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The Isle of Eigg and the Possibilities of Building a New Economy

posted by Fnord666 on Sunday May 31 2020, @12:26AM   Printer-friendly
from the Eiggemplary dept.

Phoenix666 writes:

Al Jazeera:

In 1997, the inhabitants of the tiny Hebridean Isle of Eigg finally succeeded in taking collective control of their island. Tensions had been running high for years: everything from the islanders' homes to their jobs to their electricity supply depended on the whims of the wealthy businessman who owned it. Sick of putting up with crumbling buildings while he took rich friends for picnics and jaunts in his Rolls Royce, they launched what today would be called a crowdfunder, and eventually raised enough money to buy him out.

[...] Today, Eigg is thriving. A community housing association has refurbished the islanders' homes and made rents more affordable. The island is 95 percent powered by community-owned renewables, giving islanders 24-hour electricity for the first time. The landscape, previously scarred by damaging spruce tree plantations, has been restored. There is even a community-owned broadband network. Decisions about the island's future are made democratically by the trust that owns it on behalf of all who live there.

Can collective ownership work in the rest of the UK?

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  • (Score: 4, Touché) by Kell on Sunday May 31 2020, @01:06AM (4 children)

    by Kell (292) on Sunday May 31 2020, @01:06AM (#1001237)

    B-but what about communisum!!!1one

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 31 2020, @01:13AM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 31 2020, @01:13AM (#1001238)

    Insoc is doubleplusgood for Airstrip One.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 31 2020, @01:28PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 31 2020, @01:28PM (#1001345)

      You all sound like fans of Emmanuel Goldstein. Off to room 101 with you!

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 31 2020, @09:20PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 31 2020, @09:20PM (#1001505)

    It's working now but wait a few years, the child abuse stories will start to leak out. Inevitable.

  • (Score: 2) by driverless on Tuesday June 02 2020, @11:04AM

    by driverless (4770) on Tuesday June 02 2020, @11:04AM (#1002128)

    It's not communism, but close. Eigg is a tiny, isolated island with very little on it so you have to learn to get along with people you wouldn't normally give the time of day to, the evil businessman was a conservationist who got into disagreements with the locals, some of whom are... difficult to deal with, they then bought the place out and it's now run in a somewhat dysfunctional manner with ongoing squabbles over who gets what, see "the locals" above. It's not nearly the sit-down-and-sing-kumbayah paradise the story makes it out to be.