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Commune 2000 A.D.
It was the future perfect, the greatest society in human history, with peace and plenty, and total sexual freedom. Utopia paid you the Universal Guaranteed Income, whether you worked or not. Yet something was wrong - it was a...
FRACTURED UTOPIA
By the thousands, the disenchanted fled the cities to join tiny, mobile towns that sprang up wildly. It was called The Commune Phenomenon. Super leaders of the super future challenged Swain to locate the worm of discontent. Strange, because Swain himself felt gnawed by corruption, distracted by lust, troubled by danger.
FRACTURED UTOPIA
By the thousands, the disenchanted fled the cities to join tiny, mobile towns that sprang up wildly. It was called The Commune Phenomenon. Super leaders of the super future challenged Swain to locate the worm of discontent. Strange, because Swain himself felt gnawed by corruption, distracted by lust, troubled by danger.
- GenresScience FictionFiction
181 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1974
4 people are currently reading
121 people want to read
About the author
Mack Reynolds
509 books43 followersDallas McCord "Mack" Reynolds was an American science fiction writer. His pen names included Clark Collins, Mark Mallory, Guy McCord, Dallas Ross and Maxine Reynolds. Many of his stories were published in "Galaxy Magazine" and "Worlds of If Magazine". He was quite popular in the 1960s, but most of his work subsequently went out of print.
He was an active supporter of the Socialist Labor Party; his father, Verne Reynolds, was twice the SLP's Presidential candidate, in 1928 and 1932. Many of MR's stories use SLP jargon such as 'Industrial Feudalism' and most deal with economic issues in some way
Many of Reynolds' stories took place in Utopian societies, and many of which fulfilled L. L. Zamenhof's dream of Esperanto used worldwide as a universal second language. His novels predicted much that has come to pass, including pocket computers and a world-wide computer network with information available at one's fingertips.
Many of his novels were written within the context of a highly mobile society in which few people maintained a fixed residence, leading to "mobile voting" laws which allowed someone living out of the equivalent of a motor home to vote when and where they chose.
He was an active supporter of the Socialist Labor Party; his father, Verne Reynolds, was twice the SLP's Presidential candidate, in 1928 and 1932. Many of MR's stories use SLP jargon such as 'Industrial Feudalism' and most deal with economic issues in some way
Many of Reynolds' stories took place in Utopian societies, and many of which fulfilled L. L. Zamenhof's dream of Esperanto used worldwide as a universal second language. His novels predicted much that has come to pass, including pocket computers and a world-wide computer network with information available at one's fingertips.
Many of his novels were written within the context of a highly mobile society in which few people maintained a fixed residence, leading to "mobile voting" laws which allowed someone living out of the equivalent of a motor home to vote when and where they chose.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
May 27, 2012
Mack Reynolds was a stand-by from the 50s and 60s. Occasionally, he was close to brilliant, but most of the time he wrote solid, dependable, idea-driven science fiction that was suitable for most age groups, enjoyable for a quick read, and forgettable.
Commune 2000 AD is almost but not quite embarrassingly quaint in its presumed revolutionary ideas. Published in 1974, it embraced the notions of continual social progress ala the Sixties to depict a country in which all the Progressive ideas had come to fruition with the Guaranteed National Income, total sexual liberation, and a presumptive rationality to governance that can only exist in certain utopian fictions.
It tells of an academic trying to get his final degree who is given the assignment, ostensibly for his dissertation, of investigating the new and growing commune movement sweeping the country. The real purpose, however, is to gather evidence of a growing subversive threat to the status quo.
It is fascinating to reread this now in light of present day politics, because Reynolds talks about the disparities in productive capacity and population, economic elites, and the groundswell Libertarian movement. The elements of so much we bandy about today are in this book, but in such naive form as to make it quaint.
A word about the sex, though. The Sixties changed everything, but not in the ways or to the degree that Reynolds thought would ultimately unfold. And he was not of the Sixties generation. He didn't seem to know how to not write condescendingly about women, particularly in sexual terms, and the laissez-faire attitude expressed in this novel, while it exists perhaps here and there, from time to time, was never and is unlikely ever to be so innocent as he wished.
Commune 2000 AD is almost but not quite embarrassingly quaint in its presumed revolutionary ideas. Published in 1974, it embraced the notions of continual social progress ala the Sixties to depict a country in which all the Progressive ideas had come to fruition with the Guaranteed National Income, total sexual liberation, and a presumptive rationality to governance that can only exist in certain utopian fictions.
It tells of an academic trying to get his final degree who is given the assignment, ostensibly for his dissertation, of investigating the new and growing commune movement sweeping the country. The real purpose, however, is to gather evidence of a growing subversive threat to the status quo.
It is fascinating to reread this now in light of present day politics, because Reynolds talks about the disparities in productive capacity and population, economic elites, and the groundswell Libertarian movement. The elements of so much we bandy about today are in this book, but in such naive form as to make it quaint.
A word about the sex, though. The Sixties changed everything, but not in the ways or to the degree that Reynolds thought would ultimately unfold. And he was not of the Sixties generation. He didn't seem to know how to not write condescendingly about women, particularly in sexual terms, and the laissez-faire attitude expressed in this novel, while it exists perhaps here and there, from time to time, was never and is unlikely ever to be so innocent as he wished.
December 28, 2020
Reynolds postulates a prosperous America where 90% of citizens are happily living off Guaranteed Annual Income. Many live in communes, without oversight from the national government. Authoritarian police and others control the job selection process to maintain their power and they plan on disenfranchising the 90%. A plausible future based on then current trends, sadly it didn't happen.
