Unions - A Tool of the Progressive Movement

Nov 26, 2008 274×199 pixels – 19KB Filename: uaw.jpg

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In the mid to late nineteenth century, the success of the Industrial Revolution brought huge profits to the owners of oil, steel, railroad, and manufacturing companies. Unskilled workers flocked to northern factories from the South and Europe. The law of Supply and Demand according to Adam Smith states that when there is a large supply of a good, i.e. labor, the price will be low, i.e. wages. During this period workers began to organize to gain higher wages and better working conditions. However, corporations could always find new workers that were willing to take the jobs with poor conditions and pay.

Conventional wisdom would have us believe that the unions were fighting for the individual rights of the worker for their rightful wages and working conditions. However, unions have actually done great harm to businesses large and small in the United States. The textbook that I have been using for my research vilifies the factories and corporations for taking advantage of the worker. Granted, the company towns with their company stores and company housing made it seem as if the American worker was reduced to a form of serfdom. However, I believe that if people did not like where they were, they could leave and take advantage of opportunities out West.

Unions are a way to redistribute wealth. One of the arguments the text uses in favor of unions is that the industrialists made up 10% of the total population of the nation, but they controlled 90% of the money. Unions and progressive textbook writers look at this as unfair. They forget that Rockefeller and Carnegie started poor and worked their way up in the world. Unions used this class warfare to gain sympathy for the worker in the media and to maintain that market driven wages were unfair to the American worker. The goals of unions were to promote social reform, an eight-hour work day, arbitrate disputes between companies and workers, and pass safety and health codes.

Again, I agree that working conditions back then were not the best, but instead of waiting for the market to determine wages and working conditions. Progressives were bent on using the government to regulate businesses and infringe on their freedom. America was the land of opportunity because it was. If someone did not like where they were, they could move to find opportunity elsewhere. Success always required hard work and risk. Risk that was taken on by the businesses that were profiting from American ingenuity.

One tool that organized labor uses is the strike. Many strikes were held on May Day, a traditionally socialist holiday. Some strikes that were held erupted in violence brought about by socialists and anarchists. Companies were also criticized for hiring replacement workers, "scabs." I say why not. If I have employees who don't want to work, then they need to be replaced with some who do.

I know I am heartless. People don't always have the resources to find work elsewhere. I say then look to the illegal immigrants who are pouring into this country with nothing but the clothes on their backs. They are able to find jobs, and they work hard to earn enough money to feed their families and put roofs over their heads. Pardon me if I don't have much sympathy for Americans who have everything they could ever need including a free high school education and yet think they are too good to work at a minimum wage job.

Now we have unions that are pervasive in our country. All government agencies have unions representing their workers. We have unions that protect the jobs of teachers who are not worth their salt. We have unions who now make business decisions for the businesses they are supposed to work for, i.e. the United Auto Workers. We have unions for athletes who make more money than God because they believe the owners of sports teams make too much money. Again here is a prime example of redistribution of wealth. The economy of our nation has been crippled by them.

I know that this is not at all politically correct. However, our nation needs to make a change and go back to a truly capitalist society. Capitalism is not always fair, but at least it has a level playing field. If you can build a better mousetrap, the world will beat a path to your door. If you build that mousetrap and make a huge profit from it, you deserve to be able to spend that profit however you see fit. It should not be up to the government or unions to determine how much of your hard earned money you should be able to keep.

Please let me know if you need me to go into more detail or if you have any questions you need me to answer.

My source for this post:

Bailey, Thomas A. and David M. Kennedy. The American Pageant, 7th edition. D.C. Heath and Company, Lexington, Mass. 1983.

Woodrow Wilson - The Great War and Progressive Policies

For now his blog is focused on the origins of the Progressive movement in the United States. See earlier posts on the early progressives and Theodore Roosevelt as the first progressive president. My latest post focused on progressive reforms done by Woodrow Wilson during his first term as president. Wilson won his second term on the basis that he was able to keep the United States out of World War I, which began during 1914. This was even after the sinking of the Lusitania in 1915 which resulted in the deaths of 128 American citizens.

Wilson and his secretary of state, Bryan, were professed pacifists and worked very hard during their first term and the beginnings of their second term to remain a neutral nation in the conflict in Europe. Many Americans had a soft spot for the Allies (England and France) because of their Anglo ancestry. American businesses profited from the neutrality because they could sell goods to both the Allies and Central Powers (Germany, et al.). Even when shipments destined to Germany were intercepted by the British, the British government would reimburse American companies for the value of the cargo that was confiscated.

