Kay so for those of you who don't know, I'm currently doing a thru-hike of the Appalachain trail. I just spent the last week walking through Vermont (where it rained constantly, all day, every day)
To get out of the rain a couple of friends and myself ended up staying with this exhippy-ish commune in Rutland Vermont called "The Twelve Tribes" Weblink here:
www.twelvetribes.com I was excited to check the place out, as Kontan and myself had been hanging with some anarcho-punkish people before we left, who had been espousing the virtues of communal life.
All in all the people were very very nice. They opened their doors to us, fed us, clothed us, gave us a shower and a place to stay, and overall went far out of their way to ensure that we had a good, relaxing time all for free. All they asked in return was that we do about 20-40 minutes of work per day for them (usually involving working in the kitchen) while we stayed there. Everything that we ate and drank was top shelf and organic, you get the idea.
Though they were primarily a religious community they weren't particularly pushy about their beliefs. They basically told us: There's some literature over there, and feel free to ask us questions if you like.
This other hiker and I were kinda facinated by the whole thing so we started grilling them. We were polite but we asked tough questions: "How is this place politically organized?" "How are your children educated?" "What do you think about the rest of the world / other religions?" and of course "How do you treat your women?"
While a great deal of the stuff was a breath of fresh air, I managed to detect an undercurrent of Authoritarianism, and as the days went by bit by bit their philosophy became clearer to us.
Surrender of oneself and all of one's posessions to the community. Near complete removal from your family in favor of the community. They didn't own anything, and all their clothes were taken from a communal pool. Self-expression was discouraged (though they did create art, but it was art for the whole, not the individual). Children were not educated past 14 (excluding an apprenticeship to a communal tradesman) Higher education was frowned upon, almost seen as an evil because "Knowlege for Knowlege sake is useless, it just puffs you up." (I got the distinct impression that knowlege was dangerous because it elevated people above the community, and caused dangerous individualistic ideas). Women were there simply to support the men, and a man should be a benevolent dictator to his wife. that kind of stuff.
After a few days living with them I consider them all good people and many of them to be personal friends, however I am more convinced than ever that their way of life is not for me.
What I'm wondering about is that I'm seeing a little bit of dissonance between a number of people in the Goth scene I've met who have been preaching for this communal way of living, and the reality that I experienced. Granted, this was a religious commune (though they insisted they were secular, and only religiously inspired) but still, I found their very structure to be even more stifeling to personal freedom and expression than our current society. How is it that so many ardent individualists among the scene have come to champion a way of life that is so hostile to the individualism we obviously love so much?
Anyway that's my question. Do I have the wrong idea about communal living,(and if I do can someone give me an example of an actual functioning commune that doesn't stifle personal expression & achievment?) or is there an attitude that I'm missing in the scene?