Summary Of Edward Bellamy's Looking Backward

In his book Looking Backward, Edward Bellamy gives us some insight into how his contemporaries viewed the world. He writes about the poverty, inequality and corruption of his age, while at the same time lauding the industrial innovations corporations had made. In response to the social strife and uncertainty of his time, he presents social change as peaceful.
The United States of Bellamy’s time was a nation of great inequality, both materially and politically. Extensive industrialization had led to extreme accumulations and concentrations of wealth for a few, while the majority remained in poverty. The economies of scale had enriched some, while dispossessing others. This extreme wealth had openly corrupted the political system. The public

There was a trend for industries to consolidate; many were integrating horizontally and vertically. Standardization of times, measures and even staff positions made interlocking pieces of different businesses fit together smoothly. In Bellamy’s future, these trends are embraced. Instead of rejecting the corporate model for causing society’s inequalities, Bellamy wanted society to reap the benefits of its efficiencies and technologies. The eventual consolidation of corporations into a single unit, the “Great Trust,” allowed it to do away with the wastes and redundancies of competition (Bellamy 27). With supply more in line with demand, there was no over- or under-production of goods and, consequently, steady employment for all (Bellamy 115). Efficiencies and the economies of scale allowed the state to increase industrial production and the standard of living (Bellamy 111). New technologies of Bellamy’s time that were making corporations so successful, like telephones and steam-powered engines, were to be used for the good of the everyone (Bellamy 54). Corporate changes in employment structure, like middle management, were emulated with people as interchangeable, interlocking pieces, working like a machine (Bellamy