>There's also a long history in the US of people trying to found alternative
>institutions, withdrawing to one degree or another from the surrounding
>society and its horrors. The 19th century was full of them, and there was
>another wave of it in the 1960s-early 70s. A lot of people tried the
>back-to-the-land commune thing then, and while a few of them are still
>around, most failed--same thing in the 19th century. Someone who's more
>clued in to the sociological literature than I am may be able to fill us in,
>but I have the impression that the 60s communes that lasted had strong
>religious motivations, or--strong leaders.
Somehow I got on the (print) mailing list for the Federation of Intentioanl Communities, which now seems to have either split or evolved into the Federation of Egalitarian Communities and the Fellowship for Intentional Community, and also the mailing list for Twin Oaks <http://www.twinoaks.org>, one of the oldest surviving communes, founded in 1967. I admire what they do, but I can't say I'd be happy weaving hammocks or making tofu. But they exist, and there's even one on Staten Island, of all places.
Doug