Upton Sinclair on Socialism

[NNN0LHI]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upton_Sinclair

Upton Sinclair

Upton Beall Sinclair Jr. (September 20, 1878 – November 25, 1968), was an American author and one-time candidate for Governor who wrote close to one hundred books in many genres. He achieved popularity in the first half of the twentieth century, acquiring particular fame for his classic muckraking novel, The Jungle (1906). It exposed conditions in the U.S. meat packing industry, causing a public uproar that contributed in part to the passage a few months later of the 1906 Pure Food and Drug Act and the Meat Inspection Act. Time magazine called him "a man with every gift except humor and silence." snip

Of his gubernatorial bid, Sinclair remarked in 1951:


"The American People will take Socialism, but they won't take the label. I certainly proved it in the case of EPIC. Running on the Socialist ticket I got 60,000 votes, and running on the slogan to 'End Poverty in California' I got 879,000. I think we simply have to recognize the fact that our enemies have succeeded in spreading the Big Lie. There is no use attacking it by a front attack, it is much better to out-flank them."

[socialist_n_TN]

1. He was/is right. And yet in the last Pew poll

it (socialism) STILL polled at 31% positive. In SPITE of a century and a half of demonization, it STILL polled at 31%. I'm amazed.

BTW, capitalism only polled at 50% positive. I expect that to drop like a stone over the next couple of years as the results of economic injustice hit more and more people. The best recuriter for socialism is the capitalist system.

[RainDog]

2. Louis B. Mayer hated Sinclair when he ran on the EPIC ticket

fun factoid of the day...

[russspeakeasy]

3. It just needs a new name that "sounds like" war and terror.

any suggestions ?

[socialist_n_TN]

4. Power from below!.....

Or I like to use "Economic Democracy".

[Curmudgeoness]

5. People's Capitalism? nt

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

6. Read his book

"Oil". It really exposes the back channel workings of capitalism

[russspeakeasy]

7. Oh yeah ! I forgot about that one. Thanks.