An island of utopian thinking
The Elysian Collective's new essay collection: City State
Have we arrived at a moment when it’s possible to rethink our shared world?
It seems so, especially when you consider the fascinating work coming out of The Elysian, a collective of writers founded by Elle Griffin. They are about “exploring the future of governance, capitalism, and humanity.”
And they are a great example of the new collective media which the Substack platform is enabling.
The Elysian’s new collection, City State, contains 10 essays on autonomous communities and various possible models of governance. You’ll find some excellent visioning going on here, as the Table of Contents suggests:
U.S. States Should Have Autonomy—Like EU Countries by Elle Griffin
Multi-country Civilizations are Good, Actually by Étienne Fortier-Dubois
Should We Create More U.S. States? by Elle Griffin
It’s Time for Thomas Jefferson’s Village-States by Bryce Tolpen
Matera as the Future of Village-States by Elle Griffin
Grassroots Movements are Building Garden Cities by Stephen Mackintosh
An American Case for Building New Cities by Jeff Fong
What if Your Side Hustle is Being in Congress? by J.K. Lund
Digital Nomads Could Create Network States by Olivier Roland
How We Achieve the Borderless Future of Terra Ignota by Elle Griffin
If you’d like to support the project, the digital edition is available for a suggested donation of $5 or you can purchase the print pamphlet for $10. Both options are available using Metalabel, a platform that allows artists to collaborate on projects and share the profits between them.
See you next time—peace.




This looks interesting! Thanks for sharing, Elias!