Tag Archives: Brook Farm

easel does it: the easel weasels

There is much babbling in the alt-politic community about the “buy local” phenomenon; a return to the roots and away, ostensibly, from the creative destruction of capitalism and a time travel voyage to more idyllic conditions, a kind of American … Continue reading

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something sad, terrific

Nathaniel Hawthorne was ten years away from Brook Farm, the socialist, utopian project, before he wrote the book The Blithedale Romance, from his observations there. By then, the success of The Scarlet Letter had justified his habit of looking at … Continue reading

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grotesque castaway: permanent alienation

After the success of The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne was one of the most famous American writers. But in the twelve years following his graduation from college in 1825, he was the most invisible. He went back to his mother’s … Continue reading

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you can flee but you can’t hide

The first utopia was the Garden of Eden, but since no person knew what it was like, anyone may create it in their own image, the reason being an unhappiness with the world as it exists, pushing efforts to imagine … Continue reading

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the good life

Robert Owen built his own commune only to learn that transcendental ideals and prayer and sometimes group sex, are not in itself sufficient to weld a community together. Owen, a cotton mill owner in Scotland of progressive ideals dreamed of … Continue reading

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UTOPIA: PARADISE DEFERRED, DELAYED & DETOURED

Its the Utopians versus the Dystopians, and at this juncture the latter have prevailed.  Communities with European roots embraced the equalizing demands and freedoms of the New World’s open frontier, even as the new country claimed the pursuit of happiness … Continue reading

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MARCUSE HOT & STICKY: EM-BODY THE BODY POLITIC

“All Verbs: ream, spin, veer, span, cross, ram, peel, charge, pitch, verge, switch, shoot, slide, cram, goad, clash, cleave, fetch, clamp, lean, swap, butt, crook, split, jut, hack, break, stroke, stop.“ — Lozano notebook page dated 1964/67. Sex and Drugs and … Continue reading

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