i have a notebook of ideas and it has some pages from 1997. in reading the pages i see the ideas are largely the same as the ideas in my head today. pro) at least im consistent con) nothing has changed in 6 years. i graduated from college 9 years ago. I still havent put any credithours towards my master's degree.

in my most recent term of unemployedness, i feel that i am contributing to society as much or even more than I had as an employed person. well, financially i havent been spending money on conumer items, etc.. but im more aware of how decisions affect community, more aware of government, and more aware of the difference between what something costs and what its value is.

everyday i commute for at least 40 minutes each way amongst the cars. having been a driver for years i have learned that the very nature of cars, an air-tight metal box, and our sheer volume of exposure to driving has a chilling effect on people's interperonal growth. for many suburbanites, the single largest interaction with joe Q public is driving with them. driving is the act that people who live in neighborhoods share the most. and driving is utterly isolating, filled with rigid rules. whats the best thing that can happen when driving from point A to point B? arriving without incident is the best thing that can happen. noone ever met someone while driving on the same road with them, save cruising teenagers, and those that get into accidents.

In the 50s there was a car industry boom. our government spent a Large amount of money to build an infrastructure for cars because thats what people wanted. use of this car network is nationwide, well maintained, and free. Its paid for by all tax payers. Yet the private car manufactuers and dealerships profit off the use of this massive public-built infrastructure.

what other private industry has its own massive public-built infrastructure? telecommunications - those are privately built and owned by companies like AT&T and Sprint. Banking? Id say the infrastructure they rely on is advertising to the public which they do with street signs on bank branches and media advertising. Home construction? That happens on private land.

I digress. My real point of writing is that I mostly need a place to sleep, shower, store food, cook food, and wash clothes. I suppose that is the eternal need, a place to live. Thats why real estate will always be one of the best industries to invest in. Im looking for a lower cost of living while still having access to a caring society, internet access, and food. A lower cost of living means lower demands on my time. I want to meet my living expenses by doing something I enjoy for no more than 10 hours a week. There should be a huge variety of work opportunities. One week I can work on framing a new house, the next week there is telephone wiring that needs stringing through underground conduit. My examples have to do with construction because its an exciting idea to buy some desolate land and build a city that works differently than the one I live in. A slacker/geek mecca where land is available for $1/sq foot. There are huge restrictions on construction as Ive seen from personal telco that democracy is not always the best way to organize people. Only hobbit-style houses using natural earth materials are allowed. House may be no more than 2 stories tall but have no limit on below-ground stories. 20% of every neighborhood is reserved for a trail system. Possibly no cement roads. Every lot has 3 underground pipes 1) potable water in, 2) waste water out, and 3) data/power wiring. 20% of every neighboorhood is reserved for common space. common kitchen area, common meeting/party/livingroom area for every 5 lots. housing types: individual houses, duplexes. no apartments. some areas are designated marketplaces and craft houses.

How about 21 acres of oregon desert land to start with? ebay has it for $4,050 and the auction closes in 2 days.

Part of the appeal of such a place is to live in an environment of your own construction. I suppose thats why some people build their own house.

I imagine a day in such a place would be like this story.

The house logic connects to the National Public Radio stream at exactly 7am and send the data to the speakers in the walls of the bedroom. Dawn awakes as the sound of classical music fills the room. She gets up from her temperature controlled bed and walks over to the shower. The heating element in a central part of the house instantly heats the water to 100 degrees before it reaches the showerhead.

okay this is turning to crap. it sounds like a "connected home ad" from Microsoft or HP. The important part is low cost housing and food, not to feed the poor or slackers, but to allow people to spend their life doing what interests them.

The industrial revolution invented the work week. I imagine native indian tribal lifestyle, doing whats necessary for survival, but at least it made sense and benefited the worker directly. And there was opportunity, I imagine, in the expansive lands full of livestock to hunt and unoccupied land to fill.

which brings me to another topic - industries that are basically taking an abundance from the earth and selling it back to its inhabitants. When the tribes hunted buffalo, in some ways it seems like a goldmine. A source of food that was self-maintaining and more than enough to meet their needs. This seems OK. Drilling for oil is simply trying to extract as much oil as possible and sell for as much money as possible to gain as much wealth as possible. there are no limits, no incentives to do anything but pump more oil. the forrest service is selling trees to logging companies. the stewards of the forrest are selling the very forest for short term profit at who knows for what price. I have learned from actually being in the woods how trees can be seen as a crop, like corn, where you plant, wait, and cut. Forrests can seem like weeds. Something to clear out.

okay this has gone on for long enough. ive been in manic mode for most of the afternoon.