Watched it critically to see what we are up against. Like the Amish I see it as a little bit of a veneer, tourism and sales to outsiders such as Amish roofers or their furniture craftsmen are critical to their success. Much of that outsider pricing is marked up to novelty rates.
I'm not saying they aren't better prepared. I'm just noting that a lot of what they count on to make this fly is going to dry up. They'll be pretty uncomfortable too.
I noticed that as well. Lots of attention to old school trades/skills. That attracts business from outsiders. Not exactly self sufficient. Usually the number one failure of intentional communities is financial. I think this focus helps reduce that issue. I also wonder if building said community on a Bitcoin standard would reduce the need for the touristy component.
I suspect taxes and the dollar are part of it. Any successful intentional community has a big chunk of their productivity stolen. You need to bring in whatever the community's tax rate is to stay at 0. That means dealing with outsiders. Any outside financial interaction forces you to revalue your money to however the outsiders value it so inflation gets you too.
As usual, taxes and inflation destroy our ability to make accurate economic calculations.
