My parents were hippies living in New Hampshire when the Farm thrived in Tennessee. Members of the Farm community lived with us for a time at our own little farm up north. No, we were not affiliated with Gaskin's farm, but my folks had great admiration the Farm's ideas.
In one scene, the Gaskin's daughter recalls how she once found a gum wrapper and savored its scent for a week.
Welcome to being a hippie kid. I saw in the film how the Farm children loved the freedom of frolicking in the fields and woods. I saw the intimacy, the love, and the hope.
Yet, Ms. Gaskin's story of the gum wrapper, and the comments about the children removing the guns from their Stars Wars action figures, struck a familiar chord.
We were hippie children, but we were still children. The more the grownups sowed us with dogma against plastic toys, sugary junk foods, and the evils of television, the more we jonesed for these things.
We wanted to do the things other kids got to do. When the other kids were still in their pajamas, watching Saturday Morning Cartoons, and eating Capn' Crunch, I had to go stack wood. Never mind how it's ten degrees Fahrenheit.
In contrast to the Cheech & Chong image in which the pop culture likes to portray hippies, intellectuals such as Stephen Gaskin, and my Dad, had different ideas when it came to children.
Mr. Gaskin declared post-war suburban kids were "paddy-asses" raised on Dr. Spock and phony bourgeois values. He thought children were better off raised like pioneer kids: Bare essentials, vigorous work, vigorous play, and a sound spanking for bad behavior. Dad agreed wholeheartedly when our barn-dwelling Gaskinites shared this bit of wisdom.
American Commune presents home movies on the Farm. You see the homespun clothes, the live folk music, and the dining tables rich with a bounty of vegan muck. It probably appeals to you far more than it does to me. I think to myself, "Yeesh, not all this BS again!"
Marijuana and psychedelics brought Mr. Gaskin a great many insights about human behavior and community. However, you notice he based much of his applied philosophy on Biblical principles. Why? Because they work.
There were thousands of communes based on hedonism and a pastiche of philosophies and mysticism designed to rationalize hedonism. Hollywood spoofs these communes to this day because they failed spectacularly.
Nope, to make a community work, you gotta have discipline and work ethic. Mr. Gaskin understood this. He inculcated these principles into his extended family. At its best, that's what the Farm was.
The other pitfall the Gaskins avoided was messianic cultism. The most horrible examples of messiah complex are Rev. Jim Jones and Charles Manson.
Mr. Gaskin allowed people to come and go as they pleased. If people didn't dig they way they did things on the Farm, they were free to go and seek the life they wanted.
Ina May Gaskin's midwifery techniques continue to help people with natural childbirth today. The Gaskins also pioneered the use of soybeans for nutrition. As the documentary shows, the Farm practiced what they preached. I don't know if anyone can verify the quotation, but my Dad said Stephen said, "Don't take over the government, take over the government's job." Whether Mr. Gaskin said this or not, it is a good summation of the Farm policy. They fed the hungry and treated the sick both at home and abroad.
The truth is, self-sufficiency apart from capitalism makes capitalists feel threatened. Hence, the FBI spying, the shock-and-awe pot raid, and the banks bullying the Farm. I shall refrain from spoilers.
As a veteran of a hippie childhood, I wish the documentary had expanded on more of the interpersonal problems that arise from experimental living conditions.
Mr. Gaskin's beliefs were lofty as sermons to his followers. They were difficult when applied. Such as the jealousy and fighting that emerged from polygamous partnering. Such as members having to petition the collective for a toothbrush, while Mr. Gaskin and company purchased high-tech gadgets and spent all kinds of money of relief missions.
Experimental living, no matter how well-intentioned, is often less than salubrious for children.
I grew to despise hippie culture in my youth because I saw so many grownups bickering about how things are supposed to be. I saw so much confusion among the adults. The point I wanted to see the documentary drive home is that folks is folks. As the community grew, it faced the same pitfalls as the established community of squares! I saw the same thing happen in our own hippie community, and I wished they would stop railing against the establishment because the hippies were making the same mistakes.
Well, perhaps I need to make my own documentary!
