Hippie commune thrives on capitalism

Raleigh News & Observer (via AP) ^ | 09/14/03 | Russ Oates

[Phantom Lord]

"Hippies, they want to save the world but all they do is smoke pot and smell bad." -- Eric Cartman

[concerned about politics]

Three decades after the golden age of the hippie, about 200 of them are still thriving in a self-supporting commune

Hey, Reno the Torch is letting them get away with it? Fry the compound!

[concerned about politics]

Known simply as The Farm, the sprawling collective

We are Borg.

[cajungirl]

sounds like they grew up.

[Dr. Frank fan]

I completely support their right to voluntarily live this way, as long as my right not to is honored.

One thing that's interesting is that they "make "every adult responsible for bringing in some cash."" I wonder how they do that. Presumably, they kick someone out if they're too much of a slacker. This is important because it means that they noticed the problem of the "free rider", and were smart enough to do something about it, and had a means of doing something about it. That is why socialism can indeed work on these small scales of people who trust each other, and at the same time it's why I object to socialism on the scale of the federal government, which has no idea how, no means, and no willpower to deal with the "free rider" problem.

[concerned about politics]

"hippie priest and freelance rabble-rouser"..... His ponderings were deep and the crowds grew

Gather round my people!
I tell you all, this little piggy went to market, but another had to stay home.
Tonight is roast beef, but the outsiders get none!
Those little piggies will be sent all the way home.
Hallaluya my sheeple! Say it with me! Hallaluya!

[concerned about politics]

The early days, which Gaskin says were guided by agreements "looser than handshakes,"

Yeh. Real loose. Skanky loose.

[and the horse you rode in on]

I knew a kid about 20 years ago who joined up. It became obvious from what happened with him that the leaders are on a major power trip and are very manipulative. Standard cult stuff.

[concerned about politics]

Phil Schweitzer, who works with Stevenson, can recall recording Gaskin's first Monday classes on reel-to-reel film.

Porn.

[concerned about politics]

People here may live under a different system than others, Stevenson says, but nobody came here "trying to escape from anything."

Other than reality, but that doesn't count. Pass the bong.

[concerned about politics]

"Our real objective is communication,"

Buy a cell phone. Can you hear me now?

[concerned about politics]

While Walker says SE International takes care that its clients don't make purchases out of fear

Hmmmmm. Subliminal slip? Why mention it? Is that you Jessie?

[bigfootbob]

We have one of those groups here in Western Washington called "Love Israel." It has nothing to do with Judaism. "Love" Israel is the made up name of the founder.

They've been around as long as this group and it sounds as if they mirror each other. What they're not reporting concerns the fact the leaders of these groups are con-men who could sell ice to Eskimo's.

The "elite" leaders of these groups are benevolent dictators as long as you do as they say and don't ask the wrong questions. The Love Israel family are ruthless when it comes to culling freethinkers in their fold. They are a bunch of pathetic loosers.

[concerned about politics]

Still, he acknowledges: "It's always been difficult to pin down what we're about and what we believe in."

Gaskin also doesn't see any compromise in The Farm's success, but can't help but notice the inescapable change in the residents who came here 30 years ago to rebel against their parents and society.

"Now," he says, "we have become the grown-ups."

If you're not a liberal at 20, something is physically wrong with you.
If you're not a conservative after that, there's something mentally wrong with you.

[NotQuiteCricket]

Well, actually, in the USSR & other communist states, the "free rider" is recognized. That is why work attendance is mandatory, and punishable by a prison term. Check out Failed_Utopias:_Methods_of_Coercion_in_Communist_Regimes for more information.

[Dr. Frank fan]

That is why work attendance is mandatory, and punishable by a prison term.

Well - of course. :-) So, a small voluntary community like this one can punish free riders by expelling them. The nation-state can punish free riders by making unemployment a crime and sending such people who are "stealing their labor from the people" to forced-labor camps. But re-creating Kolyma isn't exactly an appealing option, even to many who consider themselves "socialists".

Which is why I'm still in favor of such people voluntarily going to live the hell away from me, in "communes", if they wanna. That way everybody's happy ;-)

[The_Reader_David]

Interesting that they describe the leader's followers as a "flock". There is a hint of some (doubless new-agey) religion in the term.

If the group is really organized on a purely secular basis, though, it would be the first counter-example to the historical dictum that small scale communism only works when it has a religious basis and provides goods or services to the society at large. (Endowed monasteries don't count since they aren't really a means of organizing economic activity even when viewed in purely economic terms. Self-supporting monasteries, the Oneida and Amana communities being the notable examples of successful small-scale communism.)

Note: small scale communism is actually simply an alternate means of holding private property, in which the ownership is voluntarily shared on a basis other than the investment of capital in an enterprise, and thus should not be obnovious to conservatives. Communism becomes the evil we remember from the Soviet Union and recognize in a few hold out regimes and in dilute form in American liberalism when the coercive power of the state enforces common holding of property.

[concerned about politics]

Which is why I'm still in favor of such people voluntarily going to live the hell away from me, in "communes", if they wanna. That way everybody's happy ;-)

It keeps the air fresher.

[najida]

Twin Oaks in Louisa VA and another in Missouri (Acorn?) are totally secular, fully functioning, self supporting and pretty well run (from a sibling who has lived there tells me).

AND they are pretty capitalistic too (as in they are run businesses).

ANNNNND said sibling now has his own mini-commune (as in community house) that he makes enough off of in rent alone not to work. Technically, he is the most successful of the four sibs...the rest of us are still working for a living ;)

[RightWhale]

If the group is really organized on a purely secular basis, though, it would be the first counter-example

30 years is a pretty good run for any commune. Eventually all communes turn to commercialism if they are to survive. Do you wonder if this one is actually purely secular?