The Man Who Went Wrong by Jerome K. Jerome. Short summary

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According to Jerome, modern civilization is unable to solve one major problem: unemployment. The author believes that in former times, the solution to such a problem was not on the agenda.

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The writer declares that present human civilization is incapable of eradicating the problem, which is the need to provide all people with sufficient physical as well as mental labor. He adds that unemployment did not exist in former times—ancient people were busy either finding food, eating dinner, sleeping, or defending their own homes from enemies.

Jerome believes that modern society has a stratum of people who are used to having fun instead of working. At the same time the author is not criticizing young people — he writes that the demonstration of frivolous behavior by members of the younger generation is a long-established practice. The writer compares young people to baby animals. He says that the latter like to play. Jerome calls humans the only member of the fauna that frolics and jumps around even when they reach a respectable age.