A.D.
My entire Shiloh gig (‘78-’79) was done at the sawmill. Everybody, to my knowledge (350-450 people at any given time), who lived and worked at Shiloh, made $80/mo plus room and board. Somewhere in early ‘79, the state came in and required the sawmill to pay it’s workers minimum wage ($2.00/hr.), so all of a sudden, the sawmill workers were ‘bank’--we made $80/week, when everyone else was making $80/mo. With no overhead to speak of, we had money to burn. Impact had a roller-manufacturing operation somewhere in Washington, IA., whose workers lived at Shiloh, but I am not aware if the state caught up with them.
I had the occasion a couple of summers ago to attend a wedding of an ex-TLW member who had joined an even more caffeinated cult than TLW. This group required giving over everything to the community, wearing a ‘uniform’, and grooming hair and beard (men, of course) in a certain manner for conformity. Everyone lived communally, contributed either in support of the facility, or in a number of outside business endeavors. No one was paid any money, but all needs were met by the group (medical and travel needs were paid for if required), and no one owned any vehicles. For the father of the groom, this was his third cult. Out of the fry-pan and into the fire.
On an additional note, the Pope came out and said that if Catholic churches in the U.S. refused to accept Syrian refugees (this was before the Paris incident), that they should lose their exempt status and pay taxes like any business. Another ballsy statement from a ballsy Pope. (He might have had to change his tune since Paris.)
My entire Shiloh gig (‘78-’79) was done at the sawmill. Everybody, to my knowledge (350-450 people at any given time), who lived and worked at Shiloh, made $80/mo plus room and board. Somewhere in early ‘79, the state came in and required the sawmill to pay it’s workers minimum wage ($2.00/hr.), so all of a sudden, the sawmill workers were ‘bank’--we made $80/week, when everyone else was making $80/mo. With no overhead to speak of, we had money to burn. Impact had a roller-manufacturing operation somewhere in Washington, IA., whose workers lived at Shiloh, but I am not aware if the state caught up with them.
I had the occasion a couple of summers ago to attend a wedding of an ex-TLW member who had joined an even more caffeinated cult than TLW. This group required giving over everything to the community, wearing a ‘uniform’, and grooming hair and beard (men, of course) in a certain manner for conformity. Everyone lived communally, contributed either in support of the facility, or in a number of outside business endeavors. No one was paid any money, but all needs were met by the group (medical and travel needs were paid for if required), and no one owned any vehicles. For the father of the groom, this was his third cult. Out of the fry-pan and into the fire.
On an additional note, the Pope came out and said that if Catholic churches in the U.S. refused to accept Syrian refugees (this was before the Paris incident), that they should lose their exempt status and pay taxes like any business. Another ballsy statement from a ballsy Pope. (He might have had to change his tune since Paris.)