The Best Intentional Living Communities
For preppers, life hackers, survivalists, and spiritual seekers
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A 5 - Minute Read
Intentional Communities: A Poem
Universal learning design,
is a knowledge approach that is just fine,
But if you are really seeking unity,
You can’t do better than an intentional community,
intentional communities looking for members,
seek people of vision who can stir the embers,
of love and collaboration
as they create a mini-nation
built on instructional literacy now,
so they can teach their members how,
To become healthy wealth and wise,
And ultimately win the spiritual prize
Being a well-traveled prepper, (thirty-six countries in five years) I have always had an interest in collaboration and community, especially intentional communities. As a kid in my Bronx Hebrew school back in the 1950s I was always hearing praises concerning the kibbutzim in Turkish and British Palestine, and Ultimately the State of Israel. How the pioneers in these communes converted the desert into fertile farmland. Later I developed an interest in Yoga Ashrams, and Zen Monasteries, both examples of intentional communities.
Now as a prepper I find myself researching and studying intentional communities of all types and forms.
An intentional community is a voluntary residential community designed from the start to have a high degree of social cohesion and teamwork. The members of an intentional community typically hold a common social, political, religious, or spiritual vision, often follow an alternative lifestyle, and typically share responsibilities and property. Intentional communities can be seen as social experiments or communal experiments. The multitude of intentional communities includes collective households, cohousing communities, co-living, ecovillages, monasteries, survivalist retreats, kibbutzim, Hutterites, ashrams, and housing cooperatives. Ashrams are likely the earliest intentional communities founded around 1500 BCE, while Buddhist monasteries appeared around 500 BCE. Pythagoras founded an intellectual vegetarian commune in about 525 BCE in southern Italy. Hundreds of modern intentional communities were formed across Europe, North and South America, Australia, and New Zealand out of the intellectual foment of utopianism. Intentional communities exhibit the utopian ambition to create a better, more sustainable world for living. Nevertheless, the term utopian community as a synonym for an intentional community is considered to be of pejorative nature and many intentional communities do not consider themselves to be utopian. Also, the alternative term commune[a] is considered to be non-neutral or even linked to leftist politics or hippies.
Synonyms and Definitions
Additional terms referring to an intentional community can be an alternative lifestyle, intentional society, cooperative community, withdrawn community, enacted community, socialist colony, communistic society, collective settlement, communal society, mutualistic community, communitarian experiment, experimental community, utopian experiment, practical utopia, and utopian society.
Authorship Year and Definition
B. Shenker 1986 "An intentional community is a relatively small group of people who have created a whole way of life for the attainment of a certain set of goals."
D. E. Pitzer 1989 Intentional communities are "small, voluntary social units partly isolated from the general society in which members share an economic union and lifestyle in an attempt to implement, at least in part, their ideal ideological, religious, political, social, economic, and educational systems".
G. Kozeny 1996 "An 'intentional community' is a group of people who have chosen to live together with a common purpose, working cooperatively to create a lifestyle that reflects their shared core values. The people may live together on a piece of rural land, in a suburban home, or in an urban neighborhood, and they may share a single residence or live in a cluster of dwellings."
W. J. Metcalf 2004 An intentional community is "[f]ive or more people, drawn from more than one family or kinship group, who have voluntarily come together for the purpose of ameliorating perceived social problems and inadequacies. They seek to live beyond the bounds of mainstream society by adopting a consciously devised and usually well thought-out social and cultural alternative. In the pursuit of their goals, they share significant aspects of their lives together. Participants are characterized by a "we-consciousness," seeing themselves as a continuing group, separate from and in many ways better than the society from which they emerged."
