The entropic forces evident in the cracks of a crumbling democracy are signals to any moderately wise inhabitant to start thinking about how to save themselves, their family, and perpetuate a better way of life elsewhere. Many people seem to think the answer is invading the system from within, and taking it over, and others still think the system must be destroyed. What one really can start to grasp, once they start letting go of their paranoid schizophrenic compulsions towards second-guessing every intent and motivation of their allies and enemies alike, is that the opportunity to create a separate society is fully within their power.
Yes, as long as you know how to not be a loud, divisive schmuck who can’t go a sentence without talking smack about a group of people, you will be on the right track towards establishing a harmonious, civil, joyous society of productive, spiritual members whose trust in one another fuels a better tomorrow.
Ironically, the paranoia, distrust, and childish work ethic, abilities, and attitudes of many potential members is the first part to weeding out, and or, building them up, before the real progress can be made. In places like Orania, South Africa, these issues could be easily bypassed because the average Boer is nowhere near as entitled and immature as the typical American.
However, as I will discuss in the following parts, with enough understanding of how hierarchies are built, how trust is sewn, how PR is managed, and how the chaff is separated from the wheat, great communities separate from the fallen world can be established realistically, and in due time.
Part I - Social Trust
In early 2017, out of edgy teenage gumption, and literally nowhere else to go, through an embarrassing trial of other events that will be discussed at a later date (if I already haven’t discussed it?), I travelled to the end of the world - Cannon Ball, North Dakota, one of the premier areas for the Standing Rock Protest. I was a high school dropout, without a GED yet, and had vague dreams of living off the land, going full hippie, and basically just fast-tracking a Christopher McCandless experience (without the dying part). However, what I learned more than simple survival in climatically harsh conditions, were the social dynamics that lead to a society’s rise, and it’s fall.
Ultimately the reason certain sexual perversions are always unacceptable in any developed, trustworthy societies is because they open up the uncanny valley of where friendship ends and eros begins. In the falls of empires, the concreteness in relationships becomes so here and there that no one can really trust a friend as a friend, a spouse as a spouse, a coworker as a coworker. The religious constructs that keep people in line, end up being twisted and turned, or burnt altogether, and the deadly perversions of sin turn relationships into nothing more than means to finding more pleasures, whether sexual, of gluttony, or of drugs and alcohol.
It becomes extraordinarily difficult to find people who actively seek camaraderie, and nothing in return other than the joy that one has in a friend. This is where the ultimate failure of the Standing Rock Protest* (really just a drug cult) was solidified. People did not see friends, but through several kaleidoscopic layers of cult. If you were apart of the protest, especially full-time living at one of the (mostly illegal) campgrounds, you were expected to be of a certain vain of person. Unfortunately, the few starry-eyed idealists (mainly the Lakota) were left disappointed as the entire protest was hijacked by libs of the west coast protest culture. Any hint of Lakota (and other Sioux tribes) self-determination was robbed, any distinction of the movement as something meant to assert their culture as legitimate was nulled, and the entire thing was turned into yet another white liberal block party full of free love and anti-colonial, anti-Drumpf rhetoric.
And good luck getting those people to actually farm or ranch, which is where, really, the “commune” part didn’t even get off the ground. So much of the camps’ food supplies were donated from a million different places. Other than having our own latrines, melting down snow, and building legitimate teepees with hot stones used as heat sources, the ability for this anprim paradise to get off the ground was totally stunted. That’s just how far these projects go, however, when there is no coordinated vision, agreed upon goal, timespan of how long things will take, incongruency in leadership, lack of feedback and trust between leaders of different campgrounds, etc. Every single person in every camp has to provide a productive position, and it is a daily endeavor. The only people who did well in this spiritual toilet of a failure protest turned commune project were the ones on drugs because even though they had no spiritual vision or good nature, they at least had the work ethic and psychotic ego to keep being useful. Obviously, in any commune, drugs and alcohol should be severely limited, if not banned altogether.