This world is based loosely on the writings of the early socialist Robert Owen, the author read widely on social movements and for the younger me, it was my first exposure to many of them. It's the reason it still gets a two.
Written for males, this book has a fair amount of sex in it that doesn't add much to the plot and there is a bit of homophobia in some spots. It could be subtitled Abraham Lincoln - Ladykiller. The fake slang used dates it rather badly.
Somewhat better predictions:
Real smart phones without those pesky copyright issues.
Self driving cars, why own a car when you can summon one using your cellphone.
Looking Backward from the Year 2020
1974 - It was close to the height of prosperity for blue-collar America. The neocon movement was getting started, which would ring the end of this era.
This world is based loosely on the writings of the early socialist Robert Owen, the author read widely on social movements and for the younger me, it was my first exposure to many of them. It's the reason it still gets a two.
Written for males, this book has a fair amount of sex in it that doesn't add much to the plot and there is a bit of homophobia in some spots. It could be subtitled Abraham Lincoln - Ladykiller. The fake slang used dates it rather badly.
Somewhat better predictions:
Real smart phones without those pesky copyright issues.
Self driving cars, why own a car when you can summon one using your cellphone.
Looking Backward from the Year 2020
1974 - It was close to the height of prosperity for blue-collar America. The neocon movement was getting started, which would ring the end of this era.
November 10, 2018
review of
Mack Reynolds's Commune 2000 A.D.
by tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE - November 8-9, 2018
For the complete review, go here: https://www.goodreads.com/story/show/...
I've already written extensively about Mack Reynolds. It's hard for me to believe that I've been reading his work for 2.5 yrs by now, he still seems so fresh to me. So far I've read:
The Rival Rigelians ( https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... )
Blackman's Burden / Border, Breed Nor Birth ( https://www.goodreads.com/story/show/... )
Trample An Empire Down ( https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... )
Computer War / Code Duello ( https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... )
Planetary Agent X ( https://www.goodreads.com/story/show/... )
Mercenary from Tomorrow ( https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... )
Planetary Agent X ( https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... )
The Space Barbarians ( https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... )
After Utopia ( https://www.goodreads.com/story/show/... )
In my review of the latter I wrote: "Someday, I shd read Marx's Das Capital (I have a copy in English), someday I shd read Kropotkin's Fields, Factories and Workshops (I have a copy of this in English too). For the moment I prefer Reynolds's After Utopia in wch he imagines the best society likely to come out of anarchist successes & then critiques that — interweaving political history of importance to me along the way." In other words, disguised as his work may be, as 'entertainment' I find it remarkably politically prescient.
E.G.: Blackman's Burden / Border, Breed Nor Birth both took place in Africa. I wasn't sure when I read them whether he'd had any personal experience in Africa that they were based upon. But in the "About the Author" section in Commune 2000 A.D. it's written that Reynolds is: "A true adventurer, he once crossed the Sahara to Timbuktu and on the way was captured by the Tuareg (The Forgotten of Allah, and the so-called Apaches of the Sahara)." (p 182) Given that the Tuareg play a central role in his African novels this gives those novels an astonishing level of realism (assuming that the adventurer story is true).
Commune 2000 A.D. is one of several or many novels by Reynolds set in a utopic future. As the back cover blurb expresses it: "It was the future perfect, the greatest society in human history, with peace and plenty, and total sexual freedom. Utopia paid you the Universal Guaranteed Income, whether you worked or not. Yet something was wrong". As I recall, Trample An Empire Down & After Utopia both explored dissatisfaction w/in this utopic environment. Knowing myself, despite how glorious this projected society seems, I'd probably be among the dissastified.
This bk is "A Frederik Pohl Selection", as the front cover proclaims. The 1st page provides more details:
"Frederik Pohl, three-time Hugo Award winner, editor of some thirty science fiction anthologies and author of more than forty books, is an acknowledged master of the field.
"Each book that bears the crest "A Frederik Pohl Selection" reflects the taste, integrity and discrimination that have made his own works so highly respected by critics and enjoyed by millions of readers."
What's carefully(?) NOT mentioned is that Pohl & Reynolds share political opinions. This was published in 1974, perhaps such circumspectness wasn't so cautiously 'necessary' as it had been in the 1950s — but, still, they probably didn't want to alienate a prospective readership who might shy away from what wd've been 'radical' in its day.
Reynolds's vision of what was as of the time of writing 26 yrs in the future is pretty much on the mark in some respects:
"Save for a few reference books, the room was devoid of the atmosphere formerly considered required by a scholar. The furniture consisted solely of one bookshelf, and one chair behind a desk, the top of which was an autoteacher; its screen connected with the National Data Banks. There was an additional library-booster screen to one side, so that he could consult more than one source at a time, a TV phone, and a voco-typer. The reason he had any reference books at all was that he found it quicker, sometimes, to manually look up, say, a word in a dictionary, rather than dialing a book from the data banks." - p 8
Now that might've been a bit expensive in 2000 but imagine it rewritten for 2018:
'Save for a few reference books, the room was devoid of the quantity of books formerly considered required by a scholar. The furniture consisted solely of one bookshelf, and one chair behind a desk, on top of which were two computer screens and a keyboard; these were, of course, connected to the internet with the fastest available & reasonably affordable home service. The two screens enabled him to display one activity, such as video-editing, in a large space without having tools blocking the view. The smart phone was also handy. Voice-operated apps enabled him to have his speech transcribed & to do other things like turn lights & music on or off. The reason he had any reference books at all was because every rare once-in-a-while his internet service would fail or become painfully slow and he then resorted to looking up a reference in a print book. This absence of heavy & numerous objects helped make it easier to frequently move the substantial distances that his profession often required.'
