One(ida community)

If Prince, 20th centuries ultimate pop star, can become a Jehovah Witness and change his name to:

Then why didn't Walt Whitman, the ultimate 19th century pop writer, join the Oneida Community? And change his name to:

Maybe Walt heard about the Community and decided not to join because of the Stripculture which aimed at more perfect breeding of human (how could breeding be any more perfect if Walt's own flesh that sticks to his bones was as perfect as it gets, as perfect as the next guys). Or, perhaps Walt was bothered by the sight of post-menopausal women "teaching" teenage boys about sex.

It's hard to say what exactly turned Walt off, but it is easy to imagine what turned him on. Heaven on earth, perfection on earth, democracy and community. After reading Song of Myself it becomes apparent that Walt was in love with the idea of an all inclusive world, shared by everyone. I'm not sure if Walt Whitman had ever read the Communist Manifesto which was published in 1848, less then a decade before Leaves of Grass; but, the confluence of the two works and the Oneida Community sure is interesting. The two works and Oneida share an idea of a world governed by laws which guarantee equal perfection for everyone on earth. Oneida and the Manifesto especially share the idea of a perfect community.

Unfortunately, so far we have learned that the dynamics of human nature ultimately prevent peace and perfection, poor Karl Marx must be turning in his grave. So, before we can create a perfect community, people need to find individual perfection within themselves. That's what Walt told us, that is what he did.