The Reformer Who Dreamed Of A Utopia

The Reformer Who Dreamed Of A Utopia | Robert Owen

Рет қаралды 11,611

Жыл бұрын

Have you ever thought about why most people work an 8-hour day? During the Industrial Era, it was one of just many social reforms the philanthropist Robert Owen took on in his lifetime, culminating in his attempt to create a socialist utopia where everyone worked together. He was also the father of the co-operative movement in Britain, beginning with the care he showed the workers in his mills. This documentary looks at his life and achievements, remembering the forgotten man behind the reforms.
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Sources and Related Books:
Robert Owen and His Legacy by Chris Williams and Noel Thompson
amzn.to/3Kn0iNg
Robert Owen and the Architect Joseph Hansom: An Unlikely Form of Co-Operation by Penelope Harris
amzn.to/3TlPtPM
A New View of Society and Other Writings by Robert Owen
amzn.to/3CCJj7X
The Industrial Revolution by Pat Hudson
amzn.to/3AOOXCD
The Solidarities of Strangers: The English Poor Laws and the People, 1700-1948 by Lynn Hollen Lees
amzn.to/3Q5jEb7
For my images and footage, thanks to:
Videvo
Pixabay
Wikimedia Commons, especially:
Chris Allen
Chris Sampson
Cory Doctorow
james denham
Robin Drayton
Lalieka
Museums Victoria
Alex Liivet
R Pollack
Robert Lyle Bolton
Scarletharlot69
Penny Mayes
And for the statue of Robert Owen: Photograph by Mike Peel (www.mikepeel.net)

Пікірлер: 50

@HistorysForgottenPeople Жыл бұрын

Thanks for watching, guys! What do you think Robert Owen's greatest achievement was? What philanthropist would you like to see a video on? 🤔 Check out more of my videos here: The Escaped Slave Who Was A Symbol For Freedom - kzfaq.info/get/bejne/i8x-nNmVvaebio0.html The FIRST Female Author Who Fought For Women - kzfaq.info/get/bejne/g56ooaxyvrfDmoU.html

@patricia8888 Жыл бұрын

What a great content. Thank you for your time and knowledge. Greetings from São Paulo, Brazil.

@HistorysForgottenPeople Жыл бұрын

Thank you so much, Patricia! I'm glad you enjoyed the video. 😊

@guillaumeerard Жыл бұрын

This is a brilliant account, very informative, thank you very much!

@HistorysForgottenPeople Жыл бұрын

Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed it! 😊

@craftycriminalistwithms.z3053 Жыл бұрын

I’m loving your channel!! Thanks for sharing!!

@HistorysForgottenPeople Жыл бұрын

Thank you so much! I'm pleased you're enjoying it. 😊

@Philip-bk2dm Жыл бұрын

Today, many of us in the U.S. are working twelve-hour days, three days a week, ensuring that overtime need not be paid below a forty-hour work week, and without the protection of a union. But I worked that way for nine years because I valued the two extra days off per week that I could spend with my children, and jobs were scarce then. Still, working twelve hours a day at a breakneck speed (they had professional efficiency experts in management) was exhausting. My shift began at 2 A.M. and ended at 2:30 P.M. (No pay for your 1/2 hr. lunch.) Eventually I was promoted to a higher position but by that time I had had enough. Early retirement, even at a reduced Social Security pension amount has been bliss. By the way, the narrator refers to an American aristocracy (19:05) but we are supposed to be an egalitarian society here. We have a wealthy ruling class, but no nobility. Thank you for this fascinating, valuable, informative video.

@HistorysForgottenPeople Жыл бұрын

It's true there are still many different 'working weeks' for many people - and there were at the time, it certainly didn't solve it for everyone - but Robert Owen primarily set out the '8-hour working day', which is still considered the norm for many jobs in the U.K. outside of shift and contract employment, which was really the only country he focused on outside of his experiment in New Harmony. (Or the 40-hour week, if you prefer). This continued to be the aim in other countries, such as Australia and New Zealand not long after British unions attempted to implement this. And aristocracy in this context was meant to mean those who were the small privileged class who believed themselves to be superior, as opposed to the meaning of a class of nobility.

@Philip-bk2dm Жыл бұрын

@@HistorysForgottenPeople Yes, thanks, understood. Perhaps I am reacting foolishly to hearing a BBC reporter calling one of our wealthy citizens an aristocrat recently and it rankles considering the painful battles for equal rights that have been so hard won here. Thank you again for an excellent presentation.

