Integrity and Intention
Chad Brown
Integrity and Intention
A Brief Look into Communal Living
And the
Possibilities of the Future
PS498 - Independent Study
Supervisor: Dr. Mel Kulbicki
YCP Political Science Department
Fall Semester 2012
By
Chad Brown
Integrity and Intention
Chad Brown
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: What is Community?
Chapter 2: From the Beginning
Chapter 3: The East Wind Experience
Chapter 4: Similar Intentional Communities across America
Chapter 5: The Future of Community and the Prospects of Sociocracy
Integrity and Intention
Chad Brown
Chapter 1
What is Community?
There are several definitions for the word community. It can refer to a
loose association, physical location, an intentional group of people in common, or
even an idea. Below are five examples of community and its differing meanings.
1. A social group of any size whose members reside in a specific locality, share
government, and often have a common cultural and historical heritage.
This definition is probably the most widely known in regards to community.
A basic idea consisting of people brought together, perhaps only by
happenstance. A town or section of a city that throughout time has grown
accustomed to a certain lifestyle and landscape. Certain aspects of these habitats
can come with unintended consequences that can drive people apart. Where the
community historically buckles is during drastic changes within the community
that fail to account for all of its citizens. The main purpose of this essay is to
explore ways to curb division and capitalize on unity. We will come back to this
definition shortly.
2. A locality inhabited by such a group.
They have names like “Venice” or the “Bronx.” It’s not so much about the
people, but the locale in this definition. However, community names and
locations do not usually cross your mind without being closely tailed by a cultural
connotation to the people who inhabit them. Granted, some connotations are a
mere stereotype, but many are simply imprinted in our brains out of observation
and historical fact. It’s quite obvious to most that there is a contrast in culture
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Chad Brown
between the largess of the population of Venice and that of the Bronx. Not that
one community is superior to the other, but that they are, no doubt, different.
3. A social, religious, occupational, or other group sharing common
characteristics or interests and perceived or perceiving itself as distinct in some
respect from the larger society within which it exists (usually preceded by the ): the
business community; the community of scholars.
Now we’re getting closer to the gist of this essay. What brings us together?
And conversely, what separates us? In this definition, we begin to see the idea of
a community formed through intention rather than incident. It is the coming
together for common goals verses merely remaining together due to common
problems. The benefits of foresight can be far greater than those found in
hindsight.
4. A group of associated nations sharing common interests or a common heritage:
the community of Western Europe.
These are a larger version of the communities of the past. Communities of
the future will likely form less out of heritage and more out of commonage.
5. Ecclesiastical. A group of men or women leading a common life according to a
rule.
Convents and monasteries have long been a source of communitarian
ideals. The members of these communities have come together intending a life of
service and spiritual journey. They share resources, utilize each other’s talents,
and hold fellow members accountable to religious doctrine. There are currently
several types of communities formed around faith. The Hutterites and some
Mennonites are modern American examples of religious communitarians. They
certainly have much to offer when researching intentional communities.
While these definitions are helpful, they simply cannot paint the whole
picture. To really understand the meaning of community, you have to look much
deeper. It’s more than a specific place or a specific group of people. A closer look
reveals that it’s more cerebral than anything. A concept or an ideal that is
universal among the populace.
Integrity and Intention
Chad Brown
Through an extensive look into the bonds that create brotherhood, Wilson
Carey McWilliams refers to the word “kinship.” In his book, The Idea of Fraternity
in America, McWilliams laments America’s trending away from kinship. In the
book’s introduction he begins by stating, “The terms of kinship are written on the
gates which guard the mysteries of politics.” He then points out that modern
thinkers wrongly believe that not kin, but instead the group, is what forms the
basis of politics. McWilliams also stated that fraternity is, “a bond based on
intense interpersonal affection.” What he really drives home is that it is
brotherhood that is necessary to experience the true meaning of community.
So, now that we’ve established that community is not visible or tangible
and has nothing to do with location, we realize it’s something inside of the
individual. In order to find out what that something is and if it is in fact the glue
that holds a community together, we must start from the beginning. At least as
close to the beginning as written history will allow. We must ask important
questions. What brings human beings together and, more importantly, what
keeps them together? What historical examples can we find of intentional
communities? What necessitated their inception and what precipitated their
dissolution? What was responsible for each community’s success or failure to
provide the “good life?”
History can provide many answers to our questions. However, there are
some questions that can only be found in the future, and we can hardly know
what those questions might be until we have studied the past. Just as philosopher
Edmund Burke stated in his commonly used quote, “Those who don’t know
history are destined to repeat it.” One can assume that if all, or at least a majority
of the communes, throughout history were successful, then we would have no
use for an essay such as this. Yet this is most certainly not the case. Communes
have a dismal track record and that record is currently getting worse. It is highly
likely that most inhabitants of present day communes know very little of the
history of communal living and, consequently, may be guilty of repeating it.
Integrity and Intention
Chad Brown
Chapter 2:
From The Beginning
The most natural desire of a planned community features intentional
gatherings of like-minded people with a similar trajectory. These attributes did
find their way into traditional communities of circumstance but, when these
elements play a major role in a community’s inception, we just might find that
they play a similarly important role in that community’s longevity.
Community has been pondered since the beginning, as has community
planning. It has been written about and debated over for thousands of years and
still “Utopia” is nowhere to be found. Communities have come and gone. Some
lasted a few years, and others a few hundred, but most eventually come to an
end. However, some groups have stood the test of time due to shared religious
faith, which is certainly not a new approach. That’s not to say that religious
communities are without flaw or failure, but they certainly represent a long
history of community and shared sacrifice. Ironically, the first known thinkers to
contemplate the key to community were philosophers, rather than theologians.
