II.

Brook Farm: A historical society  

http://www.vcu.edu/engweb/transcendentalism/ideas/brhistory.html 
Scroll down to Philosophy at Brook Farm. 
1. What were Ripley's goals?  

In a letter to Emerson, Ripley outlined his broad aspirations for Brook Farm. Ripley's main goal
was to bridge the gap between the educated and working classes. Both classes, according to
Ripley, had a same problem in that their work no longer satisfied the qualifications of a calling.
Basically their objects, as we know, are to ensure a more natural union between intellectual
and manual labor than now exists; to combine the thinker and the worker, as far as possible, in
the same individual; to guarantee the highest mental freedom, by providing all with labor,
adapted to their tastes and talents, and securing to them the fruits of their industry; to do away
with the necessity of menial services, by opening the benefits of education and the profits of
labor to all; and thus to prepare a society of liberal, intelligent, and cultivated person, whose
relations with each other would permit a more simple and wholesome life, than can now be led
amidst the pressures of our competitive institutions.

Scroll down to Lifestyles.  

2. What symbolizing custom did the entire company perform at the Farm?  

"The symbol of Universal Unity" was the most significant and symbolizing ritual at the Farm.
The entire assembly rose and joined hands in a circle, then "vowed truth to the cause of God
and Humanity."

III. Twin Oaks: A current "utopian society"  

http://www.twinoaks.org 
1. When did this community start?  

It started in 1967, a group of eight people with no farming experience established the
community on a 123-acre (0.50 km2) tobacco farm. Twin Oaks is situated in rural central
Virginia. It is an intentional community with approximately 90 adult members and 15 children.
Their way of life has reflected the values of cooperation, sharing, nonviolence, equality, and
ecology since the community's inception in 1967. According to Kinkade, one of the eight
founding members, the community avoided the stereotypical commune problems of laziness,
freeloading, and an excessive lack of structure by implementing a structured, yet flexible, labor
system.

2. How many hours does each member work a week? 

At Twin Oaks, work is an important part of life. People frequently invest a significant portion of
their identity in their work. Members work 42 hours per week, both in their collectively owned
businesses and in their personal lives. Individual "wages" or "salaries" are not paid; in exchange
for their labor, community members receive everything they require, including housing, food,
clothing, health care, and so on. That is the individual's and community's economic agreement.
They track their work using a labor credit system. Every hour of work a member does is worth
one labor-credit; each member must earn 42 labor credits per week. This system is based on
Walden Two, the book that they were founded on. Every week, they each receive a labor sheet,
which they fill out with their own work preferences and then hand in to the labor assigner, who
ensures that all work shifts for that week are filled. The only work required of each member is
one two-hour kitchen cleaning shift per week; all other work is decided by each member based
on personal preferences such as indoor/outdoor, physical/sedentary, day/evening, and so on.
Each day, as they finish their work, they record it on their labor sheet, which they turn in to the
Labor Manager at the end of the week. This allows them to keep track of how much work
they've done while also tracking labor as it relates to their community budgets.