SOURCE: "Utopian Socialism: The French Utopian Socialists," in Modern Economic and Social Systems, Rinehart & Company, Inc., Publishers, 1940, pp. 27-42.

In the following excerpt, Westmeyer briefly describes the structure of Fourier's Utopian society.

As a boy François Marie Charles Fourier (1772-1837) was an excellent student, but he left his school work for a business career and spent practically his entire life in mercantile activities. It is said that Fourier first had his attention called to the defects of the existing economic order when as a child of five he was punished for telling the truth about his father's goods. This was followed by other experiences, including one in which he had to order a cargo of rice thrown overboard because his employers had allowed it to rot rather than break the market. It seemed to Fourier that something was wrong with a system that encouraged parents to teach...