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by pessimizer·15y ago·view on hn ↗
I'm in - and I'd be looking to experiment for somewhere around 50 years, give or take 20.

The major problem with something like that as I've seen it is that any arrangement or economy between people is inherently political, so the group would have to share a lot of goals and beliefs. Somebody needs to write a great book (or pamphlet) a few hackers could agree to get behind.

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Having lived for a short time in "Cohousing," which is simply a fancy word for a bunch of people who own an entire condo complex/set of houses as a group, sharing ownership of a clubhouse and other facilities -- YES.

The core problem was diverse goals. The entire group each time (I somehow made this mistake TWICE) had a hard time coming to common solutions around the most trivial decisions.

Until you have something like a manifesto with a long set of explanations of what will be expected of everyone, you shouldn't even try to START forming the group. No more than a set of 3-4 friends should write the manifesto, either, or it won't have enough teeth.

And there's a downside here, too: If you're going to live together with a lot of people with shared rules, the one thing you DON'T want is a lot of cultural diversity, at least not before the rules are set down and the new "diverse" members have bought into them.

I've seen a community with strict vegans who wouldn't ever attend a meal where meat was served and other members who wouldn't eat if there wasn't a hefty meat portion. Now everyone gets their own kitchens, but the optional 2-3 times a week "common meals" were a strong way to stay connected with others in the community -- except in that they were also a source of conflict, for meat/no-meat and other reasons.

tl;dr: Living together with (say) 30 other people is somewhat like being in a marriage with 30 other people, only with fewer benefits. At least in most such communities.