This Misery of Boots
H. G. Wells
 This book is separated into five chapters. 1. The World as Boots and Superstructure Wells opens the narrative with a discussion that he had with a friend over the quality of boots worn by the working class. The two men discuss the poor quality of the ill-fitting boots and the permanent negative effect they have a person’s feet and gait. They both agree that the majority of boots are a constant source of “stress, giving pain and discomfort, causing trouble, causing anxiety.” The men order these effects of the poor quality boots into two classifications: *a. The Troubles of the New Boot. The new boots are ready made from unseasoned, poor quality material and poorly ventilated. The new boots permanently distort and disfigure the feet of children. *b. The Troubles of the Worn Boot. The worn boot is decrepit, misshapen and painful to wear. The wearer is constantly ashamed of his shabby appearance and his inability to escape their torment: “They have you always.” “It does not do,” Wells’ friend says, “to think about boots.” 2. People Whose Boots Don’t Hurt Them My purpose is served if I have shown that this misery of boots is not an unavoidable curse upon mankind. If one man can avoid it, others can. Wells believes that all miseries are preventable and lies in the power of men to cure. Wells cites a second friend as an example of his belief. His friend grew up in the lower working class with cracked, misshapen boots and raised himself up from poverty. The friend does not revel in his success and comfort, instead he suffers from guilt. He is angry at the thought of the statesmen who “ought to have forseen and prevented this”; all are “responsible people who have neither the heart, nor courage, nor capacity to change the state of mismanagement that gives us these things.” Wells argues that poverty is not the universal lot of mankind. The poor simply get the worse side of an ill-managed world.” 3. At This Point a Dispute Arises Wells explains the factors behind the pricing of manufactured items. Wells hypothesizes a “Free Booting expedition” to make affordable boots for British citizens. The expedition must travel to South America to obtain leather, but must pay exorbitant prices to purchase the cattle. The expedition must pay exorbitant prices to the owners of the transport companies to move the leather to England and pay high rental costs to landowners to store the raw materials and house the factory. The factory owners charge the expedition for the manufacture of the boots. In the end, the final price remains out of the reach of the average man and woman. Wells condemns the institution of Private Property as the source of this poverty. He claims that although there are plenty of resources, land and intelligence to manage the enterprise the obstructive claims of Private Property stand in the way. Wells liken the owners to “parasites upon [the] enterprise at its every stage. He further describes them as “leeches, taking much and giving nothing.” Wells ends the chapter by stating the State should “take away the land, and the railways, and the shipping and many great enterprises from their owners” and run them for service instead of profit. 4. Is Socialism Possible? Wells argues that Socialism is viable and the natural evolution of human society. He states that only the mean and unimaginative element of society would oppose the rise of Socialism. 5. Socialism Means Revolution Wells declares that Socialism inevitably means revolution, “a complete change, a break with history.” He argues that Socialism transcends class, ethnicity and classifications such as liberal or conservative. He urges Socialist to “confess our faith openly and frequently.”