SYSTEMIC SYMBIOTIC PLANETARY ECOVILLAGE NETWORK

SSPEN
SSPEN is a research and advocacy effort to promote a General System Theory ap-
proach to long-term and ascension sustainable living within our biosphere.
Newsletter 1 2006

Introduction
The onset of global
warming, oil peak,
overpopulation, species
extinction, terrorism,
global land, sea, and air
pollution, and non-
renewable resource
depletion - point to the
need for a massive
paradigm shift.
The nonlinear transi- Enter the nonlinear, Bifurcation challenges Simulation and Repli- An inconvenient truth -
tion non-reductionist, sys- cation Earths carrying capac-
The linear, reductionist, temic, symbiotic, win/ Our civilization is ity
Darwinian win/lose era win paradigm shift approaching the Earth-a finite resource.
must fade into history. A new heterarchical and computational capacity Ignoring this truth has
hierarchical world to simulate sustainable seriously jeopardized
network approach to civilization. We, our civilization.
biomimetic resurrection collectively represent
of the biosphere and the The bifurcation the wet biosimulation
sciosiosphere. General challenge of level 0 to which must follow
System Theory comes of level 1 civilization lies artificial simulation.
age. before us and within us.

linear, reductionist approach to the nonlinear sys-

Introduction temic approach. Knowledge moves from being dis-

We rise every morning only to hear of more severe
droughts, famine, flooding, heat spells, cold spells,
hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, and volcanic
eruptions. What is the core theme of these events?
What is our planet telling us? Perhaps that we have
exceeded its capacity to properly sustain us, and
that we have initiated complex and not yet well
understood nonlinear feedback mechanisms de-
signed to reestablish the balance we have violated.
The earth is speaking to us, but are we listening and
learning, or simply ignoring these yearly warning
systems, preoccupied with our more prevalent short
term interests. We do this at our own peril, challeng-
ing nature to dig even deeper into its nonlinear
toolbox full of even more severe feedback responses.
The source of the problem
As a young and immature civilization, we are cur-
rently operating in the early stages of the scientific
revolution - the linear, reductionist stage of the sci-
entific revolution has had its success with our grow-
ing industrial and now information age economy.
The watchers, they precede us by hundreds
of years. Their interlinked root structures are
the nervous system of GAIA - these medita-
tion masters beckon our ecological awaken-
ing.
The natural stages of scientific progression move
from a linear, reductionist approach to a nonlinear
General System Theory approach. This stage only
becomes possible when sufficient computational
capacity becomes available to the civilization. Our
biosphere and the universe which surrounds us is
fundamentally nonlinear and systemic. It is only
when a civilization acquires sufficient computa-
tional capacity that it is able to discover these truths
and make the necessary transition from the initial
tributed within and stored within isolated cells, to a
more systemic, holistic, symbiotic, and dynamical
interdisciplinary effort. This next progressive stage
in the scientific revolution brings much deeper and
more complete understanding of the complex, en-
tangled, highly interoperable reality that we live
within. Unfortunately on our planet, the rapid
overpopulation of our planet beyond its carrying
capacity, has not allowed us sufficient time to begin
to absorb these new perspectives being unearthed in
our research facilities. The worlds population, and
our political, economic, educational, governance,
and social institutions have not yet assimilated these
new revelations. So we are rapidly approaching a
very serious challenge to our future survival as a
viable civilization. A lower population density
would have allowed us more time to investigate,
assimilate, and adjust our current life styles to more
fully comply with this new awareness.
Time is running out
We now have a very short period of time left to
initiate a massive restructuring of our home planet.

