Modern Perspective on Upton Sinclair's The Jungle

[bleedingheart]

I finished reading The Jungle last week and I have had a lot of time to think about it and I have to say that things have not changed much.

There are many parallels to what is going on currently in the US.

First of all the fact that the major corporations (like Durham's) control the politicians and the inspectors so that they can pass crap on to consumers without any problems. Similar to how Big Pharma has been donating (through it's execs) to politicians and how they have been bribing the FDA through fasttrack approval stuff to push meds that have not been thoroughly tested upon the public...and then they lobby to have the ability to sue them limited or outright outlawed.

Second, Jurgis, at the beginning has no compassion or sympathy for those workers who are unable to work or who have been "sucked dry" by the company...he has that same bravado many of my Republican coworkers have..."Well if you can't keep up...that's your own fault" and he is reluctant to join a union and is unsympathetic to their message....UNTIL he finds that the system is really set against all of them...and he finds himself a victim.

Third, I think there are a lot of similarities between the individuals who buy into large McMansions and all the things that corporate america tells them they need to have...(TV advertising, magazines, even the TV shows...) and how they then find themselves without many options...they are then working to pay all this stuff off and they have little or no choices...and little or no room to accomodate any financial hiccups that may come their way...one serious illness, a partner's lost paycheck...and boom...they are out on their ass...and the house is sold to another family hoping to make it all work. In fact, the modern credit card woes and the "hidden" clauses in contracts are not new at all.

Lastly, I found it encouraging that in the end Jurgis does not sink into depravity but that he ends up possibly helping to fix the ills that have befallen the masses. (he becomes a socialist)

Granted the story isn't based on an actual individual but I find it a great novel and definitely a recommended read.

[jane_pippin]

1. I just started reading a book...

"The Problem of the Media" by Robert McChesney.
I'm only on chapter 2, and fell asleep reading it last night BUT the last thing I read before passing out was a bit about Sinclair's Jungle. (Since I passed out I'll have to reread it, but how spooky is it that I read it and here you are with this post?) :)

The chapter is a primer on the history of journalism and I think everyone needs to read it. What I've read so far is a description of how the profession evolved in America. I fell asleep right when I got to the part about the emergence of Yellow Journalism and I was just amazed at how then is so similar to now.

As soon as I finish reading it I'm sure I'll wind up posting something about it here. It's a great read.

[bleedingheart]

8. I will have to check out that book as well...

[corky44]

2. I was just this minute thinking about that book

and how we are slipping backward. Do we as a society believe
that product safety is a human right? I think a lot of people take it for granted.
Growth hormones in milk? Limits on liability? Wasn't one of the main thrusts
of Sinclair's book food safety and milk in particular?

Jeesh!

[bleedingheart]

7. no the book's primary focus is not about food safety and milk

it is about the struggle of immigrants and how corporations (in this book it is the meat packing industry) pit workers against each other and how they even encouraged immigration of even poorer immigrants so that they could boot out higher cost labor and reduce their costs.

However...there is a lot of detail regarding how the food was prepared and how unsanitary it was...for instance how they would "doctor" meat to make it edible...the sad fact is that based on what I do know the people that read this book when it was initially published were more upset about the food issue than the fact that the immigrants/workers were being shit on.

[Dora]

3. Great observations

I read the book when I was 18, and of course what stuck with me was the slaughterhouse scenes.

However, I reread it two years ago, and I was stunned by all the parallels it has with contemporary culture. It saddened me to no end.

However, I couldn't reconcile his time wandering as a hobo, however. Would today's parallel be found in the example of our own homeless? Or would a better parallel be the younger runaway population?

Maybe I'll read it again. I found some of the speechifying pretty inspirational.

[bleedingheart]

5. I found the wandering period interesting as well

almost like a "christ in the desert" type theme... wrestling with internal demons until he returns to the hell fire that was Chicago.

It really did sadden me and yet I also took some comfort knowing that the socialists and labor movement did make great strides toward changing things around....

[CrispyQ]

4. Thanks for the review.

Third, I think there are a lot of similarities between the individuals who buy into large McMansions and all the things that corporate america tells them they need to have...(TV advertising, magazines, even the TV shows...) and how they then find themselves without many options...they are then working to pay all this stuff off and they have little or no choices...and little or no room to accomodate any financial hiccups that may come their way...one serious illness, a partner's lost paycheck...and boom...they are out on their ass...and the house is sold to another family hoping to make it all work. In fact, the modern credit card woes and the "hidden" clauses in contracts are not new at all.

These are the sheeple. They are miserable & they don't know why. They are doing what is expected of them, after all, so they should be happy, but they are not. With each new trinket they buy, the thrill lasts less & less. Many of them use religion to fill the void of a life based on materialism & they are still unhappy, never recognizing that it is their never-ending quest for material wealth that is the cause of their unhappiness.

Time is the essence of our lives. When we are on our death beds we will not wish for another trinket, but for more time. Until we value our time more than trinkets, we will continue to have unhappy, unhealthy societies.


"It is not a sign of good health to be well adjusted to a sick society." — J. Krishnamurti

[bleedingheart]

6. I will say this in defense of the sheeple...

it is really hard to not follow along...it is even harder to realize that you are being screwed...not by your neighbor, not by the welfare mother or the veteran on disability who they may think is getting a "free ride"...they are getting screwed by the same corporate masters they work for...the ones that entice them to buy cars, gadgets and then in time those people find themselves indentured to the system.

Sometimes they are just so close they can't see the broader picture...