Ted, the main character, is finding himself unable to advance in his society's largely automated condition. Finally, he seems to get a break:
"Engelbrecht said, "You are acquainted with the present communes which are springing up throughout the nation like mushrooms after a rainfall?"
"Ted looked at him blankly. "Well, I've heard about them. I haven't had the opportunity to see or investigate the phenomenon."
"Englebrecht beamed. "You will, my boy. Your theme will be a comparison of the present-day communes with the primitive communes of ancient society."" - p 18
Alas, the break isn't really a 'break': for the apparently utopic system has subtexts of control that keep it running in the interests of a mostly hidden elite.
"He made a gesture with both hands, as though in despair. "Our civilization is based on data banks and the computers. How can we serve these people if they don't keep us informed?"
"He pursed his lips in thought and cocked his head slightly. "Almost any data on the make-up of these communes is of value to us; their raison d'etre, their goals, their composition, so far as age groups, sexes, political beliefs and . . ."
""Political beliefs?" Ted said.
""Yes, certainly. An increasing number of the communards don't participate in the guild elections. Most aren't eligible to participate in the guild elections, because they hold no jobs, but they don't bother to vote in the civil elections, either. To put it bluntly, they're anarchists."" - p 24
This bk was published in January, 1974. I'd realized that I was an anarchist for about 4 yrs by then. I'd never met another anarchist at the time. It's been my impression that anarchism had been largely eradicated from the American political-scape. When The Sex Pistols released their "Anarchy in the U.K." single in November of 1976 it seems to me that anarchy was pushed to the fore of political consciousness. This bk was ahead of that time. Its character, Ted, is none-too-swift about figuring out how he's being manipulated by the status quo:
"The thing was that it didn't make any sense. What possible reason could the two have to snowball him into researching the communes?" - p 26
"Thus it was that when he entered he knew almost immediately that the place had been ransacked." - p 27
It's food for thought that while I've been in businesses that don't accept credit cards I've never been in one that doesn't accept cash. How long will that last?
"The computer, plus the portable pocket TV phone, made possible a national credit system eliminating money, in the old sense of the word." - p 30
As a person who's been interested in Utopian philisophers, I've had an interest in Charles Fourier, e.g.. There's no mention of him but there are recurring references in Commune 2000 A.D. to Robert Owen:
""I suspect that this commune thing is considerably bigger than has been let out. And I suspect that it's going to get bigger still. In a way, you might say that Robert Owen lives."
""Robert Owen?"
""Never heard of him? An early 19th Century British reformer. Father of the cooperative movement. Sort of a utopian socialist, I suppose you'd call him,"" - p 34
""How are you politically? I mean, do you vote in a block?"
"He watched another frown put a small uneven line in the clear skin above her eyes. "No. Largely we abstain from politics. I suppose you could say that so far as we of the Greek revivial are concerned, Robert Owen lives."
""Robert Owen? What has he to do with it?"
""Why, he was more or less the father of the modern commune. He scorned politics, thinking them a sham, a means of hoodwinking the people into the false belief that they were free and in control of their government."" - p 93
"["]But, at any rate, here in Walden you've gone back to the old ways, eh?"
""Yes. And here in Walden we find happiness in a life of toil. Here, Robert Owen lives."" - p 165
SO, I looked up Robert Owen online:
"Robert Owen was a businessman and social activist who sought to bring in new utopian ideals for business and local communities. His New Lanark textile factory in Scotland was an influential experiment in improving the conditions of factory workers. Owen was an early socialist, co-operative and utopian thinker and is often termed the ‘father of British socialism’."
[..]
"He was not just interested in running a successful business. He was also keen to improve the working conditions and life of the workers. At the time, factory conditions were often dire, with people working long hours for little pay. Workers received little, if any, education and had few prospects. Owen was a great believer that man was shaped by his environment and surroundings. Therefore, he felt it his duty as a manager to offer education and respectable surroundings for his extended family.
On taking over the New Lanark business, Owen ordered the building of a school. He also banned corporal punishment. Owen also restricted the employment of children under the age of 10 (children as young as 5 had been working in the factories). These young children were instead sent to school.
Owen’s philanthropy towards his own workers was rare and his other business partners feared that the profitability of their investment would be reduced. This conflict between profit maximisation and social concerns was a continual source of tension. To resolve it, Owen borrowed money from a Quaker, Archibald Campbell, to buy out the other businessmen. He later sold shares to investors more sympathetic to his aims.
"Despite his investment in education, and improved factory conditions, his factory in New Lanark continued to be profitable. Owen also successfully instituted new management practices and found ways to encourage his workers to be more productive. Owen used his profit to publicise his views and opinions on education, working conditions and utopian communities. An example of his philosophy:
"“What ideas individuals may attach to the term “Millennium” I know not; but I know that society may be formed so as to exist without crime, without poverty, with health greatly improved, with little, if any misery, and with intelligence and happiness increased a hundredfold; and no obstacle whatsoever intervenes at this moment except ignorance to prevent such a state of society from becoming universal.”
"– Extract from Robert Owen’s “Address to the Inhabitants of New Lanark” New Year’s Day, 1816.
"His publicity attracted the attention of a wide range of European politicians and thinkers. His factories in New Lanarkshire were visited by several European policy-makers. In the UK, Owen was invited to give testimony to a Parliament select committee on factory working conditions and the Poor Law.
