From Upworthy I learned about Eugene V. Debs today. He worked on the railroad and eventually became a leader of the railroad workers' union. He was arrested following the Pullman Strike. Previous to this arrest and his time in jail he had been a Democrat. He read writings of Marx and Karl Krautsky, one of the promulgators of Marxism. Debs held public office before running for the presidency of the U.S.A. in 1900, 1904, 1908, 1912 and 1920. The last time he ran he was in prison. According to Upworthy he received over one million votes. After making an anti-war speech in which he said that wars were started by the rich and fought by the poor. He was arrested after this speech and charged with sedition. His sentence was commuted by President Harding. Upworthy posted a video of someone reading the speech for which he was arrested. The speech is still relevant today. The real power in this country is still in the hands of the rich. I did not know that there had been a significant socialist party in this country. I guess this would be one of that those facts that could be called extra-historical. In 1924 Karl H. Wiik, a Finnish socialist, nominated Debs for the Nobel Peace Prize because he had stood up against World War I. Debs also fought for a minimum wage, an end to child labor, rights for black Americans, improved working conditions and an increase in the number of people who could vote. Today the minimum definitely needs to be raised again, racism in this country continues, working conditions are still in need of improvement though they are not as bad as they were in Debs' time and the right to vote needs to be protected. I have found a new hero. (Much of this information comes from Wikipedia.com and Upworthy.com.)
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