Let's look at the specific reason why Auroville is called an ideal community and its reality.In terms of the political system, the Auroville society has realized the ideal of a democratic system of direct democracy, and has taken the form of a unanimous system until today. There were opinions that voting should be introduced as the population grew compared to the past, but the unanimous system is maintained due to concerns that voting could ignore the opinions of the few.
Economic system is also interesting. Residents of Auroville work six hours a day, 36 hours a week, and receive about 10,000 rupees a month, regardless of the type of work they do. It should be noted that this money is given as a basic income concept, and it is not given to residents with excessive incomes. In addition, residents maintain a true community-oriented society by exchanging goods and services needed for each other based on social networks, not money. It does not use the means of moneybut adopts an exchange method according to individual needs.
But Auroville has not yet achieved self-sufficiency. International organizations and countries such as the United Nations, the European Union, and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) support about $4 million every year, but Auroville's own profits are only about $1 million, showing a high dependency.
Auroville has a high potential for achieving self-reliance, starting with a deteriorated land and regenerating green areas in about 50 years, providing free food and education, while achieving energy independence. Therefore, if various experiments such as organic methods, appropriate technologies, and water resource protection that they are currently pursuing produce results step by step, Auroville’s economic independence can be achieved. It is interesting that Auroville is actually developing steadily in pursuit of harmony and coexistence, and it can be predicted that there is a high possibility of development as of now.
However, if the Auroville model, which pursued political and social ideal, fails to stand on its own feet with high dependence on aid even after enough time, it proves that the Auroville modelhas no choice but to be just "ideal." I hope the case of Auroville, which pursues peace and harmony, will succeed and provide new insights for modern humans suffering from excessive competition and inhumanity under neoliberalism.