I'm sure we've all heard the saying 'If you aren't a liberal when you're 18, you're heartless. And if you're not a conservative when you're 30, you're stupid" (or something to that effect).
Well, it seems I can't be calling all hippies stupid anymore,
SUMMERTOWN, Tenn., Aug. 2 — "Three decades after the golden age of the hippie, about 200 of them are still thriving in a self-supporting commune some three hours east of glitzy Graceland. Known simply as The Farm, the sprawling collective operates, among other things, a midwife service, a soy products company, a mushroom grower and a factory producing personal radiation detectors."
"The early days, which Gaskin says were guided by agreements ''looser than handshakes,'' made it though tough times. Some bad investments and an equally poor national economy in the late '70s put The Farm about $400,000 in debt, says Douglas Stevenson, a Farm resident since 1973."
"What resulted was ''the changeover'' in 1983, which Stevenson described as the decision to make ''every adult responsible for bringing in some cash.'' Part of The Farm remains collectively held — the land and the commercial buildings remain owned by everyone — but all residents must work."
I wonder how many folks left the commune when it was decided, most likely through 'democracy', that you had to hold your own to stay.
Posted by AnalogKid at August 06, 2003 05:16 AM | TrackBackI don't know how many left AK, but what I'd give to have listened in on THAT meeting.
How deep would the irony be if the word freeloader were used by a hippy?
Posted by: puggs on August 6, 2003 05:24 AMWell that explains the stench.
Posted by: Drake on August 6, 2003 09:07 AM** the sprawling collective operates, among other things, a midwife service, a soy products company, a mushroom grower and a factory producing personal radiation detectors." **
How comic is it that for a hippie commune to function successfully it had to resort to CAPITALISM and thereby become (by most hippie definitions) UNsuccessful.
BTW, the last time I would consider myself to have been liberal, I was about 4. Uninformed, wanting something for nothing, throwing tantrums when I didn't get my way - you know....... liberal. I was a conservative at 18, I'm still one at 26, and I don't think much will change that before I hit 30.
;)
Posted by: Mike the Marine on August 6, 2003 10:22 AM"** the sprawling collective operates, among other things, a midwife service, a soy products company, a mushroom grower and a factory producing personal radiation detectors." **"
Gotta watch out for those 'shrooms, maaaan, they'll turn you into The Man if you're not carefull. That Capitalist Exploiter trip's not to Kewl...except for the money, duuude. And the self-respect. And the pride. You don't want any of that stuff...
Posted by: on August 6, 2003 01:57 PM