"Owen was disappointed with the response from Parliament, feeling that the Factory Act of 1819 was woefully inadequate. He increasingly began to feel that the solution was the creation of independent ‘utopian communities’ of between 500 to 3,000 people who would work co-operatively for the common good. In these utopian communities, there would be no private property, just a community based on sharing the common good with equal wages.
"“There is but one mode by which man can possess in perpetuity all the happiness which his nature is capable of enjoying — that is by the union and co-operation of all for the benefit of each.”
"– The Social System: Constitution, Laws, and Regulations of a Community (1826)"
- https://www.biographyonline.net/busin...
Interesting, eh? Reynolds is always great for directing the reader to research things he mentions 'casually'. In this day & age of internet access, how many people follow thru? I looked up Robert Owen, wd you have? I find him inspiring. I like people who create positive change by example — instead of just theorizing about its possibility. Imagine being in an argument about someone who says that no industrialist cd possibly survive if they were to be more genrous to the workers. You cd then cite the example of Owen & quote the above: "Despite his investment in education, and improved factory conditions, his factory in New Lanark continued to be profitable." Greed is NOT necessary for successful business.
"Llano, a coperative in Lousiana consisting of more than a thousand persons at its peak. Evidently, a group of like-minded communards . . . no, he didn't think he liked that term. Should he call them 'communitarians'? At any rate, the Llano people had almagamted their resources and bought up a lumber town which had been abandoned when the supply of trees ran out. They had initiated it in the early 1920s and it had continued for at least a couple of decades before folding." - p 79
"When the members of a California commune needed a place to start a new colony, they made the unlikely move to western Louisiana. It happened 100 years ago in Vernon Parish, and it was an experiment in socialism that lasted for more than two decades.
"It may be one of the more unusual beginnings of any town in Louisiana. Located near the entrance to the Army base at Fork Polk, New Llano got its start in 1917.
""Politics is a whole lot different from what it used to be," said New Llano Mayor Freddie Boswell. "Here in New Llano we're fortunate. We have all nationalities. We probably have more than any other part of the state."
"But Boswell thinks most of his 2,800 residents really don't know much about their town's history.
""Now a lot of people say, 'Oh that was communism, that was bad.' But it wasn't," Boswell said.
""The double L is a Y. 'New Yanno,' is the way, but they just refer to it mostly as Yanno," said Martha Palmer.
"Palmer is the local expert on the colony of New Llano, having interviewed some of the original settlers. But after a water shortage in California, the communal group bought 20,000 acres in western Louisiana.
""Self-sufficient is what they wanted to be," Palmer said. "Everyone worked, even children."
"Palmer has collected some of the hand-crafted items made by the colonists.
""The doll furniture was mine as a little girl here," Palmer said. "The baskets were made here."
""You bought your membership, and then you became an equal owner, so you owned a share of all of the industries, all of the houses and everybody had a job and they produced what they needed," said Mary Ann Fussell.
"Fussell runs the New Llano Museum, which tells the story of a town where everyone worked for the common good.
""It's probably the longest-lasting cooperative colony anywhere that was not actually based on religion," she said."
- http://raycomgroup.worldnow.com/story...
Incredibly enuf, the above comes from a FOX 8 news program.
Ted investigates an art commune & begins to have his eyes opened a bit:
""Let those work in production and distribution who want to. This community isn't composed of a group of loafers. It's an art colony. Creation of art is work. It's usually a damn sight harder work than tending some machine in an automated factory. Under the present scoio-economic set-up there is no artist's guild, and for good reason. One thing a computer can't come up with, in delving into the Ability Quotient needed for some job, is figuring out the ability of an artist, a writer, a sculptor. So an artist, of whatever type, gets his Universal Guaranteed Income, along with everyone else, and is free to do his thing as best he can."
""Who decides if he's an artist or not?"
""He does, just as he has all down through history. The artist does his work because he has to. If his fellow man doesn't like the end product, it's too bad, but he keeps doing his thing."" - p 58
Ha ha! I have a 'fond' memory of going to try to collect unemployment when I was about 20. When I was asked what my profession was I sd "musician". I was informed that there is no such profession. Keep that in mind musicians when you expect to get paid.
It's easy for me to imagine that some people might find Reynolds's sexual fantasies to be sexist wishful thinking. I think he was reveling in an era of 'free love':
"["]Look, if you don't stop staring at my titties, I'm going to put a sweater on.""
""Sorry," Ted said. "They're very attractive."
""See here," she said accusingly, "you want to poke me, don't you?"
""Of course," he said. "How did you know?"
""I could tell by the expression on your kilts," she said sarcastically. "All right. I always did have a weakness for Abraham Lincoln.["]" - p 65-66
"She laughed softly. "Haven't you heard of the Greek hetaera?"
""Well, yes, but I didn't expect to encounter one." He was more than ready to take her.
"Her legs were like satin; the palms of his hands slid smoothly over the backs of her thighs and calves. He saw the sparkle of fine blond hair in the sunlight that leaked through the venetian blinds, and felt the shape and tension of her slim muscles under his moving fingers. And he discovered that he could close his hand completely around her delicate ankles.
"""Turn over," he said hoarsely.
""Why?" she murmured into her pillow. "Do me boy style. Haven't you heard about the Greeks?"" - p 97
""Prepare to be complimented," he said.
"She blinked at him and tried to finance a smile that was bankrupt before it was born.
""I see what you mean," she said ruefully. "I suppose it wouldn't do for you to go about town looking quite so . . . aggressive."
""I told you," Ted said reasonably.
