Diggers
By cher913
@cher913 (25782)
Canada
May 30, 2012 2:03pm CST
Lately, i have read a few books about the late 1960s in San Francisco (the Haight Ashbury neighbourhood) and of the hippies and their lives. the famous people that came out of that era and neighbourhood, the crazy drug use, etc.
there is one item that interested me and i was wondering if we could still continue it. There was a group, called the Diggers that had a free store and gave out free food. they based their principle on the early English group of diggers, who gave away the produce they produced.
The English based their theory on Acts 4:32 which says that no one had any possessions and gave away all they had (speaking of the early church).
The world is so wrapped up in their possessions; Stuff has to be name brand; keeping up with the Joneses, etc. Do you think that this could be repeated? would you be willing to participate?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diggers
3 people like this
11 responses
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
5 Jun 12
I actually tend to think that this is the way that the world today really should be. There are far too many people, in my opinion, that have a lot more than they will ever need and then there are also a lot of people that struggle each and every day to make sure that they have food on their table. With that said, I am the kind of person that is willing to give things to people that are in need down to my last dime if it will help them to survive.
So, I would be more than willing to take part in something like the Diggers.
1 person likes this
@petersum (4522)
• United States
30 May 12
I have no idea about US cities but I doubt that you could grow anything in San Francisco.
So that means, you would have to rely on transport. This is the expensive part of any product!
Many of the problems of the Soviet Union came from food. They certainly had enough food, but it wasn't in the right places! Shortages were therefore commonplace.
If the soviets failed in this regard, I would have little hope that an obscure religious group could achieve success.
@sid556 (30959)
• United States
30 May 12
Well, there appears to be two different and yet similar concepts going on here. The original one was religious based. The hippies of the 60's and Haight Asbury did not seem to be religious at all. Their communes did not work for the long run but I bet there are some adults here today that remember being children that were raised in those communes. It'd be interesting to hear from them.
@KrauseHome (36447)
• United States
8 Jun 12
Personally, I have heard about this, and it makes me wish there were others out there who would gravitate to this idea, and have help for those who need it out there as well. There are so many people out there just barely able to make ends meet to where they have to decide on Bills or groceries, meds, etc. If there would be more places like this offering to help out, it would make things so much better for everyone out there for sure.
@winterose (39887)
• Canada
31 May 12
the rich give away all kinds of stuff here, churches give away food from donations from people as well. I think any kind of service that helps the poor is great,
we have food pantries all over the city that gives away food
@jillhill (37354)
• United States
1 Jun 12
I actually think it's a good idea...to a point. Remember what happen when they said the first rapture was coming..so many gave away everything they owned then...no rapture....well you have to make sure that your family etc it taken care of....but share what you don't need...
@Lmfisher666 (820)
• United States
19 Jun 12
I don't see how these people lived. How did they make money to survive, if they gave their stuff away? Why would people do this because a book told them to. Sound like crazy people who hear voices in their heads.
@Lmfisher666 (820)
• United States
19 Jun 12
lol what's the difference. So they are not crazy if they hear "god's" voice in their head, just any other voice and their crazy. lol
@urbandekay (18278)
•
31 May 12
Yes, I think it would work where those involved were deeply committed Christians as the original Diggers were.
all the best urban
@happythoughts (4109)
• United States
30 May 12
Wouldnt it be nice if this were really possible now. There would be so many people that would take advantage of the free system and not chip in. I think that it would take a major disaster to get people anywhere near this point. My family and I have talked about if we could buy land and all do what we can on it. Some of us are better at things then others. I could grow food better then my Father who could build better buildings then me so if we all did what we could it would be like a barter system where we all took care of another. Its only in dream land though.
@ShepherdSpy (8544)
• Omagh, Northern Ireland
31 May 12
About the nearest thing to this concept I can recognize today would be something like the charities and volunteer organizations that look after the homeless,and websites such as "freecycle" that would freely share food and possessions..though they'd not be as contentious as what these "Diggers" set out to be..
I support "Freecycle"....
@3SnuggleBunnies (16374)
• United States
3 Jun 12
I've thought about such a concept myself. Where we all bring our surplus or things we don't want anymore in trade for things we do want or need. There is a clothing shop here where you can do just that turn in your kids clothes they've outgrown for larger sizes. However I've never done this and I think there's an income limit for it. I still would like to do something like a "swap shop" of sorts but we'd have to work out a system as you don't want someone trading 10 pairs of infant socks for a tv as that wouldn't be fair at all. Then you'd have to worry bout the people who'd take what they gotten and sell it instead of continuing to trade. As that had been a big problem on our local freecycle and people were upset about things.
But I think if you had a small group of friends/family that you can trust and say swapped things it would work.
@OpinionatedLady (5965)
• United States
30 May 12
The thing is by nature humans are greedy. We are hardwired to store away items for bad weather. Society has of coarse changed so that this is unneeded but that doesn't mean the instinct is gone though. Over and over again in ever society that has tried this method it has proven to fail because of this inherited greed. The rich or more powerful people hold on to the good foods and products distributing the lower quality to those they rule or control. No I do not think ti would work I think it would be nice but not work.
