Zendik

Why do they keep closing any thread about Zendik? It's rediculous.

 

why not pm a mod and see whats up

plus do we need any more discussion on it? theres already a thread that has 80 pages about the zendiks right.

 

because its nothing but tit for tat bullshit. read the threads,, thats why.. not to mention there are 2 threads already that have said everything on both sides there is to say,,3 times...

id close them to.

 

ive read a couple of them and 30 pages of the real long one. But there wasnt much from the zendik side. They came in made some comments that what people were saying was bullshit and completely ignored other questions even after people asked them repeatedly.

 

I was at a music festival this past weekend and I met two Zendik 'road-warriors.' Before then I had no idea communal living even existed. As I was walking into the event one of the guys was standing near the entrance talking to people who walked by. I remember he made eye contact with me from far away and I was just thinking "wow, I can't wait to hear what this is about." He talked about the farm a while and made it seem really appealing. I really wanted a shirt but I didn't have any money at the time. He was REALLY nice and his eyes were so friendly. When I told him I couldn't buy anything then he was cool about it. It was weird though, he kept telling me "Just go check out the website. Make sure you look at the site." As I was leaving a policeman was walking up presumably to check his permit which I'm sure didn't exist.

Later during the shows another guy was standing around this time inside the event. I'd gotten money by this time and who doesn't want some tee-shirt you can feel bad-ass in? So I went up and told him I'd already talked to some other guy and I just wanted to buy a shirt. He kept pushing the website. It just seemed really weird to me.

I did go to the website and I was immediately drawn to the portrait they painted of free thinkers and a 'revolutionary society.' I was actually considering it as an alternative to college. I'm just really glad I found this old thread. I'll be a little less naive next time.

Thanks for talking about it!

 

I visited Zendik Farm when it was in TX when Wulf Zendik was there. I had other motivations for going to Texas so I didn't examine Zendik Farm too closely. I discovered them from the IC catalog and then contacted one of their street newspaper people in L.A. I drove to Texas and dropped in on them for a three week "apprenticeship". They wanted $300 or something like that for room , board and tuition and since it was dramatically less than Los Angeles rents I felt it was reasonable.

Was Zendik Farm a cult? This was a question I asked myself a few times while I was there, and in retrospect the answer is a definite yes.

Why? First, I was surprised at how few members they had at the farm. They were, I discovered, away selling tapes and t-shirts at rock concerts. This was well over half of the membership. At the time it didn't seem strange but in retrospect this is what cults do: they make their members spend a lot of their time raising money and recruiting new members.

Second, the cult mentality of aversive/coercive control came during several of their group meetings. Members would be singled out for criticism and attack. It was terribly unpleasant. One member was attacked because he violated some of their rules, left, and then came back. Another was attacked because they didn't like him or something like that. It amounted to a form of group bullying.

Third, special priveleges were arranged for some members of the group. Wulf's daughter had her own pony and several of the kids had access to food that we didn't. We were to be on a strict diet of boring bland food. Why did this "revolution" seem to arrange for our own version of the ruling class?

Fourth, and also disturbingly, one person who'd been there awhile started to express open doubts about staying there during a group meeting. The source of his unhappiness was determined to be his savings account. He was "holding back". If he didn't hold back he wouldn't be unhappy. He was convinced not only to stay but to donate the last of his money to "make his experience there committted/real/better". One person there donated a volvo the was given by her parents. I am reading Ted Patrick's Let Our Children Go and I couldn't help but notice the similarity to other groups in their "property equals unhappiness, give it to us and we'll set you free".

Fifth, I was there as an apprentice. However, I expressed interest in skilled jobs and crafts. I found myself doing a lot of shoveling of gravel, dirt, horse shit with a great guy who happened to be a felon who violated his probation. Zendik people knew he was wanted and that he was there to avoid capture. They made him do a lot of menial work.

I started to feel quite strange being there, and I started to feel my emotions changing. I didn't like it and it was quite disturbing. I pretended to be sick, scrounged up some of my belongings, threw them into my car and slowly drove away. My "handler" was away until I drove out the drive way and he gave me a very unhappy look as I drove away.

This is many years ago, but the fact that they keep moving from place to place seems designed to deflect being well known and criticized. Does a legitimate group need to move every few years?

 

oh gawd its never going to end..

its the debate that never ends,it gos on and on my friends,,,,,