Inside a Post-Capitalism Community 

As someone who lives in a commune I'd like to explain: my community is still engaged in capitalism, while most of us don't have to deal with it directly. I don't have to think about spending, saving, investing or stressing about it. I don't like to deal with money so I like this lifestyle. It's not for everyone by any means.

The comments makes my eyes bleed. Ya'll, selling something for a profit isn't automatically "capitalism". Markets and profits have existed long before capitalism. This is a socialist community, period. They collectively own the means of production and all produce according to need, and even receive an equal salary.

“What we are doing is Capitalism” Vice: “THIS COMMUNITY HAS DROPPED OUT OF CAPITALISM”

To me, the strong message that is sent through that short documentary is that worker owned and worker operated businesses can work, and that they are likely a lot more comfortable to work within than many other business structures. Democracy in the workplace is going to be an important battle in the future.

Instantly respected this man when he acknowledged he was still living in a capitalist regime

"tofu moral manager to boost the happiness of the residents who spend their days hauling bags of soybeans" The jokes writes themselves

these people didn't drop out of capitalism, they just found a different way to play the game. $600,000 a year profits and $120 hammocks are as capitalistic as it comes. to each his own. when you find people surviving WITHOUT playing the game for money, be sure to let me know, 'cause i'd like to know how they do it!

It’s a company town , with a heart.

I was a member. You can't really expect a video like this to give you any more than a brief overview -- and that's all it does. It's all very distorted. Average length of stay there is 10 yrs only if you mess around with the numbers until 'average' takes on a whole new meaning. If you make a list of the people who are there right now and average it out (I wonder if they mean 'median' instead of 'average') then you probably get the 10 yrs figure. But I digress. I think the main takeaway from this is given between the lines. TO is NOT career oriented. The work that they do supports the community. If something you want to do doesn't support the community, you do it on your own time either at your own expense or you might receive a small stipend to buy some supplies you might need -- like paints and brushes if you are an artist. The community will not buy you a personal music instrument. If the community buys a drum kit, for example, it will be a public drum kit available to everyone. The result of all that being: if you want a "career" ... engineering, professional musician, website design, anything medical, etc ... you're wasting your time at TO. It's an interesting place to live and hang out for a couple of years, but anyone staying longer than that is there only for ideological reasons or because the interpersonal dynamics of living that closely with others appeals to them so much that the rest of their life tends to fade away. That dream you might have once had of being a travel consultant or an accountant just evaporates. If that's what you want to happen to you, then TO is your spot. Might also keep in mind that TO does not contribute to your Social Security account. If you stay there many years, then the prospect of receiving SS disappears as something you can depend on for retirement. Bottom line: people get stuck in community after a while and CAN'T leave (unless you want to live on the street and hope for a few bucks a day in donations to keep you from starving -- not a pleasant prospect for old age). Also be aware that the basic human desire to have children is not a decision you can make for yourself at TO. Children have to be approved by the community. Not only children arriving with their parent(s), but also pregnancies. Another thing, if diet is a major consideration for you, you don't have much control over what you eat at TO. Meals are prepared, and if you don't care for them then you go into the kitchen and cook something you like better. And yet another thing, if you live in a city you might have access to a million possible friends. At TO, you're stuck with the small number of people who are there on the farm at any one time. If there is no one there you are attracted to, then you're sort of out of luck. You can hope someone shows up eventually ... or you can leave. Many people just leave.

I always suspected that half the appeal of zombie and post apocalypse movies and art was that it gives people an excuse to form or join an “intentional community” who are generally dissatisfied with our current state of society. I’m a union worker an activist for similar reasons that are described in this segment

The man jumping at the end surprised me a bit with that agility lol

I'm surprised this community is getting so much hate. They're just living together happily making hammocks and tofu. 😂😂😂 And they have a chill process to join. Others require 6000 dollars to go take a 5 week gardening class and if they like you then you can stay. So compared to all that they seem to have found a way to live in a communal sense but also survive in the real world. It seems much more relaxed than feeling like you're always having to compete with others, feeling isolated from one's community and like no matter how hard one tries, it's never enough. I have lived in a community vaguely like this and it was really really nice. Granted there was more diversity but we all had separate jobs based on interest and shared resources. We had a large garden that fed the people that lived in the house. Granted it was on a much smaller scale but it was still a nice moment in time while I resided there. I eventually left because my mom was going through some hard times and eventually died of sadness. After I stayed and took care of my father with dementia. And now my husband and I are looking into trying to create something similar to our community home in the future. But baby steps.

This is like farmers working together and taking care of everyone that creates an equal society where no one is competing with each other which makes all happy and contented with life.