·
A Wide Variety of Communities
The purposes of intentional communities vary and may be political, spiritual, economic, or environmental. In addition to spiritual communities, secular communities also exist. One common practice, particularly in spiritual communities, is communal meals. Egalitarian values can be combined with other values
Benjamin Zablocki an influential sociologist categorized communities this way:
· Alternative-family communities (see Tenacious Unicorn Ranch)
· Coliving communities
· Cooperative communities
· Countercultural communities
· Egalitarian communities
· Political communities
· Psychological communities (based on mystical or gestalt principles)
· Rehabilitational communities (see Synanon)
· Religious communities
· Spiritual communities
· Experimental communities
· Membership[edit]
Many Christian intentional communities want to emulate the practices of the earliest believers. Using the biblical book of Acts (and, often, the Sermon on the Mount) as a model, members of these communities strive to demonstrate their faith in a corporate context, and to live out the teachings of the New Testament, practicing compassion and hospitality. Communities such as the Simple Way, the Bruderhof and Rutba House would fall into this category. Despite strict membership criteria, these communities are open to visitors and not reclusive to the extent of some other intentional communities.
A survey in the 1995 edition of the "Communities Directory", published by Fellowship for Intentional Community (FIC), reported that 54 percent of the communities choosing to list themselves were rural, 28 percent were urban, 10 percent had both rural and urban sites, and 8 percent did not specify.
Governance
· The most common form of governance in intentional communities is democratic (64 percent), with decisions made by some form of consensus decision-making or voting. A hierarchical or authoritarian structure governs 9 percent of communities, 11 percent are a combination of democratic and hierarchical structure, and 16 percent do not specify.
Core Principles
The central characteristics of communes, or core principles that define communes, have been expressed in various forms over the years. The term "communitarian" was invented by the Suffolk-born radical John Goodwyn Barmby, subsequently a Unitarian minister.
At the start of the 1970s, The New Communes author Ron E. Roberts classified communes as a subclass of a larger category of Utopias. He listed three main characteristics: first, egalitarianism – that communes specifically rejected hierarchy or graduations of social status as being necessary to social order. Second, human scale – that members of some communes saw the scale of society as it was then organized as being too industrialized (or factory sized) and therefore unsympathetic to human dimensions. And third, that communes were consciously anti-bureaucratic.
Twenty five years later, Dr. Bill Metcalf, in his edited book Shared Visions, Shared Lives defined communes as having the following core principles: the importance of the group as opposed to the nuclear family unit, a "common purse", a collective household, group decision making in general and intimate affairs. Sharing everyday life and facilities, a commune is an idealized form of family, being a new sort of "primary group" (generally with fewer than 20 people although there are examples of much larger communes). Commune members have emotional bonds to the whole group rather than to any sub-group, and the commune is experienced with emotions that go beyond just social collectivity.
By Region
With the simple definition of a commune as an intentional community with 100% income sharing, the online directory of the Fellowship for Intentional Community (FIC) lists 222 communes worldwide January 2019). Some of these are religious institutions such as abbeys and monasteries. Others are based on the anthroposophic philosophy of the philosopher and mystic Rudolph Steiner, including Camphill villages that provide support for the education, employment, and daily lives of adults and children with developmental disabilities, mental health problems, or other special needs. Many communes are part of the New Age movement.
· Many cultures naturally practice communal or tribal living, and would not designate their way of life as a planned 'commune' per se, though their living situation may have many characteristics of a commune.
Australia
In Australia, many intentional communities started with the hippie movement and those searching for social alternatives to the nuclear family. One of the oldest continuously running communities is called "Moora Moora Co-operative Community" with about 47 members (Oct 2021). Located at the top of Mount Toolebewong, 65km east of Melbourne, Victoria at an altitude of 600–800 m, this community has been entirely off the electricity grid since its inception in 1974. Founding members still resident include Peter and Sandra Cock.
Germany
In Germany, a large number of the intentional communities define themselves as communes and there is a network of political communes called "Kommuja" with about 30 member groups (May 2009). Germany has a long tradition of intentional communities going back to the groups inspired by the principles of Lebensreform in the 19th century. Later, about 100 intentional communities were started in the Weimar Republic after World War I; many had a communal economy. In the 1960s, there was a resurgence of communities calling themselves communes, starting with the Kommune 1 in Berlin, followed by Kommune 2 (also Berlin) and Kommune 3 in Wolfsburg.
