We have been operating the Get Well Clinic in Montana for 20 years. We have many patients of our own and our own network of Health Practitioners for Montana (and their relationships with their clients). We’re wanting to present a solution for retirement and rejuvenation.

How much progress have you made?

Jason Moore
&
Barbara Leonard
Get Well Clinic
Polson, MT 59860

I also like fortresses, if it means nobody has to hire a sheriff or cop or NSA/CIA/FBI/ATF/ABCDEFG… in order to snoop into everybody’s business in order to dispense cruel injustice. The residents can instead agree to obey a half-dozen inflexible laws, or “2 Simplified Laws According to Doug Casey”, or else get exiled after a citizens arrest and citizens trial. But, most people would rather just pay all the taxes. The inflexible laws could be supplemented with flexible rules, which are open to discussion, mediation, adaptation, and all the rest.

Every German I have ever met was totally offended by the thought of any sort of wall being put up (even though as I have just said, they already live in well-disguised walls just as good as we are talking about). Most people seem to prefer the vanity of a traditional show house, along with the rape, theft, murder, and all the rest that people seem to put up with.

The midieval forts were a practical response to the times (fall of Rome), and I expect they make the same sense now and in the future, as people are waking up to the fundamental requirements for a peaceable life, without all the obscurities of the window dressings that the credit expansions and bubbles and misallocations of capital produced. For example, Tempe, AZ announced last week that it is laying off 1/3 of the police force, which is only the opening act, and people are going to get a reminder that in spite of all the taxes, they are on their own.

First: You mention security in your briefing of your sustainable community. The thoughts of a gated community fenced in, in essence isolated from the outside world unless they choose to leave the area. Perhaps it is caused by the aptitude of humans to apply connotations to words or thoughts based on past usage, but this picture in my mind is reminiscent to Jonestown.

Now, obviously we here, and people who would live there, and you are not like those people who lived in Jonestown. We are not being manipulated by someone with the nefarious intentions. Just food for thought, but it brings me to my next point.

Second: Would you establish the community in the fashion of a city, where the community would have it’s own by-laws and someone in the fashion of a sheriff? Perhaps you would instead choose to be under the jurisdiction of a near town, and thus police from there? In the case of a incident of some sort, who would be the one to make the resolution, if it cannot be resolved by the parties involved?

Just some food for thought and curiosities.

I like the ideas being proposed here by Simon and the comments above. It’s hard for those with no Latin American travel experience to know what type of security in a suburban/remote jungle/remote mountain area would be appropriate. I guess it depends on what the community’s worst case scenarios are for the future.

As far as protecting against the dollar tanking, one strategy might be to diversify your USD assets into a basket of foreign currencies (or own non-USD-denominated bonds or own non-US-based stocks) and to diversify where you hold those assets (i.e. in brokerage accounts & bank accounts in countries outside Panama with strong banking laws). Then only wire in enough money to cover a few months of expenditures into your Panama bank account. Also hold physical gold in safety boxes in Panama and/or nearby countries. As for specific recommendations, we may need to take Simon out to lunch ;o)

People need to be able to find jobs or create jobs/businesses. Most people cannot live off what they’ve already got, and in economic collapse, most of those could well lose what they’ve got. Communities are created and grow organically, not planned and confined within the walls. Even Medieval walled cities/towns had to have room outside those walls.

A walled-in community with 1/4 acre plots, manicured lawns, central agricultural facilities, central “alternative energy”, and armed guards is really just a low security prison for wealthy people who can get outside as trustys. It would be a target if things go bad in the surrounding areas. You need to decentralize some of the critical facilities in the development, or you make the development very vulnerable, just like the centralized grid is today. To get anywhere near sustainability one needs to attract people who have practical skills, knowledge, and experience….not just rich folks who only know how to write, drink fine wine, and play polo. These people without practical skills and survival knowledge are a liability if things ever get really bad.

The developer needs to plan before starting development and even selecting the proprerty, with the help of people who have in-depth practical knowledge of sustainability, including: literature, efforts underway in many places, issues in development, experience implementing it, and related matters like permaculture. Tropical agricultural knowledge would be quite useful, but centralized agriculture is very limited in usefullness if you are looking for a sustainable situation. Several small farms in the development would be useful to have, and as many gardens, orchards, and permaculture arrangements as you can reasonably get. You need people like those with military special ops training for security planning before starting the development. Many of the residents with such knowledge and skills would never consider less than about a 5 acre plot. Some would want more land than that. And the people with sustainability knowledge will want to each build their own decentralized facilities for water, food, energy, etc., as self-reliance is their credo.

You DO want some central facilities, but these are vulnerable and make others dependent. You need to do BOTH, not only to optimize self-sufficiency, but also to attract people with needed skills AND some who also happen to have money. They are out there.

I completed your excellent survey and find the whole idea exceedingly appealing. Based on the prices presented in your survey, I believe it would be affordable for me and my roommate.

I would like to have a private conversation with you regarding one aspect of the plan. Is it possible to schedule a telephone conversation? Perhaps you could email me directly in that regard.

Sincerely,
Debra Buchanan

We were in Panama last week. We looked at property while there, high rise apartamentos in the downtown area. We noticed that none of them had sprinkler systems installed. One of the real estate ladies told us that they don’t use them there as they tend to go off when you are cooking. We also asked about building codes, the response back was codes? You commented that the safety deposit box company didn’t have proper facilities in case of fire. Do they have fire departments there?

One of our biggest concerns with Panama is that they also use the dollar and if it tanks in the US it will tank there as well. What are your thoughts on this?

JT

I filled out the survey, but wanted to enhance my point about a real community, not just another housing compound for the too-affluent-to-work crowd. Let’s think outside the box of recreating US upmarket suburban housing. I lived in one of those in Indonesia. It takes a bit more to create a real community that is sustainable, economically vibrant, and offers some real opportunities, not just a bigger McMansion-filled “housing project.”

I’d be proud to help create such a new idea in communities for the 21st century and beyond.

I am an expat living in Panama and am in the beginning stages of planning a similar concept (though much smaller) on the shores of Lago Gatun. The property is about an hour and a quarter from the city and is nothing if not peaceful. Fruit trees are plentiful as are the fish in the lake. I envision community gardens, dockage, pool and a recreation area. The houses are designed very ecofriendly and need neither heating (obviously) or cooling. We are investigating both solar and wind and I am just beginning communications with a Canadian who has developed a smart grid concept for small projects. I will be following your concept and would love to talk with you if you have the time while in Panama.