Commune-a my house
This past Sunday, I picked up the newspaper, which I don't normally do because all my news reading is online these days, but the physical paper was sitting there and so was I and there you go. And in this rare paper-reading, I was amazed that, after only a few passes of section, there I was looking at a big, nicely laid-out feature on Zendik farms. What are the chances!
"Ohhhhhh," you say. "Zendik farms. Now I know what you're talking about." And then you roll your eyes because you have no idea what I'm talking about.
You may know the Zendik farms folk from seeing them on Dupont Circle or Georgtown street corners, pedalling their "Stop Bitching and Start a Revolution" t-shirts and bumper stickers. But I know them because Kaila, one of the people profiled in the article and in a few of the pictures in the gallery, is better known to me as Lisa, a childhood friend from my years outside of Athens, Greece, and our parents are still close and in touch.
A few years ago, my parents saw Lisa again and gave her my phone number in Alexandria, and the next time the Zendik folks came up to the DC area, they asked if they could stay at my place. I was a little reluctant, but was anxious to see Lisa again, so I said they could. They were extremely efficient, turning my living room into a sleeping area for six people (I still can't figure out how they did it), were very considerate, clean and friendly. We talked a lot, and I found that they were all very sincere and free-thinking. Zendik has at various points been categorized as freakish and cult-like, but what I found was people who mostly just wanted a simpler way of living. There were a few young guys who were angry at mainstream society, but for the most part, everyone just wanted a strong community and more practical and tactile version of modern life. There was (and still is) a part of me that finds this a very appealing way of life, but I know myself and what I prefer and so, while I strongly admired their lifestyle, I was never tempted to leave my life behind and take off with them.
While I think that the Post article was (surprisingly) fair and even-handed, there's still a hint of the frequent charge against Zendik and communes like it which goes something like this: "How can they be this anti-capitalism hippie commune, but still be marketing themselves and hard-selling merch? That makes them complete hypocrites."
The article got me thinking about this in a wider way on my train trip home from Baltimore on Sunday, and that criticism is the kind that I've been much more aware of recently. There seems to be a way of thinking that demands an attachment to one extreme or the other; that if you select an ideology or a way of life, then you must completely and wholly reject everything that's the opposite. If you're a vegetarian, then you're a hypocrite for wearing leather. If you're an environmentalist, then you're a hypocrite for ever using anything disposable. If you're wealthy, then you're a hypocrite for being concerned about class differences.
In short (too late), the word "hypocrite" is overused. I'm bugged by this because so much change and good can happen without people having to completely devote themselves to it. Everyone making small changes in either action or ideology can change a lot around you. I suppose it's a natural reaction to want to point out the holes in someone's life theory, but the fact of the matter is that people can accept parts of a lifestyle or theory while rejecting other parts of it.
Where I think this applies to Zendik is that it seems to me that there's a HUGE difference between trying to make money to sustain yourself and your lifestyle (which is what Zendik is doing) and simply trying to make as much money as possible. Almost all of the Zendik people that I spoke with in their visits to Alexandria just wanted that simple, communal life, and that takes money. So they've figured out a way to make the money that allows them to live the life that they want. Should they completely give up the idea of living the kind of life they want simply because they have to figure out a way to get money to do it? Of course not.
The Zendik folks stayed at my apartment three times. The first couple of times, they were extremely friendly and a joy to have around. The third time, none of the people that I knew came along, and whether out of timidity, not liking me or other factors, there was no conversation, and it made me end up feeling like a hotel. I haven't seen them since, except on the corner of Q and Connecticut. But it was nice to hear that they're still doing well.
10 comments:
Very interesting. I must have had my head up my ass the five years I lived in Dupont, because I do not ever recall seeing these folks. I do find it kind of hilarious that the article says they shop at at Walmart to save money and then half a page down the leader is railing against corporate greed. We all work to be able to maintain the lifestyle we enjoy. And so I don't see any hypocrisy in them selling a slogan to be able to live the lifestyle they want.
I guess it's pretty easy to miss people handing out stuff in Dupont. There's someone harrassing you at every step around the circle.
But now that you know, you'll notice them the next time. You'll suddenly feel like you're back at Guilford.
I bought a Zendik cd in Cleveland Park once. It sounds like broken glass tastes. But I was happy to support the overall effort. Susan, it's on the shelf. We are rockin out hard tonight.
I too saw that article and found it fascinating. I sort of wish they hadn't made so many comments about how attractive the daughter of the founders was and how much make-up she wore. I mean, really, does that matter? The group seems to be pretty hard working and very savvy about their marketing. I just wish that once I said "No, thank you" when they asked on the street if I wanted to buy a T-shirt, they would just leave it at that. But now I know their backstory...cool.
Interesting-- I always wondered about those people. Your point about the use of hypocrisy was well made. I agree!
Kathryn Temple once said "I figured out a long time ago that you have to be a complete hypocrite if you want to stand up for anything." Probably the only way to avoid hypocrisy is to check yourself into a monastery or something, but even those guys aren't quite on the level: they pretend to be denying themselves material pleasures, but have you ever tasted their bread?! Delicious!!
