"How to Build a Self-Sustaining Community and Escape the 8-5 Grind: 17 Steps to Independence"

We’re all warped into thinking we need corporations to provide for us, but humanity existed long before big business. We have the means to survive without them.

In the book Atlas Shrugged, government becomes so overpowering that the rich begin to disappear one by one, and they used their wits to form their own community, excluding the common man. What if we flipped the script and said enough is enough? Instead of billionaires running the world, small self-sufficient communities ran it, and abundance could be had for all. Wouldn’t that be something worth living for?

The following 17 steps are a start. Please keep in mind I don’t claim to have all the answers but am trying to start an important conversation.

Step 1: Find one another. Start your own meetup group where you can use meetings to put plans into action, create a social media group, create a podcast. Whatever it takes to get your idea out there and find like-minded people like you.

Step 2: Get a lawyer to represent the community’s interests. Why? Because creating a society within a society requires some deals being made on paper, and you want to make sure the community’s interests are always put first.

Step 3: Create a contract. Come up with a contract amongst members of your newfound community that lays out the rules and expectations of its group members. Work it out amongst yourselves and then share with the community’s lawyer to ensure the contract is valid and will be upheld in a court of law. Have a planned hierarchy and a process for changing leadership. No one single person should have all the authority here.

Step 4: Find a way for the community to make money, at least until it is self-sustaining, and all needs of the group are fulfilled naturally. This may mean members keep their jobs until all the infrastructure for the community is built, or it could mean starting a new business. If it’s the latter, create a business plan, assess your finances, create an account for the business, purchase insurance, and take all the steps our government requires to get your own business off the ground.

Note: There is a lot of risk that comes with starting your own business, and if it fails, the entire community could be in jeopardy. I would highly recommend keeping jobs until the community can sustain itself through its infrastructure and combined skills of its members.

Step 5: Familiarize yourselves with The Venus Project. Watch their documentaries, learn about the technology they’re using today to build a resource-based economy. How can you leverage this same technology (albeit on a smaller scale) towards your community?

Step 6: Put ideas on paper. Where do you want to begin? Where do you want to be 1 month from now, 1 year from now, 5 years, and so on. Start figuring out where group members’ strengths lie and what they can bring to the community. Start looking at land plots and figure out how you can congregate resources and use the land to start building a self-sustaining community.

Step 7: Recruit people who have the skillsets to build the technology. What can you offer them to incentivize them to put their time into the community? These skillsets will be critical in building self-sustaining infrastructure that all group members will benefit from.

Step 8: Congregate resources. You bring a small piece of a much bigger picture to the table. Find out what everyone has to offer and is willing to give to the community. How you determine this is up to you, but I would expect at least a percentage of every member’s income/savings to be invested every quarter until the community reaches a certain point of self-sustainment.

Step 9: Create a bank account for the group and find someone to manage its finances and investments. Make sure you have agreed upon rules for what the money in the account will go to, how it will be funded, how much money is needed, who can access it, and when and how you’ll be able to access it. Always expect expenses to be greater than estimates.

Step 10: Buy land. This is by far the scariest and riskiest step in the process, but it’s essential. Congregate community member’s resources to buy stakes of land that can be used by the community at large. Start small, perhaps only buying an acre or two. Only expand resources when the community is large enough to do so and the group has the means to pay not only the land payment, but also the costs of building, utilities (if they’re needed), taxes, upkeep, etc. If you don’t have the money to buy land and put your plans into action, then you probably need more time to grow your finances and recruit more members.

Step 11: Get to work! Either recruit those with the skills to build the technology as members (member dues waived) or pay them as contractors. Make sure the community’s lawyer signs off on the contract and there is a way to collect if the contractor does not fulfill their duties.

Step 12: Once the infrastructure is built, start unlearning everything you’ve been taught about how a society should function. As a community, come up with your own society, create a constitution, and start moving into your community. You may not be able to quit your jobs yet, but you can at least start reaping the benefits of self-sustaining infrastructure.

Step 13: Take a fresh look at community rules and the expectations of its members. What are the procedures for adding new members? For removing existing? What does a failure to abide by the rules result in? I would advise here that rules and laws should not be created just to punish. Figure out ways to reward creativity and altruism. Positive reinforcement is much more effective than punishment, but a way to weed out bad apples should also be in place. Also, remember the importance of not allowing one single member of the community to get too big for their britches. Think they’re the only source of a certain piece of knowledge or asset? What they really are is a single point of failure. It’s important that no one single person is the single source for anything…always have a backup.

Step 14: Recruit, recruit, recruit! Find members who can satisfy areas where the community is weak. Put knowledge transfer plans into place so there is no single point of failure in the community long-term.

Step 15: Make knowledge and education free, meaningful, and fun! The only way for the community to thrive is if everyone has a place in it. Figure out where skills are lacking and find ways to supplement. There are so many tools out there today besides going to college. Leverage YouTube, Skillshare, Masterclass, and more! The possibilities are endless.

Step 16: Expansion. Eventually, successful communities will outgrow themselves and there will be too many members to support given the current infrastructure. I personally do not think this is a time to expand the existing community, but by encouraging other like-minded communities to set up shop, everyone can reap the benefits. Form alliances, barter, and watch as your community and others like it thrive!

Step 17: Live your life. No more 8-5. No more bosses breathing down your neck about deadlines. Now life is what you make of it. You can quit your job because your community has the means to support you and its members.

What do you think? If you say it’s not possible, provide some feedback in the comments. Don’t just be negative.

Thank you for reading. Peace and love to all.