Justin Gleicher
Professor Yonke
Peace Studies 200
6 December 2002
Outside of Luck, Wisconsin there is a small community of people who live to
see if they can accomplish what they want the rest of the world to accomplish:
peace. As I interviewed the members of this small community, known as Anathoth,
within the first few minutes the same idea came out everyone's mouth. "The reason
I live in this community is because I want to see if I can live the way that
I would like to see the rest of the world live." If it is possible to live non-violently
at Anathoth, then members believe there is a chance for non-violent living in
the rest of the world (Miles; Urfer; Katt).
Anathoth Community Farm is located just outside of Luck, on an area of land
originally purchased for the purpose of community by Barb Kass and Mike Miles
(Katt; Miles). Kass and Miles did not want to fund the community from a bank,
but instead wanted to have paid for the land (Countryside 44; Katt). To accomplish
this, they sent out letters to activist friends, and within six weeks had collected
20,000 dollars. Then, during the summer of 1987, they created the Plowshares
Land Trust and the first house of the community was built (Countryside 44).
This first house is located at the end of the driveway and is home to Barb Kass
and Mike Miles, as well as their three kids. Their home is a 100-year-old log
building donated by a man who had dismantled it and then decided that he no
longer was going to use it. The logs came to Anathoth where the reassembly occurred
without any major problems; despite the fact that the markings for reassembly
had faded and become unrecognizable (Countryside 40).
Barb Katt explains that most of the buildings on the farm are made of recycled
materials. Katt, who lives with John LaForge, built a house made of salvaged
lumber, as is apparent in the kitchen area where the floor is made of boards
varying in thickness. She explains that this is because of the salvaging of
boards from different places. The salvaging of materials helps to reduce the
cost of buildings to approximately 13,000 dollars (Miles; Katt; Countryside
39). Katt continues to tell how the farm was able to build a building for approximately
7,000 dollars; however, the most money saving project was also the most labor
intensive, pouring the concrete foundation.
Although there are some elements in the community requiring a professional,
according to Bonnie Urfer, the community at Anathoth is skilled in many areas;
areas such as farming, carpentry, computers, and electricity. These skills help
to keep the costs down; that is if someone has time to get around to the problem,
Urfer tells us. Before the music festival, The War is Over if you Want It, there
were problems with the water system and drains. No one had time to get around
to fixing these problems, so money was scrounged and a plumber was called (Urfer).
Anathoth community farm is a Catholic Worker community, although they do not
receive much attention from this (Katt). An essay written by Jim Forest explains
much about the Catholic Worker Movement, as he was once the managing editor
of The Catholic Worker, a newspaper put out by the movement. The Catholic Worker
movement had its formation in 1933 by Dorothy Day. Originally only consisting
of "houses of hospitality", these were located in run-down areas of many cities.
The "houses of hospitality" had a number of functions, and these functions have
changed over time. Much of their purpose is simply to allow those who are homeless
a place to stay for a while (Katt).
Katt tells us they also had a purpose to transport people from Central American
countries to Canada during the 1980's. If caught in the United States, these
people from Central America were to suffer deportation and likely death. Canada
was not deporting these people, so an underground railroad sprung up to move
them through the United States, at great risk to those involved (Katt).
The connection between the Catholic Worker houses and the Anathoth farm is one
Katt explains. She states that the Catholic Worker movement believed there should
be rural farms as well as urban houses. These rural farms would be an education
in manual labor, which the urban culture was thought to be lacking in. Those
workers, who often came to these farms, saw their time at the farm as a retreat,
as well as an education. Members of Anathoth are aware they are a Catholic Worker
farm, but they do not think of themselves as fully a Catholic Worker community
(Katt).
There is another common thread between the Catholic Workers and Anathoth, that
being separation from the state through tax resistance and non-participation.
Both communities stress living in voluntary poverty. Anathoth believes this
is one of the most important concepts (Urfer), as around 50 percent of our taxes
go to pay for the Pentagon and the military (Urfer, War Resisters League). Katt
also warns us about the importance of staying out of debt, although this is
sometimes not possible.