A Highly Distributed World Network of Sustainable Intentional Communities 1

 SYSTEMIC SYMBIOTIC PLANETARY ECOVILLAGE NETWORK
GETTING GAIA
TO KNOW
Third planet out from a sun, drifting in an
orbit 30,000 light years away from the center
of a young C class spiral galaxy, in a very
small galactic cluster way out on the outer
edge of our parent Virgo Supercluster
consisting of ~ 2500 galaxies. We are not
exactly the center of attention in this
universe! We are more like a one stop gas
station way out on the edge of a big desert, or
one of the outermost nodes in a complex
network diagram. What we decide to do with
our world, will not drastically alter the
evolution of the larger universe - but it may
determine if we are there to participate in the
universe’s ongoing evolution. If we intend to
be around, participate, and cocreate we had
better get over the immature `disneyland’
behavior we are currently exhibiting.
Ecosystems are highly complex systemic and
symbiotic systems. Their causal networks are
the product of billions of years of
experimentation, refinement, and cooperation.
To think that all these causal relationships can
suddenly be suspended simply because we
have decided to vacation here, and at night
when no one is looking biomagicians will
come out, and repair all the damage we inflict
on this system very day, and therefore our
behavior will be free of consequences is
absurd. Yet this very much seems to be the
approach we are taking. If we cut down
thousands of years of tree growth, in one year
- no problem, the magicians will come tonight
and all the trees will be there again in the
morning. If we fish the oceans to the point of
extinction - no problems - the magicians will
will wave their magic wounds and tomorrow
the oceans will be full of fish again. Such tall
tales make fine fantasy bed time stories for
small children. However as big children
attempting to become adults we cannot afford
to delude ourselves with the `disney’
syndrome. Walk through an old growth tree
network that has been alive on this planet for
5000 years, sit among these Zen masters,
listen to their symphony, observe their
matured nanotechnology.
Teaching Trees among us,
Silver Jones
2
The nonlinear transi-
tion
We have reached the bifurcation point in our civilization
where we must either complete the transition to the
nonlinear paradigm or initiate our own extinction.
Where to begin, with such a large challenge stand-
ing before us. It is over-
whelming, and for this very
reason, many turn away
simply bewildered with
where to begin. Unfortu-
nately we dare not continue
down this path of blind-
ness. We must face the causal consequences we have
precipitated, if we wish to survive, and accept the
responsibility afforded to us by our universe to
become the cocreators of our own universal destiny.
The cocreatorship trust
If the universe has challenged us with this test, surely we
have the capacity within us to meet this challenge.
The universe has not chosen us alone to face this
challenge. Every evolving biosphere in our universe
has or will face this same
challenge. Each has the
right to approach this chal-
lenge in their own time and
with their own unique ap-
proach to its solution, but
all must face this right of
passage in their universe ascension. The particular
approach we adopt in many ways defines the
uniqueness of our particular civilization. We can
whine and complain about how this inconvenient
truth has disturbed our lives in so many inconven-
ient ways, or we can face this enormous challenge
with humility, grace, and a tremendous sense of
gratitude that we have been introduced to this much
larger, deeper, and complex reality which preceded
our appearance on this our planet of origin. Short-
term linear, reductionist thinking served us well for
a few centuries. It got us out of the jungle, through
the agricultural phase, and it has now taken us
through the early stages of industrial revolution to
our present state. But as always happens, the linear
reductionist approach kept us from seeing many of
the consequences of our actions, as our civilizations
grew and began to interact in a much more inter-
connected and systemic manner.
Biomemetics - unen-
crypting natures ma-
ture nanotechnology
If you like staying up with the cutting edge of technology,
you will know that the big techospeak is all about the
coming wonders of nanotechnology. Yet the focus of all
this rage in the media, seldom bothers to delve into the
A Highly Distributed World Network of Sustainable Intentional Communities
deeper know insider secret shared among the actual
nanotechnology researchers - that all the nature and
biology that surrounds us is precisely a nanotechnology
project began billions of years ago. Nature has already
mastered what we are just beginning to envision. Insiders
whisper among themselves the geeky term biomemetics -
because nature is the `textbook’ on nanotechnology. In
comparison our efforts at nanotechnology are like a baby
sitting in his playpen just able to keep himself upright,
drooling all over himself, unable to feed himself, sustain
himself, and bubbling over with the sense of wonder at
how this all works because he understands almost
nothing about the worlds dynamics.
• design and construction at the atomic level
• 100 percent recycling of materials
• Able to assemble you and me so that we can
reengineer, ourselves, the planet, and the uni-
verse and perhaps just begin to appreciate all the
work that has gone in to making all this possible.
Yes, but all this means very little if we do not
awaken in time to control our reproduction, and
give ourselves time to assimilate this vast reservoir
of wisdom. Currently we have not even begun sys-
temics 101, the introductory course! Yet at the same
time we have at least overpopulated our planet by a
factor of 2. Three billion individuals living a western
life style, at our current state of development, is
probably the maximum optimal population where
we still have some buffer in terms of not exceeding
the total renewable resources of our planet. At five
billion people, with only 1 to 1.5 billion people liv-
ing at western industrialized standards, and 3.5
billion living at considerably lower standards - we
consume the entire nonrenewable resources of the
earth each and every day.
At a population approach-
ing 7 billion - it is estimated
that we are consuming over
400 years of collective bio-
mass accumulation each
year of our existence. You
do not need to be a mathematician to predict this
outcome. Yet surprisingly you have never heard this
one our evening new. It is `corporately politically
incorrect information,’ quarterly profits are the bot-
tom line in `disneyland,’ and we can always depend
on the magicians to pull us out of the black hole we
are going down. We just need to offer them lots of
stock options, and `golden parachute’ clauses to
make sure their on our side. No fear and full speed
ahead the crowd rings out in `disneyland.’ There are
no finite limits in disneyland, fantasyland, wonder-
land, and no causal dynamics - no cause and effect!
First GAIA whispers, then she sings, and then she
roars. GAIA can turn `fantasyland’ into `chaosland,’
and `horrorland’ if see is forced to dig deeper and
deeper into her vast nonlinear toolbox - massive
weather restructuring, magnetic pole drifts, rever-
sals, and even physical pole shifts. She is willing
