Overall and in general, maybe we can say there are 2 types of people that are attracted to intentional community. Unless one is aware of this, one can be seemingly slapped upside the head and rendered dizzy by what happens betweeen people, sometimes, on communes. There are conformists. People for whom political correctness just has to be reality. These people are not into seeing the whole picture. They're not into holistic thinking. They are not analytical. They consider their beliefs to be sacred. Sacred cows that only a bad person would question. Think: Kat Kincade (quite possibly) the late founder of Twin Oaks Community. Upon learning that some folks in her commune admitted to not being on the same page with her on 100% of things, she said those people made her feel cheated, and that they shouldn't remain a part of Twin Oaks. I would have said to Kat: only force and conformity will ensure 100% agreement. Asking someone to leave community can be a form of force, in a sense. If you demand mental conformity, how is your intentional community different from a church? Then we have freespirits. Free thinkers. Imaginative people. People who don't mind having their sacred cows questioned. People who like debate. People who find political correctness shallow and dull. Such people would never demand others agree with them on every issue. Nor would they expect other members to either agree or leave. Such people would think mental conformity incompatible with a decent community. We're talking analytical personalities. Conformist often mistake such people as disloyal and argumentative. Which are you? The philosopher Neitzche wrote that conformists predominate societies, numerically, and that "unbound spirits" live wretched lives, because of their constant rejection and persecution by the numerically superior conformists. Bound Spirits. Just because a commune is hip, doesn't mean it is fuctionally any different from a church, methinks. (I admit it is hard-as-hell to tolerate my Republican and anarchist friends, but I won't stop trying.)
Well define political correctness. I don't think anyone is inferior based on race, gender, etc. Is that being politically correct, because I see that as being a decent human being. I'm comfortable with disagreeing with people and debating/discussing it. Sometimes its important to let people be who they are and how they feel. But.. being around people who share none of the same values as you can be draining. I have friends that are racist, feed their kids McDonalds, are Christian. Those are things opposite of myself. I still consider everyone my friend, but God fuck I still hate their values. If the are a good enough friend I can sometimes look past it, but I wouldn't want someone so polar to myself being inches away from me all day, everyday. I'm conformist but anticonformist. Some things I conform too. I wear clothes and shave because its just what you do when you want to fit into society. But I sure as hell don't go to church or major in business, or feed my kid gerber and sign them up for gymboree. I'm in the middle. I think that to make a commune work, you need to be able to accept people different from you... but you need a certain degree of compatibility.
True. Well said. One thought I've had: Any conformists in a commune can simply give new members and vistitors the cold shoulder, so as to make them feel as if they don't belong. To make them feel as if they are in the wrong place. I once visited a commune that was established by an anarchist. I was more OK with them than they were with me. Anyway, my point is that a close-minded person can disguise their rejection of others by just shunning the different. When they do so, they are really no different from a mainstream preacher who has found the one and true path. Just because one is visiting a secular and hip community doesn't mean one is in a place different from a suburban mega-church.
I would consider myself the second option but I'm slightly OCD so if someone wants to fold the towels "the wrong way", I really must show them how to do correctly and if they don't agree with my methods I just refold the towels when they leave the room. This is not a metaphor for anything, I really must have order if I'm to free my mind for other things. Mostly, I think communal living would afford me a social outlet which I've been lacking for some time and provide me with the security I've never had. I like the team work idea where I have almost always done things on my own. If I am that unbound spirit who's been living a wretched life, I think I'd like to conform just enough to get by.
