Today, we are taking a trip down memory lane, and for good reason.
As mentioned in the ‘About Us‘ section, A Radical Guide is an extension of a podcast Thomas Barnett and I hosted. To pay tribute to our past projects I am reposting an interview we did when we visited the Twin Oaks Community in Virginia.
We hope you enjoy this blast from the past.
Originally recorded on September 15, 2011.
We took The New Architects out into the world to explore a story that is four generations connected to one of the hosts of this program.
We also explore a community that has been living ‘off the grid’ since 1967 in a way that reflects their values of cooperation, sharing, nonviolence, equality, and ecology – The Twin Oaks Intentional Community.
The Twin Oaks Community states;
“We do not have a group religion; our beliefs are diverse. We do not have a central leader; we govern ourselves by a form of democracy with responsibility shared among various managers, planners, and committees. We are self-supporting economically, and partly self-sufficient. We are income-sharing. Each member works 42 hours a week in the community’s business and domestic areas. Each member receives housing, food, healthcare, and personal spending money from the community.”
We sat down with one of the residents of Twin Oaks to find out more and follow up the interview with Thomas’ dad and his take on the intentional Community. Put the tea on and kick back today we explore something bigger than ourselves.
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See the guy up in the photo on the left? The dude holding the microphone? His name is Shal, he’s been living at Twin oaks since 1976 and he’s pretty well been holding the microphone the whole time.
Imagine the Court of King Louis XVI at Versailles — only without the gold, culture and fine food. And, importantly, without the Revolution either.
These inbred aristocrats go on and on through the years into the decades inveigling idealistic youth to perform the peasant work at Twin Oaks while the government continues to stagnate. The only “winners” in this arrangement are some 20 complacent elders. The ones holding the microphones.
The youth come and go. Backbreaking labor. Long hours. As soon as a fresh communard becomes disillusioned, she splits and another victim takes her place. The Revolution never occurs. Nothing ever changes.
That is Twin Oaks, that is how it was designed, and that is how it will remain until bankruptcy puts an end to it.