1 00:00:01,160 --> 00:00:03,480 Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to Cool People Who Did Cool Stuff, 2 00:00:03,480 --> 00:00:06,320 Speaker 1: which is a podcast about cool stuff that people did 3 00:00:06,480 --> 00:00:09,160 Speaker 1: stuff cool. I suppose this is the very first episode, 4 00:00:09,160 --> 00:00:12,600 Speaker 1: which means I should probably tell you what the show is. Okay, 5 00:00:12,600 --> 00:00:15,239 Speaker 1: So there's there's bad stuff, right, and fighting against bad 6 00:00:15,240 --> 00:00:19,160 Speaker 1: stuff is cool. Cool people fight against bad stuff, so 7 00:00:19,239 --> 00:00:21,720 Speaker 1: you should be cool. You should fight against bad stuff. 8 00:00:21,760 --> 00:00:23,520 Speaker 1: And every week on this podcast, I bring you a 9 00:00:23,520 --> 00:00:26,279 Speaker 1: new story about cool people who did cool stuff, like 10 00:00:26,400 --> 00:00:29,840 Speaker 1: fight against bad stuff. I'm your host, Margaret Kiljoy, and 11 00:00:29,920 --> 00:00:33,440 Speaker 1: with me today our first guest is Robert Evans. That's right. 12 00:00:33,520 --> 00:00:35,839 Speaker 1: I am the opposite of you, and my podcast is 13 00:00:35,840 --> 00:00:38,640 Speaker 1: the opposite of yours, and if we were to ever 14 00:00:38,680 --> 00:00:42,159 Speaker 1: make physical contact, it would create a nuclear explosion that 15 00:00:42,240 --> 00:00:46,480 Speaker 1: would destroy all life in the universe. That's true. Yes, 16 00:00:47,840 --> 00:00:50,320 Speaker 1: So okay. So I'm looking at your your bio and 17 00:00:50,400 --> 00:00:53,760 Speaker 1: it says that you're a podcaster, a war correspondent, a novelist, 18 00:00:53,800 --> 00:00:56,480 Speaker 1: and you're the proud owner of the world's largest collection 19 00:00:56,560 --> 00:00:59,800 Speaker 1: of please bleep this out. Yes, yes, it used to 20 00:00:59,840 --> 00:01:02,880 Speaker 1: be long to Jay Leno UM, but I I bested 21 00:01:02,960 --> 00:01:06,160 Speaker 1: him um in a fight to the death. UM. And 22 00:01:06,280 --> 00:01:09,920 Speaker 1: now an impostor lives his life, and I have taken 23 00:01:09,959 --> 00:01:12,760 Speaker 1: over that collection. So really really been a good year 24 00:01:12,760 --> 00:01:18,600 Speaker 1: for me. Allegedly, sure, allegedly a good year. Um And 25 00:01:18,640 --> 00:01:20,640 Speaker 1: that that voice that you'll hear from time to time, 26 00:01:20,680 --> 00:01:26,760 Speaker 1: disembodied and commanding, is Sophie, our producer. Hello. Okay, So 27 00:01:27,560 --> 00:01:30,120 Speaker 1: today I'm feeling the spirit for a holiday that has 28 00:01:30,160 --> 00:01:32,200 Speaker 1: not happened by the time I'm recording this, but will 29 00:01:32,200 --> 00:01:33,880 Speaker 1: have happened by the time you listen to this, which 30 00:01:33,920 --> 00:01:37,160 Speaker 1: is is May Day. The worker's right stay everywhere in 31 00:01:37,160 --> 00:01:39,920 Speaker 1: the world except the US. Today, we're gonna talk about 32 00:01:39,920 --> 00:01:42,000 Speaker 1: where that comes from deciding to start the whole podcast 33 00:01:42,000 --> 00:01:44,160 Speaker 1: series off of a bang, which is the best punt 34 00:01:44,200 --> 00:01:46,000 Speaker 1: I will ever use on this show and hopefully the 35 00:01:46,080 --> 00:01:47,760 Speaker 1: last punt I ever used on the show. We're going 36 00:01:47,800 --> 00:01:49,680 Speaker 1: to talk about the bomb that brought us the modern 37 00:01:49,760 --> 00:01:54,760 Speaker 1: labor movement. Robert, are you familiar with the Haymarket riot, affair, 38 00:01:54,800 --> 00:01:58,880 Speaker 1: massacre or tragedy, depending on whatever people want to call it. Yeah, So, 39 00:01:58,960 --> 00:02:01,840 Speaker 1: a bunch of like anarchs and other people who didn't 40 00:02:01,880 --> 00:02:03,480 Speaker 1: want there to be an eight hour or wanted there 41 00:02:03,480 --> 00:02:06,280 Speaker 1: to be an eight hour work day, we're organizing and 42 00:02:06,480 --> 00:02:09,120 Speaker 1: there were some cops, and then someone threw a bomb 43 00:02:09,240 --> 00:02:11,720 Speaker 1: and it killed some of those cops, and then the 44 00:02:11,760 --> 00:02:14,720 Speaker 1: cops arrested a bunch of anarchists, most of whom probably 45 00:02:14,720 --> 00:02:16,440 Speaker 1: didn't have anything to do with the bomb, but a 46 00:02:16,440 --> 00:02:18,520 Speaker 1: bunch of them got executed, and then we got an 47 00:02:18,520 --> 00:02:22,520 Speaker 1: eight hour work day, right. That's the gist. Uh, That 48 00:02:22,680 --> 00:02:27,640 Speaker 1: is the rough strokes. Yes, um, yeah, although we didn't 49 00:02:27,639 --> 00:02:29,480 Speaker 1: necessarily get the eight hour worked at the end of it, 50 00:02:29,520 --> 00:02:31,840 Speaker 1: not to ruin the end of the episode, but that 51 00:02:32,000 --> 00:02:35,080 Speaker 1: is that is yes, And we're gonna be talking about 52 00:02:35,080 --> 00:02:37,760 Speaker 1: the cool people and the mostly cool people and the 53 00:02:37,880 --> 00:02:41,560 Speaker 1: like cool with caveat people who were busy fighting against 54 00:02:41,560 --> 00:02:44,880 Speaker 1: capitalism and for immigrants, and they got very and labor 55 00:02:45,000 --> 00:02:47,440 Speaker 1: and they got very not cool murdered by the state 56 00:02:47,480 --> 00:02:50,640 Speaker 1: for it. We're also talking about a mystery person who 57 00:02:50,760 --> 00:02:52,560 Speaker 1: chucked a bomb at some cops a few days after 58 00:02:52,680 --> 00:02:55,560 Speaker 1: cops gunned down striking workers, which is a tale as 59 00:02:55,600 --> 00:02:58,119 Speaker 1: old as time, or at least a tale as old 60 00:02:58,120 --> 00:03:07,000 Speaker 1: as eight six. Yeah, thanks for laughing at my joke. Um. 61 00:03:07,040 --> 00:03:09,079 Speaker 1: It's the story of a fight for the eight hour day, Yeah, 62 00:03:09,080 --> 00:03:11,560 Speaker 1: But it's also a story about a huge immigrant subculture 63 00:03:11,560 --> 00:03:13,840 Speaker 1: that developed in Chicago and started off believing in the 64 00:03:13,880 --> 00:03:16,880 Speaker 1: ballot box and wounded up believing only in revolution, And 65 00:03:16,880 --> 00:03:18,840 Speaker 1: how the whole thing came crashing down in a moment, 66 00:03:19,160 --> 00:03:22,480 Speaker 1: only to grow into something even bigger later. And it's 67 00:03:22,520 --> 00:03:24,000 Speaker 1: a story about people who are put on trial for 68 00:03:24,040 --> 00:03:26,760 Speaker 1: their beliefs, not their actions or really even their words. 