The Wilson administration began to realize that the United States may eventually be drawn into the conflict because of the leanings of the populace toward the Allied forces and the fact that Germany realized it. Like a good Boy Scout, Wilson wanted to be prepared, so he passed two items of legislation. The National Defense Act of 1916 which was designed to beef up the army and the national guard. This law needed to be passed in their opinion because the arsenal of the nation was becoming old and outdated and according to the Constitution the military could only be funded for two years.

Another policy that was more progressive in scope was the Council of National Defense. This was a council formed by six Cabinet officers and seven civilians who were to coordinate industry and national defense. This goes back to the ideal where progressives believed that an economy needs to be a well oiled machine that is controlled by the government and big business.

After an increase in violence against American shipping to Europe on the part of Germany, Wilson finally broke down and requested a declaration of war from Congress. Support for the war was brought about by anti-German propaganda that depicted the Germans as murderers. Also the American media ignored the culpability of the Americans in supplying the Allied forces with items that killed Germans. Also, slogans that stated, "England's defeat our defeat" filled the newspapers.

After the entry of the United States into the war, Wilson was trying to find a way to broker peace. He made a speech on January 8, 1918 that outlined fourteen points that would guide a peace settlement. This is very progressive in nature in that one person or nation should outline how the rest of the world should conduct their business. A paraphrased list follows.

1. No secret deals between countries.
2. Freedom of the seas in international waters.
3. Equal trade conditions among all nations.
4. Reduction of armaments to a level only for domestic defense.
5. Impartial adjustment of colonial claims.
6. Evacuation of Germans from Russia, allow Russia to determine its own domestic policy (Communism), and allow Russia into the society of free nations (a wee bit hypocritical).
7. Evacuation of Germans from Belgium.
8. Evacuation of Germans from France.
9. Readjust Italy's borders to prewar borders.
10. Limited self-government of Austria-Hungary.
11. Evacuation of Germans from Romania, Serbia, and Montenegro, and guaranteed Balkan independence.
12. Independence for Turkey and self-government for other nations under Turkish rule.
13. Independence for Poland.
14. A formation of an organization like the League of Nations or United Nations.

The Fourteen Points were well received by people in Italy and Poland. Republicans and the Allies were not quite so receptive.

Other progressive policies were the War Industries Board, the National War Labor Board, War Trade Board; Fuel Administration; Food Administration; Shipping Board; Emergency Fleet Corporation; increases in the income tax, corporation tax, excess profits tax, and luxury taxes; Committee on Public Information; Espionage Act of 1917; Sedition Act of 1918; and the draft. These policies worked toward regulating industry toward the war effort whether individual industries wanted to support the war effort or not. The increase in taxation forced individuals to give money toward the war effort whether they wanted to or not. At least the sale of bonds gave people the freedom to choose where their money went. The Espionage and Sedition Acts put limits on freedom of speech to where if an individual spoke out against the war, he or she could be arrested. Performances of German composers were also forbidden. The draft forced individuals who may not have supported the war to fight in the war.

This period of history leaves some interesting questions. Would the war have gone on much longer if the United States had not become involved? Were government regulations needed to manage big businesses who were already profiting from selling arms and supplies to the Allied forces? Should any nation's shipping really expect to be left alone on international waters when they are delivering arms in support of nations involved in a known armed conflict? Is individual freedom really less important than the desires of a government waging a war that is not supported by some people in a country? Should the United States wavered from traditional neutrality that was recommended by its founders?

As a mamma grizzly I look back and say that Wilson was a globalist progressive that wanted the Soviet Union to be successful (look back at the fourteen points). Individual freedom was not important to him (look back at his progressive policies). Our nation never returned to pre-war ideals. The propaganda machine of the Committee on Public Information assured this.

We as a nation need to look back at what this nation was like before Wilson. We need to value individual freedom. We need representation in Congress that will look at the freedom of the individual for guidance, not the tyranny of the majority or the minority in many cases. Our freedoms have been eroded. Many lawmakers look to the precedents set forth by Wilson as a basis for their usurpations. We as a people need to go back to reading the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution for guidance, not what is popular.

If anyone reading this has any questions or elaboration, please leave me a comment, and I will make every attempt to give a prompt response. God bless.

Woodrow Wilson - Pre-WWI: Progressive Idealist Reformer

The next true progressive president after Teddy Roosevelt was Woodrow Wilson. He was the son of a Presbyterian minister and the grandson of a Scottish immigrant. He grew up under Reconstruction in North Carolina. He was very religious and a pacifist. He worked as a lawyer and a university professor who received a doctorate in political science (remember that this was a new field of study brought about by progressives). He determined that big business was exploitative of the common man, and he made it a goal in life to bring about a New Freedom for the American people.