There just wasn’t any pressure, because pressure is toxic masculinity, so 90% of the people in most camps would sit around all day basically doing nothing, or next-to-nothing, while a small few idealists with good hearts and obviously too much time on their hands, built the infrastructure to these campgrounds. And because no one really trusted one another, due to there being no honored goal that we were all striving towards, camaraderie was severely limited to the mentally-incapacitated druggies who made friends with other druggies. Towards the end, the campgrounds resembled that of pillaged medieval villages with occasional bandits here and there. No one left had any plans except to steal and destroy.
The trust that would allow for goals to be met, and therefore, big infrastructural achievements and autarky, wasn’t existent. No one was pushed to do anything, and therefore, nothing ever got done. Due to there being no combining spiritual force, other than vague west coast, nonsense spiritualism (dangerous hocus pocus black magic), the stage was set for shamelessness. You could drop in and out of any camp, normally do whatever drugs and alcohol you wanted, misuse and abuse the resources of the camp, and receive no shame. Likewise, the long-term goals were always too unrealistic due to how opportunistic and untrustworthy, or simply weak-willed and lazy the vast majority of the members were. The hardest of workers were shafted, and for people like me who have a compulsion towards scrutinizing inefficient morons, you might guess how well it ended up working out for me lol.
*I know for the uninitiated, calling this thing a “protest” really doesn’t do it justice. It was like a really hyped-up protest turned very loose confederation of campgrounds with varying levels of legality and self-reliance. A lot of the land out there is jointly owned by several members of a family, so all have to be in favor of a bunch of dirty hippies building up on their land. Surprisingly, not too many were.
Part II - Ground Rules and People
This goes without saying, but there has to be a basic understanding of who does what, where everything goes, what protocols we have in an emergency, where we all fall back to in the event of disaster A, disaster B, and disaster C, etc. These all have to be created before anything can be done.
From my own experience, there cannot be cliqueization. It is okay to not like someone, or to disagree with someone, but to actively sew dismay within the group, and assert catabolic pressures on its integrity, all you are doing is making it bad for everybody. People who are raucous and roudy, off the bat, should just not be let in. These people who desire attention through gimmick and attracting attention are always the people who pit people against one another, share personal secrets and blackball, and actively create tension where there really doesn’t necessarily need to be any. So right off the bat, establish your ground rules, but more important than any rule you will enact - KEEP THE TROUBLEMAKERS OUT. All I am doing here is offering my own personal experience with these types, not only at Standing Rock, but when I was at a youth shelter, from my own work experience, etc. You need to understand who is just going to create nothing but tension and act as spiritual denigration to everyone.
In addition to disallowing rude, crude rabblerousers in the commune, those who actively endorse violence and any kind of anti-government sensibilities must be disallowed from joining. These types are usually either opportunistic criminals, or legit Feds tasked with the objective of sewing seeds of distrust. Cut it off right off the bat and just do not allow that kind of talk.
Apart of this model for sustainability, the avoidance of drug and alcohol use must be maintained, if not for any religious or spiritual purpose, but for rather the predictability of the tribe’s ability to stay its course. One day where everyone gets hammered, is simply a new day that starts late, is unfocused, and the balance of order is set askew. After all, if one expects to have a long-lasting community, “taking the edge off” shouldn’t be included in the manuscript of sustainability. It’s a foolish, unhealthy thought in the first place. If you drink, then just stop. It is not a facet of life that must be maintained to water the happiness of your soul. If it is that to you, then you’re an alcoholic.
Do not LARP. I repeat - do not LARP. I’m sorry, but if you’re trying to start a self-sustaining commune, even though it might remind you of your days of IRL roleplaying your D&D character, do not bring that mindset into this. This isn’t an avenue for your imagination to run wild. Libs get to do that all they want and it makes their attempts at doing this into Burning Man on steroids. There shouldn’t be any uniforms, because this isn’t a cult (nor do you want this to be a cult). This is, in theory, an alternative to the crumbling society we already live in, so don’t have a delusional episode, and simply realize this is just you and your fellow man exercising y’alls right to sustain life and the pursuit of happiness. No silly languages or accents, no silly getups, no goofy handshakes (unless that’s apart of a safety protocol or something), etc. Just come as you are without any degeneracy.
