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?

  • @[email protected]
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    468 hours ago

    Cooking. 5 people working together can cook for 100 people easier, cheaper, and less wastefully than 100 people can cook for themselves/their families.

    Unfortunately the current restaurant system in the US is incredibly wasteful, expensive, and pays fuckall.

    • @[email protected]
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      52 hours ago

      Verified: group cooking is the way.

      I have friends and family who live in a cohousing building. About 50 people in 30 units. Each apartment is complete but the kitchens are slightly smaller than typical.

      Cohousing is mutual ownership of the building. About 20% of the building is common areas, like widened hallways with couches and bookshelves, or a games nook, music room, workshop, laundry, etc. It’s basically a tall village, and they are like roommates with privacy.

      The giant kitchen and dining room is used six nights a week. One person is chef with a small crew, and dinner is for around 30 people. It costs $5 CDN per meal, though if you raid the leftovers later it’s pay what you want, usually $2. The cooking volunteer roster is optional and organized by a Slack channel. Food is usually awesome and everyone wins.

      If you want you hardly ever have to cook dinner for yourself.

    • Brewchin
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      168 hours ago

      This makes me think of the Sikh community’s charity/giving (can’t remember the term) food giving that happens in most towns globally where there a Gurdwara.

      There has to be a better way than waves hands everything, really.

    • @[email protected]
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      77 hours ago

      I sometimes think about automats, and what a modernized version, designed to both be healthy enough to eat as one’s primary meal source without ill effect and efficient enough to compete in price with home cooking, might be like. I suspect it would probably involve a lot of soup and chili and the like, just because that stuff is relatively simple to produce in large quantities, and uses cheap yet generally healthy ingredients

    • @[email protected]
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      13 hours ago

      I use a chainsaw maybe two hours a year. Same with my neighbors, yet each of us owns a chainsaw.

    • Bobby Turkalino
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      289 hours ago

      Google your city name and “maker space” to see if there’s any near you. Not only does my local library district have them, there’s another local option with a monthly membership fee. They have large equipment like laser engravers, CNCs, drill presses, etc. They usually also have small stuff like drills that you can check out and bring home. Also a great way to meet other makers in your community

      • @[email protected]
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        78 hours ago

        I tried looking for something like this in the UK and it turns out the nearest one for me got shut down during COVID, the rest are all an hour or two away at least. It’s a great idea but I guess it’s unsustainable without some sort of external funding cause the local one was already running at a loss before 2020 according to their website.

    • @[email protected]
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      2710 hours ago

      I’ve seen those public bike repair racks with attached tools. I feel like that’s the closest thing to that we have

      • Ech
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        107 hours ago

        I always see those with the tools cut off. Feels bad :\

  • @[email protected]
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    8 hours ago

    We should be using neighbourhood food co-ops to purchase and distribute food from farmers and wholesalers rather than from retailers.

    • @[email protected]
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      86 hours ago

      A co-op has been in the works in my town for the last few years and it’s finally about to open. I can’t wait

  • @[email protected]
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    329 hours ago

    Re: internet only available at the public library.

    Hell no. That would really fuck over disabled people.

    • @[email protected]
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      57 hours ago

      That would mainly be because they can’t easily get to the library, probably because your city is too low-density and car-dependant.

      Once again, all problems are zoning problems in disguise.

      • @[email protected]
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        22 hours ago

        I think they assume you want to make the internet only accessible at the library, instead of making it free at the library while still available elsewhere

        BTW in Germany there is free internet in public buildings and transport

  • @[email protected]
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    229 hours ago

    Clothes being optional

    Im not saying we should be nude all the time. Clothes have their purpose.I think we should have the option to be nude in public, without making it sexual

    • @[email protected]
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      98 hours ago

      Nude beaches are nice places for exactly this reason. It’s like everyone tacitly agrees not to give a shit.

      You can walk past people with your balls waving in the breeze and nobody even blinks - and more importantly, someone can walk past you with their tits akimbo and you don’t even blink. It’s not sexual, it’s not even interesting, it has no significance here. It’s like seeing someone breastfeeding: yes, boobs are still great, but we’re not doing that right now.

      And that’s just a really nice headspace to be in. All of the unconscious monkey-politics games just go away, you don’t have to think of people in those terms, or concern yourself with where you stand relative to them, because we’re just not doing that.

      Oh no, you’ll see unattractive naked people! Yep, most of them in fact. And honestly that’s kind of awesome. 85yo woman pottering around living her best life stark naked and not giving one single shit: you go girl. Fuck yeah. You know how people say they look forward to being old enough to just not give a fuck any more? You can have that yourself right now, right here, for free.

      It’s funny, walking past clothed beaches afterwards, you realise just how sexualised many swimsuits really are. A bunch of naked people are honestly about as glamorous and exciting as a pile of dead sheep; fashion designers do one hell of a job creating drama and hype around it all.