I recommend "American Commune," but sometimes the story of the vegan Farm doesn't get to the meat of the matter.
In one scene, the Gaskin's daughter recalls how she once found a gum wrapper and savored its scent for a week.
Welcome to being a hippie kid. I saw in the film how the Farm children loved the freedom of frolicking in the fields and woods. I saw the intimacy, the love, and the hope.
Yet, Ms. Gaskin's story of the gum wrapper, and the comments about the children removing the guns from their Stars Wars action figures, struck a familiar chord.
We were hippie children, but we were still children. The more the grownups sowed us with dogma against plastic toys, sugary junk foods, and the evils of television, the more we jonesed for these things.
We wanted to do the things other kids got to do. When the other kids were still in their pajamas, watching Saturday Morning Cartoons, and eating Capn' Crunch, I had to go stack wood. Never mind how it's ten degrees Fahrenheit.
In contrast to the Cheech & Chong image in which the pop culture likes to portray hippies, intellectuals such as Stephen Gaskin, and my Dad, had different ideas when it came to children.
Mr. Gaskin declared post-war suburban kids were "paddy-asses" raised on Dr. Spock and phony bourgeois values. He thought children were better off raised like pioneer kids: Bare essentials, vigorous work, vigorous play, and a sound spanking for bad behavior. Dad agreed wholeheartedly when our barn-dwelling Gaskinites shared this bit of wisdom.
American Commune presents home movies on the Farm. You see the homespun clothes, the live folk music, and the dining tables rich with a bounty of vegan muck. It probably appeals to you far more than it does to me. I think to myself, "Yeesh, not all this BS again!"
Marijuana and psychedelics brought Mr. Gaskin a great many insights about human behavior and community. However, you notice he based much of his applied philosophy on Biblical principles. Why? Because they work.
There were thousands of communes based on hedonism and a pastiche of philosophies and mysticism designed to rationalize hedonism. Hollywood spoofs these communes to this day because they failed spectacularly.
Nope, to make a community work, you gotta have discipline and work ethic. Mr. Gaskin understood this. He inculcated these principles into his extended family. At its best, that's what the Farm was.
The other pitfall the Gaskins avoided was messianic cultism. The most horrible examples of messiah complex are Rev. Jim Jones and Charles Manson.
Mr. Gaskin allowed people to come and go as they pleased. If people didn't dig they way they did things on the Farm, they were free to go and seek the life they wanted.
Ina May Gaskin's midwifery techniques continue to help people with natural childbirth today. The Gaskins also pioneered the use of soybeans for nutrition. As the documentary shows, the Farm practiced what they preached. I don't know if anyone can verify the quotation, but my Dad said Stephen said, "Don't take over the government, take over the government's job." Whether Mr. Gaskin said this or not, it is a good summation of the Farm policy. They fed the hungry and treated the sick both at home and abroad.
The truth is, self-sufficiency apart from capitalism makes capitalists feel threatened. Hence, the FBI spying, the shock-and-awe pot raid, and the banks bullying the Farm. I shall refrain from spoilers.
As a veteran of a hippie childhood, I wish the documentary had expanded on more of the interpersonal problems that arise from experimental living conditions.
Mr. Gaskin's beliefs were lofty as sermons to his followers. They were difficult when applied. Such as the jealousy and fighting that emerged from polygamous partnering. Such as members having to petition the collective for a toothbrush, while Mr. Gaskin and company purchased high-tech gadgets and spent all kinds of money of relief missions.
Experimental living, no matter how well-intentioned, is often less than salubrious for children.
I grew to despise hippie culture in my youth because I saw so many grownups bickering about how things are supposed to be. I saw so much confusion among the adults. The point I wanted to see the documentary drive home is that folks is folks. As the community grew, it faced the same pitfalls as the established community of squares! I saw the same thing happen in our own hippie community, and I wished they would stop railing against the establishment because the hippies were making the same mistakes.
Well, perhaps I need to make my own documentary!
I recommend "American Commune," but sometimes the story of the vegan Farm doesn't get to the meat of the matter.