and ready to play, we collectively choose the game!
 SYSTEMIC SYMBIOTIC PLANETARY ECOVILLAGE NETWORK
Supercomputer talk
It is only in the last few decades that we have developed
supercomputers and distributed computational grids that
have the computational capacity to begin to simulate
nature.
Recent supercomputer simulations on the effects of
global warming out to the year 2100 do not look
promising. The skeptics will, of course argue that
such simulations are no better than the assumptions
introduced into their computational algorithms, and
this is certainly true. The true believers will tell you
that their assumptions are reasonable, and as good
as can be expected given our current level of under-
stand of complex nonlinear systems. Neither party,
can speak with anything approaching certainty, for
this is our very first experiment with this biosphere.
So it would seem that we error on the side of cau-
tion, allowing ourselves more time to become more
adept at these very large scale simulations, and to
develop larger, more sophisticated, and robust data-
bases. Reengineering a 4.5 billion year old nano-
technology experiment is a challenging objective,
not to mention being able to then forward forecast
bases upon only past behavior, minus the experi-
mental breadth of parallel examples in the form of
other biosphere experiments. Given our current
level of expertise, we would be smart not to push
our luck, but instead we pretend that we are still the
early Americans settling the wild west with vast yet
to be utilized resources everywhere we turn. We are
playing a very dangerous game, that is getting more
and more dangerous every year. We know from
testing mitochondria DNA that the earths total
population has fallen as low as 5000 to 10,000 indi-
viduals in our planets past history. These events
were probably natural cycles in our biosphere matu-
ration process. However, it is becoming ever more
obvious that our own impact upon the biosphere
can very likely create conditions which will mimic
such nature cycles with every bit of the same sever-
ity we have seen exhibited in the past.
Much like a computer game with many levels of
complexity, GAIA has many vast scenarios available
in her nonlinear toolbox. In our small numbers in
the past, she choose the game, and we reacted. Now
with our larger numbers we collectively choose the
game and GAIA reacts. Vishnu or Shiva - our collec-
tive actions will decide.
A Highly Distributed World Network of Sustainable Intentional Communities
Science, secular hu- G.O.D. is not stupid
manism, and teleology ADesign)
highly intelligent G.O.D. (Grand Organizational
that is only to willing to delegate authority in
Existentialism following the horrors of the Second World
War, declared that God was dead, and that existence
preceded essence. Teleology is not fundamental, and if it
exists it must stem strictly from the result of human
effort. We live in a universe that is random, chaotic, and
uncaring.
Science collectively turned it back on theology and
anthropomorphic teleology following the chilling
influence of the Catholic church during the years of
inquisition, when the church unwisely choose to
suppress rather than embrace new knowledge. Our
current linear reductionist scientific models of real-
ity, overall embrace a universal model of eventual
entropic death, with rare pockets of negentropic
order, mere accidents of change - our own universe
and the life in it simply one of those accidents. Dar-
winian win/lose strategies are all that exists. There
is no hope of post-biological ascension levels of
universe experience. Life ends where it began in
randomness and vast overwhelming entropy. Yet
the reverse engineering of our biosphere history,
shows us again and again the enormous power of
repeated and robust bottom-up self-organizing
principles in which every challenge is meet with a
multivector oriented recuperation to an even higher
level of systemic and symbiotic complexity and
interoperability. Unfortunately the wounds from the
inquisition are still so deep that even when the evi-
dence is before us, perhaps not of the old anthro-
pomorphic GOD, but rather of a new more scientific
, more subtle, more self-organizing G.O.D (Grand
Organizational Design) which balances entropic,
random processes with combined heterarchical and
hierarchical negentropic self-organizing principles.
In such a multiverse the exact teleological outcome
of the universe is not predictable analytically, but its
overall final attractor basin is predictable via simu-
lation. Our universe and the life it has produced -
being just such a simulation. The universe is self
similar, G.O.D is not all powerful - power is relative
in relationship to age and experience - on any level,
all levels of the multiverse continue to experience
and learn. Life and cognitive capability, can have a
finite beginning, and yet share an infinite future. I
am already working on my designer universe, how
about you!
3
the command structure - incorporating both hierachical
and heterarchical self-organizing genetic algorithms,
evolutionary computation, and every imaginable
nonlinear systemic and symbiotic dynamic - is not quite
so easy to recognize as the older, simpler, authoritarian,
and anthropomorphic GOD. Universes which incorporate
the capacity for self-directed, and cocreative possibilities,
and which utilize some degree of randomness and
stochastic processes to optimize the fitness landscape
evolution of evolving life forms could be misidentified as
random universes in the early years of scientific advance.
It is only with more advanced computational capacity,
that nonlinear simulation becomes possible and that we
are able to finally tackle the behavior of systems as
systemic wholes suspended in every large interconnected
networks. It is highly probable that a linear reductionist
era of science almost always precedes the more fully
developed nonlinear era. As we have stated before, our
current civilization in on the cusp of this bifurcation.
How well civilizations handle this challenge, probably
determines whether they survive and make the transition
from level 0 civilizations to level 1 civilizations that have
fully mastered the the total resources of their biosphere in
a long-term sustainable fashion.
We believe that a more mature nonlinear science will once
again recognize and embrace teleological principles
within the multiverse. Yes, we just can not resist the urge
to forecast that Designer Universes are the name of the
game. The ultimate Bed Game as portrayed in Hermann
Hesse’s novel. Could we possibly be so foolish as to think
that G.O.D. intended us to reverse engineer this entire
universe and assimilate all of its meaning and purpose in
one short ~ 100 year lifetime! And then there is the
question, why would G.O.D. need life in the universe?
Can you think of a better massively parallel, cognitive
emotive computational grid to provide feedback about not
only the quantitative nature of a particular designer
universe, but also the qualitative nature of the experience
involved in its evolutionary ascension. Not to mention
that it may be very pleasing and rewarding to have
someone appreciate your handy work, and share the
experiences along the way - just as parents take pride in
teaching their children and watching their children
develop into unique individuals with their assistance.
 SYSTEMIC SYMBIOTIC PLANETARY ECOVILLAGE NETWORK

