00:57 Introduction and early life 01:40 Life leading up to seeking out communal life 05:38 Motivation to come to East Wind (reducing participation in capitalist consumer economy) 07:53 First impressions? 08:30 What skills have you learned at East Wind? 10:44 How have you matured spiritually? 14:20 What about romantic relationships? 16:08 Experience of being Social Committee Chair (an elected managership for member accountability) 18:26 What are your favorite things about East Wind? 23:34 What do you like least about East Wind? 25:26 Final thoughts and advice for people seeking community
Thank you so much for recording and publishing these interviews! I especially appreciate how honest/raw they seem to be in the sense that even "negative" things aren't cut out. I absolutely LOVE that! Nothing is perfect, everything has its pros and cons so just because there are some negatives about ICs doesn't mean it isn't better than Babylon and I loved that Boone called that out. I'm 34 and by all accounts I am successful, however, I find it all very empty and the things that give me the most joy are more simple and back to nature (took up gardening and LOVE it). I am considering ICs and videos like this are very informative. I'll need to checkout your website to see how your visit program works as nothing prepares you as much as a visit (I am sure). Is Boone still considering starting his own IC? Intro stated interview was 11/2020 but that he was still active as of publication (5/2021) so was just curious where he stands now.
Awesome, glad you are watching them! Yes, visiting is of course the best way to see what's going on at the moment in any particular community. Boone was just elected General Manager of EWNB, which is an important position. He's also doing three other important managerships (with other, supportive comanagers, of course). So, it seems to me he is in it (EW) until next season at the very least! He is probably the most active member on social media, so I'm sure you can reach him on Instagram or FB.
@@EastWindCommunity1973 Would you mind linking his social media in the description or something? He seems to have a very interesting perspective and I’d love to connect with him in some way as I look into ICs myself
It might perhaps be mentioned that EW was started by people who came from Boston with the plan of creating a large community (750 people) and as much of a "good life" as was consistent with the ideals of that small group of people at the time. Upon arriving on the land in '74, the new community began to be slowly inundated by large numbers of the remaining hippie movement left over from the 60's who had very different goals in mind for the community they were joining. If either group had succeeded in eliminating the other, the community would probably have not survived. Half the people would have left and the membership criteria would have been changed to filter out anyone who disagreed with the victors. So, as a result, few new people would have joined and the community would likely have lost the hammock business. There was never any serious talk in either group about driving out the other. EW survived because of that desire to keep the community together at all costs. Many people, however, as individuals decided to leave anyway, so the high turnover rate at both TO and EW has always been an ongoing issue. As Kat said many times, "We have to take pretty much anyone who comes down the road. We have work here that has to be done and we need warm bodies." Kat herself left EW with the opinion that the community was largely a failure. Later on at TO, she altered that opinion somewhat -- but not altogether. Kat indeed was not picky about who joined -- as long as they worked they could stay. And in all the time since then, the community has not deviated from that. You can be a member of the community if you put in your fair share of work. You can complain and be as negative as you want ... as long as you make quota. There is, as Boone said, no consensus about the direction and goals of the community. EW is not a place where there will ever be agreement on goals and direction. There wasn't when I was there, and it's obvious that nothing has changed over the years. The people who leave have to be replaced or the community can't survive. EW has always known that and it has always been the priority. Having extreme filters for membership would destroy the community. Leaving EW and starting a new community comprised of people who basically agree with you is an obvious solution to the ideology problem. There are small groups scattered about who are attempting just that. The FEC has several small communities who fit that bill.
It's all working towards being able to live, ultimately. World got so mad that people seem to forget about it. Walking around, working, eating, interacting with people, being creative, learning, self improvement. Very intelligent people make up for less than 2% of world population. And intelligent people are those people with ideas. So in present scenario, the influx of people will reflect that. That's to be expected. It's not important as much ( at least at this time, because of various limitations ), to filter everyone in a community to be extremely intelligent. I don't even know if it would be possible. It's not like intelligent people can't be evil, or have psychological issues etc. Or that less intelligent people can't be good, or *not* have psychological issues. Resolving psychological issues in community is very important. I feel like there is not enough emphasis put on it, in east wind, or elsewhere for that matter. If community aim is to be as egalitarian/resource sharing/environmentally friendly/self sustaining as possible, there should be some strict rules implemented, that override the raw democratic process - that would make way for initiatives put forth by more intelligent members, which ideas reflect those ideals. Perhaps, stiff allocating some % of budget for those ideas. Bypassing referendum, in as much as not being about "do we do it at all?" ( no matter if true to core ideals/i.e "we are like pigs in s5lt right now, so we don't care about core ideals or future" ), but "Is this investment/idea true to the core ideals of the community?" - if yes, we green lit it. Be it, making investment for making community more self sustainable when it comes to food production, and such. Goal being 100% sustainable ( if possible of course ). That way it would allow a hierarchy of moral and intellectual integrity to exist. If some people want to work a little, sit around and do whatever - that's fine. But don't let them sabotage the efforts of people who are true to the core ideals of the community.