Four hundred years before Christ walked the Earth, Socrates was wrestling
with the chore of establishing what ingredients were necessary for developing the
perfect State. In The Republic of Plato, Socrates and his audience perform the task
of developing an imaginary State in the hopes of discovering justice (Plato). This
follows the premise that a just State is the best State, and by creating this perfect
community they would consequently discover the meaning of justice within its
walls. Socrates delves into the idea of Philosopher-Kings who masterfully
orchestrate the inner workings of the State by covertly controlling anything from
how resources are to be shared to who is encouraged to procreate. This most
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Chad Brown
absolute form of nurturing the citizenry is meant to create harmony within the
individual and the State.
Regardless of Socrates’ and his fellow philosophers’ noble intention to
create the perfect hypothetical State, they conclude that since justice is the
excellence of the soul, it is the soul of the citizen that insures the well-being of the
State. Despite Socrates’ belief that Philosopher-Kings can program the populace
to live just lives, Plato closes The Republic with a tale, told by Socrates, of a hero
who experiences the afterlife. The parable depicts those with virtuous souls as
being able to travel back and forth between heaven and earth, while those with
wicked souls are relegated to spending thousands of years burning in hell (Plato).
Similarly, Aristotle uncovers the key to a virtuous society within the
individual citizen. In The Politics, Aristotle outlines the difference between
contract and covenant (Aristotle). He deems the creation of a virtuous society to
be contingent on not just State-craft, but soul-craft. He also spends a great deal
of time throughout Book III contemplating the meaning of being a citizen and the
duties associated. His idea of a proper city-state, or “Polis,” begins with the citizen
and his ability to take part in governance. It boils down to access and virtue. Good
citizens must have access, and citizens with access must be good.
The role of the citizen and the idea of community continued to play a
pivotal role in political debate throughout the middle ages, and gained fervor and
controversy along the way. St. Augustine reasoned that Christianity must shape
the realm of politics while living within it, and he managed to serve as a major
influence on European culture throughout medieval times. St. Thomas Aquinas
drove the point home nearly eight hundred years later, and his writings would go
on to greatly influence western civilization for centuries to come.
Roughly 200 years before the birth of St. Thomas Aquinas, Italy was also the
birthplace of the first known communes in history. The Lombard League was an
alliance of communes that formed around 1167. This coalition consisted of
previously divided communes that formed a union in resistance to the Roman
Emperor Frederick I. The league defeated the Emperor and eventually dissolved
back to individual communes. The existence of these earliest communes had two
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Chad Brown
very important purposes, which were survival and defense. They swore an oath to
their fellow citizens solidifying a personal bond between each of them by pledging
to support and defend each other at all cost and vowing to recognize the
authority established by the community.
Similar communes sprouted up throughout the 12th century. France,
Germany, and Spain played host to many communes at this time and many of
them, and a few were highly successful. Some were religious communities, while
others were secular, but they all served a greater purpose or common goal. Many
communes of this era were stamped out by tyrannical leaders in the region as
early as the 14th century. Most of the remaining communes of Europe were
slowly disbanded by the 16th and 17th centuries due to the centralization of the
government powers in their respective countries.
While communal living was losing its footing in Europe, it was on the rise in
what would eventually be called the United States of America. In his book
Backwoods Utopias, Arthur Bestor offers that there were American examples of
communes dating back to 1663, or even earlier. According to Robert S. Fogarty,
very conservative estimates conclude that there were roughly six hundred
organized communities in America between the 1660s and the 1970s. In Fogarty’s
book Dictionary of American Communal and Utopian History, he notes that most
of these communes experienced fairly short runs and were mostly unsuccessful
by all standards. These standards consist of not just longevity, but societal impact,
quality of life, and achieving desired outcomes, among others.
With thousands of communal arrangements of varying sizes, locations, and
ideology throughout history and across the globe, one could spend a lifetime
studying this subject. In fact, many people have dedicated years to researching
communal living. Some scholars have simply attempted to chronicle each of them
in order to compile their history, while others have set out to find out why they
existed in the first place. Because this essay is concerned more with the latter,
and the sustainability of communities as a whole, I arrived at the conclusion that
without a bit of firsthand experience, my research would be less than sufficient.
Integrity and Intention
Chad Brown
Chapter 3:
The East Wind Experience
This past September I caught a plane out of Harrisburg, PA and headed for
Little Rock, AR. My wife Dagny went along to offer some company and to assist in
the research. From Little Rock, we drove nearly three hours north and crossed
into Southern Missouri where we reached our final destination, East Wind
Community. We had our apprehensions and reservations, as we weren’t quite
sure what to expect. The only previous correspondence we’d had with the
commune was a few emails, and our only knowledge of it came from their own
website coupled with a relatively short article featured in National Geographic.
We arrived around 10:00 am on a Saturday morning after driving several
miles down a gravel road. At the end of the road and the beginning of East Wind’s
property sat a large pile of what looked to be scrap metal and some old disabled
vehicles. Parked on the opposite side of the drive were several other vehicles that
looked like they weren’t regularly used. We would eventually find out that these
were communal vehicles that members could requisition as needed. The initial
reaction pulling in was somewhat discouraging and left us wondering what we
were getting into.
The first dwelling we encountered raised our suspicions as it was an old
and dilapidated mobile home with a collapsed wooden structure attached to it
that sort of resembled a porch. Situated directly across the dirt road was a large
metal garage that was the source of a catchy bluegrass tune playing on a radio
combined with the sporadic clanging and banging of an auto repair shop. This
sound served as a relief as it was the first sign that the whole place hadn’t been
abandoned. We parked in front of what appeared to be some sort of an office and
went inside to find it empty. After clearing my throat to announce our presence, a
gentleman emerged from the back to see who had come in.
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Chad Brown
After explaining the nature of our visit, the gentleman set off to find a
fellow named Owen Kellogg (all names have been changed as a courtesy). We
went outside to wait by our rental car, and after about ten minutes, a middle
aged man approached us with a smile. He introduced himself as Phillip. He
inquired about our business there and seemed delighted to talk to some new
faces. Phillip explained that he had just gotten back to the commune after taking
a yearlong leave of absence, which is apparently granted to persons who have
been a full member or “co” for five years. He was wearing a tattered t-shirt that
featured an NFL team on it and was holding two items, a towel and what
appeared to be a hygiene bag. After several minutes of small talk, Phillip informed
us that he was off to the showers, welcoming us to East Wind as he strolled off.
