The New 1930s.

August 28, 2018 9:16 AM

“The hearings in 1935 that were held before the Labor subcommittee on the Lundeen Bill are a remarkable historical document, “probably the most unique document ever to appear in the Congressional record,” at least according to the executive secretary of the IPA. Eighty witnesses testified: industrial workers, farmers, veterans, professional workers, African-Americans, women, the foreign-born, and youth. “Probably never in American history,” an editor of the Nation wrote, “have the underprivileged had a better opportunity to present their case before Congress.” The aggregate of the testimonies amounted to a systematic indictment of American capitalism and the New Deal, and an impassioned defense of the radical alternative under consideration.” Are American Workers Really Opposed to Socialism? The lost history of the Worker’s Bill, a radical 1930s era attempt to change Americans’ relationship to work.
posted by The Whelk (5 comments total)

When I’m in an office job I’m like, god I want a four day work week

When I’m working a service job I wish to god just for mere lunch breaks
posted by cricketcello at 11:28 AM on August 28, 2018 [6 favorites]

Thank you for posting this!
posted by Katjusa Roquette at 2:38 PM on August 28, 2018

The Whelk, you have brought light into my mind and heart. So much to think about with regard to how to use this to organize now!
posted by mrcrow at 4:20 PM on August 28, 2018 [2 favorites]

The “radio priest” Father Charles Coughlin had acquired heroic stature among yet more millions by constantly “talking about a living wage, about profits for the farmer, about government-protected labor unions,” as one journalist put it. “He insists that human rights be placed above property rights. He emphasizes the ‘wickedness’ of ‘private financialism and production for profit.’ ” His immensely popular organization the National Union for Social Justice was no mere politically anodyne instrument of his own ego. It enshrined such principles as nationalization of “public necessities” like banking, power, light, and natural gas; control of all private property for the public good; a “just and living annual wage which will enable [every citizen willing and able to work] to maintain and educate his family according to the standards of American decency”; abolition of the privately owned Federal Reserve and establishment of a government-owned central bank; and in general the principle that “the chief concern of government shall be for the poor.”

So I stared at this paragraph for a few minutes, wondering if I'd somehow mixed Father Coughlin up with someone else all this time? If there were two prominent populist 1930s radio priests? An evil twin?? Because that is a very selective framing of Charles Coughlin's messaging.

That quibble aside, thank you for posting this! I've lost my entire night to this congressional transcript, it's incredibly fascinating and readable. It's an amazing snapshot of the situation in 1935. I think we're used to seeing the 1930s in general and the Depression specifically as totally defined by the lead-up to WW2, and it can be easy to gloss over the fact that that's obviously not how it was experienced in the moment. It's so interesting to see all these contemporary perspectives without that hindsight-based narrative colouring things at all.
posted by goblin-bee at 7:11 PM on August 28, 2018 [5 favorites]

I've been in a reading hole on Huey Long for about a month now. Fascinating figure, and probably one of the best historical analogues for Trumpism, despite the fact that Huey was mixed up in actually legitimately leftist politics instead of reactionary bogus right wing nothingness, and also the fact that the Long machine was a corrupt but masterfully-run political organization, while Trump has no real machine, none of the mastery, but keeps the corruption.

In any case, I think we need to talk about how all the popular fire behind genuinely leftist policies of the 1930s, including Share Our Wealth, Bonus-ism, etc. had the wind knocked out of it (to mix a metaphor) by the New Deal we actually got. Strategically, I think, you need the threat of a President Long in order to get Social Security and the TVA. This means that the "radical" left and Democractic Socialism have a real, legitimate role to play in getting more mainstream liberal policies throught our corrupt capitol, even if they can't actually get us their perfect set of solutions.

In other words, if you want Medicare For All and a national living wage, push for UBI and halving the Pentagon.
posted by LiteOpera at 6:25 AM on August 29, 2018 [3 favorites]