69 00:03:27,680 --> 00:03:33,720 Speaker 1: Well that all just sounds cool. Yeah, thus the show. Okay, 70 00:03:34,400 --> 00:03:36,560 Speaker 1: I want to start this with a story from folk 71 00:03:36,640 --> 00:03:39,360 Speaker 1: singer Utah Phillips. It's about one of the stars of 72 00:03:39,400 --> 00:03:43,320 Speaker 1: this week's episode, Lucy Parsons. One time she was speaking 73 00:03:43,360 --> 00:03:45,480 Speaker 1: at a big May Day rally back in the Haymarket 74 00:03:45,480 --> 00:03:47,600 Speaker 1: in the middle of the nineteen thirties, during the depression. 75 00:03:47,920 --> 00:03:50,520 Speaker 1: She was incredibly old. She was led carefully up to 76 00:03:50,520 --> 00:03:53,040 Speaker 1: the rostrum a multitude of people there. She had her 77 00:03:53,040 --> 00:03:55,280 Speaker 1: hair tied back in a tight white bon her face 78 00:03:55,320 --> 00:03:59,200 Speaker 1: a massive, deeply incised lines, deep set, beady black eyes. 79 00:03:59,600 --> 00:04:03,160 Speaker 1: She was image of everybody's great grandmother. She hunched over 80 00:04:03,160 --> 00:04:06,360 Speaker 1: that podium hawk like and fixed that multitude with those 81 00:04:06,400 --> 00:04:10,040 Speaker 1: beady black eyes and said, what I want is for 82 00:04:10,160 --> 00:04:15,040 Speaker 1: every greasy, grimy tramp to arm himself with a knife 83 00:04:15,560 --> 00:04:19,200 Speaker 1: or a gun and stationing himself at the doorways of 84 00:04:19,240 --> 00:04:22,719 Speaker 1: the rich, shoot or stab them as they come out. 85 00:04:23,520 --> 00:04:27,160 Speaker 1: And then Utah, describing it, goes on to say, now 86 00:04:27,320 --> 00:04:31,440 Speaker 1: I'm a pacifist by admire her spunk. And this wasn't 87 00:04:31,480 --> 00:04:33,400 Speaker 1: the first time that Lucy Parson said anything like this. 88 00:04:33,520 --> 00:04:35,560 Speaker 1: The first time I'd been like fifty years earlier, in 89 00:04:35,600 --> 00:04:38,840 Speaker 1: the eighteen eighties. And she was remarkably consistent her entire life. 90 00:04:38,839 --> 00:04:41,479 Speaker 1: There's a there's a park named after her in Chicago, 91 00:04:42,000 --> 00:04:43,839 Speaker 1: and in a little bit we'll talk about how she 92 00:04:43,880 --> 00:04:49,440 Speaker 1: reached the conclusions that that she reached. Um, she's more 93 00:04:49,480 --> 00:04:51,680 Speaker 1: famous than her dead husband, Albert Parsons, but he gets 94 00:04:51,720 --> 00:04:54,279 Speaker 1: to steal the show a bunce today because it's the 95 00:04:54,279 --> 00:04:57,000 Speaker 1: story about how he died and he becomes one of 96 00:04:57,040 --> 00:05:12,360 Speaker 1: the Haymarket martyrs. And sorry, give me a second. M hm. Yeah, 97 00:05:12,600 --> 00:05:14,560 Speaker 1: most of the story is not about stabbing or the 98 00:05:14,560 --> 00:05:16,640 Speaker 1: shooting of the rich, and it's not even really at 99 00:05:16,640 --> 00:05:21,000 Speaker 1: its core a story about violence and the bombs and 100 00:05:21,000 --> 00:05:24,279 Speaker 1: the stuff. They just grabbed the most attention. Um. I 101 00:05:24,279 --> 00:05:26,840 Speaker 1: would argue that history teachers know that the good ones 102 00:05:27,120 --> 00:05:30,240 Speaker 1: newspapers know it, at least at the time, the newspapers 103 00:05:30,279 --> 00:05:32,159 Speaker 1: definitely knew that the bombs and the guns got the 104 00:05:32,160 --> 00:05:35,880 Speaker 1: most attention, and as a podcaster, I know it. So 105 00:05:35,920 --> 00:05:38,960 Speaker 1: that's why I'm starting with some some stabbing and shooting 106 00:05:38,960 --> 00:05:42,120 Speaker 1: of the rich. And this is a it's a personal 107 00:05:42,120 --> 00:05:44,920 Speaker 1: story for me, right, I wanted to start the whole 108 00:05:44,920 --> 00:05:48,039 Speaker 1: series off with this episode because it's so personal to me. 109 00:05:48,120 --> 00:05:49,719 Speaker 1: I have a tattoo on my arm of one of 110 00:05:49,720 --> 00:05:53,120 Speaker 1: the martyrs, not not our parsons, but George Engle, who 111 00:05:53,160 --> 00:05:55,440 Speaker 1: was a toy shop owner and the oldest of the bunch. 112 00:05:56,320 --> 00:05:58,479 Speaker 1: He met his hand calmly after a life live trying 113 00:05:58,480 --> 00:06:01,000 Speaker 1: to improve the conditions of his fellow workers. And his 114 00:06:01,080 --> 00:06:03,080 Speaker 1: last words were in German it was a hawk the 115 00:06:03,120 --> 00:06:06,320 Speaker 1: anarchy or herah for anarchy. And there's a there's a 116 00:06:06,360 --> 00:06:09,000 Speaker 1: graveyard in Chicago with a big monument to these folks. 117 00:06:09,000 --> 00:06:11,400 Speaker 1: And I've been a few times, like a cry every 118 00:06:11,440 --> 00:06:15,599 Speaker 1: time I go. There were really nice people, some of them, 119 00:06:15,720 --> 00:06:18,920 Speaker 1: most of them. They were cool people. I'll stop saying 120 00:06:18,920 --> 00:06:22,040 Speaker 1: cool every single time people saying they're cool people who 121 00:06:22,240 --> 00:06:28,720 Speaker 1: did cool stuff. They did actually mostly mostly cool stuff. Yeah, okay, 122 00:06:28,920 --> 00:06:32,840 Speaker 1: so now we get to talk about them Lucy Parsons. 123 00:06:33,800 --> 00:06:38,440 Speaker 1: She was born Lucy Ella Gonzalez Waller, or maybe Lucy 124 00:06:38,520 --> 00:06:42,000 Speaker 1: Elding Gatherings, or maybe Lucia Carter, It depends on who 125 00:06:42,000 --> 00:06:45,120 Speaker 1: you ask. Like, she was remarkably cagy about her history. 126 00:06:45,560 --> 00:06:47,960 Speaker 1: She was maybe born enslaved in Texas, or maybe she 127 00:06:48,040 --> 00:06:52,680 Speaker 1: was born enslaved in Virginia sometime around eighteen eighteen fifty three, 128 00:06:52,720 --> 00:06:56,240 Speaker 1: and she was Black, Mexican and Creek. I am. I 129 00:06:56,240 --> 00:06:58,960 Speaker 1: actually kind of feel guilty talking. There's so much work 130 00:06:59,000 --> 00:07:02,080 Speaker 1: modern historians I've put it into trying to discern her heritage, 131 00:07:02,240 --> 00:07:04,040 Speaker 1: and her whole thing was that she did not want 132 00:07:04,080 --> 00:07:06,480 Speaker 1: to talk about her heritage. She said itself at one 133 00:07:06,480 --> 00:07:08,599 Speaker 1: point she said, I am not a candidate for office, 134 00:07:08,640 --> 00:07:10,560 Speaker 1: and then the public has no right to my past. 135 00:07:11,680 --> 00:07:13,960 Speaker 1: But because being who she was would have been fundamentally 136 00:07:14,000 --> 00:07:16,880 Speaker 1: illegal if she were if she claimed her black heritage, 