How socialists viewed the American future: socialists envisioning a better future for the...

Given our intense interest in the alleged lessons of history, the essays collected in Expectations for the Millennium warrant careful attention by scholars. Futurists should not be put off by the fact that the index has no entry for future, for the volume tells a first-rate futures tale of a

Nine essayists drawn together under the editorial direction of historian Peter H. Buckingham of Linfield College explore somewhat esoteric but illuminating aspects of socialism' s near-triumph in the United States--a story now largely neglected by scholars. For a colorful time in the late 1800s and early 1900s, the movement made extraordinary headway helping Americans dream of a future with far more cooperation than competition. Its leading visionaries included such best-selling writers as Edward Bellamy (Looking Backward), Charlotte Perkins Gilman (A Woman's Utopia), and Julius Augustus Wayland (Appeal to Reason), along with Jack London (The Iron Heel) and others of his macho ilk.

Regardless of great variation in style, the leading socialists succeeded in providing a persuasive alternative to the amoral, robber-baron ideology that was then contesting for the souls of Americans. Drawing on farmer populist movements and on the blue-collar campaign of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), America's unique version of socialism came very close to victory.

Readers can learn from the book's artfully written essays the meaning of such still-relevant concepts as Authoritarian Socialism, Golden Rule Christianity, Mechanistic Optimism, Social Darwinism, Socialist Christianity, and Utopian Socialism. The essays shed light on the hard-earned strengths and built-in weaknesses of actual utopian communities. Many of the historical forecasts, presented as scenarios, astonish us with their daring--such as an 1843 expectation that in five or 10 years America would rely on renewable energy sources (sun, wind, wave) and enjoy air-conditioning, plastics, and synthetic fabrics. Similarly, in 1906 Eugene V. Debs (the perennial Socialist Party presidential candidate) forecast a time very soon when ordinary workers might actually own their own homes and have time to enjoy books and music.

The implosion of American socialism leaves much for futurists and utopian thinkers to ponder. The movement never could overcome the rifts posed by the woman question (which foreshadowed today's work--family and mommy-track dilemmas), the race question (the persisting American dilemma), the religion question (sacred or secular ways?), the militancy question (smash or deal?), the class question (mobility or stasis?), the labor union question (business or Social Unionism?), the lifestyle question (simplicity or whatever?), or the overriding question of them all, capitalism or precisely what?

As if these intransigent dilemmas in the core design of a social order were not difficult enough, the very appeal of American socialism soon provoked ferocious attack from frightened defenders of free market/small government capitalism. No holds were barred in the ensuing bloody class war. (Present-day anxieties about ongoing losses in civil liberties come quickly--and uneasily--to mind.) Soon after the end of World War I, itself a costly trial for many socialist-pacifists, a much-harassed and very battered American socialist movement was tipped into the dustbin of history.

Futurists serious about improving their grasp of historical American realities (the kind that cast a long shadow), and anyone eager to better understand the exacting requirements of a would-be blueprint for massive societal redesign, will find much of value in this (grievously overpriced) volume.

About the Reviewer

Arthur B. Shostak is a professor of sociology at Drexel University and THE FUTURIST's contributing editor for utopian thought. His address is Psychology/Sociology/ Anthropology Department, Drexel University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104. Telephone 1-215-896-2466; e-mail shostaka@drexel.edu.

More Utopian Thought

For more essays on utopianism in futures, visit the Society's online Utopias Forum at www.wfs.org/utopias.htm.