He won the presidency in a similar manner that Bill Clinton did in 1992. A third party (Progressive Bull Moose) split the Republican electorate the way Ross Perot did with his third party bid.

Domestic Policy
Until the passage of the 16th Amendment, Income Tax, the main source of income for the government was from tariffs. Many items imported into the nation were taxed in excess of 40% which gave a competitive edge to American corporations and earned them tremendous profits. The Underwood-Simmons Tariff lowered and eliminated these tariffs which gave foreign countries the ability to compete with American businesses and bring prices down.

After the ratification of the 16th Amendment, congress passed a graduated income tax that ranged from 1% - 6% depending on income. This rate was raised in 1916 as an emergency measure in anticipation of the Great War. In 1917 revenues from the income tax exceeded revenues from trade tariffs. (This left no motivation for the government to lower or end the income tax.)

The Federal Reserve System was also founded under Wilson. Until that time the banks were centralized in the East, and it was difficult to get currency to the western states. Under the Federal Reserve the banking system was decentralized into twelve districts and managed by a board of directors appointed by the President. National banks were required to join and keep a percentage of their assets in reserve at the district bank. Money for the Federal Reserve was raised from loans from businesses. (This means that every Federal Reserve Note is a debt to someone.)

The Federal Trade Commission Act empowered the President to investigate businesses who participated in "unfair business practices," break up trusts and monopolies. Wilson enforced this law until it became inconvenient for him, especially when we entered into WWI. (More on this tomorrow)

Another law that regulated big business was the Clayton Anti-Trust Act of 1914. This law forbade practices that interfered with competition, created monopolies, or resulted in price discrimination. It also restricted interlocking directorates and holding companies. These were practices where the same person could serve on the board of directors of several corporations at the same time and thus direct policy and price fixing. Basically keeping the power of these large corporations in the hands of a few people.

The LaFollette Seaman's Act of 1915 looked fantastic on paper. It required the American merchant marine to pay decent wages, provide humane treatment, and decent food for sailors. The problem was that it raised the standards so high that American merchant companies could not compete with the tramp steamers of other nations.

Two other progressive laws that were enacted in 1916 which led to the devastation of the agriculture industry in the 1930s were the Federal Farm Loan Act and the Warehouse Act. These laws enabled farmers to borrow money from the federal government at very low interest rates and borrow against their crop futures. This became a problem in the late 20s and early 30s because farmers borrowed so much money that after WWI there was not the same demand for their wheat and could not pay back their loans.

Also in 1916 the Workingmen's Compensation Act and Adamson Act were passed. The Workingmen's Compensation Act provided disability assurance for government workers. (The beginnings of the overwhelming benefit packages that government workers have that are supported by taxpayer monies.) The Adamson Act required interstate rail operators to have an eight-hour work day and to pay overtime to their workers.

Since Wilson was from the South, he limited his reforms to industries who employed mostly white workers. He also re-segregated government agencies. He also worked against women's suffrage. Two of my sources relegated these problems to one paragraph in otherwise glowing praise for his progressive reforms. (Bailey and Mulder)

Foreign Policy
In what was becoming now a tradition of U.S. presidents Wilson changed his mind about who the United States' friends were. Roosevelt and Taft (the preceding president before Wilson) had allowed U.S. businesses to invest in Latin America and China, which was known as "Dollar Diplomacy." Soon after he came into office in 1913, he forbade businesses to invest in these countries.

He made a treaty with Haiti in 1916 which made it a protectorate of the United States. The Haitian people did not like this because they wanted to have an independent government. On the other hand, Wilson signed the Jones Act of 1916 which would give independence to the Philippines once they established a stable government.

In 1917 Wilson changed his mind about investment in China and began to allow U.S. businesses to invest in that country again.

Also in 1917 Wilson purchased the Virgin Islands from Denmark for $25 million. The reasoning behind this was to prevent Germany from establishing submarine bases in the Caribbean.

Mexico
It turns out that Mexico has been a thorn in the side of the United States for quite some time. In 1913 President Madero was assassinated by Huerta who established himself as General-President of Mexico. Wilson refused to recognize the new government of Mexico because of the way Huerta came into power. Wilson also worked to arm Herta's opponents, Carranza and Pancho Villa. After an incident with the arrest of several U.S. sailors, Wilson asked Congress to allow him to use force in Mexico. His request was granted on April 22, 1914. The United States captured the port city of Vera Cruz in an attempt to capture a German vessel. A meeting of five American countries including Mexico and the United States quelled tension between the two countries and resulted in the resignation of Huerta from office. In January of 1916, Pancho Villa murdered 18 Americans which prompted an invasion of U.S. forces by General Pershing. Villa evaded capture.

