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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: 2) by Lester on Sunday May 31 2020, @10:40PM

    by Lester (6231) on Sunday May 31 2020, @10:40PM (#1001525) Journal

    Struggles because human brain has evolved to live in small groups.
    The first civilization, Sumerian, dates 5,000 years ago. Before, human kind lived in small grups, little tribes or clans. That's how our brain is wired. 5,000 years is too short time to evolution. Moreover, even in the last 5,000 years most human kind has lived in small groups.

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