    • snooggums
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      109 hours ago

      Most places in the US legally allow nudity, with the main barrier being people calling the police and making a big deal out of doing something legal.

      • @[email protected]
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        35 hours ago

        What? I don’t think this is true.

        Many places allow toplessness but very few allow full nudity.

        • snooggums
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          24 hours ago

          It isn’t about allowing. It is about not prohibiting.

          Most places haven’t prohibited nudity because most people don’t choose to be nude.

      • @[email protected]
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        58 hours ago

        In my area, you can be nude on private property as long as a neighbor has to make an effort to see you. My back yard allows it.

    • @[email protected]
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      8 hours ago

      I never feel inconvenienced by having to wear clothing. I suppose part of that is because as a man, I can go shirtless without getting stares and I wouldn’t want to be without underwear (for support) even if I were on a deserted island. I wonder what the circumstances you have in mind are in which you would like to have the option of being nude in public.

      Edit: Now that I think about it, there have been a few times when I wanted to go swimming and just swimming in my underwear wasn’t an option because I would have to walk while wearing it later and that would be uncomfortable.

      • @[email protected]
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        11 hour ago

        In addition to your example, I’ll think of a few of my own:

        • Washing your car (wash yourself while you’re at it)
        • The weather is comfortable enough to not wear clothes (instead of having 1 layer, go down to 0)
        • Don’t want to do laundry (in fact, you save money by not dirtying up clothes as often)
        • You do not have to change outfits (swimming to exercise to sleep, etc.)
        • You get more vitamin D
        • No tan lines
        • Allows your skin to breathe and take in the weather: rain, sun, wind
  • @[email protected]
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    219 hours ago

    I think towns might benefit if internet was free and freely accessible but only at the local library.

    Are you saying that private access to internet should be illegal?

    Or that your libraries don’t offer internet access to its patrons?

    • @[email protected]
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      9 hours ago

      If it’s only available at one place, it’s not freely accessible.

      Logistically, how would that work? Libraries would have to be everywhere and they’d have to be massive. The IT infrastructure to support that would be immense. How would privacy work? Where could I go to have a private telehealth appointment, for example?

      • @[email protected]
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        38 hours ago

        Freely accessible just means anyone can get to a library, no? I’m not saying that internet should ONLY be at the library. That’s OP, lol

        Libraries where I live offer internet access to any patron (who must be a resident of the city). I can comfortably walk to 3 libraries, but only 1 is within a 15-minute walk. Not everyone in my city is so fortunate, but someone with limited internet needs has many options for free here.

        • @[email protected]
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          47 hours ago

          Oh I understood. I agree with you.

          I would argue that something that was once available at home that is then restricted to a single place that must be shared with lots of people isn’t freely accessible.

          My local library is within walking distance, but it’s pretty small. The Internet is free but not awesome in terms of speed.

      • @[email protected]
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        108 hours ago

        You do realize a significant portion of the internet is porn, right? There is no world in which everyone has to go to a communal public building for their pornography consumption that I’d be happy with.

      • TurboWafflz
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        98 hours ago

        Gonna be honest there are few things I would like less than the criminalizing of my main way of keeping in contact with people. I genuinely think doing that would cause a spike in suicide rates because there are so many people who would just suddenly be completely isolated from having any community

      • @[email protected]
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        68 hours ago

        I’m also curious as to why! (And I didn’t downvote you)

        Please let me know if you share in another comment!

  • @[email protected]
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    78 hours ago

    Generally think private homes are a giant waste, both in terms of wasted physical space and energy lost due to poor insulation.

    Living should be communal. No residential construction should hold less than eight housing units.

    After you do this, you can consolidate a bunch of an amenities - washing machines, parking, central heating/AC, pools, gardens, outdoor grills, wet and dry bars, basements, rumpace rooms, home theaters.

    It all gets so much nicer when it’s a communal living space.

    • @[email protected]
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      33 hours ago

      This is a wild take. There is value in privacy. There is value in quiet! There is value in space. Electricity efficiency isn’t the only important thing!

    • @[email protected]
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      86 hours ago

      washing machines, parking, central heating/AC, pools, gardens, outdoor grills, wet and dry bars, basements, rumpace rooms, home theaters.

      Aw hell naw. Tell me you’ve never been poor enough to have to use a shared washing machine or even a laundromat without telling me you never had to. Those things are absolutely disgusting.

      I used to believe in dense housing in cities until I had two sets of psycho upstairs neighbours and no thanks, I want to be as far away from another human being as reasonably feasible at all times, nevermind not share a fucking pool with one.

      • @[email protected]
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        22 hours ago

        Greetings from Sweden, here shared washing machines are really common and generally not disguisting at all.

