One of the most effective ways to get out of capitalism is two thousand years old.
Occasionally, you’ll hear stories of people trying to escape capitalism. Regardless of where you are on the spectrum between a lifelong Lennon fan or a hyper-dedicated Libertarian, you wouldn’t disagree that people should at least have the choice to leave capitalism. (One of the most famous Libertarian quotes is “Capitalism doesn’t hold a gun to your head”, even if there are plenty of historical precedents of capitalism holding guns to various people’s heads.)
I got my first taste of leaving capitalism a bit over a decade ago while pursuing my post-graduate degree. The place that introduce me to this taste of freedom was a unique organization in Lawrence Kansas: The Sunflower House.
What looks initially like two large yet normal homes hastily connected in a strange mating ritual, a mansion designed by the poorest engineer ever, or a fraternity/sorority gone wrong is actually a beautiful social experiment in communal living.
There’s an often forgotten adage that people remember with political movements, but almost always forget when designing their day-to-day life: “There’s strength in numbers.”
Out of 25 people I knew when living in the Sunflower House, only about one was above the poverty line. It was begun by a professor at the University of Kansas nearly half a century before my residence that was researching some social theories in communal living. It wasn’t rent that people paid to live here, but “a portion of upkeep.” This included things like electricity, internet, repairs, food, etc. (And that number would become lower when residents supplied what was needed themselves). This portion of upkeep was surprisingly low, costing a mere $75 a month at the time when I first joined, which is a far cry from the $1200 a month I’m paying now. (Their portion value has gone up, however, after a series of renovations, and I don’t know what it costs now.) Similarly, each person was also in charge of a portion of the house chores, and had a point system where each chore (whose value could be adjusted by community vote) could be done, and 200 points was required each month. (200 points was very easy to get, but failure to get it would get you kicked out of the house. However, you could trade cash for points with other people, creating a kind of symbiotic relationship where those with time but no money could trade with people who had money but no time, so necessities were all covered.)
All in all, while living there, capitalism had almost zero impact on my life; it was effectively escaped, and often I find myself wishing I had stayed there after finishing my schooling.
That said, it’s worth pointing out that despite it’s experimental nature in some nuances, it’s far from the only entity of it’s kind. (I recommend checking out http://www.peopleshousing.org and https://coophousing.org/resources/owning-a-cooperative/buying-into-a-housing-cooperative/ and https://www.ic.org/).
However, the concept is, yet still, far older.
Although religiously oriented, Monestaries have long been escaping the clutches of capitalism, enough so to where Monks could continue on with their lives after taking a vow of poverty in which they agree to a personal ban against actually having anything of their own. So not only is this concept very applicable to an increasingly hard to afford modern society, but it’s an ancient one as well with a long history of successes.
It’s worth pointing out that these kind of institutions, from social experiments to intentional communities to monasteries only work because the people who join them are willing to work together. As such, the greedy need not apply.