@HistorysForgottenPeople Жыл бұрын

Oh no, I get it! I'll remember for future videos and not use the term in that way. 🙂

@Philip-bk2dm Жыл бұрын

Please excuse me if I seemed to be peevish and tedious. Of course, the term is quite acceptable when used loosely to describe privileged members of society. And thanks for taking the time to respond.

@HistorysForgottenPeople Жыл бұрын

@@Philip-bk2dm Not peevish at all! It's so easy to forget sometimes that although the U.S. and Britain speak the same language, we have different cultures, and it's always good to learn what makes them so interesting through the differences and similarities. 😊

@michaellaviolette8468 6 ай бұрын

Owen Wilson for some reason is nominated to play Robert Owen.

@Philip-bk2dm Жыл бұрын

I would like to suggest that adding your talents to an examination of the life of the extraordinary reformer William Wilberforce would be welcomed by all. Or perhaps a video on the several groups of British women who agitated for the abolition of slavery?

@HistorysForgottenPeople Жыл бұрын

William Wilberforce would be a great one, as well as the groups of women, I like that - Elizabeth Fry is one of those on my list as well, as she was instrumental in petitioning Wilberforce to end slavery, plus she's famous for aiming to reform prisons and how the poor had to live.

@y_ffordd Жыл бұрын

Robert Owen’s son Robert petitioned Lincoln a few days before he announced emancipation of slavery, so theres a link to Owen there too.

@user-cv6zh7fp8z 3 ай бұрын

I like to know were the Christian people left to that separated themselves from Owens in New harmony? Like a nearby village or community? Also have a good feeling there's a lot more than meets the eye pertaining to the story of these people. Try to view the newspapers from anytime of the 1800s, they exist but I challenge you to open that door.

@bigkuriboh3814 5 ай бұрын

I live in his home town :)

@aquilarossa5191 Жыл бұрын

Ancestry's DNA thing is telling my sister that Robert Owen was our 5th great grandfather. Maybe, but I'd need to see the paper trail to be more certain, because I hear jokes about that DNA stuff, e.g., cat pee was tested and results say Fluffy the cat is related to royalty. My grandmother was from Newtown, Powys and had an Owen parent, so perhaps it's true. Maybe that's why Dad called me a third generation commie. 🤣

@HistorysForgottenPeople Жыл бұрын

Haha, my cat would definitely believe she was related to royalty! 🤣 Well, it's certainly possible you're related; Robert Owen had enough children who themselves had enough children that, as long as you have a relative who was also from Newtown, there's a good chance you're related. It's not too far back, either, I'd definitely research that a bit and see if it joins up!

@aquilarossa5191 Жыл бұрын

@@HistorysForgottenPeople Haha about the cat. I am not going to take Ancestry's word on this being our grandpa from way back. The way that system works is DNA matches to other members cross-reference to their family trees. Having DNA matches with other members does not prove they have their family trees right. Another match said Mom's grandpa from way back was a Sir Burton who had the bottom wiper job for Henry VIII, i.e., groom of the stool. So good at it that his son got the job too. Nepotism in the toilet. I now have to see if I can prove it is a lie! My sister said Robert Owen tried to help lots of folks though, so would be proud to descend from him if it is true. I agree. Kids going to school instead of coal mines etc. We'll see. Maybe I'll remember to update this comment with the results and if DNA matches can be worthwhile or not. Cheers.

@dalekexterminae Жыл бұрын

He had a nice and Modist house (you should see it)

@Angelsworld777 8 ай бұрын

Great content but i watched at 1.5

@y_ffordd Жыл бұрын

Was Robert Owen a welsh speaker?

@HistorysForgottenPeople Жыл бұрын

I'm not really sure, but that's a good question! Certainly Welsh was still widely spoken when he was born. I'll have a better look when I have more time, but I imagine he probably spoke a Welsh-English hybrid. Welsh was waning but still widely spoken in rural areas (such as he was born in), but English was becoming more common due to industrialisation bringing the two countries together. That's just a guess based on the little I know of the Welsh language, mind you.

@patriciajrs46 Жыл бұрын

This video didn't fully explain how she was Queen of two contries. If marrying Henry made it so, then the video should have stated that. Just my opinion.

