Righto! There's No Social Problem There
Righto! There's No Social Problem There CHARLESTON, W. Va. — A recent seminar of ministers, headed by Francis A. Henson of Connecticut, a Socialist, met to consider social and...
...It's not so difficult," Bill replied...
...Another Ghost Appears ''VT^, and see what the ghost-chasing has contributed to the present generation," said Bill...
...Inmates of an insane asylum chase the phantoms of their diseased minds and we do the same in this world of capitalism...
...from ever f*l the truth s| those who | propaganda | what may fcj people ever k Who am oj "professional, defenders of ( We are not) the newsptu Ushers, mug inherited ttwealth, or i business aw later parts* uncommonly | ends...
...Chasing the Dollar Phantom "VEA, I warned you against chasing ghosts," said Bill...
...The front-line defenders of the capitalist system are thus duly recognized by NRA and tossed a verbal sop of honor...
...What of the mining district...
...It is probably true that in the more benighted sections of the bind, such as the South and the Middle West, away from the great cities, not one person in 500 even now has any idea of what Socialism really is or what it means to him...
...The Man from Mars The Man from Mars would probably wonder why Socialism did not sweep the world long ago...
...asked Joe...
...So great is the power of the capitalist press in moulding minds that America might almost be described as a Newspaper Oligarchy of Big Business, by Big Business and for "100 per cent Fascism" as soon as it becomes necessary...
...However, those who want the story in one compact volume in which this evolution is traced from one stage to another in a fairly satisfactory manner will find it very useful...
...It ii| "professions^ are concerns...
...Coolidge had scooted to the Berkshire Hills and left Hoover in charge of the asylum," Bill continued...
...The material exudes a ghostly shape that appears and disappears in defiance of law...
...There is reason to believe that there exists a deliberate propaganda conspiracy of Big Business, by Big Business (and for Fascism, if necessary) to control the workers' minds and prevent them The ttUtm article has [ POP*1 repo* ten year,, fc, Mwpapert ( moved as Ati, Colorado...
...Add the president of the local Chamber of Commerce and the picture is complete...
...Few persons, except those who have engaged in newspaper work or publicity, have any adequate conception of the power of propaganda repeated daily in subtle doses...
...The visiting ministers listened aghast, questioned the gentry, became sarcastic and then smiled...
...Are Journalists 1 JOURNALISTS, newspapermen or "anonymous drudges," as they sometimes sardonically term themselves, have suddenly been elevated overnight to the status of "professional men...
...It's something like that in this capitalist system," said Bill...
...At the top of this spooky mania were Coolidge and Mellon serving as market tipsters while the speculating inmates acted like persons enj'oying an opium delirium...
...Some phantom, believe me," Bill observed...
...The ghost assumed myriad shapes in the stock market...
...Old Pals' Corner Chasing Dollar Spooks Through Stock Exchanges, an Orgy That Does Not Appeal to Old Pals By Autolyciu 1 •^BWHEN I read of debts, values, prices and moratoriums I feel that I am living in a spooky world,*" said Joe as he and Bill sat down for lunch...
...Yes, and put the keepers to some useful work," said Pill as they returned to the shop...
...Tens of millions of human beings were chasing this phantom of money values...
...labor, Mr...
...The money value is a spook that emerges from this vast property as a ghost does from the dead at a spiritualist seance...
...Steel and railroads, oil and copper, utilities and insurance companies, exuded phantoms that danced and whirled in wild abandon like goblins above a witch's pot...
...They have another guess coming...
...Kennedy, former district secretary of the miners, now serving mine owners for $10,000 per year...
...A spook in the minds of the superstitious is a material body assuming a mysterious form that escapes human control...
...There's your spook...
...Gass, all smiles, a "man with a heart," who watches the reaction of the gentry to his sermons...
...That's just what I meant," said Joe, "although it is difficult to apply the ghost idea to railroads, industrial plants, land, homes and so on...
...Florinsky presents a continuous narrative of trends in theory and policy down to July of this year...
...Relief is granted when an application is made and the unemployed are satisfied, "except those who do not want to work...
...Remember the vanished age of Coolidge ? Of course you do...
...asked Joe...
...welfare, C. K. Payne, retired and wealthy lawyer, member of the State Welfare Board—salary $400 a month—while the jobless work for $1.80 per week on public roads...
...The 240 billions of values are saddled with a debt of 200 billions and we and our children are expected to pay this staggering bill...
...Twt was expeltoi Committee si exile in Tsit Socialism ial came the ofl with certs* quences...
...No gas, water or light is cut off and there are no evictions for nonpayment of rent...
...In writiif constitute ti paper's idea < papcrman ¦ below supers touch on eeoai The Comminten Goes Into By James Oneal WORLD REVOLUTION AND THE U.S.S.R...
...So we have passed from one spooky world into another...
...Paper values soared, maniacs shrieked as they chased ghosts through the stock exchanges and the chase became a fantastic orgy...
...On August 12 a change was effected under the Blue Eagle...
...church, Rev...
...The mine owners provide miners with food, shelter, school and even church...
...A recent seminar of ministers, headed by Francis A. Henson of Connecticut, a Socialist, met to consider social and economic conditions here...
