This is an essay I wrote on William Morris’ News From Nowhere, a utopian 19th-century novel. I am sorry to say that even though I enjoyed this book, I don’t remember much about it, nor do I really remember writing this essay. This was peak second wave covid, so everything has been overtaken by the fog of isolation it seems.
I do like the argument I lightly touch on here and I think is briefly explored in the novel, which is that the quality of material and art has degraded in a consumer capitalist society. I see that to be true all the time, especially in the junk builder-grade houses they building near my house. I look at these new houses and then I walk downtown and look at the old Victorians and I can’t believe this decline in craftsmanship. Every endeavour is an art, it’s a shame we now have machines and factories building most of our things and depriving us of creativity.
One last thing: William Morris was a cool dude. I had no idea this guy existed before reading this book, and he also made rugs and prints like the one shown above! We love a dude with many hobbies!
