presluc

When the commune was founded this was the attitude of the founding members Alice and I were among them. It was written into the charter after a long discussion. The group of us some 27 at the time were and are not in favor of religion so it became a defining part of us.

We all believe that religion is more divisive then uniting. It would be difficult we thought at the time to wield religion into the commune. People of different faiths may be antagonistic toward each other. People with religious views may have difficulties with certain people as to their orientation and other life choices. We believed that religion would be better checked at the door. It was added after about a 2 hour talk by a unanimous vote.
It has come up again at meetings several times. Now that the community is growing we have softened to a degree on that plank. It is one that requires debate over and over. That is important about the experiment that we are trying. We have to keep open and view all situations in an open minded way.

You I know are a believer, I could see you fitting in without causing the religious waves. Those are the things that we have to look at and examine. To be pure and to stay pure we always have to be open to any changes that may occur down the road.

In the beginning we were all united and friends. Now there are people coming into the commune that we don't even know and this is different. I believe that in a time this will change. We cannot remain that closed to that option.

I think as part of the farm community we will in some form have to make it acceptable as the rural communities are more religious than the city folks. This may be where the change is made. I am not sure. The discussion is ongoing. It is one of those topics that does not go away.

That is what we are taught in schools and by parents to grab all that you can. Take, take, take and take some more. Others don't matter as long as you get yours. The point of America is selfish greed and the rest don't matter. It is very difficult to convince people that this is really wrong.

We have a few more people looking at joining the commune. The point of hesitation is that what you have or earn eventually becomes part of the community. Our other hurdle is that we don't allow religion into our community. We are open at some point to change that but at the moment 80% is totally against religion or religious people in the commune. 10% say that they would be willing to allow people that believed in god but did not practice. About 5% say that as long as the religious topic never came up they didn't care if someone went to church. The rest don't really care about that piece.

Those are the sticking points. The finances comes. When they see the benefits of the life that change come quickly. At first though they don't understand it. The community pays all of my bills now. Alice and I actually do because we earn more way more than our outgo. But all the checks are written by the overseer of finances. We still maintain our standard of living. We dine out about 5 times a week. Nothing has changed. We have a bank card and all of our spending is done on those. The overseer pays that at the end of the month. Works great. The man that takes care of that is a CPA and owns a company. He is never with a shortage of employees as he pays well. The receptionists in his offices are paid over $20 an hour. He is fair minded. In fact two of the women that work for him are in process now to become members of the commune. We have a few business owners in the group. They employ some of the community teens. They get their pay and can do what they want with it.

It takes time to work all of this out as we are within a capitalist society. So you have more spending then they will as the farm.

I have been happy to have insurance here with all the surgery I have had. The insurance doesn't cover the rehab very well so Alice and I have had a lot of out of pocket expenses for that. Any kind of out patient therapy costs a lot and Insurance doesn't cover that 100%. It did the first ten days. After that the price went up every few days. Until on day 64 I was paying 80% of that.

We have over the last 8 years been fueling greed. We have been taking profits at the top and giving nothing back at the bottom. The system has become to weighted down by this. The disparity of wealth is far to great. When the rich make a more than a years workers pay in a day it becomes hard to justify that kind of greed. The system can tolerate a minor variance but this has been outrageous. We outsource and sell jobs just to build the profit margin at the expense of Americans. This has to stop.

That is correct the establishment of equality comes at great cost to some that feel threatened by loss of paper wealth. If we are all equal though there is no need. The idea of all these things possessions is a hard idea to change. Many seem to think a change to socialism is a loss of those when it fact it is not. It is just that everyone can have one if they work for it.
People see socialism as a redistribution when in fact it is not. It is a leveling of the playing field where everyone is appreciated for what they do. None more important than another. It doesn't matter the sexuality of color or height or intelligence of a person what matters is the person.

In a Utopia people have to grow to achieve it. They have to grow beyond themselves to see a new way and change to become more. The core beliefs of people are based on what they know. It is a point of education and learning that brings about the common idea that we are all important and that none is more valuable than another.

I am attacked here all the time for my Utopian beliefs. If you don't strive for the best why even try. I don't know that you can build a Utopian society on a large scale. I also don't know that you can't. If people keep believing that it can't be done than no one will try. They will keep the ideal at arms reach, convinced that it can't come about. They then settle for second best.

no....stop Presluc!....elephant man? Come on now!.....I can't figure out who it is but I'll think of it!!!!

Awwww! Your a cutie Presluc!!! You look like someone famous, but I can't figure out who!!! (o:

I want to change people so they can be freer and do better. I do see the end of socialism as good.

