“The MacArthur Fellows Program or MacArthur Fellowship (nicknamed the Genius Award) is an award given by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation each year to typically 20 to 40 United States citizens or residents, of any age and working in any field, who “show exceptional merit and promise for continued and enhanced creative work.”
According to the Foundation’s website, ‘the fellowship is not a reward for past accomplishment, but rather an investment in a person’s originality, insight, and potential.’ The current amount of the award is $500,000, paid as quarterly installments over five years. As of 2007[update], there have been 756 recipients who have received a total of more than $350 million.
The Fellowship has no application. People are nominated anonymously by a body of nominators who submit recommendations to a small selection committee of about a dozen people, also anonymous. The committee then reviews every nominee and passes along their recommendations to the President and the board of directors. Most new MacArthur Fellows first learn that they have even been considered when they receive the congratulatory phone call.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacArthur_Fellows_Program
I believe I fit the criteria for the grant if for no other reason than what I would do with the prize money. However, I believe my own personal creative work stands as a testament to the utility of what I would be able to accomplish with a Macarthur Fellowship grant. I am eligible for this grant because I am an American citizen even though I currently live in New Zealand (on a resident permit) because of irreconcilable differences between my philosophies and those behind the American government, economic model and culture in general. However, I would be willing to relocate to a remote part of the United States of America if I received this grant.
If I were awarded a grant from the MacArthur Fellows Program I would use that money to build a self-sufficient, eco-friendly, secular monastery. I’ll give a short explanation of the philosophy behind the monastery and then I’ll give a short explanation of the construction of the facility.
PHILOSOPHY OF THE SECULAR MONASTERY
The monastery would be a place where geniuses could go to focus on their life’s work without being distracted by the stresses of daily life. Anyone of any cultural, religious, academic or philosophical background could come and stay for as long as they need to. There are only 2 stipulations:
1. They must submit an application explaining what they want to work on and why it will benefit the world. The applications will be subject to approval to ensure that the monastery only accepts those “who “show exceptional merit and promise for continued and enhanced creative work.”
2. Applicants under the age of 18 will require parental consent and will not be allowed to stay at the monastery if it were to cause them to be absent from school.
The rules of the monastery will be as limited as possible and subject to change. Some basic premises will be:
1. No illegal drugs will be allowed in the monastery.
2. There are no mandatory rituals or ceremonies to perform or attend.
3. Occupants will be required to complete a short list of chores each day to ensure the operation of the monastery.
4. Wearing the color black will signify that you do not wish to be spoken to unless you initiate conversation
5. Occupants can be asked to leave at any time if management feels they are being a threat to other occupants or are not producing any creative work.
6. The monastery will not claim any rights over the creative work produced by the occupants during their stay.
7. Space permitting, casual visitors will be able to stay in the facility for limited amounts of time but will be required to either pay room and board or perform chores like the permanent occupants.
CONSTRUCTION OF THE FACILITY
The facility will be located in an isolated country area. This will drastically reduce the cost of land as well as adding to the peacefulness of the atmosphere.
All of the buildings will be built to Earthship construction standards. This will reduce construction costs, eliminate utility bills and stand as an example to the feasibility of environmentally friendly community housing. The design of every building will be built to the highest standards of efficiency, sustainability and eco-friendly…ility.
The facility will consist of several separated buildings. There will be an administrative office, a multi-use hall and a dormitory. One long dormitory with 20 rooms will be built. Each occupant will have their own room, but bathroom, kitchen, laundry and all other facilities will be communal. The dorms will be comfortable but plain. No money will be wasted on unnecessary luxuries.
The monastery will also have several large greenhouses, a pond, an orchard and a ranch area for small animals. These will be constructed one at a time, finance permitting. Once fully constructed, the monastery should be completely self-sufficient. This will allow the occupants to live without finances, reduce the risk of the business model from going bankrupt and allow for any donations to be used towards building more monasteries around the world.
Construction will likely be completed by individuals who apply to stay at the completed monastery. This way they can work for room and board instead of money. I might also be able to attract volunteers to help with the first building or two. During initial construction stages the workers will stay in tents and camper vans on site. This would include me as well. Workers involved in the construction will be given up to a 1 year waiver to stay at the monastery without submitting an application for creative work. This allowance is subject to change until a worker has signed a legal agreement stating their terms and conditions. Any staff need to perform full time work at the monastery will be allowed to stay at the monastery without submitting an application for creative work.
WHY THE MACARTHUR FELLOWSHIP SHOULD FUND THIS PROJECT
If you think nothing else of any of my other ideas, this idea is worth funding because it will the funds back to work supporting other geniuses instead of paying off one person’s house or giving one person a year off work to focus on a novel. Initially it will help (an estimated) 20 geniuses. If you gave each of them $500,000 you’d have to spend $10,000,000.
If the monastery can turn a profit by accepting donations, renting rooms to casual visitors or even producing merchandise it will be able to build more monasteries in any part of the world. This will allow even more geniuses to fulfill their potential instead of wasting their talents sitting in traffic twice a day going to and from thankless, menial jobs. The potential for return on the initial $500.000 investment is limitless.
PERSONAL CREATIVE WORK
While I haven’t been published yet I have been blogging for the past 3 years. Before that I was just writing essays in my free time. All of my essays revolve around analyzing the world we live in and trying to make sense of it all in a systematic, logical and as empirically valid (when applicable) way. Topics include but are not limited to religion, philosophy, logic, literature, government, economics, dating, technology, sexuality, women’s rights, LGBT rights, and culture.
I’m currently working on a book about the Meaning of Life and have more ideas for future projects than I have time to write. I’ve filled about 20 notebooks and counting with ideas and observations that I haven’t made public. Whether you agree with my ideas or not, there’s no denying the theme of my work. I’m trying to make sense of this great big, mysterious world in a systematic, logical and as empirically valid (when applicable) way. Some of my ideas may need work, but I can’t improve or correct them unless I have time to. My life’s work would benefit tremendously by a grant that would allow me to focus on my passion for writing full time. As it stands I work a customer service job that takes up most of my time and energy.
If I could run a secular monastery I could help countless other aspiring intellectuals fulfill their potential, and I could better focus my free time on other projects such as finishing my meaning of life book and starting a series comic based on An Old Man From Jersey and the naïve neighborhood kid. I could produce more blogs at a higher quality, and I could potentially even offer classes on logic and storytelling at the monastery. OH, and I could put together a decent website.
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