137 00:07:17,040 --> 00:07:19,560 Speaker 1: she maintained throughout her entire life that she was indigenous 138 00:07:19,560 --> 00:07:23,520 Speaker 1: in Mexican and not African, though really no one believed 139 00:07:23,520 --> 00:07:27,160 Speaker 1: her then or now. And you know, so it's it's 140 00:07:27,160 --> 00:07:30,960 Speaker 1: interesting how she becomes like this very important early figure 141 00:07:30,960 --> 00:07:32,880 Speaker 1: in black anarchism, and yet you know, because of the 142 00:07:32,880 --> 00:07:35,440 Speaker 1: conditions that she was living in or whatever decisions that 143 00:07:35,480 --> 00:07:37,040 Speaker 1: she made that I'm not really in a good place 144 00:07:37,040 --> 00:07:41,360 Speaker 1: to judge. She didn't really talk about it much. In 145 00:07:41,440 --> 00:07:44,880 Speaker 1: eighteen seventy two, she married a traveling journalist named Albert Parsons, 146 00:07:44,920 --> 00:07:46,880 Speaker 1: and for fifteen years they were one of the biggest 147 00:07:46,880 --> 00:07:52,000 Speaker 1: power couples in the American left. Yeah, it, she gets 148 00:07:52,040 --> 00:07:54,680 Speaker 1: to be powerful after that. But you can probably guess 149 00:07:54,680 --> 00:07:59,400 Speaker 1: what happens in fifteen years to Albert. Um big spoiler alert, 150 00:07:59,600 --> 00:08:05,320 Speaker 1: that has already happened. Okay, technically I spoiled, but that's true. 151 00:08:05,360 --> 00:08:07,120 Speaker 1: He spoiled the whole episode. I was thinking we could 152 00:08:07,160 --> 00:08:10,000 Speaker 1: just end it there, but you know, a nice people 153 00:08:10,040 --> 00:08:13,600 Speaker 1: got married exactly and their marriage wasn't legal. But I'll 154 00:08:13,600 --> 00:08:18,480 Speaker 1: get to that. Uh okay, So then there's Albert, and 155 00:08:18,520 --> 00:08:21,400 Speaker 1: we have way more information about Albert because he was 156 00:08:21,440 --> 00:08:25,560 Speaker 1: really forthcoming, like this guy wouldn't shut up. Um. Honestly, 157 00:08:26,280 --> 00:08:27,760 Speaker 1: by the end of all this, I don't actually like 158 00:08:27,840 --> 00:08:29,960 Speaker 1: Albert all that much, not because he's like a bad person, 159 00:08:30,440 --> 00:08:32,880 Speaker 1: because he just doesn't shut up. But we have a 160 00:08:32,880 --> 00:08:34,800 Speaker 1: lot more information about him because his wife wrote his 161 00:08:34,800 --> 00:08:37,520 Speaker 1: biography after he died and So he was one of 162 00:08:37,559 --> 00:08:40,560 Speaker 1: ten kids born in Alabama to a shoe factory owner. 163 00:08:40,960 --> 00:08:43,600 Speaker 1: And the Parsons family goes really far back, you know 164 00:08:43,679 --> 00:08:46,000 Speaker 1: that like meme where it's like if you go to 165 00:08:46,240 --> 00:08:49,480 Speaker 1: a famous artist's Wikipedia page, all their parents names are 166 00:08:49,480 --> 00:08:54,240 Speaker 1: always in blue because their parents have Wikipedia pages too. Yes, yeah, 167 00:08:54,440 --> 00:08:56,840 Speaker 1: that's Albert Parsons, only it's not his parents. It's like 168 00:08:56,920 --> 00:09:00,920 Speaker 1: his great great every everyone. There's so many parts from 169 00:09:00,920 --> 00:09:03,000 Speaker 1: a long line of people who wanted to function up 170 00:09:03,000 --> 00:09:06,920 Speaker 1: for the state. Yeah, well yes, and no, I mean 171 00:09:07,120 --> 00:09:09,360 Speaker 1: some of them fought in the Revolutionary War, but it 172 00:09:09,360 --> 00:09:11,960 Speaker 1: doesn't necessarily come from a line of there was a state. 173 00:09:12,640 --> 00:09:17,920 Speaker 1: Yeah that's true. Yeah, Um, his his family definitely was 174 00:09:18,360 --> 00:09:23,320 Speaker 1: Southern slave owners at this point. Um and okay, but 175 00:09:23,320 --> 00:09:25,040 Speaker 1: but when he was to his mom died, and then 176 00:09:25,040 --> 00:09:26,680 Speaker 1: when he was four or five, is his dad died 177 00:09:26,720 --> 00:09:28,480 Speaker 1: And this is going to be a running theme for 178 00:09:28,520 --> 00:09:31,880 Speaker 1: all of these people, very early parent deaths. He was 179 00:09:31,960 --> 00:09:33,720 Speaker 1: raised by his brother, who was like twenty years older 180 00:09:33,760 --> 00:09:37,120 Speaker 1: than a running theme for that century too. Yeah, I 181 00:09:37,360 --> 00:09:39,800 Speaker 1: get that impression. A lot of these people, even if 182 00:09:39,800 --> 00:09:41,760 Speaker 1: they like they lived a long and happy life and 183 00:09:41,800 --> 00:09:45,800 Speaker 1: died at fifty seven, and I'm like, huh, yeah, I'm 184 00:09:45,800 --> 00:09:48,920 Speaker 1: hoping to do better than that ancient dogged I mean, 185 00:09:49,360 --> 00:09:51,959 Speaker 1: if if if you're a parent and your kids make 186 00:09:52,040 --> 00:09:55,080 Speaker 1: it to eighteen, uh, you nailed it in this period 187 00:09:55,080 --> 00:09:57,560 Speaker 1: of time. That's really the only no matter how drunk 188 00:09:57,559 --> 00:10:01,640 Speaker 1: you were, Like, they don't die before they're legally adults. 189 00:10:01,960 --> 00:10:04,760 Speaker 1: You have hit it out of the park in the fifties, 190 00:10:06,440 --> 00:10:08,679 Speaker 1: or if you survive long enough to see them grow up. 191 00:10:09,000 --> 00:10:11,439 Speaker 1: Oh now, that's that's like, yeah, that's a little bit 192 00:10:11,440 --> 00:10:15,880 Speaker 1: of an unreasonable expectation. Okay, Well, so when he's eleven, 193 00:10:16,040 --> 00:10:18,720 Speaker 1: he moved to a town that you've probably never heard of, 194 00:10:19,559 --> 00:10:25,480 Speaker 1: a town called Waco, Texas. Waco, I mean, of all 195 00:10:25,520 --> 00:10:31,120 Speaker 1: of the towns in Texas, it is in my bottom three. Okay, 196 00:10:31,840 --> 00:10:37,719 Speaker 1: not not the worst because it's not Lufkin, but bottom three. Well, 197 00:10:37,760 --> 00:10:40,240 Speaker 1: I mean, I think it's only famous because Albert Parsons 198 00:10:40,240 --> 00:10:43,200 Speaker 1: lived there. Right, That's the only thing that's ever happened 199 00:10:43,200 --> 00:10:47,560 Speaker 1: in Waco that in the Confederacy fled there when the 200 00:10:47,600 --> 00:10:51,560 Speaker 1: war went bad. Um, a couple of other things, but hey, 201 00:10:51,559 --> 00:10:58,760 Speaker 1: Waco beats out Amarillo and Lufkin in my Texas list. Well, no, 202 00:10:58,880 --> 00:11:01,240 Speaker 1: it's okay, we're gonna get to the Confederacy in a minute. 