It is true that the idea of a transcendentalist society in today’s world seems like a brilliant idea. Many, many people would be open to the idea of living somewhere that places such value on the individual and everyone being treated equally. A place such as Walden Island seems like the perfect escape from the often stressful and complicated lifestyle that the rest of the world has to offer. However, such a place as Walden Island likely could never exist in today’s world. Being a society that encourages and allows people to follow any career of their choice, very few people would choose to occupy many less well paying jobs that are necessary for a country to survive. This is especially true for a country that has strong isolationist policies. Being a small island country, Walden Island would likely not be able to support itself if every citizen chose to be a doctor, teacher or philosopher. Walden Island also seems as if it puts a bit too much value into the opinion of every individual. The policy of nearly every citizen of the island being able to vote on every matter that is put up for debate would result in everything taking an unreasonable amount of time to resolve. Another big flaw in the idea of Walden Island is the strict consequences that exist for things that are merely frowned upon in most societies. Bullying and harshly putting down another’s ideas is against the law, and repeated offences can get one banished from the island. Walden Island could never exist in today’s world.
Initially, the idea seems wonderful. Walden Island is a place that is specifically designed so that everyone who lives there can be happy, and not have to worry about being judged or having their freedom restricted. Everyone is welcome to have complete control of their future, and no one needs to participate in the upkeep of the community any more than they want to. Each citizen has some say as to what laws and taxes are put into effect or repealed. The educational system encourages students to adopt transcendentalist beliefs, and prepares them for whatever career path that they choose. Any and all religions are tolerated. Indeed, it is illegal to harshly put down the ideas or beliefs of another. This may sound like a paradise to live in, but truly much of its design is totally impractical, and it could likely never flourish in modern day.
In a nation where people have complete control of what occupation they wish to hold in their future, in order to encourage the transcendentalist idea that everyone should always follow their dreams, there would be few people applying for boring or simple jobs that are essential for a country to run smoothly. If every citizen was free to follow their dream of being a doctor or lawyer, there would not be anyone available to collect peoples’ trash or mow their lawn for them. It truly would be a marvelous thing if everyone in a place such as Walden Island was free to be whatever they wanted to be, but such a place could never exist in an independent nation.
A big focus of transcendentalism is the value of every individual’s opinion and beliefs. A transcendentalist society such as Walden Island would have to give every citizen a say in what laws they will be forced to follow. Although this might sound nice, it would unfortunately take ludicrous amounts of time to resolve any matter, no matter how important or trivial. Giving so much power to the people would also likely lead to taxes being so low that the government would barely have enough funds to run the country. With so much power being in the hands of the people, Walden Island’s government would be slow to respond to crises, and be ineffectual in dealing with most matters.
Because Walden Island is a strongly transcendentalist society, it is obliged to make sure that every individual is respected and allowed to believe whatever they choose to believe without being influenced by their peers. This leads to actions such as bullying, the mocking of one’s beliefs, or harshly putting down one’s ideas being declared illegal. If people were moving to Walden Island from other countries, they would likely be banished from the island before they ever got used to such seemingly trivial things being against the law. Trying too hard to enforce transcendentalism on everyone on the island is completely impractical.
Despite how simple and blissful a place like Walden Island might sound, sadly such a thing simply could not be made to exist in modern day. The need to make sure every resident can become exactly what they want to be and want for nothing is completely unfeasible. A paradise such as Walden Island could never be created in today’s world.
