By “commune,” we mean a specific form of community chosen by people who share left-wing emancipatory worldviews, who want to overcome capitalist accounting and ownership logics, in order to live together in structurally equal and binding solidarity, in a continuous effort to dismantle dominance and violence relations between each other, and to foster a good life for all within, and ideally also outside, the community. (A very similar, more detailed, and easier-to-understand version can be found here.)
In practice, for us, a commune means a long-term oriented form of living together, which allows for accompaniment in processes of development and change that require continuity, trust, and time. For example, we aim to question, soften, and replace societal roles, action patterns, and other societal orientations like different valuations of people, individualism, and many other “norms.” These norms are often so omnipresent and at the same time so subtle that people need others who can perceive them well, who give acceptable feedback, and with whom they don’t have to fear rejection or exclusion. Individual issues may also require such an environment. We want this too.
And we want to create a sense of security within the community, which also means providing reliable securities and better living conditions for one another, regardless of situational moods or disagreements (for example, after an argument).
For this, and for the expanded possibilities of political and societal engagement, it seems necessary and logical to us that we share or make accessible to each other our resources, opportunities, […] privileges in a binding and reliable manner within the community – see here.
We need to be able to rely on each other and plan together, thinking into the future.
The founding and entry process for new commune members should therefore be gradual, to allow enough time for experiences, questions, and desires. We think that one year could be an appropriate period for many to decide to join and commit to the shared economy. The process of becoming a part of the community can then happen step by step according to the agreements we make.
Since shared economy – that is, the sharing of the resource “money” – is something that many people without experience in communes will initially find challenging, here are a few extra arguments on the matter:
We need less money overall (because much can be shared or organized together, etc.) and are less dependent on wages as individuals (because a job loss has less impact on many incomes than on just one or two), unless, for instance, residency status depends on it. We insure each other and make more possibilities available to one another, providing each other with freedoms to choose what, when, and how we want to do things…
Without the threat of potential financial distress, money loses its significance, and more so as our needs can be met.
It changes the way we think and feel about ourselves and others.
Thoughts about ownership issues and other capitalist norms (… Can I ask again if I can borrow something / get help? Was I “better” than so-and-so? I hope they didn’t notice how I really felt / that I had no clue / wasn’t focused…) become rare, while the perception of personal boundaries and needs between us and others becomes more important, sensitive, and accurate (…Where do my desires and projections end, and where do I encroach on the space of the other person? How can I be better seen and understood? What is really, truly important to me? Why do I feel this way? Can I trust the other person? How much space is it okay to take up? How much resource consumption is acceptable? … How can we find solutions that satisfy everyone? …).
It seems so complex and difficult to capture everything in a nutshell, without writing a book about it…
Ultimately, we want to create a way of living together whose growth, in addition to inspiration and knowledge sharing by others, will require much attention, reflection, commitment, perseverance, effort, goodwill, and various (yet to be developed) psychological skills from all of us – and therefore also professional support and external guidance.
This is hardly achievable in loose connections without shared resources and commitments.