Happy to see this book discussed, exposed, whatever.  Picked it off the OP Library shelf few weeks back and had some revelatory skimming, including the part where in Boston in 2000 the store clerks don’t sell, they just fill orders.  (Recipe for bored clerks, yawning their way through their time with you)

But the part I remember best is how governmental efficiency takes the hassle out of shopping for the item of your choice.  No, instead you go to stores where samples are for viewing, with full, complete descriptions done impeccably by government employees in a central office!

Glory be, no more schlepping around from Macy’s to Carson’s to Old Navy and back, fretting about what you will buy.  In this marvelous book, government employees slip you the info you need, leaving you time to get back to perfectly tuned and attuned government surround-sound in your perfectly temperature–controlled house.  If only!!!!

Public Education and Illiteracy: Looking back Over 123 Years

Samuel Blumenfeld reports:

The year 2011 marks the 123rd year since the publication of Edward Bellamy’s famous utopian novel, Looking Backward, in which the author depicted a happy, socialist America in the year 2000. In Bellamy’s optimistic fantasy, greed and material want ceased to exist, brotherly harmony prevailed, the arts and sciences flourished, and an all-powerful and pervasive government and bureaucracy were efficient and fair.

A history lesson well worth your time.