Just a minute or so later, we spotted a tall, thin man with long, dark hair
headed our way. He was probably in his late 30’s, and he carried himself with a bit
of reservation and modesty. Reaching his hand out to meet mine, he informed us
that he was the Owen that we had submitted our required personal essays to in
order to be considered for visiting privileges. After exchanging some pleasantries,
he asked if he could show us around. We began by heading back into the office
area where Owen explained that this spot served as the reception desk and
purchasing office for the main source of their community’s revenue.
East Wind Nut Butters is their primary business, and I would later call it the
heart of the community, only to be politely corrected by head business manager
Tony, professing “I think of it as more of an umbilical cord that we hope to one
day cut.” Making our way through the warehouses, we noticed large pallets of
peanut, cashew, almond, and macadamia butter. These areas were the cleanest
we had seen yet, and this was in no doubt due to Federal government standards
that regulate food production. The operation seemed to be on pause, likely due
to it being the weekend. Owen explained the operation well and answered all of
our questions to the best of his ability. When the tour of the nut butter facilities
concluded, Owen informed us where to park our car and made plans to meet us a
few minutes later to show us where we could pitch our tent.
Integrity and Intention
Chad Brown
After parking the car, we began gathering our things when a freshly bathed
Phillip came strolling along again, this time sporting a shirt with a different NFL
team logo displayed on it. Dagny asked him if he was a football fan, to which he
replied, “not at all, just the clothes that I grabbed from the community clothes
rack this week.” He began explaining that members could donate their clothes to
the community to be used by all members and he stated that communities like
theirs would soon become more necessary if local Republican congressional
candidate, Todd Akin got his way and eliminated Social Security. He then
exclaimed that we would all have to “run for the hills” if Mitt Romney won the
upcoming U.S. Presidential election. After allowing Phillip to vent for a moment, I
explained to him that Owen was expecting our return and we parted ways.
Upon reconnecting with Owen, we began our walk down a dirt road that
ran straight through a beautiful canopy of trees. It was quiet and peaceful, and we
encountered a few passersby who nodded or smiled as they went about their
business. We came upon a small-cabin like structure that was just off the path
and situated directly in front of a nice little house with a 12 passenger van parked
outside. “This is Lilliput,” said Owen. “The children of East Wind and their parents
all live there. This small building directly in front is the Fillmore.” He then
explained that the outhouses were named after “the first U.S. president who
enjoyed indoor plumbing.” Ironically, this bathroom had nothing of the sort.
He went on to explain that East Winders and guests of both sexes were
expected to urinate outside on the forest floor. If we had to do the other type of
business, we could find one of the Fillmores, and this particular one was
nicknamed “Lillipoop.” Inside we would find a wooden box with a toilet seat
mounted to it. Directly beneath the toilet seat was a five gallon bucket that would
catch the excrement and required toilet paper and once your business was done,
there was a bin within reach that held a mixture of nutshells and sawdust. We
were instructed to grab the scoop found in the bin and scoop some of its contents
into the bucket which we had recently deposited in. This was meant to keep the
smell down, and once a bucket had been filled, we were to swap it out with one
of the empties in the corner.
Integrity and Intention
Chad Brown
The bathroom situation was the hardest thing for Dagny to adjust to. She
handled it like a trooper, but not without a few justified grumblings. I wasn’t too
keen on it either, but being a former Marine, I had done my business under far
less accommodating circumstances. Apparently some brave and desensitized
souls would periodically collect the full buckets and transport them to wherever it
was that they dumped them. I wasn’t too interested in visiting that area of the
community, nor was Dagny.
Moving on, we continued down the path and came upon another dwelling.
This one had a dormitory type layout to it, and this was accentuated by the band
posters displayed and the faint sound of heavy metal music coming from inside. It
was another decent building and a major improvement on what was initially
noticed upon first arriving at the community. From there, we crossed between
the paths and captured our first glimpse of their magnificent vegetable gardens.
As home gardeners, Dagny and I became excited at the site, only to have our
attention drawn away by the ruins that lay directly adjacent. “This was the old
bathhouse that burned down over a year ago” said Owen in a discouraged tone.
“You can pitch your tent over there, but be careful of glass and debris.” What
looked as if it were once a nice line of shower stalls now served as a charred
reminder and would be the less than desirable view from our tent. I asked why
they had not begun rebuilding, and Owen explained that, due to a lack of building
code compliance, they were uninsured and simply didn’t have the funds at that
time.
In order to allow us to set up camp, Owen said he would part ways again,
noting that lunch would soon be served at the community dining hall called Rock
Bottom. He encouraged us to head over there once we were settled in and to
help ourselves to as much food as we liked. As he walked away, we observed him
going into a small hoop house situated among the gardens. We would find out
later that this was the location of Owen’s newest endeavor, Aquaculture. He was
raising tilapia fish in tanks inside of the climate-controlled hoop house and using
the naturally fertilized water from the fish tanks to feed several beds of lettuce.
The lettuce beds in turn acted as a filter for the water supply that was then
strained back into the fish tanks. After a bit of prying during our tour, Owen had
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revealed that he had a highly technical and lucrative job in California prior to
checking out of the “rat race” and relocating to East Wind, with a short stint living
in Mexico in between.
Once our tent was up and we had collected our thoughts, Dagny and I set
out for the dining hall. We traipsed through the supple gardens and made our
way to what looked like an old farmhouse with a large covered porch at its
entrance. There were several people gathered outside eating and chatting. Some
were sitting on the steps and others at picnic tables. They seemed jubilant and
worry free and went on with their conversations paying little mind to our
presence. Many were drinking beer or wine and the smell of hand rolled
cigarettes filled the air. There were three or four dogs lying around as well in
opportunistic fashion just waiting for the inevitable mishap when someone drops
a piece of food.
