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If you can find one that isn't a weird sex cult, let me know.

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.

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/

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

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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!

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!

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

I just want more affordable housing

Peace. More bandwidth for the rest of us.

I feel pretty happy in a city where I feel welcome and the neighborhood is fun. I got my family and friends around, and my bf only lives a short drive away :)

Nature isn't too far away either.

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.