The Hutterites have established a strict colonized community throughout the prairies in North America, where, if given the chance and opportunity, larger cultures would fail at infiltrating the communal surroundings. The main reason is because of isolation.
Hutterites bind together by way of their culture, using their German language and heritage. This, in and of itself, isolates them from those not subscribing to their belief system in the larger cultural areas. Furthermore, Hutterites use the German Bible which is unable to be interpreted and locked to outsiders.
(thanks Lauren)
6 comment(s):
There are a few rather significant inaccuracies and omissions here in this article.
“Hutterites use the German Bible which is unable to be interpreted and locked to outsiders.” Hutterites use the standard Martin Luther translation of the Bible. True, you have to know German in order to read it, but it is in no way “locked”. Why do they use a German Bible – because they speak German. As a general rule, Hutterites are very easy to talk to about their religious beliefs and interpretations of the Bible.
Hutterites are *not* subsistence farmers. They are some of the most advanced and technologically sophisticated farmers on the planet. They trade extensively with the world around them and make a great deal of profit. However, unlike the world around them, the vast majority of those profits are not spent on personal luxuries and consumer items, rather they are re-invested back into the colony agricultural enterprises.
Perhaps the most notable cultural trait that separates the Hutterites from their Amish and Mennonite cousins, is that their colonies are collective communes. All major assets are owned by the colony, not by individuals. There are no rich or poor within the colony – everyone is materially equal. While they are not Marxists, Karl Marx would have been impressed. 70 years of Soviet collectivisation never achieved this level of equality, productivity, and personal freedom.
Hi John,
Let's me just say thanks for the incites. The information was based upon a ethnographic research by some anthropologists living in the commune. By locked I mean it's preventing interpretation by outsiders, so in their minds, and for the shear reason they don't concern themselves with the fact some people may be able to read it, they still may not be able to interpret it in a way that matches their specific teachings. So in that sense, yes it is locked for interpretation in their eyes.
As for the subsistence, thanks for bring that to my attention. The first section was supposed to be a definition and the second about the Hutterites, so I added another section.
In case of the Hutterites, the economic goal of a colony is to be productive and profitable so they can be both self-sustaining and form new colonies by branching. So in one sense they are subsistence farmers and in another branched colony, they may be sharing their surplus.
Remember this is a brief overview. I had no intention of writing a complete history which is why I added the link at the top for more information. I did, however, speak of communal living briefly throughout.
The one thing I love about archaeology and anthropology is that every term, culture, etc is completely relative. Every book written on the Hutterites is different in terminology because everyone seems to interpret the culture through their own eyes.
Thanks John
My thoughts: If adults want to reject the mainstream and become "weirdos", that's fine with me--to each his own...but it is cruel to inflict it on the kids. The children don't know any better, it's brainwashing.
While I hear what Anonymous is saying about 'brainwashing', is it any different from the 'normals' who brainwash their children to believe that money is the source of happiness and to throw away your life sitting in a cubicle doing a job you hate while imagining you're free by pulling a voting lever every four years?
"Wierdos" is relative.
Everybody brings up their kids the way they choose. It's part of the responsibility and joy of being a parent.
It concerns me when people (like the anonymous poster above) feel they can impose their belief system on other people's children. You bring up your people the way you chose, let other people bring up their people the way they choose.
The truly curious thing is that of all the countries I've visited the USA (land of the free?) is the worst country for people feeling that they can impose their views on everybody else. This is probably why the US has so many closed communities like the Hutterites and Amish. These people can't exist as an integrated part of society because society will only allow them to function in it's own approved way. People like the Hutterites do not exclude themselves from American society, American society excludes them. And our Anonymous friend above gives us a concise example of how it does this.
The main problem with isolated populations is that their gene pool has no lifeguard.
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