ARC 44

Sustainable Business Incubator- Docudrama

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"You've got one tiny moment in time for life, to shine... burn away the darkness.... one moment in time for life to shine... burn away the darkness." Will you be light? #ConsciousDisruption

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We can be entertaining, as well as informative. YouNow Will love us. More to come, Let's Build the Future.

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Gasland 2; portraying Orange Entropy

Josh Fox of Gasland 2 has created what should be the staple of a data driven, comprehensive study of hydraulic fracturing. The film flows more like a doctoral thesis, yet in a digestible format for all levels of consciousness.

Josh’s approach has flair, flying low over the Gulf of Mexico after the BP spill had the right balance of showmanship and poingancy. He knew prior to making this sequel that attacks were going to come from the natural gas industry; the film touches upon psychological operations (from the military) being used on Americans to divide small town folks and prevent a cohesive counter attack to the industry (which happens to be illegal.) The film portrays the macro political ramifications, tying back the Supreme Court ruling of Citizens United, where natural gas companies (and any other corporations) are allowed to fund politicians in unlimited amounts in ways the public cannot verify. He touches upon the social ramifications of fracking and how upper middle class families are being affected, which was not the case when the first Gasland came out. He tied together ecological disasters, how well water contaminated by fracking chemicals cannot be cleaned using natural filters, how neurotoxins in the air are harming people, and the decimation of the circle of life. The visual pockmarked landscapes were vivid, as were the interactive map features, showing the global strategy of energy companies seeking to move the world from oil to natural gas.

Throughout the film I was reminded of the study of Spiral Dynamics. In SD, there are levels of vMEMES that measure where people, countries and even companies lie. Right now in America, we are at ORANGE-green, with peak ORANGE economic systems in place. According to the theory, in order to move into the GREEN economy (permaculture projects, worker’s cooperatives, systems integrated with nature and harmony) ORANGE systems must break down (or move into the stage of entropy.) This then creates the incentive for many in the population to see the fallacy of (blind) ORANGE thinking, and open up to the next stage of development. (Green is not better than orange, it is the natural next step. Yellow leadership will be needed for this transition.)

If fracking wells open up at the industry’s desired pace (more new wells in the next decade than ever before according to the movie,) our economy will undoubtedly end in ORANGE entropy. Clean water will become more scarce, citizens will be enraged, healthcare costs will skyrocket and social disruption will be guaranteed. People will fully recognize the revolving door between large corporations and their government do not in any way benefit them; it is no wonder why the gas companies are treating this campaign like a war.

Let’s prevent this from occurring. Let’s build sustainable communities that do not have such a large need for harmful, toxic energy. Let’s create decentralized energy infrastructure, and begin fostering the GREEN economy now, curcumventing ORANGE entropy. Let’s Build the Future.

(Spiral Dynamics® is a registered trademark of National Values Center, Inc.)