I feel like a lot of the negative comments are here because the title, but also because it's only 7 minutes. It's a really interesting subject, and I wish Vice would do more on the other communities they mentioned (kind of like their Kentucky Ayahuasca series but it's not following One Guy)

Dropped out of capitalism? These communes make their own product and sell it to independent businesses im exchange of money --- this is the purest form of capitalism you can have.

"dropped out of capitalism", yet he is worried whole foods is lowering tofu prices because , he wont make as much selling it.. that's ass backwards.

I lived here for a couple of years, and I love it when the algorithms randomly put videos about it in my feed. Good times. I enjoyed my time there.

This title seems inappropriate

I don’t think people understand the difference between altering the social structure of a community away from capitalism...and abolishing the concept of capital. The title is clickbaity, I know. This community still exists within a capitalist society, but it’s clear that the institution of the community is not to bear profit or hierarchical economic structures, but to achieve an equilibrium between the participants, which is fundamentally not capitalist. It’s post capitalist. It similar to the relationships proto-capitalist societies had with “post feudalism”. It was a gradual transition. Not a socialist/communist. I merely think there is a fundamental difference between capitalism and what this community practices, regardless of any participation in the outer capitalist system.

4:49 Woman: relationships are less monogamous and thats why i like living here :) 5:07 Man: relationships can be really troubling, the pool can be really scarce and if you break up you cant get away lol wonder whos the guy getting all the girls

I have nothing negative to say about this story. Although I would go about the occupational system differently, for 15yrs I’ve been saying that this is an inevitability positive alternative to the grind. I’ve always dreamt of a hi-tech but energy renewable community. Communities integrating, stronger educations, better mental health...basically looking more @ a mindful future than a destructive past.

They are basically regular company, which priority is not profit, but "employees". This can work in small communities where are no freeloaders.

These communities have the potential to have a profoundly positive impact on the greater society.

This vídeo is recycled

" thanks to lack of zoning laws and LOW TAXES " - sounds very capitalistic to me.

I recently heard from someone who was there for three weeks that the commune essentially forces people to work in the tofu factory because that is where the money comes from and because working inside of a factory, instead of in the garden, is not enjoyable.

My family purchased what was to become Twin Maples Farm in upstate N.Y. in the early 1970's. It was definitely a commercial enterprise, although we were sometimes labeled as being communalistic. This was mostly due to our small- scale and "old- fashioned" farming practices (organics), and local prejudices that prevailed at the time. Anyway, we lost pretty much the entire place to foreclosure in the 1990's, small farms in N.Y. have had a hard time hanging on. (we only had a little over 150 acres to work with) With the economy seemingly sliding into another deep recession, I am now working on plans to revive Twin Maples. It wouldn't be on the original property, (the land was cut up and sold off following the foreclosure). It might not even be in New York state. I noticed in the graphic at the beginning of this video that upstate N.Y. is now apparently home to several communal communities, I wonder if anyone who is currently involved in one of these would care to chat, and give me some input and advice. Thank you.

Dropped out of capitalism? I think someone needs to go re-read the definition of capitalism... This is literally exactly what capitalism is. People have truly become ignorant in the past few decades.

600K a month in profits? DEFFENETLY sounds like they dropped out of capitalism l.

Did dude literally in mid swing just ask someone watching him "isn't that fun"

Comment section is filled with experts on Capitalism and Communism, no need scroll further.

Holy shit. You said it yourself, they are making good money from SELLING their products. They are basically a family of friends that thrive in capitalism, not drop it.

This only works because it’s a relatively small place make it any bigger and it’s not gonna be such a smooth operation

Beauty of capitalism, you can form “communist-style” communes

Well they use capitalism to make money But within the community It’s all collective I get it

It's a leisure-based, fun-based commune where you work 40 hours a week carrying around bags of soya beans.

This isn't people dropping out of capitalism. They practice capitalism just not cronyism

These guys accidentally did the most American thing possible.

November 2020: this video is old ... 👴🏻

That's your free choice, but remember that it is in a capitalist system that this choice is yours to freely make. If you try to "drop out" like this in many other systems, the state will force you to conform, or just dispose of you.

"infamous scientist B.F. Skinner" How do so many people not understand that infamous =/= famous. Unless you are saying that B.F. Skinner was a wicked man... Also, is this a re-upload? I'm positive I saw this video a year or two ago.

It is pure utopian communism without a religious bigotry

Me: *Looks at comments* "This is Capitalism." Me: *watching video* Video: Workers collectively owning the means of production. *Socialism intensifies.* Me after video: Damn lol this is deeply Socialist. I am more surprised the CIA hasn't shown up yet.

I notice a huge lack of racial diversity, I’m going to have to call the SPLC to ensure they are enriched

Better title: "Rich people decide to start a self sufficient life in rural Virginia".

>Dropped out of capitalism You mean the urban grind?

Nothings wrong with capitalism...as long as you are sharing all profits(100% of it) based on employee contribution.