Thanks for the great background information, Pat. As always, if you would like to interview, the door is open! I understand the need for labor, especially early on. I do think that some significant things have changed, however. East Wind has no debts right now and doesn't have a mortgage payment over their heads. East Wind's main industrial enterprise is now Nut Butters, which has a much lower labor requirement than hammocks while having a higher profit per hour (and, in fact, many things could be done to improve that situation such as continuing to cut low profit lines). The success (and material excess) of NB makes room for warm bodies that do less work, in my opinion. When I lived there a number of members were known to lie about their hours. And it would take years for the resentments to build and the person to get the message to leave. There are also a number of current members who know what they can get away with (and having the cover of the worst offenders, know they won't be getting much grief about it). As far as needing to accept anyone who comes down the road, that is definitely not true in this day and age. I no longer have an inside track on it, but I believe EW Membership still has the privilege of being a bit more selective. The internet's pull and the poor economy right now bring a lot of people to at least visit. Over the time from 2015 to 2019 a number of people were voted out early (during their provisional membership) and the selection pressure increased to a point where the community actually wanted to make it harder to kick out visitors (there were a lot of "first week bounces" because that was the lowest vote threshold). The population has been at capacity for a while now, which is why it is unfortunate that new housing/facilities (either in community, or nearby properties) isn't a priority, in my opinion.
![[MEMBER INTERVIEW] PT (2008-2021+)](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/F9pp-4EGGKk/mqdefault.jpg)
![[MEMBER INTERVIEW] PT (2008-2021+)](/img/tr.png)
![[Living Energy Farm] Interview with founder Alexis (March 2023)](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/NKJH9YZ5nqQ/mqdefault.jpg)
00:57 Introduction and early life
01:40 Life leading up to seeking out communal life
05:38 Motivation to come to East Wind (reducing participation in capitalist consumer economy)
07:53 First impressions?
08:30 What skills have you learned at East Wind?
10:44 How have you matured spiritually?
14:20 What about romantic relationships?
16:08 Experience of being Social Committee Chair (an elected managership for member accountability)
18:26 What are your favorite things about East Wind?
23:34 What do you like least about East Wind?
25:26 Final thoughts and advice for people seeking community
Thank you so much for recording and publishing these interviews! I especially appreciate how honest/raw they seem to be in the sense that even "negative" things aren't cut out. I absolutely LOVE that! Nothing is perfect, everything has its pros and cons so just because there are some negatives about ICs doesn't mean it isn't better than Babylon and I loved that Boone called that out.
I'm 34 and by all accounts I am successful, however, I find it all very empty and the things that give me the most joy are more simple and back to nature (took up gardening and LOVE it). I am considering ICs and videos like this are very informative. I'll need to checkout your website to see how your visit program works as nothing prepares you as much as a visit (I am sure).
Is Boone still considering starting his own IC? Intro stated interview was 11/2020 but that he was still active as of publication (5/2021) so was just curious where he stands now.
Awesome, glad you are watching them! Yes, visiting is of course the best way to see what's going on at the moment in any particular community.
Boone was just elected General Manager of EWNB, which is an important position. He's also doing three other important managerships (with other, supportive comanagers, of course). So, it seems to me he is in it (EW) until next season at the very least! He is probably the most active member on social media, so I'm sure you can reach him on Instagram or FB.
@@EastWindCommunity1973 thanks for the reply! Will there ever be an interview with the interviewer!?! :)
@@EastWindCommunity1973 Would you mind linking his social media in the description or something? He seems to have a very interesting perspective and I’d love to connect with him in some way as I look into ICs myself
It might perhaps be mentioned that EW was started by people who came from Boston with the plan of creating a large community (750 people) and as much of a "good life" as was consistent with the ideals of that small group of people at the time. Upon arriving on the land in '74, the new community began to be slowly inundated by large numbers of the remaining hippie movement left over from the 60's who had very different goals in mind for the community they were joining. If either group had succeeded in eliminating the other, the community would probably have not survived. Half the people would have left and the membership criteria would have been changed to filter out anyone who disagreed with the victors. So, as a result, few new people would have joined and the community would likely have lost the hammock business. There was never any serious talk in either group about driving out the other. EW survived because of that desire to keep the community together at all costs. Many people, however, as individuals decided to leave anyway, so the high turnover rate at both TO and EW has always been an ongoing issue.
