AHC: Create a utopian enclave within OTL American borders

Your mission is simple.

Create some kind of utopian, idealistic enclave that exists in current OTL USA borders, that survives to the present day. PODs can stretch back to the year 1830, but I felt it would go into this forum because relations with an ever-industrializing and powerful USA would seem to be the biggest concern.

Said enclaves are encouraged to be heavily influenced by a particular ideology (think the Bioshock series) or religion.

It does not have to be an actual utopia, if such a thing can even exist. For the purposes of this exercise, "utopian" may only need to describe the mindset of the enclave's creators and leaders.

It will need to be a seperate political entity from the United States.

Oh, and NO MORMONS.

Here's a good starting place: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utopian_community
 
The Oneida Community was pretty long lasting as far as mid 19th century transcendentalist-style utopian settlements went. They might be a good start to work from, and they've got all sorts of weird eugenics programs and complex marriage systems to liven things up with.
 
Mormonism is butterflied away- instead, Smith becomes a Transcendentalist (but by no means the leading one). He joins up in a movement calling for Transcendents to go out west and found a new, utopian society of interconnected Transcendent communes and cities, where the long arm of government and society cannot reach. Eventually, they settle (along with Indians kicked out of their ancestral lands and escaped slaves/freemen) in OTL Southern New Mexico/Southern Arizona, eventually with borders: western extremity OTL Buckeye, Arizona, northern border extremities Black Canyon City Arizona and Socorro New Mexico, Eastern extremity Ruidoso New Mexico, southern border Mexico. The land is hard to farm, and control is nominal in many areas. However, the Transcendent Lands give the US somewhere to exile criminals (over the porous borders) and troublesome (though newly pacified) Indian populations. Eventually, black migration also occurs into the area as the Transcendents progress socially faster than the US.

Once technology allows for larger settlement, the Transcendent Lands are largely under the control of the Central Commune (named for the founder). They consider themselves utopian- the left-wing land division, odd economics, cultism and totalitarian yet also bizarrely progressive social norms turn most Americans off. The Transcendents also help absorb the more troublesome populations of illegal immigrants, and they help fight the drug cartels (drugs, alcohol and tobacco are all banned in the Transcendent Lands).

The US is more traditionalist, but also drug-friendly (the left wing is associated with Prohibition of all drugs/alcohol. Legality doesn't extend outside dope). Without the hippies to spark the reaction of the Christian right, the country is more traditional in values but far less strident. Avant-garde and post-modern art has taken a hit (where do you think they all move?) and the political hippies (TTL separated from their drug-oriented brethren) have also moved to the Transcendent Lands. Ossification, however, has set in- and a man by the name of Jimmy Manson took control of the Center in the mid-70s....
 
For the us to allow a non-us enclave within its borders that is not part of the us, is beyond believable, imo.

They only possible exception, imo, would be an independent bantustan like indian state, and thats unlikely enough. I dont see such an indian state being 'utopian' by any stretch of the imagination.
 
It will need to be a seperate political entity from the United States.

Oh, and NO MORMONS.

Here's a good starting place: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utopian_community

That won't work. Utopian communities can only survive as long as there is a state to protect them. Now, they will never acknowledge this, and they may hate and resent said state even to the point of refusing to pay taxes to it, but that's the essential fact of the matter.

Now the exception is if they're heavily armed Branch Davidian types, but that won't work either because as soon as the State finds out about them, it's going to crush them in very short order.
 
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There is a reason I had mine border Mexico- they become an independent state. They'd have to be on the fringes, not surrounded on all sides by the US like Lesotho.
 
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Your mission is simple.

Create some kind of utopian, idealistic enclave that exists in current OTL USA borders, that survives to the present day. PODs can stretch back to the year 1830, but I felt it would go into this forum because relations with an ever-industrializing and powerful USA would seem to be the biggest concern.

Said enclaves are encouraged to be heavily influenced by a particular ideology (think the Bioshock series) or religion.

It does not have to be an actual utopia, if such a thing can even exist. For the purposes of this exercise, "utopian" may only need to describe the mindset of the enclave's creators and leaders.

It will need to be a seperate political entity from the United States.

Oh, and NO MORMONS.

Here's a good starting place: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utopian_community

Ave Maria, FL might be a good place to start. That was the goal, anyway, a Catholic enclave. Found unconstitutional, but the kinds of people drawn to such a place might make it seem utopian.

Or if you want your Catholic utopia to be dangerously schismatic and nigh apocalyptic, there's always St. Mary's, KS, home of the SSPX and their ilk.

If you mean a sovereign enclave, though, ASB.

EDIT: oh, a separate entity. Well, that's ASB (even St. Mary's makes a pretense of recognizing the authority of the government).
 
the Biggest problem in this AHC, is not create one utopia
but keep it alive and out hands of the US Federal Government !

the best example is again are the Mormons in Utah
they escape the persecution by the Federal GOP on east coast.
and build there little state of Deseret (Utah) until the US Federal Government show up.
the GOP wanted control over the Utah Territory and not the LDS Church...
 
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