some guy in lebanon

Given that our government is in the process of radically socializing the American economy, and also given my increased interest in Libertarian Socialism, I am of the impression that we are about to witness a market-driven rapid growth of communes here in the United States. My general assumptions for such a communal movement include,

There must be consequences...

1. Prior to 2008, credit has been the driving force of an bubble “ownership society” in the United States, and,
2. The reality that much of this credit was responsible for home ownership, car ownership, and many other forms of individual acquisition via home-equity and credit cards, and,
3. That the credit behind this ownership has now essentially evaporated, and more importantly that,
4. Much of that credit was loaned at problematically low (but adjustable) interest rates that were also haphazardly secured (or unsecured), and,
5. That the consequences of the credit implosion are that large portions of American citizens face, if not bankruptcy, than at least the elimination of their access to credit in the future.

If that is the case, if large portions of our society face a government-controlled economy and little access to credit, than the only reasonable assumption we can make is that Americans will be forced by the market to pool resources in order to maintain a certain standard of living to which they have become accustomed.

The most obvious example of large-scale communal living within a regulated, but relatively free-market, economy are Israeli Kibbutzim (read more). Obviously there are examples of co-operative living in the United States, but to a certain degree they are relegated to the willing few who choose to live such a life, independent of the American mainstream.

My hypothesis is that the market will force many Americans into resource pooling, the likely evolution of which will first be a growth in shared-apartment living. This will likely force many older Americans into co-operative living situations, which I believe will lead to greater structure in the communal society. The success of shared wealth will likely highlight the inadequacies of personal credit-based-purchasing – An obvious example:

Why would five people need five plasma TV’s when one will suffice? Furthermore, this TV, split five ways, is suddenly accessible without credit, as purchasing the TV with cash is far easier.

The realization of this restructuring of the standard American purchasing reality will possibly lead co-operative living communities to explore in greater detail the opportunities of pooling resources in an attempt to either eliminate debt, or at the very least, spread the consequences of un-secured credit lines out over more people.

I would like to explore this topic further, however, I am hampered by a number of questions.

• First, I would like to know more about Kibbutzim, including the differences between these communities versus moshavim (read more).
• Second, I am curious about those who have lived and/or worked on Kibbutzim or moshavim, and whether they think the model would work in parallel to American social norms.
• Third, if the answer to the second question is, “no,” do you believe that the new reality of limited access to credit will change American social norms to the degree to which the Israeli model will be more acceptable to American sensibilities.
• Fourth, given that the government is rapidly socializing what were traditionally free-market private enterprises, do you believe that this new philosophy will speed a socialist movement that would gestate communal living more evenly across American society?
• Finally, what are the consequences of such a movement politically and legally? Could we see a rise in neo-MacCarthism? Might the opposite be the case? Perhaps the government would see such communities as a welcome change to American spending and saving habits? What forms of suspicion might arise? Is the American government inherently pro-individual and pro-property-ownership?

I am opening up comments across the site for a while, so that you do not need to be signed into comment on this particular post. Please feel free to help me in answering this question – Do you believe, for example, that if the Israeli communal model would not fit into the American context, perhaps there are models in Europe, Scandinavia, Africa, other parts of the Middle East, Asia, or Latin America, that would fit?

I’m wondering… how many of you who know me will be taken back at the apparent socialism in my perspective. Let me counter that by stating that I believe that a growth in communal living in American is a market-response, a condition that is not in any way parallel to the standard model of socialist movements.

There is little-to-no idealism in this model – I believe that Americans will begin, en masse, to pool resources and live cooperatively due to the extreme life-style needs of the American consumer, coupled with the almost complete end of easy-credit.

I believe that most Americans will refuse to go without computers, expensive jeans, and $100 nights at bars and restaurants at least once a week. In an attempt to maintain that lifestyle, it only makes sense that Americans will cobble together resources for food, etc. Whereas in the past that might have been capped in most American shared-households at 4-to-8 roommates, it now seems more realistic that we will see 20, 30, 100 people of all ages living together in shared-living accommodations, not just co-operative condominiums. I am very curious as to what that might do to our society.

Please feel free to share your thoughts – I will follow this post up with several more articles.

The Dao that can be experienced is not true;
The world that can be constructed is not true.
The Dao manifests all that happens and may happen;
The world represents all that exists and may exist.
-Dao De Jing