I live and am from Va, and we are not a “red state”, and haven’t been that way in a while.

Well if they wish to follow such a lifestyle, then it isn't a problem. Things get out of hand when one set of people wish to impose a certain lifestyle on others. (P.S. I'm personally a free marketeer, and I don't find anything wrong with this).

Great series. Outliers are just early adopters. Good luck y"all.

Those hammock chairs look super comfy though....

Interesting. I have considered living like this earlier in my life. And now that the plandemic has shown how easy the control system can be cranked up and tightened, it honestly is something I am once mote considering. It seems like everyone interviewed was intelligent, and had a nice head on their shoulders. I was also surprised to see the amount of communes in america. Indicative of what a lot of people feel about current society.

Not dropped from capitalism but more like dropped corporatism

Misleading title, I want my 7 minutes back!

I feel like I´ve watched this video like a year ago, anyone else?

What happens when someone who lives in the community becomes disabled due to an accidental injury? Or give birth to a child with a disability or severe health issues?

So where do the profits go?

“red state america?” virginia is a solid blue state, so not sure where they got that.....

I'm deeply impressed by this. I had the pleasure of reading something similar, and it left a deep impression on me. "The Art of Meaningful Relationships in the 21st Century" by Leo Flint

I'd love to be a fly on the wall for all the drama

"This Community Participates in Capitalism" There, I fixed your title

All I see is...... In a commune, you share what you EARN but you still have to EARN it just in more less private way.

For a long time i struggled with imagining an alternative style of capitalism and never really wanted to seem like the “hippie” type so i never really wanted to talk and ask about it with others. Despite it being a commune this is a super dope experiment and viewpoint of what America could be like. However how did they make such connections with places like peir one anyways??

How do I sign up

These communes always collapse because over time you have 10% of people doing 90% of the work.

"Thanks to lax zoning laws and low taxes" hmmmm its like libretrians been saying this for a long time.

And what occurs when a person refuses to help or do their part. What happens when a person commits an interpersonal crime against another person. What happens when one person trespasses on another person. What happens if a person decides to use drugs instead of working. What happens when a person gets seriously ill? Obviously, it's not a long-term solution just a good times plan. Plus, what's the point if your working as hard or harder than you would on your own?

This raises a very old and forgotten distinction between capitalism and socialism, which unfortunately fell out after the communist countries after the USSR co-opted the term. Socialism is when the workers own the means of production, capitalism is when they're privately held. Engaging in a market isn't capitalism, which should be obvious because markets existed before capitalism.

I love the whole " keep your debt but you're essentially taxed 100 percent"

Feels like walking dead scene....

where do i sign up??

0:42 ....."thanks to lack zoning laws and low taxes.......In the heart of rural red state america" imagine my shock

"This community dropped out of capitalism" "They make profit by selling hammocks and tofu" LOL

I don't know how I feel about this video

Ngl I'd love to live there for a while to learn some stuff

This is how people should live.

Concerning the ad before this video, do people really have butts so stinky they need deodorant? Soap and water can't handle it?

After watching Midsommar movie I am scared that they can be the real one.

The man in the red shirt at the end has it all figured out

I was totally on board until 6:51

Lol this guy basically owns slaves. Change my mind.

This just seems like a cult with extra steps

This gets me going, good stuff

Funny thing about "Capitalism": it's used to describe the richest companies in the world, and the tiniest mom-and-pops. Yet they don't all work the same way or have the same effect. A capitalist company can be non-hierarchical, independent, treat (and pay) its workers fairly, compete fairly, and not hurt the environment. Nothing about capitalism says you can't do those things. Of course, the companies that don't may have a slight advantage. But people are also willing to pay for things from a specific company when they believe in its mission. Point is, don't think you "know" what capitalist companies, or their net effects, are without examining the individual company. Other than making profits and being privately owned, a company can work any way it wants to. And you can make your own company any way you want to. It's up to us to choose to do the right thing.

It’s not a red state. We have blue senators, blue governor, we aren’t even a swing state anymore

That just sounds like capitalism with extra steps

How do they retire? 😳 At some point it will be filled with the elderly people who need support

I wonder what the government thinks of this? I mean, what even is the legal implications regarding Twin Oaks?

Actually this is more like Anarcho-capitalism, and it's ok 👍

Next episode “community drops out of communism”.... never mind.

Quick summary is people come and stay for the community they yearn for in their lives.

We need more intentional living places.

The first 10 seconds put me off. Work hard, play harder

This is gonna go downhill right

Seems like mini version of Auroville

Wow I had no idea about pier 1 imports thats crazy

More like they dropped out of socialism.

Laughing all the way to the bank.

"The average stay at Twin Oaks is 10 years." .... Really? I think it's more like 3.5 years. Unless that's changed recently.

whats that song in background gotta play that