100 Historical Stories That Unlock Teenage Wisdom

Chapter 38 9 The Failure of the "New Harmonious Commune"

Chapter 49 The Failure of the "New Harmonious Commune"
——"Xanadu" does not have a society that is too complicated, which often makes us at a loss.However, escaping from reality and living in a "Xanadu" where the relationship between people is absolutely pure is a luxury.

"I have come to this country to introduce a new society, to change the ignorant and selfish social system into an enlightened one. One that will gradually unite all interests and eliminate the The cause of all strife. I have bought the estate, and have come here myself to enforce the system."

Is this the British utopian socialist Robert?Owen's speech at the "New Harmony Commune" in the United States in October 1825.

So, what kind of person is Owen, and what is his "New Harmony Commune" all about?
Robert?Owen was born in a poor handicraft family in England in 1771. He began to work at the age of [-]. He witnessed and felt the brutal exploitation of the working class by the bourgeoisie since he was a child.He once said that the world is full of wealth, but poverty is everywhere.Therefore, he wanted to build a society where there was no exploitation, no oppression, everyone worked, and property was shared.

In 1800, Owen married the daughter of a Scottish factory owner and was appointed manager of the factory with 2500 workers.In this way, he has the conditions to implement his ideal step by step.

In 1824, Owen sold all his property, took his four sons and a group of friends, and more than a hundred like-minded people, sailed across the Atlantic Ocean to the United States.When he arrived in Indiana, USA, he bought 20 acres of land for [-] yuan.So the "New Harmony Commune" - a completely new type of "Xanadu" began to be built.

Owen led all commune members to work together and share the fruits of labor.They stipulate that all members of the commune are engaged in labor according to their age.They opened up wasteland and cultivated land, built houses and houses, and soon, they established small villages and factories with towering chimneys and rumbling machines.All kinds of public facilities are available, ranging from schools and hospitals, to meeting rooms, reading rooms, and even temporary lounges.The garden in the middle of the street is quiet and elegant, warm and harmonious.The mountains outside the village are beautiful, the flowers are red and the grass is green, the trees are shaded, and the streets in the forest are neat.Everything is so wonderful, everything is full of poetry and picturesque.

This was in stark contrast to the rising, bloody and dirty capitalist society at the time.

The establishment and operation of the "New Harmonious Commune" has attracted the attention of the Western world.People came from all over to see how "harmonious" this commune is.Especially the laborers who are exploited and oppressed come here like a tide with surprise, envy and hope.These laborers see the thriving commune and hope to have their own place here. The "New Harmonious Commune" is so attractive that in addition to the praise of the supporters, even the opponents sighed in unison.

However, the "New Harmonious Commune" is not isolated from the outside world, it is surrounded by the entire capitalism.Especially the people who joined the commune were of all kinds, with various ideas and purposes, so various conflicts arose among the commune members before long, and it became less "harmonious" than expected.What's more, according to Owen's theory, the labor of the commune members only needs to meet the needs of the members of the commune, which leads to more consumption and less production of the commune's products, and the contradiction between supply and demand becomes increasingly acute.At the same time, members of the commune hated manual labor, resulting in an increasing number of mental workers and a decreasing number of manual workers, so that factories and workshops often shut down, and even the most advanced machines at that time had to be idled. Four years later, Owen himself no longer had the money to subsidize the daily losses of the commune, and the "New Harmony Commune" finally declared bankruptcy.

Wisdom Interpretation:

Xanadu is just an "Utopia" that people fantasize out of thin air, and it does not exist in the real world. Therefore, all we have to do is to face real life with a calm and positive perspective, enjoy its beauty, and adapt to its imperfections.

(End of this chapter)