0000
Written
1808
Addressed to
1818

Proportional access to professions or The middle way between free competition and commercial farmage. This would be a debate of the greatest importance if civilisation were to continue even for another ten years. But as that misfortune is unlikely to happen, it will be enough merely to touch on the question, and show that commerce is in danger of being subjected to farmage because of the need to remedy its increasing anarchy.

Charles Fourier

The Theory of the Four Movements

Annotation

Fourier predicted civilization would collapse within a decade; by 1818, Napoleon had been defeated, the Congress of Vienna had restored European order, and the Bourbon monarchy was back on the French throne. Civilization proved remarkably durable. Fourier's broader oeuvre included predictions that oceans would turn to lemonade and that anti-lions would replace lions, which provides useful context for calibrating his ten-year forecast.

What Actually Happened

Civilization did not collapse within ten years. By 1818, Napoleon had been defeated, the Congress of Vienna had redrawn Europe's borders, and the Bourbon monarchy sat restored on the French throne. The commercial order Fourier despised was more firmly entrenched than before, entering the period of rapid industrialization and colonial expansion that would define the nineteenth century.

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