203 00:11:01,760 --> 00:11:05,120 Speaker 1: Oh yeah, I was worried we wouldn't get to the Confederacy, 204 00:11:05,280 --> 00:11:07,160 Speaker 1: I know. So when he's twelve, he goes and he 205 00:11:07,160 --> 00:11:09,160 Speaker 1: gets an apprenticeship at his local paper, which is the 206 00:11:09,240 --> 00:11:10,640 Speaker 1: job that he takes with him the rest of his 207 00:11:10,720 --> 00:11:13,640 Speaker 1: life is that he works on newspapers. His employer was 208 00:11:13,800 --> 00:11:17,679 Speaker 1: an upstanding leader of the pro slavery movement whose nickname 209 00:11:17,720 --> 00:11:22,080 Speaker 1: was Old Whitey. Then the Civil War broke out, and 210 00:11:22,120 --> 00:11:25,680 Speaker 1: so Albert Parsons runs away at thirteen years old, lies 211 00:11:25,679 --> 00:11:30,120 Speaker 1: about his age to join the Confederate Army. He fought 212 00:11:30,120 --> 00:11:33,800 Speaker 1: in the infantry, then the artillery, then the cavalry, like 213 00:11:33,920 --> 00:11:36,959 Speaker 1: he was just dumb, young teen, all in on the 214 00:11:37,000 --> 00:11:39,680 Speaker 1: whole Confederacy thing. Fought the entire length of the war. 215 00:11:40,720 --> 00:11:43,120 Speaker 1: When the war ended, he was seventeen, and he went 216 00:11:43,160 --> 00:11:48,520 Speaker 1: back to Texas. Um, which is, you know, a choice 217 00:11:48,559 --> 00:11:52,800 Speaker 1: to have made. Yeah, I wouldn't have made that call, Um, 218 00:11:52,920 --> 00:11:57,360 Speaker 1: I I didn't make that call. But yeah, okay, interesting, yeah, 219 00:11:59,200 --> 00:12:01,400 Speaker 1: but okay. So over the next two years he has 220 00:12:01,400 --> 00:12:04,240 Speaker 1: a change of heart and he becomes this like very 221 00:12:04,320 --> 00:12:07,520 Speaker 1: active person fighting for the rights of formally enslaved people. 222 00:12:08,080 --> 00:12:13,280 Speaker 1: He starts his own republican newspaper called the Spectator, which, um, oh, wait, 223 00:12:13,400 --> 00:12:17,199 Speaker 1: is that the same as the Spectator today? I don't know, 224 00:12:17,280 --> 00:12:20,000 Speaker 1: and I kind of doubt it. Yeah, it couldn't be. 225 00:12:20,280 --> 00:12:22,880 Speaker 1: I feel like newspapers all have the same name as 226 00:12:22,880 --> 00:12:26,120 Speaker 1: each other. There's like four things you could call like 227 00:12:26,840 --> 00:12:28,880 Speaker 1: and now, although you were the old ship, we used 228 00:12:28,880 --> 00:12:30,760 Speaker 1: to like pick a une like. We don't use those 229 00:12:30,800 --> 00:12:35,079 Speaker 1: words anymore, but they used to be all over newspapers. Ah, 230 00:12:35,920 --> 00:12:41,040 Speaker 1: the good old days, Martin. I just remember that there's 231 00:12:41,040 --> 00:12:44,400 Speaker 1: there's multiple newspapers in this story called the Tribune and 232 00:12:44,559 --> 00:12:47,560 Speaker 1: the Times, and so there are being a lot of Spectators. 233 00:12:47,559 --> 00:12:52,120 Speaker 1: Makes a lot of sense to me. And so it's 234 00:12:52,160 --> 00:12:54,679 Speaker 1: it's during this time that he starts to understand how 235 00:12:54,760 --> 00:12:57,720 Speaker 1: capitalism is also a problem, right, because he's seen the 236 00:12:57,720 --> 00:13:00,680 Speaker 1: people who are formally enslaved are still just totally screwed over. 237 00:13:01,120 --> 00:13:03,440 Speaker 1: And so he crews up with a bunch of black 238 00:13:03,440 --> 00:13:06,720 Speaker 1: speakers and they tore around Texas teaching tolerance and acceptance 239 00:13:07,160 --> 00:13:10,079 Speaker 1: and and you want to guess how popular that made 240 00:13:10,160 --> 00:13:16,079 Speaker 1: him in in eighteen sixties Texas, very a lot of 241 00:13:16,120 --> 00:13:20,120 Speaker 1: people were paying attention to him, that's true. Uh, and 242 00:13:20,480 --> 00:13:22,960 Speaker 1: everyone he knew stopped speaking to him. He was completely 243 00:13:22,960 --> 00:13:26,360 Speaker 1: shut out of society, except occasionally they said things to him, 244 00:13:26,440 --> 00:13:28,720 Speaker 1: like they said to him, we're going to lynch you. 245 00:13:29,200 --> 00:13:31,040 Speaker 1: And then one of them said, I'm going to shoot 246 00:13:31,040 --> 00:13:33,320 Speaker 1: you in the leg. Now, actually they might not have 247 00:13:33,400 --> 00:13:35,360 Speaker 1: said that, but they did it. They shot him in 248 00:13:35,400 --> 00:13:39,240 Speaker 1: the leg. And then, um, a different time, some people 249 00:13:39,320 --> 00:13:41,800 Speaker 1: kicked him down the stairs. So people were including him 250 00:13:41,880 --> 00:13:47,280 Speaker 1: in society, but not incredibly politely. And he's still like, 251 00:13:47,480 --> 00:13:49,319 Speaker 1: I'm going to be this upstanding guy. So he gets 252 00:13:49,400 --> 00:13:52,040 Speaker 1: himself elected secretary of the state Senate. He becomes a 253 00:13:52,080 --> 00:13:56,959 Speaker 1: tax collector. He's basically had every terrible job like state senator, 254 00:13:57,040 --> 00:14:05,600 Speaker 1: tax collector, collector, confess Britts soldier. Yeah. Yeah, though he's 255 00:14:05,640 --> 00:14:09,680 Speaker 1: an interesting guy to start with. And then he uh, 256 00:14:09,800 --> 00:14:11,800 Speaker 1: and then he serves as an officer in the state militia, 257 00:14:11,840 --> 00:14:16,160 Speaker 1: specifically to try and protect black citizens against white harassment. Um. 258 00:14:16,200 --> 00:14:19,640 Speaker 1: But then he married Lucy and they their marriage was 259 00:14:19,680 --> 00:14:22,480 Speaker 1: not legally recognized because white people weren't allowed to marry 260 00:14:22,480 --> 00:14:24,800 Speaker 1: black people in Texas at that time because of anti 261 00:14:24,840 --> 00:14:30,880 Speaker 1: MISSI I hate this word so much. Yeah, anti missigenation laws. 262 00:14:31,200 --> 00:14:34,800 Speaker 1: I mean, I'm sure were they allowed to marry anywhere 263 00:14:34,800 --> 00:14:36,400 Speaker 1: in the US at this point There must have been 264 00:14:36,480 --> 00:14:40,560 Speaker 1: some places. So when they moved to Illinois, their marriage 265 00:14:40,600 --> 00:14:43,920 Speaker 1: is not legal until the next year. Okay, well that's 266 00:14:43,920 --> 00:14:48,440 Speaker 1: something in seventy four, and Texas didn't repeal their laws 267 00:14:48,520 --> 00:14:51,480 Speaker 1: until nineteen sixty seven with the Supreme Court made everyone 268 00:14:51,520 --> 00:14:54,480 Speaker 1: do it. Hey, it's the same thing with their sodomy laws, 269 00:14:54,680 --> 00:14:58,440 Speaker 1: except two thousand three. Well, do you want to guess 270 