The Masses
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==Close Reading== | ==Close Reading== | ||
| + | ===Vol. 1 No. 1=== | ||
| + | [http://library.brown.edu/jpegs/1354913032125756.jpg '''Unite in Buying as in Selling'''] By Eugene Wood | ||
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| + | ''"Workers of the world, unite!"'' | ||
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| + | Wood here is calling for all working citizens to band together in order, ''"to defend what we have already gained, and to conquer more."'' Wood wants the workers to receive more than what they are currently being given. He believes that the working class, no matter what they do, are always in a losing situation. ''"We sell our labor-power to an enemy of ours; we all know that. We also buy form an enemy of ours; we all know that." The goal of any corporation is to be profitable. Wood, however, does not believe that profits should come at the expense of the working class. Although these corporations pay these workers, the corporations are also the ones that set the price of goods that the working class buys. | ||
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| + | ''"Now suppose we unite to sell to each other, so that, instead of enemies of ours getting the profit, we get the profit, you and I, the union plumber and the union hatmaker and so on."'' Wood appeals to his readers by saying that instead of these corporations getting the profits, the working class would be able to get them instead. Wood tells his readers that a union would be the most beneficial way to "share the wealth" among the working class. Along with this, it puts the bosses of those in the working class in a pinch. ''"Let me say this again: The weak point of capitalism is that it must sell. A boss may cut down wages, and he may stick up prices, but unless he can sell to workingmen what workingmen produce, he's a gone dog. No sale, no profit. Sell or go bust."'' By buying and selling from each other within the union, it creates havoc in the market as it forces the larger corporations to compensate by forcing them to lower the prices in order for their product to be sold. | ||
===Vol. 1 No.2=== | ===Vol. 1 No.2=== | ||
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===Vol. 1 No. 12=== | ===Vol. 1 No. 12=== | ||
| − | [http://library.brown.edu/ | + | [http://library.brown.edu/cds/repository2/repoman.php?verb=render&id=1354919237672627&view=pageturner&pageno=5 '''The Cheapest Commodity on the Market'''] by Horatio Winslow |
''"Yet woman is the cheapest commodity on the market. You can buy ten women for the price of a good ruby."'' | ''"Yet woman is the cheapest commodity on the market. You can buy ten women for the price of a good ruby."'' | ||
| − | + | Winslow in this article addresses the worth of labor for both men and women and critiques the fact that women earn just enough to get by. | |
''"From these women will come the race of the future. According to their health and strength will be the health and strength of the next generation. Common sense ought to help us see that even if we lack the imagination to see in the degradation of women the degradation of the whole race."'' | ''"From these women will come the race of the future. According to their health and strength will be the health and strength of the next generation. Common sense ought to help us see that even if we lack the imagination to see in the degradation of women the degradation of the whole race."'' | ||
| − | + | Winslow is appalled by the fact that the labor force is seemingly expendable. If someone was not doing their job properly or efficiently, they could easily find someone else to bring in. In regards to women as well, they are making just enough to get by. This, however, to Winslow was unacceptable as the future of a generation depended on women. | |
| − | + | Winslow then goes on to beg several questions about women as well as the views of the workforce: | |
#Are women really seen as equal in society? ''"To be a woman in a modern capitalist society means to be the cheapest commodity on the market."'' | #Are women really seen as equal in society? ''"To be a woman in a modern capitalist society means to be the cheapest commodity on the market."'' | ||
#Is the life of a person in general really worth what we make of it? ''"A jewel is a fine thing, but so far, as a jewel serves no practical purpose, one human life is worth all the jewels of the world."'' | #Is the life of a person in general really worth what we make of it? ''"A jewel is a fine thing, but so far, as a jewel serves no practical purpose, one human life is worth all the jewels of the world."'' | ||
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#Will we be the shameful era for women's rights for not doing something about this injustice now? | #Will we be the shameful era for women's rights for not doing something about this injustice now? | ||
| − | At the beginning on the article, | + | At the beginning on the article, Winslow goes on to say that those that believe that women were equal to men during that time have been lied to by those who preach that they are. From there, he goes on to speak of the injustices of the labor force. ''"But if you want a human being's services you have only to hold up your hand and at once you will have a score of human beings to choose from. You don't even have to buy them. Each day you need pay them only what it will take to buy their food and lodging and if ever they become sick you have simply to throw them out and hire others in their place."'' Essentially, the gears that keep in the system are completely replaceable. Workers were seen as commodities rather than living beings. Winslow was appalled by the views of the labor force and was also stunned by how women were viewed as well. |
===Vol. 3 No.2=== | ===Vol. 3 No.2=== | ||
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===Vol. 7 No. 1=== | ===Vol. 7 No. 1=== | ||
| − | [http://library.brown.edu/ | + | [http://library.brown.edu/cds/repository2/repoman.php?verb=render&id=1380037863570678&view=pageturner&pageno=12 '''Labor and the Future'''] by [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amos_Pinchot Amos Pinchot] |
''"Confident in its isolation and ignorance, industrial absolutism not only says to the worker, "You toil and work and earn bread and I'll eat it; " it says, "You earn bread on my terms only and I'll eat it. And if you rebel I will use economic power, violence, law, the administration of justice—yes, and contempt of law and violation of justice, in order to reduce you to obedience."'' | ''"Confident in its isolation and ignorance, industrial absolutism not only says to the worker, "You toil and work and earn bread and I'll eat it; " it says, "You earn bread on my terms only and I'll eat it. And if you rebel I will use economic power, violence, law, the administration of justice—yes, and contempt of law and violation of justice, in order to reduce you to obedience."'' | ||