No hateful bigots. This kind of aligns with the rule of not letting rabblerousers in, but likewise, do not let people in with clear hearts of hate and war who want to separate people in a way that is antithetical to the unity of the commune. Allow people of all strides of life, so long as they provide a benefit to the commune, aren’t degenerates, and don’t abuse drugs or alcohol. Simple as.
Now, in my own scenario, I would only allow Christians, but with a caveat that non-Christians could join with severe scrutiny and the inability to practice their religion outside their own abode. If someone is willing to join, who is not a Christian, I would rather offer a helping hand than a suspicious one, as suspicion is wrought of fear - a demonic trait. Caution is important, but perpetual distrust castrates a society’s ability to build up and expand past its latrines and tents.
This is in no way a comprehensive list, but it is a good way to start getting the noggin joggin about who you let in, what should be let in and out of the commune, and how one can expect to achieve any realistic goals. This is an instance where many of your friends will just not last long in an environment like this. This is not meant for friends you had in the unhealthy, fallen world. Many of them will crack on day two.
Part III - Safety Protocols and Strong Leaders
Develop immediate protocols to where you will escape based on a natural disaster, on an invasion of any sort (Specifically how you will surrender if it is government forces. Never, and I mean never fight back against the government. You will only cement yourself as both dead and a giant loser.). Already have a designated spokesperson who will speak on behalf of the leader of the commune, so that leadership cannot be compromised in any situation.
Have a solid understanding of pathfinding, long-distance smoke signals, how to utilize HAM radios, how to skin and gut animals, how to build basic structures (with efficient ventilation to prevent carbon and methane build up), and how you will till the land. Obviously these skills do not have to be known by everyone, and simply having specialists in all is beneficial.
This is where not only a commune, but governments, led by academics always fail. You can’t have a bunch of textbook guys who overthink every other word in a sentence and think they know the entire world and its history as your leaders. They get muddied down in details, are generally gammas, and have the cynical edge of turning everything into a hopeless power struggle. They’re good as advisers, they’re good as managers, they are terrible as leaders and generals. Sorry to be that guy, but you don’t really know much about somewhere until you’ve been. I’ve learned this from simply having my own preconceptions about places shot down by people who are actually from there, or from people who have actually been there. This type of speculative academia has become even more useless in times of kinetic unpredictability, and this type of brain is better at coordinating and finding solutions in a better society, than analyzing the downfall of others.
If you want a steady commune, it has to be led by a firm leader who keeps the goals simple, manages the distribution of resources fairly (because communes are inherently communistic, can’t forget that part lol), and doesn’t choose favor of one over another overtly. A leader that actively sews such seeds of dismay and unhealthy competition is only seeking to have himself overthrown. Not that he can’t do this and garner favorable results, but it should be a tool he seldom uses. Without a good leader who sticks to his own rules, has a good gut to trust, and doesn’t unfairly punish people, with healthy safety and emergency protocols, the commune can withstand any trial it faces.
What I realized at the first camp I spent time at, before it was bulldozed by Feds (yeah, actual Feds just destroy shit lol), was how weak the leadership was at maintaining certain objectives. I forget most people’s names, but the leadership was a handicapped Lakota dude on crutches and his brother. Both very nice guys, and actually gave me the benefit of the doubt and entrusted me with a lot. It is unfortunate their camp couldn’t last longer. Regardless, they were only really good at smoking weed and making occasional appearances to make sure people knew this wasn’t some pirate’s den. You know how untrustworthy people are when their supposed leader walks into the tent and their conversations all change. You know they were talking about another piece of equipment they wanted to steal, or a place to get drugs, or spreading drama about someone.
Make sure to build your main community gathering and sleeping quarters on a hill where the anticipation of any attack or infiltration can be seen. Be prepared for any natural disaster, even if it destroys all of your infrastructure, maintain the mental and spiritual fortitude to build back. This is where Standing Rock inevitably failed as a bad blizzard was pretty much the beginning of the end for the movement.