Katt tells us about her experiences with medical expenses, which most often
eat the most money. She tells us a story about a man who received a bill from
a hospital, and by no means could pay for the bill. He presented a proposal
to the hospital: you can either accept 100 dollars a month, which he would likely
pay for the rest of his life, or you can take away my house and put my wife,
kids, and I on the street. The hospital chose to accept the 100 dollars a month.
The Catholic Workers and Anathoth both embody community as one of their main
purposes for existence (Miles; Katt). Urfer has felt like this community is
her place since she began living here in 1996. She tells us that community makes
all of life easier, after having lived both alone and with other people. She
continues, telling us that she avidly offers civil disobedience, and this community
understands what civil disobedience entails; whereas past communities she has
lived with have not. At times, she would feel isolated from these communities
after having offered civil disobedience. The Anathoth community understands
the reasons for her actions, making her feel connected (Urfer).
There is an enveloping sense of community on the farm. No one knocks on doors,
and there are common areas containing people much of the day. There is a community
car as well as other items not everyone needs to posse; like a blender Jane
Hosking mentions when this idea of community items manifests itself. A quote
from activist and singer Skip Jones living in community on the Menominee reservation
in northern Wisconsin is a good example of this; "Not everyone needs to own
a drill." Urfer discusses the idea of losing a collective ethic in the 40-hour
workweek. This is a common criticism of capitalism: it does not allow for solidarity
or creativity (Waligore). Here at the farm, Urfer tells us, there is a collective
ethic created because of working for the common good.
The "collective ethic" is strong at the farm. Urfer talks about the construction
of her house, donated from 10 miles away. She tells us how the wallpaper was
ugly and the small cottage was in disarray. As the remodeling of the small,
one room building began, many people came out to help. People who came did to
the cottage what they enjoyed doing, and Urfer remembers how she saw many people
helping as construction progressed to different aspects. Urfer discusses how
everyone has something they like to do; if what you are doing is something you
don't like doing then put the work down because someone else who wants to do
the work will pick up.
This "collective ethic" also applies to food. On my visit to the farm, I had
the opportunity to harvest potatoes for the winter months. Past years have offered
fewer potatoes than were picked this year, which means the community has less
to use as a whole. These potatoes have many purposes, both on and off the farm.
Carrying potatoes in five gallon buckets, they are taken to Loaves and Fishes,
the Catholic Worker house in Duluth, whenever there is someone who goes in that
direction. In addition, these potatoes are used for seed potatoes the following
year. Miles, who told us at The War Is Over If You Want It music festival that
he is a simple farmer, warns against reusing potatoes as seed potatoes for more
than three or four years, as this reduces their resistance to disease.
Anathoth community members also have a strong work ethic, and are willing to
work hard according to Urfer. Urfer also tells about how a strong desire to
do hard work is necessary, because living simply takes hard work. This hard
work is the price for living the way you would like. "Want Change, we're creating
it," is what Urfer tells us; she feels that she can make choices as to where
and how she can spend her life living here at Anathoth. Being dirt poor is not
as hard as society makes it out to be. Everyone in the community is, but she
can do what she wants with her money she tells us. For four months, Urfer stated
that her grocery bill totaled 15 dollars, and her share of the property tax
is the only thing she pays every year. She estimates it only costs her around
350 dollars a year to live at Anathoth.
Property tax totals about 1500 dollars a year for the community, which means
about 200 dollars for each community adult (Countryside 45). Urfer informs us,
however, that this is offset each year by various things, the most prominent
being the maple syrup that is sold every year. It is an expectation that all
members work on making maple syrup, which usually consists of tapping around
200 trees making anywhere from 25 to 35 gallons of finished syrup (Urfer).
A farmers market also helps to offset property taxes as well as another fund
needed each year, the garden seed fund (Miles). In past years Anathoth has sold
at a farmers market, according to Miles, they have been able to make enough
money to pay for all of the seeds for the next year. The seeds come from a Community
Supported Agriculture program, at which the community has friends.
