Commune

A commune (the French word appearing in the 12th century from Medieval Latin communia, meaning a large gathering of people sharing a common life; from Latin communis, things held in common) can be an intentional community of people living together, sharing common interests, often having common values and beliefs as well.

While all communes are communities all communities are not communes.

A commune may own all things together and work together to produce what they need or want.

What happens when some do not want to equally share in the work but want to equally share in the benefit of the work?

Someone will carry a greater load or burden and receive less for their efforts. This will take away the natural incentive to produce sufficiently to sustain comfort or even life.

Pilgrims tried to hold all things common like the thought all Early Christians were doing with diasterous results.

This idea of from each according to ability and to each according to need produced starvation and injustice in the early American colonies of Plymouth and Jamestown until they introduced private property.

A commune seems to favor a path that leads to Socialism and Communism and therefore opposes private property found in Capitalism.

Capitalism is found in nature. Every bird makes its own nest and the few that don't produce death and deprivation. Every squirrel gathers their own nuts and provides a service to the forest in the process.

We find private property found in the Old and New Testaments and the Common purse condemned.

The people of free republic^[1] owned their own land untaxed and even had a year of jubilee.

Their labor was also untaxed ever since they were freed from the bondage of Egypt by God through Moses. In that corvee system of bondage where the people owed 20% of their labor to the government. Once freed the were told to never go back to that form of bondage again.

In fact there was no real taxation in early Israel but only the freewill offerings to the Levites according to his aervice.

The people were free but the Levites held property but only as a group because the were "called out" and belonged to God.

The Levite community were a form of commune but with important distinctions that are often lost to the casual student.

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Types and Forms

Alternative-family communities is where people come together as a sort of alternative to the natural family. This begs the question who is the Father of the family and will this undermine the natural families that begin with in such communities?
Cooperative communities can include Cooperative business where the families remain independent but may come together to run some large business. This form of community may maintain the individual capitalism that ballance the community so that it does not fall into the pit of One Purse.
Countercultural communities often eventually produce Countercultural communities such as we see with the children of Hippies becoming yuppies and
Egalitarian communities attempt to establish some sort of equality. As a political doctrine it may attempt establish equal political, economic, social, and civil rights or access to natural rights. But as a social philosophy it may advocate the removal of economic economic inequalities. This can seldom be done without centralizing power or taking away the natural rights of the minority.

Egalitarianism can be limited by the recognition that you have an equal right to pursue happiness or it may go to the totalitarian idea that you have an equal right to happiness even at your neighbors expense. Some egalitarianism attempts to decentralize of power by the use of power collectively while others may do this by a common recognition of equal rights to the product of your labor.

Rehabilitational communities may be temporary to help individuals alter behavior and habits or addictions.
Religious communities very according to the definition of Religion.

↑ Libera res publica

[1] Libera res publica

[1]

Commune

Types and Forms

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