(Tia shares her knowledge on some of the communes of the Northwest and from that we get a glimpse of the future should society unravel. She studies each with us and the differences for what to look for should the need ever arise that one would find themselves in one.) 

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Tia: okay, any questions?

Russ: anything at all you’d like to ask?

Linda M: I really don’t know what her interests are.

Tia: okay, I’m a political analyst, I am an astral traveler……

Linda M: uh-huh.

Tia: and what else do I do? That’s about it.

Linda M: what is a political analyst know about communes and stuff?

Tia: communes, hmmm, I know quite a bit about communes. It depends on the structure of the commune that you wish to live in.

Linda M: something not too religious or not religious at all. Something that…..

Tia: in other words, kind of a group of individuals living together for a common good without any designated leader.

Linda M: yeah.

Tia: uh-huh.

Linda M: with lots of fruit trees and fabric weaving and you know….

Tia: there’s a couple up in Oregon, there’s a couple scattered throughout California. The ones in California you don’t want to get mixed with.

Linda M: oh why's that?

Tia: mainly because of their recreational habits. There’s one in…..

Linda M: you mean sexual?

Tia: some of them yes or part of them are yes. Also they have recreational pharmaceuticals.

Linda M: what’s that?

Russ: drugs.

Tia: uh-huh.

Linda M: ohh.

Tia: some of them grow their own, there is one in Mendocino which is entertaining to say the least. Communes are a good look at how life will progress.

Linda M: yeah.

Tia: I mean a group of individuals living together for a common good, not worrying about the external influences of the world around them, being independent, self-sufficient, that’s what you want right?

Linda M: exactly.

Tia: uh-huh. Yeah, people that take care of each other when they need taking care of but respect your space.

Linda M: that's what I like, someone who respects your space.

Tia: there’s a good one in Oregon that appears to be worth studying….

Russ: is that the one up near where I was living by Medford and Ashland?

Tia: that’s the place where they have the Shakespeare Festivals?

Russ: that’s right.

Tia: yeah, that’s one. There’s another good one up in a valley in Washington where they grow lots of apples.

Linda: okay.

Tia: uh-huh and they also grow grapes there and peaches…..actually not peaches….

Russ: pears?

Tia: pears….

Russ: I picked pears in Oregon.

Tia: yeah and little round….

Russ: berries?

Linda M: mullberries?

Tia: I think they’re cherries.

Linda M: hmm.

Tia: what else? Those are two very good ones. The one up in Washington is a little strange, it’s kind of semi-politically motivated. It’s almost a communist type commune.

Russ: hmm.

Tia: but it depends if you want to put up with that kind of rhetoric and that kind of environment for the general good.

Russ: alright okay, let me ask a question real quick. You said that is something that goes towards the future, something we’re building towards.

Tia: yes and no.

Russ: okay.

Tia: they are glimpses of how things might be but….

Russ: in an ideal type setting?

Tia: no, far from it, far from it. Far, far from it.

Russ: okay.

Tia: morally, some of them…..the one in Oregon is a good, moral commune. There are underlying religious tones but not everybody participates in it. It’s those that wish to do, those that don’t wish to don’t, those that want to discuss politics do and those that don’t, don’t. Those that want to have their own space but yet are prepared to work for the common good do and those that don’t want to work for the common good don’t go there.

Russ: oh I see, so it’s a prerequisite, you’ve got to basically be able to work with other people.

Tia: uh-huh.

Russ: now what about internal friction between people?

Tia: that is normally discussed which is good, I mean if you let emotions and feelings build up inside you, you get angry, you get upset, you get aggressive and that causes problems.

Russ: okay.

Tia: so it’s best that when there is a problem, discuss it, get it out in the open. I’ve always said that talking about things is far better than bottling them up, I just wish that some people would listen to me sometimes about that.

Linda M: uh-huh.