""Hmmm. Well, we'll have to do something about that, I suppose."" - p 107
""Bethie said you were the oldest of the commune members."
""Right, man. I'm the old pro, hereabouts."
""Do you mind telling why you've chosen a nudist commune rather than some other type?"
For the complete review, go here: https://www.goodreads.com/story/show/...
Mack Reynolds's Commune 2000 A.D.
by tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE - November 8-9, 2018
For the complete review, go here: https://www.goodreads.com/story/show/...
I've already written extensively about Mack Reynolds. It's hard for me to believe that I've been reading his work for 2.5 yrs by now, he still seems so fresh to me. So far I've read:
The Rival Rigelians ( https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... )
Blackman's Burden / Border, Breed Nor Birth ( https://www.goodreads.com/story/show/... )
Trample An Empire Down ( https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... )
Computer War / Code Duello ( https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... )
Planetary Agent X ( https://www.goodreads.com/story/show/... )
Mercenary from Tomorrow ( https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... )
Planetary Agent X ( https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... )
The Space Barbarians ( https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... )
After Utopia ( https://www.goodreads.com/story/show/... )
In my review of the latter I wrote: "Someday, I shd read Marx's Das Capital (I have a copy in English), someday I shd read Kropotkin's Fields, Factories and Workshops (I have a copy of this in English too). For the moment I prefer Reynolds's After Utopia in wch he imagines the best society likely to come out of anarchist successes & then critiques that — interweaving political history of importance to me along the way." In other words, disguised as his work may be, as 'entertainment' I find it remarkably politically prescient.
E.G.: Blackman's Burden / Border, Breed Nor Birth both took place in Africa. I wasn't sure when I read them whether he'd had any personal experience in Africa that they were based upon. But in the "About the Author" section in Commune 2000 A.D. it's written that Reynolds is: "A true adventurer, he once crossed the Sahara to Timbuktu and on the way was captured by the Tuareg (The Forgotten of Allah, and the so-called Apaches of the Sahara)." (p 182) Given that the Tuareg play a central role in his African novels this gives those novels an astonishing level of realism (assuming that the adventurer story is true).
Commune 2000 A.D. is one of several or many novels by Reynolds set in a utopic future. As the back cover blurb expresses it: "It was the future perfect, the greatest society in human history, with peace and plenty, and total sexual freedom. Utopia paid you the Universal Guaranteed Income, whether you worked or not. Yet something was wrong". As I recall, Trample An Empire Down & After Utopia both explored dissatisfaction w/in this utopic environment. Knowing myself, despite how glorious this projected society seems, I'd probably be among the dissastified.
This bk is "A Frederik Pohl Selection", as the front cover proclaims. The 1st page provides more details:
"Frederik Pohl, three-time Hugo Award winner, editor of some thirty science fiction anthologies and author of more than forty books, is an acknowledged master of the field.
"Each book that bears the crest "A Frederik Pohl Selection" reflects the taste, integrity and discrimination that have made his own works so highly respected by critics and enjoyed by millions of readers."
What's carefully(?) NOT mentioned is that Pohl & Reynolds share political opinions. This was published in 1974, perhaps such circumspectness wasn't so cautiously 'necessary' as it had been in the 1950s — but, still, they probably didn't want to alienate a prospective readership who might shy away from what wd've been 'radical' in its day.
Reynolds's vision of what was as of the time of writing 26 yrs in the future is pretty much on the mark in some respects:
"Save for a few reference books, the room was devoid of the atmosphere formerly considered required by a scholar. The furniture consisted solely of one bookshelf, and one chair behind a desk, the top of which was an autoteacher; its screen connected with the National Data Banks. There was an additional library-booster screen to one side, so that he could consult more than one source at a time, a TV phone, and a voco-typer. The reason he had any reference books at all was that he found it quicker, sometimes, to manually look up, say, a word in a dictionary, rather than dialing a book from the data banks." - p 8
Now that might've been a bit expensive in 2000 but imagine it rewritten for 2018:
'Save for a few reference books, the room was devoid of the quantity of books formerly considered required by a scholar. The furniture consisted solely of one bookshelf, and one chair behind a desk, on top of which were two computer screens and a keyboard; these were, of course, connected to the internet with the fastest available & reasonably affordable home service. The two screens enabled him to display one activity, such as video-editing, in a large space without having tools blocking the view. The smart phone was also handy. Voice-operated apps enabled him to have his speech transcribed & to do other things like turn lights & music on or off. The reason he had any reference books at all was because every rare once-in-a-while his internet service would fail or become painfully slow and he then resorted to looking up a reference in a print book. This absence of heavy & numerous objects helped make it easier to frequently move the substantial distances that his profession often required.'
Ted, the main character, is finding himself unable to advance in his society's largely automated condition. Finally, he seems to get a break:
"Engelbrecht said, "You are acquainted with the present communes which are springing up throughout the nation like mushrooms after a rainfall?"
"Ted looked at him blankly. "Well, I've heard about them. I haven't had the opportunity to see or investigate the phenomenon."
"Englebrecht beamed. "You will, my boy. Your theme will be a comparison of the present-day communes with the primitive communes of ancient society."" - p 18
Alas, the break isn't really a 'break': for the apparently utopic system has subtexts of control that keep it running in the interests of a mostly hidden elite.
"He made a gesture with both hands, as though in despair. "Our civilization is based on data banks and the computers. How can we serve these people if they don't keep us informed?"
"He pursed his lips in thought and cocked his head slightly. "Almost any data on the make-up of these communes is of value to us; their raison d'etre, their goals, their composition, so far as age groups, sexes, political beliefs and . . ."