Is the Universe an intentional community

Given our new definition of G.O.D., it seems very likely that it is,and that tele-
ology has survived the preemptive strike of our current unimaginative, vision-
less, and soulless secular humanism - the hangover of Stalinist Communism.

The secular humanists, would have you
believe that G.O.D. and the handy work
we see all around us is nothing more than
a bad dream.
Entropy is waiting just around the
corner to make all of your well inten-
tioned efforts go up in a puff of
smoke. The dull drudgery of entropy
is just to robust and persistent to be
overcome. The subtle whispers of
ascension, and eternity drowned out
by the massive roar of chaotic de-
generation. Yet genetic algorithm
simulations, and evolutionary com-
putation, and alife seem to reveal a
much different universe. A universe
in which every level of systems su-
persedes the expectations and capaci-
ties of the less complex systems which
preceded it. Wholes at every level
exhibiting behaviors which can only
be explained as greater than the sum
of there parts. As much as I love fol- self-ascension of complex systems, ory.
lowing the wonders of unified field other than to provide a very complex
theories - the current rage being model of fundamental interactions General System Theory does not re-
string/membrane, loop quantum and in the case of spinfoams the quire a linear progression of analytical
equations from the most fundamental
particle to the largest system. N body
systems are capable of dynamically
inventing new dynamics far beyond
the capabilities of their fundamental
underpinnings. Beyond a certain
level of simplicity, systems of ever
larger sizes exhibit complexities of
Large redwood grooves on hill sides have been found to support vast behavior unimaginable from examin-
networks where the trees at the bottom of the hill grow long root net- ing the behaviors of the separate
works up the hill to supply the upper trees with water - systemic symbi- components in isolation. N systems
otic networks in action that ensure the survival of the family grow and increase their computa-
tional capacity at every level - exhib-
iting dynamics and behaviors that
gravity, and causal quantum spinfoam elimination of a fundamental back- are unpredictable based upon the
network theories - with a few excep- ground space-time, the achilles heal of capabilities of the individual compo-
tions, these theories retain a heavy general relativity. Some degree of self nents. Biology being the prime exam-
reliance upon the linear reductionist organization could come out of this ple of this phenomena.
approach, and have little hope of approach possibly steering it more in
explaining the systemic and symbiotic the direction of General System The-

4 A Highly Distributed World Network of Sustainable Intentional Communities

 SYSTEMIC SYMBIOTIC PLANETARY ECOVILLAGE NETWORK

The emergence of the nonlinear paradigm

Where has this new paradigm emerged from, and why are so few people aware of
its existence? How do we bring these topics into the global, national, and local
media forums?

