A lot of the things we do on a daily or weekly basis have ways of doing them that can either be private or communal, some of these which we do not think to consider as having that characteristic.
For example, bathing in the Roman Empire used to be communal, but then Rome fell and citizens in the splinter countries began taking baths privately.
Receiving mail is another example. There are countries which don’t have mailboxes and everyone gets their mail at the post office in the PO boxes. It was the United States which pioneered the idea of the modern mail system, which is why we associate it as a private act.
There are activities as well which don’t have any history as jumping between one or the other that might benefit from it, for example I think towns might benefit if internet was free and freely accessible but only at the local library.
What’s a non-communal aspect of life you think should be communal?
Property of the means of production
I’d say mail boxes, at least in the area where I live. Around 10 years ago, our neighborhood was mandated to have our own separate boxes for mail/newspaper next to our house, but before then you’d have one group box for the whole neighborhood, with separate sections for each house. It’s much more efficient for delivering that way since you just go to one box rather than door to door, though it can be a bit annoying having to walk to the box every day to get your daily newspaper.
In Canada the mail delivery has shifted to communal mailboxes in new communities as a cost savings measure. Problem is asshole theives who smash them open and steal everyones mail at once.
We have free wifi at our library, as well as a lot of other things like meeting spaces you can book.
More communal transport seems to be needed. After work from home, and occasional bus to work, the time I had to drive to the office to swap equipment and sit in rushhour traffic for an hour was painful. Like there is no way every single person needs unique travel to work
The US started using mailboxes 14 years after the UK
In 1849, the Royal Mail first encouraged people to install letterboxes to facilitate the delivery of mail. Before then, letterboxes of a similar design had been installed in the doors and walls of post offices for people to drop off outgoing mail.
In 1863, with the creation of Free City Delivery, the US Post Office Department began delivering mail to home addresses.
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This would be solved if coin op washers locked. You could take the key like in a gym locker room. They’d probably have to charge per cycle + time to keep people from leaving them all day.
It was stolen from a drying rack. There were no dryers available.
btw: You replied to a comment that I have deleted. I accidentally commented in the main thread but wanted to reply to another comment. This one was probably not removed for everyone.
simple tools like guns, hammers, screwdrivers etc. I still think you should be able to own them in case you need them more often or don’t have the time to get them due to an immidiate repairing. But I’ve read some lemmy post where some guys public library offered tools and I think that’s a great idea
We had that where I grew up, but mostly heavier machine tools like stuff to cut firewood, trailers to haul stuff etc. Cost just $10 a year and you could borrow it as much as you needed. Banger of an idea to be honest.
Also look for makerspaces, they provide all kinds of tools but it’s expected that you work on projects there and not at home. Not sure if you can borrow stuff.
Laundry. Why do each of us need to have a machine and space to leave clothes to dry when we could have a common space for that?
I’ve had clothes stolen in shared laundry rooms. Not a fan.
Communal laundry rooms are quite common on some places.
This is considered standard equipment in all apartments in Sweden, both co-op and rentals.
Counterpoint: laundromats are some of the most boring and depressing places. Harsh fluorescent lighting, always some TV droning away with an annoying channel you’d never choose to watch and don’t want to have to hear, commercial machines that vary from one laundromat to another so as an occasional user, you never know if you need to bring quarters or if it’ll take a card, plus sometimes people feel entitled to take your clothes out of the dryer if they want the specific machine you’re using, etc etc etc. Plus you can’t just run a load at your leisure, you’ve gotta schlep all the way to the laundromat with your clothes and detergent. I get why they’re necessary but I’m glad I’ve got my own washer & dryer.
The place I use lately has a bookshelf and a machine that serves free coffee. Pretty comfy in there tbh
When I hear about the washing rooms where women would go to do their laundry, they sound so fun. A lot of work of course, but just a great place to sit back and gossip.
A couple of ideas:
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Home Ownership. I know condos exist, but it seems to me that we need a solution for home ownership that is accessible and ecologically viable. Traditional houses (and even duplex’s/townhomes) are massively inefficient from a climate perspective, not to mention the space requirements and cost.
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Child rearing. In college, I learned that children were typically raised by multiple neighbors, in order to lessen the strain on parents. I think it is unrealistic and unhealthy to expect people to nearly kill themselves attempting to raise a child for the first couple of years.
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Recreation space. I realize this is mostly an American thing, but lawns are a colossal waste of space. To be of any use at all, they have to be at least half an acre, and realistically, there’s no reason every single family needs their own outdoor recreation space. Plus, a tiny minority of people even use them these days.
I know condos exist,
What’s your objection to condos in this case?
I live in an apartment co-op which in many ways is excellent. Highly efficient in both energy, economy and effort required from me. I’m not sure that I’ll ever want to live in a house, this is probably the ideal state for me.
Child rearing.
Daycare.
Recreation space.
Parks.
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This is an ideal space for Steve Jobs to put both his feet into
what if we held hands… in the communal toilets <3
Maybe it’s being a product of my environment but there are so few things that are currently private that I would want to have to do publicly. I don’t generally really want to contend with other people not shared facilities more than I have to. I definitely don’t want communal bathing. I can stomach public transport, which is already a thing, but then I tend to spurn it where I live more often than not because of the lack of viability and convenience. I guess I would say I wish that where I was specifically that transport was more communal than it is now. I don’t see how it really could be though because of the nature of where I live and the lack of density and the bad urban planning that led to everything being very spread out, but it’d be nice.
Cooking. Let’s all just cook one big meal each week and split it among 6 other people, and receive 6 meals in return.
You know, that’s not a bad idea. I only have to make one meal, but I get more variety in my food each day.
I bet it’s easy to get going to, you only need a few friends / family / neighbours to get started
I enjoy cooking; nothing takes the joy out of cooking quite like cooking for others.
That’s odd; I only enjoy cooking when I’m cooking for others. If it’s just me, I don’t give a fuck; pb&j, or I’ll order, or Soylent… Or I just don’t eat, much easier.
I’m with you. I’m perfectly content making myself ramen or some pasta or even just a bowl of cereal and toast.
But if I’m cooking for people, I’m actually putting in effort, dammit.
That’s fine; for me it’s more or less meditative to cook for myself. 3 years of food service was enough.
I’m also fat so I can make things exactly to my personal tastes(awesome) and as much as I want (less awesome if not outright dangerous)
And if i feel creative the only one dealing with the consequences is me
Private property, specifically your toothbrush, comrade.
There’s always someone who doesn’t know so I’m contractually obligated to say that by property we mean the means of production and not any other personal belongings.
Masturbation.
I dunno, I’ve seen plenty of J.O. Bro communities. Seems pretty communal already in some spaces.
That goes well with my idea of pooping.
Transportation and gardening.
Communal gardens are a thing in many cities. My experience with them however has been skin to a HOA full of Karens
Yes! Making communal pixel art in speedos, why is this not a thing?
