Inside the 'Intentional Lifestyle' of Communal Living
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 13 ก.ย. 2016
- The group-housing industry is growing in American cities. One Brooklyn company, Pure House, prides itself on providing not just group housing, but “an intentional way of living” amid the isolation of modern urban life. In this episode of If Our Bodies Could Talk, the residents of Pure House invite James Hamblin to learn more about the trend, complete with dinner and meditation.
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"Just make sure you are not joining a cult." Great line.
My daughter got sucked into one .. now it's been a year since we have heard from her. ... dont know where she is
@@jonpatterson5668 I'm sorry.
coming from the weir guy staring at them from above
He's so right though. It's so easy to be blindsided and find out you have joined a cult. I've heard stories for days from fellow co-opers
No one would intentionally live communally unless they are in a hospital or are trying to become a nun or a priest.
We used to call these groupings ‘share houses’ or ‘student houses’, and they could be remarkably stable with people making intense friendships that lasted for life. To my mind these are not intentional communities... Intentional community is buying into a group owned property, and thus having an ongoing stake in the success of the community, but also placing the needs of the whole community at an equal or higher level to that of one’s own needs or desires. They are frequently in a rural area, with much in common with kibbutzim.
Did you live on a kibbutz?
But honestly, this is an introvert's worst nightmare.
Juan Gonzalez I think it depends on the community. Some communities respect your space a little bit more by having private homes, private rooms, etc.
Like dorms. Some dorms are more isolated and less social than others, but there are many opportunities to be a part of the group or do communal activities.
If they want to be isolated hermits with no one to interact with but their cats, let them. Its their life.
Ask yourself what made you become introverted. A lot of the time it's because of negative experiences with other people or family. When you find a community that's right for you, it becomes easier to be around people. It's also really important to have your own space when you live collectively. As humans, we need both. It's really nice when you find a group of people that you can be comfortable with. I hope you get to experience it.
Nah, I’m an introvert and this is my dream with my fam(:
@@laela6289 grow up.
This reporter is just so cute with his reactions!
James' face @ 2:59 totally sums up my reaction to this.
As an introvert i hate drama and this is a perfect setup for daily drama.
I’m a women of color and lived with several people (12 others) in an intentional living in upstate NY and it was amazing!!! Cost was market value with lots of perks!
I’m also a woman of color living in NY and interested in this lifestyle. Did someone buy the property and everyone contributed to the living costs? How did it work? (If you don’t mind sharing)
Curious about this community as well.
Seems like a good idea for a lot of reasons. Social benefits, obviously but also because it should be cheaper, less of a financial burden for each individual and less of a drain on resources. But I don't really understand why it's more expensive to live in one of these communal groups than to rent alone. For me, that seems to defeat the object. Makes the exercise seem kinda elitist.
The public amenities are better than what's available in a studio apartment...though I do wonder if some of it is "keeping out the riffraff".
agree; it looks as though there is a small group that sublets to the other tenants?
Theres a lot of places that dont cost much if anything and are a lot less elitist. Most of them are in the middle of nowhere but I think those are better anyway because they're more detached from society and are a specific kind of hard but rewarding work. This just seems like glorified roommates. Outside of a city its definitely more of a small community helping eachother and working hard to be sustainable. Also if you want to live communally I assume you already would want to be close to nature since it's a similar lifestyle, but not everyone does(theres definitely better ones in or close to cities). This feels like people who just want to have roommates and dinner parties idk 🤷♀️
@@warreneckels4945 Yep. Pricing as a keep out the riff-raff tool works. I bet they also have to have a 750 credit score, be educated at certain institutions, have a master's degree at the very least, and only use high-end Apple products.
@@lilywhetsell8106 I know that this is late, but could you possibly list some such communities? I myself couldn't come up with many stable ones to live in long-term. I'm considering Twin Oaks, but that's the only one that I could find so far.
ahahah it looks like james is actually freaked out in this video
I feel like I wouldn't get along with anyone in this video.
what about Arturo (3:40)? he seems like a chiller
@@kyletomlinson5365 bc he's the supplier he don't actually live there.
When you live collectively, it helps you become less judgmental. You find that you get along with people that, when you first meet them, you might feel that they are not your "kind" of people. It's really amazing.
@@DeniseHoukMedia I COMPLETELY DISAGREE. SOME INDIVIDUALS ARE SIMPLY BETTER OFF BY BEING HAPPY ALONE.