00:14:58,480 --> 00:15:02,120 Speaker 1: what year Alabama finally, the place that Parsons was born, 271 00:15:02,640 --> 00:15:05,880 Speaker 1: finally got their ship together and got rid of those laws. Oh, 272 00:15:05,880 --> 00:15:09,640 Speaker 1: have they done it yet? The year two thousand. The 273 00:15:09,720 --> 00:15:12,400 Speaker 1: year two thousand they held on thirty three years after 274 00:15:12,960 --> 00:15:19,240 Speaker 1: they made it out of the twentieth century. Yeah, um, 275 00:15:19,360 --> 00:15:21,800 Speaker 1: you know what was By the way, this is random, 276 00:15:21,840 --> 00:15:23,840 Speaker 1: but do you remember that period of time after the 277 00:15:23,920 --> 00:15:26,640 Speaker 1: year two thousand, but before two thousand one, when a 278 00:15:26,680 --> 00:15:29,320 Speaker 1: bunch of very frustrating people were like, well, actually it's 279 00:15:29,360 --> 00:15:31,720 Speaker 1: not the twenty first century until two thousand one. That's 280 00:15:31,880 --> 00:15:33,880 Speaker 1: the millennium hasn't changed. You remember that being like a 281 00:15:33,960 --> 00:15:36,960 Speaker 1: thing that actually played into how I wrote this script 282 00:15:36,960 --> 00:15:39,080 Speaker 1: because I most wrote a thing about they made it 283 00:15:39,080 --> 00:15:41,800 Speaker 1: into the next millennia. And then I was like, pattants. 284 00:15:42,120 --> 00:15:44,800 Speaker 1: I don't want to deal with pattans. I fuck them. 285 00:15:44,840 --> 00:15:47,600 Speaker 1: You're wrong, you're wrong. Yeah, I don't care about the 286 00:15:47,600 --> 00:15:49,800 Speaker 1: Pluto discourse. Who gives a ship what a planet is? 287 00:15:49,920 --> 00:15:53,200 Speaker 1: But like the year two thousand, that's when the millennium changed, 288 00:15:53,280 --> 00:15:55,160 Speaker 1: I'm not going to hear anything else about it. The 289 00:15:55,280 --> 00:15:58,240 Speaker 1: numbers rolled over. Yeah, you can yell at us on Twitter, 290 00:15:58,280 --> 00:16:01,120 Speaker 1: but I will not hear you. Yeah. And so so 291 00:16:01,200 --> 00:16:04,000 Speaker 1: even though the it was eventually legally recognized, they were 292 00:16:04,040 --> 00:16:07,520 Speaker 1: not socially accepted for for who they were. Right, they 293 00:16:07,840 --> 00:16:09,560 Speaker 1: dealt with a lot of ship when they moved to Chicago. 294 00:16:09,920 --> 00:16:12,040 Speaker 1: I'm going to guess the year they make it legal 295 00:16:12,080 --> 00:16:14,680 Speaker 1: in Illinois is still not the year in which everyone's 296 00:16:14,720 --> 00:16:19,880 Speaker 1: fine with it. Yeah, that's yeah, totally um okay. So 297 00:16:19,880 --> 00:16:22,920 Speaker 1: in Chicago they find their new cause, um, which they 298 00:16:22,920 --> 00:16:25,160 Speaker 1: devote the rest of their lives too, which is labor rights. 299 00:16:25,240 --> 00:16:28,000 Speaker 1: And m Albert didn't have as long left to devote 300 00:16:28,000 --> 00:16:29,440 Speaker 1: to the rest of the rest of his life to it, 301 00:16:29,760 --> 00:16:31,440 Speaker 1: but Lucy got to do it for a long time, 302 00:16:32,040 --> 00:16:34,760 Speaker 1: and and I want to bring this back to that 303 00:16:34,840 --> 00:16:38,240 Speaker 1: opening quote about by Lucy Parsons about stabbing and shooting 304 00:16:38,360 --> 00:16:40,440 Speaker 1: rich people, But this time I'm going to say the 305 00:16:40,440 --> 00:16:44,200 Speaker 1: whole thing. Let every dirty, lousy tramp arm himself with 306 00:16:44,240 --> 00:16:46,160 Speaker 1: a revolver or knife and lay in wait on the 307 00:16:46,160 --> 00:16:48,240 Speaker 1: steps of the palaces of the rich and stab or 308 00:16:48,280 --> 00:16:50,680 Speaker 1: shoot their owners as they come out. Let us kill 309 00:16:50,760 --> 00:16:53,240 Speaker 1: them without mercy. Let it be a war of extermination 310 00:16:53,280 --> 00:16:56,240 Speaker 1: and without pity. Let us devastate the avenues where the 311 00:16:56,320 --> 00:16:59,800 Speaker 1: wealthy live, as General Sheridan devastated the beautiful valley of 312 00:16:59,800 --> 00:17:04,960 Speaker 1: the and andoah mhm. Because I think this context matters, right. 313 00:17:05,280 --> 00:17:07,720 Speaker 1: She was born enslaved, and she saw with her own 314 00:17:07,720 --> 00:17:09,720 Speaker 1: eyes that the only way to end slavery was to 315 00:17:10,320 --> 00:17:12,320 Speaker 1: run the rivers red with the blood of the people 316 00:17:12,320 --> 00:17:15,480 Speaker 1: who thought that owning people was like cool and good. Yeah, 317 00:17:16,320 --> 00:17:20,280 Speaker 1: And so this is my opinion, probably a huge part 318 00:17:20,320 --> 00:17:22,639 Speaker 1: of how she ended up with this, uh, this framework 319 00:17:22,760 --> 00:17:24,400 Speaker 1: that the rich we're not going to give up their 320 00:17:24,400 --> 00:17:27,399 Speaker 1: hoarded wealth, um at least without at least the threat 321 00:17:27,440 --> 00:17:30,880 Speaker 1: of violence, which is something that hasn't been borne out 322 00:17:30,920 --> 00:17:34,359 Speaker 1: by history. So I feel like probably can ignore more 323 00:17:34,440 --> 00:17:38,199 Speaker 1: or less what she was saying. Yeah, totally, Yeah, and 324 00:17:38,440 --> 00:17:41,440 Speaker 1: that is really important context that, like, because it also 325 00:17:41,480 --> 00:17:43,960 Speaker 1: makes the point she's she's looking at like these masses 326 00:17:44,000 --> 00:17:46,520 Speaker 1: of like starving and desperate people in this tiny number 327 00:17:46,560 --> 00:17:49,280 Speaker 1: of people who have hoarded the resources, and she's saying, well, 328 00:17:49,320 --> 00:17:53,159 Speaker 1: this is a system of aequality, just like the system 329 00:17:53,160 --> 00:17:55,159 Speaker 1: of an equality that I was raised in. And the 330 00:17:55,200 --> 00:17:59,080 Speaker 1: thing that had to end the Confederacy was violence on 331 00:17:59,160 --> 00:18:02,600 Speaker 1: a to riff scale, and perhaps that's the only way 332 00:18:02,640 --> 00:18:08,840 Speaker 1: to end this system as well. Yeah, yeah, have alter logic. Yeah, 333 00:18:09,119 --> 00:18:12,680 Speaker 1: and that logic plays through the whole thing that we're 334 00:18:12,680 --> 00:18:17,560 Speaker 1: going to be talking about. Um. And so now let's 335 00:18:17,560 --> 00:18:21,240 Speaker 1: give you background on Chicago. Everyone's favorite city. I don't 336 00:18:21,240 --> 00:18:23,199 Speaker 1: know if it's anyone's favorite. Actually, it's probably a lot 337 00:18:23,200 --> 00:18:26,600 Speaker 