Utopian and Scientific

Utopian and Scientific

Notes on Simon Ganneau (the Mapah) and Evadisme

July 14, 2019 Shawn P. Wilbur

We notice the death in Paris, a short time ago, of M. Ganneau. To most of our readers this obscure name will awaken no recollections; yet M. Ganneau had thought himself preordained to great things—and had some years ago drawn on himself no small share of public attention in Paris. At a period when new sects were springing up on all sides—when Mormons were crossing the Rocky Mountains, and “unknown tongues” were flourishing in England—he was the founder—we should say, the inventor—of a new religion; which he named “Evadaisme,” and of which he was—to use his own term—the “Mapah.” […]

Utopian and Scientific

Mathieu Briancourt, “The Organization of Labor & Association” (1846)

March 22, 2019 Shawn P. Wilbur

Many good minds have long been persuaded that on the present generation must devolve the task of solving the formidable problem of the organization of labor, under penalty of being visited by a social revolution, the terrible consequences of which are incalculable. This belief gains ground every moment, and already this question of life and death for civilization is placed among the orders of the day by the most valuable organs of publication. […]

Utopian and Scientific

Short Sequels to “Looking Backward”

February 23, 2019 Shawn P. Wilbur

With nerves unstrung by that horrent nightmare, which had replunged me into the cruel vortex of nineteenth century antagonism and brutality, I cast around for some method of restoring my usual equanimity. An excursion into the country would, it appeared to me, serve the double purpose of acting as a nervous sedative, and of enabling me to realize something of the conditions of rural life in this year 2000 A. D. […]