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| − | '''Confession of a Suffrage Orator''' by Max Eastman | + | [http://library.brown.edu/cds/repository2/repoman.php?verb=render&id=1380037863570678&view=pageturner&pageno=7 '''Confession of a Suffrage Orator'''] by [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Eastman Max Eastman] |
''"Why to say that woman's sphere is the home after the census says it isn't, is like saying the earth is flat after a hundred thousand people have sailed round it!"'' | ''"Why to say that woman's sphere is the home after the census says it isn't, is like saying the earth is flat after a hundred thousand people have sailed round it!"'' | ||
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''"No woman is fit to bring children into this world until she knows to the full the rough actual character of the world into which she is bringing them. And she will never know that until we lift from her—in her own growing years—the repressive prejudice that expresses itself and maintains itself in refusing to make her a citizen."'' | ''"No woman is fit to bring children into this world until she knows to the full the rough actual character of the world into which she is bringing them. And she will never know that until we lift from her—in her own growing years—the repressive prejudice that expresses itself and maintains itself in refusing to make her a citizen."'' | ||
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| + | ===Vol. 9 No. 3=== | ||
| + | [http://library.brown.edu/jpegs/1380056207834360.jpg '''Aid and Comfort'''] by Eugene Wood | ||
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| + | ''"'Treason doth never prosper. What's the reason? | ||
| + | When it doth prosper, it is never treason.'"'' | ||
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| + | Wood writes about his irritations about a Mr. Eastman, who associates himself with the socialist party, and his recent support for Woodrow Wilson. ''"If you don't mind me saying it, Mr. Eastman, I feel pretty damn sore at the way you've acted."'' Wood goes on to say how he feels that he's been betrayed by Eastman due to his support of Wilson. Wood believes that the work he has done thus far is being thrown away by someone who he thought was an ally. Eastman has gone on to support the enemy. | ||
| + | ''"We who have kept the faith, if we're whom you mean by 'the keepers of the sacred dogmas,' we who have made some sacrifices, have ripped the lining out of our throats barking against noises on chilly street-corners, we who have got up Sunday mornings at 6 o'clock to distribute leaflets, we who have had bags of water thrown on us by people who cried:'Hooray for Wilson!' the same as you, Don't you think we have a right to be irritated?"'' | ||
===Vol. 9 No. 8=== | ===Vol. 9 No. 8=== | ||
| − | [http://library.brown.edu/pdfs/1380112514234999.pdf '''Advertising Democracy'''] by Max Eastman | + | [http://library.brown.edu/pdfs/1380112514234999.pdf '''Advertising Democracy'''] by [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Eastman Max Eastman] |
''"It is not a war for democracy. It did not originate in a dispute about democracy, and it is unlikely to terminate in a democratic settlement."'' | ''"It is not a war for democracy. It did not originate in a dispute about democracy, and it is unlikely to terminate in a democratic settlement."'' | ||
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===The Liberator Vol. 1 No. 2=== | ===The Liberator Vol. 1 No. 2=== | ||
[https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/culture/pubs/liberator/1918/02/v1n02-apr-1918-liberator.pdf '''Tulsa, November 9th'''] | [https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/culture/pubs/liberator/1918/02/v1n02-apr-1918-liberator.pdf '''Tulsa, November 9th'''] | ||
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In this article, an anonymous writer sends a letter into The Liberator to be published. The letter tells the story of the Tulsa Outrage from the eyes of a victim. Sixteen men involved with the I.W.W. were rounded up by the police, put on trial, and found guilty of not owning war bonds. They were fined $100, then turned over to the Knights of Liberty (part of the KKK), who whipped, tarred, and feathered them, warning them to never return to Tulsa. | In this article, an anonymous writer sends a letter into The Liberator to be published. The letter tells the story of the Tulsa Outrage from the eyes of a victim. Sixteen men involved with the I.W.W. were rounded up by the police, put on trial, and found guilty of not owning war bonds. They were fined $100, then turned over to the Knights of Liberty (part of the KKK), who whipped, tarred, and feathered them, warning them to never return to Tulsa. | ||
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==Conclusion== | ==Conclusion== | ||
| − | ''"The Masses"'', an journal of the early twentieth century, was highly controversial. Its strong writing in favor of socialism served as a threat to American capitalists. Although it was an anti-war article that ultimately resulted in the magazine's discontinuation, that was simply the final straw. The United States prides itself on freedoms of speech and the press. But criticizing the war in a time when national unity is needed, qualifies as "treasonable material." It was not a single issue that got ''"The Masses"'' off the presses, but rather nearly a decade of dangerous material in the eyes of the government. | + | ''"The Masses"'', an journal of the early twentieth century, was highly controversial. Its strong writing in favor of socialism served as a threat to American capitalists, especially during the "red scare" during the First World War. Although it was an anti-war article that ultimately resulted in the magazine's discontinuation, that was simply the final straw. The United States prides itself on freedoms of speech and the press. But criticizing the war in a time when national unity is needed, qualifies as "treasonable material." It was not a single issue that got ''"The Masses"'' off the presses, but rather nearly a decade of dangerous material in the eyes of the government. |
==Resources== | ==Resources== | ||
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</html> | </html> | ||
| − | + | [http://www.historynet.com/womens-suffrage-movement Women's Suffrage Movement] History Net Web. 07 Mar. 2017 | |
| − | [http://www.historynet.com/womens-suffrage-movement | + | |
| + | The Marxists.org archive of [https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/culture/pubs/liberator/ '''The Liberator'''] | ||
