Eastwind
The August Issue of National Geographic arrived today. It contains an interesting photo essay about an intentional community in Missouri called Eastwind. Although the entire article is not on-line, the on-line feature does include a selection of photos, notes from the author, and some information regarding intentional communities (a term I first learned of from Ed over at The Blog That Goes Ping.)
As a person who thought seriously about taking a vow of poverty at one point in my life, I found their lifestyle compelling. Although, as they state, it’s not a utopia. They have managed over the past thirty some years to compromise with capitalism just enough to keep the community going. Personally, I always find small communities living this way inspirational. Communism in the small scale always reminds me of my notion of how early Christian communities must have been, correctly or incorrectly. I doubt I’ll ever be convinced that Communism for anything larger than a tiny community is viable, however, so don’t get the impression that I’m trading in my capitalist credentials.
The community has a website located here.