Changing Worlds

A detailed Summary of Changing Worlds

Looking Backward by Edward Bellamy is a novel in which the protagonist, Julian West, is able to experience a whole new century through a deep, mesmerizing sleep. He is hypnotized one day in the middle 1800's before he goes to sleep. When Julian awakes, he finds himself back in Boston, but in the year 2000 and in a completely different society. As he experiences the new ways of life such as a new government controlled industry, free higher education for all, and an equal distribution of the common wealth, he begins to like this new utopian society. Bellamy predicts many different ways of life in his then futuristic and radical novel, creating two completely contrasting environments.

The twentieth century brought with it many economic changes, including the elimination of private ownership of businesses. The new government now controls all of industrial America and the marketplace. Competition between businesses has been wiped out completely, and successful business now runs off cooperation. This system works well with supply and d

Looking Backward is a very optimistic novel. Some of the ideas Bellamy has for his utopian society are nice, but none of them are realistic today. Competition between businesses will always exist, whether it is good for small businesses or not. Competition is what the United States economy is all about. In a competition there is a winner and a loser. American economics today would look down upon the loser receiving the same amount of reward as the winner. Edward Bellamy is loosely basing this on communism. There are many positive aspects of these ideas, and it would be great not to have any poor groups of people, but it won't ever work. Not having any corrupt government officers, riots, or wars would be great for everyone. As a society we could do without some of these things, but there will always be many factors such as greed, corruption, and competition stopping progress in its tracks.

The final difference in the year 2000 is the new government policy. The government's main function is now to protect the population against hunger and poverty. Th

Some common words found in the essay are:
Julian West, Edward Bellamy, Looking Backward, Competition United, utopian society, looking backward, competition businesses, businesses government, corrupt government, rich poor, edward bellamy,

Approximate Word count = 712
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: History

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