Sharing community = communists??

[mschrisgo2]

So I was chatting with my mother and mentioned that several neighbors and I share a lawn mower (we all have small grass areas). And that we all look after each other’s cats and dogs if someone is away, even for a whole day...

Her angry reaction was, “What a bunch of communists!!”

Does participating in a sharing community define one as a communist?

[ApatheticNoMore]

Fox news and the like has permanently rotted some people's brains it seems.

I suppose when you have to defend the indefensible (especially with Trump) it leads to all kinds of strange mental contortions.

[bae]

Sounds pretty wacky to me.

[Chicken lady]

Does your mom have a library card?

[razz]

How sad that she has never experienced this mutual support with neighbours. It is one of life's joys.

[catherine]

If you grew up in the 60s post-McCarthy era you might still carry irrational fear of anything that suggests "pinko" attitudes and behaviors... even sharing with neighbors. Very sad.

[Tybee]

Not to be an alarmist or anything but how old is your mom? My mom has dementia, and one of the onset symptoms was a great suspicion of people, mistrust and paranoia.
It's just something to think about.

[iris lilies]

My literal, non-snarky answer to your question is sure, that is one of the characteristics of a communist society. But until the state owns the means of production, you are in the clear for pinkness.As it is, you all are a collective.

But my real answer is: so what? Why does it matter to you about the label put on this shared activity? This sounds more like mother -daughter acrimony than anything else.

[pinkytoe]

I think it would be neat if we could share gardening equipment in our neighborhoods. We are looking at lawn trimmers right now and wondering why they are so expensive. I think the shared care and feeding of such objects might be problematic though without the right mix of personalities.

[Rogar]

Without more information, it does seem a little odd, if not bordering on paranoia.

I have lived places where the old saying, good fences make good neighbors, was pretty much the situation. Given the right neighbors and it is working with no disagreements, I think "community" could be misinterpreted as something else.

[Sad Eyed Lady]

I would love a situation like that - a sharing community, no matter how it was perceived by others. I remember reading once in some of the "simple living" books I was devouring back several years ago, where sharing things in common was a practical approach rather than each household having: gardening equipment, lawn mowers, etc. so the housing of the equipment, maintaining and use would be shared. Maybe a central location for the housing I guess. Kind of like a library! Anyway, that makes a lot of sense to me. Living in community and cooperatively.

[LDAHL]

Here are some signs that the arrangement might be communist in the classic USSR sense:

The lawn mower was confiscated from a homeowner who has since been liquidated.

Nobody is allowed to purchase his own lawn mower.

Minimal effort is expended on maintaining the lawn mower because nobody accepts the responsibility except under duress.

A few of the more well connected families get to use the mower 90% of the time.

The neighborhood is periodically leafletted about the benefits of tall grass.

Gas for the mower is frequently unavailable.

If the neighbors all get together and vote in favor of the person with the best lawn mower being required to mow their lawns for them, it’s just harmless Democratic Socialism.

If none of this applies, it’s probably just some people sharing a lawn mower.

[Teacher Terry]

We have shared things with our neighbors and our friends too. I think it’s great!

[Gardnr]

So I was chatting with my mother and mentioned that several neighbors and I share a lawn mower (we all have small grass areas). And that we all look after each other’s cats and dogs if someone is away, even for a whole day...

Her angry reaction was, “What a bunch of communists!!”

Does participating in a sharing community define one as a communist?

Wow! That's a stretch. Sorry Mom, it's called neighborly.

[dado potato]

Social Darwinism had its hey-day in the late 19th Century, but I gather it still carries on in certain family conversations. Jumping off from Darwin's theory of natural selection, the Social Darwinists believed that certain nations (generally imperial powers) were superior, and therefor destined to rule colonies. (Hail Britannia! for instance.)

One of many who responded critically was an anarcho-communist, Peter Kropotkin, in his book Mutual Aid: A Factor in Evolution. Not all species evolved as a result of individual competition. Some evolved as a result of co-operation, or mutual aid.

There is no reason to believe that all who co-operate, such as by taking turns baby-sitting each other's children, do so on the basis of any "communist" doctrine.

[pinkytoe]

When we first moved here, several neighbors came over and asked if DH would like to borrow their leaf blowers. I guess they saw him using a broom and decided that would never do.

[mschrisgo2]

Sounds pretty wacky to me.

thanks Bae, it sounded wacky to me too. I was totally flabbergasted.

[mschrisgo2]

Does your mom have a library card?

no, and not any where near a library, unfortunately.

[mschrisgo2]

How sad that she has never experienced this mutual support with neighbours. It is one of life's joys.

I love my little neighborhood with all the mutual support. It is a great joy in my life.

[mschrisgo2]

If you grew up in the 60s post-McCarthy era you might still carry irrational fear of anything that suggests "pinko" attitudes and behaviors... even sharing with neighbors. Very sad.
i was born in the early 50s. I’ve never paid any attention to the communist ideology, I’ve mostly heard it referred to a part of scare tactics. I really don’t like to give scare tactics any air time in my life.

[mschrisgo2]

Not to be an alarmist or anything but how old is your mom? My mom has dementia, and one of the onset symptoms was a great suspicion of people, mistrust and paranoia.
It's just something to think about.

good point and reminder. My mother is 89, always been a bit mistrustful, and suspicious, so on the surface, I didn’t think of it as a concern, but it might be the beginning...

[mschrisgo2]

But my real answer is: so what? Why does it matter to you about the label put on this shared activity? This sounds more like mother -daughter acrimony than anything else.

I was quite taken aback by her comment. Add to that, feeling like maybe I should have paid more attention to “what is communism?”

Curious as to why you would characterize it as “mother-daughter acrimony”?

[iris lilies]

I was quite taken aback by her comment. Add to that, feeling like maybe I should have paid more attention to “what is communism?”

Curious as to why you would characterize it as “mother-daughter acrimony”?

sorry, I thought you were one of the people here who had a difficult relationship with your mom. I guess not.

Whatever the idea behind her comment about communism, it sounds like she had a not-especially -thoughtful knee jerk reaction to your tale of sharing garden implements. Was it supposed to get a rise out of you? Who knows her intent.

[Tybee]

If it is dementia, that is the hardest part--they can say really mean things, and act like they don't trust you, and then that they don't remember you.

Funny what she said because I had a sticker on my car about 15 years ago that said Health Care for All and my mother took me aside and said she didn't like my sticker, it sounded like Communism to her. It was odd because she was never political really.

She changed in so many ways, but it was slowly, over time.