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so save us all

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A Possible Future. -Fiction by Jon Connors New Lands An AVC and Gotham Gal Production Back in 2013, Fred and Joanne Wilson were the typical, uber successful investor/ entreprenurial couple living in New York City. They had it all; three wonderful children, success, fame, mentorship capacity, yet underneath they suspected they were destined for greatness beyond this lifetime, that their legacy could somehow spurn global change on the level of Bill Gates (yet with a far smaller investment, the way Fred rolls.). Fred made his fortune as the yoda of the technology venture capital world. Joanne had been a successful investor herself who connected with food based initiatives, fashion and media. They already built the future with their companies, but had not quite assembled it in a way to revolutionize the world. One day Jon Connors approached the couple with his vision of an Arc 44 community. The idea was to utilize the ecosystem Fred and Joanne built to create a sustainable incubator in the Delaware River Watershed in Pensylvania. This area was a ‘freedom zone’ with no building codes, allowing for Earthen construction (and greatly lowering the cost of buildout.) The first thing Gotham Gal said was, ‘you have to change the name.’ Jon agreed. They discussed the logistics and realized if this project, newly named ‘New Lands,’ were to incorporate many of the investments in Fred and Joanne’s portfolio, (and the production was transparent about this, complying fully with SEC regulations,) then it would easily justify a $400,000 investment. Fred realized that the show could become a You Now web television phenomena, where the best learning sections could be carved out and offered as classes on Skillshare. He realized that Shapeways could donate the 3D printers and mentor our members as they got started. We all recognized how New Lands Meetup groups could potentially popup across the world, leading to a global movement. Our smallest businesses could benefit greatly from Etsy and there was potential for CodeAcademy sponsored hackathons on site (and on camera.) Joanne became wicked excited at the idea of using Mercaris to sell some of the agricultural products grown on site. As an avid foodie, she salivated at the idea of growing most of our own food, and Windowfarms could help us utilize much of our window space for growing. We all loved the idea of Scoot scooters carrying community members across the land, and we even thought of using the intellectual capital of 3rd Ward to help get the incubator off the ground. Fred geeked out on the idea of using the Institute of HeartMath’s Inner Balance app to help facilitate meetings from a space of social coherence. We all wondered about the future possibility of where digital applications can alleviate the pain points of community living. ‘Why not sponsor a community as a R&D laboratory’ quipped Fred. The thing that sold it for both of them was the macroeconomic climate. Neither Fred nor Joanne thought that an economy built on the assumption of perpetual economic growth was mathematically possible, and we all touched upon how community living can help stabilize an economy that had previously been too reliant on centraliziation (food systems, oil infrastructure.) Fred loved how Jon overlapped Carlota Perez’s macroeconomic theory (from Technological Revolutions and Financial Capital) to Spiral Dynamics theory of consciousness development, as that book helped forge his fortune since the technology bubble burst in the late ‘90’s. New Lands, an AVC and Gotham Girl Production took off, and Fred and Joanne extended their network with the best thinkers of Permaculture design, Gaia theory, Natural Machines, and in Consciousness development. Community living, once shunned in the US as communist, became hip, as middle Americans resonated deeply with the idea of sharing expenses (in a low cost environment), while seeking profit. Retirees, who once fretted at the thought of living on a limited income stream, were now mixed in with the businesses on site, leading to America barely missing catastrophe with baby boomers retiring. Earthen construction, known for its durability in scientific circles, finally became noted as a viable housing option, drastically lowering the prices of homes built in this way, and many townships hit hard by the staggering economy changed their building codes to allow for it. This led to an unexpected social consequence, as the Wilson’s discovered from their social group working at UNESCO, developed nations started embracing Earthen construction as the new thing, since Americans were doing it. The macro effect was truly staggering, and Fred and Joanne are now heralded around the world for their ingenuity, their hard work, their bold risk taking, and their ability to coach Jon.

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Building Complex Systems= Creating Voltron

This weekend at Arc 38 in Wassaic, NY, many came out to celebrate Arc I, the Rise of Avalon.  This party was fun, full of many different people from around the NY area with ideas about community living.  Arc I resonated as something deeper than just a party, it was an example of a complex network in action.  

In a previous post I touched upon the Arc vision, as seen from my prism.  This vision is one of openness, of decreasing consumption, of commitment to resilience and sustainability.  What comes next is being created by those who are attracted to the core vision.

Out of the original seed of Arc 38 came the vision of Arc 44;  a sustainable business incubator as a community, filmed as a docudrama.  Apollo Mejia and TruthNow came up with the idea for the Arc I, Rise of Avalon Party, and the Arc Life video series.  Such examples of creativity help to round out a deeper answer to the question, what defines an Arc?  The Arc vision can be molded, can be enhanced, can be enlivened by others.  The Arc as a complex organism steps into yellow consciousness when it can hold such diversity, and allow for the original seed to remain in tact.  This yellow consciousness merging resembles the cartoon character Voltron's assemblage.  

