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

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, Insightful) by Kalas on Sunday May 31 2020, @07:28AM (2 children)

    by Kalas (4247) on Sunday May 31 2020, @07:28AM (#1001297)

    Imagine having nothing you can call your own, that everything you make is immediately taken from you. You have no right to purchase or keep food, medicine, clothing or shelter. That's chattel slavery, hell on Earth.

    Does it "work"? If "work" means my gang sets the rules, it works just fine.

    FTFY

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  • (Score: 2) by Bot on Sunday May 31 2020, @03:05PM

    by Bot (3902) on Sunday May 31 2020, @03:05PM (#1001378) Journal

    po-tay-to, po-tah-to.

    --
    Account abandoned.
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 31 2020, @05:04PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 31 2020, @05:04PM (#1001424)

    No you didn't.