Nonfiction

Utopia Drive

utopiadriveIn Utopia Drive, the road weaves between times as its author searches the past for present answers. Though we may not be aware of the many utopian communes that have existed at one time or another on American soil, Erik Reece has compiled an introduction to several of them in this record of his summer travels in 2015. Setting out from his home state of Kentucky, Reece explores a number of experimental communities that tried out alternatives to the vision the rest of America was following.

Most of them eventually petered out, though some made a good run. The Shakers of Pleasant Hill, Kentucky, for example, lasted a hundred years despite their ban on marriage and marital relations. The perfectionists of Oneida, New York, lasted as a cooperative for 30 years. And a few still exist, such as the Twin Oaks and Acorn communes in Louisa County, Virginia.

It interested me to see how many attempts have been made at essentially communist living within this capitalist nation. Years ago, on a news program, I heard a British man explain that the British had always looked at America and felt that the real conflict was not between democracy and communism, but democracy and capitalism. Apparently many others have shared the sentiment when they see the darker underside of a capitalistic system operating without shared moral guard rails. The rich get richer, the poor get poorer, and it’s every man for himself.

The two utopias that interested me most were Shakertown and the Oneida perfectionists. Both pictured themselves living out the kingdom of God on earth, a fulfillment of Christian teaching that repeats the pattern set by the first century church in the book of Acts. In the same way these early believers “had everything in common,” the head of each respective commune envisioned a cooperative system that involved shared labor and shared reaping of the results. But where the early Christians’ behavior grew spontaneously from their devotion to a supremely generous God, the Shakers and the perfectionists developed a system. Though Christianity should express itself in generosity, compassion, and good stewardship of the creation, I am always ambivalent about systematizing those fruits of genuine faith. Christianity’s most unfortunate legacies grow from attempts to impose it on people as part of a political system.

At times, though there are admirable qualities in the utopias, I found them… creepy. I admire the integrity of people who define success differently and live it out; I admire the skills and work ethic the groups brought to bear; I admire the simple bravery of their small-scale revolutions. But alongside the successes were costs that seemed to rival those of the larger society they rejected. Restrictions on the most private of behaviors, curtailing of natural motivations and drives like sexual intimacy and maternal attachment, and even the rejection of private property counterbalance the gains in community life. And alongside the incredibly practical outworking of community vision were sometimes strange psychological effects, like the Shakers’ many spiritual visions and the perfectionists’ willing submission of young girls to their leader, John Henry Noyes, for “initiation” to the world of intimacy.

Perhaps because of this uneasiness with some of the content, I really appreciated the accessibility of Reece’s scholarship. A readable and entertaining research project, Utopia Drive blends factual reports about each place with the writer’s reflections and experiences as a literary traveler as well as a geographical one. Musings on theology, politics, nature and literature alternate with driving narratives about the author locking his keys in his truck, interacting with tollbooth personnel, or facing the unexpected challenge of a full parking lot at Walden Pond. The reassuringly human voice of the narrative balances the strangeness of immersion in counter cultures.

The last chapter synthesizes the author’s experiences and steps firmly into the present day by looking at some examples of businesses that alter the typical model to give their workers greater ownership and reflect different values from much of America’s corporate culture. I was fascinated to read about Evergreen Cooperatives in Cleveland, formed because some nonprofit “eds and meds” (educational and medical institutions) got together to develop and support local business in poorer communities around them. The resulting laundry, solar power, and gardening companies supply the needs of these “anchor institutions” and give their workers shares in the company. All kinds of positive benefits arise.

It got me thinking about my own (depressed) region, and the ways a similar operation would help. Ultimately, this is the effect of the book: it encourages its readers to think about what matters, what disturbs and distresses, and what steps one can imagine to enact change. Some of these past communities have posed solutions to these problems, and it was encouraging to read of some present day models that bring “utopian” thinking to bear on important questions: what constitutes true wealth? What does a healthy work culture look like? How can you do business intelligently, without violence against people or the natural world? For those who see big problems and no solutions, Utopia Drive offers a dose of possibility that will restore some hope.

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