The Ragamuffin Society is an open-to-all organisation which aims to provide intentional community for those who seek to escape contemporary social alienation. There is a common feeling that, despite being intimately connected by worldwide computer networks, we have never felt more isolated and alienated. The economic and social factors driving this trend are complex, but much of it can be reduced to a decline in state authority and traditional support structures the West. Never in history has one person been expected to sustain themselves entirely on their own: the historical structures of social organisation—wherein every individual exists within a community to and from which they give and take, providing when possible and taking when needed—have disappeared.

Over recent years, there has been an upswell of voluntary houses, camps and organisations which act as a direct counterbalance to the wider trend of social alienation. These institutions have come about entirely due to the ability of the Internet and social media algorithms to bring together likeminded people. Our founders' experience within these communities has convinced us completely that intentional community will be the defining characteristic of the rest of the first half of the twenty-first century, and those who organise themselves first will hold significant advantage as traditional state power continues to deterioriate.

As such, the Ragamuffin Society seeks to provide a central space for the organisation of intentional community. Following our founding on the 31st October in London, we will launch several online channels which will be linked on this page. Future meetings and discussions will also be published here and on Partiful.

— Val C. Delamere

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