Arc 38  as a community, functions like a command and control phallunx structure, with a direct flow of communication and hierarchy stemming from the landowner, Bill Henry.  Many of the founding members speak of the "New Way," yet are slightly uncomfortable moving away from the old paradigm control-like organizational structure.  Resources are scarce in this current model, and the definition of procedures, protocols, and  flow of power are hard to 'nail down' or solidify. This is a perfect case model to decide, is this our version of the new way?  Can we learn from best practices in other communities (or businesses) to create more transparent, more dynamic systems?

That said, the greater Arc model is that of a holocracy, and each decentralized node can decide for itself what system works best.  This allows for experimentation, and the ability to question/ post data about our operating environment for other communities to learn from, replicate, expand on.

Yellow consciousness comes with the ingrained pillar of systems analysis.  According to a Spiral Dynamics minicourse- yellow consciousness comes with:

'Landmark Life condition of: 

-A chaotic organism where change is the norm and uncertainty an acceptable state of being.

The landmark coping (mechanism to struggle is):

-Systemic: functional; integrative; interdependent. existential; flexible; questioning; accepting.'

Such a system mimics an open source, agile built, software system.  This is why we have been so busy courting technology investors.  

Using the framework of Spiral Dynamics, Let's Build Voltron; Let's Build the Future

(Spiral Dynamics® is a registered trademark of National Values Center, Inc.)

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"Everything is OK, and There’s Work To Do."

Kiril Ravensong breaks down Spiral Dynamics for us. Let’s Build the Future.

(Spiral Dynamics® is a registered trademark of National Values Center, Inc.)

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Community living will permeate the bell curve in Western culture. We will release many of the ‘stress points’ on this planet by creating a life with less need for consumption. We are your Black Swans, Your Black Swans.

Come to our party, Arc I Rise of Avalon. Be a black swan. Let’s Build the Future.

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Serve, or Be Served   

    Perhaps the fundamental patterning that the contemporary mass-culture industry imprints upon its subjects (that is, all of us in the English-speaking, internet-using world) is that of the Self as isolate, exceptional, and in direct competition with other beings for a finite set of fiscal, social, and intellectual resources. Almost everyone in this society, from pre-school on, is reminded that history’s heroes are its leaders: presidents, astronauts, generals, inventors; the  ‘great people’ who stand above and apart from the mass of humankind.

    This attitude is, of course, far from new. From the pre-Homeric myths of Olympians to the hagiographies (biographies of saints) that helped lay the foundations of what would become the Western literary canon, and onward to the charismatic personages whose intrepid narratives precipitated vast campaigns of societal reorganization in the 19th and 20th centuries (e.g. Napoleon, Stalin, Hitler, Edison, Ford, and Mao), such characters lend personality and a human scale to the incomprehensibly vast workings of time. Subtly or not, we are all conditioned to aspire and act as if this transcendent role is the highest measure of success: we are taught that one is supposed to be the founder and CEO of our life’s project.

    Now and then, of course, character and circumstance align to create the conditions for a single person to spear great and positive change in their world, but in the modern-day movement towards conscious evolution of Self, Culture, and World, it is worth examining whether the obsession with glory to the individual self is guiding us forward, or holding us back in an outmoded paradigm that undermines the noble work of creating adaptable and diverse community.

    ‘Now’ is a special moment in history’s arc: the problems of post-industrial society have become eminently apparent to an entire generation, and as demonstrated by the tidal waves of revolution that are crashing against the fortresses of power like so many hurricanes whipping against our shores, we are not going to stand pat. In the collision of information, industry, and the illuminations of the perennial philosophies that have only recently come to light, we are quite possibly bearing witness to the embryonic stages of a planetary human culture. As of yet, though, the solutions to these myriad problems have been provisional, experimental, and—in certain cases like the Tahrir Square uprisings in Egypt—disastrous. What we lack is not ideas: indeed, there are thousands of ingenious proposals that aim to address every angle of the global crisis; what we lack is the value structure that honors implementation as highly as innovation, one that deemphasizes and challenges the cult of charisma so fundamental to the (oligarchical) capitalist milieu. Each of us must examine our own motives for activism and involvement: do you aim to serve, or be served? So long as our operating language names the egoic self at the center around which all things revolve, our transfiguration of culture will be incomplete, inchoate, and, too often, cruel and unfair.

