at least well spoken and intelligent, but their words were painful from a co-op perspective. One described his house as a "sort of backwater slacker house," where nobody really cared about the place outside of its role as providing shelter for a short period in their lives. And so our crew of course was quite disenchanted by this; while it's useful to see the situations we want to avoid, I would have preferred that we board somewhere more inspiring, like Debs house where Chris and I stayed last year.

A couple co-opers from our crew have also remarked to me, "We've done so many things right!" After the inevitable trials and tribulations, coming here and finding out exactly how well we actually are doing gives everyone renewed confidence.

I like to see myself as just a messenger in this process, transplanting an idea from California to Upstate New York, where it has taken off with all of these incredible people who have flocked to it. I was intrigued to hear some ant hillers remark with some surprise about how it seems that so many co-ops represented here are so oriented towards environmentalism and left-wing agendas. Not that we aren't, but here I like to think that maybe I have injected a slightly different, slightly more moderate take on things in the transplanting of this message, with a greater emphasis on, as we like to say, good people, good food, and communal living, spiced up with projects and a sort of apolitical grass-roots activism (think potlucks), perhaps an attitude of making ordinary life better. Maybe this is more novel than I thought?

Now's time to make the long drive home, stop actively thinking about these things for a while and just let it all sink in. Intended fundamentally as a labor saving device we can't let the overhead of our domestic operation become too consuming. So, let's roadtrip home, do some quantum mechanics, and paint some murals.

Comments

[nibot.livejournal.com]

There's always next year. And in the Spring there will be regional conferences, one for the East Coast, one for the Midwest, one for Canada. Because of our location we can pretty much pick any of those three and it will probably be relatively nearby. In fact, there was talk of Ant Hill hosting the "East Coast" gathering. Personally, I want to form the Lake Ontario Co-Ops association (LOCO!) because I think that makes a lot more sense than the East Coast / Midwest / Canada breakdown.

Co-ops are naturally liberal, but there are a lot of things associated with left-leaning politics that don't have to be. Maybe Amol can clarify the sentiment.

[dhondu.livejournal.com]

The point I was trying to make, and others seemed to agree -- A lot of co-opers seemed to be people whose primary motivation was not co-operative living but being vegan and eco friendly and living off what mother nature provides us with etc.
Nothing wrong with either of those concepts, except that I think living together in a co-operative environment should be the driving force behind a co-op and a good co-oper need not necessarily be the stereotypical hippy.

[furzicle.livejournal.com]

I agree with you totally, but I have to say that I know some quite leftish people who are also not cooperative. They may think they are, but they will cram it down your throat, which I find not to be a very cooperative way of going about things.