Utopia

Dome at the Farm

Tonight I approach utopia.

In class.

I am always amazed that students don't know about the hundreds of utopian societies we have had in America and how they changed our cultural landscape.

We have had more utopian societies in our past than probably any other country in the world. We are that city on a hill, that place where all things are possible. And still are.

But we have gone seriously wrong. Not only do we not know about our utopias, we may be afraid to dream any more.

We need more utopian thinkers who have the freedom to dream. Most of our utopians societies (the most recent were the hippies of the 60s and 70s) have gone the wayside, because we are overwhelmed by the problems. We retreat now into ipods and turn to the old survival of the fittest mode and not that of Mutual Aid (Kropotkin). That's how far off the mark we are. We think that we must fight and not cooperate to find utopia.

The granary at New Harmony, Indiana a short-lived
utopian venture in the early nineteenth century.

But there is room for utopia amongst humans. Though utopian attempts have almost always failed, (finding perfection for humans has not been easy... if it were we would all be doing it!) there are a few that stay the course.* We learn from the utopian dreamers. I went to the Farm in Tennessee to learn and I did (see video below). I read about past utopian societies and visit their sites and I learn about hope and another form of progress.

What did utopians of America bring us? Universal education, women's rights, abolition, labor rights. They also worked for communal aspects that many still embrace in intentional communities such as co-housing, student co-ops, and ecovillages (I have hyperlinked to a few in Michigan). Utopians believe there is a better way. Some of their ideas have been adopted and some have failed (celibacy, polygamy). But they tried to reach beyond the status quo to find a better way. A better more sustainable way to live, love and build a new life.

* Utopians that have remained are the remaining communes such as the Farm (which is not actually a commune any more but does practice within commune ideas), and the Amish. Did you know the Amish get electricity from wind turbine power?