Most members at the farm hold short-term jobs outside of the farm to earn the
little money needed for life at Anathoth. Katt tells us she works for a log
home restoration company for part of the year to earn money. As she was interviewed,
she discusses how right now was her most apprehensive time as the season for
her was ending. She relates this apprehension in college to upcoming finals,
and knowing all the things that need doing. She looks forward to all the time
she has when she is not working, which is quickly approaching. Hosking tells
us how she enjoys moving at her own pace, and she especially enjoys sitting
and watching birds while others look at her and say, "Wow, you're just watching
birds." "You can too," she counters.
In the past two years, there have been four new members added to the Anathoth
community. Katt tells us adding new people are like new relationships. It starts
out all rosy, but then you have to figure them out. She uses the example of
squeezing the toothpaste tube in the wrong place to show those things you need
to deal with when living in community.
Distance and autonomy is important at Anathoth community, and many share the
sentiment that this is what has helped this community become one of the oldest
communities in existence (Miles). Miles tells us they are running out of models
for this community, because of its age. Miles continues talking about autonomy
and how important it is in the community. Everyone lives in different areas,
which allows them to live life more easily; life is what usually gets in the
way of others living (Miles, Hosking). Hosking tells us about her experiences
in a Catholic Worker House, where simply playing music was a concern at times.
Katt and Hosking tell us about tools to living together they have recently gained
at a conference, which help them to remain peaceful when conflicts arise with
other members. One of these tools is to realize that everyone sees things in
different ways (Hosking). Other tools both Katt and Hosking tell us about are
having more compassion, slower reaction times, and to be aware of how we are
reacting. These tools, they tell us, are not only effective within the community,
but they also aid in dealing with the larger community of the world.
One other factor that has helped to keep this community together is a mission
(Miles). Miles tells us about the community's commitment to non-violence as
their mission. If there is no sense of purpose, then communities tend to fall
apart (Miles). Hosking recounts recently hearing about the Catholic Worker community
she once lived in, and how their mission is becoming stricter. She does not
believe she could live there now with these new restrictions.
There is also an unstated mission everyone talks about, that is the ability
to live together in order to see if it is possible (Katt; Hosking; Miles; Urfer;
Kass). As I discussed in the opening, the reason many live in the community
is to see if they can live non-violently. By attempting to live non-violently,
many know this will help them to deal with situations where violence is used
against them or their fellow activists in the outside world (Katt; Urfer).
Barb Katt tells us her philosophy on the Anathoth Community, relating it back
to Gandhi and the Ashram. Gandhi lived in an Ashram along with his followers
for parts of his life. There, he would not only study peace, but practice it
as well. They would weave cloth to free themselves from British control, and
eat and live as simply as possible. That is much of what the Anathoth community
is trying to accomplish. Farming helps to free them from dependence on others,
and heating all the homes with wood helps to free them from electrical and gas
dependencies.
Using space in the community is sometimes an issue, but in my time at the farm,
I never felt cramped. The building holding the Nukewatch office is a three-story
building sometimes referred to as the water house, because it holds a shower
and the only flush toilet on the property. Most of the spaces are small in this
building, except for the office (Countryside). The office has computers and
papers everywhere, and plenty of floor space to move around in; however, every
piece of shelf space and desk space is lined with papers, books, magazines,
or boxes. The rest of the house also has every space filled with something,
ranging from large glass jars with beans or pasta, to caches of yarn, to shelves
with books upon books.
Nukewatch does not simply have an office in this community; Nukewatch is a large
part of the community. LaForge is the editor of Pathfinder, the newsletter of
the organization, as well as a member of the community. Urfer tells us how she
brought Nukewatch here in November of 1996 from Madison, where it started in
1979. Anathoth supports many of the actions Nukewatch sponsors, including the
annual Project ELF actions. The community always seems to have someone in prison
related to Project Elf, as the Anathoth Community Farm shows in article after
article in their Spring 2002 newsletter.
Urfer originally brought Nukewatch to Anathoth when she moved to the community,
she explains, sleeping out of the office before she had a space of her own.
