People often ask me what the ecoTrain is about, and i often reply... "we are here to help make this world a better place!" Whilst this does include supporting Steem and the blockchain, there is another primary goal of the ecoTrain and is one of the reasons it is here!

Many of you know that I am a keen supporter of eco building, off-grid living, Earthship Biotecture, and most things natural and holistic. Ultimately I support us reclaiming our birth rights, and for us to be free to live in a way that supports our deepest human nature and desires. I believe that to do this we need to shift to a new paradigm that is being birthed slowly but surely. I believe we must come back to our roots, and fulfil our most primal needs. Most important of these is to live in a supportive community that fosters healthy relationships and dynamics.

For this to happen we must remove the need for money wherever possible. This starts with the most important part, which is having a home without going into debt to buy it, and being able to live in that home without the pressures of bills and taxes. It is those financial burdens that cause most communities to fail, and usually result in many compromises that ultimately creates a disconnect within the people of the community.

The gift that keeps on giving! The Gift Economy.

Relieving people of the burden of being forced to work to pay bills in a job they may not even like, living in a home they cannot afford, in a location they may not even want to be in... is the ultimate gift! Giving people their lives back is an amazing form of service and is a gift that keeps on giving. My vision to create a community based on the gift economy starts with the purchase of land. This initial purchase is what the ecoTrain seeks to secure! Once land has been acquired, it is only a matter of organising the builds for each person using the gift economy approach. When a community comes together and helps to build a home for each other without any money being exchanged, we enter into the realms of great potential and creativity. Nothing brings greater results then when we feel gifted, and we want to return that gift with our time and positive energy. Therefore, there would be no cost for the land, and extremely low costs for materials and labour. It would be possible to offer an eco home in this community for just 10-20,000 dollars (or less for a tiny-home), and that home would provide a lifetime of power, water, comfort and security at almost no cost!

No Bills, No Mortgage, No Rent means more time for inspiration, creativity and deep nurturing friendships.

What would a community look like that lived like this? I believe we would see a great abundance of creativity, inspiration, joy, happiness and abundance in all its forms. People would get on with each other in new and beautiful ways, because no one is busy trying to acquire things, or get something from each other. Some money would of course be needed, but the importance of money would take many steps down in the priority ladder. When a community works together, I'm sure there could be no end of ideas for everyone to create many products such as organic produce, arts, crafts etc... that could be sold to others.

A Community Blockchain Abundance Generator.

There is also a Blockchain integration potential that could merge the community with its own currency and coin that could be used as a store of value, and even an abundance generator just like Steem! It is possible to use a similar system as Steem to allow everyone to earn money, and even vote and support community projects via the up-vote system. This could also be applied to decision making, where the community could show their support for ideas and projects by simply donating their up-votes to the projects and people they want to support. This is a kind of Anarchic direct democracy based on Blockchain. It is something i have written about before and I can see incredible potential for it to succeed.

I pledge to gift my time and my life to creating a new paradigm for living.

My role in this community would be initially be to manifest it, and facilitate anyone who wanted to join us. I have a lot of experience with eco building and have managed to build both large and tiny eco homes in the most difficult circumstances you can imagine, and often on tiny budgets of just a few thousand dollars.. and on one occasion we built with no money at all.. relying solely on donations! I have learned so much over the past 20 years that I am very confident that I could lead the way for many of people to successfully build a very beautiful home even on a shoe string budget. I would probably end up dedicating years of my life to helping others build in this community without any money or payment.

Non Violent Communication (NVC).

This world is based on a dominating culture, that enjoys violence in all it forms. Conflict is perpetuated all our interactions. It is bred into us, and is the general psychological make-up of much of the world. The way this world operates is by congratulating or punishing. If we make a mistake, we think that we deserve to suffer. Conversely, when we do good things we thing it is OK and even good to bestow great praise and even rewards to encourage such behaviours. Its all a game, a part of the who's right game. This game has created so much violence on this planet, and permeates every moment an interaction in our lives.

