http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x6645302Oh my.
coalition_unwilling (1000+ posts) Mon Sep-28-09 08:32 AM
Original message
Question(s) about communes, some theoretical, some practical:
I read in one of the social histories of the American 60's that somewhere between 2-3 million Americans experimented\participated in the commune movement.
I figure there's bound to be some overlap between figures of that magnitude and membership on DU. With that in mind, I have a few questions:
Did you (do you) take part in the movement and, if so, for how long?
Was it (is it) a wothwhile endeavor and why or why not?
How did you (do you) get the ball rolling? By that, I mean, where did the land\"seed corn" come from on which the commune was established? Would some altruist (a la Robert Owen) have to buy a plot of land?
What was (is) done for healthcare? Thinking specifically of medical\dental emergencies, but also chronic conditions, nutrition and childbirth.
Finally, based on your expierience(s), reflections or both, would you recommend it as an alternative to the disaster of post-modern capitalism and why or why not?
franksolich has a dream of setting up a commune on Pedro Picasso's lakefront real-estate in Connecticut, once Bo gets around to fulfilling his promise of only one house per household in America. It's going to be called "Atman's Arcadia," and there's going to be bison there, too.
The_Commonist (623 posts) Mon Sep-28-09 09:07 AM
Response to Original message
1. I lived in 2 communes for 4 years each.
And not in the 1960's!
The 2 communes I lived in were urban communes.
I lived in the Kerista commune in San Francisco from 1988-1992.
It was started in the mid-1950's, and began as a group of swingers.
It morphed over time, and in the early 1970's started practicing "orthodox religious polyfidelity."
That means that we started our own religion, and had lots of sex!
When I got there in 1988, it had started a successful computer company, and had become a "vision with a business."
Unfortunately, the business took its toll on the idealistic mission of the commune, and it imploded.
I joined this commune in my mid 20's, and it was my "college education.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kerista
Post-Kerista, I went to live in the Ganas Community in New York from 1992-1996.
This community is still around and thriving.
http://www.ganas.org /
My 4 years there were my "graduate school."
I left Ganas because by that time, in my early 30's, I had never lived alone, and it was time to do that.
At this point, in my mid-40's I am a member of a couple of overlapping social communities, and have no need or desire to live in a commune again, although I am certainly a fan of the idea for those who it would be appropriate for.
In fact, I'm in the real estate business now, and one of the things I'm trying to figure out is a formula to make small-scale communal living viable within capitalism.
To answer your questions:
Yes... it was a worthwhile endeavor.
For me.
It's not for everyone.
Some people who pass through these types of communities never quite "get it" and never quite fit in and are made bitter by their experiences.
You have to give up a little of your old self to gain the benefits of a new self, and some people are just not able to do this.
How do you get the ball rolling?
You just do.
Don't wait for an angel to buy you land.
Start with like-minded people, and you'll figure out what is appropriate for you.
It starts with one, grows to two, becomes three, etc.
Healthcare?
Well, health insurance, naturally!
At least in those two, financially successful urban communes.
As far as your last question... certainly.
I think there will and should be a wave of this in the near future.
In fact, there is a healthy communal movement in this country now.
You don't have to start from scratch.
There are plenty of places where interested people can go to check out communal living first-hand, and learn from people who have been doing it for a long time.
Start by checking out the Intentional Communities website:
http://www.ic.org /
There are plenty of resources there.
You might want to go and visit one of the larger, more established communities, such as Ganas in New York or Twin Oaks in Virginia.
If you look through the Directory of communities on that website, you will see that there are hundreds of active communities, as well as many that are in the process of forming.
You may find that there's one in your area that you can visit, or that there are people in your area that are looking for you to help start something!
The bitter old Vermontese cali primitive:
cali (1000+ posts) Mon Sep-28-09 09:09 AM
Response to Original message
2. I originally came to Vermont because of associations with a commune
I lived there on and off for several years and am still involved with it. Madbrook Farm celebrates its 40th this year.
coalition_unwilling (1000+ posts) Mon Sep-28-09 09:29 AM
Response to Reply #2
6. Do you foresee the commune movement growing in the coming years?
cali (1000+ posts) Mon Sep-28-09 01:44 PM
Response to Reply #6
11. nope. it's pretty insular
even though there's a lot of land, no one wants to see more houses built. There's the main house which is used for meetings and such and was the original farmhouse and then there's the houses of the people who live there or are members running up the main road which is about 2 miles.
coalition_unwilling (1000+ posts) Mon Sep-28-09 09:41 AM
Response to Reply #5
8. It seems to me a logical push-back to the suffering and exploitation of naked capitalism.
What would you say are the principal negatives, if any
handmade34 (1000+ posts) Mon Sep-28-09 10:45 AM
Response to Reply #8
9. ego satisfying the id
hmmmm. ...our inability to step outside of our personal comfort zone and be altruistic. I would like to think in an ideal world we could find a balance... out to work- more later.
The Good Samaritan primitive, who's in her sixties:
Mari333 (1000+ posts) Mon Sep-28-09 10:50 AM
Response to Original message
10. I lived in 2
we were young, and sort of stupid. We argued a lot. One person demanded that we dont have anything in the kitchen except for macrobiotic foodstuffs. Another person chastised everyone else for not adhering to his political beliefs. Everyone seemed to have an agenda to promote. It was a cheap way to live, I admit. But we all butted heads a bit much.
I will admit I dont miss sleeping on a mattress on the floor with an India throw tossed onto it.
Im sure there were communes that worked well, my experience is that we were just a bunch of kids who didnt know what we were doing, in retrospect.
coalition_unwilling (1000+ posts) Tue Sep-29-09 07:39 AM
Response to Reply #10
14. How long did you experiment with the lifestyle? And was there anything specific that led to your disillusionment or just general fatigue?
Blue_In_AK (1000+ posts) Mon Sep-28-09 02:11 PM
Response to Original message
12. I lived in a communal setting in the spring and summer of 1971 in Takilma, Oregon, and later in a canyon down by Death Valley in a teepee that I sewed myself on a treadle sewing machine. I really could write a book about that whole adventure. After that I lived "normally" in Seal Beach for a few months, then moved back up to Bolinas north of SF where I lived with four other roommates and my new baby in a large house. We didn't call ourselves a commune, but that's basically how it worked.
I wouldn't trade those times for anything. I am proud of my hippie heritage.
ed. As for where that land in Takilma came from, I believe the technical term is we were all "squatting." I believe it may have been national forest land. Where we were in the Panamint Mountains was an old abandoned mine site. Health care was nonexistent.
My child was born at home in Bolinas in the summer of 1972. She was delivered by a midwife who worked out of the Pt. Reyes doctor's office.
Man, the blue Alaska primitive's pretty old.
