are we grimly capitalistic?
Jul 11th 2008sophiewebstuff & self-sufficiency
we received this comment on the blog yesterday:
“Ethical geocachers…organic permaculturers….yet dealing in the buying and selling of property…grimly capitalistic. Not being critical, just wondrin how you reconcile the very different things you do.”
so … are we grimly capitalistic? we advertise property for sale in central portugal via our website www.pureportugal.co.uk.
we advertise many smallholdings, ruins and renovation projects, abandoned buildings, etc that can be brought back into use in a (hopefully) eco-friendly way and we make our “ethics” very clear on the website. we hope that because we are prominent on google searches that many people looking for property are going to find some possibilities for living that they may never have thought about before.
we pay ourselves minimum wage and any profits the business makes are donated to sustainable living projects via www.ecolivingportugal.org or donated to / invested in other ethical/sustainable/community businesses or projects, for example The Lammas Project, Rootstock, and União Progressiva de Chão Sobral.
i’ve spent a long time beating myself up about what i do not being good enough, not coming up to my own standards. but i’m realising that there’s only so much i can do, nothing will ever be perfect, and there’ll always be room for improvement - so if i do my best then that is good enough.
nowadays i don’t feel the need so much to “reconcile” what i do - i’m beginning to realise i’m justified in being very proud of it 
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mikmoz on 13 Jul 2008 at 2:31 pm #
it seems to me that to question your standards and goals in life on a daily basis is an absolutley vital part of that life,and something that many more of us should be doing.it seems altogether to easy to look at other people and point the finger,so much harder to point the finger at yourself and question your own standards.i for one think that what you do is an inspiration and that you are 100% correct in being very proud of what you have achieved and are achieving every day.i know from my own experience that you opened my eyes to different possibilities and ways of living through your proprerty site.i wish you all the very best with all your plans.
noo on 13 Jul 2008 at 9:11 pm #
“Grimly capatalistic” wasn’t aimed directly at yourselves, rather at the business of buying and selling property, so often synonomous with greed and exploitation. While you may have very worthy planet friendly intentions you are also without doubt facilitating some agents and property speculators who couldn’t give a toss about such things and will happily line their own pockets whilst robbing poor portuguese farming folk blind. I hadnt realised that you pay yourselves a minimum wage and donate all other profits which is impressive,in fact much of what you do I admire or else I wouldn’t be reading your blog. The downside of sharing your lives and philosophy on the web is that from time to time you will get people like me asking irritating questions…but then I think its important that we do, dont you? : )
sophie on 13 Jul 2008 at 10:29 pm #
“The downside of sharing your lives and philosophy on the web is that from time to time you will get people like me asking irritating questions…but then I think its important that we do, dont you? : )”
yes i do think it’s important, and i’m not sure that i’d call it a “downside” - i’m really happy that there’s now a bit of debate going on on this ‘ere blog and not just the odd comment from my mum
and yes we possibly do facilitate agents who don’t give a toss but i hope that we send them prospective purchasers who do.
we also refuse to advertise for/work with some agents/companies - recent ones we’ve turned down have been a company developing golf resorts, a 2.5 million euro algarve-style villa, and a tv company wanting properties to show on a programme about property devoloping/investing abroad.
we’re also now seeing more and more agents sending us details of properties that focus on their potential for smallholding/sustainable living - of course they may only doing that because they realise it’s a great selling point for the clients we attract - but it’s still raising awareness … small steps forward i hope.
Stuart&Ayla on 18 Jul 2008 at 11:19 am #
Grimly capitalistic is not the term I would use for what you are doing! You have always put your ethics and principles before profit, I have known you for many years and even before you left for Portugal you led an ethically concious life-style. Remember F.O.E., the Worthing eco-festival and the Anarchist teapot? I have great admiration for what you have done/continue to do at the Quinta. Not just for what you have done for yourselves but also for the way you have facilitated other people to be able to realise their eco-dreams. Enabling other people to realise their eco-dreams is a worthy human endeavour and you can be justly proud of what you have done.
Unfortunately, in the present capitalist society, we all have to make a certain amount of money. When the oil finally runs out we will all have to survive through cooperation rather than competition but that hasn’t happened yet, (although the time is faast approaching). The fact that your ethics are clearly displayed on your web-site, the fact that you deal substantially in renovations and eco-projects and the fact that you pay yourselves minimum wage and donate your profits towards other projects that promote sustainable living should be enough to silence any doubters.
I am very impressed by what you and Andy have done and continue to do and am honoured to call you my friends. I also take every opportunity to tell others about you and hold you up as an example of what we can all achieve with the right motivation. If I was the type of man who wore a hat I would take it off to you! (hee hee).
So well done on all counts and keep up the good work.
sophie on 18 Jul 2008 at 1:29 pm #
yeah, and if you were the type of man who carried a passport you might even come visit us!!
xx
noo on 05 Aug 2008 at 7:05 pm #
You got a great character reference there.
I look at my own line of work and wonder if sometimes I am inadvertently doing more harm than good despite my own (hopefully) altruistic intentions. But then I think perhaps better me than someone else doing this and I think the same applies to yourselves, most likely even more so having read about the projects you support from the profits you earn. These things can be difficult to measure but as you’ve already said- we can only do our best.
Good luck.