The Utopian Vision of Edward Bellamy and Thorstein Veblen
Many scholars have commented on the similarity between the ideas of Thorstein Veblen and Edward Bellamy. Generally, they emphasize Bellamy's influence on Veblen or observe significant parallels in their work. Indeed, Joseph Dorfman, Veblen's biographer, has written that shortly after it was published, "the Veblens read together Edward Bellamy's sensational socialist utopia Looking Backward. 'I believe that this was the turning point in our lives,' Ellen [Veblen's wife] wrote.... She thought her emphasis on this aspect of her husband's interests may have helped to turn the balance at that 'critical period before his life work began.' "1 Dorfman's position, shared by many others, is that Bellamy had a strong, direct influence on Veblen.2 Indeed, Arthur Lipow's comprehensive study of Bellamy's ideology correctly states that Veblen "was deeply influenced by Looking Backward" and "was one of Bellamy's intellectual heirs,"3 although Lipow does not tell how. In an even more recent study, John L. Thomas finds marked similarities between Bellamy and