Hermits and reclusive monastic life need not concern us here. They are
to be found in many parts of the existing society. They live their lives
apart from the main currents of human life. We may make the same
comment, with slight modifications, on intentional communities
organized within the bounds of surrounding civilizations. They meet the
needs of exceptional individuals who find the existing order intolerable
and who wish to move at once into a more congenial community life.
Intentional communities founded to demonstrate particular social or
economic theories usually are short-lived, covering, at best, one or two
generations.
Intentional communities organized around ethical or social principles
are more enduring, lasting through generations and sometimes through
centuries. During their existence they may have considerable influence
on the communities of which they are a part. At best they parallel the
life of the civilization against which they protest, while they share
its problems. Religiously oriented intentional communities may be found
today in many of the countries composing western civilization.
What concerns us here is the split of western civilization into two
broadly divergent groups: capitalism and socialism-communism.
Capitalism, in its present monopoly form, is the outcome of a thousand
years of development. Throughout its existence it has been politically
and economically competitive.
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