""Political beliefs?" Ted said.
""Yes, certainly. An increasing number of the communards don't participate in the guild elections. Most aren't eligible to participate in the guild elections, because they hold no jobs, but they don't bother to vote in the civil elections, either. To put it bluntly, they're anarchists."" - p 24
This bk was published in January, 1974. I'd realized that I was an anarchist for about 4 yrs by then. I'd never met another anarchist at the time. It's been my impression that anarchism had been largely eradicated from the American political-scape. When The Sex Pistols released their "Anarchy in the U.K." single in November of 1976 it seems to me that anarchy was pushed to the fore of political consciousness. This bk was ahead of that time. Its character, Ted, is none-too-swift about figuring out how he's being manipulated by the status quo:
"The thing was that it didn't make any sense. What possible reason could the two have to snowball him into researching the communes?" - p 26
"Thus it was that when he entered he knew almost immediately that the place had been ransacked." - p 27
It's food for thought that while I've been in businesses that don't accept credit cards I've never been in one that doesn't accept cash. How long will that last?
"The computer, plus the portable pocket TV phone, made possible a national credit system eliminating money, in the old sense of the word." - p 30
As a person who's been interested in Utopian philisophers, I've had an interest in Charles Fourier, e.g.. There's no mention of him but there are recurring references in Commune 2000 A.D. to Robert Owen:
""I suspect that this commune thing is considerably bigger than has been let out. And I suspect that it's going to get bigger still. In a way, you might say that Robert Owen lives."
""Robert Owen?"
""Never heard of him? An early 19th Century British reformer. Father of the cooperative movement. Sort of a utopian socialist, I suppose you'd call him,"" - p 34
""How are you politically? I mean, do you vote in a block?"
"He watched another frown put a small uneven line in the clear skin above her eyes. "No. Largely we abstain from politics. I suppose you could say that so far as we of the Greek revivial are concerned, Robert Owen lives."
""Robert Owen? What has he to do with it?"
""Why, he was more or less the father of the modern commune. He scorned politics, thinking them a sham, a means of hoodwinking the people into the false belief that they were free and in control of their government."" - p 93
"["]But, at any rate, here in Walden you've gone back to the old ways, eh?"
""Yes. And here in Walden we find happiness in a life of toil. Here, Robert Owen lives."" - p 165
SO, I looked up Robert Owen online:
"Robert Owen was a businessman and social activist who sought to bring in new utopian ideals for business and local communities. His New Lanark textile factory in Scotland was an influential experiment in improving the conditions of factory workers. Owen was an early socialist, co-operative and utopian thinker and is often termed the ‘father of British socialism’."
[..]
"He was not just interested in running a successful business. He was also keen to improve the working conditions and life of the workers. At the time, factory conditions were often dire, with people working long hours for little pay. Workers received little, if any, education and had few prospects. Owen was a great believer that man was shaped by his environment and surroundings. Therefore, he felt it his duty as a manager to offer education and respectable surroundings for his extended family.
On taking over the New Lanark business, Owen ordered the building of a school. He also banned corporal punishment. Owen also restricted the employment of children under the age of 10 (children as young as 5 had been working in the factories). These young children were instead sent to school.
Owen’s philanthropy towards his own workers was rare and his other business partners feared that the profitability of their investment would be reduced. This conflict between profit maximisation and social concerns was a continual source of tension. To resolve it, Owen borrowed money from a Quaker, Archibald Campbell, to buy out the other businessmen. He later sold shares to investors more sympathetic to his aims.
"Despite his investment in education, and improved factory conditions, his factory in New Lanark continued to be profitable. Owen also successfully instituted new management practices and found ways to encourage his workers to be more productive. Owen used his profit to publicise his views and opinions on education, working conditions and utopian communities. An example of his philosophy:
"“What ideas individuals may attach to the term “Millennium” I know not; but I know that society may be formed so as to exist without crime, without poverty, with health greatly improved, with little, if any misery, and with intelligence and happiness increased a hundredfold; and no obstacle whatsoever intervenes at this moment except ignorance to prevent such a state of society from becoming universal.”
"– Extract from Robert Owen’s “Address to the Inhabitants of New Lanark” New Year’s Day, 1816.
"His publicity attracted the attention of a wide range of European politicians and thinkers. His factories in New Lanarkshire were visited by several European policy-makers. In the UK, Owen was invited to give testimony to a Parliament select committee on factory working conditions and the Poor Law.
"Owen was disappointed with the response from Parliament, feeling that the Factory Act of 1819 was woefully inadequate. He increasingly began to feel that the solution was the creation of independent ‘utopian communities’ of between 500 to 3,000 people who would work co-operatively for the common good. In these utopian communities, there would be no private property, just a community based on sharing the common good with equal wages.
"“There is but one mode by which man can possess in perpetuity all the happiness which his nature is capable of enjoying — that is by the union and co-operation of all for the benefit of each.”
"– The Social System: Constitution, Laws, and Regulations of a Community (1826)"
- https://www.biographyonline.net/busin...
Interesting, eh? Reynolds is always great for directing the reader to research things he mentions 'casually'. In this day & age of internet access, how many people follow thru? I looked up Robert Owen, wd you have? I find him inspiring. I like people who create positive change by example — instead of just theorizing about its possibility. Imagine being in an argument about someone who says that no industrialist cd possibly survive if they were to be more genrous to the workers. You cd then cite the example of Owen & quote the above: "Despite his investment in education, and improved factory conditions, his factory in New Lanark continued to be profitable." Greed is NOT necessary for successful business.