IT'S UNREASONABLE TO ASSUME THAT ANYONE AND EVERYONE WOULD BE HAPPIER IF THEY JUST "FOUND" THE RIGHT GROUP OF PEOPLE, AS IF SUCH A THING EVEN EXISTS. THE "RIGHT" COMMUNITY IS PURELY A MADE-UP IDEA. THE ENTIRE PREMISE RELIES ON CONFIRMATION BIAS BECAUSE IT'S MEANINGLESS BABBLE FOR LIARS WHO ENJOY LYING TO THEMSELVES.
IF ANYTHING, PEOPLE NEED TO GET BETTER AT FIGURING OUT WHO THEY ARE BY DOING THINGS ALONE RATHER THAN PRETENDING THAT OTHER PEOPLE ARE EVEN WORTH CONNECTING WITH AT ALL.
@@MONEYMUFFINS999 I'm sorry that's your view. I'm sorry you've been wounded in that way. I hope you find peace and healing.
"people tell me that im not human or whatever" LOL
The guy in the suit looks so confused.
Isn't he the reporter?
Are you talking about the reporter?
He probably got this gig as part of a volunteering scheme. He's young that's probably why!
Go check out the co-op community in bed stuy near herbert von king park. When I was there it was mostly not privileged white people, and rent was like half of those bourgeoisie dorms
Hi, do you happen to remember the name of that co-op, social media links will help as well. thanks a lot!
whats the name tho
Please people, sift through these peoples bullshit. Exhibit A: "Communal living, while pretty prominent within a certain particular type of privileged millenial is a thing, we have the belief that its actually something more mainstream within a certain amount of years time and I think what we're trying to do is lay the infrastructure by which nontraditional communities can go ahead and embrace this style of living. " ...You guys are paying $1500-1800 to a company that rooms you with together with other people giving you all yoga, massages, and "occasional" meals. How are you laying the infrastructure for nontraditional communities to engage in communal living? WTF!? Also, what is she, exhibit B (the girl who, based off of her 'doll house/ artist loft/ I hope its haunted line' line could be a character out of a parks and rec episode) talking about "what happens when you share in a space where everyone is white?" *Scroll back to the dinner table at **4:15** , only one person is not white (oh, spoiler:its not her)*
Communes, when people come together to invest in a community, can work great. This is not that. This is capitalism at its finest- packaging communes and communal living up in a neat and attractive way, then selling it and making shit tons of money off of it. If they want to live like that fine, but wake up and call it what it is. .
There is a HUGE difference between what you see here and a commune like Twin Oaks. At Twin Oaks, one has NO career. Whatever you want to do in your life career-wise, from archeology to zoology, you cannot do it at Twin Oaks. Pretty much whatever your dreams are, unless your dream is making cheese, childcare or doing factory work, you're out of luck. Ordinary communes tend to attract people who don't fit in and are searching for a place where they don't feel threatened. That will NEVER be a model for society as a whole. True, people living in communes usually like where they are, but that's because they would be absolutely miserable in the outside world. Pure House at least lets you have a career.
Shes Asian though
The last line made me laugh out loud for a solid 30 seconds
That eye contact thing is FUN!!!
I think James Hamblin is so adorable.
This is spectacular! Thanks for sharing. Great reporting.
the editing is on point.
I have lived collectively since the 90s. It's just been in the last 5 years that I haven't lived collectively and I really miss it.
@John Connor new part of my life... saving for retirement.
It’s because they don’t want oldies there! Oldies are a turn off! Take your meds and go to bed.
I like the idea of living in loft or a studio but I would feel a bit alienated in that specific crowd of people in a communal style home.
I felt that the improper dinner conversation was the biggest deal breaker or maybe I am just too old.
Everybody has a right to their boundaries. Hopefully the "curators" have taken steps to make sure that such boundaries are crossed only with mutual consent.
I felt slightly uncomfortable talking about that too.
I'm young and I dont want to talk about sex while im eating!
I’m loving the dudes shirt at 1:35.
flashback to how a lot of us lived in Eugene Oregon in the early 70s except it was less formalized and a whole lot cheaper, also more India print bedspreads
Love the idea. The details sounds trick though.
lol this was so strange it made my day and made me feel more normal.
this guy is brilliant
Love his face
If you grew up in a Hutterite or Doukabour colony, communal living is not a new thing. There are many great things, but it is really hard to be different
Many of us think of love as a strong emotion, a feeling we have for another person. Take a wholly different and life-enriching approach to love. Love is something you "do", something you give freely from the heart. Learn how to express yourself nakedly and honestly to your partner, friends, or family, for no other purpose than to reveal what's present or alive in you. Discover what thousands of people around the world already know: A heart to heart connection strengthened by joyfully giving and receiving from the heart. Is that love you longing to experience?