...By Michael T. Florinsky...
...God's hi hi* heaven and Charleston's lentry have no worries...
...The phantoms gibbered and shambled into obscurity while blear-eyed millions returned to their cells with empty pockets, and yet the material resources of the nation were greater than ever when the orgy was over...
...When the working class get control of the material assets of the capitalist world they will make short work of the phantoms it casts up...
...asked the puzzled Joe...
...Gass, however, ¦nows cf some "indolents...
...Capture the asylum and close it up...
...We did," said Bill...
...Every head of a family, no matter how large, needing relief, gets only one day's work, while men with small families will get oneself day's work, which means a wage reduction for the first category of $2.40 per week and $1.20 tor the second week...
...I tried to catch one and lost a hundred smackers...
...And yet some people say that they do not believe in jfhosts," said Joe...
...At least 30 percent of the population of the city is unemployed—yet there is no social problem 1 Case after case of destitution and evictions are known...
...That certainly is some ghost," said Joe...
...New York: Maemillan...
...The so-called national wealth was estimated at 362 billion dollars in 1929...
...If you lost your hundred smackers, banker Baker cleaned up $13,000,000 in two days...
...It b Certainly Some Ghost '•TTHE material property you have mentioned is here as in 1929, but something which is called money value] has in large part disappeared...
...Capital, labor, church and wel**r* agree that there is no social Problem...
...The material things are intact but 120 billions^ of money value have disappeared...
...A famine of scarcity will make starving easier...
...f'HOSE who have followed the evolution of Bolshevist theory through the post-war period, the expulsion of Trotsky and his followers from tht Communist Party, the rise of Stalin in Russia and his control of the Communist International will not find much that is new in this book...
...It is even more queer than the ghost of the popular imagination...
...By W. H. Richards, Indianapolis, who gets this week's prise...
...For his htt stupidities si divorce scui intimacies, At crooks and si penings whid intellectual (¦ newspaper n "deckhand" salary compsi head eountsn rant...
...Marx, En| and even St cialists in g* Bolsheviks id in Russia (M cialism cook "single counS ture is nlled down to 1M between ths factions been for power...
...Questioned about .social and economic conditions, capital, labor, church and welfare agreed that "we have no such thing as a social problem here...
...How has it happened that the revolution has devoured some of its most notable children—Trotsky, Rakovsky, Zinoviev, B u k a r i n, K a m e n e v and many others 1 Trotsky has thrown much light on this problem in the last section of the third volume of his history...
...Everything is satisfactory...
...Whadaya mean...
...Miners are working except some indolents one will find in every community...
...Hitler in Germany was fully cognizant of the possibilities...
...The material property out of which this phantom issues is greater than it was in 1929, but the money value of the greater property is 120 billions less...
...What do you mean...
...Didn't we agree that we are living in a bughouse world...
...Leading local figures were representative of capital, labor, church and welfare work, Capital, banker Dickinson, who is said to have over forty millions...
...I remember it only too well," said Joe...
...Adroit questions were put that embarrassed the gentle care-takers of {Charleston and vicinity while the Purifier of Souls looked very grave...
...The Eagle hath spoken, and "there hadn't nobody better trifle with that bird...
...Then out in the bleak mining UUs some twenty miles from Charleston there is a tent colony, &rt» tents with from eight to ten human beings living in misery and facing a cruel winter...
...I remember it only too well," said Joe...
...In short, everything is lovely—for capital, labor, church and welfare in this Godfearing region...
...Perhaps comparatively few Socialists realize the all-important function of the newspapers in preventing the great masses of the people from ever finding out the true meaning of words like "Socialism" and "capitalism...
...Fearing a hunger march after a reduction of pay for public work, the old wage of $2.40 a day was restored in August, but the administration could not hare the extravagance of $4.80 for a two-day week for men with large families and $2.40 for small families...
...The rank "profession*] most swtatd proletarian*,* true proletsil newspapernui nothing bit check to rely) to own the a is employed...
...The reverend "with a heart" selected this group to meet with the seminar of ministers...
...asked Joe...
...Then came the awakening...
...A majorat publishers til other men a them...
...I* before...
...If the Man from Mars realized that in America the masses of the people get their information from the daily newspapers and such publications as, for example, "The Saturday Evening Post" and "Liberty," not to mention the movies and the great radio broadcasting stations, he would instantly know why...
...The aglUf tion gave ' with the en spective of litical orgs) put it in ¦ aggressionj a number si February of terpreting S at Geneva ]l his "declari against intj where thsrSj the name 1 takes ths • WISDOM of the ' POOR FISH There has been terrible suffering because of having too much, but that will all be remedied when we have destroyed the surplus and put prices up on what is left...
...And it may not be so long, now...
...Late in October, 1929, stock prices slumped 14 billions in one day and by the end of the month two billions more were added to the wreck...
...The keepers of our asylum think that they can collect fend they are chasing another spook," Bill replied...
...He is not interested in one side or the other of the conflict but as an outside historian endeavoring to Interpret It as it has jonfolded...
...This year it is estimated at less than 242 billions...
Vol. 16 • October 1933 • No. 15
