Private ownership of goods and capital no longer exists. The means of production has been nationalized and everyone works for the state. According to Doctor Leete, the twentieth century is perfect.

Julian encounters Doctor Leete, his wife, Mrs. More than a century later, Doctor Leete wakes him up Julian finds himself in the 20th century. That night, Julian, a sufferer of insomnia, goes to a hypnotic sleep induced by his physician. Julian has spent the day with Edith’s family, who have been complaining about labor strikes delaying the construction of the couple’s new house – and, thus, their marriage – in a representation of the disconnect between the haves and the have-nots. People are preoccupied with their social status, obsessing over getting to the top and once there, maintaining their status. The cart only houses a select few but it is up to the majority to exert great effort in order to pull them. He uses the analogy of society as being like a horse and cart, but with the cart being pulled by people rather than horses.

Narrator Julian West reduces the 19th century to four main social classes: rich, poor, educated, and uneducated. In the book – which initially drew little attention from readers but became successful with the printing of a second edition – the aristocratic Julian Welsh is emblematic of the 19 th century, while the character Doctor Leete represents the 20 th century.

In his 1888 novel Looking Backward, Edward Bellamy, a New England writer who lived during the 19 th century, imagines the 20 th century as a socialist utopia in which capitalism and private property are a thing of the past, government is small, and society comprises citizens who work cooperatively for the common good.

Edward bellamy's book looking backward