Seize the Means of Community

The Communitarium Project – II

Imagining a New Way of Life: From Capitalist Erosion to Real Utopias

[What follows was largely generated by ChatGPT, after extensive prompting by me. It conveys my basic thoughts pretty well but... ChatGPT is prone to a style I call 'corporate rah-rah', stating as certainty things I am more comfortable proclaiming as possibilities. I have, in one place below, crossed out ChatGPT's phrasing and substituted my own. Elsewhere I have inserted my own writing — surrounded by brackets. I have not made as many changes as I deem warranted but those changes I have made should be enough to give you an idea of how I would do so.

One big point I should make clear: Although in what follows it is sometimes unclear, my immediate vision of the Communitarium Project is strictly one of the forging of online spaces. I thinks such spaces can serve as think tanks, laboratories, prototypes, and staging grounds for the larger projects of “capitalist erosion” which will be required in the real world. I also believe that, in important ways, the online world is more vulnerable to collective action than are institutions of the real world, something which I believe the rise of TikTok demonstrates.

And now, our feature presentation: ]

Introduction

If the first step in resisting the capitalist lifestyle is recognizing it for what it is, the next step is imagining alternatives. What does it mean to live differently? And how do we create spaces where people can experience a lifestyle that doesn’t revolve around productivity, consumption, and individual competition?

In this post, we explore how the Communitarium Project can foster a new way of living by drawing on the ideas of Erik Olin Wright, particularly his notions of “real utopias” and “capitalist erosion.” Wright’s work provides a useful framework for understanding how small, intentional efforts can challenge capitalism and create viable alternatives, even within the system itself.

The Power of Real Utopias

Erik Olin Wright’s concept of “real utopias” starts from a simple but radical premise: Utopian thinking—envisioning a better, more just world—isn’t just a matter of fantasy or speculative fiction. Instead, utopian ideals can guide the creation of real-world institutions, practices, and communities that embody those ideals. Wright believed that we can experiment with different forms of organization and social relations that represent the values we want to see flourish in society. These experiments might start small, but their success lies in their ability to demonstrate that alternatives to capitalism are not only possible but desirable.

A “real utopia” is a space where cooperation, equity, and collective well-being are prioritized over competition and profit. It’s a place where the values that often seem out of reach in a capitalist society—solidarity, mutual aid, sustainability—are made tangible. Wright believed that real utopias could act as prefigurative models, showing that a different world is possible even within the constraints of our current system.

The Communitarium Project is, in essence, a real utopia. It envisions intentional communities—both physical and digital—where people can organize their lives around principles that subvert the capitalist logic. Within communitaria, the lifestyle isn’t driven by market incentives or individual gain, but by cooperation and shared responsibility. These communities offer a lived experience of an alternative way of life, not as an abstract theory but as a tangible, practical reality.

Capitalist Erosion: Chipping Away at the System

Wright’s idea of “capitalist erosion” refers to the process by which alternative institutions gradually weaken the hold of capitalism by providing functional, attractive alternatives to capitalist structures. Rather than waiting for a revolutionary overthrow of the system, capitalist erosion suggests that the slow, steady growth of non-capitalist practices can undercut capitalism’s dominance.

One key mechanism of capitalist erosion is the creation of spaces where people can meet their needs in ways that do not rely on capitalist markets. This is where the Communitarium Project plays a critical role can play a role. By building communities based on collective ownership, shared resources, and cooperative decision-making, communitaria [can] erode the capitalist lifestyle by offering an alternative that is not only feasible but preferable. The more people engage with these spaces, the more they begin to see that capitalism is not the only option.

For example, within a communitarium, members might [,eventually,] collectively own resources, such as housing, food production systems, or even digital infrastructure. [More immediately, they can certainly undertake to create and own their own digital platforms. ] Decisions about how to allocate resources are made democratically, prioritizing the collective well-being of the group over profit or individual gain. In doing so, the communitarium offers an alternative to the hyper-individualism and consumerism of capitalist life. It shows that people can meet their needs through solidarity and cooperation rather than competition and accumulation.

Over time, as more people participate in communitaria and other non-capitalist spaces, the dominance of capitalist institutions can be eroded. This is not to say that capitalism will disappear overnight, but that its hold on everyday life can be weakened as people find ways to live outside its logic. The proliferation of real utopias—like the communitarium—can slowly undermine the capitalist system by providing functional alternatives that chip away at its monopoly on organizing social life.

Creating the Conditions for Capitalist Erosion

One of the most important tasks of the Communitarium Project is to create the conditions for capitalist erosion to take place. This means not only establishing communitaria but also making them accessible and attractive to people who are accustomed to living within a capitalist framework. It’s important to recognize that most people living a capitalist lifestyle aren’t actively choosing it—they’re simply responding to the incentives and constraints of the world around them. The challenge is to create spaces where different incentives and constraints exist, so people can experience a new way of living without feeling like they have to “opt out” of the system.

This is where Wright’s concept of “interstitial transformation” becomes useful. Rather than seeking to confront capitalism head-on, interstitial transformation involves building alternative practices within the cracks and margins of the system. The Communitarium Project aims to build these “cracks” by creating spaces where people can experiment with new ways of organizing their lives—ways that are not bound by the logic of the market but instead prioritize human connection, mutual aid, and sustainability.

For example, a communitarium might offer a platform for resource-sharing that operates outside of traditional market mechanisms. People could share tools, skills, or even housing in ways that prioritize collective well-being over individual gain. In doing so, they are participating in a small-scale version of what a post-capitalist world could look like, while also weakening capitalism’s grip on their lives.

Living the Alternative

The most powerful aspect of the Communitarium Project is that it allows people to live the alternative, rather than merely theorize about it. One of the challenges in confronting capitalism is that it feels so all-encompassing, so totalizing, that imagining life beyond it can seem impossible. But real utopias like communitaria show that another way of life is not only imaginable but already happening.

The key to capitalist erosion lies in making this alternative lifestyle accessible, attractive, and sustainable. As more people come to see the value of cooperation, mutual aid, and shared responsibility, the capitalist lifestyle will begin to feel less inevitable. In the next posts, we’ll explore how the Communitarium Project can build the structures and networks necessary to make this new way of living a reality for more people, and how the gradual erosion of capitalist norms can open the door to a more just and sustainable world.

Stay tuned as we delve into the specific practices, values, and structures that communitaria can offer, and how these real utopias can grow and proliferate to create lasting change.