Any Fans of the I.W.W. or The Wobblies Here?

[David Zephyr]

Speaking for myself, the courageous role of the short-lived, but influential Industrial Workers of the World, sometimes called The Wobblies, has been a source of fascination for me as well as a source of personal inspiration for a great many years.

Any other admirers of the Wobblies here at the DU? I'd simply love to hear from others here who appreciate the social and economic contributions these brave souls made to our country and who treasure the sacrifices they made unselfishly for others.

[JohnKleeb]

1. of course, Debs fucking rocks

[David Zephyr]

5. Mr. JohnKleeb! I'm honored.

Yeah, Nick Salvatore's biography on Eugene Debs is worth tackling if you haven't already read it. It profiles how Debs goes from being sort of a company man within his railroad union to growing into a full, red-blooded man of the people.

They jailed him in Atlanta and he knew it was coming, but they never broke his spirit.

I still love the idea of his traveling on the "Red Special" and campaigning around the country.

Thanks for weighing in for the I.W.W. and their supporters, JohnKleeb.

[JohnKleeb]

11. What Wilson did to Debs is partially why I don't like Wilson

He was a great guy, one of the best presidents we never had.

[David Zephyr]

17. And what Wilson did to Alice Paul and the Wobblies...

How people here can gloss over Wilson's cruel work-over of Alice Paul or Wilson's merciless and unforgivable role in the Palmer Raids or Wilson's notorious and well documented racism is simply beyond me, JohnKleeb.

Of course, with regards to Alice Paul, Wilson's defenders offer "he didn't know it was happening."

And with the Palmer Raids they offer, "well most of that happened after Wilson had had a stroke" overlooking that the first raids began while Wilson was doing just fine and that there was no way that Wilson's A.G., A. Mitchell Palmer, could have ever planned such massive raids and violations of constitutional protections without his boss knowing about it.

And the racism....well, I've heard every weak excuse for his bigotry possible, but there it is.

Of course I almost forget Wilson's other little oooops which we call World War I.

JohnKleeb, I just found your post in this thread which had sunk to the bottom and feel badly that somehow I'd missed it.

Glad to know you are not a Wilson fan. :hi:

[Lefty48197]

16. Does John Sweeney remind anybody else of Eugene V. Debs?

I wish Sweeney were 50 years younger.

[RoyGBiv]

2. Love the Wobblies ...

I studied their influence on Oklahoma politics in the early parts of the 20th century. They were quite a force at the time.

[David Zephyr]

6. Hi RoyGBiv! Oklahoma and Kansas and Missouri Were Hotbeds of Activism

I believe that Kansas City's city council was socialist at one time, but I may be remembering this wrongly.

It is fascinating to me how many of today's so-called "red states" were once hotbeds of social and economic activism.

It is my great wish that the good people of Oklahoma, Missouri, Kansas, and even Texas could know of the tremendous sacrifices made by Wobblies and activists at the turn of the last century on their behalf.

I'd love to hear from you about the Wobblies influence in Oklahoma.

I love the Wobblies, too.

[PittPoliSci]

14. There's a book out called "What's the Matter with Kansas?"

It talks about the death of southern populism. Can't remember the author's name, but I need to pick it up, might be an interesting read.

[orpupilofnature57]

3. I'm a ditch digger,used goggle to find it. I.W.W. speaks to me. thank you

[David Zephyr]

7. The Wobblies were the "real deal".

Working men and women of all races united against the most powerful capitalist forces of their time, giving their lives, going to prison, hobo'ing around the country from cause to cause...all so the American worker could have a better life.

We owe them greatly. Happy you found the Wobblies, orpupilofnature57.

:)

[NoPasaran]

4. I've still got my Little Red Songbook

[David Zephyr]

8. Then I bet you know, "The Rebel Girl"

written by Joe Hill about the amazing Elizabeth Gurly Flynn.

Do you have a favorite song from your "Little Red Songbook".

Glad to meet you here, NoPasaran. :)

[lapopessa]

24. Love that little song book

Great to see somebody else holding onto theirs.

[kcr]

9. Absolutely

Debbs is as close ot a hero as I have. One of the reasons I have such a good life is becasue Debbs and the Wobblies put their lives on the line for the things I take advantage of today.

[DrGonzoLives]

10. Debs is a hometown boy for me

His house is still up on 8th street, near ISU in Terre Haute, tours available.

Funny thing is, as "radical" as the IWW was at the time, we take a lot of things they argued for as being for granted now. Debs would be something like a charismatic Gephardt now, minus the hawkishness.

[Lone_Wolf]

12. Yes...

We owe them a debt of gratitude. It is sad that the history books rarely mention them and their contributions (I'm actually convinced this lack of mention is intentional.) These people are among the true heroes of America.

[ikojo]

13. There was an IWW group here in St Louis for a few years in

the mid 90s. We met every Friday evening (it may have been every other Friday evening) and talked about life as working people. There wasn't any serious organizing though.

St Louis did host the national IWW convention in 1996.

The AFL-CIO helped lead to the decline of the wobblies.

The Wobblies, unlike many American unions, were not racists. They recognized early on the need for ONE BIG UNION of ALL the world's workers. Imagine if there was one big union now. Capital would not be bolting to low wage places such as India and the former communist countries in Eastern Europe. Had the IWW prevailed instead of the more centrist AFL CIO then those folks in other countries would be unionized as would a greater number of American workers.

There's a reason the US government jailed many wobblies and that is because they were EFFECTIVE at organizing the working class along CLASS lines. The wobblies wanted a change in all of society. The AFL CIO merely organized for better wages (which is important) and did not challenge capitalism. No Wobbly would sit on the board of a auto manufacturer.

[Lefty48197]

15. I'm a fan of the Wobbies

How cool it was when they moved their HQ to the 48197 zip code awhile back. Too bad they later moved to a new city. I was ineligible for membership because I had once held a position where it was part of my job to hire and fire people.

Here's their link:
http://www.iww.org/

[David Zephyr]

22. Glad to meet you here.

:hi:

[demosincebirth]

18. We should have labor history taught in our HS to make

our High schoolers aware of the important role labor played in our history, and the benifits some enjoy today because of their sacrifice in the past.

[David Zephyr]

19. I'm with you there, augie38.

"A working class hero is something to be." --- John Lennon

[lapopessa]

20. Definately my favorite undergrad topic

I studied several of their strikes. Elizabeth Gurley Flynn is a particular hero of mine.

[David Zephyr]

21. Joe Hill's Rebel Girl!

Her autobiography is as good as Emma Goldman's. I am a huge fan of Elizabeth's and happy to meet another one here, lapopessa! :hi:

[lapopessa]

23. Alright fellow fan!

I just think she was really inspirational, and you're right about her autobiography. What a fascinating woman!

Nancy