The Pros and Cons of Living in an Income-Sharing Commune 

"sorry for interrupting you" --what polite kids, my god!

Looks like they haven't figured out who is responsible for cleaning.

I could do shared land and garden and farm but the clutter is already driving me nuts in the living space.

I grew up in a community where there was a group like that. It's resulted in a lot of pain now that I've grown up, and grown apart from them. It also gave me a very bad understanding of how to handle money, and what I am actually worth as a skilled laborer. When you grow up hating the idea of money, you tend to be willing to work for a lot less than you should and people take advantage of you.

They should combine more minimalistic philosophy because looking at all that clutter and mess makes me sick...

“I made 27, 000... so i quit my job and now I don’t know how much I make.” This is the exact opposite of the type of person you want splitting your resources...

when the kid apologized for interrupting, I cried

I found an update on a blog- it seems the lawyer left after she and her bf broke up?: "The danger of relying on the income of one or two members is further illustrated by the slow demise of Compersia which began falling apart when the member who had a large income that basically supported the community left. This was also caused by a romantic breakup between two members-a different danger when relationships are what stabilize a community."

someone making $27,000 and someone making $85,000 treated as equal providers.......hmmmm....i think i'll just keep my money thanks

When the brother said “Sorry for interrupting you Laren (?)” oh my god great parenting and such a sweet boy!

It's great that these people have found a way of life that makes them feel satisfied and whole. I hope it works out well for them and they reach their goal. I know I wouldn't fit in here at all, I like my own space and managing my own money.

So the lawyer is paying for everything lmao

As long as you don’t force me to join then have at it. Make all the communes you want, but don’t legislate it.

Idk, if I had kids, I don’t think I’d be all that comfortable with them living in the same house as several people that I really don’t know *that* well?.. I mean, they’re probably fine and being treated very well, but… seems a bit risky to me…

"Setting aside money to put into individual accounts for each person." So the lawyer and the teacher are supporting 3 basically jobless men and ALSO giving them cash that they will never get back.

i wouldnt wanna be making 80+k a year only to be sharing a dirty small space with a bunch of others and eating diseased, dumpster food....

I couldn't live there. It's a dump.

$60/hr as a handyman wtf is he on

I'm a messy person. But that disgusting mess shown in every room was way beyond anything I could tolerate. That was impossible. Just gross.

The woman who makes 80K a year is just paying for a bunch of squaters.

There are components of commune living that makes sense. Child care shared amongst adults with shared living and eating space sounds very healthy, but income sharing isn't completely necessary and seems destabilizing. Cooperative housing with more communal elements might be more appropiate for most people.

Mom earns 85k a year, kids eat out of a trash can, including tainted food that "only" killed a couple of people. Sounds liberating.

The lawyer's problems stem from her previously having kids with an inflexible jerk. It wasn't a living problem.

Is it just me or do all these people seem a bit off?

I have spent 22 years of my life living with my parents, grandma and younger brother and sister. When I finish college I intend to move out but these people want to live with even more people. I would honestly go insane if I lived the way they do.

Couldn’t they have cleaned the house knowing that the film crew was on the way?

So you have a bunch of people under the same roof, sharing all the bills? Yeah, you have roommates. Not a new thing.

As an introvert I could never do this... it’s not even the clutter, just the lack of personal space freaks me out 😩

I don't understand the defensive reaction in the comments. If you don't want to live like this you don't have to, that's kind of the point. Why do you need to prove so badly that the way other people live their lives is wrong?

You should do an update video. I would love to know if the commune was still working.

If the attorney left, the commune would be dead. They are already eating out of dumpsters!

They knew the cameras were coming. Couldn't they at least make the beds? I think the idea of a commune is really cool, but if I started a commune, keeping things tidy and clean would be part of the rules.

lived in a co-op and it is exactly like this. dirty, cluttered, tense, socially messy and self-isolating. do not do this. plz

If it works out for them. Then good. *A small productive community* can go further together. That's how companies and organizations work.

I glad she point out personality conflict in a commune since we are all so diverse as human. Also, I noticed that one of the room they shared, personal space was also considered as important.

That lady could probably do better for 85k/year.

“Food reclamation and rescue” - dumpster diving. 😂

The attorney seems to contribute most and i bet she also does all of their dishes and laundry

This man said..... I would prefer not to have to ask you to do that. Then his mom is heard saying “ oh yeah the kids love it “. My thoughts"? Have you actually asked them or did you just assume?

So essentially what these people have done is created a family. A traditional family is a small-ish group of people who share resources for the benifit of everyone. In my opinion the US needs to get back to family values even if that means living with extended family and friends in order to take care of each other

This is just normal in the Philippines. Everyone lives together. Relatives take care of your kids. Relatives also depend on your income. But they give back by doing your chores. Introvert hell.

