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4.5
As the old saying goes, "Desperate times call for desperate measures," and there are few times more desperate for a majority of laborers living hand-to-mouth, than being put out of work en masse. Adamic's well-researched, but surprisingly easy-to-read (I read it over a long weekend) book demonstrates the desperate side of the labor struggle which is rarely, if ever, taught in classrooms.As strikes and "riots" are often portrayed in the media as unprovoked violence against the employers or scab workers, and haphazard destruction of the employers' properties, Adamic will not let the reader ignore that in many (most?) cases, it is the the monopolists and the concentrated Big Business who are directly responsible for the opening salvo (i.e., hired thugs to bust the strikes, agents provocateurs, corrupt politicians, etc.). He also notes that while many attempts at labor organizing were demonized and even prosecuted as illegal interference with commerce, etc., the duplicitous nature of the American legal system often ignored equally heinous interference with commerce when done on behalf of organized Big Business.Adamic is unabashedly anti-capitalist, so his character descriptions tend to favor the champions of labor, and make the enemies of labor seem characteristically repugnant. That said, he keeps a fairly even keel and is not afraid to highlight labors shortcomings, infightings, especially weak leadership, a "We'll get ours and damn the rest" mentality, failures of the AFL as well as the politicking and racketeering scandals which plagued early labor organizations and it would seem, doomed them for the future.Although he does not explicitly endorse "dynamite" as a means to achieving labor's goals, I think he is without a doubt sympathetic to its use; at least under certain desperate circumstances the majority of which cannot be blamed on the working classes.The book was fine. It shows the book was shipped 1/19. I just got is 3/23.Capitalism and the labor movement, two great tastes that taste great together. Ever since the end of the cold war the whole labor/capital struggle has been put on the back burner. Pity, that. Is there any story line that more embodies "modern" times and its impact on indivduals?I could bore you to death with support for my argument, but will just say that I have an active interest in the history of the ameican labor between 1870 and 1918 and leave it that. So much that is interesting about the United States happened during that time, and almost NONE of it had to do with national politics. If you think the study of history requires a focus on national policial events, you know little of history.I picked up Louis adamic's "Dynamite: the history of class violence in america", after learning about its existence while reading about the history of the Los Angeles Times.This book specifically examines episodes of violence by organized labor against the owning class. I think recent concern over "terrorism" gives this subject heightened interest. The labor movement were "domestic terrorists" way before the term was in vogue.This book also points to the fondness for violence that lies in the heart of America. America, always violence. Any doubt that a proposensity for violence is "As american as apple pie?" This is a trait that extends from our gun wielding criminals, to our culture taste, to our justice system all the way on up to our deal old President. And mind you, I'm not saying "good" or "bad" about this particular cultural characterstic- it is just fact.Dynamite! was originally published in 1933 and then republished in 1968. I found a paperback version of the '68 reprint on amazon. It runs about 420 pages. This length is mitigated by the fact that the writing style is "journalistic" and the format of the narrative is anecodtal (I.e. "the next struggle between capital and labor came in 1908 when miners in Wyoming... Etc). Though the language is a tad dated, the journalistic style keeps eveything moving along quickly. Your reference point should be one of those books that is based on a New Yorker article- Malcolm Gladwell's "The Tipping Point", for one example.This book was required reading in my University Poli Sci class during the mid-80's. At the time, copies were so difficult to find in the States, our instructor had to order books for the students from England. I've purchased various copies of the book for others since then, including originals. Looking at the state of affairs amongst the working class of today - those working multiple jobs simply to make ends meet, enormous homeless populations across the nation, expanding wealth gaps, armed forces being used for crowd control - it seems to me that those currently in power should refamiliarize themselves with events of the past. Reading this examination of labor related events from a not-too-distant past, would be a wise investment of time for anyone interested in the working and struggling middle class of our nation, then and now. Written at the time when such events were occurring, this book is a good place to start.
