A Walden Two Experiment: The First 5 Years of Twin Oaks Commune

by Kathleen Kinkade

Book by kinkade, kathleen

Genres: Nonfiction, Psychology, Philosophy, Sustainability

Paperback

First published January 1, 1973

Reviews

[Emily · Rating 2 out of 5]

“We had read Brave New World and 1984 and were not impressed.” - Kathleen Kinkade

I have read the Walden Two Experiment and am not impressed.

The logic of the above masterpieces “downright silly"?

This book made me feel like someone dropped me on a different planet where up is now down.
“No!” I say. “Up is up and Down is down.”
“Downright silly” they say.
“Too much pot in your brain,” I say.

Sure, it was an interesting enough book. I'll give it one star for that. And I'll even throw in another star for readability. But that's all that can be said for it. The ideas behind this commune are neither original nor practical. Sure, it's interesting to see how a bunch of people who don't really know each other go about living together in peace. But I quickly learned that they have a simple formula for dealing with people who disagree with them.

First, try to force them to conform.
If that doesn't work, make sure they feel extremely unwelcome by the rest of the community so that they leave of their own accord.
And finally, kick them out, if necessary.

A Walden Two Experiment is a book about a commune that is based on ideas from B. F. Skinner's utopian novel "Walden Two". They are trying to prove that the ideas from this book can work in real life, in hopes that this lifestyle will spread to more people, since it is obviously the key to "the good life". After 5 years, they believe they are on their way. The book was published in 1973.

It is obvious from her writing style that the author believes she and the other founders of the community are VERY intelligent people. They create the society, but it’s not “ready” yet to take children or old people. Or mentally ill people, or special needs people, or people who don’t believe exactly what they believe.
“Oh, we want to have these people eventually, but right now, we can’t sacrifice the good of the community when it’s survival is on the line, just for the sake of helping an individual.”

So this is their ideal society. A place for all people to live in community with each other, where there is peace, and everyone is equal. Until they fall on hard times, and then you know who will be the first to go. Anyone who can’t pull their own weight. Babies, children, the elderly, the sick, the mentally ill, etc.

Now tell me, Kathleeen Kinkade, how is this a new society?

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

A depiction of the largest, oldest, and possibly most successful non-religious intentional community in the world.

In many respects, Twin Oaks is somewhere between an informal hippy commune and the most well-organized kibbutzim. Though a lot of learning and transformation goes on during the 5 years covered in this book, the community has remained true to its core values since its founding in 1967. The member population, hovering around 100 members, shares all their income and most of their possessions (from a barn full of clothing to a small fleet of vehicles) in common. They produce a significant quantity of their own food and run a range of businesses, including small factories that produce hammocks and organic soy products.

The book is written from an insiders' perspective, but not an uncritical one. There are a lot of valuable lessons about what is possible and what is not when it comes to building small-scale socialism from the ground up.

[Glenn Bruce · Rating 4 out of 5]

After being somewhat of a fan of the book "Walden Two" as a polemic barely hidden by fiction, I enjoyed the "reality" of the experiment as conceived in Twin Oaks. Over the years, I knew a few people associated with the place (long after I read the book), and pretty much as Skinner (perhaps inadvertently) showed in his book: It won't work. And, having lived briefly in a "commune," (where no one wanted to work or contribute - not really), I found this Twin Oaks books to be fascinating reading. It's one of those "Gee, I hope it works out," while knowing "It isn't going to work out" things. In a way, the residents begin to feel like they're really living in the community of "The Prisoner" with Patrick McGoohan. Great American experiment - and it's still there! (And apparently, just as flawed.)

[Tom Riordan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Doing reserach for my novel and stumbled accross this account of the first five years of Twin Oaks commune, loosely founded upon the teachings of B F Skinner as expressed in his utopian novel Walden Two. Well written and addictive. I had not intended to read it and after a few pages was sucked in. Reallly got me thinking about the effort and committment it took to start an intentional community, never considering the question having accepted and participated in the loose national community carried along its current. This book made me think about what it would take to join a community to live in, to chose active participation with others in a joint venture that would provide fullfillment for both my personal interests and a common shared purpose for living well.

