Eugene Debs 'When I say I am opposed to war I mean ruling class war..

[bobbieinok]

I just discovered RDunbar-Ortiz' article on the 'Okies' and her attempt to understand how OK, early in the 1900s a hot-bed of supporters of socialism became a reliable W supporter. If you have time, I urge you to read the entire paper; possibly, like me, you'll
be surprised at what you find.

She ends her paper with the Debs' statement and a few comments.

http://www.reddirtsite.com/papers-one-or-two.htm

One or Two Things I Know About Us: Rethinking the Image and Role of the Okies

Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz

....

I cannot help but think of another time, a time when the people I come from almost became a revolutionary force, a time when white supremacy nearly was shed, and the KKK was considered to be a tool of the enemy, when militarism was reviled and internationalism embraced. The people I come from, who sacrificed and struggled to the death, supported Eugene Debs, who stated in 1915:

When I say I am opposed to war I mean ruling class war, for the ruling class is the only class that makes war...I would be shot for treason before I would enter such a war....I have no country to fight for; my country is the earth; I am a citizen of the world...I am opposed to every war but one; I am for that war with heart and soul, and that is the world- wide war of the social revolution. In that war I am prepared to fight in any way the ruling class may make necessary, even to the barricades.

I marvel that my own grandfather, a classic product of the westward trek and the national origin story, and so many others like him, voted, over a period of two decades, five times for Debs for president.

[acmejack]

1. The populist wave of socialism was powerful indeed.

Wobblie power! Howard Zinn gives it some great treatment in "A people's history of America". I can't recommend it enough.

[BayCityProgressive]

2. Socialism

cam very close to reality in the USA..unfortunately the ruling class destroyed the Socialist and Communist Parties. I believe the Socialist Party USA now has only 1,200 members and the Communist Party USA about 3-4,000.

[loudsue]

6. I'm starting to think they need about 150 million new members.

The party we formerly THOUGHT was a "populist" party (Dems), are turning out to be anything but!

:kick:

[Union Thug]

3. Debs was dead on...

"I have no country to fight for; my country is the earth; I am a citizen of the world"

Great statement...true.

[RoyGBiv]

4. An Oklahoma I Had Never Seen Before

I think I mentioned this to you before, but if not or for others, I'll mention it again.

If you can find it, pick up a copy of _An Oklahoma I Had Never Seen Before_. It's a compilation of essays edited by one of my former professors. It has more than one discussion of the socialist/populist trends in Oklahoma and how they were defeated. Some of it is not pretty stuff, but it's very interesting, and it will tell you more about the history of Oklahoma than any major textbook even tries to tell.

It's available on Amazon.

[newswolf56]

5. During the 1930s, the Communist Party was the third largest...

political organization in the United States -- and by far the best organized. Indeed, I have read that without the political organization the Communist Party had built in so many U.S. cities, FDR would never have been able to launch the post-Pearl-Harbor war effort with anything even remotely approaching its near-instant efficiency.

[loudsue]

7. That was a kick-ass article!

I was unaware of that angle of history, even though I grew up in West Texas, and my sister was born in Oklahoma.

The article certainly broadens the perspective of what is happening.

:kick::kick::kick: