191:
intelligence to organise the shoemaking and shoe distribution for everybody." What prevents this is "this institution of
Private Property in land and naturally produced things," the "claim and profit" of "land-owners, cattle-owners, house-owners, owners of all sorts." The solution lies in "refusing to have private property in all these universally necessary things." Wells endorses expropriation by "the State" and the administration of land, railways, shipping, and businesses "not for profit, but for service."
209:
the enthusiasm, and the loyal cooperation of great masses of people." To that end, Wells calls on socialists to persuade others, organize their movement, and clarify their beliefs. "For us, as for the early
Christians, preaching our gospel is the supreme duty." His final piece of advice: "Cling to the simple essential idea of Socialism, which is the abolition of private property in anything but what a man has earned or made."
200:
compensate the property owners and make all sorts of mitigating arrangements." Wells denies that the rich will uniformly oppose socialism and asserts that many of this class will see that they would be "happier and more comfortable in a
Socialistic state of affairs." It is, rather, "the ignorance, the want of courage, and the stupid want of imagination of the very poor" that is more likely to "obstruct the way to Socialism."
173:
various sources of discomfort (bad material, bad fit, bad condition, various sorts of chafe, the wear of the sole, splitting and leaks, etc.) and agree that most boots are a constant source of “stress, giving pain and discomfort, causing trouble, causing anxiety.” But Wells's friend finds the subject too depressing to continue: “It does not do to think about boots, he exclaims.
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others, because he no longer believes that they are "in the very nature of things." He blames the statesmen who "ought to have foreseen and prevented this." Wells exhorts his readers not to "be humbugged for a moment into believing that this is the dingy lot of all mankind. . . . Don't say for a moment: 'Such is life.'"
199:
Private property in land and "many things of general utility" is no more "necessary and unavoidable" than "private property in our fellow-creatures, or private property in bridges and roads." Wells denies any owner's right to compensation, but adds that "it is quite conceivable that we may partially
208:
Wells argues that socialism requires "a complete change, a break with history. . . . The whole system has to be changed." "If you demand less than that, if you are not prepared to struggle for that, you are not really a
Socialist." The essential problem is to enlist "the self-abnegation,
181:
Wells, however, disagrees. "ll these miseries are preventable miseries, which it lies in the power of men to cure," he proclaims, and cites another friend who has achieved prosperity and no longer endures "the miseries of boots" but now suffers all the more, albeit vicariously, from the miseries of
172:
Wells's point of departure is a reminiscence of a conversation with "a realistic novelist . . . a man from whom hope had departed." An encounter with a limping tramp spurs a discussion of the 10–20% of the
British population that suffers from "this misery of the boot." They classify the
278:
as engaged merely in "odd little jobbing about municipal gas and water," Wells's talk was received with enthusiasm, and it was reprinted in 1907 as a Fabian pamphlet. But its publication was delayed because Wells was engaged in an effort to wrest control of the Fabian
Society away from the Webbs,
217:
Wells had considered himself a socialist since the mid-1880s, but his socialism was one marked by "a unique personal bias" and "is always projected toward a world order." In 1886-1889 Wells had undertaken a study of the classic utopian writings of the
Western tradition, and in the 1890s he
190:
Wells says he is not advocating a "childish and impossible equality," but insisting that "There is enough good leather in the world to make good sightly boots and shoes for all who need them, enough men at leisure and enough power and machinery to do all the work required, enough unemployed
24:
362:(London: The Fabian Society, 1907), Ch. 3. William J. Hyde calls Wells's view of property "the somewhat conventional socialist's view." William J. Hyde, "The Socialism of H.G. Wells in the Early Twentieth Century,"
158:
is the expansion of a 1905 essay with the same name. Its five chapters condemn private property in land and means of production and calls for their expropriation by the state "not for profit, but for service."
222:. He read psychology to seek practical insights. In the first decade of the twentieth century Wells refined his views, writing many essays and four book-length works promoting socialism:
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being a mere piece of journalism suggested to me that you did not appreciate the effect his writing produces on the imagination of the movement."
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wrote to Sidney Webb: "Do not underrate Wells. What you said the other day about his article in the
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266:(December 1905), a magazine founded in 1904. He worked this up into a talk delivered to the
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The H.G. Wells Reader: A Complete
Anthology from Science Fiction to Social Satire
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William J. Hyde, "The
Socialism of H.G. Wells in the Early Twentieth Century,"
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Letter of
November 25, 1906, quoted in Norman and Jeanne MacKenzie,
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418:(New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1986), pp. 91-102.
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is often described as "brilliant" and has often been reprinted.
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on 12 January 1906. Despite its implicit criticism of
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Travels of a Republican Radical in Search of Hot Water
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on March 13, 1903. He remained a member until 1908.
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integrated his socialistic beliefs with his views on
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483:(New York: Simon & Schuster, 1973), pp. 213–14.
470:(New York: Simon & Schuster, 1973), pp. 210–11.
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168:Chapter 1: The World as Boots and Superstructure
1081:Mr. Belloc Objects to "The Outline of History"
177:Chapter 2: People Whose Boots Don’t Hurt Them
637:The Food of the Gods and How It Came to Earth
517:
8:
16:
416:H.G. Wells: Desperately Mortal: A Biography
1211:The Country of the Blind and Other Stories
524:
510:
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444:(London: The Fabian Society, 1907), Ch. 5.
392:(London: The Fabian Society, 1907), Ch. 5.
379:(London: The Fabian Society, 1907), Ch. 4.
349:(London: The Fabian Society, 1907), Ch. 2.
336:(London: The Fabian Society, 1907), Ch. 1.
323:(London: The Fabian Society, 1907), Ch. 3.
22:
15:
1179:The Work, Wealth and Happiness of Mankind
283:were perceived as "sneers" at the Webbs.
279:among others, and some of his remarks in
186:Chapter 3: At This Point a Dispute Arises
258:Wells had published an article entitled
1404:The Queer Story of Brownlow's Newspaper
1232:The Stolen Bacillus and Other Incidents
312:
204:Chapter 5: Socialism Means Revolution
7:
1225:Select Conversations with an Uncle
853:Mr. Blettsworthy on Rampole Island
14:
1144:The Story of a Great Schoolmaster
496:(Rowman & Littlefield, 2003).
492:See, for example, J. Huntington,
195:Chapter 4: Is Socialism Possible?
1004:An Englishman Looks at the World
455:H.G. Wells: Another Kind of Life
429:H.G. Wells: Another Kind of Life
128:New Worlds for Old (H. G. Wells)
1493:The Man Who Could Work Miracles
1376:The Man Who Could Work Miracles
403:Journal of the History of Ideas
364:Journal of the History of Ideas
805:The Secret Places of the Heart
1:
1218:The Plattner Story and Others
1074:Mind at the End of Its Tether
837:The World of William Clissold
466:Norman and Jeanne MacKenzie,
142:is a 1907 political tract by
1531:Simon Wells (great-grandson)
1137:A Short History of the World
773:Mr. Britling Sees It Through
733:The Wife of Sir Isaac Harman
1439:A Story of the Days to Come
1011:Experiment in Autobiography
997:The Discovery of the Future
877:The Shape of Things to Come
861:The Autocracy of Mr. Parham
573:The Island of Doctor Moreau
457:(Peter Owen, 2010), p. 173.
431:(Peter Owen, 2010), p. 159.
1596:
1246:Twelve Stories and a Dream
1172:The Way the World Is Going
941:Babes in the Darkling Wood
829:Christina Alberta's Father
405:17.2 (April 1956), p. 217.
