2008 Woodie Awards
Working-class America is anything but conservative
By Matt Hoke
Issue date: 9/5/07 Section: Opinion
Often someone will tell you that something like universal healthcare is a good idea, but "it will never work here in conservative America." This conjures images of a land full of only happy middle-class white people who are all content with their jobs and go to bed at 9 p.m.
Wrong. America's history has been wracked by revolution. First, white settlers rebelled against the British government's refusal to let them expand west during Bacon's rebellion. Then the colonists threw off the British government over taxes. Shortly thereafter, there was Shay's rebellion, which was over economics as well, and was crushed by the very people who led the previous revolution.
There were slave revolts and the semi-revolution against slavery known as the American Civil War. After that, the abuses of industrial capitalism created the conditions for two massive waves of labor revolt in the early 1900s, led mainly by the Industrial Workers of the World and the Socialist Party.
In the '30s capitalism collapsed due to risky investing, no different from the sub-prime housing mortgage packages on which the economy has lately been running. That collapse caused a huge labor revolt again, led by the Communist Party. Everyone took a break to fight the fascists for a while, but after that, from 1945 to 1947, there was the largest labor revolt in American history, a little-known fact which set the stage for McCarthyist persecution of labor rebels.
America was seized by the prospect of revolution once more in the '60s, not during a depression, but during an economic boom. Indeed there was no revolution but there were a number of desirable effects that could not have happened without such a shakeup, such as increasing expectations that blacks, women and gays would be given the same rights as everyone else.
Since then we've had the relatively dull '70s and '80s, dominated by trickle-up economics and cynicism. But things began to stir again in the '90s with the rise of the UPS strike, the anti-globalization movement and increasing calls for a left-wing third party. Anyone who thinks there aren't any popular movements against the system now has their eyes closed.
Wrong. America's history has been wracked by revolution. First, white settlers rebelled against the British government's refusal to let them expand west during Bacon's rebellion. Then the colonists threw off the British government over taxes. Shortly thereafter, there was Shay's rebellion, which was over economics as well, and was crushed by the very people who led the previous revolution.
There were slave revolts and the semi-revolution against slavery known as the American Civil War. After that, the abuses of industrial capitalism created the conditions for two massive waves of labor revolt in the early 1900s, led mainly by the Industrial Workers of the World and the Socialist Party.
In the '30s capitalism collapsed due to risky investing, no different from the sub-prime housing mortgage packages on which the economy has lately been running. That collapse caused a huge labor revolt again, led by the Communist Party. Everyone took a break to fight the fascists for a while, but after that, from 1945 to 1947, there was the largest labor revolt in American history, a little-known fact which set the stage for McCarthyist persecution of labor rebels.
America was seized by the prospect of revolution once more in the '60s, not during a depression, but during an economic boom. Indeed there was no revolution but there were a number of desirable effects that could not have happened without such a shakeup, such as increasing expectations that blacks, women and gays would be given the same rights as everyone else.
Since then we've had the relatively dull '70s and '80s, dominated by trickle-up economics and cynicism. But things began to stir again in the '90s with the rise of the UPS strike, the anti-globalization movement and increasing calls for a left-wing third party. Anyone who thinks there aren't any popular movements against the system now has their eyes closed.
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