Do you know anything about intentional communities?

Liberty Village is a co-housing development near my hometown. When it was first in the planning stages, we considered moving there. It seems like a great idea. Then we remembered that we don’t like people all that much ;)

There are so many different kinds. A lot depends on what draws them together. Religion? Politics? Back to the land?

Rules vary. Some require you to put all your wealth into the pot, to be shared equally amongst the community. No one is allowed to be of a status different from anyone else.

Of course, that’s nonsense. There’s usually a charismatic leader in communities like this. They usually start out idealistic, and end up corrupt. Absolute power, you know.

The key to the success of a community like this is that they have rules that are realistic, but serve the purpose of the community. People need to have a say, though, and this can make things problematic, as everyone wants to change things in their way.

Another important thing is what do they do? Do they have a way to earn money as a community, or do people go out into the real world to make money, returning at night?

You might want to look up The Farm. There’s also More. Kripalu is quite instructional as to what can happen with charismatic leaders. Then there’s that place in Northern England, or maybe Scotland—it’s name escapes me. Not sure if it’s intentional community, or adult summer camp. Esalen and Omega fit the adult summer camp model, but they do have other community-building stuff included in their ethos.

A lot of people end up in intentional communities to find themselves. They are looking for a purpose, and these kinds of communities seem to offer meaningful lives. Often people will stay from a few days to a few years, and leave, to lead a more conventional life. A few stick it out for the long term, though.

I live about 20 miles from The Farm. It was started in the early seventies by a bunch of hippies that bought land out in the country in Summertown Tennessee. They drove school buses from Berkely to Summertown, The buses are still there but covered in graffiti now and they don’t run. It has had its ups and downs. They have a lot of interesting things going on with their soy dairy, straw houses, and sustainable living ideas. I have several friends my age that grew up there.

I have been part of two groups that wanted to start communities like this. Both of them gathered whatever people were interested and attempted various fund-raising efforts to save up enough money to buy land. Both had a charismatic leader – one ended up being ineffective, and one ended up being a little too effective, running off with everyone’s capital (long after I left the group).

What I learned about intentional communities from these experiences is that it’s much better to start out with the land, and then worry about what to do with it. Second, it’s important to have a truly well-established group to do it with, because these things tend to schism more often than fandom. Third thing is that the only way to successfully “throw all your money in a pot” is to have a group that you trust, well, more than anyone I’ve ever trusted, including my own mother. Everyone should probably have their own private part of the community, else someone, sometime, is going to feel cheated – and that may not be unwarranted.

Israeli kibbutzes seem to have done the “commune” thing with some degree of stability, but it’s really, really hard. Good luck with this, and may the force be with you.

Here’s one that I’ve been very impressed and intrigued with over the last few years:
The Simple Way Community
This one has a distinctly Christian root, and they do some amazing work.

Thank you all so very much. The collective knowledge here continually astounds me.

I do not know how much interest I would have in joining a community or how likely they would be to accept me. At age 60 I don’t see them tripping over themselves to let me in. I am curious, though, to see close up what such a place looks like. I think that our modern society has largely given up on community and alienated itself from nature and I have lately been feeling these losses rather acutely. It makes me feel good just to know that there are others who feel as I do and have made a commitment to addressing these issues. The Acorn community has a few features that I find of particular interest. They are secular, decisions are made by the entire community and it is economically self-sustaining.

Like I said, I plan to report back on my observations.

@Lost: Your interest says “mathematics.” Depending upon your field, that could be a very useful skill to offer a community. Engineering? Accounting? If it’s a bunch of earth-crunchy art types, something like that may be in great demand. You never know!

Findhorn is another one that I keep hearing about (though in the UK.)

Yes, Findhorn is the one I was trying to think of.