January/February 1970
By the Mother Earth News editors
We accompanied several community members on a shopping trip to nearby Louisa - and they seemed to be well accepted by the town. One old farmer even stopped and had a long talk with one of the freaks. The community has a new business of raising calves for the "pink veal" market - in this the calves are kept confined and fed a diet of milk only. This produces a meat of a lighter color and more tender flavor. They are also starting to breed cows for selling to dairy farmers in the area. Most of the agriculture that goes on at the Community is centered around the cattle operation. with large crops of hay and wheat being raised for use as feed. As a consequence of the dairy cow endeavor, there are unlimited supplies of milk, and the members make butter, cottage cheese and other dairy products from surplus milk. They also raise hogs, have a smoke house (really delicious bacon!), chickens, geese and a large assortment of cats and dogs.
Women's liberation, in a very practical sense, is a serious concern at Twin Oaks. The manager of the farm division is a girl, and boys are expected to do their share of the traditional "womenly" things such as cooking and dishwashing. Several of the women have instituted a class in "remedial automobile mechanics." Because of the behavioristic orientation of the community they are more aware than most of the effect of conditioning by a screwed-up society on men and women. When you visit Twin Oaks you realize that something is different and that here are some people who have taken concrete steps to thwart that conditioning.
One area where problems were still obviously present was the subject of "interpersonal relations." They have a code of conduct which states "We will not discuss the personal affairs of other members, nor speak negatively of other members when they are not present or in the presence of a third party." The section goes on to say, "This rule is both unusual and difficult. Most of us find a certain pleasure in gossiping or grumbling about other people. We feel that this type of talk is harmful to a small community. If a member is unpleasant, or lazy, or gross, let each other member discover this for himself : . The Community is constantly trying other means of dealing with interpersonal complaints and problems." The Community uses first names only, and does not recognize seniority nor heirarchies (in theory, anyway). The planners and managers are supposed to think of their job as just another form of (undesirable) work and are not supposed to think of their positions as "power", as ego trip, etc. Coming out of straight society as all of the first generation members must, this takes quite some doing. We did think, however, that Twin Oaks was the most equalitarian and "leaderless" group of organized people that we have ever encountered.
And Twin Oaks is organized. Many left type people would be rather completely turned off by the total organization of the place - but Twin Oaks would counter by saying that they are only making a workable society which can rapidly respond to changing desires of the members. Twin Oaks is primarily an experiment in rapid cultural change - and according to the plan of the final degree of organization - or lack of organization - will be directly related to the needs and wants of the people-or to the basic qualities of the "human nature" that will eventually be discovered through scientific investigation.
And all of this will be constantly adjusted to the ever-changing level of technology and its corresponding, but currently unknown, effect on human behavior.
Twin Oaks is always seeking new members (expansion being one of their goals) and a new member is admitted to a three month trial period during which time both he or she and the community can decide if they want to live together. Thus far, every prospect who did not stay, left voluntarily - but the present members have an option to reject prospects after the trial period.
One of the current problems of the community is its small size and the attendant difficulties of members finding a satisfactory mate. At present, Twin Oaks operates on a more or less typical "monogamous couple" pattern of sexual relationships. One member said the main reason thus far that people left the community is that they were unable to establish satisfactory sexual relationships. Eventually the sexual pattern of the Community may evolve into a more complex pattern which would allow more freedom in sexual patterns. But, again, the strong cultural conditioning of the first generation members may take a long time to overcome. Single visitors of either sex cause problems also in that they bring with them their unliberated values with regard to the opposite sex.
One 15 year old girl member said, when asked what she has learned since coming to Twin Oaks: "Virtually everything I know. Italian history, shorthand, most of my typing, cooking, housework, planting and hoeing, driving a tractor, driving a car. How to use positive reinforcement to handle a small child, what happens when you try to answer aggression with aggression. Just before I came here I discovered that I really don't have to do much of anything I don't want to - or at least that hardly anybody has any authority to speak of if you want to push them far enough. Basically I can get away with doing whatever I want. But at Twin Oaks I am beginning to believe that in the long run I don't really want to try to get away with everything. Because I've seen other people here act like that, and seen how it affects the whole group, and I think people who act completely selfishly are shits. I don't want to think of myself that way."
And another said, "I have learned to be completely comfortable with and take for granted the friendship of over a dozen people. Before I came here I never had more than one or two friends at a time. I don't mean that everyone likes me. But everyone here has a pretty realistic view of me and likes or dislikes me pretty much in proportion to my virtues and faults. There aren't any pretenses to speak of, and very little fear."
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