The Cost Of Education In Edward Bellamy's Looking Backward

Edward Bellamy’s novel Looking Backward offered an extremely interesting perspective of the world. The 20th century that Dr. Leete and his family lived in was centered on equal distribution throughout every aspect of life. This included the economy, the workforce, and even higher education. I believe that this distribution of equality allowed for the most growth, value, and productivity of individuals, especially when it was applied to higher education. I believe that education is a right that should be available to every person who is willing to put in the necessary effort. If anything, I think the world that we live in should emulate the book's approach to education and how individuals receive it. Not only does Bellamy’s approach allow every
Dr Leete makes this clear when he states, “ If it took half the revenue of the nation, nobody would grudge it” (Bellamy 128). Money was not a problem when it came to Bellamy’s world and education was seen as extremely valuable. The goal of this society was to create an educated population no matter the cost. Education was worth every dollar spent to Bellamy’s society, sadly that is not the case for the society that we live in today. Many times finances are the biggest factor as to why an individual does or does not receive a college. The fact of the matter is that the price of college today is far too high, discouraging many from pursuing it. Take me for example. I come from a middle class American home. My father is the only parent contributing to the finances of my education, and he also has my older sisters college to assist paying for. When choosing a college to attend, I had to make the conscious decision to go to a New Jersey public institution, Ramapo College of New Jersey, just so that the cost would be affordable for my father. Although I still had the opportunity to choose to go to a college that was more cost effective, not all individuals have that choice. Many times after high school, individuals dive head first into the workforce attending to the most basic of jobs because they do not have the means to pay for a college education. If our world emulated Edward Bellamy's philosophy on education demonstrated in the book, this type of situation would not occur. Bellamy's world looks to create a common good for the entirety of the population, this includes providing education to all individuals without prejudice or limitations because of