Communal Living - Che was right about it.

[I Will Deny You]

As a few of you know, I grew up on a commune. And seeing how this is a Che Guevara board and lots of people are debating whether people can live on a farm and work without a capitalist system, I figured I'd share my experience.

Our "commune" consisted of a farm and a little artist colony. People would usually stay for five years or so (my parents were some of the first people and they stayed for a very long time) and there were usually twenty or so adults. We lived in a two-family house built for eight people, but fifteen of us were lived in it. There were tons of kids and we'd all refer to each other as "cousins". We all worked together and did all of that commune-type stuff. And it really did teach me to respect others and work for the sake of working. We were never given any rewards for what we did, but we did it anyway because we wanted to help everyone around us. If one of my favorite adults there, an artist named Mary, asked me to help out her husband (a farmer named Vishnu) with milking the cows, I would do it simply because Mary had helped me design an ice-skating outfit. We were raised to work and care about each other and we did.

I'm not saying that my life on the commune was perfect, but what I'm saying is that it can work. I think that Che was right. People can work together and be good people without the incentive of money.

[jimr]

When talking to capitalists in my school they often ask me how a communist government should implement its ideas, they ask how it is possible for people to work different jobs for teh same pay.
The commune is a perfect example. It teaches people that money is not what is central in our lives. It teaches people that doing things for the community has its own rewards. People should not need to be paid to do the smallest kind thing. Developing such thoughts and views as you have in your commune would be a great way to re-educate the world (or atleast some of the people in this world)

in short,

yey communes :)

[Supermodel]

I'm ready for communal living!!! Being a soccermom, I work full time and then do everything at home too. I could use some hippies/guerrillas to keep my little guerrillas in line.......

[I Will Deny You]

. . . because you'll be busy making Powerpoint slides while I use tax money to find someone to fry and egg.

[Supermodel]

LOL!!!

IWDY and I will do the powerpoint slides for the commune and the guys can make the food, keep the animals, clean, teach, fix, and convince themselves they are running the place......

[I Will Deny You]

That would make for an incredibly inefficient commune.

[Pete]

One of my goals is to live in a commune in Northern ontario. I think this is relevant, even if it was on teh 49th page of back threads.

I want to hear peoples opinions :)

[Soul Rebel]

i have wanted to do that my whole life. i have actually met people at festivals who have invited me to go with them to live at their communes- but i couldnt cuz im finishing up with my two degrees. my talking to them i now know i have many options and that they still exist.

i would be so happy to do that- not cuz its different but its because who i am. i would actually feel comfortable in my environment if i lived in a commune.

[IHP]

Wasn't the Manson family a commune type scenario?

--IHP

[Vinny Rafarino]

I have no desire to live in a small commune. I am more of a "Big Picture" communist. I do not feel that being a communist neccessarily means you should live in a small farming community with a serious lack of industrious supplies just for the sake of "proving" communism can work. I feel these communities lack the central motivation and vision of communism for the entire masses and have a tendency to simply be artsy hippy type environments. I definately feel it's not "wrong" to live in a commune if you so choose however they really do not add much to the movement. The movement is about uniting the workers of a technologically advanced society with revolution as the catylist and the overall goal being to produce modern goods based on need rather than profit. Small "hippie" communes are a different animal altogether. Living in a communist environment does not mean one must live in a home with 20 other people and conduct sing alongs by the campfire. I feel this behaviour is counterproductive to the movement as it gives one a sense of separation from from society as a whole, in essence another case of apples being apples and oranges being oranges.

[Anonymous]

Quote: from I Will Deny You on 10:45 pm on Mar. 17, 2002
As a few of you know, I grew up on a commune. And seeing how this is a Che Guevara board and lots of people are debating whether people can live on a farm and work without a capitalist system, I figured I'd share my experience.

Our "commune" consisted of a farm and a little artist colony. People would usually stay for five years or so (my parents were some of the first people and they stayed for a very long time) and there were usually twenty or so adults. We lived in a two-family house built for eight people, but fifteen of us were lived in it. There were tons of kids and we'd all refer to each other as "cousins". We all worked together and did all of that commune-type stuff. And it really did teach me to respect others and work for the sake of working. We were never given any rewards for what we did, but we did it anyway because we wanted to help everyone around us. If one of my favorite adults there, an artist named Mary, asked me to help out her husband (a farmer named Vishnu) with milking the cows, I would do it simply because Mary had helped me design an ice-skating outfit. We were raised to work and care about each other and we did.

I'm not saying that my life on the commune was perfect, but what I'm saying is that it can work. I think that Che was right. People can work together and be good people without the incentive of money.


Communism works! Yes folks take note Kelvin is saying communism works. Also note the system: small collective. Can the comrades finally give me an example of a business model that compeats efficiently with a capitalist system? The fact that they exist with in a free market system is proof enough that can compeat and survive with a capitalist system.

Life sounds great on a commune and as you have stated it has both good and bad points. Your experice sounds like you had more good points to ought weigh the bad points.

Unfortunately I am only one generation removed from tilling soil, yet I can not grow crops. More than 15 years of classical training has also taught me I have no artistic talent, or at least not enough for someone to compensate me for it. I would starve to death in your commune. They have one for physicist and engineers, I believe they are called universities. I also did it for about 5 years and then moved on?

Keep in touch with people who moved on? What are they doing now?

