Federation of Egalitarian Communities
Encyclopedia
The Federation of Egalitarian Communities (FEC) is a group of egalitarian communities
which have joined together with the common purpose of creating a lifestyle based on equality, cooperation, and harmony with the Earth
.
There are 6 full-member communities in the FEC, all of which share the primary values of egalitarianism
, non-violence and income-sharing. Approximately 200 people live in the various communities. The organization offers various programs to its member communities, including outreach, labor exchange and catastrophic health care coverage.
In addition to the full membership, the FEC has lower levels of membership, such as "Allied" or "Community in Dialog". These are for communities that may share some, but not all of the FEC values, or who are not prepared for full membership.
Egalitarian communities
Egalitarian communities are groups of people who have chosen to live together, with egalitarianism as one of their core values. A broad definition of egalitarianism is "equal access to resources and to decision-making power." For example, decision-making is done by consensus or another system in...
which have joined together with the common purpose of creating a lifestyle based on equality, cooperation, and harmony with the Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
.
There are 6 full-member communities in the FEC, all of which share the primary values of egalitarianism
Egalitarianism
Egalitarianism is a trend of thought that favors equality of some sort among moral agents, whether persons or animals. Emphasis is placed upon the fact that equality contains the idea of equity of quality...
, non-violence and income-sharing. Approximately 200 people live in the various communities. The organization offers various programs to its member communities, including outreach, labor exchange and catastrophic health care coverage.
In addition to the full membership, the FEC has lower levels of membership, such as "Allied" or "Community in Dialog". These are for communities that may share some, but not all of the FEC values, or who are not prepared for full membership.
Principles
Each of the full-member FEC communities holds the following values:- Holds its land, labor, income and other resources in common
- Assumes responsibility for the needs of its members, receiving the products of their labor and distributing these and all other goods equally, or according to need
- Practices non-violence
- Uses a form of decision making in which members have an equal opportunity to participate, either through consensus, direct vote, or right of appeal or overrule
- Actively works to establish the equality of all people and does not permit discrimination on the basis of race, class, creed, ethnic origin, age, sex, sexual orientation, or gender identity
- Acts to conserve natural resources for present and future generations while striving to continually improve ecological awareness and practice
- Creates processes for group communication and participation and provides an environment which supports people's development.
Current communities
The following communities are full members of the Federation of Egalitarian Communities:- Acorn CommunityAcorn CommunityAcorn Community is a medium-sized egalitarian, intentional community located in rural Virginia, USA and is a member of the Federation of Egalitarian Communities. Acorn was started in 1993 as a daughter community of the older, larger Twin Oaks. For reasons not entirely clear, the early 1990s saw a...
in Virginia - East Wind Community in Missouri
- Emma Goldman Finishing School in Washington
- Sandhill Community in Missouri
- Skyhouse Community in Missouri
- Twin Oaks Community in Virginia