      -Sam Barnes is a recent graduate of Macaulay Honors College at CUNY.  He has studied complex systems in action at Occupy Wall Street, Sadhana Forest, Bushwick City Farm and many yogic communities.   

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   A community as a Minimal Viable Product

    According to the methodology of the Lean Startup, developing a minimal viable product is a big piece of the scientific method of starting a new endeavor.  

    This article from medium.com breaks down the Minimal Viable Product in a simple formula:

'Step 1) What’s the real life reason?

Users of a product usually have a reason for using them. Take the most obvious use case and explain it from the point of view of the audience:

“As a ___ I need to ___ so I can ___”

For example,

“As someone who’s new to the MVP concept, I need to understand the core mechanics, so I can use them to make my own products...

Remember, MVPs are for testing assumptions"

    Using this framework:  As an entreprenuer who sees the viability of sustainable business incubator as a community I need to understand the dynamics of community living so I can make more educated assumptions about what will make a successful community

        I am testing many assumptions while connecting with the community living at Arc 38, and with friends and colleagues doing business there.  Through this prism, I realized that a community of mostly green consciousness individuals is great for obtaining a social mission, but may not be the best personalities for which to make successful businesses.  My last post touched upon a more heterogeneous communal layout, with different levels of Spiral Dynamics consciousness levels; Technology VC's lean mostly in orange striver driver capacity, but some, like Fred Wilson of Union Square Ventures, are reaching into yellow consciousness.  Military Builders are mostly blue consciousness, but those who would be attracted to this vision will have empathy for/ a leaning toward green.  The elderly can move into many different levels, depending on their background prior to joining our community.  We seek their wisdom and mentoring capabilities for our community, so they too can touch into yellow consciousness.  Any entrepreneurial type will have a resonance with orange consciousness, and the building drive needed for us to be abundant materially.  

    In short, Arc 38 is not 'my' minimal viable product, it is a minimal viable product for anyone who sees the viability of this Open Source, Creative Commons licensed narrative.  Anyone who resonates with the deeper vision of Arc's should make an appointment to see the land, to connect with those on site, and create alliances we can grow from. 

    Using the methodology of the Lean Startup, Let's Build the Future.

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Technology VC's, Military Builders, Retirees and Hippies

    From a broad brushstroke perspective, the thought of such a diverse group adding value to society collectively seems like a fairy tale. Tie the threads together and a new story emerges. 

    Starting with technology venture capitalists; I know that the idea of community as a sustainable business incubator may seem out of their investment portfolio range, but I beg to differ.  Tech VC's have intuition on how to a) develop new businesses that others had no idea were possible, b) mentor business owners and c) aggregate lots of data and make use of it.  Arc 44 plans to collect data on personality types, spiral dynamics consciousness levels, and the interactions of individuals within our community network.  All data will be accessible by participants (and it will help color the interactions between team members on camera.) Tech VCs know how to create systems and to mentor others to do the same.  The return on investment we offer our investors comes mostly from our entertainment asset; a docudrama or documentary.  Not exactly an asset in the portfolio of most VCs, but one that does come with a large upside.  Add to it cross pollination possibilities for  'new economy' micro enterprise entrepreneurs selling their goods on Etsy, using Kickstarter to raise capital for a few of our autonomous projects, offering some of our educational classes on Skillshare, and having Arc Meetup groups throughout the world; a whole new picture arises.  

