I'm Watermark
Diabetic
I had some time, so I decided to share what I was mentally tossing back and forth.
For those of you not versed in left radical history, Robert Owen was one of "the three utopians" that Friedrich Engels - the self-effacing author of the CM - notably documented in Socialism: Utopian and Scientific. Owen was a British industrialist who moved to the United States to begin a series of social experiments. First setting up a production oriented commune, he began testing his hypothesis that human beings could be molded by their environment. He played a paternal role, setting rules on drug use, curfew and cleanliness. There were also limits on working hours – echoed in Marxian literature -, free, compulsory education for children, good housing, and health services. The experiment largely worked, with an increase in conditions for workers, but failed in the end. Which was in part due to left opposition. Further on, Owen found himself at the core of the cooperative movement, seeing important figures take pieces of his ideals to use in their activism. In the end, the man faded away, resigning from politics as there was a shift away from Owenism, and set up another failed commune before his death.
But what is Owenism? That's a topic of speculation, but I generally break it up like this:
- The idea that individuals can be reformed by changing their environment.
- The idea that a paternal figure is due to serve as a guide for this reformation.
- Opposition to the profit model.
- Opposition to conventional wage labor.
- Communal living.
So not a conventional socialist view, despite Owen's role as one of socialism's founders. That said, it's an appropriate one. This arguably left of center kind of socialism can – and has proven to - mold itself to those adopting it. Which means there was really never a pure Owenism, save that of the man himself. But this also suggests that some of it's core tenets can be fit within the collective consciousness of the American political sphere, without taking away from the individual ideologies expressed. The first bullet, for instance, can be used to modify attitudes towards the poor, much as the introduction of the CSE did – again, still maintaining typical party distinctions. And the others can be tried on small scales, using the ideas of later political thinkers.
That's why Owenism is so important. It's a non-obtrusive way of creating change, and can seek to change the attitudes of a society, rather than the structure of it – that can come later. It's ambiguity, theoretical foundation and orientation towards cultural/individual reform make it the ideal platform on which to build an American socialism.
For those of you not versed in left radical history, Robert Owen was one of "the three utopians" that Friedrich Engels - the self-effacing author of the CM - notably documented in Socialism: Utopian and Scientific. Owen was a British industrialist who moved to the United States to begin a series of social experiments. First setting up a production oriented commune, he began testing his hypothesis that human beings could be molded by their environment. He played a paternal role, setting rules on drug use, curfew and cleanliness. There were also limits on working hours – echoed in Marxian literature -, free, compulsory education for children, good housing, and health services. The experiment largely worked, with an increase in conditions for workers, but failed in the end. Which was in part due to left opposition. Further on, Owen found himself at the core of the cooperative movement, seeing important figures take pieces of his ideals to use in their activism. In the end, the man faded away, resigning from politics as there was a shift away from Owenism, and set up another failed commune before his death.
But what is Owenism? That's a topic of speculation, but I generally break it up like this:
- The idea that individuals can be reformed by changing their environment.
- The idea that a paternal figure is due to serve as a guide for this reformation.
- Opposition to the profit model.
- Opposition to conventional wage labor.
- Communal living.
So not a conventional socialist view, despite Owen's role as one of socialism's founders. That said, it's an appropriate one. This arguably left of center kind of socialism can – and has proven to - mold itself to those adopting it. Which means there was really never a pure Owenism, save that of the man himself. But this also suggests that some of it's core tenets can be fit within the collective consciousness of the American political sphere, without taking away from the individual ideologies expressed. The first bullet, for instance, can be used to modify attitudes towards the poor, much as the introduction of the CSE did – again, still maintaining typical party distinctions. And the others can be tried on small scales, using the ideas of later political thinkers.
That's why Owenism is so important. It's a non-obtrusive way of creating change, and can seek to change the attitudes of a society, rather than the structure of it – that can come later. It's ambiguity, theoretical foundation and orientation towards cultural/individual reform make it the ideal platform on which to build an American socialism.