O dear! Eco + dualism + post modernism + ?
By all means let us start treating this ecosystem of ours with more respect but do we have to suffer this?
Can we discuss a better way of living on the planet without the new age clap trap and ancient ideas of body/soul.

I would be interested in details of any eco-village that manages to be financially self-sufficient. My experience, however, is that these are invariably externally funded -- by accumulated savings and/or by welfare payments from other taxpayers via the government. 'Ecological sustainability' is Greenspeak for 'WE feed ourselves at a subsistence level: YOU pay for infrastructure -- and everything else'.

If people are going to be on welfare anyway, then by all means let them be on welfare in the country rather than the city: but let's not pretend that this is a viable way of life for more than a tiny fraction of the population. The efficiencies inherent in mass production and agribusiness are not going to be negated just by chanting a few mantras.

Bravo for a post which suggests the possibility a cultural opportunity other than endless TV driven consumption and the oh so boring entirely predictable never-ending culture wars sniping. All of which is full of sound and fury and signifying nothing while everything is reduced to RUBBLE---see reference #2 below.

This essay is congruent with Chris's ideas.

1. http://www.dabase.org/coopcomm.htm

Meanwhile the two posts thus far are just sneers and expressions of the authors bad faith and cynicism.

UNDERSTANDING the "ancient" mind-body problem is the key to everything, because ALL cultures are an expression of that cultures understanding (or mis-understanding) of what the body IS altogether.
Western "culture" (in particular) is based on a psychotic split, a split which manifests as the war of "spirit" vs "flesh".

These two references are about the origins & consequences of this psychotic split.

1. http://www.dabase.org/2armP1.htm#ch2

2. http://www.adidamla.org/newsletters/toc-aprilmay2006.html

Plus Touch, the very essence of being Fully Human.

1. http://www.beezone.com/AdiDa/touch.htm

Speaking of the "ancient" mind-body problem please check out the work of this author, especially his book Coming Into Being which is an extraordinary tour de force analysis of how various cultures via their epic stories have understood, or tried to understand the mind-body "problem".

The author also provides some extraordinary insights into the state of the world altogether in 2008, and the prospects for the future.

1. http://www.williamirwinthompson.org

Also Google Coming Into Being

The mind-body "problem" is THE fundamental subject of all philosophy, religion and culture.

And even everyones own personal adventure in the world, which is in turn ENTIRELY SCRIPTED or pre-patterned by the culture in which they happen to have been born into.

Mr Ho Hum accuses me and others of having no faith (fair enough) and being cynical (maybe, but I use the word "skeptical") but gobsmackingly gives us URLs which direct us to the philosophical meanderings of Adi Da (one of many aliases- Bubba Free John, Da Free John, Dau Loloma, Da Love-Ananda, Da Avadhoota, Da Kalki, and Da Avabhasa.)

This Guru genius is described in Wikipedia:-

Adi Da states that he is an "Avataric Incarnation", the "Da Avatar", a uniquely full and complete manifestation of the Divine Person unprecedented in human form, and that his life and teaching fulfills and transcends the limitations of what he terms the "Great Tradition" of human spirituality............Allegations by ex-members of what is now known as Adidam that Adi Da (then known as Da Free John) and some of his followers engaged in financial, sexual and emotional abuses were widely reported in American news media in 1985.......

Holey Moley! you'll have to do better than this Mr Ho Hum....have you an opinion of your own about dualism? and what is the connection between this concept and saving the biosphere from destruction?

“They are a response to a rise in global and domestic conflicts, an oil crisis, an environmental crisis as well as a perceived crisis in food security. They also seemingly seek to address the local disparities in the distribution of wealth.

Added to this there appears to be a general feeling of isolation and alienation that has been running alongside modernism and our ever-expanding materialist lifestyle.”

So too the Israeli kibbutz

They worked wonderfully well, for a limited few and for a limited time.

Same too Heidi. Ever pondered the eclectic lifestyle of painters, Sidney Nolan daubing paint on canvas etc… the community, the energy….

Now it’s a museum!

Similarly the goings on around Eltham at Montsalvat.

These sorts of communities suit small groups of people often with a highly individual and artistic temperament.

Two problems,

the human elements which come together to inspire and make them successful do not necessarily transfer to subsequent generations.

The nature of their organisation relies on one to one knowledge of the other participants. Limiting in a modern national community where the challenges of division of labour ensure we forced to deal with people who are strangers and we do not know.

Beyond that, I might be tempted to join one. I enjoy the creative arts and so long as I have enough money to ensure I burden no one else, it might work for me…. But it is as suited to wider deployment just as a hand held hoe is suited to broad acre wheat farming (and the cost of hand hoeing is what ensures wheat is produced through a broad acre process).

To put it another way, it could be a fine thing for those who want to experience “village life” but these days, the economies of scale might view “village life” as a luxury

Jon J I think you have hit it on the head.

Ultimately this is nothing new at all, just old ideas being rediscovered by a newer generation.