    We will also be using the Institute of HeartMath's Inner Balance app, which monitors heart and mind connection via an iPhone app (and helps to create social coherence in groups.)  If community living reaches critical mass, there may be many apps/ technology solutions that help facilitate voting procedures, administrative duties, communication, and things we have yet to think about; having a team of skilled venture backers to connect with about our 'pain points' adds depth to this investment.  

    Military builders are a stabilizing agent for any community.  We aren't taking anyone with military building experience, instead only those who share our values.  The types of men and women who look around and say, hey, my expertise can build a better world.  The types that know all about living in community, that may be interested in adding nonviolent communication to their diverse skill set they acquired serving our nation.  Since many of our projects come with hands on building needs, these members will quickly become important nodes in our network.

    Retirees offer unutilized labor and wisdom yield.  Many of our 'jobs' in the community will be something that an elder subset of the population could do without feeling overwhelmed.  They are a part of the social equation of our nation that is many times ignored, and at Arc 44, we feel that adding elders adds wisdom, depth and diversity to our population.  We are striving to make our cost of living low, so many older Americans, who feel overwhelmed by their retirement possibilities, may gravitate toward the Arc 44 model, giving us the chance to scale quickly. 

    Lastly there are hippies; living in community typically comes with a heavy bias of green consciousness (in Spiral Dynamics), earth loving, yogic, farming types.  We love this subset of the population, though we want more diversity than just this group.  These individuals are the early adopters of a way of life connected with their biosphere.  I really love my crunchy brethren.

    With such a diverse subset of the population invested in our community, Arc 44 as a docudrama asset hits many key demographic targets to return our investors their money.  Using the same mathematics of ecologies used in venture capital, let's broaden our scope to include the whole economy, the Earth as a metasystem, and be the leaders in developing decentralized businesses and communities across our nation.  

Technology VC's, Military Builders, Retirees and Hippies; Let's Build the Future.

(Spiral Dynamics® is a registered trademark of National Values Center, Inc.)

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We at Arc 44 believe in Openness as a staple to our activities, just like one of our biggest influencers, Fred Wilson of Union Square Ventures.  Fred has long been considered yoda in the NYC Venture Capital World, and his portfolio of successful technology investments include Twitter, Tumblr (why we are so committed to this platform), Etsy, Foursquare, Kickstarter, Meetup and Skillshare.  A sustainable business incubator sure could use many of the platforms you have developed Fred.  Happy Father's Day and we look forward to connecting soon.

Kind Regards,

The Arc 44 Team

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Arc 38 was beautifully named at a ceremony around the campfire in Wassaic, NY over a year ago.  The idea was simple, build Arks (as in the biblical kind), because the macroeconomic direction of our mass consuming world cannot continue for a long period of time.  The Earth is reaching its carrying capacity, and community living (which reduces the need of individual consumption) in the most consumptive nation on Earth can have drastic altering influence.  The idea was to number these communities, so they can spread across the nation, and anyone aligned with similar values (decreasing consumption, commitment to resilience/ sustainability) can replicate them in their own unique way. The Tao Te Ching had been the most widely read book on site that year, and from the ashes of the fire Leah Feder (of Occupy Farms) began reciting verse 38, 

  "The Master doesn't try to be powerful:

thus he is truly powerful.

The ordinary man keeps reaching for power;

thus he never has enough.

The Master does nothing,

yet he leaves nothing undone.

The ordinary man is always doing things,

yet many more are left to be done.

The kind man does something,

yet something remains undone.

The just man does something,

and leaves many things to be done.

The moral man does something,

and when no one responds

he rolls up his sleeves and uses force.

When the Tao is lost, there is goodness.

When goodness is lost, there is morality.

When morality is lost, there is ritual.

Ritual is the husk of true faith,

the beginning of chaos.

Therefore the Master concerns himself

with the depths and not the surface,

with the fruit and not the flower.

He has no will of his own.

He dwells in reality,

And lets all illusions go."

