Our Problems
-Challenges-
Los Horcones is not an ideal community, we have problems.
You can come and help us to solve them.
If you want to join us. Please consider that Los Horcones is offering you the opportunity to cooperate in building a communitarian society and enjoy doing it. We are not offering you the final product, an ideal society.
Life in Los Horcones is very pleasant for those who are really committed to communitarian ideals. They see the problems as challenges. On the contrary, people who come to join Los Horcones without having communitarian reinforcers (motivation) will not find this community to be a pleasant place. They will not consider the problems as challenges. It will be difficult for them to understand that we are seeking solutions to the problems they encounter. They will generally say: "All the problems are their problems." instead of saying: "All the problems are our problems."
People generally come with an individualistic rather than with a communitarian view. Their approach is: "What does the community have for me?", instead of "What do I have for the community?".
As a result of the lack of commitment, they probably, end up saying things like: "Los Horcones is not really a community", "There is too much work here", "Los Horcones is too organized. It is like living outside." etc. It is very likely that they blame Los Horcones for their problems.
Because we are a society in constant development rather than a finished Walden Two community, problems arise. Problems belong to all of us, we do not have to blame anybody.
Among the most important problems we have now you can consider the following ones:
a) Scarcity of human resources.
Since we started Los Horcones, we have needed more members. Many important projects are waiting to be done, once our human resources increase. For example, the project of having a school * where many children and teenagers who live outside the community can study along with our children. This has been a project we have never been able to develop.
*We already have a school for our own children. However, they are not a numerous group.
Projects have had to be discontinued because of a lack of human resources, among them several ecological, agricultural, self-sufficiency and research projects*.
*We welcome people who want to come and develop a project here in the community. You do not need to join the community. You can live here for the time you wish. For example, to come and make a straw bale house, plant trees, etc.
The scarcity of human resources is related to the relative little advertising we have made of the community. It is also related to a lack of an accurate and clear knowledge about Walden Two, the science of behavior and radical behaviorism that people have.
Generally people like (expect) things done, instead of having to make them. Many people would live on a finished Walden Two community but very few are willing to build it.
b) Scarcity of financial resources.
We have not had enough money to develop projects that would turn Los Horcones into a more self-sufficient and comfortable place to live.
We Welcome Donations. Any amount is welcome.
c) Difficulty in teaching and learning communitarian behaviors.
Social problems are human behavior problems. A communitarian society necessarily requires communitarian behaviors. In a communitarian society we need to behave in different ways and for different reasons.
If we want to have a better society, human behavior needs to be changed. During 25 years, we have been observing that it is not easy to change our behavior. We generally want to have the advantages of cooperation without having the responsibilities involved in cooperating. We want to continue seeking our own individualistic (egotistic) objectives without considering the common good.
Education is the most important area of a community. Los Horcones is a school where all the members are teachers and students. We are all teaching and learning communitarian behaviors.
It has not been easy to teach and learn communitarian behaviors. We all have been educated in a culture that reinforces (promotes) competitive, individualistic, non-egalitarian more than reinforcing (promoting) cooperation and equality.
In the Western culture we have learned the reinforcers (likes) of winning over others, of treating others differently and for attacking or fighting. These reinforcers interfere with living in Los Horcones. Thus it is necessary to learn other type of reinforcers -communitarian reinforcers- that substitute them.
Learning communitarian reinforces and behaviors requires an environment (society) that promotes such learning. We need to design this kind of society, we need to implement communitarian practices which help us learn and teach communitarian behaviors and reinforcers.
Unfortunately people do not stay long enough in the community so the community practices can affect them in a way that they can learn communitarian behaviors. The reinforcers available in the Western culture are very powerful. For example the reinforcer of possessing a large amount of material goods.
Few people are aware of the need of going through an educational process to live in Los Horcones. Many newcomers want to continue behaving the way they did in Western society. Competitive and individualistic behaviors interfere with living happily in a communitarian society. Los Horcones then, becomes aversive (unpleasantly) for them.
In summary, it has not been easy to learn and teach new behaviors and new reinforcers (likes) to members. In fact, to discover ways of teaching and learning communitarian behaviors is the core of Los Horcones project.
d) Misunderstandings about Los Horcones.
Another problem we have had and that we share with behavior analysis, radical behaviorism and Walden Two is that Los Horcones is frequently misrepresented and misunderstood.
- In the 70's Los Horcones was misunderstood as a "hippy" community formed by people who were escaping from society, by using drugs and having orgies. This was the image media gave communities.
- It has been misunderstood as a primitive community that rejects technology.
- As a "closed" community that does not allow members to be in contact with the outside society, specially children.
- As a community that follows B. F. Skinner's ideas. and has the novel Walden Two as a guide.
- As a community formed by people with psychological or existential problems.
- As an anti-democratic, communist community.
- It has also been misunderstood as an anti-religious community. In Los Horcones every member can have their own religion. And all kinds of religious believes are respected.
- Also as a religious community or a sect.
Clarification: Los Horcones is not a religious community in the sense of demanding its members as a group to practice a particular religion. Religion is respected, members can keep their own religious beliefs and practice their own religion.
Behaviorism is not our religion. It is our philosophy which is based on the natural science of behavior. See Behaviorism.
-Los Horcones has also been misunderstood as a group of people who do not believe in freedom and human dignity.
- As a controlled experiment conducted by one or a few people for their own benefit.
-As a community that only accepts behaviorists.
Clarification: People with different philosophies can live in the community as long as these philosophies are not against the principles of cooperation, equality, mutual help, non-violence, sharing and ecological sustainability. Psychological approaches which explain human behavior as a result of supernatural events are not allowed unless the person is open to learn more about a radical behavioristic philosophy.
Many other misunderstandings have caused people to reject visiting or living with us*. If you are interested about it, see Misunderstandings about Los Horcones.
*People who visit Los Horcones usually tell us: "This is not the idea I had about this community, what they have told me was very different from what I saw. I expected people without feelings, behaviorist robots but Los Horcones seems to be quite humanitarian."
Frequent questions about this theme
1. Why hasn't Los Horcones grow in population?
There are many reasons.
a) Lack of effective advertising.
b) Lack of financial resources. This reason is related with reason "a".
c) Misunderstandings about the science and philosophy in which we are based. People generally say : "I don't want to live in Los Horcones because it is a behavioristic community. They consider people as animals or robots."
d) Lack of members. "I don't like to live in a place where there are so few people. I need a richer social life." This obviously is a vicious circle.
e) The country and area we are in. "I don't like living in Mexico. I don't like living in the desert. I can't stand hot weather."
f) People who join the community have not learned to be reinforced by working toward a common good or to enjoy community life and often do not stay long enough to learn it.
People, in general, have learned to be very ethnocentric and do not have an experimental approach to lifestyles. They see other cultures only. Many people from developed countries do not like Mexico because it is a poor country and does not have the same quality of services available in their countries.
Last up-dated: January 2002
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