A LIBERAL VIEW OF THINGS: What’s really important? Hint: It isn’t ultra-conservatism

The history of capitalism shows painful and turbulent evolution. The turbulence comes from the relationship between labor and the hierarchy of businessmen and women who exert influence on national policy, the interpretation of law and demands on the government.

After the Civil War, a resurgence of capitalism created huge labor and product markets, especially in the North. The South’s industrial infrastructure was in shambles, and freed slaves streamed North to readily available jobs. At first glance, one might think this was good for everyone. It was not.

Northern white workers coming home from the war needed to work to support their families who suffered economic hardships similar to, but not as horrible as, their Southern counterparts.  Businesses, however, only cared about how little they could pay for labor. The blacks, of course, took jobs for fractions of what white workers would ask. The inevitable friction between the races in the North was exacerbated by white labor disaffection with the business and industry leaders who did what any capitalist would do.

Over the next decades, the Populist movement was replaced by the Socialist movement, which led up to and included World War I. These two eras had commonality in that working conditions for labor were utterly dreadful by today’s standards. No laws existed to protect workers from employer whimsy and abuse. No laws existed to protect workers from unsafe working environments. No laws existed that defined a limited workday or week. The wages were draconian in their parsimony.

Imagine, for example, sending your 12-year-old son to work in a sweatshop in the late 19th century. He would have to work 60-70 hours a week for less than a dollar a day. Factory women were treated the same for about the same wages. Woe unto the employee who got sick or was late for work. If they weren’t fired outright, they often were whipped by foremen.

Meanwhile, corporations and businesses were reaping record profits, all the while trying to expand markets. The Spanish-American War, for example, was primarily fought to gain control over more resources and larger markets for the surplus of goods being produced by human and mechanical labor. The drive for profit was limitless and relentless. American imperialism was necessary to slake the thirst of American capitalism during this time.

When labor organized and revolted, the conservatives’ position was almost exclusively repressive. The First Amendment right to assembly was ignored as hired militia and mercenaries were sent to disrupt and disperse organized labor. The result, of course, was violence. Hundreds of men, women and children were gunned down in our streets and fields because they didn’t want to be indentured servants to the company store. The conservative governments actually allowed federal troops to  crack down as the revolts and strikes grew more frequent and more intense.

As America lurched toward anarchy and open class warfare, conservative administrations began the painful process of reform.

They saw that without reform there would indeed be another revolution. One of the salient events that spurred this move was the Ludlow Massacre in Colorado. Dozens of men, women and children were shot and burned to death because they wanted to be paid in U.S. currency and have safe working conditions for themselves.  Instead, the Rockefeller Trust paid the salaries of the Colorado National Guard to break the strike by any means possible. Killing strikers became a normal occurrence sponsored by corporate/banking America. This was the price of reform for how capitalism would exist in the United States.

This history reflects but a sample of what conservative philosophy did in the name of profit. Today, the conservatives want to overturn many of the laws of the reforms for which so many people died. Ultra-conservatives want to return to the time when government did not interfere at all with how businesses were run. There is even a movement in Missouri to allow schoolchildren to skip school so they can go to work.

Ultra-conservative movements are clearly out of date and fail to understand certain kinds of bells cannot be un-rung. The bell of fairness and caring about our fellow citizens cannot and will not be un-rung by the people who think they want to “take their country back.”

Turner is a retired teacher and industrial engineer who lives near Marble Falls. He is an independent columnist, not a staff member, and his views do not necessarily reflect those of The Tribune or its parent company. "The Voter’s Guide to National Salvation" is a newly published e-book from Turner. You can find it at www.barnesandnoble.com/ebooks. He can be reached by e-mail at vtgolf@zeecon.com.