२२ जानेवारी, २०२०

"Milk drips onto a dairy cow's hoof"/"Don Rust, 69, assembles a rope sandal..."/"Austin, 24, blends in with the Ozarks’ autumn leaves"/"Channel Salmons, 30, with her Alembic Hydro cell"/"Maddie sits on top of a woodpile."

Captions under photographs at "The New Generation of Self-Created Utopias/As so-called intentional communities proliferate across the country, a subset of Americans is discovering the value of opting out of contemporary society" (NYT).

Excerpts from the text:
It wasn’t until the decades after World War II, when large numbers of Americans began questioning their nation’s sociopolitical and environmental policies, that the desire to create alternative societies was renewed, leading to the “hippie communes” that would become indelible features of the 20th-century cultural landscape.... Many of these communes... eventually faltered, but they had already achieved a kind of dubious cultural immortality, ultimately becoming the nation’s measure for the alternative living arrangements and utopian enterprises that followed....

Though many residents of intentional communities are undoubtedly frustrated by climate inaction and mounting economic inequality, others are joining primarily to form stronger social bonds..... As Boone Wheeler, a 33-year-old member of East Wind, told me, “There are literal health consequences to loneliness: Your quality of life goes down due to lack of community — you will die sooner.”

४० टिप्पण्या:

policraticus म्हणाले...

Everything old is new again. I can’t wait for the 21st century retelling of The Blithedale Romance.

Amadeus 48 म्हणाले...

The latest news in social trends from 1965! The fashion section will feature the latest on love beads, crystals, and patchouli. Radical ideas like tie-dyed tee shirts with the peace symbol and Make Love Not War stenciled on them will flower and flourish. One dim, drug-addled commune member will be photographed with a tee shirt mistakenly emblazoned with the Mercedes Benz symbol rather than the peace symbol.

Whatever, man.

Amadeus 48 म्हणाले...

Frayed blue jeans forever!

rehajm म्हणाले...

Twas before my time but I have the impression the old ones died out when the drugs did or when one guy elected himself dictator or tgey ran out of room on the chalkboard for more rules...

policraticus म्हणाले...

1965? How about 1845?

Ann Althouse म्हणाले...

The article goes into the 19th century background in some detail.

rehajm म्हणाले...

Utopias end up with chalkboards full of rules...

Ann Althouse म्हणाले...

I can't quote everything, but I did quote "the desire to create alternative societies was renewed."

"Renewed" -- there's your tip-off that the 19th century was covered in the text.

Amadeus 48 म्हणाले...

"Elvira Madigan" will be dusted off and presented as a new film and renamed "Hedwig".

This time they'll get it right, right?

Famous Sixten quote: "You want me to find a job? Where? Tell me!" Will they dub in her response: "Learn to Code!"? Or maybe, "Unemployment is at all-time lows for noble Swedish Army officers who have deserted. We can work at In-and-Out Burger."

Amadeus 48 म्हणाले...

In a sequel, the gunshots were only a dream, and Elivra (she has left Hedwig behind in the meadow with the strawberries and cream) rallies and gets back to civilization. Sixten becomes an IT manager for Wernham Hogg, working directly under Dave Brent (Ricky Gervais) from The Office (English original). Elvira become an internet influencer, where she works closely with Olivia Jade to get the Olivia Jade enterprise up and running after Mom (a still-adorable Lori Loughlin) gets out of prison.

All shall have sustainable luxury goods, and look extremely beautiful. Sixten gets Dave Brent fired.

Darrell म्हणाले...

These are the glory days for the plant kingdom. What do you have against plants? And food for people.

brylun म्हणाले...

I always thought Auroville was the best of these communities because of the free sex. ;)

Amadeus 48 म्हणाले...

Back in the day, I knew that Charlie Reich had taken too many drugs when I read his panegyric to blue jeans in The Greening of America. I didn't even read the part about marijuana. Now it appears to be the cornerstone of Illinois's public finances.

I don't think that we are thinking clearly about this.

Maybe those folks in the international communities (or is that communes?) can help us out...nah!

JackWayne म्हणाले...

How did the Hell’s Angels work out?

Marcus Bressler म्हणाले...

Live and let live. They don't bother me.

THEOLDMAN

Fernandinande म्हणाले...