1: of people's favorite today. In the eighteen and fifties and sixties, 338 00:18:26,680 --> 00:18:29,000 Speaker 1: Chicago is a boomtown and it was mostly German and 339 00:18:29,040 --> 00:18:32,800 Speaker 1: Irish immigrant labor. Like it grew from four thousand people 340 00:18:32,840 --> 00:18:37,520 Speaker 1: to nine people over twenty years. Yeah, Basically, since all 341 00:18:37,520 --> 00:18:39,560 Speaker 1: of the trains coming from the West went through Chicago, 342 00:18:39,600 --> 00:18:42,000 Speaker 1: it became a hub where all of the raw materials 343 00:18:42,000 --> 00:18:44,800 Speaker 1: that were extracted from the colonial project to the United 344 00:18:44,840 --> 00:18:48,760 Speaker 1: States that we're extracted out from the West turned into 345 00:18:48,800 --> 00:18:51,640 Speaker 1: goods that could be sent east, right, And so at 346 00:18:51,680 --> 00:18:56,239 Speaker 1: first it's like there's some decently high wages in this 347 00:18:56,280 --> 00:18:58,040 Speaker 1: particular boomtown, kind of in that way. Have you ever 348 00:18:58,080 --> 00:19:01,400 Speaker 1: been to like one of those oil boom towns that are, yeah, 349 00:19:01,440 --> 00:19:04,160 Speaker 1: where everything costs a ton of money because everyone who 350 00:19:04,160 --> 00:19:06,680 Speaker 1: works there is getting a ton of money. Everybody lives 351 00:19:06,680 --> 00:19:11,879 Speaker 1: in trailers. Yeah, it's in Wyoming, Um, yes, yeah. So 352 00:19:11,880 --> 00:19:14,440 Speaker 1: that's Chicago, and there's a shanty town that's spreading out 353 00:19:14,440 --> 00:19:17,520 Speaker 1: from the city center. I love a good shanty town. 354 00:19:18,000 --> 00:19:20,840 Speaker 1: And I want to tell you about the opening salvo 355 00:19:20,960 --> 00:19:23,959 Speaker 1: in Chicago labor struggle or class war, whatever you want 356 00:19:24,000 --> 00:19:26,679 Speaker 1: to call it, which happened at eight None of our 357 00:19:26,760 --> 00:19:29,560 Speaker 1: characters are really on the scene yet, but it's still uh, 358 00:19:29,560 --> 00:19:31,800 Speaker 1: it's it's too cool to not include it. And it's 359 00:19:31,840 --> 00:19:36,680 Speaker 1: the the logger beer riot, like lagger, not like loggers 360 00:19:36,680 --> 00:19:39,840 Speaker 1: who cut down trees. Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, Like 361 00:19:39,960 --> 00:19:42,160 Speaker 1: he takes a whiskey drink, He takes a logger drink. 362 00:19:42,240 --> 00:19:45,399 Speaker 1: That that kind of logger, Yeah, exactly exactly have you 363 00:19:45,440 --> 00:19:47,680 Speaker 1: heard of this? This political party that was rolling around 364 00:19:47,680 --> 00:19:50,840 Speaker 1: at this time called the know Nothings. Yeah, they're basically 365 00:19:51,040 --> 00:19:54,919 Speaker 1: kind of it to sort of flatten them in a 366 00:19:54,960 --> 00:19:58,520 Speaker 1: way that makes them sensible to kind of modern sensibilities. 367 00:19:58,520 --> 00:20:02,640 Speaker 1: They were broadly like the Tea Party of its time. Yeah, 368 00:20:02,960 --> 00:20:05,800 Speaker 1: I think that's that's pretty accurate, especially if the Tea 369 00:20:05,800 --> 00:20:08,200 Speaker 1: Party started as a secret society, which the Tea Party 370 00:20:08,280 --> 00:20:11,000 Speaker 1: might have. Yeah, again, like anytime you're kind of being 371 00:20:11,000 --> 00:20:12,680 Speaker 1: like this thing from a hundred years ago, it was 372 00:20:12,720 --> 00:20:15,199 Speaker 1: like this thing now, like you're you're losing because there 373 00:20:15,200 --> 00:20:18,240 Speaker 1: was also weird specific political grievances that aren't really a 374 00:20:18,240 --> 00:20:21,040 Speaker 1: part of modern politics that were important to them. But 375 00:20:21,080 --> 00:20:24,199 Speaker 1: like totally they were kind of Tea Party esque for 376 00:20:24,320 --> 00:20:26,639 Speaker 1: the time. That's how like people like us back then 377 00:20:26,680 --> 00:20:29,840 Speaker 1: would have looked at them. Yeah, totally. Yeah, they got 378 00:20:29,880 --> 00:20:31,479 Speaker 1: their name. It took me a while to find out 379 00:20:31,480 --> 00:20:33,080 Speaker 1: where they got their name from. It's because it was 380 00:20:33,119 --> 00:20:35,919 Speaker 1: a secret society. It's basically like if they were asked 381 00:20:36,280 --> 00:20:37,760 Speaker 1: if they were part of this, they're supposed to say, 382 00:20:37,800 --> 00:20:41,119 Speaker 1: I know nothing. Um, that's actually kind of based like 383 00:20:41,240 --> 00:20:44,600 Speaker 1: not the politics. But like that's a neat like if 384 00:20:44,600 --> 00:20:47,359 Speaker 1: you were writing a fictional secret society that would be 385 00:20:47,400 --> 00:20:50,359 Speaker 1: like fun that people would enjoy. That. Yeah, totally. But 386 00:20:50,359 --> 00:20:52,760 Speaker 1: it also becomes a fitting name for them because I mean, 387 00:20:52,800 --> 00:20:54,960 Speaker 1: I don't think that they're very um, that they've made 388 00:20:54,960 --> 00:20:58,360 Speaker 1: intelligent choices with their life. Uh, they're anti immigrant. They 389 00:20:58,359 --> 00:21:04,080 Speaker 1: specifically hate the Catholic and the Irish, and they're their nativists, 390 00:21:04,080 --> 00:21:06,600 Speaker 1: which was a big thing back then, which basically means 391 00:21:06,600 --> 00:21:09,160 Speaker 1: they like white Americans who were born in America and 392 00:21:09,320 --> 00:21:16,000 Speaker 1: basically nobody else. And they also hated drinking, and well, 393 00:21:16,000 --> 00:21:19,919 Speaker 1: these guys are not winning me over, I'm gonna be 394 00:21:19,960 --> 00:21:25,479 Speaker 1: honest with you. So they came for the the Irish 395 00:21:25,480 --> 00:21:28,880 Speaker 1: and the German immigrants. They worked six days a week, 396 00:21:29,000 --> 00:21:31,840 Speaker 1: like fourteen twelve to fourteen hour days, and then on 397 00:21:31,880 --> 00:21:34,320 Speaker 1: Sunday is their only day off. So they all go 398 00:21:34,600 --> 00:21:38,080 Speaker 1: to the bar and drink and and hang out. And 399 00:21:38,119 --> 00:21:39,679 Speaker 1: so what they do is they say, oh, you're not 400 00:21:39,720 --> 00:21:43,040 Speaker 1: allowed to sell alcohol on Sundays, um, And it's just 401 00:21:43,280 --> 00:21:45,960 Speaker 1: specifically to piss these people off. I'm sure they clouded 402 00:21:46,000 --> 00:21:47,960 Speaker 1: it and like it's the Holy Day and this and that, 403 00:21:48,400 --> 00:21:50,480 Speaker 1: but it was entirely just because they hated the immigrants. 