There's a commune in southern Missouri called "east wind" http://www.eastwind.org . My sociology professor lived there for three weeks. He said anyone can come and stay as long as they'd like, but if you're on the commune, you have to do a little work for the group, but many people also have outside jobs. Each person on the commune also gets some kind of money, maybe $100-200 a month. They make clothes and peanut butter that is sold in many stores in Missouri (I guess there's no real way to escape capitalism). You should check it out.
^^^^^^^^^^ reading their web page i would say they are limping along in a dysfunctional quagmire of folks dreaming of communal living and living sustainably but not willing to put forth the effort required to achieve sustainability. really sad to read that a community that has been established since 1973 on over a thousand acres only produces 60% of their veggies ,they have cows but dont milk them etc. really is typical of the reality of establishing a commune and keeping it productive nowadays.. ohhhh i seeeeeeeeee why they cant raise but 60% of their veggies.. thats a terrible policy and their productivity shows it.
Wow, someone's a real negative nancy. Chill out, man. You don't have to break people down. The East Wind community is really interesting, and I suggest someone who's interested in living on a commune to check it out.
i am just commenting on what i read on their web page. i never told anyone to not go there,i simply said its obvious they are having the same problems that every communal living place including ours when we were doing it had. i aint talking out my ass,i have been involved with communal living for over 20 years and we ourselves raise 100% of our own food and are 90% sustainable here. we know what it takes and we know the pitfalls. and as i said, that quote i posted from their webpage shows why they as a community are struggling. not my problem at all,in fact i encourage everyone that thinks the idea of having no work requirement is a good idea to go there. it guarantees they wont be coming here. no minimum work hours required but we dont raise all our food,our buildings are in need of repair etc.etc. what a laugh..
ive been involved with communal living long enough that when i see this, on top of this, i know EXACTLY what the problem is there.. once again,dont get me wrong,this is not a comment on the members or the place itself,more a commentary on the reality of the type of people seeking out communal living arrangements in this day and time. That being said,my partner and I both agree that after 37 years there is NO excuse whatsoever for them to not be 100% sustaining when it comes to their food sources on 1000 acres.. it really is sad to read..
pretty much ... pick n choose what they feel like doing when they feel like doing it.. If they dont feel the need to contribute and put forth an effort then no worries someone will do it instead... unfortunately we know what this means when it comes to communal life and many who have lived on communes say the same thing... most sit while a few do the actual work.. It leads to a whole slew of issues within a place...
If you are going to live on a commune, wouldn't you want to help improve it and increase sustainability, and take pride in what you are doing? wow, that just blows me away. I can't believe there are actually people out there who would have rules like that lol.
way i see it is many love the ideals behind a commune and living simply.. They however dont want to do the work it entails. It is not much different than any other job when it gets down to reality.It gets old, repetitious, monotonous and boring along with alot of manual labor at times. People in general dont like to work HARD especially when there is no instant gratification to come with what they have done. Often times people think because they are more educated or experienced in an area than others that their time is more valuable than others time . Therefore because they know how to wire a solar system up that is all they ever have to contribute because it is "their specialty". unfortunately or not it isnt the case when it comes to communal life. When there is work to be done, there is work to be done plain n simple.. This very thing is alot of why we pulled our website and all but stopped inviting people to come and stay a while.. It simply became less hassle, less headache and more productive to do it on our own rather than try n explain this concept daily, feed extra mouths, support extra mouths and trying to play referee amongst those here..