This explains why one rarely finds cows in town.

daskol म्हणाले...

The best and most popular intentional communities are temporary: summer camps.

Roger Sweeny म्हणाले...

Nicholas Christakis has a nice summary of created communities during the last few centuries in Blueprint: The Evolutionary Origins of a Good Society (2019). Spoiler alert: very few of them last for long.

HoodlumDoodlum म्हणाले...

Hmm, purposefully-created communities requiring some common drive or belief to join--sounds a bit exclusionary, no? If not everyone feels welcome then some people must be less tolerated than others, and a lack of sufficient tolerance is a grave sin, I'm told.

I sure hope the racial and ethnic makeup of those communities exactly matches that of the larger population of the area, otherwise we'd have a clear cut case of illegal and immoral racism, and nice centrist people like Professor Althouse simply won't stand for that.

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent म्हणाले...

There was a "movement" of American First World War veterans taking up subsistence farming after the war, too. Only they didn't make a big deal about it, didn't seek anyone's approval, didn't think it made them morally superior. They wanted to be left the fuck alone. Hell is other people, doing the shitty things other people do.

Levi Starks म्हणाले...

There are some intentional communities that do well.
I’ve actually suggested that my 30 something son should consider the idea.
I think he might do well in an environment of like minded individuals.

Sydney म्हणाले...

Heh. My father's family came to the US in 1803 from Switzerland to join a Utopian community. They quickly became disillusioned and sued to get their money back from the community. They won their suit and made their way to Ohio to settle on their own farm.

Sydney म्हणाले...

There's a town in Ohio called Gallipolis. It was settled as a community for French aristocrats who were fleeing the French Revolution. They had high hopes of being able to survive off the land, but it failed. Town is still there, though.

jnseward म्हणाले...

The common thread running through all of these communities seems to be the belief that the world is coming to an end in some way. Being off your rocker is apparently a membership requirement.

Amadeus 48 म्हणाले...

Gallipolis--a lovely little spot on the Ohio River. I worked on an oil drilling syndication in the 1970s there. Tax benefits + oil shock= unlikely projects.

Amadeus 48 म्हणाले...

There was a Wayne Newton impersonator in the Holiday Inn bar/restaurant. Kinda like Vegas, right?

Jaq म्हणाले...

Good for them.

Amadeus 48 म्हणाले...

We just got the thing going, and the operator killed himself after trying to burn down his house.

Amadeus 48 म्हणाले...

We have heard the chimes at midnight, Master Shallow.

wild chicken म्हणाले...

Dallas was a Fourierist commune.

How'd that work out.

Amadeus 48 म्हणाले...

If I hadn't gone to Gallipolis, I'd never have made it to Chillicothe.

chuck म्हणाले...

>> Though many residents of intentional communities are undoubtedly frustrated by climate inaction and mounting economic inequality <<

Undoubtedly. The NYTimes -- a superior source of news, or so I've been told -- is pathetic.

अनामित म्हणाले...

According to my son, who spent a few months there, the name of the place comes from Chairman Mao, who said "The east wind now blows stronger than the west wind." At the time he said this in the 1950's Mao wishfully thought that Soviet and Chinese communism were ascendant.

AvoCat

Stv30 म्हणाले...

Where’s “Marigold”?

traditionalguy म्हणाले...

How many communes must a man join up with before they decide to grow up? The answer my friend is blowing in the wind.

TheOne Who Is Not Obeyed म्हणाले...

There's probably still some open & available land near Waco for an "intentional community". They'll have to clean up the ashes and watch out for the remains of incinerated kids. Might be able to get it on the cheap, courtesy of the FBI and ATF.

Leora म्हणाले...

Upstate NY where I grew up was rife with utopian communities from the 19th century and even earlier. This is even not counting the religious groups like the Amish and Mennonites. They've been common, though not particularly successful, since the beginnings of the industrial revolution. When there was enough wealth around to make subsistence farming a hobby for the unhappy.

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ken in tx म्हणाले...

Demopolis, AL was founded by Bonapartist supporters after Napoleon's defeat. The name means People's City. They hoped to survive by planting grapevines and olive trees there. That didn't work, but the town is still there and that part of AL is full of people named Chanel, Lagrone, and other French names.

Maillard Reactionary म्हणाले...

"Alembic Hydro cell"? Where do you get those?