Interesting concept so I get how this ended up on my watchlist, but I am getting turned off at the rental cost with no lasting ownership or stakeholder status going along with the payments.
I am so with you!!It’s important to own, and build equity instead of getting to “hang out” with a bunch of hipsters just to be cool.
I thought the idea of something like this would be that rent would be much cheaper? Sigh...
Passing up living alone! Ha! Born and raised New Yorker...never lived without roommates. And it definitely wasn't a choice. P.s. these people need to grow up..having said, living in NYC is communal.
This is awesome! :D Wish I could live there! :D
$1700????😂😂😂🤷♂️
Is this not just a hostel? Except everyone’s got there own room, no sharing 8 bed dorms 😂
The host looks like ryan gosling in the move " the believer".
It’s basically like dorm living
This reminds me of survivor, I don't know why.
Sooooo ..... has The Atlantic followed up? in a year like Co-Founder Poppy Liu suggested? or during Covid? that would be a good story to follow up on.
OMg I love this interviewer! hahahhaha
It's crazy, I am an extrovert and I enjoy talking and meeting new people but I'll be damned if I am going to live in a commune. There is some thing so sacred and private about living space.
I am happy to live alone
Looks like a funny bunch, unfortunately I would go insane living with them after about a month because I work 14/16 hour shifts as a paramedic and need to hibernate like the dead every night. 24hour party people although fun, are only fun for a bit :)
Lol at the ending?!?!
wonder what this place is like in the covid pandemic?
I'm so proud you guys found your SAFE SPACE !
I think you need a psych evaluation.
Dont wear a suit and tie to interview in communal habitats dude.
there's nothing wrong with that.
Fuck off hippie.
Personally, I thought the suit was kind of ironic
I would love to live in an eco-community or preferably a libertarian socialist and/or collectivist communal society. I'm guessing that is more along the lines of "commune" though. I think it would be really great living in a libertarian socialist commune.
"Libertarian socialist"...a combination that's not heard of too often. Would this be an insistence on minimal governmental interference/taxation/subsidy of groups that hold significant assets in common?
Sex talk at the dinner table was wildly inappropriate.
In India... It's called joint family...
The bold guy looks like he carrys around a wooden plank with him, which he uses to smack the residents at the communal venue if they fall asleep in the shared areas.
I prefer living in the same residence separately. I need my quiet time and my space. If I was told I would have to participate in activities I'd politely decline. If I want company I can entertain myself. As long as I pay rent and utilities leave me alone.
How'd I know someone was going to play the race card in this video? Predictable New Yorker.
Boo hoo I got called white wahhh wahh
This comment section is very close minded
You're right. But these places aren't for everyone. This one seems too bougie to me. I think like 60% of people see a living situation like this with a >$1000 rent and balk. Then they brag about their huge 3BR $700/month house in Iowa with the nearest cultural amenity being a fucking cornfield as if everyone would prefer that. Bottom line? People prefer different living situations.
Christopher A. When I hear people say they love living in their 300 dollar a month condo in the middle of nowhere I cringe. Not for me, I want people I want things to do I want change every day.
This comment is very close minded
even the reporter was stoned
There is always that one personality that can't cooperate and dodge their responsibility, would drive me nuts.
I live with 57 other people
please give details, thanks!
I'm Scottish and at a boarding school of 750 students. I live in a house of 57. Of course it is very unlike the situation this video portrays but still very different to a traditional teenage way of life. I spend around three months of the year at home.
4:00 The interview is literally talking over people.
Host seems more appropriate for the Daily Show, not The Atlantic.
Work hard live like a student😂
2:52
The gay dude freaked out the interviewer in the first 30 second
He seems so lost 1:52
LIZZY TACOS LMAO
I'm looking into communal or community living but, I don't know how they can call it "PURE" house and engage in sexually explicit conversations. It's no better than sexting. I want to live in truly pure community!
Actually, this is the way people were meant to live. We are not lone wolves, we are group animals.
Humans are not wolves at all so the comparison is null. And some people do thrive better on their own.
I could not live there , people drive me nuts, I need alone time .
If Eminem had a son this would be him
The key to happy living in an intentional community is diversity? I would think the exact opposite.
I am kinda into it 😅is that weird.
These people remind me of jamestown
you need a brush-up on history then.
You mean Jonestown..?
It like family in a weird way not bad but their all about age
"Communal living has been has been happening for centuries" yeah just a little bit longer, like since the dawn of man.