If we are to survive, the 21st century must be the century
in which our civilization emerged from the old linear,
reductionist, Darwinian, and win/lose world view to the
new nonlinear, systemic, symbiotic, and win/win world
view.
Darwin’s original work has been extended by the
secular humanist tradition to encompass social and
economic models of reality. A look into the hour-
glass of these models portrays worlds filled with
winners and losers. The problem with win/loss
models is they produce cognitive, social, economic,
and spiritual retardation lagging cores in the ongo-
ing process of evolution. These retardation lagging
cores, as they grow in number and distribution,
begin to detune, de-optimize, and drag down the
performance of the larger system. Our global civili-
zation is now experiencing just such a phenomena
in the form of global terrorism. Societies which have
failed to provide sufficient education and economic
opportunities now have their populations turning
against their governments and the larger global
social and economic institutions. The economic
costs, social, and economic inconveniences of these
socially discontent populations are growing dispro-
portionately to their size and economic weighting,
and they are de-optimizing our systemic perform-
ance within our biosphere at a very critical point in
our evolution. In President Bush’s terms we have
`misunderestimated’ the importance of this phe-
nomena. Our global society needs to be intently
focused on the problems of biosphere degradation,
global warming, and the problems of having ex-
ceeded the population carrying capacity of our finite
biosphere. We must wake-up to the fact that the
economic growth industry of the 21st century is
sustainable living, and all the new industrial proc-
esses and infrastructure that will support it. The
switch to an economic and industrial model that
relies on renewable nonpolluting resources, must be
our first priority going forward. The double chal-
lenges of global terrorism and global warming are
`in our face’ evidence of the failures of the linear,
reductionist, Darwinian, and win/lose paradigm.
Both of these phenomena are challenging us to re-
think our current paradigm, unfortunately the eco-
nomic, governmental, and media discussions of
these challenges are still to shallow to reveal the
core causal nature of their emergence - our still pre-
vailing linear reductionist perspective. Preemptive
strikes may be a sort term way of addressing the
symptoms, they do nothing to addresses the deeper
systemic failures of our entire global socioeconomic
system. Biospheres are billion year old, highly re-
dundant, and robust systemic and symbiotic sys-
tems, but they have limits, and we are currently
massively exceeding those limits.
Tree rings can reveal hundreds to thousands
of years of atmospheric carbon and heat
cycles on our planet - a global record

A Highly Distributed World Network of Sustainable Intentional Communities 5

 SYSTEMIC SYMBIOTIC PLANETARY ECOVILLAGE NETWORK

Enter - Microsocieties
Our world has become dominated by a large network of transnational corporations
which have adopted a `just in time’ economy

Viability going forward Enter microsocieties Systemically linked Intentional community Teleology and ascension

A `just in time’ economic
model works fine in a stable,
civil, systemic society existing
on a planet which does not
experience recurrent catastro-
phes. The just in time ap-
proach optimizes resources,
and product integration, and
distribution in a manner that
optimizes the economy to
near real time response - pre-
venting large inventory
buildups, which often lead to
more pronounced and sus-
tained economic recessions.
However, in an society subject
to frequent disruptions, this
approach alone, may no
longer be the appropriate
economic model.
What is a microsociety? A
microsociety is a society de-
signed on a size scale (500-
50,000 population) that allows
some degree on intimacy,
local control, and purposeful
intentionality. Many of these
characteristics were familiar
to people who lived in small
towns, whose economic bass
was centered around locally
owned and run small busi-
nesses. Much of their food,
services, and products are the
product of local industry. In
order to counterbalance the
transnational global economy,
we need to reincorporate
these types of communities
into a highly distributed net-
work of global dimensions.
The new microsociety model
differs from the older small
town model in that it incorpo-
rates the use of the internet to
connect up all these seem-
ingly separate microsocieties
into on vast and highly pow-
erful intentional community
on a global scale. Nongoven-
mental Organizations (NGO)
on this scale can have enor-
mous economic purchasing
power, and could bring con-
siderable pressure on global,
national, and local govern-
ments, economic institutions,
and industries to adopt more
sustainable alternatives to the
existing approaches to energy
utilization, agricultural prac-
tices, and resource utilization.
Most of our current commu-
nity models are based upon
simple residence and proxim-
ity. They are fundamentally
residence based. They have
very minimal, if any, `inten-
tionality.’ In true intentional
communities, residence is a
secondary issue, and the
community is founded and
sustained around core value
themes. The themes are what
binds the the individuals in
the community together.
Themes exist first at the cogni-
tive level, and they are then
represented in the external
physical environment as in-
frastructure, governance,
economic, and social dynam-
ics.
Themes are resonances that
sustain intentionality and
reduce internal polarization,
as the community is faced
with continuing internal and
external challenges. Themes
can be thought of as the mus-
cles and tendons that bind the
body (community) together in
all of its movements. Agreed
upon themes, are also the
cognitive glue that binds the
community together as the
internal dynamics of the indi-
viduals lives change. Themes
also serve to hold a commu-
nity together through time as
individuals members come
and go. Themes seem to im-
ply ascension toward long-
term teleological objectives.

It is challenging to portray so many new ideas in such a short venue, like a newsletter. This type of format can only give you tastes and nibbles of what we are attempting to serve
you. The full meal requires a book which is under development, Systemic Symbiotic Planetary Ecovillage Network. It would certainly be nice to see a nonprofit foundation
established to distribute and promote these concepts, and to raise the funding necessary to bring these concepts into the physical world. We all need a more sustainable world where
we feel that we have self directed, as opposed to other directed, control of our lives, our families, our professions, and our social and spiritual evolution. A society that can truly
produce a viable ascension living experience during our lifetime, and viable ascension candidates for the larger universe at the time of our ascension to a higher level of existence.