This is not that different from just living in a family household, you are just creating it with a roommate and community situation. I think some people don’t want to live alone and really want that support system, so this could be a great alternative.

I lived in a commune in college. The biggest problem is when you have that one crazy person in the house ruining everything. That was a big deal. Other than that, I wished I had lived in a commune my whole college experience. It was much cheaper in terms of pretty much everything like rent, utilities, and groceries. The food was much more varied, healthier, and delicious. No ramen noodles for us. We did most of our cooking, cleaning, and some of the maintenance and groceries. I did the house cooking two days per week. It was a great experience.

I’d love to do this on a farm where there’s multiple clean houses and a good environment that’s pretty self sustainable and equal between everyone

Wow. Just the fact that her brother apologized for interrupting her says so much about their parents. How respectful 👏🏾👏🏾

I like that they set up a system where there are multiple ways to contribute (working, labor, organization, etc). I personally wouldn't be comfortable with it but whatever works.

This looks awful. Freeloader heaven though.

Money is about security. No way in hell I would share my income with people other than family.

There is already a commune everyone naturally does, it's called family.

Guess who works the most in that commune, and who eats the most.

Pros: Great environment for growing bacteria Cons: Everything else

That little boy, he realized he interrupted the little girl, and he apologized . *MIND BLOWN*

That gpaul guy seems like hes just justifying his lack of financial abilities by starting a commune then charging $60 an hour to do "work around the house"

I live with three people. We have our own money and do what we want with it and we don't pool it. However, we do help each other out when/if the need arises. We will share our food if one of us comes short with a pay cheque, loan each other money and just help in every regard right down to cooking meals. And we still have our own lives, our own things and our own rooms. I guess it's kind of like communal living except we don't toss our resources into one pot. We just help each other when it's needed.

I really appreciate the editing of this, it wasn’t sugarcoated, there were awkward moments left in and that’s life isn’t it? lots of awkward moments. Lol. Power to them though, hope they get what they want out of it, it’s a beautiful idea. Personally I don’t think I could go that far I’m more of a cohousing person. We have been thinking about a way to do that in our (hopefully) early-ish retirement years. Fend off the Existential dread with community and hopefully have a little bit leftover for travel.

Is this how you want to live? I'd rather die.

4:44 I'm about to fall out when the boy says sorry for interrupting you with the stern face, wow

You give all to the collective and the collective gives all to you. That sounds like dangerous logic.

That's way too extreme for me. I'm such a introvert hermit crab, and living in that house with all those people and kids would put me in such a depressed mood.

I absolutely loved communal living. I lived on The Farm Commune from age 15 - 20 and in 1979 we all moved to Austin Texas, which was a meca of some really great folks with a consciousness very much like our Commune. At The Farm, we had 1500 acres with up to 1700 people, we lived in households of up to 45 per house with 21 children in that number. We were vegan, no leather, living with free medical, I was taught " Spiritual Midwifery" , we smoked only herb and any natural Psychadelics and smoking herb was considered Communion, many ideas, philosophies, and ideas to help mankind, we lived in buses and other large structures, we were fully self sustainable, married folks had their own rooms, single ladies and men shared rooms with others of the same gender, everyone shared duties at home and worked jobs on the Farm or Construction workers worked off the Farm and brought money back and gave it to the Commune. We never paid for anything . However, we had to work to keep our village alive . The main Farm was in Summer town called,Tenn. With multiple satillite Farms from California, Canada, Guatemala, Florida, DC Austin,zero Wisconsin and the Bronx and more. We had Spiritual Teacher named Stephen Gaskin ,He was not a Leader, He encouraged everyone of us to be teachers too. How did it work, we had Agreements. I believe the most Important agreement was to tell someone immediately if they made you angry, hurt, upset , and to " work it out before any " sub conscious" / resentment festered. It wasn't always easy when on the receiving end however no one ever got mad. Wood stove heat, Live Music all weekend, I have been trying to get another situation started with Community. We need each other and one day even the young will get old. Honor your neighbor, feed each other, always have help when needed, Respect the Sacrament of the Family unit and raise creative children. Multiple books were published about how we all got started . One of my favorites is "This Seasons People". Great video!

I’d like to see a commune where all the members are just like FUCKING RICH but they recognize that they could raise their kids better and have healthier interpersonal relationships by sharing a space together. Now _that_ would be something new.

I like this idea but I always go back to the concept of social loafing. If group efforts are pooled, people are less likely to work as hard as they would individually. I think tension would also start to build if you have people making less than 20k per year with people that are making more than 80k per year. Maybe a commune of people who make the same amount of money, whose needs are about the same, would work a lot better.