We made our way into Rock Bottom and saw a line of tables with a quite
impressive spread of food displayed on them. Grabbing a plate and helping
ourselves as instructed, we filled our plates with lots of home grown veggies and
a rice and meat concoction. The food was excellent and there was plenty of it. We
took our plates outside and ate among the community members hanging out
there, yet there was still little effort by anyone to engage us. Once we were full,
we cleaned our plates in the sink, and our offers to help clean the kitchen were
met with several replies of “no thanks.”
Previously, Owen had encouraged us to explore the 1200 acres of property
belonging to East Wind. He oriented us with the land by using a large
topographical map hanging in the community library. The map was amazingly
detailed and had been produced by a former community member from years
before. Remembering the map, Dagny and I set off on a path toward the creek in
hopes of seeing some of the beautiful scenery that the Ozark Mountains have to
offer. After reaching the creek, we followed it down to a serene little spot that
overlooked the water and had a rather inviting hammock tied between two trees.
We decided to test out the hammock which had apparently been made in
their community hammock shop. Relaxing and enjoying the natural surroundings,
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Chad Brown
we soon heard footsteps coming up from behind. Not knowing who or what
might be approaching, I wrestled my way out of the hammock to find an older
gentleman who must have had the same idea we did. Out of courtesy, we offered
the spot to him, stating that we were just about to leave. “I’m Eddie by the way,”
he said. We introduced ourselves, and without hesitation, he began to speak his
mind about some of the community’s endemic problems. One major issue on the
forefront was about to be addressed in a community meeting later that day. It
was the issue of what to do with the large number of people on the member
waiting list.
Ten or so individuals were living in tents because the population was at
maximum capacity, and there was not enough housing to facilitate them all. With
winter right around the corner, everyone knew that tent camping would soon be
out of the question. This looming situation was apparently the source of much
division in the community with many members, including Eddie, wanting to build
new housing for those on the waiting list. Eddie offered that many of the older
“drunks” were resistant to spending any of the money that the community had in
the bank. Many of these long term members felt as if they had more to lose than
the others and didn’t like the thought of depleting the apparently sizeable bank
account to expand the population. This is relatively odd since the founders of East
Wind set out with the intentions of growing the community to at least 750
members, or ten times the current 75 members.
Eddie’s characterization of those in opposition was one of selfishness and
of little regard for anything but their next drink. He was most upset with one
member who had been there over a decade and was the most vocal about not
expanding. K. J. Mouch was her name and she would soon prove him to be
correct in the community meeting that afternoon. Eddie asked us to keep his
comments to ourselves while we were there, and we agreed that we would. We
bid him a good day and continued on our walk of the property where we
stumbled upon a couple of other members who were fully nude and enjoying the
warm sunshine and the rushing creek waters.
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Chad Brown
It would soon be time for the community meeting, so we made our way to
a common area that served as a recreation room most of the time, but with a
large piece of plywood, the pool table had been converted into a conference
table. Out of 75 members, there were only about a dozen or so at the meeting,
half of which were the young folks on the waiting list who had little say in their
fate and were merely there to gain some insight as to what that fate might be.
They sat quietly while Mrs. Mouch and other long term members opened the
discussion.
The meeting appeared to be somewhat informal, but they did have a
structure to the proceedings that resembled a cross between Robert’s Rules and a
moderated debate. Once the floor was open to discussion, several newer
members spoke on behalf of those on the wait list, stating their concerns about
leaving those people out in the cold. Mrs. Mouch came back with a somewhat
snarky reply, “Well they can always leave the community and go get jobs.” Some
other long term members expressed concerns with those on the wait list utilizing
common areas to sleep during the cold nights and noted that this wouldn’t be fair
to full members who may want to use those spaces for recreation or relaxing.
Eddie was quick to bring up the possibility of building new housing or using
some other areas that were currently not in use to house these individuals until
new housing could be built. He also reminded members that these people were
contributing labor to the community and addressed the question raised by some
as to whether or not those waiting for membership should be allowed to collect
“discretionary funds” for their labor. Each member receives $150.00 a month to
spend however they like and, since they have no bills, many reportedly “spend it
all on cigarettes and booze.”
The main issue being addressed in the meeting was in regard to a request
by community members to define the status of those on the waiting list in order
to determine what privileges they were entitled to. A couple in their late twenties
was sitting on one of the couches, and the young lady was breast feeding while
her husband raised his hand to speak. The young father’s name was Karl, and he
was one of the most vocal and articulate to speak in favor of those waiting to
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become members. He and others who shared his point of view seemed to be
more ideologically in line with the intentions of those who were present at East
Wind’s inception. He and his wife raised their hands numerous times to express
their concerns for those on the waitlist and to offer ideas on how to facilitate
their stay stating, “treating these people as less than equal is certainly not
egalitarian.”
The meeting concluded with little being resolved and some added division
between the two sides. I approached Karl after they had adjourned because he
seemed to have the best arguments to support his viewpoint. He spoke in a
monotone and his face carried little expression. I asked him if I could pick his brain
about what had just taken place, and he said that would be fine, but it would have
to wait until after dinner. I thanked him, and Dagny and I went back to our tent to
relax and read a bit before hearing the dinner bell.
After we finished eating dinner, our offers to help clean up were again not
taken, so we sat on one of the couches in the front room of Rock Bottom, and Karl
and his wife soon sat down across from us. Karl had a plastic grocery bag in his lap
that had some beer cans in it. Some were full, and some were empty, and he
appeared to be ready to chat. I offered him a swig from a small bottle of Jack
Daniels which I retrieved from my pocket and he took me up, but only once.
Starting the conversation off, I explained that I envisioned more intentional
communities necessarily sprouting up in the years to come due to economic
issues and political division among Americans. To this statement Karl replied,
“Yes, but then you wouldn’t have your precious property rights.” His wife chimed,
“or your precious American dream.” I felt a kick to my shin from under the coffee
table that turned out to be Dagny’s preemptive strike intended on discouraging
me from entering into a political debate with these people. Fighting back a wince,
I shortly replied, “I see.”