6 A Highly Distributed World Network of Sustainable Intentional Communities

 SYSTEMIC SYMBIOTIC PLANETARY ECOVILLAGE NETWORK

How you can participate

Organize local discussion groups with friends and colleagues, develop web sites,
blogs, podcasts, movies, and DVDs that disseminate these concepts

Investment cooperatives Finishing the job we started It’s a beautiful day don’t let it get away

Do not make the mistake of sitting around and wait-
ing for corporations to do this for you. The para-
digm shift will most probably require bottom-up
self-organization. Establish groups of people who
share an interest in implementing these ideas. Pool
your equity together, purchase appropriate land,
find developers who have some expertise in devel-
oping intentional communities. Build your new
intentional communities. Document every aspect of
these processes in video documentaries, compile
them into DVD sets which allow you to sell or do-
nate the expertise you have developed in these ef-
forts. Establish an internet network presence, where
you can provide ongoing real-time feedback on the
stages, and progress of your community. Exchange
ideas with other intentional community projects
taking place around our globe. Grow the network of
intentional communities and link them together into
large, global, effective, power structures which can
counterbalance global corporate transnationalism.
Vote with your purchases, purchase only from cor-
porations that adopt sound sustainable practices,
and if no such corporations exist start new ones to
assist you in obtaining your objectives. In America
alone, personal real equity totals more than 96 tril-
lion dollars. You have all the resources you need if
you simply change the way you direct them. We are
now approaching the massive retirement of the 60s
generation, their collective capital is more than suf-
ficient to fund this paradigm shift.
The 60s generation will go down in history as a
generation of social experimenters. A generation
that did not accept the status quo without a chal-
lenge. The challenge asked our society to reexamine
its concepts and values. For a few brief years con-
certs and festivals kept the social experimentation
alive, unfortunately the completion of the move-
ment was never really transitioned to long-term
sustainable communities. Wouldn’t it be nice if the
retirement years of the 60s generation could fund
and bring about this culmination of what was
started over 40 years ago. The fulfillment of the
original vision, would be a very nice way to go out,
and hand over the rains to a new generation living
in ecofriendly, biodiverse, renewable energy, long-
term sustainable communities. Communities where
you are, in Pink Floyd terms, more than “just an-
other brick in wall,” and fully in control of your
own destiny. Ascension communities where every
individual is provided with the resources to reach
their full genetic and social potential. No more lag-
ging cores created by those who were left behind, a
world society focused on a healthy sustainable fu-
ture.
This is just to important to leave to others. We cre-
ated these problems, and we have the power and
the will to solve them.
We must embrace the lyrics of U2, “it’s a beautiful
day, don’t let it get away.” There is no better time
than now, to role up your sleeves and get to work.
The universe is watching and waiting to see if we
will choose to become permanent citizens of the
universe, or only visitors who came, who saw, who
failed to act, and who passed away, joining the Di-
nosaurs. No one is going to make this decision for
you. We collectively make this decision each and
every day, by the way we choose to conduct our
lives. The time has come for us all to come together,
and embrace the work before us. We have made a
lot of mistakes, but this is to be expected because we
have never done this experiment before. We are
learning as we go, and this is to be expected.
This is only fatal if we fail to self correct, adopting
the `disneyland’ illusion that we do not live in a
causal universe. When in fact, the causal nature of
the universe was designed intentionally for the
purpose of informing us with graduated feedback to
warn us when we have strayed from the most opti-
mized pathway through this universe. Life by its
very nature is a continues process of simulating
reality, acting based upon those simulations, and
then refining those simulations and actions when
they prove to be faulty or inadequate.