Everyone is different. We all have our own belief systems. We all have our own ways at looking at ideas. We come from our own centers and cores. The beliefs come from all those places. We here have learned and been trained in the American culture which is far different than the rest of the world. These beliefs can be changed in subtle ways. They can been set aside for a system that works better and allows for more freedom and equality.

I have put the American dream behind me in search of a new place and a new way of life. I have found it and believe that i can change the system by working within it. I can change minds not so much by words but with actions. I have come to know many that have the beliefs that I do. The actions of 150 can change the world in which we live. We will make changes as we encounter others along the way.

It is slow but permanent. I do not expect to see the full change my time here is limited and will pass away. I do expect that what we do will change the many and that will last.

That is the truth. Change takes time and when you are trying to change a false concept that people have it takes even longer and it is much harder to do.

That is why we are building the community as we are. We need to influence public opinion and change cor beliefs about socialism and what it means. Most people have no clue as to it's form and function. If it is pushed on people it can't be done. If it is accepted then it has the power of the people behind it and they understand and follow the program.The first generation to change are the difficult ones. They are the ones that find the change the hardest because they don't have any idea what is going on and how to accept the changes.

We agree on the non violence issue. You can't change someone through force all that does is throw up stronger walls of resistance. It also sets up leaders that become tyrants with a power they have no desire to control. That is why The USSR never got anywhere. They built up by force and could not hold onto that any longer. It was non violent resistance that raised up the unions in Poland. The workers united and defeated the Soviets without a shot being fired. It is what freed the Indians in South Africa. It is what freed India from British rule. It is what the blacks in the US did. It works when people unite for making things better for everyone.

It's good to have a plan in advance. It is really important. to have that in place. We have been putting the pieces together for this for years. It is a very detailed plan that we have. You offer good insight as to where we will be in maybe 5 tears. The most important part of this project is that people gain the understanding and accept what we are doing before they get a chance to pervert it by naming the process.

I would venture to say that most of the people where the farm is haven't a clue what socialism is. I don't think they have any idea what we are about.Once one of the doctors comes to town and starts offering services for $10 a visit for anyone uninsured they will find out what we are about. We fully expect that the neighboring towns will be coming as well. The doctor will be working out medical card system and his wife will be the nurse one of the college girls will be doing the reception work. The biggest problem is that we have to work in a capitalist way to finance a socialist program.

This will all take time. The education piece and the understanding that we are putting people first will come and they will learn to depend on us. It will be great in time.

I know what you are talking about. I agree with that eventually. We can only do so much so fast. We don't want it to fall apart. We want it to stand and thrive. As time goes by we will do more and more. It will grow as the commune idea grows in people. It is like garden you can't harvest watermelon unless you plow the field first. We have been visiting for years before we decided to start this. It is a slow process in a socialist evolution. It takes time and we are patient.

We have been at this now for 10 years. We are finally in a position where we can do this kind of outreach. It takes a long time to work toward a political influence if we want to do it right. We know some of the people in the area where we have the farm now. A couple of the people from the commune have been going to that area for years and when the farm came up for sale we bought it straight off.

A couple of the families will move up there to start. We are hiring some of the farmers to work the fields. It has been worked out where they will work for a percentage of the crops. One of the farms there is right beside ours and we are working theirs and ours together. The farmer is saving money as we are helping to finance part of his operation when the crops come in we will be making some money that will be reinvested into the program. A few of the guys from our commune are taking the summer with some peopl their to build a school building. That is what I am really excited about.

We are even going to offer some classes to the adults in the community. It is going to work out but will take years to have be the way we want.

We are not large enough to fight that way. This is the way it has to start. We are not a large entity. The finances are personal and we can only spread it so far right now.

The farm is only the beginning we have a long way to go. It will take years to get to where we need to be.

We need to just become part a community and build support. That is where we have to start. As we grow then we will become more. This is our first big move.

As we become more accepted and the system feels good to people then we add more and more. Soon as people know we are a socialist commune then they will resist and we are finished. It will not work. They need to accept us first then we can become more out. It's like coming out as gay. It had to start slowly.

We just need to stay silent and let things happen. It will go along. The more known we become the harder it becomes. The best is now for us to just be where we can assist change and point the direction.

We are right now 150 adults in the commune. By the end of the year we fully expect to have a commune of over 1000 or more. We have already made some inroads into the community. The people have opened there arms to us. They are really awaiting the school that will start in fall. A very good private school offered to them free of charge. They were so excited that this has come to them.

Good joke. That was really good. It will take years for us to gain the kind of influence we need it is a community at a time process. It will make a difference in the community we are in and as the ideas sink it we will get stronger and larger.

We plan on being in the political framework of the community we are moving into with a year. We will grow in influence as quickly as possible. We actually hope to have a candidate on a major ballot in two years. The commune is strong enough now.

I am staying in the bigger world. The commune will change it. We will make it a better place if we can help it.