The Hutterites call themselves the human version of a bee colony. Members of this Christian sect, who first settled in the United States in the 19th century, shun personal gain and pour their efforts into a well-oiled collective enterprise.
Hutterite ideology stresses the shared fate of the group and warns against the sin of selfishness.
Anyone who withholds help from others in need, turns lazy, or otherwise undermines community health draws stern reprimands from church elders. Failure to heed these warnings results in forced exile. Hutterite leaders are elected democratically and undergo a long probationary period before acquiring full power. A lottery determines which group stays and which moves to a new location. Such practices sound downright strange to the average suburbanite or city dweller.