This could be the future.
- Thread starter Magus
- Start date
Help Support Homesteading & Country Living Forum:
Sounds like heaven. Too bad it's in Cali. 
We had a couple of tribes here like the "bike people" and the "road dogs" who were mostly Vietnam vets. the cops left them be until the mid-90s, maybe out of respect or possibly fear. they never bothered anyone and stayed out of the way, then in the early 2000s things changed, undesirables moved in and they started bulldozing every camp they found.
- Joined
- Mar 29, 2013
- Messages
- 18,736
No thanks. I wouldn't want the be anywhere near a communist compound filled with burnt out old dope smoking hippies and losers. Mendocino is a beautiful area though. I once did some work at a redwood sawmill in the area. If I could afford it, I'd love to have a couple hundred acres on the headlands over looking the ocean.
Who said they were all commies? Some were Anarchists, others just wanted to live on their terms like all off-grid people.
Back in the old days they were called 'communes', a place where like-minded people could live and smoke weed in peace.
For all of the 'after the collapse of society', likely where the successful preppers would live.
That's what I was saying!
- Joined
- Mar 29, 2013
- Messages
- 18,736
Commune is also short for communist. When I was much younger I worked on a big ranch in Oregon. The owner hired a bunch of hippies from a commune to put up a few hundred acres of hay. They got the job done ok, but they were all greasy with long hair and stunk like a pig pen. The rancher never hired that bunch of trash again.
- Joined
- Dec 3, 2017
- Messages
- 23,991
Not the future, but yes, the past. I spent some time in Mendocino counties and Humbolt. An old friend of mine, who is older than I am spent alot of time in communes and ashrams, and the stories....
Many failed because it would attract those that really didn't want to work communally, wanted to lounge and let someone else deal with it all.
The guy renovating the old school for 50 students reminded me of what we did with a school for 62 students.
I remember reading about one commune that was pretty disasterous for the kids, and they were pretty messed up when they grew up. Free love, not paying much attention with who slept with who, and the kids were supposed to be fed and taken care of by everyone, and they really weren't taken care of at all. There's a reason why communes failed. I wouldn't want to be a part of that experiment in a future scenario. One group of people I know live in a community fairly well would be the Hutterites. Look those up, Magus. There's a good number of those.
Many failed because it would attract those that really didn't want to work communally, wanted to lounge and let someone else deal with it all.
The guy renovating the old school for 50 students reminded me of what we did with a school for 62 students.
I remember reading about one commune that was pretty disasterous for the kids, and they were pretty messed up when they grew up. Free love, not paying much attention with who slept with who, and the kids were supposed to be fed and taken care of by everyone, and they really weren't taken care of at all. There's a reason why communes failed. I wouldn't want to be a part of that experiment in a future scenario. One group of people I know live in a community fairly well would be the Hutterites. Look those up, Magus. There's a good number of those.
greatest urban exodus in American history. From the late '60s to the mid '70s, nearly a million young people went back to the land.
Part of the movie Easy Rider has a stop at a commune, neat idea but the practicality usually doesn't work out if it is a "drop in, drop out. get high" sort of situation.
I have had various people want to do things on the land and think homesteading is a great idea but even a little exposure to work and they seem to find some place else to be....
Altho I am still looking for a few folks who can work or contribute to the group and not need a lot of personal maintenance.
The Hutterites have a good business model but elder males rule, the average person doesn't own any land and their treatment of women is stifling.
Part of the movie Easy Rider has a stop at a commune, neat idea but the practicality usually doesn't work out if it is a "drop in, drop out. get high" sort of situation.
I have had various people want to do things on the land and think homesteading is a great idea but even a little exposure to work and they seem to find some place else to be....
Altho I am still looking for a few folks who can work or contribute to the group and not need a lot of personal maintenance.
The Hutterites have a good business model but elder males rule, the average person doesn't own any land and their treatment of women is stifling.
Well, without "commies" aka various forms of socialism or "social cooperation," we wouldn't have roads, retirement, medicare, public schools, etc.. My town has non-profit elect/water co-ops, without which we'd pay far more. I looked extensively at "intentional communities" a few years ago, thinking of building a cooperative prep community. What I found was very few last more than a few years, due to reasons mentioned by others. The ONLY one I found that wasn't a cult is "The Farm," in TN. It was started in the 70's by 300 hippies, and some are still there. It is part commune / co-op, part corporation, part (apparent) private ownership on over 600 acres. They operate a nationally recognized midwife college, and numerous other businesses. It's a multi-million dollar operation. It is not a prepper group per say. I think if someone wants a prepper community, build a ranch / farm. Your workers/cowboys become the community, and you can fire them if need be.
A place we actually visited a few years back is the "Avalon Gardens Eco Village" south of Tucson, in AZ. On the surface it's pretty cool, they had festivals you could attend free. There's about 100 people, and a well run facility, again a multi-million dollar operation. But then you'll discover it's the "Cult of Urantia," with a silk robe wearing "guru," Gabriel. Then a tiny bit of google digging you'll find numerous stories of typical cult abuse. They get suckers to give all their money/property, and in return they get to... WORK. For free.
Another infamous cult community in the news is right in my county, the "Warren Jeff's," FLDS church, in Colorado City, AZ. That's the one where old mormon dudes had 14 year old "wives." It has largely been dismantled, but the folks still there are still loyal to their imprisoned leader. I used to teach ccw classes in the area. It was the only place in America I think that still had town marshalls for security, not police or sheriff. The marshalls were church enforcers. In fact our county sheriff sub-station office was not even allowed in town and had to be built several miles out on county land. That was a weird place to drive through, kinda like rolling through a WV Hollar full of moonshiners. "Papa, them people in that thar pick-em-up truck ain't from around these here parts..."
Thing is, they have the perfect shtf "redoubt." The escarpments of Zion defend the north, the Grand Canyon to the south. Now that it's been "opened" to outsiders, land went through the roof, so it's not affordable any longer. It's about a 45-60 min drive to St George. Truly, "god's country."
A place we actually visited a few years back is the "Avalon Gardens Eco Village" south of Tucson, in AZ. On the surface it's pretty cool, they had festivals you could attend free. There's about 100 people, and a well run facility, again a multi-million dollar operation. But then you'll discover it's the "Cult of Urantia," with a silk robe wearing "guru," Gabriel. Then a tiny bit of google digging you'll find numerous stories of typical cult abuse. They get suckers to give all their money/property, and in return they get to... WORK. For free.
Another infamous cult community in the news is right in my county, the "Warren Jeff's," FLDS church, in Colorado City, AZ. That's the one where old mormon dudes had 14 year old "wives." It has largely been dismantled, but the folks still there are still loyal to their imprisoned leader. I used to teach ccw classes in the area. It was the only place in America I think that still had town marshalls for security, not police or sheriff. The marshalls were church enforcers. In fact our county sheriff sub-station office was not even allowed in town and had to be built several miles out on county land. That was a weird place to drive through, kinda like rolling through a WV Hollar full of moonshiners. "Papa, them people in that thar pick-em-up truck ain't from around these here parts..."
Thing is, they have the perfect shtf "redoubt." The escarpments of Zion defend the north, the Grand Canyon to the south. Now that it's been "opened" to outsiders, land went through the roof, so it's not affordable any longer. It's about a 45-60 min drive to St George. Truly, "god's country."