Love the idea. First heard it from 4 sisters who has over a million dollars in student loans combined. They all lived together and paid that money in less than 10 years even with the younger one only making 28k they paid hers in full.

This is an interesting video. I'm not sure why people are piling on with insulting comments. As some have said, if it looks like it won't work for you, that's fine but you don't have to disparage others who champion or prefer this arrangement. I've lived in shared housing for years as a student and young adult and enjoyed it: it was not income-sharing as this commune is though. During those times, despite being a young person who could well afford to get my own place, I chose not to. Interestingly, with the rise of single adults in the US - whether divorced, widowed, or never married -- and aging adults, magazines like AARP have written about communal living among the elderly. Money seems like it can solve everything but in fact, caregiving/ household chores is not only about $$ but also about trust and love. All the $$ in the world can't buy real care: I know this having worked with a lot of families with medical issues/ elderly relatives/ children and paid caregivers who steal things or neglect the person under their care. Finally, the blurb reads "upwards of $80,000"-- it's possible that some people like the freelancer or small business owner can make much more than their titles let on.

The way everyone interacts with each other and with the kids and how the kids interact is so lovely

The Listeria-prevention explanation made me cringe...just because they said they recalled it for that reason doesn't mean that's why...please don't eat that...🤢

Damn she talking crap about her daughter’s father as her daughter sits on her lap. That must make everyone feel great

Communes without a charismatic leader seems incredibly dull.

these can help lonely people and instill a sense of worth and value in individuals

Id live in a commune with Jenny too if she was making that much & wasnt allowed to complain if she realised she funded us all for staying home making pseudo intellectual videos

I would never do that. I prefer having my own space that I control and having control over my money.

Con: A bunch of legitimate, solid arguments against communism, communes and a bunch of history to show why it almost always fails. Pro: I'm not going to knock them for being in the minority of people who support this general set of ideologies who actually go out and do it and give it a solid shot. Props to them for balancing their finances and pursuing what they want to do in life. I really hope it works well for them.

I respect the sentiment but I just had a panic attack watching this

I want to join so I can mooch off the rest. Sure, I'll "look" busy once in awhile, but basically I'll be there to freeload. If someone says something.. I'll cry.

I actually love the idea. My only "issue " with this community would be not having my own space. I'm the sort of person who needs at least a few square meters to be on it's own. Right now I share an appartment with other people and I'm really happy with it. It takes a lot of stress from me. But most people can't understand that.

You know the attorney is dipping her nugget in every sauce, right?

why don't they have a garden?

So this “commune” is just roommates

Oh my gawd.... dumpster diving recalled food..... Lol

Voluntarily Collectivize the labor, but individualize the benefits.

Portlandia used to be funnier before they got rid of Fred and Carrie.

This is one of those things that work great on paper but in reality selfish human nature will prevail

Marriage is communal living between two people. Even that always has money issues regarding what to spend the money on. It would be impossible in a group.

This is like 2 joints away from a hippy drum circle

I love how the side recoment on this turns into. "How well meaning intellgent people end up in a cult"

Awe, when the kid apologized for interrupting, I died..

"Me and Steve becoming romantic could jeopardize the commune...but I'm selfish so I don't care"

Gambling with Listeria is a huge mistake. Here in Australia we have had multiple deaths from Listeria in recent months.

Communes are already a common thing. Most people call them "families."

The collective doesn’t give everything it has to you. It gives a small piece of what it has to you.

Income sharing sounds difficult for me, but I would be willing to share other things.

The second lady is sharing everything but the food !

Not for me but it’s always interesting watching these videos and seeing some of the things people are coming up with to meet their needs

If I’m going to form my own community, the absolute last thing I’m doing is increasing the hours of the work week.

Communes rule, only way to go! Sharing and caring.

I lived in a foreclosed on house in key west with 12 hippies, it was 2009 so the bank would take years to catch up on foreclosures and throw us out. The electric bill still had to be paid on time. Strangely half my housemates would disappear for a week or so whenever it was time to toss a few bucks in for the electric bill. Funny thing.

Income sharing.... 🤣🤣🤣🤣 SHE shares her money and the rest live off it.

I look forward to the 2 year update video where this completely falls apart as does every socialist / commune in the past has done.

The hate in these comments is a 100% accurate reflection of America.

That household is gunna blow up, no doubt. The chick who is making 85k a year is keeping them afloat and for some reason she is still there. The idea of people living in the same house to split the rent makes sense but even still that’ll last for like 5 years until everyone gets tired of each other. Socialism is like thinking of an ideal perfect condition with no conflict, but humans are greedy and we are all different but for some reason people still think that it’ll work no matter how many times we tell them it won’t.