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Virginia Commune Continues To Draw Members |
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Tuesday, 25 August 2009Twin Oaks is a quiet rural community about two hours south of Washington, D.C.Walk the gravel path from the cow pasture, past the dairy barn and vastgarden planted with rows of vegetables, through the woods to the dininghall and beyond to the living quarters, and you'll encounter very fewpeople. It's hard to believe that 100 people live here. Twin Oaks is,above all, tranquil.
"A lot of people come here looking forutopia," says Russ McGee. Although he says he doesn't believe theVirginia farm is a paradise, he has no regrets about what he leftbehind nearly seven years ago when he moved here.
"There isa certain commitment to simplicity," McGee says. "You can't have a lotof the travel or cultural entertainments in your life, butnevertheless, there is a great richness and connectedness to this life."
Twin Oakers enjoy healthy, organic, food that they grow harvest from a one hectare gardenThereis also a connectedness to the land. Nearly all of the food memberseat is grown and raised here, says Valerie, a member for 17 years. "All summer long we are eating our own vegetables," she says. "We dryand can and freeze a lot, so even in the winter we are eating a lot ofthe food we produced." There are also chickens and cows on the farm. "We get eggs and milk and meat from them."
Very different from mainstream American lifeLife at Twin Oaksis very different than most Americans are used to. Notices are postedon billboards and clipboards instead of Facebook and Twitter. And,because members live in dormitory-style buildings that house 10 to 20,there is less privacy. But Arthen, who left his job as an executivechef two years ago, says one of the reasons he moved to Twin Oaks wasto get closer to people.
"I worked out in the world for 25years and lived next to somebody for four years and never even knew whothey were," he says. "Now I live with 90 people and I know them all. It's like living in a little village."
Valerie moved to Twin Oaks from Canada; there are several community members from outside the U.S.A village where everything is free, says Valerie."Weget housing. We get health care. We get food. We get clothing. Plus weget $75 dollars a month for extras that the community doesn't provide."
Membersdon't pay any fee to join Twin Oaks, and if they have assets, theydon't have to relinquish them. What keeps this community going, andhas kept it going since it was founded in 1967, is work.
"Basically the agreement is you work here 42 hours and the community covers all of your costs," says Paxus Calta.
Members also entertain one another as "Trout" does hereMembers can choose what work they want to do, Calta says. There is a lot that needs to be done to support the community. "Prettymuch all of the aspects of daily living that we can get away with doinghere we do. We fix our own cars. We build our own buildings. Weeducate our own kids."
Capitalism in the communeIn addition, Twin Oaks runs twobusinesses where members can spend their 42 work hours: constructinghammocks and making tofu. The success of those enterprises is anotherreason Twin Oaks has survived, because they provide cash to purchasethings like insurance and automobiles. The community owns 17 cars,which, like everything else here, are shared.
Sharing, alongwith other practices, such as hanging laundry out to air dry, usingsolar power to heat water and burning wood harvested from the farm toheat buildings, makes Twin Oaks more eco-friendly than most Americancommunities, says Calta.
Paxus Calta says Twin Oaks' carbon footprint is 80 percent less than that of their mainstream counterparts"We consume 66 percent lesselectricity, seventy-five percent less gasoline, 88 percent less solidwaste goes into the landfill," he says. "It comes from this sharingthing. That kind of lifestyle lends itself to a reduced ecologicalimpact."
It's a lifestyle that is, in essence, based oncommunism, but Keenan Dakota, a member for 25 years, says there is anirony to Twin Oaks: "this communal society is training futurecapitalists."
Dakota says most members who leave Twin Oaksbecome entrepreneurs, running small businesses. "Ex-members havestarted a thrift shop. They have started a tofu business. They haveeven become stockbrokers." Right now there is a waiting listof people who want to move to Twin Oaks, because the community is atcapacity. But there is talk of starting a sister community nearby. That was done before in 1993, when Acorn was established. Although itonly has 14 members, the heirloom seed business it runs is thriving.
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Tuesday, 25 August 2009
VOA News
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