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• 1 2017-04-30T20:01:53-07:00 Utopic Boston 8 Utopic Characteristics plain 2017-05-01T03:39:31-07:00 What aspects of Bellamy's future Boston make it the Utopia that it is?  
  
  There are many, but the most important revolve around correcting the 'evils' brought about through capitalism.
  
  
  Nationalism - Bellamy's solution to the dog-eat-dog world of capitalism is to do away with private ownership of trade and industry.  In other words, to conglomerate the industrial giants (big businesses and corporations) into one monopoly, one conglomerate, The Nation.  This is in direct opposition to the atmosphere of greed and competition brought about by capitalism, and wholly solves the problem of 'concentrated capital'.  Instead of vast amounts of capital and power going to those few at the top, it is all concentrated under one 'Nation' and used solely to ensure the well-being of all citizens.
  
  Industrial Army - The Industrial Army is Bellamy's solution to the Labor Problem.  It brings the patriotism and respect of military duty into the workforce, creating an atmosphere of accountability and unity.  Every citizen works from the ages of 21 to 45, and prior to their choice of career at 21 people are educated about possible jobs and are able to explore these various careers in order to determine their aptitude and preference.  To ensure equal distribution, more arduous work (intense physical or mental labor) requires less work hours than the less arduous jobs.  Each citizen feels compelled to offer the best service possible, and to offer any less than their absolute best at whichever labor they perform would be considered shameful.  It is the general consensus that all citizens are proud to work towards the good of the Nation and each other.
  
  Equality - All people are equal in Bellamy's Boston, no matter what race or what gender.  There is no 'wage gap', no class division, and no political affiliations.  All people are given the same amount of 'credit' (Bellamy's solution to money) to do with what they please.  No one holds social 'status' over another because each occupation is deemed equally important and respectable, making each individual's contribution the Nation equal.  
  
  Personal Freedom - "Although the income is the same, personal taste determines how the individual shall spend it." (Bellamy 64)  Despite no division, no way to separate oneself from other through class, race, etc, Bellamy's society is one which promotes the individual wholly.  The wages paid to each individual are more than sufficient, and with sufficient capital at one's disposal, along with appropriate work-hours and labor, leisure ensues.  In their free time, the individual in Bellamy's society may choose from any assortment of music they wish and have it played directly in their home, may visit the various forms of art open to the public, can shop according to their taste, and can own whichever size home they want.  Some choose big houses with big families, some choose small homes with little or no family.  What one does with their free time is completely up to them.  Barring the 24 years of labor and however many hours put towards their work, the rest of the individual's time is completely theirs to do with as they please.  
  
  All of these aspects work toward promoting the individual while keeping the idea of a unified nation strong, and for the people of that Nation to take great pride in serving it.  All are on equal footing, and to willfully harm or wrong another citizen, for any reason, is almost inconceivable because the incentive of personal gain is non-existent.  The Nation it self-sufficient, its citizens have all they need and more, and it exists in peace with every other nation with the incentives for war being erased.