Interesting you were at Findhorn. Never visited myself but have heard that it has some weird dynamics these days between the old guard who set it up and the newer members who had to pay hundreds of thousands (?) to move in. And there's apparently a hierarchy of decision-making where the old guard have veto power over certain things even when a majority is in favour of a particular policy.
For sure there are different approaches you can take to a 'back to the land/nature' movement. It can be all escapism and political quietism, or it can challenge established land ownership & rights and help regenerate a viable rural economy. The highlands (and rural areas more generally) definitely need to be repopulated - sensitively and with a focus on actual landwork, not just city folks working from home. Though a question remains on who should be the ones doing this, and it would be a problem if it was just idealistic people from southern england such as myself.
Wouldn't know about labour camps, though I would think it might be easier to escape them in the countryside than in the cities. Could be wrong of course. We're trying to make this work as a small business, not an eco commune (at least not for now!) so we're subject to many of the same pressures of rising prices and stagnant wages. We've proved that we can grow veg in less-than-ideal conditions, but external economic volatility could still swipe it all away, as it's doing to many small-scale growers lately.
Thinking more often that there will have to be a concerted effort to stage land occupations with a focus on subsistence and community autonomy, because the money's just not there otherwise to make it work. It appears that this is something that will have to happen in spite of the wishes of the major political parties. They will just have to follow (more likely clamp down or appropriate) as best they can.
cheers,
I
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