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Does the cult have a good plan for healthcare? If so, please send me your newsletter, manifesto, religious tract, pentabarf, whatever.

As somebody who was once part of a cult, it's just the same circus but worse.

Already planning on it here in Canada once my friends and I have the money for what we want to do.

Farming (+greenhousing) and some cottage rentals on the side.

Peace out, modern society!

I don't come anywhere near close to meeting the requirements for intentional communities. Chronic illness is a real bastard. I don't need much and the quality of my life could so easily be improved by just a little help from others, but everyone - even intentional communities - is caught up in focusing on how much others can help them. What I can give is less tangible, and therefore dismissed.

I don't want to abandon society but I do recognise we'd all be far better off if we lived in ways which were less isolating. Every person/family for themselves harms us all.

If you've ever heard of WOOFing that's a great place to start. It's a work trade program I did years ago, tons of farms around the world. You get room and board, just work the farm for a short term. I traveled across Canada doing that years ago and ended up staying on one for 2 years in the discovery islands off the coast of BC. One of the best times in my life. Now I live in downtown Toronto, wondering why I ever came back ahaha

I dont know, you cant really go shopping for cults. Cults go shopping for you.

Why not a commune IN the city?

Not saying this is you, but I feel like a lotta people who wanna live in the country also want all the city amenities - internet, garbage pickup, municipal sewage, etc.

To me, the problem isn't cities, it's late stage capitalism - gentrifying neighbourhoods, driving rents beyond reach, displacing communities. Plus its zeal for car-focused infrastructure, conspicuous consumption. All that stuff.

Anyway communal life is very appealing - I long for my college days of living in a house full of peers. Even if i'm off-base with my capitalism ruins the city argument, I think we'd all do better at coping with modern life with a wider support network.

I hear they are growing more popular in the bay area? Gideon Lichfield, outgoing editor-in-chief at Wired, mentions he spends half his year living in a commune of sorts and would like to do it full time in this podcast.

https://www.wired.com/story/have-a-nice-future-podcast-19/

Very often I would like to abandon my life in reality and become a part of an ideal world which I have imagined. It is surprisingly easy to become part of a rural cult (look up "intentional communities") so it's a backup plan I have in mind if necessary, but with people we're going to be dealing with a different version of the same set of issues. We as a species are nuts.

It's a beautiful dream! Almost a decade ago my family and I left the city and bought land with some other folks. Now it's just us out here in the wilderness, others are welcome but most people can't leave the city.

No, but finding a job in a slightly less fucked country would be great once I have sufficient work experience.

I’ve thought for a while that it would be cool to buy up a block in a suburb and do urban farming as a community.

My dad did it back when he was a hippy.
He still talks very fondly of the time he spent out in the Arizona desert all those decades ago.

A piece of me would like to drop out of society and live in solitude.
While I lean towards being a loner, I realized that I am probably mostly a hybrid.
I enjoy some human interaction, but also love being alone to do whatever the fuck I want.
To me a commune would be too intimate and I think would end up being like a small town type of scenario which doesn’t appeal to me.

What about a traveling circus? Bonuses: it's mobile, it's a circus by design, it's inclusive, and goofing around is just part of the culture!

That's a good idea. It would be interesting to create an ideal communist utopia on a small scale so we can see how/if it actually works. Do it!

I would but in a commune they would probably just force me to mine or farm all day instead of doing a job I actually want

Abandon society - yes. Commune - JFC no. Vagabond gypsy caravan? Possibly, but only if there are werewolves and mysteriously sexy tarot card casters involved.

Already looking for a land that might be livable in 10/15 years

I just want more affordable housing

Not really, no. The idea of living in a small community makes me feel nauseous and panicky, and the more remote the commune the more intense the aversion.

But I wouldn't mind some sort of arrangement between some others who also like the idea of being off-grid but who loathe the idea of being in a small community, where we'd be off in the wilds with a LOT of space between us, but still come together occasionally to help each other out with various things, or be available be radio or whatever.

Similarly, the idea of being part of a nomadic group seems quite appealing to me, especially if more people join along the way and others dip in and out.

Peace. More bandwidth for the rest of us.

When do we get some fresh kicks and an icy drink?

I talk about this a lot - mostly tongue in cheek (mostly) - and my partner always calls me the Unabomber afterwards, or asks when I’m publishing my manifesto.

I’m not a people person and society seems to be getting worse, plus I love rugged living and being outdoors. I can dig it.