404 00:21:50,960 --> 00:21:54,800 Speaker 1: And so there was this massive civil disobedience where two 405 00:21:55,119 --> 00:22:01,880 Speaker 1: people got arrested for alcohol sales. Jesus Christ. Yeah, and 406 00:22:02,040 --> 00:22:05,639 Speaker 1: uh and they're like, because I mean they're you know, 407 00:22:05,680 --> 00:22:09,040 Speaker 1: like they're this, I'm gonna keep drinking anyway. Um. And 408 00:22:09,119 --> 00:22:12,080 Speaker 1: so then on the day of the trial, thousands of 409 00:22:12,119 --> 00:22:14,840 Speaker 1: Germans marched downtown and they have like fife and drum 410 00:22:14,840 --> 00:22:17,080 Speaker 1: and ship and the cops freak out. And at the 411 00:22:17,080 --> 00:22:20,679 Speaker 1: time in Chicago, the river had swing bridges instead of 412 00:22:20,680 --> 00:22:22,800 Speaker 1: lift bridges, so the bridges would like swing open like 413 00:22:22,800 --> 00:22:26,120 Speaker 1: a door kind of, And so the cops swung them 414 00:22:26,119 --> 00:22:28,280 Speaker 1: open while everyone was still on them and then just 415 00:22:28,359 --> 00:22:32,359 Speaker 1: opened fire into the crowd. Jesus Christ. Only one person 416 00:22:32,480 --> 00:22:36,080 Speaker 1: ended up killed, who apparently for the shitty guns of 417 00:22:36,119 --> 00:22:40,320 Speaker 1: that time, I know. Um, and he shot back. The 418 00:22:40,320 --> 00:22:43,600 Speaker 1: guy who got killed, he injured a cop. Well that's 419 00:22:43,760 --> 00:22:46,760 Speaker 1: good for him. Yeah. And they had like loaded cannons 420 00:22:46,800 --> 00:22:50,119 Speaker 1: and stuff ready for all of this. Um. And And 421 00:22:50,520 --> 00:22:52,040 Speaker 1: part of the reason I bring this up is because 422 00:22:52,040 --> 00:22:53,520 Speaker 1: it's like, this is something that I feel like people 423 00:22:53,560 --> 00:22:55,880 Speaker 1: need to understand when we're talk about nineteenth century movements, 424 00:22:55,920 --> 00:22:58,639 Speaker 1: is that like, like the cops are just totally ready 425 00:22:58,640 --> 00:23:01,600 Speaker 1: to open fire on huge crowds of people open fire 426 00:23:01,680 --> 00:23:07,480 Speaker 1: with like artillery, Like when we say cannons, what they're 427 00:23:07,520 --> 00:23:11,640 Speaker 1: what they're preparing is a big metal tube that they 428 00:23:11,720 --> 00:23:15,240 Speaker 1: fill with shrapnel and gunpowder. It's called grape shot. They're 429 00:23:15,240 --> 00:23:17,679 Speaker 1: making like a giant shotgun the size of a car 430 00:23:17,760 --> 00:23:19,919 Speaker 1: and and readying to fire that into a crowd of 431 00:23:19,960 --> 00:23:26,200 Speaker 1: human beings. That's that's crowd control, um. And so that's 432 00:23:26,240 --> 00:23:28,440 Speaker 1: that's the that's the opening salvo in all of this. 433 00:23:28,920 --> 00:23:31,800 Speaker 1: And then in one the entire city of Chicago burns down. 434 00:23:32,720 --> 00:23:35,720 Speaker 1: Well that was that was really nobody's fault, like right, 435 00:23:35,880 --> 00:23:37,720 Speaker 1: every like that is one of those things back in 436 00:23:37,760 --> 00:23:40,399 Speaker 1: the days, Chicago just burned down sometimes you know, not 437 00:23:40,440 --> 00:23:42,479 Speaker 1: that anyone can do about it. You just every now 438 00:23:42,480 --> 00:23:44,600 Speaker 1: and then you're gonna lose a Chicago were too. Yeah, 439 00:23:44,720 --> 00:23:48,600 Speaker 1: totally um. And this just sends everything into recession the 440 00:23:49,160 --> 00:23:51,840 Speaker 1: or actually not sends everything into recession. They're starting to rebuild, 441 00:23:51,840 --> 00:23:53,840 Speaker 1: and then there's a great depression that was called the 442 00:23:53,840 --> 00:23:57,480 Speaker 1: Great Depression until we got another one in the twentieth century. 443 00:23:57,960 --> 00:24:00,800 Speaker 1: And basically do with a thing. Sometimes I'm about like 444 00:24:02,440 --> 00:24:05,800 Speaker 1: that's that style of thing where like there's this moment 445 00:24:05,840 --> 00:24:08,000 Speaker 1: in history. That's super well known today, but there was 446 00:24:08,000 --> 00:24:10,360 Speaker 1: another very similar moment that went by the same name 447 00:24:10,400 --> 00:24:12,719 Speaker 1: until the bigger thing happened. Because the same time I'm 448 00:24:12,760 --> 00:24:15,600 Speaker 1: reading about the potato famine in Ireland right now, there 449 00:24:15,680 --> 00:24:18,800 Speaker 1: was that killed like nearly a million people. That was 450 00:24:18,880 --> 00:24:21,359 Speaker 1: like a generation or so before it that they called 451 00:24:21,440 --> 00:24:24,399 Speaker 1: the Great Famine, But then there wasn't even bigger famine, 452 00:24:24,400 --> 00:24:28,920 Speaker 1: and so nobody remembers the first famine. Yeah, yeah, exactly, 453 00:24:29,400 --> 00:24:32,120 Speaker 1: And which is why, Sophie, if it's all right, I'd 454 00:24:32,160 --> 00:24:36,400 Speaker 1: really like us to be sponsored by potatoes. Oh yeah, absolutely. 455 00:24:36,520 --> 00:24:40,800 Speaker 1: I mean that would be our preferred sponsor forever. But 456 00:24:40,960 --> 00:24:43,840 Speaker 1: we have a lot of unfortunate ads from the potato blight, 457 00:24:43,960 --> 00:24:47,159 Speaker 1: which we are working to stop, but it is it 458 00:24:47,320 --> 00:24:50,000 Speaker 1: is really hard to get them removed, probably due to 459 00:24:50,040 --> 00:24:53,760 Speaker 1: their financial partnership with the Washington State Highway Patrol. I'm 460 00:24:53,800 --> 00:25:02,600 Speaker 1: definitely pro potato. And here's some ads. So in the 461 00:25:02,600 --> 00:25:04,880 Speaker 1: middle of the worst depression in the US history, while 462 00:25:05,200 --> 00:25:08,199 Speaker 1: Chicago has just burned down, that's when Lucy and Albert 463 00:25:08,200 --> 00:25:11,200 Speaker 1: decided to move to Chicago. And normally that would sound 464 00:25:11,200 --> 00:25:13,320 Speaker 1: like a bad deal, but they were coming from the 465 00:25:13,320 --> 00:25:16,040 Speaker 1: place where everyone was trying to murder them. So also, 466 00:25:16,119 --> 00:25:19,600 Speaker 1: I feel like rents pretty cheap when the whole city 467 00:25:19,640 --> 00:25:22,480 Speaker 1: just burned down. There's not a lot of buildings though, Yeah, 468 00:25:22,640 --> 00:25:28,000 Speaker 1: but like you could probably camp pretty cheap. Yeah, that's true, 469 00:25:29,000 --> 00:25:32,880 Speaker 1: low cost of living. Yeah, And so they moved there, 470 