So when I speak of non violent communication I am speaking of a new paradigm in thinking, parenting, and connecting with others. The details of the community structure, power structure, decision making, etc .. are things that I have strong feelings on, but I don't want to get into those details just yet. The general premise is that we run by the law of least effort when it comes to decision making, and through consensus. Non-violent Communication would be the bedrock of this community, it would be the glue that binds us! The concepts of non violent communication would be taught, discussed, and embedded as a natural part of community life.

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This is probably the best video you could watch to truly understand what NVC is really about.

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Marshall Rosenberg - Natural Giving / Nonviolent Communication

The Land Purchase.

It will cost around $20-$50,000 to buy the land necessary for this to work. The exact location is yet to be finalised, and that price could well be lower depending on the spot! I am personally doing my best to raise these funds through many channels. I am currently finishing my second book, "99 Reasons Why Earthships Are Fuck!*ng Awesome!" I have no idea if it will be a best seller, but whatever funds I do generate from it will go to this project. This is also the case for the @ecoTrain account on Steem! Whilst it does take time to build up Steem Power, I hope that through the gift economy I can raise a significant amount of the money needed to purchase the land.

How To Support This Vision

1. Delegate or donate to @ecotrain to support this project.

I would be very happy to hear your comments, and any enthusiasm you might have for such a project! When I ask for people to delegate to the @ecoTrain, THIS is the ultimate goal of your delegation. Yes we support the amazing people that are on Steem with it, but there is so much more.. Who knows... some of you may well end up living in this very community, wouldn’t that make the perfect ending!

2. Donate some of your post rewards or Steem to @ecotrain

If you post using the #ecotrain tag and receive our up-votes then please consider donating something to @ecoTrain once the post has paid out. In this way we can make Steem more quickly and secure the land sooner rather than later! Of course you can always just donate without posting using our tag, and we will use it to keep empowering the @ecoTrain and the people who support us.

3. Share this post, and tell people about this vision!

The re-steem button is only a click away and could change someone life! If you love this vision, please share this post and share this message with someone who might appreciate it!

I leave you with a smile, and HOPE! The theme of this weeks QOTW. Sometimes people let hope become a reason to keep doing nothing, but other times once we have done everything we can, we can then only hope! SO i hope you will see what a very special idea this is, and I truly hope you will support us in any way you can!

4. Donate Bitcoin:

If you want to donate any amount of BTC to the cause please send it to
3As6npYdsVfmQ8uG3YJcEPfUu2247XYX9m

Have a beautiful day folks!

THE ONLY WAY IS OUT... ARE YOU READY TO JUMP YET?

LINKS TO MY WORK AND STORY

Article on Earthship Karuna:
https://www.thehindu.com/features/magazine/destination-green-earth/article3716176.ece

The earthship is here:
https://www.dnaindia.com/lifestyle/report-the-earthship-is-here-1269139

Earthship Chronicles: The magical tale of a man who self built his self sufficient luxurious earthship home with no experience or training:
https://www.amazon.com/Earthship-Chronicles-sufficient-luxurious-experience-ebook/dp/B07MYCBXYB/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=earthship&qid=1560824006&s=digital-text&sr=1-3

A Compilation of All my eco-building and workshop posts on Steem
https://steempeak.com/earthship/@eco-alex/a-compilation-of-all-my-eco-building-and-workshop-posts-on-steemit

Earthship Rishikesh Yoga Ashram Workshop
This is the story of how I helped Yogi Amitram to build a 1,200 sq ft off-grid Earthship based on the gift economy at his new Yoga Ashram in Rishikesh. Yogi Amitram was inspired by Earthship Biotecture and got in touch with me in 2014 to ask for my help to assist him with the creation of the first Earthship inspired Yoga Ashram in the world. He had no money, and no budget, and was planning to fund raise for the build as we went along. He had faith and total belief in what he was doing, and was willing to attend a workshop we were holding here at just that time. I held a workshop with over 50 unskilled volunteers and led the group to build a very beautiful earthship in the Himalayas.

Earthship Rishikesh Completed 2018