example of an intentional community

I ran across this the other day:

http://www.staroftheseavillage.com/

Apparently about 300 traditional Catholic families have bought properties in a rural area of Arkansas, and have set up schools and other communal institutions.

It's interesting as a model. I think there are two challenges with trying to duplicate these:

1. Sources of employment and income for the fathers of the community are necessary. It might be easier to start patriarchal communities at a suburban location of a major city where commuting to the metropolis or a sub-metropolitan economic center is possible. This has two drawbacks, however: property prices are higher, and you draw more attention from liberal bureaucratic authorities.

2. This community only appears to be approx. 10 years old, and is extremely out-of-the-way. Every year, there is a chance that your community is 'discovered' by the media-political complex, which cannot abide a traditional community, and would love to force admission of homosexuals, outsiders, etc. There aren't any political means left in America to fight back against non-discrimination, multiculturalism, free media, and the like. You can see the effects of this on Ave Maria, the town started by the Domino's magnate in Florida with more institutional attention. It now declares it is open to "every lifestyle."

Anyways, thought it might be interesting for discussion.

Thanks for the find. I see this is your first post here, welcome. Please introduce yourself.

Causabon wrote

1. Sources of employment and income for the fathers of the community are necessary.

This is absolutely crucial. Hutterites overcome this challenge by being a commune. They have a very high standard of living. Other Mennonite branches are not communal and live below the poverty line. Communalism is a whole other question though.

The Hutterites are impressive - their seed population was 400 in roughly 1880, and is now around 40,000; an increase of 10 times as compared to the US population increase of 6 times over that period, and they have maintained impressive communal coherence. I think communal ownership definitely works in certain, low-scale circumstances, but it requires a very specific set of values and priorities. I for one, and most people who are attached to traditional Western culture, would probably not do well in that sort of environment.

Regarding introduction, I'm a commenter from a few sites on the traditional right that found this site; I've been a traditionalist anti-feminist for about two years.

Causabon wrote

but it requires a very specific set of values and priorities. I for one, and most people who are attached to traditional Western culture, would probably not do well in that sort of environment.

As damsel put it eloquently in her thread  Where are you going to get women to go along with your dreams?:

damsel wrote

You see, I foresee that you will have problems forming a community
without a stable religious core.  It will be something that everyone can
agree on, that will be the standard that is larger than the individual.  For
a group to sustain itself, it needs a religious core.

Nearly all of the posters here are atheists. If religion is the only way to create a "standard that is larger that the individual", then this presents a conflict. Here's a person's choices:

a) Convert.
b) Lie.
c) Don't convert.

Drealm wrote

damsel wrote

You see, I foresee that you will have problems forming a community
without a stable religious core.  It will be something that everyone can
agree on, that will be the standard that is larger than the individual.  For
a group to sustain itself, it needs a religious core.

Nearly all of the posters here are atheists. If religion is the only way to create a "standard that is larger that the individual", then this presents a conflict. Here's a person's choices:

a) Convert.
b) Lie.
c) Don't convert.

Religion is more than just belief.  The best hope for CoAlpha is to resolve this "conflict".  What Christianity did was to resolve the conflict between Judaism and Roman/Greek culture.  This made the best aspects of Judaism available to the whole of the Roman Empire.  I don't see why a similar thing couldn't happen now to make the core of Christianity available to everyone.  I have been attending Greek Orthodox Church and I haven't yet felt a conflict.  It is up to us to study Christianity (or whatever religion works) and to figure out how atheists can fit into the religion based on shared values.

Thanks Causabon, this is interesting.  I agree that suburban is better than rural.  Ave Maria looks like it was organized for profit, so it is subject to lots of restriction.  I think a non-profit organization would avoid a lot of these problem.  And I agree that the Hutterite model of communal ownership wouldn't work for most people, including me.  The Hasidic Jews aren't communal and I don't think the Amish are either.

For everyone else, Causabon came from here.