Robert Owen's Perfect Village

In 1825, Robert Owen, one of the wealthiest industrialists in Britain, purchased an entire town in southwestern Indiana. He renamed it New Harmony and poured his fortune into creating the ideal community. He recruited scientists, educators, and artists from across Europe. He built libraries and laboratories, provided free schooling for every child, and ensured no family went without shelter or food. Owen withheld nothing — his money, his reputation, his years of careful planning — all invested in this single settlement on the banks of the Wabash River.

He expected a harvest of cooperation, learning, and shared prosperity. What he reaped was something far more bitter. Within two years, residents fractured into competing factions. Some refused to work, content to live off Owen's generosity. Others hoarded resources. Petty grievances festered into open hostility. By 1827, Owen's dream lay in ruins, and he had lost nearly eighty percent of his personal fortune.

The prophet Isaiah would have recognized that heartbreak. The Almighty describes Himself as a vinedresser who cleared the stones, planted the choicest vines, and built a watchtower over His beloved people. He looked for justice and found bloodshed. He listened for righteousness and heard only the cries of the oppressed. The sting of Isaiah 5 is not anger alone — it is the grief of One who gave everything and watched it yield only wild grapes.