How is any of this story NOT satire?
I remember once hunting up near our cabin I came across a dump pile way back in the woods. Old cigar boxes with papers, etc. Turns out some of it was garbage from an old store that had been there when I was a child (now just another cabin). I spent quite a bit of time going through the garbage and reminising on those days of penny candies while listening to the old drunks on the front porch sipping their beers.
Now, if I could just find it again and get some historical societ interested.....
This commune thing could be a good learning experience. Include it on a nation-wide tour of societies that perished. The Anastazi, etc.