Lessons from a Candidate Who Sought to End Poverty(Part I)*
By Michael Stoops**
Upton Sinclair~ excerpt ~
Nearly fourty years ago in 1968 this country lost a great American, Upton Sinclair, who had a profound impact forwarding social justice in the United States. He first came to national attention with the book, The Jungle, published in 1906 which exposed unsafe practices of the meatpacking industry in Chicago. Not as well known was Upton Sinclair’s effort to be elected as a U.S. Senator and Governor of California.
As a socialist, he ran for a U.S. Senate seat in California in 1922 and got 50,323 votes. He ran for Governor in 1930 and got 50,480. He described that as progress.
In 1934, he switched parties and became a Democrat. He carried the Democratic primary with 436,000 votes, and winning by a margin of some 25,000 votes.
In the general election, Sinclair received twice the number of votes of any previous Democratic candidate for governor of California up to that point. Final vote: Frank Merriam—1,138,620 Sinclair—879,537.
He died in 1968.
Unlike modern day candidates (with the possible exception of former U.S. Senator John Edwards and now Presidential candidate), he ran on a platform of ending poverty in California.
(snip)
In his own words, Sinclair said,
“But I cannot enjoy the comforts of home, and the freedom of work and recreation which I have earned, while I know there are millions of others around me suffering for lack of common necessities.
Here are thousands of people wandering homeless, and thousands of homes which no one is allowed to occupy. Here are a million people who want to work and are not allowed to work.
I say, positively and without qualification, we can end poverty in California. I know exactly how to do it, and if you elect me Governor, with a Legislature to support me, I will put the job through—and I won’t take more than one or two or four years.
I say that there is no excuse for poverty in a civilized and wealthy State like ours. I say that we can and should see to it that all men and women of our State who are willing to work should have work suited to their capacities, and should be paid a wage that will enable them to maintain a decent home and an American standard of living.
I say that every old person should be provided for in comfort, and likewise every orphaned child and every person who is sick or incapacitated. I repeat that this can be done, and that I know how to do it. If I take up the job, I will stick until it is finished, and there will be no delay and no shilly-shallying. There will be action, and continuous action, until the last man, woman, and child has these fundamental economic rights. Again, I say: End Poverty in California.”
Later on Sinclair said that the slogan, “End Poverty in California”, really meant to him, “End Poverty in Civilization.”
His “End Poverty in California” (EPIC) had twelve basic principles. Some of the more interesting/unique/prophetic ones included:
1. God created the natural wealth of the earth for the use of all men, not a few.
2. When some men live without working, other men are working without living.
3. The existence of luxury in the presence of poverty and destitution is contrary to good morals and sound public policy.
4. The cause of the trouble is that a small class has the wealth, while the rest have debts.
(snip)
Sinclair’s Legacy for the Upcoming 2008 Presidential Campaign
The campaign practices and public policy of Upton Sinclair should be inspirational to today’s candidates and lawmakers. Poverty in the US has reached devastatingly high levels and without decisive action from public officials, will continue with catastrophic results. Hopefully, the ideas and dreams of Mr. Sinclair can educate our politicians and allow them to use his own campaign to end poverty as a model in the ’08 presidential election.
__________________________________________________*First of a two-part series. The second article entitled, I, President (_____________--fill in the blank) of the U.S. and How I Ended Poverty. A True Story of the Future, will be published soon.
**Michael Stoops is the Acting Executive Director of the Washington, DC-based National Coalition for the Homeless.http://www.nationalhomeless.org/civilrights/Sinclair/index.html