Chapter EightDoubtful Horizons
Do work-free utopias “exist” to draw us forward or only to taunt us?
“Utopia” evokes an ideal social existence somewhere, while at the same time meaning literally “no place.” Since there are no such ideal communities, the etymological meaning is correct. Yet again and again utopias are imagined, and sometimes they are attempted. In general, efforts that aim to create a fully perfected society fail, often after flailing around for a bit. From Girolamo Savonarola’s Florence to John Calvin’s Geneva, from John Noye’s Oneida community to Robert Owen’s New Harmony, every attempt to perfect or fully control human nature in a communal setting has been either unsuccessful or both unsuccessful ...
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