"Llano, a coperative in Lousiana consisting of more than a thousand persons at its peak. Evidently, a group of like-minded communards . . . no, he didn't think he liked that term. Should he call them 'communitarians'? At any rate, the Llano people had almagamted their resources and bought up a lumber town which had been abandoned when the supply of trees ran out. They had initiated it in the early 1920s and it had continued for at least a couple of decades before folding." - p 79
"When the members of a California commune needed a place to start a new colony, they made the unlikely move to western Louisiana. It happened 100 years ago in Vernon Parish, and it was an experiment in socialism that lasted for more than two decades.
"It may be one of the more unusual beginnings of any town in Louisiana. Located near the entrance to the Army base at Fork Polk, New Llano got its start in 1917.
""Politics is a whole lot different from what it used to be," said New Llano Mayor Freddie Boswell. "Here in New Llano we're fortunate. We have all nationalities. We probably have more than any other part of the state."
"But Boswell thinks most of his 2,800 residents really don't know much about their town's history.
""Now a lot of people say, 'Oh that was communism, that was bad.' But it wasn't," Boswell said.
""The double L is a Y. 'New Yanno,' is the way, but they just refer to it mostly as Yanno," said Martha Palmer.
"Palmer is the local expert on the colony of New Llano, having interviewed some of the original settlers. But after a water shortage in California, the communal group bought 20,000 acres in western Louisiana.
""Self-sufficient is what they wanted to be," Palmer said. "Everyone worked, even children."
"Palmer has collected some of the hand-crafted items made by the colonists.
""The doll furniture was mine as a little girl here," Palmer said. "The baskets were made here."
""You bought your membership, and then you became an equal owner, so you owned a share of all of the industries, all of the houses and everybody had a job and they produced what they needed," said Mary Ann Fussell.
"Fussell runs the New Llano Museum, which tells the story of a town where everyone worked for the common good.
""It's probably the longest-lasting cooperative colony anywhere that was not actually based on religion," she said."
- http://raycomgroup.worldnow.com/story...
Incredibly enuf, the above comes from a FOX 8 news program.
Ted investigates an art commune & begins to have his eyes opened a bit:
""Let those work in production and distribution who want to. This community isn't composed of a group of loafers. It's an art colony. Creation of art is work. It's usually a damn sight harder work than tending some machine in an automated factory. Under the present scoio-economic set-up there is no artist's guild, and for good reason. One thing a computer can't come up with, in delving into the Ability Quotient needed for some job, is figuring out the ability of an artist, a writer, a sculptor. So an artist, of whatever type, gets his Universal Guaranteed Income, along with everyone else, and is free to do his thing as best he can."
""Who decides if he's an artist or not?"
""He does, just as he has all down through history. The artist does his work because he has to. If his fellow man doesn't like the end product, it's too bad, but he keeps doing his thing."" - p 58
Ha ha! I have a 'fond' memory of going to try to collect unemployment when I was about 20. When I was asked what my profession was I sd "musician". I was informed that there is no such profession. Keep that in mind musicians when you expect to get paid.
It's easy for me to imagine that some people might find Reynolds's sexual fantasies to be sexist wishful thinking. I think he was reveling in an era of 'free love':
"["]Look, if you don't stop staring at my titties, I'm going to put a sweater on.""
""Sorry," Ted said. "They're very attractive."
""See here," she said accusingly, "you want to poke me, don't you?"
""Of course," he said. "How did you know?"
""I could tell by the expression on your kilts," she said sarcastically. "All right. I always did have a weakness for Abraham Lincoln.["]" - p 65-66
"She laughed softly. "Haven't you heard of the Greek hetaera?"
""Well, yes, but I didn't expect to encounter one." He was more than ready to take her.
"Her legs were like satin; the palms of his hands slid smoothly over the backs of her thighs and calves. He saw the sparkle of fine blond hair in the sunlight that leaked through the venetian blinds, and felt the shape and tension of her slim muscles under his moving fingers. And he discovered that he could close his hand completely around her delicate ankles.
"""Turn over," he said hoarsely.
""Why?" she murmured into her pillow. "Do me boy style. Haven't you heard about the Greeks?"" - p 97
""Prepare to be complimented," he said.
"She blinked at him and tried to finance a smile that was bankrupt before it was born.
""I see what you mean," she said ruefully. "I suppose it wouldn't do for you to go about town looking quite so . . . aggressive."
""I told you," Ted said reasonably.
""Hmmm. Well, we'll have to do something about that, I suppose."" - p 107
""Bethie said you were the oldest of the commune members."
""Right, man. I'm the old pro, hereabouts."
""Do you mind telling why you've chosen a nudist commune rather than some other type?"
For the complete review, go here: https://www.goodreads.com/story/show/...
September 15, 2017
Vintage Reynolds. Young man is asked for his dissertation to investigate the new phenomenon in the society: Communes. People who do not have to work because of Universal xx get together to form sub societies. Nudists and Greek lovers (forcing themselves to like Retsina). He sleeps with every girl in sight, a bit too much for my taste. Of course, there is a rebellion going on and the secret Code is xx. The best are the recollection of the old Hippie. Marvelous.
August 10, 2018
The book is molded by the 1960s / early 1970s, with much reference to free love, marijuana, LSD, nudism, some communes being "back to nature" or "on the road." Some readers may find it nostalgic, some may find it dated, or both. At the same time, mixed in are devices similar to smartphones (including making payments via smartphone), self-driving cars (with GPS), etc.
