David Kretzmann

Cooperative Communities, Libertarianism, and Learning from the Green Movement

Jul 5, 2011 at 10:31 AM

By David Kretzmann

On the occasion when I explain my upbringing in Ananda Village, California, to fellow libertarians, I am often met with funny looks or a halfhearted, “That’s neat,” in response. Ananda, founded by J. Donald Walters (also known as Swami Kriyananda), is an intentional cooperative community celebrating its 43rd anniversary this year. The community of Ananda is, quite simply, a gathering of individuals who follow the spiritual teachings of the Indian yogi, Paramhansa Yogananda (author of “Autobiography of a Yogi”). I was born and raised in Ananda, and the community itself is a haven of individual creativity, dedication, and entrepreneurship.

In fact, there is no rule book or set constitution for communities to adopt. There is nothing mandating that communities have to be collective socialist communes where no one can so much as own their own shirt. Communities are basic structures, they are whatever people create of them. Some individuals might prefer a community that focuses on promoting entrepreneurship, others a community that centers on building birdhouses and widgets. Regardless of the intended community focus, the key concept is an intentional community provides a foundation for like-minded individuals to come together, collaborate, and work toward on a common goal.

Libertarians often try to change things through a legislative process in government, which is a great and noble goal.

Grapes of Wrath and Great Depression Myths

Nov 3, 2010 at 10:35 AM

By David Kretzmann

When reading Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, one is painted a picture of corporate abuses over helpless people who are finally saved after years of struggle by the government. Steinbeck blames banks and the invention of the tractor and other machinery for displacing thousands of “Okies” who were no longer needed to attend to the crops. He also describes a scene where the California farmers destroyed their oranges and other goods in front of the starving people because no one had the money to buy the products. I will do my best to address these points and explore the reality of the economy during the Great Depression.

Contrary to popular belief, the problem in the eyes of government and corporations was not high prices, it was low prices. Corporations blamed low prices on evils such as “unfair competition” and claimed their “profits weren’t protected.” In response to these complaints, Franklin Roosevelt started the first of many “New Deal” government interventions by creating the National Recovery Administration (NRA) in 1933. The first administrator of the agency, Hugh Johnson, called it “the greatest social advance since the days of Jesus Christ.”