Caesar’s Column: In Response to Prof. Hanley (Continued)

As stated in my previous post, Donnelly’s futuristic New York City illustrates societal declination within a context of technological evolution. And Donnelly’s resolution, his ideal society, is a modification and incorporation of “past governmental philosophies.”

According to Donnelly, “usury” is the “root of all evil,” and his economic theoretic, in part: the abolishment of “usury,” corporations, and “excess” (because “excess” is “destructive”), will create “universal prosperity” within a prescribed set of laws, government, and political economy: Donnelly’s “Utopia.” That is, no one person will have the advantage over the other. Altruism and beneficence will prevail when one’s surplus, by a governing body is appropriately distributed and invested.

In Donnelly’s “Garden in the Mountain,” he restructures a society by establishing a body of governing laws “to protect ourselves from ourselves.” For example: formulated a constitution detailing fundamental laws and religious belief, with a preamble stating that:

“This government is intended to be merely a plain and simple instrument, to insure to every industrious citizen not only liberty, but an educated mind, a comfortable home, an abundant supply of food and clothing, and a pleasant, happy life” (236);

three branches of government, wage and labor guidelines, a judicial system, trial by jury, penal institutions, tariff laws, a national treasury, and municipal laws and ordinances. However, if you did not abide by the “reformations,” one was “transferred to the outside world, where they could enjoy the fruits of the time-hallowed systems they praised so much” (239).

The absence of free choice and free enterprise overshadows Donnelly’s idealized universal prosperity and a “pleasant, happy life.” Ultimatums position one to prefer to “reign in Hell than serve in Heav’n,” without objectively considering the consequences and aftermath.

Edith