Literature to lift spirits through the Trump Slump. Tales of other dangerous times and what some people did to make it through.
Voluntary Peasants is an important piece of modern history that reads like a novel. Explore alternative lifestyles and a possibly better way to live. A remarkable, inspiring social experiment that drew together thousands of good-hearted, high-minded people who joined forces, pooled resources and attempted to create a meaningful, enlightening lifestyle the whole world can afford.
Like now, the 60s were perilous times. Total global nuclear annihilation seemed a hair breath away. Belief in “The Establishment” crumbled. Old paradigms vanished. Millions of minds changed. Movements were born, and folks moved back to the land.
Voluntary Peasants is an informative, entertaining fun read that explores how to make it on a super low-budget, through dangerous times and live a good life. Stories of extraordinary personal and group transformation.
Leave the ordinary. Let your head soar free and take a trip—a 60s trip over the edge. Melvyn Stiriss takes the reader on an extraordinary, first-person journey from Greenwich Village beatniks in the fifties through the sixties and seventies—opening doors to reveal inner realms of those heady, revolutionary times—times rich in lessons that can help us now.
“Imagine all the people living life in peace.”—John Lennon. "That was us! We had it going."
Explore the now relevant question:
Can back-to-the-land, friendly collective living save the world?
Beyond sex, drugs and rock ‘n roll—beyond hippies. Journalist/historian/humorist Melvyn Stiriss sheds new light on the 60s when, as a UPI reporter, he followed the story of the times over the edge to live the story himself.
Stiriss—“I co-founded and lived thirteen years in America’s biggest commune not undercover but as a full-fledged member of the hippie collective, living the dream, “saving the world.” The idea of writing about the experience came after, when I realized the importance of reporting behind-the-scenes, everyday observations of one of the most-amazing social experiments to come out of that far-out era.”
Enter what may seem another world. Entertaining, informative, true stories of The Farm—a remarkable bold attempt to “get out of the box” and create a better way of life—an Earth-friendly, people-friendly, pacifist, eclectic, agrarian, vegan community and pioneering cannabis church—a commune awarded the Swedish Right Livelihood Award—“For caring, sharing and acting with and on behalf of those in need at home and abroad.”
As an example of The Farm’s humanitarian outreach, the author worked a year with Mayans and a crew from the community in remote villages after a devastating earthquake in Guatemala—building schools, clinics, houses and a clinic for Mother Teresa.
Over the collective’s almost 13 years, 5,000 people lived and worked together as “voluntary peasants” sharing labor, life and friendship—living a path with heart—working without pay—to create a globally-affordable, simple, gracious, sustainable lifestyle. The Farm was a grassroots, 24/7 peace demonstration.
We built our own town nestled in Tennessee woods—a village complete with farming, construction, motor pool, soy dairy, clinic, lab, doctors, midwives, bakery, cottage industries, FM radio station, solar-heated school, a dozen satellite communities and humanitarian outreach projects around the world.
At peak—1,450 people enjoyed Zero Unemployment, Universal Healthcare, and all necessities on $100/person a month!”
Voluntary Peasants includes the author’s deeply personal spiritual student-teacher relationships with Stephen and Ina May Gaskin; personal “yogas” placed on him, “spiritual missions” to perform and what that all led too. We also examine the whole “guru trip” and common effects of group think.
Voluntary Peasants will be available in print June, 2017
Visit www.VoluntaryPeasants.com
Voluntary Peasants is an important piece of modern history that reads like a novel. Explore alternative lifestyles and a possibly better way to live. A remarkable, inspiring social experiment that drew together thousands of good-hearted, high-minded people who joined forces, pooled resources and attempted to create a meaningful, enlightening lifestyle the whole world can afford.
Like now, the 60s were perilous times. Total global nuclear annihilation seemed a hair breath away. Belief in “The Establishment” crumbled. Old paradigms vanished. Millions of minds changed. Movements were born, and folks moved back to the land.
Voluntary Peasants is an informative, entertaining fun read that explores how to make it on a super low-budget, through dangerous times and live a good life. Stories of extraordinary personal and group transformation.
Leave the ordinary. Let your head soar free and take a trip—a 60s trip over the edge. Melvyn Stiriss takes the reader on an extraordinary, first-person journey from Greenwich Village beatniks in the fifties through the sixties and seventies—opening doors to reveal inner realms of those heady, revolutionary times—times rich in lessons that can help us now.
“Imagine all the people living life in peace.”—John Lennon. "That was us! We had it going."
Explore the now relevant question:
Can back-to-the-land, friendly collective living save the world?
Beyond sex, drugs and rock ‘n roll—beyond hippies. Journalist/historian/humorist Melvyn Stiriss sheds new light on the 60s when, as a UPI reporter, he followed the story of the times over the edge to live the story himself.
Stiriss—“I co-founded and lived thirteen years in America’s biggest commune not undercover but as a full-fledged member of the hippie collective, living the dream, “saving the world.” The idea of writing about the experience came after, when I realized the importance of reporting behind-the-scenes, everyday observations of one of the most-amazing social experiments to come out of that far-out era.”
Enter what may seem another world. Entertaining, informative, true stories of The Farm—a remarkable bold attempt to “get out of the box” and create a better way of life—an Earth-friendly, people-friendly, pacifist, eclectic, agrarian, vegan community and pioneering cannabis church—a commune awarded the Swedish Right Livelihood Award—“For caring, sharing and acting with and on behalf of those in need at home and abroad.”
As an example of The Farm’s humanitarian outreach, the author worked a year with Mayans and a crew from the community in remote villages after a devastating earthquake in Guatemala—building schools, clinics, houses and a clinic for Mother Teresa.
Over the collective’s almost 13 years, 5,000 people lived and worked together as “voluntary peasants” sharing labor, life and friendship—living a path with heart—working without pay—to create a globally-affordable, simple, gracious, sustainable lifestyle. The Farm was a grassroots, 24/7 peace demonstration.
We built our own town nestled in Tennessee woods—a village complete with farming, construction, motor pool, soy dairy, clinic, lab, doctors, midwives, bakery, cottage industries, FM radio station, solar-heated school, a dozen satellite communities and humanitarian outreach projects around the world.
At peak—1,450 people enjoyed Zero Unemployment, Universal Healthcare, and all necessities on $100/person a month!”
Voluntary Peasants includes the author’s deeply personal spiritual student-teacher relationships with Stephen and Ina May Gaskin; personal “yogas” placed on him, “spiritual missions” to perform and what that all led too. We also examine the whole “guru trip” and common effects of group think.
Voluntary Peasants will be available in print June, 2017
Visit www.VoluntaryPeasants.com
