"Notes from 1999"

1973 Waskow, Arthur I[srael] (b. 1933). “Notes from 1999.” Working Papers for a New Society 1.1 (Spring 1973): 62-74. Excerpted from a forthcoming book of the same name that was apparently not published. PSt

Eutopia presented as a future history with the period from 1980 to 1990 called the Period of Transformation. In 1980 Quebec and northern New England become independent and other regional, ethnic, and workplace groups become autonomous. Between 1994 and 1999 the U.S. government collapses and, although there are some continuing problems, the autonomous groups simply work together outside any legal or political structure. The eutopia is presented through letters from a man in a “Irbutz”, a farm and city kibbutz in the Washington, DC area that is part of the “Verein” or Jewish Commonwealth. The author is a rabbi, a leader of the Jewish Renewal Movement, and the director of the Shalom Center in Philadelphia, which he founded in 1983. As an activist in political and religious affairs he has been honored by both Christian and Muslim groups.