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choosing rags and riches?
how ecovillage residents make ends meet, from remote work to chosen poverty; a new meaning of work/life balance; and the first signs of spring
Jasper Lydon
March 04, 2025
Table of Contents
hi grass roots!
we gained another 100 new newsletter subscribers last week, a piece with a major news outlet that i’ve been working since last fall is finally coming out next month, and the next book proposal draft is almost finished. oh, and i’ve started a new part-time job, and i’m working on building out a 501c3 to support this research. things are getting busy - but good busy!
speaking of busy —
city wages, rural living?
These days, a lot of ecovillage residents work remotely. They manage social media campaigns or offer life coaching sessions, tutor teens or give logistical support to companies.
One of the job takes that stood out to me the most from my interviews was this one:
I continued to work for a New York City based client for my first years here. That was really sweet, getting New York City wages for rural Missouri living expenses. I was only working 10 to 12 hours a week.
The problem was, I had to be available at any time, because that’s the expectation, and that’s a little incompatible with living here. It’s like, I’m not answering the phone, because it’s gonna rain this afternoon, and I have to harvest all my garlic first. But that’s not a good excuse to them.
That kind of work/life balance — working only a dozen hours a week, spending the rest of the time with your family or on your garden — sounds so idyllic at first. But there’s a real culture clash, too, Cob pointed out.
Between an ecovillage and a high-pressure city job, there can be hugely different senses of time, of priorities, of deadlines.
Residential trailer for farmhands and guests at Whole Village Ecovillage, Ontario.
On the other end of the spectrum, a number of interviewees had taken a ‘vow of poverty’, forgoing traditional income streams altogether; they subsisted on what they could make, trade, or what was gifted to them. This version popped up among urban and rural farmers, typically in ‘red’ states with lower cost of living, and especially in more ideological or religious groups.
The ‘vow of poverty’ approach wasn’t just about minimalism or subsistence, nor just about some kind of ascetic, stoic approach; often, it was a political statement: they would intentionally keep their income low enough so that they wouldn’t have to pay taxes, so they could make sure their earnings wouldn’t go towards the defense budget.
Homemade chicken coop at a co-housing development in Davis, CA.
whittling out pockets of financial control
There are so many ways in which we live at the mercy of the larger capitalist, extractive system. We have very limited ability to influence it. The only thing we can really change is to shift how we engage with it.
so some takeaways to consider:
controlling how much income we make is a way of controlling how much of our money goes towards the government & its spending
financially, working a city job in a rural village is mint, but socially, there can be a values clash
how much do you value money versus free time? flexibility versus stability?
are you able to choose how and how much you work in accordance with your values? or, is it dictated by norms of your profession? of your geographic area?
have you ever thought to question the labor norms set by your profession? do you think there are ways to shift them, from within the industry?
after all, labor equity requires diverse employment options, & labor rights require flexible employment options.
Bathtubs repurposed into planters — and a DIY kid’s climbing gym — in Junction Village Guelph.
That’s all I’ve got for you this week folks, feel free to keep the conversation going in the comments, and let me know if there’s a topic you’d like to hear about that I haven’t covered yet!
a spring-y wrap-up
spring is already arriving here. the air is chilly, but the first daffodils have started to bloom. warmer weather is heading our way; the world is waking up again, and so am i. after many months, i’ve finally found a post-concussion symptom treatment plan that’s really helping me. after months of fog, it feels as though i can feel my brain speeding back up to its normal pace, and that feels really good.
spring is coming! and then the rest.
much love,
jasper
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