@HistorysForgottenPeople Жыл бұрын

I think you might mean this comment for my Eleanor of Aquitaine videos? The documentary is in two parts. In Part 2, I deal with her marrying Henry and becoming queen of England - kzfaq.info/get/bejne/adiDlcti2N7GlqM.html

@sofialoppe6255 11 ай бұрын

One of the first people to try and ‘beat’ capitalism after the industrial revolution. For as strong as his convictions and ideals were, he did a great job proving capitalism beats central planning pretty much every time.

@HistorysForgottenPeople 11 ай бұрын

It's a shame - I do think he did a great job of showing how the paternalistic nature that came into factories in the late 19th century and early 20th century did not mean you couldn't turn a profit, and I do admire his moral compass in that he wanted to show people were more important than money. And I think the other problem was that he was an idealist and believed the best about people to the point that he didn't even consider that 'Utopia' only works if everyone is on the same page. And for some people, Utopia will mean doing as little as possible, not working as a group! I personally believe the extreme of anything is bad (communist economy, or capitalism), and had Robert allowed a little of the 'capitalism' he had used back in Scotland to be part of his commune, it might have survived in a form he wanted.

@comradecam9530 4 ай бұрын

If Capitalism is so great then why does it always need to be bolstered by socialist policies to survive?

@sofialoppe6255 4 ай бұрын

@@comradecam9530 Socialism is democratic ownership of the distribution and means of production. If you're trying to imply that a having government or taxes or schools or police is socialist and that having those is somehow a breaking from capitalism for socialism, go read up on your own positions a little more. Capitalism is an economic system. But to counter your argument, why did socialist countries always have to be propped up by capitalist countries to survive? And why did they all fail, many fast, all deadly.

@ottonain Жыл бұрын

sad that harmony project was a completely disaster but he showed us why socialism doesn't work

@HistorysForgottenPeople Жыл бұрын

It is sad, but it was commendable he tried. I think perhaps it showed pure socialism doesn't work in isolation, but elements of it do work well in lots of modern countries now (universal free education, universal health care, etc.)

@DevinNixonDavis Жыл бұрын

I think it could work. Just a different type of socialism. Socialism is pretty new and hasn't been put into practice on a large scale for a long period. Things still need to be corrected.

@ottonain Жыл бұрын

@@DevinNixonDavis new? It's pretty old, lots of old civilizations has similar way of organization, no private property, no freedom at all, everything for the "state" and all of them was proven a nightmare for citizens, most of them was extremely poor and close to change and innovation, stock in time, like always

@ottonain Жыл бұрын

@@DevinNixonDavis also socialism has been put into practice for a large period of time in Russia, China, North Corea, East Germany, Poland, Ukraine, Cambodia, Vietnam, Cuba, Venezuela, and many others... And all the results are clearly visible and measurable: people live worse and worse, state become bigger and bigger, freedom and innovation disappear so at the end the only thing that socialism increase is misery, poverty and death, if you don't know this is because of ignorance, blindness or serious brain problems

@DevinNixonDavis Жыл бұрын

@@ottonain as I said in the about comment. It's relatively new when put into practice on a large scale for a long period of time. We're talking a few hundred years with capitalism and less than a hundred with socialism. We've corrected many problems with capitalism and that's what we have today. Socialism can be the same. And the state actually had nothing to do with socialism by definition. that's just what we think of when we think of it because of the USSR and their influence on other countries that took a similar path that they did.

@owenbuell2837 Жыл бұрын

Religion has always gotten in the way of people's hopes and dreams. We have to change things together, collectively, here on Earth. The idea of an afterlife, or a heaven, is a shameless Utopia, an excuse to keep exploiting workers.

@HistorysForgottenPeople Жыл бұрын

I think religion can be had on a personal level. But I agree with you that the leaders of major religions (and others who benefit) have always exploited people by promising a spiritual reward that funnily enough, means they were lowest in the social order and kept as labour. Even when attempted Utopias here that strived for equality in some form fail, at least someone attempted it!

@y_ffordd Жыл бұрын

@@HistorysForgottenPeopleagreed, faith is good, but religion like any large organisation tends to corruption, its individuals claiming to have a direct connection to god and then dictating their beliefs, negative bias as well, as the word of god., which doesn’t work. Religion should reflect society not dictate individual beliefs.