The Diggers were the radical anarchists of 1960s Haight-Ashbury — the ones who gave away free food, free clothes, and free ideology. They wanted to abolish money, dismantle capitalism, and build a utopia powered by vibes and communal living. It was beautiful. It was idealistic. And it lasted about as long as you'd expect a money-free society to last in one of the most expensive cities on earth.

So what happened to the Diggers?

As one local put it bluntly: "It's not like they succeeded in creating a money-free society." Most of them did what everyone eventually does — they got jobs. Many moved back to whatever Midwestern or East Coast town they'd originally fled, got haircuts, and carried on with life. Pockets of old counterculture communities still dot Marin County and parts of Northern California, living some diluted version of the original dream, probably with better plumbing.

But here's the part that should make every San Franciscan laugh — or cry. As one SF resident observed, many of the ones who stayed "de-radicalized, got jobs, bought homes, and turned Cole Valley into a white neighborhood and now go on rants at planning commission meetings about how bad gentrification is with literally zero irony about all the people they displaced."

Read that again. The people who wanted to destroy property rights ended up becoming property owners who now weaponize city bureaucracy to keep other people out. The revolution didn't die — it just got a mortgage and a seat at a Board of Supervisors hearing.

This isn't just a fun historical footnote. It's a cautionary tale about San Francisco's most durable export: hypocrisy dressed up as progressivism. The city has an uncanny ability to absorb radical movements and spit out NIMBYs. The Diggers wanted free everything for everyone — until "everyone" meant new apartment buildings on their block.

The lesson? Be skeptical of anyone promising utopia. Especially if they already own a home in Cole Valley.