You live with a bunch of people and it's not even cheaper than a regular apartment? Wild, just get roommates
this is so bougie it hurts my brain
Lunacy, but quite normal. Deception
There’s a critical flaw in the fact that this costs more than individual living. If you’re poor you’re basically just screwed. This is contrary to the goals of socialism which these communes are founded on.
@@samudramanthan8645
Cubans who lived under President Batista and later liberated by Castro and Guevara had their low literacy rates brought up to almost 100%, gained universal healthcare, universal housing, prostitution brought to almost nothing, free higher education, and higher life expectancy than Americans, not even including other benefits. All this while under a ruthless American embargo that crippled their economy. This can hardly be considered screwing over the poor
@@samudramanthan8645 ok so lmk if you found any of what I said about their economy to be wrong
@@samudramanthan8645 I just googled “homelessness rate in Cuba” and it said 0
@@samudramanthan8645 I’m well aware that this is no paradise but it’s important to know where it came from as well as what’s keeping it down today. It’s no surprise that Latin American countries all over the Western Hemisphere historically democratically vote for socialist leaders only to be deposed by American backed coups. It’s also no surprise that Cubans have a hard time getting a leg up from foreign trade when foreign ships aren’t allowed in American ports for many months at a time if they trade with Cuba. The fact that they still have higher life expectancy and lower infant death rates than Americans is impressive, not to mention their government doesn’t allow medical industries to make insulin unaffordable
Funny. They all are young and attractive....
I saw this somewhere. I believe it was called Neverland and no one grew up.... I love comunity and banding together to build safe and supportive relationships, but I don't feel like this atmosphere in particular, is progressive for individual growth. I'm probably wrong though because I'm a white male.... sad day
I agree with you. I’ve been doing lots of research regarding humanity’s social needs and it’s pretty cool. Like you mentioned, community and banding together are both extremely important in building and maintaining a healthy mind. Deep, emotional and physical relationships are absolutely vital in human wellbeing. I believe that these advocates of communes have the right idea, but take it too far. Yes, community and social interaction are both good and completely necessary things, however, humans do NOT posses the need for constant social interaction nor do they posses the need for constant (or even frequent, for that matter,) group interaction. There is a reason monogamous relationships are everywhere: humans need physically and emotionally intimate relationships in order to keep us healthy. These commune advocates think that rather than, say, get a husband/wife and eventually start a family, the best option is to live in a group home where you are constantly flooded with people, many of whom you may not even care about whatsoever. These hipsters favor high quantity social interaction over high quality social interaction, and, like fast food, prioritizing quantity over quality can have disastrous results in the long term.
But what do I know, I’m just a white male
Sort of like county jail
I’m glad not to be living communally. I prefer my family and personal privacy.
I don’t mind what they’re doing it’s just I value both my privacy and silence so I would not be able to live this sort of lifestyle
There's also tremendous value in being alone with your own thoughts. I think the conversation about sex while having dinner is a disrespectful the food, sheer nonsense and a little disgusting all at the same time.
Haha, like when we were living in caves! I thought we were advancing ? Sounds like regression to me!
Female skrillex
I'm 53 and collect books. Talking about sex in a group. Why?
I'm You you, are scary!
Fuck no. I want a house.
Felt like he was mocking the concept in my opinion. Poor piece to depict the value of it.
Value for some isnt value for others. I wouldnt want to live with 15 others even if it was rent free.
...no black men?
This was a weird one, I feel for you having to go into these situations.. and I have to say this does seem like a cult situation.
IINabz You sir, are scary! In fact, you all are scary! But then again, you folks invaded Native communes and killed everybody!
Swingers
Honestly, this is a bit of a disrespectful view of a different lifestyle. The entire tone of the video- the music, the close ups on the investigator’s face, and the treatment of some of the founder’s methods- is crafted to project the idea of “alien, strange, crazy.” The New Yorker does a much better job of treating very foreign concepts with a neutral lens.
Overall, interesting topic, good interviewer, and great cinematography. Could use work in using an unbiased perspective.
what about 3:53? he seems to get it
This is not a good idea anymore, which is a shame.
no thanks
Smh. This people really think they are so smart.
These* Lol don't comment on someone else's intelligence if you can't even spell.
Lol so a simple typo makes me unintelligent. Hahahaha
i feel like if i weren't white this would be fun for me
I wonder if this disease is curable.
I'm sorry you suffer from ignorance, perhaps read a book?
Who wants to talk about sex while eating? Not for me
So basically just super lonely people wanting to feel like they are a part of something.....got it.
They share everything including sex...
Why do they all look like they need to shower?
Hahaha a yuppie flophouse
We should bring back flop houses and boarding houses.
Fucking sad...