This is another example where the United States should have just left well enough alone. If Wilson had not worked toward overthrowing Huerta, then Villa may not have been able to use the arms we gave him against U.S. citizens.

Next time I will focus on the United States' involvement in WWI and the influence of Wilson's idealism on world affairs. If you have any questions or need me to go into more detail about any of my posts, please leave a comment, and I will answer you as soon as I can.

Sources Cited

Bailey, Thomas A., and David M. Kennedy. The American Pageant, 7th edition. D.C. Heath and Company, Lexington, Mass. 1983.

Brinkley, Alan. American History: A Survey, Vol. II: Since 1865, 10th edition. McGraw Hill College, Boston, Mass. 1999.

Mulder, John M. "Woodrow Wilson," World Book Encyclopedia, Vol. 21. World Book, Inc., Chicago, Il. 1995.

Teddy Roosevelt - Republican and Progressive

It is interesting to see that the first progressive president was a republican. Many of his policies that began under his presidency have influenced many foreign and domestic policy decisions up to and including today. Following is a list of various policies and laws that were passed under TR. If I don't go into enough detail, please leave a comment and ask a question.

TR became president after the assassination of William McKinley.

Foreign Policy
One of his mantras was "Talk softly and carry a big stick." The stick being the United States military.

He staged a revolution in Panama against Colombia to get the Panama Canal built because he didn't want to pay the Colombian government what they wanted for rights to the canal zone. The U.S. ended up paying it anyway to make peace with Colombia.

The Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine gave the U.S. the authority to be loan collectors for European powers that were owed money by countries in Central and South America. He also used it as an excuse to meddle in European problems in North Africa because he feared that France and Germany's dispute over Morocco would lead to a global war. (This only postponed the inevitable.)

He also strong armed Canada and Great Britain when there was a boundary dispute between the U.S. over the border between Canada and Alaska. Teddy threatened the British representative in the arbitration.

The Second Hague Disarmament Conference was officially called by Russia, but Roosevelt was actually the one who prompted the conference. It did not result in disarmament, but it did gain some agreement on more humane ways of waging war.

In the Russo-Japanese War, the U.S. could not decide which side they wanted to be on because we had been friendly with both countries. We ended up siding with the Japanese because they were the underdog and had begun defeating the Russians in battles in Manchuria.

These foreign policy positions were the first time in American history that the United States began to truly meddle in affairs of other nations around the world. The other night Glenn Beck voiced the observation that the reason other countries hate us is not because of our freedoms but because of the way we make "friends" with countries abroad. Look especially at our relationships with Colombia and Russia at the turn of the last century. Another example that I will detail later is our relationship with Cuba.

The founders of our nation were very clear in their speeches and writings that the United States should be a neutral country and not get involved in foreign affairs. We had enough natural resources and ingenuity to be self-sufficient without meddling in other nations' affairs.

Domestic Policy
His "Square Deal" consisted of control of corporations, consumer protection, and conservation of natural resources. A few of these policies will be detailed here.

The Interstate Commerce Commission established maximum shipping rates that railroads, and eventually trucking companies, could charge.

The Meat Inspection Act of 1906 was a response to an investigation into Chicago meat packing plants and European threats to ban American meat. The investigation was prompted by the book The Jungle by progressive writer Upton Sinclair.

The Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 was passed to prevent the adulteration and mislabeling of foods and drugs.

TR also wrote several executive orders that placed 125 million acres of forest, millions of acres of coal reserves, and many water resources that could have been used for hydroelectric power and irrigation into federal reserves.

The goal of many progressives was not social reform but social control. Big government worked hand in hand with big business to attempt to run the economy and resources of the United States with the greatest efficiency. Conservation planning and the regulation that came about afterwards ran many small businesses and individual entrepreneurs out of business which left big business and big government in control of the economy.

TR went on to run for a third term on the ticket of the progressive Bull Moose party which divided the Republican party and resulted in the election of Woodrow Wilson.

Looking back on the domestic policies, especially those regarding consumer protection, I wonder if even the government back then gave individuals credit for having a brain of their own to make their own decisions about what to buy. I mean if I went to a market and got bad meat, I wouldn't buy meat there again until the quality improved. When the stores stopped buying meat from those packing plants because they couldn't sell it, then the packing plants would have needed to clean up their act so they could make money.

