August 15, 2005

Is it Gutenberg 3 already? Summer's almost over... The 13 month calendar, devised by good ol' Auguste Comte in 1849, didn't go anywhere, despite its conversion fun,. Enter George Eastman and a few other industrialists and their accountants, and the idea was reborn in a simpler way. Regular months and weeks, predictable holidays, extra month's rent, that sort of thing. Obviously, it didn't catch on except in the offices of Kodak itself -- the one place where Eastman could control time -- where the calendar was used until 1989 (presumably, to co-ordinate the dates on all those layoff notices with the pogey office).

We've discussed calendars here before, but visiting the Eastman House this weekend, I was blown away that this odd, brave, and naive social experiment could last as long as it did -- even in upstate New York, home of so very many 'counter-cultural' trends. It says a lot about loyalty to ideas and loyalty to a personality. So here's my question -- what other odd, brave, and naive social experiments or cults of personality are out there today, resisting all pressures to conform to the rest of the world? (Turkmenbashi and the Imperial System, obviously -- but what else?)

posted by Capt. Renault 19 years ago
  • This isn't quite an answer to your question, Captn', but I'm puzzled that the land of my birth hasn't adopted the metric system. I remember in my youth the attempt to do so, but for some reason it failed. As for what other odd, brave, and naive social experiments or cults of personality are out there today, resisting all pressures to conform to the rest of the world? I'd have to say that you'd have to include the last surviving shakers who, due to their sect's requirement that all members be celibate now total less than 10 members. I suppose you might also include the Mormoms who started a true homegrown wacky religion that has spread all over the world, although they caved into pressure from the US government on poligamy to gain statehood.
  • Would a political experiment count? The first thing I thought of was the libertarians & the Free State Project.
  • what other odd, brave, and naive social experiments or cults of personality are out there today, resisting all pressures to conform to the rest of the world? Esperanto.
  • Scientology's doing pretty well -- not exactly mainstream, but they've got broad membership and are pushing full steam ahead. Seventh Day Adventism is still going, though they abandoned their apocalyptic focus and have become nearly indistinguishable from mainstream Christianity. Vampirism has a small (I think they number in the hundreds in the US) but steadfast following.
  • I guess the Rastafari movement is a personality cult, since they worship former Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie as God.
  • Betamax
  • Moonies? Are they still around? And Krishnas.
  • The British royal family. Ooh, snark.
  • Betamax I'll let one of you video types clue this fellow in on why Betamax "disappeared".
  • The inventor of VHS was a Freemason.
  • pr0n, dude.
  • Don't forget the First Church of Bowling.
  • Freemasons stole my swimming pool.... ...while i was in it
  • Lebowskifest