The Burself Islands are an appealing place to live for numerous reasons. The climate and atmosphere are both peaceful and inviting. Burself is an accepting place to live, however it could not be considered a fully transcendentalist society. Although some may believe that transcendentalist societies are possible to sustain because they require a system of government, laws, and an educational system they would not be possible in today’s world.
It could be argued that Burself could be a fully functioning transcendentalist society because everyone has the freedom to come and go as they please. No one is trapped and forced to live in Burself. Even people who are not Burselfians can come and go. Everyone is welcome, but there is no pressure to stay. Like any other society there is no limit to what you can become, however in Burself opportunities are even vaster because it is a self sustaining society that requires everyone to explore themselves and obtain specialized careers. Burself is very accepting of people’s differences and encourages people to embrace their differences. Though all of this is true Burself, or any other society, could never actually be fully transcendentalist.
In order to maintain some order on the islands there are chiefs in charge of each island. This means that some Burselfians have power over others. Putting some people above others places less value on the individual and starts to create a hierarchy. Also, Burself has a public education system. This makes it impossible for children to truly be themselves. Schools are necessary for a society to function properly, however, they are places of conformity and are not home to true transcendentalists. The influences of others can never be fully blocked out. This is especially true for children. No child can be a transcendentalist in a society such as this because their ideas and opinions are constantly being manipulated by their parents, teachers, and everyone else in their community.
A society as a whole cannot be transcendentalist. Transcendentalists stand out in a crowd and that is how they are identified. In any society conformity will begin to occur because it is human nature to want to fit in. Some societies are more accepting than others, but all societies must have rules and guidelines to operate properly. This is problematic because laws negate the transcendentalist aspects of Burself. On Burself there are five main actions that are prohibited, this in its self means that the society could not truly be a transcendentalist society. Transcendentalists are people who are completely true to themselves whatever that may mean and it is impossible to be yourself under a set of guidelines. Transcendentalist societies have been attempted in the past, but none have succeeded. Burself would fail as well because it would face the same problems as past societies. People cannot be forced into being themselves because that defeats the fundamental goal of transcendentalism.
All societies require a certain amount of conformity to function. Everyone must abide by the same laws and get at least a high school education. Societies have requirements and because of that no one society can be home to only transcendentalists. Though it is a very accepting society, Burself would not stay afloat for long as a transcendentalist society because it requires a form of government, a system of laws, and some form of education.
