Can you comment on how hard it would be to get 20,000 Mormons to move to Vermont? Would such a big migration have to be endorsed by the church hierarchy? Where would these 20,000 people work?
David has said that he in no way intends this to be a Mormon community, that such an idea is the insular failure of early Mormon community-building efforts. I tend to agree with him on that notion, though history is a different topic. But New Vistas is certainly not a "Mormon" effort, just inspired by an early and obscure Mormon document. That said, the idea of community building is doctrinal to Mormonism, so there's that.
But again, he has no intentions of transplanting 20,000 Mormons into Vermont and thinks that would be a failure of the project.
As to the feasibility of transplanting 20,000 people from all walks of life? Completely different matter. In his grand vision, they would all eat, live, play, and work in the community. Is that possible? There are larger cities, some planned, some more organically grown from immigration.
Thanks for the clarification! I'm definitely interested in seeing how utopian projects like this progress, although I think his chances of attracting settlers are very slim.
I think people are underestimating the number of people that are unhappy with the typical American life they've been given. Since the article stated that he doesn't intend this to be a Mormon only community, I could easily see there being at least 20,000 people wanting a fresh start in a new system, however experimental. How having a bunch of disenfranchised people populate this city would effect its viability in the long run, I don't know...
They have had less success moving en masse into populated areas.
See: The 1838 Mormon War in Missouri and the subsequent failed attempt to do the same thing in Illinois that eventually lead to their founder's murder.