A Highly Distributed World Network of Sustainable Intentional Communities 7

 SYSTEMIC SYMBIOTIC PLANETARY ECOVILLAGE NETWORK
The ownership dilemma
How to handle ownership in intentional communi-
ties will probably vary from country to country and
culture to culture. In the more socialist leaning
countries, some form of group ownership, or some
combination of group and collective ownership may
seem appropriate. In the U.S. a models similar to
what exists in gated privately held land with private
lot titles and group ownership of shared facilities
may be the path of least resistance. The normal
CC&Rs would be considerably extended to cover
the intentional theme aspects of the community.
Clauses would be added that allowed you to shell
your property at your own discretion, but only to
parties that agreed to the whole intentional purpose
of the community. Potential full time residents
would perhaps be required to initially participate in
weeks or months long, extended apprenticeship or
workshops, to see if they were compatible with the
intentional themes and guidelines established by the
community. From a legal perspective, if privately
held lot titles and collective land trusts are not mu-
tually exclusive, the land as a whole could be held
in a land trust for the purpose of preserving the
intent of the community beyond the lifetimes of the
founding or currently existing members. Many as-
pects of these communities may require new zoning
classifications, and new law with regard to how
land can be both utilized and protected simultane-
ously. We strongly recommend that counties set up
a specific intentional microsociety zoning classifica-
tion. This would be necessary because by definition
microsocieties are small versions of complete larger
societies. Incorporating aspects of residential, agri-
cultural, business, and industrial activities. Current
cities tend to zone cities up into divided areas for
these activities, thereby, ruling out the type of inten-
tional societies we envision here. Each intentional
community project has the capability to set up their
community balance as they see fit. Our favorite
model in one which incorporates the following as-
pects:
• a residential component, including houses, condo
units, time shares, apartments, retreats for writ-
ers, musicians, and artists, and possibly a small
camping component where appropriate
• resort, spa, conference center, and retreat compo-
nent
• an agricultural component
• a small business component
• a light industry component
• a very high bandwidth internet hub and tele-
communications component - possible including
a radio and television component
• an very sophisticated multimedia entertainment
component - including live performance and
production studios
8
• a cooperative banking and investment compo-
nent
• a governance facility
• world class educational and research facilities
• a preschool center for young children
• food preparation, distribution, and storage facili-
ties
• land manicuring and maintenance facilities
• water retrieval, processing, and storage facilities
• sewage, gray water, and liquid and solid recy-
cling facilities
• road maintenance facilities
• forrest management facilities
• fire management facilities
• acute healthcare facilities
• emergency response center
• quiet zones for spiritual retreat
• a reception, public affairs, and scheduling office
• walking and biking trails
• a exercise and sports facility
• a small cooperative law center
• a transportation maintenance facility
We believe it is important to provide open houses or
tours of intentional communities to people who
express a genuine interest in exploring the nature
and intent of these communities. These communi-
ties should encourage visitors both from the general
public and from other intentional communities.
Cross fertilization is healthy and stimulating. These
communities are experiments and no one has all the
answers.
The most successful intentional community models
should grow and franchise to increase their num-
bers, but allow for local variations subject to the
nature of the communities in which they will be
founded. One can adopt a franchise model without
giving way to a static `copycat’ mentality. Even
though these intentional communities are being
established in an already developed world, in many
ways they will have many of the characteristics of
settling in the wild west. A high degree of self reli-
ance, making the rules up as you go, constantly
experimenting, adapting, and readapting to refine
these new models of sustainable living. If we were
to compare these communities to the spectrum of
the companies in the stock market - they would
qualify as the small caps. Small caps are the most
nimble, responsive, adaptable, aggressive, experi-
mental companies on the stock exchange, and they
usually lead the way in business cycle economic
A Highly Distributed World Network of Sustainable Intentional Communities
recoveries. They are able to change with the times
more quickly because their size scale is smaller, and
their vested interest in the status quo is smaller than
very large cap companies. Since our planet is very
much in need of just these quality at this time of
bifurcation - facing the triple challenge of overpopu-
lation, global warming, and global terrorism - we
think this analogy is quite appropriate. These small
societies can search out the fitness landscape and
find the optimal peaks much more rapidly in an
ever changing fitness landscape, where the earth is
literally shifting under your feet. They also have a
much greater capacity to pack up and move if the
consequences of global warming make such changes
necessary. Simply move to a new location and repli-
cate the experiment under a new set of challenges.
Try this with LA or Detroit!
The order in which these types of facilities should
be built would very from community to community,
depending on what was most in demand. If you
were in an area where residences were much in
demand you would probably start by building resi-
dence units. If you were in an area that lacked re-
treats, spas, and recreational facilities you begin by
prioritizing these facilities. If you were in an area
that desired organic produce, but little was avail-
able, you could establish the organic farming, food
processing, and restaurant facilities first. If you were
in an area that had little if any entertainment facili-
ties, you would probably want to get these struc-
tures up first to provide income to build out the
other infrastructure of your community. If you were
in an area that desperately need more high tech
non-polluting industries, you could choose to build
these facilities up first.
Each intentional community will have to optimize
their model to the circumstances they find them-
selves embedded within, without sacrificing or
diluting their core theme objectives, and in some
cases where the best optimization is not clear at the
outset, it make take some experimenting, and a few
false starts before the proper blend or approach is
identified. In very remote locations these communi-
ties may have to have their commerce almost en-
tirely internet based, and this is one of the wonder-
ful advantages the internet now offers to people
wishing to live in very remote locations.
If all of this does not get your blood pumping, and
make you feel like you can not wait to get going,
then an intentional community is not for you and
you are probably better off going the transnational
corporate route. But for those who see this not as an
additional burden overlaid on top of an already
difficult life, but as an exciting challenge you have
been longing for - come join the true explorers of the
nonlinear and sustainable 21st century paradigm
shift. You have found a brotherhood/sisterhood
where you are valued and needed. So lets get the
show on the road, lets rock, and lets show them how
it’s done. GAIA is not desperate, but she could sure
use your help, and think of what she offers you free
of charge! It is time to stand up and be counted!
 SYSTEMIC SYMBIOTIC PLANETARY ECOVILLAGE NETWORK

