Showing posts with label 1956. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 1956. Show all posts

Thursday, May 1, 2014

May 1, 1914. Llano del Rio created.

 A socialist communal community was established in Los Angeles County, California as Llano del Rio.  It only existed until 1918 when political dissention tore it apart, and a new colony was formed, with less success, in Louisiana.  

While having a very brief existence, its farming enterprises were remarkably successful.

The entire experiment was interesting, and in some ways it anticipated Mondragon, which would be founded on distributist principals in 1956.  Mondragon has been quite successful, and that example may provide insight to the deficiencies of small "s" socialism in comparison to distributism.

That Llano del Rio would be founded on May Day, 1914, isn't too surprising. The entire first quarter of the 20th Century was full of all sorts of radical movements (and it's noteworthy that distributism really gained steam later).  This day say the typical May Day protests in big US cities.

Anarchist Alexander Berkman speaking in Union Square.  Berkman was a close associate of Emma Goldman and was, like her, later deported to the Soviet Union, thereby returning him to his native Russia, where he found the Communists not to his liking.  He relocated ultimately to France and killed himself in 1936 following prostate cancer which left him in constant Spain.

Of course, May Day wasn't observed everywhere.

Ottoman aircraft, Jerusalem.

Last prior edition:

Wednesday, April 29, 1914. The Ten Days War ends and the Coalfield War with it.