As you may know, utopia is an imagined community that has nearly perfect assets for its citizens. There are people who try to physically create utopian societies and end up failing. These communities fail for a few reasons: the idea of "utopia" is slightly different for each individual, poor economies, and disputes dividing the societies. Three of the most popular utopian societies are what I will be talking about and how they failed.
Brook Farm was an experimental and agricultural community in West Roxbury, Massachusetts. It was established in 1841 by George Ripley, a leader of the Transcendental Movement. The commune was built on a 200-acre farm with four buildings and centered on the ideals of drastic social reform and independence. The commune was built on a 200-acre farm with four buildings and centered on the ideals of drastic social reform and independence.
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The Shakers in another failed utopian community. Formally known as the United Society of Believers in Christ 's Second Appearing, was founded in Manchester, England, in 1747. The Shakers were agriculturally founded, and believed in joint possession of all property and the admission of sins. Different from most of the other groups, the Shakers practiced the lack of reproduction. Association came through changes or by adopting children. Shaker families involved brothers and sisters who lived in gender segregated shared homes of up to one-hundred individuals. During the required Sunday community meetings it was not unusual for members to break into an impulsive dance, as a result giving them the Shaker label. As peacekeepers they were exempted from military service and became the United States ' first thorough objectors during the Civil War. Currently, however, there isn 't a whole lot of Shaking going on. As the younger members left the community, alters quit coming, and the older ones died off, many of the communities were forced to close. Of the original 19 communities, most had closed by the early