mental floss presents Forbidden Knowledge
A Wickedly Smart Guide to History's Naughtiest Bits
Talk of the Town:
Utopian Communities
(That Bombed Miserably)
Every once in a while a proud little community will sprout up just to let the world know how Utopia should be run. With chins raised almost as high as ideals, the community marches forth to be an example of perfection. But in most cases, all that harmonious marching gets tripped up pretty quickly. Here are four perfect communities that whizzed and sputtered thanks to human nature.
01: Brook Farm, or Ripley's Follow Me or Not
Probably the best-known utopian community in America, Brook Farm was founded in 1841 in West Roxbury, Massachusetts, by George and Sophia Ripley. The commune was built on a 200-acre farm with four buildings and centered on the ideals of radical social reform and self-reliance. For free tuition in the community school and one year's worth of room and board, the residents were asked to complete 300 days of labor by e ... read full excerpt from: Mental Floss Presents Forbidden Knowledge: A Wickedly Smart Guide to History's Naughtiest Bits ebook