Sam Day was the original founder of the organization (Urfer), which was created
when a Milwaukee federal judge restrained The Progressive from publishing an
article on U.S. Nuclear weapons program secrecy (Nukewatch). According to Urfer,
after moving Nukewatch to Anathoth, she re-organized the board of directors
to incorporate more "local folks."
Nukewatch has a number of projects they are working on; the most prominent are
the mapping of the missile silos in the United States and educating the public
about project ELF. The mapping of missile silos has led to a book titled Nuclear
Heartland, edited by Samuel H. Day, Jr. The book was constructed from hard to
read maps provided by the military, although Urfer tells us most of the sights
were found by simply searching for them. Both Katt and LaForge have visited
all 1,000-missile silo sites to be sure they are in existence.
The Anathoth community together with Nukewatch have participated in a number
of high risk actions, as is evident from the earlier statement about the number
of members in prison. One of the advantages to living in the community is that
no one on the land owns anything that can be seized. As Katt explains to us,
if she and LaForge were to leave, the house would stay where it is. This keeps
the government from taking anything because of any number of reasons such as
non-payment of taxes or fines.
The Plowshares Land Trust owns the Anathoth community, which gets around the
individual owning land. Miles tells us about his concern regarding owning land;
it is required that someone own the land, otherwise there are federal fines
and other potential penalties. He goes on to explain that having a land trust
is just easier. There is a board of directors for the Plowshares Land Trust,
but the board changes as members of the community change (Miles).
The Plowshares movement began in the 70's, in response to the Vietnam War. "The
underlying rationale was that if people were expected to risk their lives for
their country in war then we have to be willing to risk something for peace"
(Swedish Plowshares). The first action took place in 1980, when eight Plowsharers
entered a General Electric plant in Pennsylvania, hammered nuclear weapon nose
cones in manufacturing, and poured blood on documents (Swedish Plowshares).
There is a biblical prophecy of Isaiah (2:4) and Micah (4:3) that reads: "'beat
swords into ploughshares'" (Swedish Plowshares). Taking this reference literally,
the plowshare activists typically use common hammers to disable weapons of destruction.
Similar to the goal of plowshare activists, Kass explains another reason to
live simply. She believes there is no need for weapons to sustain a simple lifestyle.
Urfer also believes similarly, only she relates back to the Year 2000 crisis
(Y2K) of the late 1990's. She reveals that people are vulnerable, especially
without electricity. There is no way to flush toilets, because the water system
operates by electricity she mentions. She tells us that here, at the farm, there
was little concern for Y2K because the farm is already very self-sufficient;
there was minimal preparation for Y2K at Anathoth.
So far, this experiment in community living has been successful. Miles and Kass
once thought of leaving, but they were able to work through their concerns (Miles).
As most of the members told us, they are happy with where they are and would
not want to live in anything other than community. Anathoth is currently a healthy
and sustainable community, and appears to be continuing in a sustainable direction
for the future.
Work Cited
Anathoth Community Farm. Luck. Spring 2002
Day, Samuel H. Ed.. Nuclear Heartland. McFarland: Community Publications, Inc.,
1988.
Forest, Jim. "The Catholic Worker Movement." 5 Nov. 2002.
Hosking, Jane. Personal Interview. 27 Oct. 2002.
Jones, Skip. Personal Interview. 19 Oct. 2002.
Kass, Barb. Personal Interview. 27 Oct. 2002.
Katt, Barb. Personal Interview. 27 Oct. 2002.
Miles, Mike. Personal Interview . 27 Oct. 2002.
Nukewatch. Luck. (2002)
"Swedish Plowshares." 5 Nov. 2002.
Urfer, Bonnie. Personal Interview. 27 Oct. 2002.
Waligore, Joseph. "Philosophy 230: Philosophy of Human Nature: Eastern and Western."
Lecture. 128 Collins Classroom Center, University of Wisconsin Stevens Point.
10 Oct. 2002.
"War Resisters League." New York. 5 Nov. 2002.
"Welcome to Anathoth: community of homesteaders and activists." Countryside
& Small Stock Journal. 84.4 (2000): 36-48.