ECONOMY
"The experimental analysis of behavior has clearly shown that it is not the quantity of goods that count (as the laws of supply and demand suggest) but the contingent relation between goods and behavior. That is why, to the amazement of the American tourist, there are people in the world who are happier then we are, while possessing far less."
B. F. Skinner, 1948.
We call our economic practice: "Walden Cooperative Economy" or "Behaviorist Economy."
Its main characteristics are:
1.Behaviorally designed.
This means:
a) We designed our economic practices based on data derived from the science of behavior and in a behaviorist economic philosophy.
b) In designing our economic practices we studied and analyzed various economic practices from a behavioral perspective. We studied how they effect the behavior of the members of a society.
c) In a Cooperative Walden Economy, behavioral principles are applied to promote communitarian economic behaviors.
2. Cooperative production of goods and services.
In a Behaviorist Economy, members cooperate in the production of goods and services.
Our labor practices are cooperative.* Community members determine what will be produced. The Walden Cooperative Economy pursues the satisfaction of its members in the production process, it does not only seek productivity.
* We describe our labor practices in characteristic #4. If you want to know more about labor in Los Horcones, see Labor .
3. Equal participation in the production of goods and services.
All members participate in production. As soon as children can help in the work, they start participating in simple tasks. Women and men have equal work opportunities.* The seniors members of the community continue to participate in the productive life to the extent that their health allows them. Persons with behavioral deficits also participate in the community's work. See Teaching Society Model.
* Labor equality. All community members work, including children, and the senior members participate according to their own capability. Men and women have the same labor and organizational opportunities. See Labor .
4. Economy based on natural reinforcement.
A Cooperative Walden Economy focuses on the satisfaction the member obtains in working and not only in production.*
* Natural reinforcement is the intrinsic satisfaction produced by what we do. An example is a painter who obtains satisfaction from the act of painting independently from whether or not he receives praise or monetary gain. See Research.
In order to make possible for each member to enjoy their economic activities, Walden Economy promotes multi-industry.* This economic practice makes it possible for members to choose their jobs from a wide variety of activities. This in turn, increases the opportunities for members to find satisfaction in work, in contrast with mono-industry where members have only a single alternative.
* This is an example of a cultural practice designed to promote a particular behavior.
The variety of work increases according to our population. So, in order to increase the likelihood of having a satisfactory job we need more members.
In relation to money, we have various sources of income and will have more as members propose new ones.
Today our main sources of income are:
5. Non-monetary internal economy and monetary external economy.
Behavioristic Economy is a non-monetary economy. Members don't need to carry or use money because they do not need to pay for anything. However we keep a monetary relationship with the outside society, we use money to buy those things and services we do not yet have.
6. Sharing Economy. Equal distribution of goods.
Within a Walden Economy, distribution of goods and services are equally shared by all the members of the society. In Los Horcones there are three types of property:
a) Communal Property
b) Private use of Communal Property
c) Shared private property
a) Communal property. All community members are the owners of the existing property (money,* land, houses, cars, furniture, tools and equipment, clothes, everything).
* In Los Horcones money is a communal property -income sharing. All money earned by members individually or communally is kept in common. The coordinators of the economy area are in charge of keeping records (accounting) and calling meetings where members decide on how the money will be spent and saved. Members do not earn wages, however we can all make reasonable personal purchases when we wish.
b) Private use of communal property. The clothes we wear, the watch we use, the book we read, the toothbrush and other things of this sort are communal property which members use in a private way. This means that nobody can use them except the member who has them. Usually these are things we wear or keep in our private rooms. We respect property in use. We can ask for it if we need it, but we can not claim it when a member is using it.*
*With the economic practice of "private use of communal property" Los Horcones is, in practice, similar to having private property . The difference is that property is co-owned by all members.
c) Shared Private Property.* This form of shared private property is allowed within a Walden Economy as an approximation of having communal property.** Los Horcones allows newcomers to have private property in the community as a transitional process towards communal ownership. Newcomers (visitors and soliciting members) can have private property in the community. This property can be used privately or communally.
*This form of shared private property is the same as communal use of private property. For example, when the visitor or soliciting member has a car, a computer, tool, a book, clothing, and lends them to the community, all members can use it, but they still belong to the visitor. Of course visitors and soliciting members do not have to share their property with the rest of the members but they do not have the same rights or access to goods and services available in the community for members.
** This is an example of the use of a behavioral principle called "shaping" in our economic system. Shaping means to reinforce successive approximations to a target behavior.
Note.- The private use of private property is not allowed in Los Horcones to members, it is only allowed to visitors. Those who do not want to share cannot live in the community. If a soliciting members wants to keep his/her property (money, a car, a computer, a book, clothing,etc.) , she/he needs to leave it outside of the community.
Note. In a Walden Economy, no only the means of production are communally owned but also what is produced.
7. Economy oriented toward self-sufficiency.*
A society or community with a behaviorist economic system, seeks to become self sufficient in the production of goods and services. Sometimes we have been highly, but not totally- self sufficient in food, housing construction, clothing. In education and finances we are totally self-sufficiency.**
*Self-sufficiency depends a lot in the number of members. When the population of Los Horcones increases, self-sufficiency also increases.
**Los Horcones has always been financially self- supported by the work of its members.
8. Economy with a pro-ecological orientation.
A Cooperative Walden Economy promotes the rational consumption of goods and services. Economic practices are arranged so people make rational use of natural resources. Pro-ecological practices are implemented in all areas, for example: the use of solar energy, the reuse of water, preservation of the indigenous flora and fauna, recycling things, etc. Communal property is a pro-environmental practice because it significantly reduces consumerism.*See Ecology .
