commune ineffiency

I guess moonstomper's beef comes from the fact that hippie communes stem more from getting back to our roots whereas he seems to be more interested in hardline anti-capitalism.

If you want your politics to be taken seriously, go do it. You're not more lustrous if you scuff up another gem, if you get what I mean.

 

the whole idea of getting back to the land is hard line anti-capitalist. not adding to the waste and corruption of capitalist society. going onto the land and doing it yourself. those that have communes and are for the system should just go get a 9 to 5.

 

I think it's important to note that while there is a great deal of work to do in a commune, the ability to stop worrying and relax is something to be cherished in this current busy world. There are personal discoveries to be made when one gains some space in their lives.. What we really need will take work, but this isn't merely satisfying our current appetites locally, it is a letting go of a whole lot of ideas on what we think we need.

 

Living "communally" means being a "family." If you want the commune to work then you need to set some family ground-rules. No lazy hippies is ground-rule number one. We used to called these folks, "energy rip-offs." If you wanted to be part of the family, then you subscribed to the norms of the commune. Norms typically include, helping with cooking (called "house"), cleaning and contributing money for rent, utilities, etc. If that meant you got a job to pay your fair share, then so beit. Most times the family had some kind of money venture / business to pay for cost of living. Sometimes, there would be a benefactor who would pay the way for everyone. That's more of an aristocracy than a family situation. I think you get my point. If you want a commune to work, then you have all agree to work together as a family. Otherwise, you will end up with a bunch of lazy, stoned-out hippies and nothing ever gets done of just a few folks do all the work (that's when the bad vibes start to happen). So, vote the slackers out and send them packing. Make it clear from the get-go; here are the rules, if you don't like it, adios, amigo!

Peace

Spud

 

Being "anti-capitalist" has nothing to do with "going back to the land." (In fact, you sound like a hippie when you equate one with the other.) The Khmer Rouge tried the idea of forcing everyone to go "back to the land"...it wasn't pretty.

 

Funny that the word police cant spell the word "Sentence" sentance. LOL
Thanks for the laugh I needed that.

 

I do remember reading somewhere about a group who had cobbled together an enterprising business. Many of the newer communes (if you even want to call them that) are CSA organic farms. Some of these people really have it going on. They sell their wares and goods to the local economy thru on farm sales or farmers markets. There are some really talented folks who are hippies that dont use drugs and arent lazy. You just have to search for them thats all. I think much of what is a hippy has changed over the years. Communes have changed the most. There are some places people would laugh at calling a commune yet that is what it is in every sense of the word. Things change and people change and the whole world changes.

 

just wanted to point out that the word hippie and the word commune do have a negative connotation nowadays. weather that is warranted or not, people have this preconceived idea of a hippie as a lazy druggies and a commune as either a cult or a unorganized sex/drugs party that never stops(until daddy's money stops flowing).

Until people in the movement take it back to it's intent(and people do have different intents and reasons) those words will remain negative and people in communes will be seen as a joke by a large swath of "modern society".

That's why I beleive they started using the word intentional community. It's new and it doesn't retain those connotations. Once people start realizing the benefits and all the good things IC's can bring to the table members of these communities can start letting people know that IC's are actually communes and the members are hippies. Maybe that way we would start to take the words back for the movement, even if it is just one person at a time.

Also I'm not sure what people had for breakfast but what's with all the negativity and clawing to bring people down. I thought this place was to discuss and share ideas, a tool to prop each other up with encouragement, not tear each other appart, especially if we as a community of hippies/commune members want to be taken seriously. That will take a lot of positive energy.

Lastly, I consider myself a hippie, but my definition of the word, not the worlds.

 

Yes. :thumbsup:

 

:cheers2:

Everyone needs to caaaaalm down in this thread...