Karl and I discussed the meeting from earlier that afternoon, and he
informed me that there would be another meeting the next afternoon to discuss
the retirement age of eligible members and what was expected of retirees.
Interestingly enough, today they were debating the beginning of one’s life at East
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Wind, and the next day they would debate the last stage of that life. We decided
we would chat more after tomorrow’s meeting, and he and his wife left. That
night was a wet and sleepless one as a large storm rolled in producing torrential
downpours with intermittent thunder and lightning.
By morning, the storm had moved on, and the sun was coming out. It was
Sunday, and the forecast was one of clear skies and lots of warm sun. After laying
our sleeping bags out in the sun to dry, we headed for breakfast. Shortly after
eating we sat again on the couches in Rock Bottom for a bit, and this time a young
lady in her late teens sat down in front of us with her breasts fully exposed. She
was wearing nothing but a pair of jeans and some glasses and, considering her
lack of any reason for sitting there, we concluded that she was probably looking
for a reaction. We didn’t oblige. We politely said hello and went on with our
conversation. After a few seconds, she got up from her seat and walked out the
door. She and her decades older boyfriend would later see us standing outside
the bath house as they strolled up arm in arm, both shirtless. We were waiting for
the showers to become vacant, but as they opened the door, they offered, “It’s
communal, so just come on in.” After they went inside we decided to hold off on
showering for a bit as we just weren’t accustomed to this type of arrangement.
To kill time, we decided to take a stroll, and we bumped into a very young
couple sitting in the sun with what looked like shampoo in their hair. They must
have noticed the look of puzzlement on our faces because they went into an
explanation about the current lice outbreak and warned us not to get too cozy on
any of community couches. The thought made our heads itch, but this was merely
suggestive as we were apparently lucky enough to have dodged that bullet.
We wanted to earn our keep in some way, so we convinced the garden
manager to let us help in the garden. He tasked us with thinning the spinach crop,
and after two hours, he came back to inform us we were being a bit too
aggressive with our thinning. We took that as a good reason to take a break.
Robert, the garden manager, had a similar story to all of the other members we
had spoken with. They had all moved around a great deal more than your average
American. Some had been to eight or ten schools growing up, and it seemed as if
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some had no real roots anywhere to speak of. Many, like Robert, were fairly
introverted and somewhat awkward to talk with, but highly intelligent and
learned nonetheless.
Robert was a veritable expert in gardening, and his crops were proof of it.
We threw numerous questions and topics on gardening his way, and he never
disappointed. In fact, there were several members there that were quite versed
in gardening, and the topic served as a valuable ice breaker. After chatting for a
while and having some lunch, it was time for the meeting.
Today’s meeting yielded an even lower attendance than the previous one.
Karl opened the discussion by expressing his concerns about the policy on
retirement. As currently understood, the policy provided for retirement at the age
of 50 if you had been a full member for 25 years. One member who had recently
retired was now drunk all of the time and wasn’t being productive in the least.
The common belief is that retirement didn’t mean you lay down. It meant you just
didn’t have to maintain a specific quota or log your hours. Karl and others felt that
the current retirement terms failed to compel retirees to be productive.
Phillip, who was older and eager to defend the current policy, noted that if
he were to put in 25 years in the auto union, then he would be entitled to a
pension, so they ought to treat retired members likewise. Karl disagreed by
claiming that, “those types of jobs are becoming a thing of the past.” After the
meeting I caught up with Karl and asked him why he thought union jobs were
unsustainable. “Corporations refuse to pay people a living wage so they end up
shipping those jobs overseas,” he said. During the meeting, Karl had mentioned
that a member retiring at the age of 50 could feasibly spend more of their life in
retirement than they did working, and he expressed concern for how the
community could sustain such an arrangement. I offered this as a possible reason
for why those union jobs were fleeting. He somehow dismissed the notion that
the two situations were similar.
Karl seemed fairly discouraged about the whole system of governance at
East Wind. He mentioned that the board of representatives had far less power
since the community voted to put their authority effectively on hold. He
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attributed this to the fact that the process had been bogged down and
commented on how difficult it was to get anything accomplished. He also claimed
that the vote to switch to direct democracy was meant to be a temporary
measure contingent on a new form of government being adopted. In more than
two years, no one had offered a single legitimate governing solution for the
community to consider, much less vote on.
That evening we said our goodbyes and turned in early. With a sleep deficit,
we attempted to do some catching up, but were thwarted by the blaring music
coming from one of the dorms. It was around 2:00 am the next morning when
things finally got quiet, and at about 5:30 am, I woke Dagny and suggested we slip
out before people began waking up. We quietly gathered our gear and made the
short hike through the dark to our rental car. As we were pulling away, I actually
felt a sense of relief, not that I was ever in fear for our wellbeing, but I was
comforted to know that we would be headed back into “the rat race” and some
sense of normalcy. I don’t think we were quite ready for communal living.
Despite the fact that we would not be seeking membership any time soon,
there is certainly a lot to be learned from East Wind. Good or bad, the members
had dared to try something radical. For a variety of reasons these folks had made
the bold move to break away from the mainstream and take part in an audacious
human experiment. They dared to ask the difficult questions. Is there a better
way? Can autonomy and equality lead to utopia, or at least close to it? Can people
come together under no other premise or goal other than simply living life?
East Wind appeared to have enough flaws that I question its future
existence. Yet, despite these numerous flaws, they had something over most of
the main stream, a dream. The problem is the dream is undefined, and without
direction. I visited East Wind because it was one of the least structured
communities I could find, and despite the freedom to live as one chooses, every
member is still directly affected by the actions of the next. There was a lot of
division within the community, and in my opinion this was compounded by the
airing of grievances through written notes posted on a community message board
that were riddled with anger and curse words. As much as people need to be
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heard, when every concern or comment is given equal value, there is no filter,
and the discourse becomes mired by emotion and impulse. It was evident that
East Wind desperately needed leadership.
