At the end of The Jungle, Jurgis, the hero of the story, discovers politics. First by chance, then by curiosity, he goes to socialist meetings. This is how he meets Nicholas Schliemann, a professor of philosophy who explains his vision of an ideal model of society.

«There was only one earth, and the quantity of material things was limited. Of intellectual and moral things, on the other hand, there was no limit, and one could have more without another’s having less. (…)

(…) And then, society would break up into independent, self governing communities of mutually congenial persons; examples of which at present were clubs, churches and political parties. After the revolution, all the intellectual, artistic, and spiritual activities of men would be cared for by such « free associations »; romantic novelist would be supported by those who liked to read romantic novels, and impressionist painters would be supported by those who liked to look at impressionist pictures—and the same with preachers and scientists, editors and actors and musicians.

If anyone wanted to work or paint or pray, and could find no one to maintain him, he could support himself by working part of the time. That was the case at present, the only difference being that the competitive wage system compelled a man to work all the time to live, while, after the abolition of privilege and exploitation, anyone would be able to support himself by an hour’s work a day.

Also the artist’s audience of the present was a small minority of people, all debase and vulgarized by the effort it had cost them to win in the commercial battle; of the intellectual and artistic activities which would result when the whole of mankind was set free from the nightmare of competition we could at present form no conception whatever.»