[Anonymous]

Quote: from jimr on 11:17 pm on Mar. 17, 2002
When talking to capitalists in my school they often ask me how a communist government should implement its ideas, they ask how it is possible for people to work different jobs for teh same pay.
The commune is a perfect example. It teaches people that money is not what is central in our lives. It teaches people that doing things for the community has its own rewards. People should not need to be paid to do the smallest kind thing. Developing such thoughts and views as you have in your commune would be a great way to re-educate the world (or atleast some of the people in this world)

in short,

yey communes :)


Sorry. I don't believe that "I Will Deny You" example shows extends to show that people with different jobs for same pay can build a stable commune.

1) It is an artist colony. Can I take that to mean a very similiar set of skills.

2) "We all worked together ". Can I take that to mean every one was helping with the same task?

3) It is a farm. Although there were many varied tasks and skills on a farm. It is a farm. Farmer is one job description. They are all farmers and artist.

4) Any doctors? Maytag repairmen? NASCAR drivers? or WWF wrestlers?

[synthesis]

I lived on a commune for several months once. It was awesome. Lots of drugs.

[mentalbunny]

Well I really like the idea of living in a commune, I'd love to try it, but I think my final aim is to get a group of like-minded people together. We can live together, share rent/morgages, cook and eat together, so it's like a family but a bit bigger and we wouldn't be related necessarily. I think sharing houses with friends is a good idea, I'm used to sharing my space because I've been at boarding school for quite a while and currently I have about 5 square metres to myself at school, although I do have my own room at home.

Community-living is the only real way of teaching people that there is much more to life than money and physical comfort, you have to learn to tolerate other people and to give and take rather than just take. It's not easy, you end up getting really irritated by some of the people you are with and there are lots of personality clashes, but that is what life is made of and having to share your spece meaqns you learn this and eventually learn how to deal with it. A group of leftists should be easier to live in than the group I live with at school, as we'd all have more or less the same mindset. it's similar with Christians. I was discussing that with my mother because i have to know a little about religious communites for my RS gcse.

My mum's a Christian and one fo her friends is an ex-nun. Apparently it's a lot of hard work because there are often other nuns you don't like but your religion teaches you to be nice to them, and you learn to do things for other people because you know they will do things for you as well when you need it, everyone just becomes more aware of each other and everyone is much less selfish.

Personally I'm really bad at this community living, there's one girl who just drives me crazy, she's very nice and all, but I just find her so annoying! Thing is about community-living, people have to be receptive to constructive criticism.

[Anonymous]

Quote: from mentalbunny on 11:24 am on June 12, 2003
, so it's like a family .

Why not live with your family?

I can not imagine trading my family for a new one.

[Pete]

Quote: from kelvin9 on 10:21 pm on June 12, 2003

Quote: from mentalbunny on 11:24 am on June 12, 2003
, so it's like a family .

Why not live with your family?

I can not imagine trading my family for a new one.

A family by choice is different than a family by nature I'd think. If I could be surrounded by people who tought the same as me, well more or less, and enjoyed the same basic things it would be a lot better than what I had now.

[Anonymous]

Better off? Please explain.

I don't have the same hobbies of anyone in large extend family. That is not the point. What about learning to get along? Do I like them all? That is not the point. I don't hang with my brother. Yet I trust him implicitly and we work very well together as a team on many business projects. We both have different friends, but then there is family.

[Anonymous]

The little Nietzschean voice in the back of my head is just screaming as I read through these posts.

(Edited by Dark Capitalist at 10:50 pm on June 12, 2003)

[Pete]

Bah my post was lost. I believe more in my extended family being my community instead of being farflung relatives.

Has the buffon come for you yet D.C.?

[Chiak47]

Quote: from DyerMaker on 10:14 am on June 12, 2003
I lived on a commune for several months once. It was awesome. Lots of drugs.


Am I the only one who had mental thoughts of Charlie Manson and crew?

I knew you were tex.

Back to the regular program......

Next up on Jerry Springer....Commies gone bad......

[Anonymous]

Has the buffon come for you yet D.C.?

What? He's been dead for well over 200 years. :confused:

[Pete]

Have you read Thus Spoke Zarathustra? I think it is in his intro.

[Anonymous]

A while ago.

[Pete]

It is when he first introduces the ubermench theory and the acrobat is walking on the tightrope and the buffon jumps over him, causing the man to fall to his death. Zarathustra uses this as a metaphor for the progressoin from man to ubermench, and most people have a buffon who kills them while they are on the wire. Distraction is what keeps us from acheiving it:)

Imagine a community of ubermench! That would be a mental paradise!

[El Che]

So, DC tell us, do you also share Nietszche`s disdain for religion?

[mentalbunny]

My family is really just a group of messed up people that mess each other up, apart from me. I've sorted myself, and my sister's on the way. My fami;y's pretty weird, I'd rather have a family that I was really close to than ones I was just related to.

[Anonymous]

Quote: from mentalbunny on 10:19 pm on June 14, 2003
My family is really just a group of messed up people that mess each other up, apart from me. I've sorted myself, and my sister's on the way. My fami;y's pretty weird, I'd rather have a family that I was really close to than ones I was just related to.

Truely sad. You don't have an option to choose your blood family. Since you invent a new one, choose wisely. Imagine what you want and go look for it rather than falling into one by chance. Falling into an artistic commune with lots of drugs maybe great, but I'm sure you can find a better choice if look some more.

[mentalbunny]

Don't worry kelvin9, I'm nto into artsy fartsy druggie types, I liike people you actually do things.