The story is set in a society in which many jobs have been automated, and those people who have jobs are assigned them based on whose "ability quotient" indicates they are the best for the position. Those without jobs receive a guaranteed minimum income. It mostly sounds like a post-scarcity society. Perhaps, it reflects the social atmosphere of the 1960s in which progressive social programs were more common, that we learn society reached this point through reforms within the existing elected government.
The main character is a student who's been trying to get approval for a doctorate thesis - with hopes of becoming an academic. Finally, his thesis advisor suggests the topic of comparing prehistoric communal societies with the "communes" which have been appearing in 2000. These new communes tend to be gatherings of people with some common interest, but the rest of the social relations tend to vary from one commune to another.
Then there begin to be hints that the government had the idea of collecting information on these communes which tend to be off the government's databases. It becomes clear that many in the communes don't want to be part of the government data, and some have their own pursuits and aren't interested in being assigned a job. Then we learn there is actually a secret elite from the political "class" who manipulate the job assignments and other decision-making - and is behind the effort to investigate the communes.
The story is set in a society in which many jobs have been automated, and those people who have jobs are assigned them based on whose "ability quotient" indicates they are the best for the position. Those without jobs receive a guaranteed minimum income. It mostly sounds like a post-scarcity society. Perhaps, it reflects the social atmosphere of the 1960s in which progressive social programs were more common, that we learn society reached this point through reforms within the existing elected government.
The main character is a student who's been trying to get approval for a doctorate thesis - with hopes of becoming an academic. Finally, his thesis advisor suggests the topic of comparing prehistoric communal societies with the "communes" which have been appearing in 2000. These new communes tend to be gatherings of people with some common interest, but the rest of the social relations tend to vary from one commune to another.
Then there begin to be hints that the government had the idea of collecting information on these communes which tend to be off the government's databases. It becomes clear that many in the communes don't want to be part of the government data, and some have their own pursuits and aren't interested in being assigned a job. Then we learn there is actually a secret elite from the political "class" who manipulate the job assignments and other decision-making - and is behind the effort to investigate the communes.
February 3, 2018
Just finished reading this for the second time, the first time being well before 2000 AD...probably midway between 2000 and the publishing date of 1974. The thing that stuck with me over the years were the traveling cities, the communes made up of trailer homes. I got into a conversation online with someone about just such a thing at some point in the last year, mostly triggered by stories or retirees in Walmart parking lots and similar things, and I was trying to remember the title of this book.
It's not a bad book. Very 1974 on what the sex and drugs of the future will be like. Our main character with a doctorate seems really clueless on a few things — I'm not sure if that was exposition cues or meant I was missing something. But his "transcievers" are very much like cell phones, and there were other things that he got right. I like it well enough I might read it again at some point in the future. Or not.
It's not a bad book. Very 1974 on what the sex and drugs of the future will be like. Our main character with a doctorate seems really clueless on a few things — I'm not sure if that was exposition cues or meant I was missing something. But his "transcievers" are very much like cell phones, and there were other things that he got right. I like it well enough I might read it again at some point in the future. Or not.
October 23, 2021
Ok, not only this has not aged well, buy I also suspect it wasn't particularly well researched even in its time. In any case, for a book that desperately tries to cram ideology down your throat, takes a pretty questionable stance in the way it depicts the relationship between sexes and adopts a ridiculous hip jargon, it makes itself quite readable. It also predicted quite accurately Internet, Mobility As A Service transport modes, smartphones and digital payments.
September 16, 2017
Bad honestly. Not many redeemable features other than it does pull you along to the end. Like I didn't want to put it down but out of curiosity more than genuinely being good. If you're a fan of dystopia I would skip this one.
October 21, 2020
Unrelenting homophobia and misogyny, no understanding of what might make a community function, no plot.
December 26, 2020
DNF
interesting concept, boringly written, I tried to struggle through but the narrative just got caught up on so many unnecessary details that didn't add anything
interesting concept, boringly written, I tried to struggle through but the narrative just got caught up on so many unnecessary details that didn't add anything
January 29, 2021
Well, that didn't age well. interesting to see what has and has not come to pass, though.
December 16, 2022
Soft porn masquerading as science fiction. Can't believe Pohl let his name be put on this.
January 28, 2023
Completely changed my view of the working world.
December 13, 2025
Standard SF Reynolds. Read at school in my youth. The protagonist discovers a government conspiracy to exert more control over the popular.
May 13, 2025
So impossibly horny it’s a wonder Reynolds ever sat down for long enough to write it.
Read
August 28, 2017"Don't roach me, funker," she said. "And don't shirk off in your
electro-steamer. This mopsy wants to poke."
--Mack Reynolds, Commune 2000 A.D., 1974
electro-steamer. This mopsy wants to poke."
--Mack Reynolds, Commune 2000 A.D., 1974
Read
May 14, 2018I enjoyed reading Mack Reynolds books in the 70's and 80's. They told me what "could be." But, in this (rather dated) book, Reynolds also presented the dystopian side of a "utopia". He expressed, in fictional terms, what happens when "da pee-pull" become dependent upon "da guv'ment."
I won't repeat what other reviewers have said about the politics. I take the flavor of the book from the time it was written and the age of the person at the time of it's writing. If you keep things like that in context, it makes for a much better and less-frustrating read - something younger readers seem to have a problem doing.
I won't repeat what other reviewers have said about the politics. I take the flavor of the book from the time it was written and the age of the person at the time of it's writing. If you keep things like that in context, it makes for a much better and less-frustrating read - something younger readers seem to have a problem doing.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews