Utopians, Communalism & the Great Depression

UTOPIAN THOUGHT is much older than American history.In fact, some historians believe that one factor stimulating European colonization of North America was a Utopian dream.Certainly, the society and culture that grew up in North America had a tradition that verged upon utopianism.Concomitant with a Utopian spirit was a belief in the idea of progress.Improvement in the lot of human beings was possible; if it could be accomplished anywhere, it would be in America.Utopian ideas and communalism are not synonymous, but they have many features in common.Although it is possible for a person to espouse Utopian ideas without being a communalist of any sort, there are few, if any, communal societies without Utopian overtones.This paper is a tentative examination of American Utopian thought and the place of community building within it during the Great Depression of the 1930's.American belief in progress emerged out of the Enlightenment of the eighteenth century and continued unabated throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.The belief was embodied in the idea that no problem was too great nor obstacle too large for Americans to overcome.One of the most serious challenges to this unbridled optimism was the Great Depression.America had faced depression before, but none seemed as serious as this one.Traditional governmental and business responses made little difference.