Page 19 - C.A.L.L. #42 - Spring 2017

to want to do the work to keep our infrastructure maintained or going to meetings to make decisions
together.” She concludes that “my community might continue on, but will probably look a lot different
than when we started this place 40 years ago.”

Marty also has concerns about the future for Shannon Farm. He says they are trying to figure out “how to
have the community be attractive to potential younger members in a difficult larger economy when
[their] structure largely involves members investing in homes. Even though [they] have kept the
economics as affordable as possible, inflation over time has…made it difficult for younger people to
have the money.”

This discussion of money leads to the next lesson I drew from my interviewees:

Step 10: A community focused on inner and outer peace pays attention to economics.
Though some communitarians may find it distasteful to talk about money, my interviewees made it clear
that communities must create a stable economic base in order to have the time and resources to
develop and spread a peaceful, cooperative culture.

One big challenge for Sandhill Farm in a rural area with limited employment and income-producing
opportunities was “to develop a stable economic base that would cover all expenses.” They augmented
community income with personal savings to help make it through the early years. One big help was their
ability to buy the land with cash. They never had a mortgage. To Laird, this “illuminates an important
point about starting a community 40 years ago instead of today: land prices were relatively cheaper
then.” The lack of mortgage and help from personal savings bought them time “to find value based work
(both in the form of outside jobs and community businesses.” Their fate may have been quite different
had they been “scrambling to stay out of debt” and forced into jobs that didn’t mesh with their values.

Laird notes that developing a fairly stable economic situation has afforded the community “some peace
simply as a byproduct to doing work we love, instead of work for a paycheck…”. This stability also allows
them to emphasize “relationships over accomplishments.”

The importance of developing a stable
economic base was also mentioned by Valerie.
Over the years, Twin Oaks has built a number of
income-producing businesses, including
hammocks, soy foods, book indexing and an
heirloom seed business. Valerie notes that “at
the risk of tempting fate, I would say we are on
secure footing. We have village-scale self-
supporting systems (growing much of our own
food, solid infrastructure in place, etc.) and
several community businesses (even more
diversified than in our past) to support our cash
needs.” Group hammock weaving. Twin Oaks.

Harvey notes that economics are a big issue for
Dunmire Hollow. While he thinks that living in the woods may promote inner tranquility, “having to make
a living in southern Tennessee generally may not”. Indeed, Dunmire’s rural location and the depressed
economic conditions of the surrounding area make supporting oneself difficult. As Harvey implies,
finding inner peace or being able to devote time to work on outer peace are challenging when the
stresses of putting food on the table and keeping a roof overhead are urgent concerns. The difficulty of

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