The date today is December 12, 1999 and it is the end of the millennium. Just recently I've been discovering the importance to being apart of this. I'm nineteen years old and have only experienced the nineteen eighties and nineties, and if all goes well I will live to see deep into the twentieth century. This is an experience that people have predicted, dreamed and fantasized about for many years.
             For the first time in about four years I read a 'non-school' book about a manuscript found in a Peruvian jungle containing the nine key insights to life entitled The Celestine Prophecy. I found it to be a fascinating book that answered a lot of questions that I have at this point in my life. It describes a way of life that is similar to Bellamys world but not the same. I immediately compared the two after I read Looking Backward.
             Bellamy describes a world in which material objects and possessions no longer have any value. He talks of how people have only a few choices for jobs and the more prestigious jobs get paid no more money than the manual labor jobs, however societies members receive confidence, satisfaction,- energy from pride and that's what strives people to work hard and become the best they can be. Throughout the book we see that everyone is given the American dream of a standard of living, compared to the declining economy of today and how the gap between higher and lower classes is growing; the American dream is becoming harder to attain.
             There is also much discussion in the Bellamy book about the loss of currency and the fact that everything is bought on a credit, or trade if you will, system. Money has no real value and you simply receive the items you need or desire by trading services or small possessions all on a card system. The attitude of Americans has changed, or evolved into a less selfish, more aware society. A society that cares about its environment and stabilizing ec...