To Bellamy, the status quo was not just unjust; it was untenable. He believed that he was living in critical times and that a great transformation was surely imminent, for good or ill. The fate of America would decide the fate of the world. “Let us bear in mind that, if it be a failure, it will be a final failure,” he wrote. “There can be no more new worlds to be discovered, no fresh continents to offer virgin fields for new ventures.”