Hi, Reid--I was one of the Zendik sellers who stayed with you some years ago. I agree that Kaila is a lovely person (I never knew her as Lisa, since she had changed her name before I showed up). Most Zendiks are lovely people. And I have come to understand, since leaving, that Zendik Farm is in fact a cult.
You say your impression of them was that they were free-thinking. I thought I was very free-thinking when I lived there--I didn't know till long after leaving, when I finally began questioning my hard-learned Zendik dogma, that I had not been thinking freely at all. I had in fact accepted a very limiting set of principles, and handed my decision-making ability over to a group mind created by Arol and Wulf, carried on by Fawn.
As for selling, and the charge of hypocrisy--I don't see Zendik selling in terms of corporate sell-out vs. way-of-making-a- living/pushing ideals. I see it, rather, as a highly effective tool of cult mind-control. Any seller will tell you that pushing mags, CDs, t-shirts etc. helps strengthen belief--that is precisely what it is designed to do. Most cult leaders send their followers out to do some kind of fundraising. And most cult leaders and members have a double set of ethics, for those who belong to the cult and those who don't. Zendik sellers, for instance, believe in something called a "psychic donation"--meaning, if someone means to hand you a five but hands you a twenty instead, you cram that money into your pocket as quickly as you can, so they don't realize their mistake. Arol routinely spoke of "shoving" Zendik stuff "down people's throats." Zendiks are out to make as much money as they possibly can--not because they're evil capitalists, but because that is what the cult demands. And, as the article indicates, trying your best is not good enough. If you don't make the money you're expected to make, you will be reamed for it, in very personal and humiliating ways.
One more thing--Zendiks who stay at people's houses are, yes, generally very well behaved, and friendly. They have learned that that is efficacious, and there is all kinds of strategizing done concerning making a good impression, keeping the person as a prospect for the next time around. Ultimately, though, there is no chance of a sustained, personal relationship between someone who lives at Zendik and someone who doesn't. They are--in general, of course there are exceptions--friendly to those who may be able to do something for them.
Okay, that's enough of my ranting. I just felt compelled to add my two cents to the discussion.
Helen
just read your article concerning the zendiks. I lived there in 96, and can tell you what a cult actually is as a result. Sexual coming of age to a zendik is puberty. A thirteen year old boy at the farm was widely accepted as fawns boyfriend. they had lots of unprotected sex according to him, and it was common knowledge as well. they had it in spite of this boys sister living at the farm as well. To be in posession of a condom at Zendik is to be ridiculed as publicly as possible. They think AIDS is a scam and quote an article in SPIN magazine they carry in a 3 ring binder filled with odd medical articles next to the one that holds the recipes in the kitchen. If youre a sexually active female your vagina is placed on display before you get to have sex while the community checks to see if you can be impregnated. This is called a 'spec check'. The worst part of it is you aren't allowed to have an opinion of your own in any way on any subject if it doesn't tow the party line. They will scream at you until they throw you out or you give in. They will try to get you to max out your credit cards and donate everything you have to them. They did all of this in front of me within 4 months. There is a tight hierarchy that controls the flow of information to newcomers so that you literally cant know all of this about them until some time has passed. They wait until you experience a point of emotional fragility to put the screws to you. Please publish this.
Wow...I didn't expect comments like this, but i also didn't expect to get that little automatic link from the Washington Post. Very interesting...
I'll just reiterate what I saw, which is that people I met seemed free-thinking and understanding. I knew people who lived in Asheville around the time that they were there who had heard rumors of it being a big sex cult, and A. Nonymous seems to think so. In fact, the comment above seems to me to mostly just be stating rumor as though it were fact, if only because s/he doesn't believe in paragraphs. In other words, I'll publish it, but I don't really believe it.
Helen's comment is very interesting, though. I don't doubt that there's a heavy emphasis on sell, sell, sell. Whether it's being done to self-sustain or profit, it's going to be on the minds of everyone there.
I can see how someone can get bitter after finding out that a group of people isn't entirely what they claim that it is. But I still stand by everything I said, if only because that's my experience, and I thought it was pretty interesting that what I saw in these people (and I'm a very skeptical person, though I also believe I'm a decent judge of character and trustworthiness) is exactly what's in the article. A little odd? Zealous? Sure. But still genuine. I never thought that the people who stayed at my place were being nice to me were doing anything other than having good manners: being nice to someone who was doing them a huge favor. None of them seemed scared or seemed as though they were being trapped in some unforgiving cult. Maybe I just didn't see enough, but the anonymous comment above seems either made up or someone who chooses to believe it that way.
Anyway...it's all interesting stuff. If anyone else has a take on it, I'm very curious about the comments, though, as you can see, I talk back a lot.
Some Zendik reps came to my school this weekend to do a presentation. They seemed very sincere, but also extremely awkward and out of touch with reality. They never introduced themselves by name, even when explicitly asked to do so, and nearly everything they said could have been a direct quote from their leader's propaganda, as found on their website.
More disturbing than the spacy, insecure appearance of these young people, though, were the introductory videos they screened before talking. The first one had a lot of violent and sexual images combined with psychedelic effects, while a monotonous narrator kept harping on the themes of fear and loneliness. The video made me feel like my brain was under assault.
In short, it seems pretty clear that this group preys on confused and vulnerable young people, indoctrinating them and then sending them out to make money. Sounds like a cult to me.
Post a Comment