No, not the city, the commune... and some utopian rope sandals

This is a commune. 

http://www.eastwind.org/

It's pretty cool. I especially like this line in its description:

“East Wind may not be Utopia yet, but we’re getting closer”

They’re probably near utopian status because of the peanut butter they make. It is so delicious. Or maybe it’s the Utopian rope sandals made from leftover rope from their hammocks that make it utopian. Or maybe because it’s a clothing optional, organic commune that’s dedicated to nonviolence and a peaceable, connected, meaningful lifestyle. Probably the peanut butter.

For my Urban Sociology class we had to research a commune and write about it because communes are the anti-city. Classic sociological literature by Tonnies and Simmel on the city says the city is bad for the human soul. Basically, the city creates amoral, unemotional, disconnected society where we all are cogs in the industrial machine called capitalism. The meaning of life is destroyed by us favoring science over religion, and our heads over our heart, and by turning the world into a giant arithmetic problem to be solved. We erase the possibility for intimate relationships by concerning ourselves only with the unmerciless question of “how much?” and feeding off the blasé touch-and-go atmosphere of city life. None of us matter to each other.

This is some pretty heavy stuff.

So communes are supposed to be bring us out of this kind of life. To put us back in touch with nature and our true selves. To move us back to intimate, small town communities. To help us live in balance with others and with ourselves. No longer will we be controlled by a higher power, but we will live meaningful, dedicated lives because we do our work for ourselves and we live to bring help and uplift each other.

Sounds pretty great right? I thought so. I thought, and still think, it would be awesome to visit a commune. Who doesn’t like nut butters and rope sandals? The only problem is that the philosophy behind the creation of communes is completely anti-everything I believe in. And by that I mean, the premise is behaviorism.

The communes created in the 60’s and 70’s are all based off of B.F. Skinner’s book Walden Two where he purports the way to create perfect people is to create the perfect environment. For those of you unfamiliar with Skinner, he is a radical behaviorist. I.e. he believes a person’s behavior can be controlled by controlling the stimuli in his environment. This is a pretty accepted idea in our culture as seen by our love of giving people rewards for doing what we want and punishing those who don’t do what we want, but ultimately it’s a problem.

The problem with this deterministic view of humanity and a problem with the ideals of an intentional community like East Wind, is the issue of meaning. If the idea is to create an environment where peaceable, egalitarian, and conscious behavior can be induced, how is it that this lifestyle is any more or less meaningful than the capitalistic rat race? Either way, whether a person is raised in a commune or a city, their behavior is not their choice but a product of the environment. Without choice, there is no meaning because there is no alternative behavior to reject or free will to reject it. Though the attempt to create a utopian society is a rejection of the ideals of capitalism, ultimately each individual’s behavior is induced or constrained by his or her environment and there is no free-will as people are simply cogs in a different machine. It could be argued that regardless of the issue of free-will, living in a society like East Wind is simply better than that of a city. However, if people are equally determined by their environment in both settings, how can one be more meaningful than the other? Even if the ideals of a commune are “better” than those of the city, couldn’t it be argued that we only think so because of our environment and the values our environment upholds?

Though the philosophical flaw is not a direct problem that communes face, the effects of it are. People in communities striving for utopia still experience problems of meaninglessness. Some still desire something better and some simply cannot or do not want to live up to the standards of the society even though it is the “ideal”. Some still feel trapped and do not have anywhere to go and there are disagreements. Furthermore, though East Wind works hard at being self-sufficient and separate from the capitalistic world, the fact of the matter is, they’re not. In order to stay afloat financially and provide a comfortable lifestyle for its members, they have their own factory to produce nut butter and rely on outside vendors for supplies. They buy clothes from stores outside of their community and they sell their products to the outside world. Yes, they are natural, organic products, but they are products that are sold to make money for their own cause like any other capitalistic business: they just fill a different niche. In the words of Georg Simmel, “Money is concerned only with what is common to all… it reduces all quality and individualism to the question: How much?”. Ultimately, East Wind has not been able to escape the rest of the world, and is in fact dependent on it.

This is not necessarily a bad thing however. Even though East Wind faces the same kind of problems those of us in the capitalistic world face, those who are committed to the work and their values find it meaningful, much like we, who are supposedly constrained by society, find our lives meaningful. Though radical behaviorism is the premise for their attempt at a utopian society and though is fundamentally flawed, when considering what it means to live a “meaningful” life, some members of the society have managed to find what they were looking for: the makings of an earth-friendly, nonviolent, and accepting community that provides a full and significant lifestyle that Tonnies and Simmel would approve of.

So what's my point? I don't know... I have too much to say on the matter. I like peanut butter, and I like sandals, and non-violence and I like that people have found meaning in their lives. And I'm immensely curious about what it's like to live at East Wind. I also like cities. And I dislike behaviorism. And I don't believe in utopia. 

But if you offered me free peanut for the rest of my life, consider me B.F. Skinner's greatest fan and sign me up for a commune.