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?
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 31 2020, @02:01AM (7 children)
In the COVID-19 economy the only businesses allowed to be open are grocery stores and pharmacies. Every other business is closed by Boomer decree as non-essential to Boomers. The grocery store employs armed guards to enforce social distancing to protect the Boomers. I tried to buy food at the grocery store but the grocery store gives preferential treatment to Boomers and there was no food left for me. The only place I am able to buy food is the pharmacy because Boomers use pharmacies strictly as dispensaries and leave the grocery section untouched. The pharmacy has a limited selection of food but I have managed to subsist on ramen and oatmeal which the Boomers do not buy.
Sick of living on a tiny island by the whims of a wealthy businessman? Try living in the wide world by the whims of selfish pensioned Boomers who deliberately wrecked the entire world economy because their actions do not affect them personally. Try living in a world where Boomers will have you shot for stepping outside without a mask. Try living in a world where Boomers are implicitly exempt from their own mandatory mask orders because masks are just so uncomfortable on a Boomer chin. Try living in a world where you eat ramen and oatmeal while Boomers eat chicken and steak.
Try living in a world of Boomers.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 31 2020, @02:17AM (3 children)
-nomsg
(Score: -1, Redundant) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 31 2020, @02:21AM (2 children)
Get your KNEE off my NECK, Boomer.
(Score: 0, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 31 2020, @02:49AM
That's not my knee.
(Score: 2, Offtopic) by Magic Oddball on Sunday May 31 2020, @07:06AM
I think you meant "Xer" considering that cop is definitely nowhere near retirement age...
(Score: 0, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 31 2020, @02:18AM (1 child)
OK Incel
(Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 31 2020, @02:25AM
Fuck them all to death!
(Score: 1, Offtopic) by Bot on Sunday May 31 2020, @02:54PM
>be boomer
>pay throughout life for your pension
>get pension
>millennial is salt
OK MILLIE
Account abandoned.