Try this at home?
The world is on fire, and we all know it. It’s impossible to ignore, as many of us are endlessly consuming stories and images of existential horror. Out of a sense of duty, a sense of outrage, in solidarity; as witnesses, researchers, and advocates. All the while asking what it will take to change the world.
The challenges the world is facing are overwhelming, and their horrors legion. It’s understood that no individual is going to solve them, and with no immanent revolution the visions people have for a better world seem so distant as to be little more than idle fantasies or abstractions. No amount of theory or policy white papers can provide the experiential thrill of living that vision. Some turn to literature or other media that might provide a sense of what living out life in a society transformed could be. Advocacy for a return to utopian visions of the future, if only in the written word, to propel us forward. It’s a recurring trend, stories of utopia as balm and inspiration for the despairing radical, but historically, is far from the sole outlet for expressing our longing.
No, history is filled with people for whom stories, abstract visions, or incremental steps simply aren’t enough. People that couldn’t or wouldn’t wait for the ever receding horizons to reverse course. People who decided that their neighborhood; their village; their town; their community would be an example of that vision’s material reality. Whether withdrawing from the wider world or acting as a beacon, countless attempts have been made to transform society starting with a single place.
Most radicals already know the herculean efforts of larger revolutionary societies, but few are familiar with the ubiquitous small community experiments dotting our history.
This series is dedicated to, and about those, that tried. Their stories are often of failure, occasionally of triumph, but always one of resistance to the notion that we must wait for something better.
My intention here isn’t to push any specific tactic, or teach any specific lesson. It’s neither endorsement nor repudiation. Instead, it’s to highlight that to transform society means to transform, and sometimes create, our own communities. The broader form of organization within your own vision may differ, but it always starts where you live.
Each and every community experiment profiled in this series started from that premise. Their successes and failures stem from how they approached that idea. Perhaps their lessons have already been learned, but then again, sometimes we need a reminder not to store our dynamite by the stove.
Later this week will be the first installment, and one with which I have a personal connection. A utopian socialist experiment, deep in the heart of Texas, founded by a future participant of the Paris Commune. If you’ve ever been to Dallas, you may not realize you already know its name: La Réunion.
It’s More Likely Than You Think
Jean Krill is is the co-editor and co-founder of Zero Balance. His writing navigates the many disparate visions of a radically better future.