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A man journeys from the faraway island of Altruria to the United States seeking wisdom about the prized American values of democracy and liberty. There, he discovers that these are only window-dressing for a society run by greed, money, and mutual distrust. A scathing rebuke of American materialism in the 1890's, Howells had no delusions about the unrealistic expectations of Altruria, but believed in her potential. As relevant now as it was a hundred years ago, 'A Traveler From Altruria' earns its place in the long line of Progressive-era Utopian novels.
A hundred years ago, Howells could imagine it was really possible to establish some kind of near-utopian society. Today, however, with no hint that anything close to a utopia exists, has ever come close to existing, or has the potential to ever exist, we are forced to consider the possibility that such a regime is simply not possible. Worse, the 20th century is littered with graveyards containing millions of bodies contained by those who, in a 'good faith' effort, attempted to rid their countries once and for all of capitalism and greed. The last century was one long experiment in trying to erect Utopia by force. Is it now time to consider that reality compels us to build our societies on principles which recognize that, fundamentally, Utopias aren't just impossible, but they could potentially be as bloody as any other regime? A century of dystopian societies and dystopian novels warning of just this possibility constitutes data that Howells and other Progressive-era utopians did not have.
