μοναστήριον (mah - nuh - stare - ee - on) - greek for monastery first used by Philo of Alexandria to describe an obscure sect of possibly Jewish Buddhists called the Therapeutae (meaning: the ones who heal their souls through worship of the divine). The Monasterion network is what I wish to build over the course of my life. It's a secular, socialist, network state made to advance the human race. Let's unpack that Secular society has a gaping hole in it, and I'm not some religious person screaming that people need to find god. In most religious societies there is a path for those who are inclined to go deeper into religion and leave society. There is some form of monastery, or hermitage available to all willing to walk the path of sainthood. In modern secular, capitalist society there is a distinct lack of anything comparable to this. This has frustrated me to no end. # What would a secular monastery look like? Funnily enough this exact question was kinda the central one that lead to the creation of pre-marxist [socialism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phalanst%C3%A8re). #### What does a non religious monastery even mean? Monasteries irregardless of religion and locale, are places of dedication, devotion, and cultivation. It's no wonder that the modern university system is a direct descendant of [christian monasticism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scholasticism). Often times this is utilized to dogmatic spiritual ends, but would would it look like to center cultivation itself? I'm not saying "laicite" but "vires in diversitate". A group united in cause, diverse in method. #### How would such a thing even work? Traditional monasteries were often the product of a kind nobleman donating land or resources to the early community after which it would often either become self reliant or rely on donations, and commerce. Secular Monasteries while still relying on the beneficence of a kindly wealthy person, are much easier to self sustain. This is because capitalism has made portfolio management a near science. Once wealth is had in our modern society it is quite hard to lose it. Meaning what used to be a threefold problem (how to get wealth, how to maintain wealth, and how to not lose wealth) is now mostly a single problem (how to get wealth). What this looks like in implementation is a specific type of non-profit commune. Essentially take any place worthy of being a commune (urban or rural) and multiply the cost of the property by 3. 1/3rd goes to buying the property while the other 2/3rd gets invested in a well managed portfolio take 2% of the asset appreciation and label it as the food budget for the house, and the rest of a fund for ongoing house maintenance. For an example house in sf: [house](https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/231-8th-Ave-San-Francisco-CA-94118/15091351_zpid/?) (4.6M) 4.6 x 3 = 13.8M 4.6 goes to the house purchase 9.2M goes to a well diversified portfolio Assuming somewhere in the range of an extremely conservative 2% growth per year. That's 184,000 per year in food budget for a house of 15 people that's 1022 per month per person in food & healthcare budget. This house doesn't do much good if it just subsidizes a core group of 15 people lives. To maximize the utility of this space people should have to cycle through. Here's my stab at what the rules to make a space like this work are: 1. You must be referred by a current or former member 2. You must apply to live there with a particular project proposal that includes 1. A time estimate 2. A tangible result 3. This project must not exceed 3 years in length 4. If accepted than a negotiated gift[^1] clause will be signed 5. Upon the completion of the agreed upon time estimate regardless of project completion will also mark the completion of your residence 6. Consecutive residences at the same monastery are not allowed ###### Inner Monasterions Inner Monasterions are places where the location of cultivation if internal. Places of self betterment, places where one goes to heal. These places facilitate introspection, personal development, and learning. The gift clause in these house is related to personal net worth above a certain threshold. ###### Outer Monasterions Outer Monasterions are houses of action places where people come to build something for the world. Wether that be a business, album, protocol, or anything else the world may need. The gift clause here is directly tied to whatever project is being worked on. -- If these spaces are successful than I could foresee them amassing large hoards of valuable assets over time. They're essentially an acephalous vc firm who due to not investing money removes a ton of downside risk. As such I also think the houses should have a rule built in which is that whenever the total assets of a house exceed 6 times the average valuation of comparable houses in the neighborhood (sqft and niceness), than half of those funds will be automatically placed towards the financing of a new monasterion in the area. # Networking These Places If this were to take off I could imagine a federations of federations of these places networking together to create a parallel society. Something like there being a whole federation of these spaces where each space is dedicated to a different type of art like a painter house and a sculpture house. And this federation of space being linked in a larger federation that contains other federations like a tech house federation and a policy house federation. I could imagine someone spending years hopping from house to house as problems in one project inspire them their next project to be fixing that problem which takes them to a different house full of people working on something similar allowing them to always be in a dynamic space where iron sharpens iron and the best ideas are forged over group dinners and late night hangs. This overarching federation is what I've taken to calling the Monasterion network. ____ [^1]: A specified amount economic gains that come from the project over the negotiated amount will be given to the community