This Misery of Boots [SEP] publisher
This Misery of Boots
This Misery of Boots is a 1907 political tract by H. G. Wells advocating socialism. Published by the Fabian Society, "This Misery of Boots" 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."
Synopsis.
Synopsis Chapter 1: The World as Boots and Superstructure.
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 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