Where Socialism Failed: An Actual Experiment

In a world edging ever-closer to the centralised authority of the Good-Intentioned we need to remember the repeated failures of Socialism. New Australia was a Colony founded in Paraguay on 28th September 1893 by the firebrand, polemicist, and Socialist Preacher and Journalist William Lane. This book is the story of that colony, its founding, its struggles, its secessions and its ultimate failure. It is the story of one of the very first attempts to found a society based on Socialist principles. A story of good-intentions and wishful thinking; a story of the clash between ideology and reality, and, perhaps most of all, a story about human nature. The failure of Socialism is often characterised by tragedy but as this story unfolds we find that Socialism’s main feature may well be farce. This book draws on the work of early twentieth century Socialists such as H.G. Wells and George Bernard Shaw and tests their ideas against the realities of communal life in the Paraguayan jungle. It would be sad if it weren’t so funny. Originally written in 1912 and now, 100 years later, after the rise and fall of the Soviet Union, Where Socialism Failed is no less relevant and no less entertaining than it ever was.