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Bellamy was primarily concerned about the economic inequalities of his time. The selections in the Reader from Looking Backward concern four basic elements: the socio-economic stratification system (i.e., the image of the stagecoach), the system of economic distribution and the system of governance ("the warehouse"), and the moral underpinnings of the system (the sermon). If we go back to our earlier discussions about how political theory is both constructive and critical, we can see that these four basic elements of the story constitute both forms. The stagecoach image is critical in nature, mocking the inhumanity of Ballamy's society as he saw it. The sermon section is less mocking, but is nevertheless critical of Bellamy's society as un-Christian (and thus hypocritical). The other sections are constructive, in that they try to set forth an image of how society could be organized. It is significant that the image of the economic system was that adopted by the Soviets under central planning. (This was greatly aided by the development of computers, which could theoretically manage the large amounts of data required in the management of the complex Soviet economy.) As we shall see when we get to Marx, one basic criticism of capitalism is that capitalists (meaning the wealthy) need do no work for their money. If this is so, then it stands to reason that we can replace them by ordinary managers and keep the profits for the benefit of the society as a whole instead of merely the capitalist class.
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