262:in Vol. 7, No. 27, of the
246:(1908). Wells joined the
1453:Triumphs of a Taxidermist
621:The First Men in the Moon
539:
21:
1460:The Truth About Pyecraft
1446:A Story of the Stone Age
1362:Mr. Ledbetter's Vacation
1299:The Country of the Blind
1271:The Argonauts of the Air
983:Certain Personal Matters
957:You Can't Be Too Careful
765:The Research Magnificent
661:In the Days of the Comet
237:Socialism and the Family
115:Socialism and the Family
1369:The Lord of the Dynamos
1239:Tales of Space and Time
693:The History of Mr Polly
481:H.G. Wells" A Biography
468:H.G. Wells" A Biography
1570:1907 non-fiction books
1341:The Empire of the Ants
1116:The Outline of History
1046:God the Invisible King
909:The Camford Visitation
869:The Bulpington of Blup
725:The Passionate Friends
605:When the Sleeper Wakes
1526:Joseph Wells (father)
1334:A Dream of Armageddon
1285:The Chronic Argonauts
1193:A Year of Prophesying
1123:Russia in the Shadows
1067:Mankind in the Making
1039:The Future in America
1025:First and Last Things
949:All Aboard for Ararat
597:The War of the Worlds
225:Mankind in the Making
17:This Misery of Boots
1575:Works by H. G. Wells
1467:A Vision of Judgment
1327:The Door in the Wall
1151:This Misery of Boots
781:The Soul of a Bishop
613:Love and Mr Lewisham
581:The Wheels of Chance
442:This Misery of Boots
390:This Misery of Boots
377:This Misery of Boots
360:This Misery of Boots
347:This Misery of Boots
334:This Misery of Boots
321:This Misery of Boots
302:This Misery of Boots
281:This Misery of Boots
156:This Misery of Boots
150:. Published by the
139:This Misery of Boots
1536:H. G. Wells Society
1383:The New Accelerator
1313:A Deal in Ostriches
1130:The Science of Life
1109:The Open Conspiracy
1095:The New World Order
709:The New Machiavelli
565:The Wonderful Visit
453:Michael Sherborne,
427:Michael Sherborne,
292:George Bernard Shaw
260:The Misery of Boots
28:First Edition Cover
18:
1521:Anthony West (son)
1397:The Plattner Story
1355:The Land Ironclads
1278:The Beautiful Suit
1165:War and the Future
1102:New Worlds for Old
1053:In the Fourth Year
917:Apropos of Dolores
885:The Croquet Player
741:The World Set Free
701:The Sleeper Awakes
669:The War in the Air
366:17.2 (April 1956).
296:Independent Review
264:Independent Review
243:New Worlds for Old
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1390:The Pearl of Love
1320:The Diamond Maker
589:The Invisible Man
135:
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82:Publication place
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797:The Undying Fire
557:The Time Machine
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123:Followed by
110:Preceded by
73:Publication date
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1547:Time After Time
1511:Political views
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1432:The Stolen Body
1418:The Sea Raiders
1306:The Crystal Egg
1264:Æpyornis Island
1251:
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1088:The New America
1018:The Fate of Man
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933:The Holy Terror
653:A Modern Utopia
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231:A Modern Utopia
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813:Men Like Gods
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276:Beatrice Webb
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1411:The Red Room
1348:In the Abyss
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1477:Screenplays
1203:Collections
1186:World Brain
1060:Little Wars
1032:Floor Games
990:Crux Ansata
677:Tono-Bungay
533:H. G. Wells
146:advocating
144:H. G. Wells
38:H. G. Wells
1564:Categories
968:Nonfiction
308:References
213:Background
845:Meanwhile
821:The Dream
287:Reception
254:Redaction
220:evolution
148:socialism
95:Paperback
62:Publisher
1425:The Star
1292:The Cone
893:Brynhild
717:Marriage
234:(1905),
228:(1903),
163:Synopsis
44:Language
1504:Related
93:Print (
47:English
1496:(1937)
1488:(1936)
960:(1941)
952:(1940)
944:(1940)
936:(1939)
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749:Bealby
744:(1914)
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568:(1895)
560:(1895)
549:Novels
272:Sidney
130:
117:
34:Author
645:Kipps
102:Pages
56:Tract
52:Genre
757:Boon
274:and
77:1907
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