Too Big of a Project
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New Harmony faced many issues, the first being that the project was just too big for the amount of people that were involved. The community was too difficult to build, establish, and maintain. Economic strife hindered New Harmony from ever reaching its potential. New Harmony attracted many free loaders that did not contribute to the society, but took advantage of the communal style of living instead.
Leadership
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Another problem that existed in New Harmony and Nashoba was the problem of leadership. Robert Owen was described as an overpowering leader who tried to control every little aspect of New Harmony. That caused people to be unhappy and added to the dysfunction of the community. Also, both Nashoba and New Harmony lacked the ability to keep the communities running when Owen or Wright were not there. Shortly after Wright left Nashoba due to illness, Nashoba lost its investors and began to dissolve.
Theory vs. Practice
The final issue was the idea of theory vs. practice. Theory refers to the ideas and vision of Owen and Wright that would be the basis of New Harmony and Nashoba. Practice refers to actually putting those theories and ideas into a real life scenario and maintaining it. Theory and practice, however, belong in separate realms, and should not be so closely intertwined. Not all of Owen and Wright’s theories worked in practice because they could not take into account the fact that humans are irrational. They do not behave perfectly and, thus, ruin the theory when it is put into practice.