Why Communes Fail

Why Communes Fail

Most alternative lifestyle communities fall into the trap of becoming "cottage industries". But grass roots capitalism is hardly a viable alternative to the real problem of greed. "Successful" cottage industries are still heading in the same direction as the multinationals. The fact that you subscribe to other ideals is not unique. Colonel Sanders, for example, once had a policy of giving leftover food to the needy; but Kentucky Fried Chicken was still a multinational at heart, and cottage industries are still materialistic at heart. Their products may not be computers and automobiles, but selling knick-knacks, dealing in drugs, or even starting a health food restaurant doesn't really weed out the root of all evil.
People who try to set up a business for the purpose of using the money to support some other ideal, still end up worrying, arguing, and finally splitting up over the operation of the business. If you want the business to succeed, you should recruit people for whom the success of the business is the most important goal. (McDonald's can tell you that!) But if you want to resist greed, then you must recruit people for whom the war against greed is the most important objective.
Most people seeking an alternative to the rat race are fiercely independent. We have to be, to even begin to challenge the overwhelming pressures of mainstream society. But if we are going to succeed in offering society a lasting sample of something better, we must learn to co-operate with people of like mind. We must learn to listen, and learn to follow.
In every community, everyone has an opinion. But not everyone has the answers. A good leader will learn to recognise truth regardless of what source it comes from; and he/she will alter his/her own opinions when they do not conform with the truth.
But don't fall for the myth that everyone is equally equipped to teach the rest of the group how things should be done. Experience must be respected and listened to.
If a goal has been established for a community, then everyone must be expected to subscribe to that goal. Some form of authority must be recognised, even if it is the authority of popular opinion (i.e. "majority rules"). The group must have the courage to discipline those who are disruptive, or who behave contrary to the purpose of the community.
The very word "community" suggest that people in it have some "common unity". If people cannot submit to the goals and practices of the community, then they have already expelled themselves from it.
We need to see the community as a business, with us as its joint owners. If we don't "produce", we'll fail. What we are producing is not material, but it still requires time, concentration, and energy to make it work. Whether we are working to educate people on noble values or just working to build loving relationships, we need to be ever conscious of what we are doing and why we are doing it. Many communities fail because people are too lazy to discipline their thoughts, speech, and actions in such a way as to produce the kind of "vibes" that they claim to believe in.
When people finally have their act together and are working diligently in unity with one another, the final hurdle they must clear is impatience.
Radical activists of all sorts suffer from burnout because they had high hopes that were not realised as quickly or as dramatically as they had first expected. Unless your community has a limitless supply of aspiring hopefuls to replace disillusioned burnouts, it is wise to seriously caution everyone in the community against expecting too much too soon. And every effort must be made to recognise and savour the tiniest indications that the community is having some effect on the world around it.