[Cat · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such an interesting read. Growing up only 25 miles away from Twin Oaks, it always held a romantic fascination for me as a teenager, in college, and even recently. It was so interesting to read about the inner workings of it and dispel all the myths I have about it. The communal parenting idea is too radical for me now that I have kids. I'm not ready to give up my parental authority and dissolve the nuclear family. But now I want to read Walden Two, Walden, and also go visit Twin Oaks just to learn more about it in its 40+ years of existence. I think Kinkade wrote a follow up book 26 years later--can't wait to read that too.

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Made me want to give up my quasi-capitalist ways and embark on a utopian journey of self-discovery and group love. The commune chronicled in this book is actually just a county away, so I suppose I could make good on this threat at any time.

I've a strange fascination with both Utopic and Dystopic societies, and I especially appreciate that this group was able to form a functioning community and live to tell about it. A good, factual read for anyone who is interested in Communal societies.

[Saera · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a great find for an intentional communities dreamer like me. The frank account of how Twin Oaks got through its first five years is inspiring yet practical material for those interested in creating a small community. It is exciting to know that Twin Oaks continues to thrive and develop many years and many more people later. I look forward to one day visiting this amazing community!

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I started reading this before my visit to Twin Oaks and finished it today. It's interesting to see how many of the conflicts and ideological-contradictions Kinkade talks about are still present. Interesting too, knowing now that even Kinkade eventually left the commune she founded and came back to finish her twilight years there.

Twin Oaks was never able to practice Skinner's behaviorism in the sense that its founders envisioned. But what has lasted from its start until now is a confounding all-rules-have-exceptions pragmatism that has allowed the commune to continue for nearly 60 years.

Lots of lessons in this book for those who want a nitty-gritty look at what collective living looks like in practice.

[Zachary Ransom · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fairly interesting read. I read it immediately after Walden and then Walden Two. For all the contemplations in the two classics, it was intriguing to read about the struggles of Twin Oaks as they tried to create Skinner's fictional ideal community. This book is not however a work that compares to Thoreau or Skinner's work. It is basically a recollection of one of the Twin Oaks founding members first five years in the community. While she alludes to drama and even physical fights among members, she does not divulge many of the dirty details. To me, that made the read very superficial.

[Melinda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this shortly after finding out that an acquaintance is in the process of setting up an intentional community, which I gather is similar to a commune. I was interested in some of the issues that the commune has to deal with, and this book explained a lot. I have never read _Walden Two_, so I'm not familiar with the work they based their community on. However, a lot of their underlying principles come up in the discussion of issues they faced and how they dealt with them. At one point the author states that she feels the book dwells too much on their conflicts and not enough on the good things that happened, but she says that good things are relatively boring to write about. She's right, plus the conflicts and how they were resolved were what I wanted to know. Afterwards I looked up Twin Oaks Community and found its website. It still exists and is apparently thriving (though probably they would not say so if they were struggling). There are 90 adults and 15 children there now. They are not open to random visitors now, which in the book was a source of both good and bad to their progress. Fascinating, and definitely not a place for me. I realized that I really like "possessing" my husband and family, that I love having autonomy in my own household.

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great memoir that hits on the volatile first five years of Twin Oaks Community, some of the vital early members, and the policies and norms that continue (and don’t) to this day. Although the book doesn’t go much into the shared traits with Walden 2, having read both it’s somewhat easy to see.
The individual chapters on common questions/topics of concern, such as relationships and sex, child raising, and view on visitors, were super interesting and still relevant.

[Sarah]

Amazing! Any sort of alternate-living/commune books is my friend and this one was great. I finished it a while ago (haven't updated in ages) though, so it's sort of hard to remember. Great read though!

[Kyle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was interesting if only because it described how normal people are. Also, my dollars just don't go as far as they used to, back in 1968.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly readable account of particularly the first two years. I appreciated how honest and detailed the information about the challenges was. Glad to see online that theyre still thriving.

[Bross]

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