  Since that day, many people with many different visions have come through Arc 38. Who is a 'member' of the Arc or not has yet to be defined (some say those living there, some say anyone who passed through, some of us its in our DNA.)  What follows is my answer to 'what is an Arc' -there are many like it, but this one is mine

  I see Arc communities as experiments in communal living that combine sustainable business practices, communal living, and the best technology for the promotion of microenterprises (companies with 10 or less employees and less than 35k to start.)  We Arc participants realize that many communities existed before us, and many more will come after us; we stand on the shoulders of giants.  There is no CEO of the Arcs, only those who create solutions.  Arc communities open source their best practices for others to learn from, so new communities can learn from the pioneers.  We are an Agile, Open Source Society Project, meaning that we know we will have failures; we are the high risk beginning seeds and we seek technology style investors/ entrepreneurs to team up with who understand the development of new systems and businesses ecosystems.  We see the benefits of media (docudrama/ documentary) as a way to entertain while educating, to portray how living in community is not regressing, it is progressing.  We study human behavior and experiment with social technologies that will help release tensions that are sure to arise in a communal setting (and we know you are going to laugh at some of our failed attempts.) We are bold enough to think that a sustainable business incubator, who lays the groundwork for others, can spread to thousands of communities in ten years time.  We see the potential for an Arc political party, rooted in the ethos of Arc communities, Open Sourcing their protocols/meetings/funding streams and actually answerable to their constituents.  We believe as Margaret Mead stated, "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."

  The best part is that the Arc vision is chaordic.  What potential do you see?  As our friendly neighbor Mr Roger's says, "you can grow anything in the garden of your mind."  Come plant your vision seed and grow with us.  Let's Build the Future.

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Content is King.

Playing around with creating engaging video content to reflect the fun that occurs while living and working in community.  More to come.  

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Why should you care about people living in community?

   As a business school graduate, I hear these questions a lot from my immediate network, "Jon, whats the big deal about community?"  "Are you in it for the free love?"  "Business and community, c'mon man, is that even realistic?"

   I will admit, when Occupy Wall St first began and I became more socially active, free love was what I was seeking.  Fortunately for me, (and the young women in our communities) it is no longer the main driving factor for my participation in community development.  I truly believe that American people pooling resources with a business objective will change the world. 

   The Earth is full of limited resources, so the current American way of living in insular, separated homes is quickly becoming a question mark.  Are our lives truly marked by what we consume, by what box we live in, by the amount of luxury consumer goods we have access to?  Maybe for some, but that trend is turning.  People want fulfillment in their lives, and fulfillment can only come from a point of consciousness.  Conscious consumers decide where to allocate their capital, depending on the values of the organizations they are purchasing from.  Conscious families understand that 'keeping up with the Jones' is a very outdated thing to strive for.  Conscious people understand that fulfillment comes by adding value to their community.  People are what makes life fulfilling, and coming together to accomplish something bigger than ourselves is what we all seek, deep down.  

    Business incubators have long shown results in the startup world.  By living and working together, Arc communities bring the potential for cross pollination of ideas and business processes.   We believe that the long term unemployment epidemic will not just end overnight (the numbers are worse than reported btw,) and that the way to alleviate suffering in Middle America is to become your own boss, start your own microenterprise (company that has less than 10 employees and requires 35k or below in startup costs.)  We feel that unlike the days of the great FDR, there is no New Deal to be struck between government, business, and the common guy.  Each and every one of us are the New Deal.  Decentralization means that we are not asking for Solutions from a central government, who may be disproportionately influenced by large corporate lobbying.  Instead we believe that as Americans meet their own needs, create their own striving local economies, supplemented by some global commerce, then we will begin to see a more stable America, with more potential for fulfillment.    