As Kat said many times, "We have to take pretty much anyone who comes down the road. We have work here that has to be done and we need warm bodies." Kat herself left EW with the opinion that the community was largely a failure. Later on at TO, she altered that opinion somewhat -- but not altogether.
Kat indeed was not picky about who joined -- as long as they worked they could stay. And in all the time since then, the community has not deviated from that. You can be a member of the community if you put in your fair share of work. You can complain and be as negative as you want ... as long as you make quota. There is, as Boone said, no consensus about the direction and goals of the community. EW is not a place where there will ever be agreement on goals and direction. There wasn't when I was there, and it's obvious that nothing has changed over the years. The people who leave have to be replaced or the community can't survive. EW has always known that and it has always been the priority. Having extreme filters for membership would destroy the community.
Leaving EW and starting a new community comprised of people who basically agree with you is an obvious solution to the ideology problem. There are small groups scattered about who are attempting just that. The FEC has several small communities who fit that bill.
It's all working towards being able to live, ultimately. World got so mad that people seem to forget about it.
Walking around, working, eating, interacting with people, being creative, learning, self improvement.
Very intelligent people make up for less than 2% of world population. And intelligent people are those people with ideas. So in present scenario, the influx of people will reflect that. That's to be expected.
It's not important as much ( at least at this time, because of various limitations ), to filter everyone in a community to be extremely intelligent. I don't even know if it would be possible. It's not like intelligent people can't be evil, or have psychological issues etc. Or that less intelligent people can't be good, or *not* have psychological issues.
Resolving psychological issues in community is very important. I feel like there is not enough emphasis put on it, in east wind, or elsewhere for that matter.
If community aim is to be as egalitarian/resource sharing/environmentally friendly/self sustaining as possible, there should be some strict rules implemented, that override the raw democratic process - that would make way for initiatives put forth by more intelligent members, which ideas reflect those ideals.
Perhaps, stiff allocating some % of budget for those ideas. Bypassing referendum, in as much as not being about "do we do it at all?" ( no matter if true to core ideals/i.e "we are like pigs in s5lt right now, so we don't care about core ideals or future" ), but "Is this investment/idea true to the core ideals of the community?" - if yes, we green lit it.
Be it, making investment for making community more self sustainable when it comes to food production, and such. Goal being 100% sustainable ( if possible of course ).
That way it would allow a hierarchy of moral and intellectual integrity to exist. If some people want to work a little, sit around and do whatever - that's fine. But don't let them sabotage the efforts of people who are true to the core ideals of the community.
Thanks for the great background information, Pat. As always, if you would like to interview, the door is open!
I understand the need for labor, especially early on. I do think that some significant things have changed, however. East Wind has no debts right now and doesn't have a mortgage payment over their heads. East Wind's main industrial enterprise is now Nut Butters, which has a much lower labor requirement than hammocks while having a higher profit per hour (and, in fact, many things could be done to improve that situation such as continuing to cut low profit lines). The success (and material excess) of NB makes room for warm bodies that do less work, in my opinion. When I lived there a number of members were known to lie about their hours. And it would take years for the resentments to build and the person to get the message to leave. There are also a number of current members who know what they can get away with (and having the cover of the worst offenders, know they won't be getting much grief about it).
As far as needing to accept anyone who comes down the road, that is definitely not true in this day and age. I no longer have an inside track on it, but I believe EW Membership still has the privilege of being a bit more selective. The internet's pull and the poor economy right now bring a lot of people to at least visit. Over the time from 2015 to 2019 a number of people were voted out early (during their provisional membership) and the selection pressure increased to a point where the community actually wanted to make it harder to kick out visitors (there were a lot of "first week bounces" because that was the lowest vote threshold). The population has been at capacity for a while now, which is why it is unfortunate that new housing/facilities (either in community, or nearby properties) isn't a priority, in my opinion.
Сталин: “Без теории нам смерть, смерть!»
Haha! He had some ideas, didn't he.