*Please do not expect Los Horcones to be a great ecological project.We have devoted more of our scarce human and financial resources to behavioral research than to ecological research. We believe that human behavior is the most important subject to study since ecological problems are problems of human behavior.
Frequent questions about our Walden Cooperative Economy
1. Are you financially self-supported or do you rely on financial aid?
Members have always supported the community financially with their work. Until now the monetary and material donations, have not been significant.*
*We are open to donations. See How to help Los Horcones
2. How much money do you need to support the community?
It varies, if we are building we need more. It also depends on the number of community members. However, what the community needs to support a single member is significantly less than what that person would need elsewhere to keep up his standard of living. This is one of the main advantages of sharing property, when we share we become richer. Unfortunately, many people think the opposite.
Sharing is wealth
3. Is it easy to share?
No. People need to be educated to share because what we have learned in the current society is to possess. We learn to share when the social conditions to do so are created. People are not possessive from birth.
4. How are people educated to share?
By creating an cultural environment, an organization where sharing has advantages for those who share. For example, If I share my car with community members, and they maintain it, repair it and help me to keeping it in better shape than I can alone, they reinforce my sharing behavior. On the contrary, if I share my car with members who misuse it or damage it, it will discourage my sharing behavior. Community rules on the use of community property are important to encourage and reinforce sharing.
In Los Horcones we teach ourselves to see community property as our own (because it is) and take care of it as we have learned to take care of our private property. Instead of thinking "the property I brought it is not mine anymore and it isn't anybody else's, so I don't need to care for it", we think: "the property I brought is still mine but it belongs to the rest of the members too and I must take care of it."
5. Does sharing property save you money?
Yes, thanks to our practice of sharing property, we make a thorough use of things. More people use them, reuse them and recycle them. Few things are just sitting there waiting to be use. We do not need as much money as people who do not share do. By sharing cars, electrical appliances, tools, books, clothing and everything not every family or single member needs to have a car, a stove, a T.V. ,etc. To live in a cooperative and sharing community is an alternative to consumerism and very important way to contributes to environmental sustainability.
6. Do you pay taxes?
Yes we do. We are a cooperative society and although they used to be tax-exempt but now we must pay taxes.
7.Is it strange that a Coop must also pay taxes?
To us it is strange because the Mexican economy as any other economy in the world, would solve many of its problems if it promoted cooperation among its people instead of competition.
8. How do you organize the financial aspect of your economy?
The money we earn goes to a common box (or account) from which money is drawn for personal or community expenses. Each member can draw whatever he/she needs.
9. This is to say that nobody earns money?
Members do not earn money as individuals but as a community. The community does not pay its members for their work because no members want to be paid. This is important because members voluntarily do not want to be paid. We feel like we are getting paid but we donate our money to the community.
10. Why do members not want to be paid by the community?
Simply because we believe that sharing property is better than private property. The community gives us everything we need. If a member needs money to buy something he or she just asks for it and takes the money from the common box. Members do not pay for their food, clothing, housing, schooling, medical services, or anything else. We all want to use the money we earn for the benefit of all members (this is, the benefit of each one) because we believe that by sharing our money we can have more of the goods and services we need.
We are also rich as individuals because living separately, only few of us could have what we have here.
We have a lot of things as a community, not as individuals. Everything in the community belong to me and the rest of the members. It is mine if I take good care of it, if I use it for the community benefit.
11. If members benefit from living in community, it is strange that there are not more members at Los Horcones.
There are not many people for various reasons. We have not disseminated enough of our philosophy to the outside community. To live in Los Horcones implies having responsibilities not just rights. Usually, people do not want the responsibility of becoming a better person every day (in action not just in words) .
12. If a member wants to buy some clothing, how does he/she do it?
The member can ask the clothing coordinator for what he/se needs or can buy it him/herself after asking the economy coordinator for money.
13. Does it means that if I go to live at Los Horcones tomorrow, I can ask the community for money?
Not exactly, we are referring to people who have been accepted as permanent members. However in some cases visitors or soliciting members who ask for money for something that will benefit the community and we feel it is a priority, they may get it.
14. What is your economic system called?
Cooperative Walden Economy or Behaviorist Economy.
15. Does the exterior economy affect you?
Sure it effects us. The Mexican economy effects us just like it effects other Mexican people.
16 . What is the difference between the Walden economy and Socialist economy?
In the socialist economy a group of people (government) makes the decisions for all the people. In a Cooperative Walden Economy all members participate decisively in the economic decisions.
17. How keep the communal money in Los Horcones?
The coordinators of the economy are (2 or more members) . They just keep the money, and record of income and expenses. Economy coordinators can not make any important economic decisions without asking the rest of the members.
18. Who makes the decisions in Los Horcones?
This is a question regarding government. As we said before, decisions are made by all the members. We have a weekly meeting where the coordinators of the various areas present issues that need to be decided on. All members* participate and our participation is decisive.**
*When there are few members in the community, informal communication on the daily bases substitutes for weekly meetings.
**Decisive participation means that a single member can stop the decision-making-process if he/she does not agree. In that case, the decision is put on hold until the member who disagrees convince the rest or the rest convince him/her. Of course all members are educated to participate appropriately in the decision making process. In this way, a member does not stop or disagree with a decision unless he or she presents well based reasons or facts.
Our form of government is called Personocracy. As you know "kratos" means power, then Personocracy means power of the person. At Los Horcones each individual has the same political power. See Personocracy.
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Last up-date :2001*
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