The Galli Report 09.25.21
Hippies, God, and community that works. The Christian Norm Macdonald. College's guy problem. Illiberalism. Kids missing school-so? Showing love with sheep.
Hippies, God, and Community that Works
Here’s a story that reveals more than it intends: “The Last Glimpses of California's Vanishing Hippie Utopias: Half a century ago, a legion of idealists dropped out of society and went back to the land, creating a patchwork of utopian communes across Northern California. Here, the last of those rogue souls offer a glimpse of their otherworldly residences—and the tail end of a grand social experiment.”
It's about a particular community, Table Mountain, and about a larger movement of nearly a million people:
Half a century ago, a legion of idealists dropped out of society and went back to the land, creating a patchwork of utopian communes across Northern California. Here, the last of those rogue souls offer a glimpse of their otherworldly residences—and the tail end of a grand social experiment.
As a product of the 1960’s and Northern California (Santa Cruz), my curiosity was piqued, especially since similar experiments were seen in the Santa Cruz mountains. While the immediate reporting was great, it made me think of two larger contexts: The intentional communities that have not failed, and the religious motivations that drive utopian experiments.
Christian theology has long realized that human beings have a craving for love and a suspicion there is more to life than the accumulation of material goods and running the “rat race” successfully until one dies. These instincts arise from the God-shaped vacuum Augustine wrote about, that deep human longing for meaning, transcendence, and love. I believe those are the sort of spiritual realities members of utopian communities pine for. It must be something big like this for members to so willingly sacrifice so much to try something so outlandish.
That many or most of these social experiments have risen and fallen is not news. It’s a wonder some of these particular California communities (and hermits) lasted as long as they did. First marriages in America—where lifestyle negotiations are between just two people—last only seven years on average. Now compound that with the relational complexity of living in a community. We have plenty of examples of failed communities in US history, the Oneida, Amana, and Shaker being the three most famous.
But there are ongoing counter examples, the Amish being the most notable. Another becoming more well-known is the Bruderhof community. Readers of GR will recognize how often I point to articles in Plough magazine, which is a Bruderhof ministry. One suspects that the high quality of journalism mirrors something of their life together.
These last two intentional communities have survived for generations now, which is laudable in itself. But other communities have enjoyed continuity for centuries: Benedictines, Franciscans, Dominicans, Carmelites, among other Catholic orders. The Anabaptist communities and the Catholic orders share a commitment to simplicity and to one another—the very ideas that animate the recent utopian experiments. And they share one more thing that I believe gives them the wherewithal to bear with and flourish with one another for long stretches of time: love of God.
To be fair, no member of these communities would describe their community as “utopian.” They would be the first to admit that living with other human beings week in and week out makes one more aware than ever of corrupt human nature—how much work it takes for fallen creatures to get along! So not utopian—but about as close as one gets in this life.
All in all, instead of these dying California utopian communities being wistful symbols of failed idealism, they seem to me to point dramatically to the human longing for transcendence, love, and a meaningful life--and to the One who can make longings for the ideal an imperfect but genuine reality.
Other Highlights of the Week
Norm Macdonald’s Comedy Was Quite Christian (New York Times)
My University Sacrificed Ideas for Ideology. So Today I Quit: The more I spoke out against the illiberalism that has swallowed Portland State University, the more retaliation I faced. (Common Sense with Bari Weiss)
Kids Can Recover From Missing Even Quite A Lot Of School. (Astral Codex Ten)
And of course, the weekly video treat: This Australian Farmer Isn’t Sheepish About Showing Love For His Late Aunt
Grace and peace,
Mark Galli
The Galli Report 09.25.21
Reading the utopia piece reminded me of a recent 'History Extra' podcast with an interview with the author of 'The Utopians: Six Attempts to Build the Perfect Society.' She seems to cover the Bruderhof favorably.