        There are also solutions to people behaving badly in apartment buildings. Unfortunate if nothing was done at yours, but it’s definitely not an impossible problem to solve.

    • @[email protected]
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      76 hours ago

      Some people like living in communal spaces and some, like me, loathe it. Seriously, fuck that. Maybe more and affordable complexes do need to be built, but it should never be the only option.

    • funkajunk
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      58 hours ago

      That’s a nice idea, but how do we decide on who gets to live in the communal space?

  • @[email protected]
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    119 hours ago

    This is very close to your mail example but can we please move on from delivering items directly to houses? Just give me a destribution center or box at a 10-15 min walking distance and I’ll gladly pick up everything from there when it’s actually convenient. We can still keep the other model for special cases.

    • @[email protected]
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      21 hour ago

      What if we work backwards on this?

      1. Introduce community boxes at junction points where USPS already delivers, and/or next to a parks so you can say hi to your neighbors and stuff. Ensure any box is within a tolerable walking distance for the average community member served. (Best figure five minutes here folks.)

      2. Allow residents with mail being delivered to their physical addresses to opt in to delivery at their associated neighborhood box.

      3. Market the boxes as happy medium between visiting a staffed post office at the center of a city and risky doorstep delivery. Locked boxes large enough to accommodate everyday parcels basically nix those pesky pilfering porch pirates.

      4. Continue regularly scheduled deliveries to individual addresses because the route will continue to exist at some level of specificity anyway no matter how many or how few community boxes materialize. Carriers essentially keep the same routes but get to drop mad loads of male mail in one or multiple convenient spots, driving efficiency up and logistics strategists wild.

      5. Promoting additional box patronage by offering a slight discount whenever postage/shipping is purchased for a specific physical address utilizing delivery to a community box. Immediate and total coverage of community boxes across America is neither expected nor necessary, but hell, reward those who lighten the load for others.

      .

      Please… call me Louisa REjoy

      • @[email protected]
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        11 hour ago

        That’s pretty much the idea, you put it in much better words than me. Let’s make community boxes the default and if you want home delivery you can have that.

        Side comment, I don’t get how the US deals with porch pirates. Here someone needs to be at home and sign to receive the delivery because literally leave a brick outside and it will have been picked up by someone within the next couple of hours.

    • @Worx
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      69 hours ago

      “special cases” being everyone who doesn’t live in a town? I’m lucky in that my village post office hasn’t been shut down, but I’d still have to drive to collect my post every day. It’s much more efficient that a single vehicle delivers post to hundreds of houses.

      Maybe it makes sense in urban areas for able-bodied people. Still a drag to have to walk there every day when you don’t even know if you’ve got post because something important might have arrived.

      Sorry, I didn’t mean to poop on your idea so much, it is a genuinely interesting idea, I just don’t think it works with the way society is currently set up in my country

      • @[email protected]
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        29 hours ago

        Sorry yes this assumes you live in a place where you can walk to something like a post office or a supermarket. Rural US may not have this but that’s already kind of a problem. You don’t have to go every day though. You can just get a notification when your delivery is actually there. This is already done in some places by companies but in a smaller scale where the available boxes are very limited and only for smaller items. With special cases I meant people who have trouble leaving the house for whatever reason.

        • @[email protected]
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          38 hours ago

          Honestly If I could just get the part when they notify me when there’s something to pick up and make junk mail illegal that would be great. As it is I hate checking my mail box every day just to dump literally all of it directly into the trash. I would love to just be notified when there is actually something I need to pay attention to.

          • @[email protected]
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            15 hours ago

            Usps has "informed delivery ", where they send you pictures of all of your mail before you get it, so you do know if you are getting something important.

  • SavvyWolf
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    68 hours ago

    … Why should private internet be banned or discouraged? What benefits would that being?

    It’s a bit of a cop out, but maybe talking about and dealing with feelings. At best people usually only talk privately with a professional for money. Normalise just having regular group therapy for everyone that they can just drop in and out of.

    Or if we want to really push boundaries: Orgies and kink parties. Sex is a natural part of life, no need to keep it secret.

    • @[email protected]
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      37 hours ago

      I’m not sure that something like a public orgy would be a good idea, not because of “morals” (I tend to think modern society is far too repressed about sexual stuff), but because of the health implications that would come of encouraging sexual contact between large groups of strangers. That sounds like a recipe for STI spread unless you were very strict and thorough with testing, vetting participants, and enforcing protective measures, which inevitably not every instance would be.

      • SavvyWolf
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        37 hours ago

        However, if talking and partaking in sexual acts is less stigmatised, people will hopefully feel a lot more comfortable about getting tested and talking about it.

        And honestly, if it does turn out to be that big a problem, vetting and requiring regular testing seems a reasonable thing to require before people are allowed in.

  • metaStatic
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    89 hours ago

    are there actually places where the public library doesn’t already offer free internet access?