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Chapter 4:
Similar Intentional Communities across America
The Federation of Egalitarian Communities (FEC) is a coalition of intentional
communities of which East Wind is a full member. There are six full member
communities in the FEC with varying forms of governance and community vision.
There are also a handful of “Communities-in-Dialog” that are affiliated and intend
to seek full membership and “Allied Communities” that share the Federation’s
values, but have no intentions of fully joining. Communities that are given full
member status are granted access to the Federation’s catastrophic healthcare
fund known as PEACH. They are also allowed to participate in the Labor Exchange
Program, in which members of one community can travel to other communities in
the Federation and work for a pre-arranged amount of time in order to provide
some extra needed help or just to take a break from their home community. All
hours worked at the host community are credited back to the members home
community labor account.
Twin Oaks is an FEC full member community located in central Virginia and,
like East Wind, was inspired by the book Walden Two, by B.F. Skinner. Skinner
was an American psychologist and behaviorist who authored the popular book
describing his visit to a fictional community that was highly experimental and
based on the ideas of social planning, shared labor and resources, and selfgovernance. Kat Kinkade was one of eight co-founders of Twin Oaks in 1967, and
in the early 70s, she moved to Missouri to help found East Wind. Eventually, she
returned to Twin Oaks, and in 1993, she co-founded a third intentional
community located 7 miles away called Acorn. She was also instrumental in the
formation of the FEC.
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Ironically, Kinkade told The Washington Post in 1998 that she was
disappointed in the strict adherence to egalitarianism found at Twin Oaks and
that communal life had failed to live up to her expectations. She became so
disillusioned that she left for several years only to return when she became too
weak to care for herself. The members at Twin Oaks took care of her until her
death in 2008 at the age of 77. Despite her frustrations, the communities that
Kinkade helped found are still in existence today. According to a July 16, 2008
Washington Post article written in honor of Kinkade’s life, there were thousands
of communes sprouting up in the 1960s, and the vast majority quickly failed.
Over a hundred members currently live at Twin Oaks where, unlike East
Wind, they still adhere to the “Planner-Manager” style of decision making
described in Walden Two. As stated on the Twin Oaks website, “We have three
planners who serve 18-month staggered terms; they carry out executive functions
and help focus the community's attention on issues and the long-range effects.
Candidates for planner may be vetoed by 20% of the full membership; planner
decisions can be overruled by a simple majority of the full membership.” There
are also dozens of managers that are area-specific who handle the day to day
decisions inclusive to each respective area.
The facilities and infrastructure is a good bit nicer at Twin Oaks than they
are at East Wind and I attribute this to a more consistent governing structure and
a better adherence to their founding principles. However, East Winders would be
quick to add that they enjoy more freedom and autonomy and only work 35
hours per week compared to Twin Oaks’ 42 hours. Neither community is
completely self-sufficient, nor are they “off the grid,” meaning they still use
electricity supplied by traditional power plants.
A few hours north of East Wind in the northeastern corner of Missouri, you
can find two very small communes within a few miles of each other known as
Skyhouse and Sandhill Farm. Skyhouse is actually located within the “ecovillage”
called Dancing Rabbit, while Sandhill sits on its own 135 acre farm where seven
adults and two children raise and sell produce. Sorghum syrup is Sandhill’s top
source of revenue, and each year, several members from other communes across
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the country come to help them harvest the sorghum. Skyhouse, on the other
hand, is a five member sub-community whose main focus revolves around the
larger Dancing Rabbit.
Dancing Rabbit’s website states that they are “not a completed ecovillage –
it’s very much a work in progress.” What is an ecovillage one might ask? They say
that their small community of roughly 70 members may someday become one,
“because our goal is to grow to be a self-reliant town of 500 to 1000 residents
who are committed to radical environmental sustainability.” Their mission
statement claims their intentions are to become large enough and influential
enough to have an impact “on the global community by example, education, and
research.” Members are expected to adhere to six Ecological Covenants:
Ecological Covenants
1. Dancing Rabbit members will not use personal motorized vehicles,
or store them on Dancing Rabbit property.
2. At Dancing Rabbit, fossil fuels will not be applied to the following
uses: powering vehicles, space-heating and -cooling, refrigeration, and heating domestic water.
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3. All gardening, landscaping, horticulture, silviculture and agriculture
conducted on Dancing Rabbit property must conform to the standards as set by OCIA for organic
procedures and processing. In addition, no petrochemical biocides may be used or stored on DR
property for household or other purposes.
4. All electricity produced at Dancing Rabbit shall be from sustainable
sources. Any electricity imported from off-site shall be balanced by Dancing Rabbit exporting
enough on site, sustainably generated electricity, to offset the imported electricity.
5. No lumber harvested outside of the bioregion, excepting reused and
reclaimed lumber, shall be used for construction at Dancing Rabbit.
6. Waste disposal systems at Dancing Rabbit shall reclaim organic and
recyclable materials.
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With Dancing Rabbit’s narrowly defined mission and rigid ideology, there
isn’t much room for some of the same trappings of other previously mentioned
communities. While the loose atmosphere of East Wind might indulge the
individual, it invites many unwanted conflicts. And while Twin Oaks may have a
more structured atmosphere than East Wind, they both came into being based on
a fictional book and utopian dreams. That’s not to say that one dream is superior
to another, but if I were to bet on the longevity of an intentional community, I
would bet on the one with a specific purpose rather than one without. Likewise,
future communes will need to form around a central purpose that is clearly
defined - a purpose that inspires conviction.
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Chapter 5:
The Future of Community and the Prospects of Sociocracy
In 2007, a University of Kansas religious historian and author of several
books on communities, Timothy Miller, told USA Today that at their peak, there
were around 20,000 to 50,000 communes in the U.S. According to Miller, there
are roughly 10,000 up and running today, with more popping up each year. "They
are still very much thriving, typically very quietly," says Miller. "A lot of them are
afraid they're going to get inundated with deadbeats, and a lot are in violation of
zoning laws." He also adds that, historically, ¾ of communes have been religious.