    We in the Arc communities are using unique metrics to measure the 'cohesion' of groups.  We are students of Spiral Dynamics, and our goal is to create systems that allow for yellow consciousness (think JFK) to develop and ring true by our communal actions, by the values and principles that ooze from each member's being.  We feel that we can truly be a lighthouse for an American population that feels a little overburdened by the consumer way of living.  

   If you have any interest in what we are up to, come to our party: ARC I, The Primordial Mud on June 21st and 22nd.  Come see the land of Arc 38.  Have fun, maybe find some of that elusive 'free love,' and bring your imagination of what 'could be.'  Let's Build the Future.  

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Children's Story circa 2075

"Daddy, tell me about the heroes," said the young girl.

"OK sweetie", stated her father, with a smile on his face.

"Once upon a time there was a world full of people who were at the cusp of a Golden Age.  These beautiful souls were a bit lost, as their world consisted of exploitation, war, and destruction of their natural bounty was rife.  Many of these people thought "things will never change."  Many of them feared the idea of something different.  

There were political leaders in the most powerful countries who, though they had good intentions, were forced to bow to companies who drilled for archaic resources, instead of using the bountiful resources that exist all around them.  Many companies profited from creating machines of death, and spent their resources convincing leaders to kill people.  Life in this world was confusing.  

One day, from the ashes of this destructive world, rose the leaders of our Golden Age.  These individuals were masters of enterprise, who realized that societal problems can be solved with the ingenuity of entrepreneurial innovation.  These social innovators used data from their projects to see what was working and what was not.  As these pioneers began gaining more clout and fame, others copied, leading to the world of bounty we live in today.

The project that was the crux of it all was a small community/ business incubator project in Central Pennsylvania, called Arc 44.  The Arc was the second of a line of communities (which nowadays reach over 1 million), who took the approach of combining small micro businesses and community living.  In America at that time, all people lived isolated from others.  They wasted resources (because they thought they would last forever) trying to be better than their neighbors. Arc communities paved the way for acceptance of community living (putting less of a demand on the Earth's resource stream in the part of the world that consumed the most of all.) They helped lower unemployment, as they helped people become their own masters of business (teach a man to fish, as Jesus said), stabilizing an economy at the edge of ruin.  They assisted in lowering the major debt problems of the day, as their model paved the way for abundant, low cost housing, which required very little energy resources, allowing for the heavily indebted populace to live freely while unburdening themselves of their debt.  They assisted in the recuperation of many soldiers who, upon returning from the wars fought for a decade, were able to rebuild a nation and themselves.  

These Masters of Business, the investors of the Arc's, are elevated to this day as men and women who changed the world.  They helped open the door to our current Golden Age.  These are our heroes, honey, and we all thank them for their ingenuity at a time when humanity needed them most."  

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Explicit Communication and Communal Arrangements

  Steven Pinker touches upon the uniqueness of human language, and how it can create awkwardness in human relations.  He isolates three human relationship types, all with different unwritten rules.  Dominance which comes with the unwritten "don't mess with me," Communality "share and share alike," and Reciprocity "you scratch my back and I scratch yours."  All of these relationship types arise in community settings, and explicit communication styles help to mitigate the unwritten element.  

  Human relationships are difficult to tread through and in our individualistic society, are probably the biggest hurdle to tackle in living together/ working together.  Explicit arrangements, clarity in expectations, written agreements, all help alleviate any uncertainty from entering community relationships.

Many community's, like Twin Oaks in Virginia,(who run two different $1 million plus a year revenue companies on site)  use an approach of talking out all sides of an issue before voting on it.  By laying everything out on the table, all members have the opportunity to feel 'heard,' and even if the motion goes forward without 100 percent consensus, thorough communication is still executed.  Their long term time horizon as an organization is to make all members of the community comfortable and feel 'heard', all while also creating profit.

Arc 44 will be very communicative to our audience as to what our procedure and protocol are for decision making and dealing with conflict.  We will lay the groundwork for others to learn from, just as we are learning from 'best practices' in existing communities.  

Let's Build the Future