Owen's Manifesto

In the early 1820's, a Scottish industrialist attempted to create a new type of society in the Indiana Wilderness. The town of New Harmony was the location, as the western world saw the rise of a new era. Robert Owen called his new philosophy of life Socialism – a movement that sparked a revolution in modern society and culture.

What is true socialism?

The answer is found in Robert Owen's Declaration of Mental Independence. In this pivotal, yet seemingly unknown document, Owen declares war on the "hydra of evils." The "evil Trinity" that the new man must defeat, according to Owen, is "private, or individual property -- absurd and irrational systems of religion -- and marriage, founded on individual property combined with some one of these irrational system of religion."

In order to truly understand the modern political movements found within culture carrying the Socialist or Marxist banner – of which is the Communist, Labour, and Socially Democratic political parties – is to understand the creator of the movement. The New Harmony experiment called for, and put into practice, the end of all private property, marriage, and organized religion. Modern luxury, such as publicly owned schooling for children (beginning at Pre-School and ending with a College education), free food and water to all citizens, equal rights for woman and children, and fair labor practices were instituted and performed (with some chaos). The project ultimately failed, despite the great and universal want for success with the intellectuals that crowded the street and homes of New Harmony.

Why did it fail?

Robert Owen admitted the reason why it failed was because there were to many thinkers and not enough doers. Owen submits that his experiment would have succeeded if their had been more people working the fields and less people thinking about an equal society. The society was unable to support itself because the population could not feed itself, but instead thought about what the world should be. They lived in a fantasy of what they wanted, and failed to see what they had.

In this we have the problem with the Socialistic system. The class structure remains, but is based upon the intellect of the individual. If society were to dictate that one man should think in the offices and another work in the fields, who has done more physical labor (therefore needing more calories to achieve the desire goal of society.). The worker in the fields deserves more food under logic, but in this society the worker in the fields received equal that that of the office worker, who produced nothing tangible physically. The Marxist attempts to solve this problem by eliminating the thinker altogether, but fails to provide the motivation for the worker to think. The New Harmony experiment failed over a century and a half ago, but the intellectuals and high thinkers of modern culture to this date still believe the dream is possible.

Works Cited
1) Heaven on Earth. Public Broadcasting Company, 2006. Youtube. 1 Jan. 2009. 24 Feb. 2009 .

2) "Owen1826." Indiana University. 24 Feb. 2009 .

3) Seth. "The Rise and Fall of Socialism." Weblog post. Seth's Opinion Matters. 23 Feb. 2009. 23 Feb. 2009 .