In the German commune book, Das KommuneBuch, communes are defined by Elisabeth Voß as communities which:
· Live and work together
· Have a communal economy, i.e. common finances and common property (land, buildings, means of production)
· Have communal decision making – usually consensus decision making
· Try to reduce hierarchy and hierarchical structures
· Have communalization of housework, childcare and other communal tasks
· Have equality between women and men
· Have low ecological footprints through sharing and saving resources
Israel
Kibbutzim in Israel, are examples of officially organized communes, the first of which were based on agriculture. Other Israeli communities are Neve Shalom, Kvutza, Yishuv Kehilati, Moshavim and Kfar No'ar. Today, there are dozens of urban communes growing in the cities of Israel, often called urban kibbutzim. The urban kibbutzim are smaller and more anarchist. Most of the urban communes in Israel emphasize social change, education, and local involvement in the cities where they live. Some of the urban communes have members who are graduates of zionist-socialist youth movements, like HaNoar HaOved VeHaLomed, HaMahanot HaOlim and Hashomer Hatsair.
Ireland
In 1831 John Vandeleur (a landlord) established a commune on his Ralahine Estate at Newmarket-on-Fergus, Co. Clare. Vandeleur asked Edward Thomas Craig, an English socialist, to formulate rules and regulations for the commune. It was set up with a population of 22 adult single men, 7 married women and their 7 husbands, 5 single women, 4 orphan boys and 5 children under the age of 9 years. No money was employed, only credit notes which could be used in the commune shop. All occupants were committed to a life with no alcohol, tobacco, snuff or gambling. All were required to work for 12 hours a day during the summer and from dawn to dusk in winter. The social experiment prospered for a time and 29 new members joined. However, in 1833 the experiment collapsed due to the gambling debts of John Vandeleur. The members of the commune met for the last time on 23 November 1833 and placed on record a declaration of "the contentment, peace, and happiness they had experienced for two years under the arrangements introduced by Mr. Vandeleur and Mr. Craig and which through no fault of the Association was now at an end".
Japan
Atarashiki-mura: Atarashiki-mura (新しき村, lit. 'New Village'), is a Japanese intentional utopian community founded by the author, artist and philosopher Saneatsu Mushanokōji, in 1918 in Hyūga, in the mountains of Miyazaki Prefecture in Kyūshū. In but in 1939 they were warned that much of their land was about to be submerged by the construction of a dam, so they searched for a new home and found 10 hectares in Moroyama, Iruma District, Saitama Prefecture. A few members remain at Hyūga to this day, but they are still to a certain extent dependent on the Saitama community and support from "external members". The village's population dropped to just two families during World War II, but many people moved into the Atarashiki-mura after the war. Saitama Prefecture approved the village as a foundation in 1948. Mushanokōji worked at the village for a while but later found that he could help it more by working outside and supporting it with the income from his novels, plays, and paintings. There has always been a strong artistic bent at the Mura (as distinct from other religious or political communes, or the well-known Israeli kibbutzim) and many well-known artists lived there or supported it externally. Although there is an art gallery that also produces some publications, and various members have at times worked as potters, for much of its existence, most of the community's income has come from agriculture, including battery-hen eggs (and fertilizer produced from their manure), shiitake, rice, organic vegetables, and to a lesser extent green tea, apricots, and bread. There used to be a nursery school.
The "spirit of Atarashiki-mura" is summed up in six lines written by Mushanokōji and reprinted on the back of each issue of the village's magazine.
Our ideal is that all the world's people should fulfil their own destinies, and that the individuality residing in each one of them should be allowed to grow fully.
One must not therefore allow the promotion of one's own individuality to infringe upon the individuality of others.
Hence one must promote one's own individuality in a correct manner. One must not harm destiny or just demand of other people merely for the sake of one's own pleasure, happiness, or freedom.
We will work so that all the world's people may share our ideals and choose the same style of life, and thereby walk along a path where they are able to fulfill their duties equally, enjoy freedom, lead correct lives and fulfill their destinies (including individuality).
