Anarchist Communes.

[RebeccaSoup]

I've never heard a punk or an anarchist refer to anything as a "commune"

I think that term has a lot of bullshit, hippie "back the land"-lets all fuck each other and destroy our healthy group dynamic-type of connotation.

Ditto on the hippie shit but that's where I draw the line. i am of the opinion that sex shouldnt/doesnt interfere in group dynamic when dealing with mature accountable adults.

For me, it's all about the farms.
I agree that all these communal living collectives, while doing some really awesome stuff, are still ultimately dependent on this import/export crazy babylonian money system to some degree or another. Especially in Canada, where you have much shorter growing season's and being a vegan, as noble as it might be, is kinda silly. There are many, many places however, in the country, whether on squated land or land that is "payed" for where people do live 100% off the grid. Being that I have no faith in the continuation of this civilization, I would go so far as to say that this is the real deal, and these are the people who are going to survive the impending collapse.
In the words of john prine...
"move into the country, and build yerself a home"

Babylonian? thats some rainbow bullshit right there.

amen on everything else.

Dial house isnt a squat, Crass were forced to buy it to protect the house and the few remaining green belt areas. Many people think its a squat as it was an open house.

I would love to live in a farm squat...

If everyone would love so much to make these things happen, why are so few people getting off thier asses and doing it? As much pitch as Ive seen do down on booze I know I could have some land in no time.. Build with cob, use crop interspersing.. And what do you get? a lot of bullshit, hippie "back the land"-lets all fuck each other and destroy our healthy group dynamic-type of stuff.

 

[kai]

check out the eastern seaboard in the united states for intentional communities!! I know there's tons of them, especially around Tennessee, virginia and north carolina. The only name I can drop off the top of my head is "the farm" but I also know there is a queer intentional community in tennessee I believe it is called mount pleasant or something along those lines. Also Arizona (tuscon area) is home to some eco-villages where you can play with frilly dilly hippies off the grid all day. In Canada there's a blossoming community on Vancouver Island (although i'm skeptical of the way they run after reading their website). For living off the grid in canada you could check out lesquite island in BC which is accessible only by foot ferry and the whole island has no utilities (totally off the grid). There's also supposedly an eco-village on the sunshine coast in bc and most definately I have heard of some in washington.

Do people still really doubt the existance of these places??

 

[Angela]

Eco-villages are only for wealthy hippies that sold out long time ago. They are essentially housing developments for hippies. No offense to anyone on here that lives at one but these are very exclusive kinds of places where you have to have alot of money in order to buy into one. Their like eco-condos. And most of the ones I know about don't seem to be very sustainable in that they are not self supporting, they rely heavily on their members incomes from commuting to outside jobs or savings accounts. I don't know if it's right or not but I tend to think of these the same way I think of conservative folks living in gated communities.

 

[kai]

yeah i looked at one and it said to be a member you have to pay 5000 for a share and own 10 shares to be a member. I thought that it was inclusive to that one. Bullshit hippy enterprise where everyone speaks of community, love and inter-dependance so long as you have the money, also the one on vancouver island is partially funded by the government which is not a direction i'm interested in living in.

 

[DFA]

helarity is still live and well, as far as I know.

There are a handfull of this communal living spaces in the bay area, but these "farm squats" really interest me....

 

[bote]

hellarity has a newish chicken hutch and bunkbeds and stuff, and people doing things. The term "commune" implies some sort of hierarchy to me, or at least an established way of doing things (even if it turns out to be just a front/excuse for the old free love thing).
I've seen people organize like this where it works well, but personally, I prefer leaving everything more undefined. If no one takes responsibility, the ship can go down fast, but if things work out well just by following their natural course, you get the satisfaction of seeing shit work just fine with no rules + you know you're with good people.

 

[XVIII]

there was a place here (boise,ID) called the blue house that was running for a while. the house itself got cleared out and remodeled but i've been told the group of kids that started it kept it going and have started a new house. I have no idea where it is but if its anything like the last place its probably pretty cool.

 

[Turtles]

Collective A-Go-Go and Forbes St. Co-op in Worcester mass

 

[wartomods]

i just get the fuck away from it, comunes is a bad word, and fuck community, if i want to work for a group well i just go ahead and work for our whole society.
Mind i am all for capitalist system.

 

[Johnny Lightspeed]

boing collective in SLC is a pretty cool place. they say the upstairs (where they'll let you sleep) is a drug free zone but the first thing I saw was a syringe laying on a coffee table. maybe someone was diabetic or something I dunno

 

[wildboy860]

does anybody know anyhting about "hippie hill" in Tennessee? I'm invited to go there this month, but wanna kno more about it too.

 

[that0nekid]

well there's the A Ranch in florida. cool kids, but it's a small group.
and there's a lot of "houses" in Arcadia that are kinda communal. I say "houses" in quotes cuz they usually call em the "white house" the "blue house" ect. from what I remember.
these places are all paid for so they aren't squats.

Do you know a way I could find either of these?

 

[JoshyWashy]

in columbia, MO theres a place called the diva haus. they all pitch in on different things for the house, they compost, they do other hippy stuff. they dont call themselves hippies or like to be called hippies though. my friend was somewhat vague, but something about hippies being middle class and not actually doing shit. the people there volunteer and stuff around the community.

 

[Nelco]

*bump*

 

[rideitlikeyoustoleit]

Hellarity is still alive, but the legal situation is sketchy. We lost our court case last year, and appealed it, and lost again, so we are up for an ejection, which is like eviction but for squatters.

 

[kodykerouac]

Hellarity is still alive, but the legal situation is sketchy. We lost our court case last year, and appealed it, and lost again, so we are up for an ejection, which is like eviction but for squatters.

could you tell me where hilarity is? i'm trying to find a warmer spot to stay for a night that isnt occupy oakland. thanks!

 

[Rancho]

Any collective houses in Cali?

 

[Rancho]

Near Anaheim sorry should've added that

 

[Earth]

Glad somebody resurrected this, as it was good to hear the two words "Dial House" again.
Penny Rimbaud writes about that place extensively in his book (which I have, but the title escapes me)

Someone mentioned that since everybody loves this way of living, how come so few of these places actually exist...
Vaild question, and from what I've seen with me own experiences - it's because they require work by all involved
or else it fails. Work is a bad word, people hear it and run as fast as they can - be it in the eco movement, wildlife
rescue, and - gasp - even squatting...

We've (I found out I'm included now too) got a major complex legally rented (well, part of it anyway - but we treat the abandoned sections as if they were ours too) and am in the process of setting up an analog tape based recording studio / art space - and the only way it works is with all of us pitching in either with physical work or $$$

Meetings are held on a regular basis, and the whole operation is treated as a full time investment into something that has the potential to really grow into something big.

Anyone who thinks squats / communes are strictly for doing drugs / drinking / and just being lazy either ain't living in one - or ain't gonna be living in one for long....

Even the Spahn Ranch ran like a well oiled machine - everybody knew what needed to be done at all times...

But, to me - Dial House set the gold standard...

Come to think of it, think I'll see if I can get in contact with Penny through either Steve (Ignorant) or the CONFLICT people just to see how he's doing....

Great thread, again glad somebody got it going again.

In fact, I like the old threads here better than the new ones....
Kinda like a time machine almost.....

 

[Rancho]

Are you still in Buffalo? I live in the burbs, and have been on the road for a while and kicked it in other cities, but I was wondering if there were any squats in Buffalo worth hanging at. And I'm also thinking about my next trip, and wanted to talk to people about places to go, etc.

Baby I'm from there n at this point ain't nothin there but squats