Roosevelt and the progressives at the turn of the last century were too impatient to allow the marketplace and the government follow their natural course. Therefore, they enacted laws that were not in the individual's best interest and were unconstitutional as well.

My sources are the same as yesterday's post. My apologies for not using footnotes today.

The Beginnings of the Progressive Movement in America

I watch Glenn Beck's show on Fox News in the afternoons. One thing that he tells his viewers every day is to not trust what he says at face value. He tells his viewers to do their own research, so they can verify the facts for themselves. I have begun to do that. I have had a little time over the last couple of days due to the blizzard.

From the little bit of research I have done in a couple of American history textbooks, I have concluded that the Progressive movement was a political movement begun by socialist immigrants to the United States in the last decades of the nineteenth century (1880s - 1890s). They wanted to wage war on capitalism - monopoly, corruption, inefficiency, and social injustice (1). They also wanted to strengthen the federal government and use it as an agency of human welfare (1). They also believed that the U.S. constitution was too weak a document to handle the social and political problems of 1900 America (1).

Education and the media are other tools that they began to use to spread their ideas. Social science was a new area of study that used scientific techniques to study societies and their institutions. One social scientist who was highly influential in the progressive movement was Thorstein Velben who wrote The Theory of the Leisure Class. In this book he wrote about a new economic system that would be run by engineers. His theory was that modern society should be run like a machine. During World War I, members of the Council of National Defense who were followers of Velben organized war boards to divide the economy by function (manufacturing, agriculture, etc.) rather than regionally (2). Another influential progressive writer was Jacob A. Riis, a Danish immigrant who wrote for the New York Sun. He wrote a book titled How the Other Half Lives which criticized the slums of New York. This book greatly influenced the first progressive president, Theodore Roosevelt.

One of the theorists who influenced the progressives was Charles Darwin himself. His theory of evolution led him to believe that history is a random process dominated by the fiercest or luckiest competitors. Social Darwinism was used by pragmatists to support their ideal that only scientific inquiry can guide modern society. A society's traditions or moral values had no influence over Truth. Politicians also abused Darwinian ideas by stating that the strong should naturally dominate the weak (2) which led to Manifest Destiny and the exploitation of the Native Americans in the United States and Imperialism and Colonialism world wide.

What does this have to do with today? When a government takes freedoms away from corporations, it can also take freedoms away from individuals. The ideas of socialism are not native to the United States. They were brought here by socialist immigrants who wanted to impose their ideals on America. They used education and the media to spread their ideas until students now ignore the traditions of the founders and Christianity and only rely on Darwinist evolution for their moral guidance. Young people now take it for granted that the purpose of the government is to take care of them, not that they need to take responsibility for their own well being.

Now I want you to know that I do not condone the political corruption and problems in the manufacturing sector at the turn of the last century, but I believe that the fact that Judeo-Christian values were tossed out the window by both Socialists and Capitalists alike which led to the belief that the weak had the right to dominate the strong and that moral behavior was irrelevant.

As Glenn Beck says, do not take my word for it. Please research some of these people on your own.

Sources:
(1) Bailey, Thomas A. and David M. Kennedy. The American Pageant, 7th edition. D.C. Heath and Company, Lexington, Mass. 1983.
(2) Brinkley, Alan. American History: A Survey, Vol. II, Since 1865, 10th edition. McGraw Hill College, Boston, Mass. 1999.

Brief Introduction to this Mamma Grizzly

I am a new blogger. I have posted some notes and shared them among my friends on Facebook, but this is the first time that I have taken my ideas to the rest of the world.

I am a former democrat who voted for Dukakis in 1988 and Clinton in 1992. I was pro-choice and referred to myself as a democratic socialist. I wanted government regulation of the environment and thought that nationalized health care was a good idea.

I was in Berlin in April of 1990. I saw the decay that was left behind by a totalitarian communist government. That was what turned me off from socialism. Then I started to analyze what I had been taught about F.D. Roosevelt's New Deal and Social Security. I realized that these were communist policies.

Since then I have grown up even more. Having children of my own changed my mind on the abortion issue. Starting a business of my own with my husband opened my eyes to the intrusiveness of the government. I also began to listen to talk radio and realized that I really didn't believe what I thought I did about socialism.

Now our nation is at a crossroads. Are we going to follow the path of communism that leads to neglect and decay? Are we going to return to being a free nation and cast away the shackles that the progressives and socialists have so slyly slipped onto our wrists?

I hope we follow the latter path. You will find that I have a different way of looking at things. Be patient with me. Let me know what you think.