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Comment by mjfl | Hacker News Reader

he still uses money. Just indirectly, spent by others. He lives off the charity of other people.

Exactly. If you want to live without money, that should be doable, but this isn't it. You can live on a homestead in the middle of nowhere, grow your own crops, raise your own cattle, barter with neighbours and be completely self-sufficient without money. This guy just lets other spend money for him.

Yeah, I'm much more impressed with Scott & Helen Nearing, who did basically that: http://goodlife.org

Is it basically a commune? If so, who washes the dishes? What are the incentives? What is the punishment for skipping dishwasher duty?

Every time I read about communes, I get so excited. I always get inspired by the ideals they are trying to live by.

But then when I hear the details about the day to day logistics and governance, it always ends up sounding like a terrible place to live.

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I can't tell. It looks more like an organic farm with a few caretakers living on the farm, and financially supported by the community. I like that.

Not a commune, they were a couple that lived off the land in Maine, and built everything there themselves. Nowadays their home is staffed by volunteers and open to visitors to see how they lived.

Wouldn't you still have to pay property taxes (in money) on that homestead?

I assume so. I was curious how modern society deals with quakers and the amish in this regard, and found this:

> The Amish are subject to sales and property taxes. As they seldom own motor vehicles, they rarely have occasion to pay motor vehicle registration fees or spend money in the purchase of fuel for vehicles.[114] Under their beliefs and traditions, generally the Amish do not agree with the idea of Social Security benefits and have a religious objection to insurance.[115][116] On this basis, the United States Internal Revenue Service agreed in 1961 that they did not need to pay Social Security-related taxes. In 1965, this policy was codified into law.[117] Self-employed individuals in certain sects do not pay into or receive benefits from the United States Social Security system. This exemption applies to a religious group that is conscientiously opposed to accepting benefits of any private or public insurance, provides a reasonable level of living for its dependent members, and has existed continuously since December 31, 1950.[118] The U.S. Supreme Court clarified in 1982 that Amish employers are not exempt, but only those Amish individuals who are self-employed. [0]

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amish#Life_in_the_modern_world

>He claims he hasn’t spent any money since. It’s true, his friends have told me. No money at all.

This quote was kinda funny to me, because the online text doesn't convey any sarcasm or tone.

But considering he's actually just a mooch I sort of implied the tone of that comment to be quite snarky. "Yeah, no money at all, he won't spend a dime" - this guy's poor friend.

A man with sufficient free cash flow but no capital.

sounds like he should apply for the next YC batch

"We want $10Mi to get rid of money (as in, monetary tokens)"

He won't be living on much then.

And that is only if you consider throwing food in the trash charity.

He's not just living off trash. People give him food too, his friend has spent money on him for things like printing his book. He's indirectly using cash.

He would live just as well if the people around him didn’t spend money and lives like him, so that’s not his choice

If everyone else around him lived like this he'd starve pretty quickly, as no one would be doing the actual work required to keep society running.

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