Feedback
We would love to hear from you, tell us about your skill sets, experience, thoughts
and idea, and how you think you can contribute to these efforts
Participation
This is a participatory sport, it
requires that you get involved,
conceptually, economically,
and socially. And it requires
you to be psychically and
physically fit. We pray it will
not be a contact sport, but
you will be pioneers in a
manner of speaking. Take the
jump, get into the game, start
mixing it up because the
clock is ticking. The potential
for new and meaningful work
in so many parts of the world
should be obvious.
Donations
Donations and funding are
nice and welcome, but they
can have strings and they
may or may not materialize,
so we recommend that peo-
ple look at this effort as a
bottom-up self-organizing,
self-financing, self-sustaining
effort. We no longer have time
to wait for someone to come
up with the big bucks as the
planet decays all around us. If
you have financial resources,
redeploy them in a more ap-
propriate manor. If you have
skills, but little built up equity,
offer your skills towards this
objective, and if you do hard
physical labor, there is going
to be a lot of that needed
before we rebalance our
planet, so jump in, and work
towards something you can
be proud of, and that you
would like to show you chil-
dren what your efforts have
made possible. New pioneers
at every level - no one with
vision and drive will be ex-
cluded. And most important
of all, we have got to make
this fun, as we go about the
daily task of bringing it into
existence. Be creative, and
believe that G.O.D. has put
you hear at exactly this time
for exactly this purpose.
Non-profit expertise
People with experience and
skills is setting up an running
non-profits will be particularly
useful, while navigating this
transition. We hope what is
being proposed here will in-
trigue your interest, and con-
vince you to take this bold
new leap into the 21st cen-
tury. Share these concepts
with your associates and
bring you expertise to this
movement.
Part time volunteers
Just don’t think you can take
the full leap, dip your toes
into the water and volunteer
some of your time to moving
these objectives to fruition.
Keep one foot in both worlds,
your contributions will be
valued and recognized.

A little history of how this all got started

I had been involved for a number of years in self-directed research
on nonlinear systems, chaos, dynamical systems, simulation theory,
genetic algorithms, evolutionary computation, dynamical systems,
alife, self-organizing systems, network theory, complexity, symbiot-
ics, biomemetics, distributed computational grids, self similarity,
intelligent software agents, etc., when I met someone who had ac-
quired a 1000 acres of almost virgin forrest, and entire canyon, of
land in northern California for the purpose of establishing an inten-
tional community. The land had been purchased, and efforts had
been underway for a few years, but had produced few results, other
than cleaning up trash that had accumulate on the land over many
years. I inquired about why progress had been so slow, and I got
answers back that did not seem to satisfy my curiosity. So I jumped on Google and found a
few major hub web sites that were directories for intentional communities. Some simply listed
an address with no contact information, others, had only an e-mail address and and even
fewer had rudimentary web sites, with just a few having fairly media savvy web sites that
really showed of their efforts and accomplishments. On the web sites that provided some
information about their communities efforts, I attempted to read as many as possible. The
overwhelming feeling I came away with, was the sense that each of these communities was
struggling alone to find sufficient funding and individuals willing to devote their lives to
these communities. The web sites were so poorly done, that no professional person would
even consider becoming involved in these projects. Very few communities had any sense of
the potential opportunities that were available to them on the internet if they would just show
some creative thinking. We live in a digital media age where those that can do and get recog-
nized, and those that can’t fad into oblivion. I wondered if all the theoretical research I had
been doing one the above subjects could be brought to bear on this effort. As I looked deeper
and deeper into what intentional community should really be about, at this stage in our civili-
zations development, I became more and more intrigued about how these sciences could help
us completely restructure and reengineer our global ecosphere.

A Highly Distributed World Network of Sustainable Intentional Communities 9

 SYSTEMIC SYMBIOTIC PLANETARY ECOVILLAGE NETWORK

One world
We are all in this together, and we either sink or swim together. Just look at these
beautiful pictures of what 4.5 billions years of ascension self-organization can pro-
duce. A lot of effort went into getting this planet to the stage where we could arrive -
it would be a terrible shame to throw it all away.

Systemic Symbiotic Planetary Ecovillage Network 2006

Systemic Symbiotic Planetary Ecovillage Network

Silver Jones
PO Box 1674
Middletown, CA
95461
USA
e-mail: silverj6@mchsi.com
Facebook - search for SSPEN
Telephone - please e-mail first

Copyright © 2008 Silver J. H. Jones