[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.

[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.

[Held_to_Ransom]

There is a long history in the US of successful communes, though most of them were religious based. One that turned extremely profitable was Oneida. They became the Oneida Silverware Company. Not bad for some freaks in the woods, but they did go into the commune with the notion ahead of time that everyone was going to work 24/6. &, of course, was the Lord's day.

Jamestown was founded as commune, with everyone entitled to an equal share of the production no matter what they did. Of course, it was a horrific failure until everyone was assigned an equal sized plot of ground and told that 'come next year, you pay six bushels of wheat or you get corporal punishment.'

That made Jamestown a great success of practially overnight.