Marcus -
Tax incentives!
http://adoptiontaxcredit.org
Good thought... but apparently in 1960, the US passed some laws
prohibiting adoption of children by religious organizations... Shakers
are not only celibate (and therefore not reproducing) but don't marry,
so I guess they are out of luck on the tax credit.
I was wrong, the three remaining Shakers are two women and one man.
With a diminishing population, but a strong work ethic, I would assume
they command a significant amount of wealth. I would not expect them to
give their money outside the group? Maybe the perfect incentive for a
golddigger to convert at this point? As the last Shaker, it seems one
might be able to change the rules..
A friend of mine wrote a novel (The Divine Comedy of John Venner
<http://www.nytimes.com/1992/10/18/books/in-love-with-the-last-virgin.html>)
which included something of a tribute to the (already dwinding) Shakers,
about 20 years ago ... which made me acutely aware of the influence the
Shakers had, in particular on the form/function duality in design
(especially furniture).
He opens his narrative with an address to Mother Ann Lee, founder of
the celibate Shakers. "I've got the fury and the mire running in my
veins," he tells her, "and the sickness thing in my soul. The moral
mud of America sticks to me like nobody's business -- ditto the dust
of destruction -- and if that's not enough, I'm in love with your
final virgin."
Reads like something I would wish Ed Snowden had written.
Carry on,
- Steve
Marcus
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