Those who endeavor to live this way, who believe in the possibility of such a way of life and pray or hope fervently that all the world's people may put it into practice, such people are members of Atarashiki-mura and are our brothers and sisters.
We, therefore, believe that if all people embark upon a correct way of life or endeavor to do so, and such people truly cooperate with each other, then the world we desire will come to be without struggle between nations or between classes. We will do our utmost to achieve this goal.
Russia
In imperial Russia, the vast majority of Russian peasants held their land in communal ownership within a mir community, which acted as a village government and a cooperative. The very widespread and influential pre-Soviet Russian tradition of Monastic communities of both sexes could also be considered a form of communal living. After the end of communism in Russia, monastic communities have again become more common, populous, and, to a lesser degree, more influential in Russian society. Various patterns of Russian behavior — toloka (толока), pomochi (помочи), artel (артель) — are also based on communal ("мирские") traditions.
United Kingdom
A 19th century advocate and practitioner of communal living was the utopian socialist John Goodwyn Barmby, who founded a Communist Church before becoming a Unitarian minister. The Simon Community in London is an example of social cooperation, made to ease homelessness within London. It provides food and religion and is staffed by homeless people and volunteers. Mildly nomadic, they run street "cafés" which distribute food to their known members and to the general public.
· The wind turbines at Findhorn make the Ecovillage a net exporter of electricity.
· The Bruderhof has three locations in the UK. In Glandwr, near Crymych, Pembrokeshire, a co-op called Lammas Ecovillage focuses on planning and sustainable development. Granted planning permission by the Welsh Government in 2009, it has since created 9 holdings and is a central communal hub for its community.[43] In Scotland, the Findhorn Foundation founded by Peter and Eileen Caddy and Dorothy Maclean in 1962 is prominent for its educational centre and experimental architectural community project based at The Park, in Moray, Scotland, near the village of Findhorn.
· The Findhorn Ecovillage community at The Park, Findhorn, a village in Moray, Scotland, and at Cluny Hill in Forres, now houses more than 400 people.
· Historic agricultural examples include the Diggers settlement on St George's Hill, Surrey during the English Civil War and the Clousden Hill Free Communist and Co-operative Colony near Newcastle upon Tyne during the 1890s.
United States
There is a long history of utopian communities in America which led to the rise in the communes of the hippie movement—the "back-to-the-land" ventures of the 1960s and 1970s. One commune that played a large role in the hippie movement was Kaliflower, a utopian living cooperative that existed in San Francisco between 1967 and 1973 built on values of free love and anti-capitalism.
Andrew Jacobs of The New York Times wrote that "after decades of contraction, the American commune movement has been expanding since the mid-1990s, spurred by the growth of settlements that seek to marry the utopian-minded commune of the 1960s with the American predilection for privacy and capital appreciation." The Fellowship for Intentional Community (FIC) is the best source for listings of and more information about communes in the United States.
While many American communes are short-lived, some have been in operation for over 50 years. The Bruderhof was established in the US in 1954, Twin Oaks in 1967, and Koinonia Farm in 1942. Twin Oaks is a rare example of a non-religious commune surviving for longer than 30 years.
My favorite, because I had planned on living there (but never made it) is “The Farm”. The Farm is an intentional community in Lewis County, Tennessee, near the town of Summertown, Tennessee, based on principles of nonviolence and respect for the Earth. It was founded in 1971 by Stephen Gaskin and 300 spiritual seekers from Haight-Ashbury and San Francisco. The Farm was the setting for "the rebirth of midwifery in the United States" and the creation of "the modern home-birth movement." They were also influential in introducing tempeh in the United States. Though they have gone through many changes since their founding, The Farm is still a very active community.
….and remember, life is not a dress rehearsel!——————————————————————————————————————
Author: Hey there. My name is Lewis Harrison, and I am a wellness coach, teacher, and prepper. I am a proponent of entrepreneurism and also a writer and seminar leader. The author of over twenty books, and numerous self-improvement, business success, and personal development courses, I am the former host of a talk show on NPR Affiliated WIOX91.3 FM.
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