The situation I described about my family was for a neighborhood everyone would live in all of the time. They also have a time-share type house on the Lake of the Ozarks that might fit into the utopian vacation spectrum better. The neighborhood project began about two years ago when all of the families went in and purchased the land together. After that the land needed to be developed for a neighborhood, which included excavation, sewage, electrical, etc. Currently there are two completed houses, and one in process. The other families, such as my brother's, are holding off on any construction until the economy comes back. Don't forget that this recession started with the housing market, and by no means has it ended for the builders yet. My dad was one of the first people affected by the housing crash, and since that we have a constant reminder of how bad individuals are affected in a crisis such as this. This is why some of the families are holding off on building.

So yea, obviously the visions of Utopia are always welcomed, and can sometimes be refreshing--but that is on an individual basis, and others might not agree or want that at all. As seen in the Youtube video posted. I think this idea relates directly to what Harrell tells me when I talk to him about theory, which is that theory is also on an individual basis. Everytime he tells me that I always think about Marxism, and how some people might like that idea--but once it is enforced, it is a much different animal.

I like that you posted that eBay item, I also was going to bid on it--but wanted to wait until the last minute like a real eBayer, and forgot. The seller of that item developed a product that has direct references to what is happening in our world, which makes it interesting. However, if their intention was to make a product that was SO good that it would sell itself, it failed--because no one bought it. From looking at the auction page it says there were 4219 hits on that page. So the question is--was purchasing the product as important as seeing the idea? It seems to be much more successful if it was more about the idea than the product. After all, the product was a kit of simple household things that will now reflect that auction everytime I see them.

It seems like I am going in circles quickly, do you have anything to comment on?

Maybe we need to change the name of the blog from "In conversation with Eric Steen" to something else--any suggestions? Maybe something about tangents..