Religion is an interesting factor in communal living. It has been the source
of long term success for countless communities, but religion has also served as a
tool used by those who wish to deceive and corrupt. One example of corruption
was Oneida Community in New York, which was formed in 1848 by practitioner of
“Christian Perfectionism” John Humphrey Noyes. Well, apparently perfectionism
in this case meant multiple sexual partners, because the 300 members practiced
“complex marriages,” meaning everyone was married to each other. The New
York Times featured an article in 2007 that detailed the demise of Oneida by
stating, “The unhappiness of some inside the Oneida Community and the
animosity of outsiders to their radical sexual practices combined to bring about
the end of the commune.” As for Oneida’s founder, “In June 1879, fearing
criminal charges for sex-related crimes, Noyes fled to Canada.” It turns out that
the community’s practice of having middle-aged male members select young
virgins for the purpose of “spiritual guidance” was in violation of New York State’s
statutory rape laws.
Despite the nefarious happenings that took place at Oneida, most religious
communes have enjoyed a relatively successful history. So the question is why?
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One likely answer is the belief that a higher power not only knows your every
move, but will one day judge you for your actions. This speaks to one of two
major ingredients that must necessarily be present in order to have a successful
community, and that is integrity. Many would measure a person’s integrity based
on their proclivity for doing the right thing even when no one is looking. A strong
belief in an omniscient deity means someone is always looking, and therefore,
ones tendency to regress to undesirable behavior while alone is curbed because
you are theoretically never alone.
The second major ingredient needed for a successful community is
intention. Some communes have been formed with little intention other than
simply living harmoniously. Like East Wind and Twin Oaks, which again were
inspired by a fictional book about engineering human behavior, many
communities fall short of a greater intention or cause that inspires a universal
passion among members. Religious communities tend to prevail here as well.
Most who would join a religious community and remain there for the long term
would be classified as passionate. They are passionate to please God or spread
the word, and they push each other to insure that passion stays alive.
If a person were to leave mainstream society today and begin the process
of joining a religious community, most would require a somewhat atavistic turn
toward the past. When observing the Amish, Hutterites, and Mennonites, you
find several examples. This rejection of technology and modern convenience has
been a staple for these groups. Many outsiders see this as odd, but the members
feel that it helps to keep the grounded. Monks have maintained lives of simplicity
as well, and many monasteries are centuries old and still in operation. The theory
is that when one rejects the distractions of modern society, you are able to
maintain a more narrow focus on a higher purpose.
Religious communities also feature a hierarchy that provides stability and
maintains the integrity of the group. One of the largest sources of division at East
Wind was, as stated before, the absence of leadership. Without leadership it is
difficult to hold people accountable to the cause of the community, which fails to
maintain the integrity of the individual or the integrity of the group. Egalitarian
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communities are at a great disadvantage unless they find a way to couple
democratic autonomy with the staying power of leadership. The Aristotelian idea
of citizen participation and access plays a major role here.
Lost Valley Educational Center is the location of Meadowsong Ecovilliage,
which is an intentional community founded in Oregon in 1989. Like other
egalitarian communities, Meadowsong was suffering from the trappings of
consensus-based governance, and in 2008, they began to transition away from
this type of government due to the fear that they would soon face dissolution.
Four years later, they are currently thriving through a relatively obscure form of
government called Sociocracy. Nineteenth century philosopher Auguste Comte
coined the term and, according to Lost Valley’s website, he defined it as
“governance by companions.”
Resembling tribal hierarchy, Sociocracy operates through small groups or
“circles” that are interconnected through representation. Each circle sends
representation to equal and higher circles, and higher circles send leadership to
lower circles, creating an efficient network for information to travel. The concerns
of each circle are presented to connected circles, and a feedback loop is created.
Lost Valley’s “double-linked” circles are illustrated by the diagram below:
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From Socrates to Skinner, brilliant minds have performed the exercise of
creating the perfect hypothetical community. Admittedly, I lack the same
brilliance that these men exemplified. However, I have the convenience of
modern technology and the instant access to history that it provides. In order to
embark on this journey of thought, I will take a page from a few auspicious types
of communitarians, both past and present. So here is my attempt;
First, I want to identify two mainstays that I attribute to the centuries-old
success of the monks: God and Beer! So, my hypothetical city should include both.
St. Arnolds I would call it, named after a couple of patron saints that were highly
regarded for both their religious work and their contributions to the art of
brewing. Just as other current communes have a nut butter business or an
ecological education center, our main source of revenue would come from
crafting and marketing a variety of superior beers. Using the same inclusive
principles of self-sufficiency found in many intentional communities, most, if not
all, ingredients would be organically grown on site with pride and the utmost
care.
The members of St. Arnolds would be dedicated to four main tenets: faith,
productivity, stewardship, and outreach. Instituting a Sociocratic form of
government would provide the right mix of integrity and intention and a clearly
defined vision would serve as a source of clarity for all members. In order to
define the mission of the community, all members would have to demonstrate
understanding of the four tenets and take an oath to adhere to them.
FAITH: All members must acknowledge the existence of a higher power, adhere
to the 10 Commandments and natural law, and study the teachings of Jesus
Christ, Mother Teresa, and even the oftentimes skeptical Thomas Jefferson.
PRODUCTIVITY: All members would be expected to work 35 hours per week in
the occupation of their choosing, be it the community brewery, ranch, gardens,
kitchen, chapel, etc. and an additional five hours per week volunteering in the
immediate mainstream towns and cities, for a total of 40 hours per week.
