There are several communities around the world, including Damanhur, who have largely disengaged from mainstream society and become almost completely self sufficient, such that they have created their own form of currency, grow their own food, have their own schools, have their own doctors, etc. Is this the ideal human societal model, or is this a regression of sorts?

It is much closer to an ideal way to live than an aberration or a return to the past that constitutes an error or mistake in judgment. It is much closer to living in divine alignment than is achieved in the current world where globalism is viewed as the ultimate success in political organization and governmental cooperation and sharing. This stems from a series of errors in judgment and thinking that bigger is better and that government knows more than the people what is needed, and how to arrange society, and control the flow of goods and services, and money, and the exercise of power. Governments inherently become self-serving, and take away power and control from the individual, and begin to serve themselves. This is a trap that happens, again and again, and all through history this has been evident in every form of governance that has emerged—all eventually become corrupt, overbloated, inefficient, and end up worsening human life and experience. The plan of Creator is to have small groups of people, more on the order of family units, living close to the land and the natural bounty present at the outset where such small groups could thrive readily, and enjoy themselves, and feel comfortable and accepted by all around them because life was not so complicated. With growth and large numbers of people, there is a loss of personal identity and perceived self-worth where many are ignored and there can be an encouragement of selfish disregard for the rights of others, and individuals learning to prey on others, because the relative anonymity of the city allows them to do so—because they can hide readily among the shadows and will most likely never be seen and called out by their victims. The greater the distance from the natural world of nature in the mode of living, the less natural and more dysfunctional the human life experience becomes, and this takes a toll over time. There are many reasons for this shift over time, but we would see these carefully controlled and closed communities as much more ideal and gaining much more than they might lose from their perceived isolation and reduced involvement with the world at large.