Communal? Isn't this exactly what the world has decided doesn't work? And
should I even utter the word seeing how the connotations are so negative? I
do so because within a few minutes of reading this proposal it will be
obvious that some aspects about what is being proposed are most definitely
communal. It just can't be escaped and so I see no reason, no advantage in
hiding from this fact. What it comes down to basically, simply and always, and in any
relationship, (be it personal, work-related or social) are the agreements and
expectations that we willingly, (or reluctantly) make all the time. These
agreements and expectations are an integral part of our lives, our culture
and the economic design and social structure of our society.
I would respectfully ask that those of you reading this consider for a
few moments just how
"communal" we all actually live all the time. True, most of us don't
eat communally, however even here if you look closely, you will find that
indeed a great many of us do eat communally. Many people eat many of their
meals in restaurants and some most, many military people eat together as do
many of those in school.
Consider how closely many, if not most, people in the world live to one
another. Condominium associations, apartment buildings and even the density
of much of suburbia, certainly the cities, is not much different than how
many people would be
living on, and about as close to each other, as in a theoretical "commune".
Indeed, it might actually be quite a bit more denser and closer than in a
rural commune.
Think about work as well. Very few people work all alone. In all
likelihood work in a commune would probability mimic life as we know it now.
Some would work alone, some with just a few others and some with larger
groups.
What about freedom? This is where the illusion is glaring. Freedom to do
what? Pay for that big inefficient house (construction, maintenance, taxes,
insurance, rent or mortgage). Pay for that gas guzzling money eating and
polluting form of transportation just so you can get to a job that you don't
really think is necessary, meaningful or particularly enjoyable but that one
is just grateful to have so one can pay for that house and car and all the
things (so many of which we don't really need) that go along with it.
No. The reality is we would be far freer, we would have far more freedom
living communally and sharing a few key resources as well as doing a small
amount of cooperative work regarding our most basic needs; namely food and
shelter. We would not need to own nor maintain hugely expensive personal
property. We could live much more simply and so much more freely. It seems
strange to ask the question in "the land of the free and home of the
brave" but do Americans, does anyone,
really want freedom, or do we just
want "stuff"? And to get that stuff are we willing to destroy our
environment, fight wars and submit to and support a social and economic
system which is highly unjust and unfair?
And speaking of work, what an illusion our "free enterprise" system is. I
would ask for those government workers (which includes the military and the
entire educational system) and all the support industries that are supported
by government spending....... I would ask if I could fantasize, that all
these people please go out into the "private sector" and show us how
wonderful an experience it is providing "goods and services" in this
wonderful free market capitalist system of ours. The fact is they won't be
heading out into that wonderful utopia they educate us to believe in and
tell us they are defending us from all outside threats anytime soon. They
won't because it's an illusion. And they are the biggest examples, the most
glaring of contradictions of the freedom we simply do not have.
Small scale communes have nothing to do with communist nation states.
Commune is just a word and thanks to our modern education which tests people
on their memorization on specific definitions we have a population that
cannot think beyond the word or read between the lines. And this makes
communication and creative thinking (beyond the technical) very difficult.
Because whatever one says, once one has used a word or even said things that
look like the meaning of the word, thought stops. Fear, prejudice rush in
which really represent an inability to think for oneself or self reflect.
Some people may think they have had some "communal" living experience,
however, more than likely what they've experienced was chaos and confusion.
The "communal" experiments of the 60s and early 70s were some of the most
naïve, "half-baked", immature, uneducated and un-researched attempts at
cooperative living that may have ever taken place. Training for a job,
studying a subject of interest.....almost anything we do that interests us
is probably given much more time and effort than were those attempts.
Interestingly, almost every attempt by people to live together (if not
exceedingly well thought out and driven by profound ethics and simple goals)
mimics the family paradigm and not the communal. "Family" can offer a lot of
togetherness, but not much freedom; and it's sense of security can be
illusory.