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STEWARDSHIP: Members should strive to be good stewards of three things: First,
they should be good stewards of the Earth through environmental awareness and
by rejecting wasteful human tendencies. Second is stewardship of humankind and
animalkind. This could be accomplished by participation in the St. Arnolds’ dog
rescue program. The program would take in homeless or unwanted pooches and
rehabilitate them with the goal of making them therapy dogs. Certain dogs would
then be used to rehabilitate troubled children, the hospitalized, and the
incarcerated. Third, but certainly not least, would be stewardship of the soul. This
type of stewardship comes from adherence to the four main tenets of the
community.
OUTREACH: A requirement of two weeks per year of outreach would be assigned
to each of St. Arnolds’ members. In order to fulfill this requirement, members
would have to leave the community for two straight weeks in order to perform
charitable works in another state or country.
With good beer, great faith, and common goals, what could possibly go
wrong? St. Arnolds sounds like “Utopia” to me! Now, to set the plan into motion, I
must go about the business of finding several like-minded individuals with lots of
start-up money and nothing better to do. That should be easy, right? It’s a fun and
entertaining exercise to dream up your perfect community, but setting that plan
into motion is far more daunting.
A couple of recent examples can be found where some very inspired
individuals have not just dared to dream, but are chasing that dream as well. In
2011, Details magazine featured an article called “The Billionaire King of
Techtopia.” The article explains how super-rich Peter Thiel, of PayPal and
Facebook fame, intends to build what some are coining a “libertarian utopia.”
Thiel and partners have already put up millions of dollars to get the planning
started. This planning involves floating platforms in the Pacific Ocean. The dieselpowered islands would sit just into international waters right off the coast of San
Francisco.
With no national restrictions, these platforms could serve as societal petri
dishes. "The ultimate goal is to open a frontier for experimenting with new ideas
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for government," professes the originator of the idea Patri Freidman and,
coincidentally, the grandson of famed economist Milton Freidman. Likewise, Ken
Howery, one of Thiel’s partners offers, “It's almost like there's a cartel of
governments, and this is a way to force governments to compete in a free-market
way."
In another current example the CEO of online shoe-and-apparel giant
Zappos, Tony Hsieh is planning an intentional community in downtown Las Vegas.
A New York Times article this year explained that Zappos has outgrown its offices
in Henderson, Nevada, which features the openness of a space without cubicle
walls and the freedom to trade desks at will. Hsieh concluded that if he were to
move over 1,200 employees to a larger Las Vegas office, he should see to it they
can live nearby as well. “And if they could live nearby, why not create an urban
community aligned with the culture of Zappos, which encourages the kind of
serendipitous interactions that happen in offices without walls?”
The Downtown Project endeavors to attract 10,000 “upwardly mobile,
innovative professionals” to downtown Vegas over the next five years by
transforming the “derelict core” of a major city. Hsieh not only wants Zappos
employees to benefit from a welcoming downtown Vegas, he also wants
downtown Vegas to benefit from their existence. He notes that workers within
the company would be allowed to be commuters if they didn’t desire to live in the
city, but they would be expected to engage in “approximately 1,000 hours of
serendipitous encounters.” Hsieh added that 75% of the world’s people will soon
live in cities, and therefore, fixing cities would in turn fix the world. The planning
has had a few bumps, but Hsieh and his associates are hopeful. The article quotes
Hsieh, “You can have serendipity, but when you’re building a community, you also
need a strategy.”
Ultimately, intention or “strategy” is essential. You have to have a plan and,
in order to see to it that a plan is executed properly, you need leadership. It is also
essential to couple intention with integrity in order to maintain proper intentions
and group cohesion. There is much to learn from intentional communities. Much
about the human condition and much about what the future may hold. It is quite
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compelling, which is why I intend to continue this research with the hope of
finding more answers about brotherhood in the future. In the brilliant words of
the late, great Wilson Carey McWilliams, “When political theorists seek to
account for the origin of political authority and institutions, they are driven back
to the nature of kinship.” To me, this has now become quite evident.
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References
Aristotle. "Politics." Tanslated by Carnes Lord. Chicago: 1984.
Bestor, Arthur. Backwoods Utopias: The Sectarian Origins and the Owenite Phase
of Communitarian Socialism in America, 1663-1829. 2nd Edition. University of
Pennsylvania Press, 1971. Print.
"commune (in medieval history)." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed. 2012.
Encyclopedia.com. 8 Dec. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.
“communities, .” Federation of Egalitarian Communities. FEC. Communities.
2012. Web. www.fec.org
"community." Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House, Inc. 08 Dec. 2012.
Dictionary.com http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/community
Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage. http://www.dancingrabbit.org/. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Dec
2012.
East Wind Community. www.eastwind.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Dec 2012.
Fogarty, Robert S. Dictionary of American Communal and Utopian History.
Greenwood, 1980. Print.
Holley, Joe. " Kathleen 'Kat' Kinkade, 77; Pioneer Started Va. Commune."
Washington Post [Washington D.C.] 16 Jul. 2008, n. pag. Web. 8 Dec. 2012.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2008/07/15/AR2008071502719.html
Lost Valley. "Lost Valley Educational Center and Meadowsong Ecovillage."
http://lostvalley.org/. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Dec 2012.
McWilliams, Wilson Carey. The Idea of Fraternity in America. Los Angeles:
University of California Press, 1973. Print.
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Miles, Jonathan. "THE BILLIONAIRE KING OF TECHTOPIA." Details Magazine. 2011:
n. page. Web. 8 Dec. 2012. <http://www.details.com/culture-trends/criticaleye/201109/peter-thiel-billionaire-paypal-facebook-internet-success>.
Plato. "The Republic of Plato." Translated by Allan Bloom. 1968.
Pratt, Timothy. "What Happens in Brooklyn Moves to Vegas." New York Times.
19 Oct. 2012, n. pag. Web. 8 Dec. 2012.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/21/magazine/what-happens-in-brooklynmoves-to-vegas.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
Skinner, B.F. Walden Two. Hackett Pub Co, 2005. Print.
Twin Oaks Community. http://www.twinoaks.org/. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Dec 2012.
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