Bill Coperthwaite: Yurt Builder Extraordinaire

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PLOWBOY: You believe, then, that our best hope for a peaceful world is to create lifestyles that let people meet their psychological needs. How did you evolve your own idea of a satisfying life?

COPERTHWAITE: Well, back in college I began to think about what kind of work I would do, and to define what I wanted from my job. Although money and prestige normally affect our choice of vocation, I made up my mind that I didn't care to work for pay anymore . . . the money had to be a byproduct. I desired work that would keep me active physically, use my intellectual and creative abilities, keep me growing and contribute to building a better world. There are not many jobs in our society that meet these requirements . . . one of the few that I found was rural village development in Mexico.

Then, while I was in Mexico, my ideas about what was necessary in life really jelled. I thought about housing and food, and saw that it's really a crime for any of us to have more than we need while most of the world doesn't have enough. I also realized that there's nothing wrong with spending my time playing tennis or climbing mountains — I'm free to do what I want- — u nless my neighbor doesn't have enough to eat, in which case non-essential activity becomes criminal.

I'm not saying this to imply, "Look how much I'm sacrificing by not going off to climb or play tennis!" I like to play tennis . . . but I also like to help build a road in a Mexican village, and that's the more satisfying activity.

Or, if it was adventure I wanted, I could go down to South Africa and try to publish an honest newspaper. I could get my head busted that way just as easily as by climbing a mountain, enjoy just as much challenge and excitement . . . and when I lay in the hospital with my broken head I could at least recall that I got it doing something worthwhile.

PLOWBOY: You're saying that people need challenge and excitement in their lives in order not to stagnate?

COPERTHWAITE: Sure. In daily life here at Bucks Harbor, that need is met by a storm coming up suddenly, or a tree falling across the trail . . . or just by finding a nest of mice in the yurt and moving them out to the boat shed. That seems ridiculously small — moving a mouse family — but I maintain that the personal involvement in picking up the nest and scurrying around to catch the mother is an adventure (however trivial) that is much more valuable to personal growth than watching a vicarious event like STAR TREK on TV.

This eventfulness, incidentally, is another way in which a satisfying lifestyle reduces the impulse to violence. Our lives should include positive counterparts to the excitement, danger, teamwork and camaraderie that are normally associated with warfare. I think we can design societies that include this type of experience . . . but not at someone else's expense.

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