Part IV - Constructive Focus
You will already have some level of temporary sleeping quarters like tents and teepees. This is important, as your first object is to not be building quarters or a religious gathering area, but latrines. A permanent place for people to comfortably go to the restroom is the key to preserving a sense of home and happiness. Yes, cleaning the latrines sucks, and that’s what you deal with in a commune. However, if you already have basic infrastructure built, then you’re way ahead of most communes. Say you have a house or a compound of a few houses or buildings, the main focus is to have a stable of food-producing critters like chickens and cows. Along with that, you will want to have a well with a secondary manual pump that allows for you to still get water if the power goes out. Obviously, you will need a generator, no matter what.
Have tillable land, obviously, but also construct greenhouses to expedite the process. Grow high-calorie foods like potatoes, corn, and rice. Depending on the size of your land, have dedicated off-road vehicles so that you have complete access to everywhere. Once the basics have been constructed, and the commune has gotten off the ground in a way that the people who live in it have been tested well enough, and their infrastructure is reliable enough, the elaboration of the commune to schooling and sporting can begin. Ultimately, the idea of achieving self-sustainability will more than likely coincide with the development of domestic (within the commune) manufacturing that can be used to fund the commune, much like the Amish do.
Alternatively, on a cray enough timeline this commune will simply be getting ahead of the curve as society continues to fall in on itself. Remember to not get caught up in anything other than the daily grind. All that keeps any community together is the love between its members in the shared worship of God. Hindering that, and people will start to go through emotional breakdowns and have constant rough patches, and ultimately, become distrustful due to their own spiritual bumpiness and emotional unpredictability. Depressive people end up being more of an enemy to the group than an enemy to themselves.
Part V - Location
Pick a location that is relatively barren and or undesirable, but the reality of eeking out a commune can be achieved. The great thing about the United States is how much relative freedom one has when they can pool their income with a few other people and simple buy up a piece of land anywhere they want (well, obviously there are a few that are out of the question). For me, I think of Mississippi and Alabama as solid spots that would not be intruded upon, and harbor some beautiful land that is simultaneously tillable. However, the best bet would be somewhere like Kansas, Nebraska, or South Dakota (SD has no state income tax, btw), where absolutely no one wants to move to, while also having perfectly arable land. In addition, it’s so far out, that simply happening upon the commune would be unlikely, which would help cut down on any riff-raff that pass through.
Ultimately this is something to figure out at a later date when people are less LARP-minded and more action-minded, but for now, here are some examples on how promising it is, even in such a price-distorted real estate market:
159 acres in KS: https://www.trulia.com/property/9068639604-County-Road-31-WP001-Bird-City-KS-67731
140 acres in SD: https://www.trulia.com/property/9070440465-202nd-St-WP001-Hayes-SD-57537
11 acres + based Mongol steppe in SD:https://www.trulia.com/property/9071199794-Lot-1-Antelope-Creek-Rd-1-Rapid-City-SD-57703
And I know many of you really have this bizarre addiction to bumming yourself out (masochism?), but Blackrock isn’t super secretly buying single family homes to super secretly take over America and turn us all into reluctant renters. They’re doing it as a hedge against a era of potential secular inflation; yanno, what anyone does in a time of elongated inflationary pressures. Obviously I do not side with that bet, but that’s what happens when you’re a megagiant holdings company - you have to make multi-varied bets. Sorry to blow your low IQ necessity to make a giant five dimensional conspiracy out of everything.
Anyway, hopefully that was a useful list that can inspire some of you now, or deep into the future, when something like this has to be seriously thought about as an alternative to the diminishing returns of modern times’ economic and spiritual malaise.
“Do not be too moral. You may cheat yourself out of much life so. Aim above morality. Be not simply good, be good for something.”
Henry David Thoreau
Great post. Thank you for sharing your experiences, observations, and critical insights.
Creating a community from scratch seems to be almost an impossible endeavor to me. And I don't know of any successful (=sustainable) examples. I like Wendell Berry's definition: A community is a place where you put community and its sustainability first and yourself second.