I just read, in an anthology of Russian 19th-century Gothic Tales (kirja.casa/book/70999/s/russia…) a story by Vladimir Odoyevsky, called The City Without a Name.
I can't find an english translation of the story online, but if you find it somewhere, read it! Written in 1839, it's a very accurate description of our own times almost 200 years later when profit motive drives everything and every humane pursuit is driven into nonexistence in the name of endless gain.
