The Co-opolitan: A Story of the Co-operative Commonwealth of Idaho

In the waning years of the nineteenth century, a simmering crisis grips the United States: abundant resources sit alongside staggering poverty, and ordinary people struggle to obtain the basics of life. The narrator, a thoughtful observer, frames this turmoil as a clash between a profit‑driven industrial system and a budding vision of collective ownership. He argues that true reform cannot rely on idealism alone; it must confront the entrenched power of big business with equally organized, financially solid alternatives.

Against this backdrop, the story turns to Idaho, where a group of farmers, craftsmen, and merchants experiment with a cooperative Commonwealth. They pool labor, share profits, and attempt to build institutions—stores, banks, and farms—that operate on mutual benefit rather than competition. Their early successes and inevitable setbacks reveal both the promise and the practical challenges of turning cooperative theory into everyday reality, offering listeners a vivid portrait of a community striving to rewrite the rules of prosperity.