00:25:32,920 --> 00:25:37,200 Speaker 1: Albert finds work as a type setter, and it's pretty 471 00:25:37,280 --> 00:25:41,080 Speaker 1: quickly they start calling themselves socialists. Um, that's nice of them, 472 00:25:41,280 --> 00:25:44,760 Speaker 1: and words like socialism and anarchism get thrown around an 473 00:25:44,800 --> 00:25:48,160 Speaker 1: awful lot, including in this particular episode. So I'm gonna 474 00:25:48,200 --> 00:25:50,320 Speaker 1: I'm gonna, like really quickly try and say what I 475 00:25:50,359 --> 00:25:52,719 Speaker 1: mean by by those things, because everyone's going to use 476 00:25:52,720 --> 00:25:57,199 Speaker 1: those words really differently. Yes, Socialism in this case is 477 00:25:57,200 --> 00:26:00,280 Speaker 1: like the it's the broader social movement towards worker or 478 00:26:00,359 --> 00:26:02,800 Speaker 1: society at large owning the means of production, which is 479 00:26:02,840 --> 00:26:05,240 Speaker 1: to say, rather than having a business owner who owns 480 00:26:05,240 --> 00:26:08,240 Speaker 1: a factory in hiring the workers, the workers themselves or 481 00:26:08,280 --> 00:26:13,720 Speaker 1: society would own the factory. And it basically the difference 482 00:26:13,760 --> 00:26:15,879 Speaker 1: between the value produced by the worker and the amount 483 00:26:15,880 --> 00:26:18,479 Speaker 1: that the owner sells the product for is the owner's profit. 484 00:26:18,560 --> 00:26:20,439 Speaker 1: And so basically they're saying this is theft. This is 485 00:26:20,480 --> 00:26:22,639 Speaker 1: like the sort of market stealing it from the people 486 00:26:22,680 --> 00:26:25,600 Speaker 1: doing the thing. It's it's this. There's this very frustrating 487 00:26:25,640 --> 00:26:28,960 Speaker 1: discourse around anarchism that that hit on Twitter a week 488 00:26:29,040 --> 00:26:31,280 Speaker 1: or two ago, where people are like, well, how would 489 00:26:31,280 --> 00:26:33,560 Speaker 1: you have in an ericis society? How would you handle 490 00:26:33,920 --> 00:26:36,840 Speaker 1: you know, the widespread production of food or the manufacturing 491 00:26:36,880 --> 00:26:39,960 Speaker 1: of goods, Like you can't do that with like just 492 00:26:40,040 --> 00:26:42,280 Speaker 1: like you and your friends hanging out in an affinity group. 493 00:26:42,320 --> 00:26:44,720 Speaker 1: And it's like, well, actually, anarchists have been talking about 494 00:26:44,720 --> 00:26:46,399 Speaker 1: this for like a hundred and seventy years and a 495 00:26:46,480 --> 00:26:49,280 Speaker 1: number of different and those solutions have been acted on 496 00:26:49,320 --> 00:26:53,600 Speaker 1: in places like revolutionary Spain and whatnot, um and and 497 00:26:53,760 --> 00:26:56,440 Speaker 1: parts of Korea, and in some cases have have seen 498 00:26:56,600 --> 00:27:00,440 Speaker 1: substantial successes. For periods of time, this has all been discussed. Yeah, 499 00:27:00,920 --> 00:27:02,879 Speaker 1: it's just about who owns the means of production and 500 00:27:02,920 --> 00:27:05,840 Speaker 1: like how decisions are. It's not it's not saying we 501 00:27:05,880 --> 00:27:09,280 Speaker 1: don't have factories. It's saying like, perhaps we don't need 502 00:27:09,320 --> 00:27:12,359 Speaker 1: the factories to be owned by giant multinational conglomerates that 503 00:27:12,400 --> 00:27:16,800 Speaker 1: are able to, for example, build waste disposal plants that 504 00:27:17,080 --> 00:27:19,520 Speaker 1: pump poison into the Gulf of Mexico, and because they 505 00:27:19,560 --> 00:27:22,040 Speaker 1: lobby the politicians in that area, the people who actually 506 00:27:22,080 --> 00:27:24,160 Speaker 1: live there aren't able to complain in any meaningful way, 507 00:27:24,320 --> 00:27:27,240 Speaker 1: and several of them get exploded because the natural gas 508 00:27:27,240 --> 00:27:29,960 Speaker 1: pipelines run by that company and athy area leak coals, 509 00:27:29,960 --> 00:27:32,800 Speaker 1: which since explosive gas up into trailer parks. Perhaps we 510 00:27:32,840 --> 00:27:34,840 Speaker 1: don't need that and we could still have ways of 511 00:27:34,880 --> 00:27:38,320 Speaker 1: distributing fuel. I don't know, that sounds crazy. You probably 512 00:27:38,400 --> 00:27:41,600 Speaker 1: need that distribute fuel. You get out of here with 513 00:27:41,640 --> 00:27:46,239 Speaker 1: my radical politics, um and so so socialists in this 514 00:27:46,320 --> 00:27:50,119 Speaker 1: case is like the broader word for for what is, 515 00:27:50,520 --> 00:27:52,720 Speaker 1: what the goal is, and how people are trying to 516 00:27:52,720 --> 00:27:57,800 Speaker 1: actually create. That is kind of unrelated UM so so. Anarchism, 517 00:27:57,840 --> 00:28:00,239 Speaker 1: which will come up more soon as our characters more 518 00:28:00,280 --> 00:28:03,480 Speaker 1: and more anarchists, is the idea that we can have 519 00:28:03,480 --> 00:28:07,600 Speaker 1: a society without state or capitalism, without course of hierarchies. 520 00:28:08,000 --> 00:28:10,840 Speaker 1: And lots of different people conceive of this in very 521 00:28:10,840 --> 00:28:13,160 Speaker 1: different ways, but in general, the people that we're talking 522 00:28:13,160 --> 00:28:16,399 Speaker 1: about today, UM, like my like myself, want to a 523 00:28:16,480 --> 00:28:19,760 Speaker 1: socialist society that is also anarchist. And yeah, I mean 524 00:28:19,800 --> 00:28:21,399 Speaker 1: a lot of these people would say they were like 525 00:28:21,480 --> 00:28:24,800 Speaker 1: working towards communism, which meant a different thing. Like now 526 00:28:25,359 --> 00:28:27,720 Speaker 1: you get a lot of fights between anarchists and communists 527 00:28:27,760 --> 00:28:30,359 Speaker 1: because communism has become so like tied in with the 528 00:28:30,440 --> 00:28:32,679 Speaker 1: ideas of state communism that we saw with like the 529 00:28:32,720 --> 00:28:35,959 Speaker 1: uss are. But like back in this day, a lot 530 00:28:36,000 --> 00:28:37,520 Speaker 1: of these people would have been happy to just call 531 00:28:37,600 --> 00:28:40,280 Speaker 1: themselves communists totally. And like these people like go to 532 00:28:40,320 --> 00:28:42,440 Speaker 1: their grave being like, I died for socialism, and then 533 00:28:42,440 --> 00:28:45,320 Speaker 1: they're like, yeah, but they're not, like and so unfortunately 534 00:28:45,320 --> 00:28:48,920 Speaker 1: so so now sometimes whatever, people get into arguments about 535 00:28:48,960 --> 00:28:51,760 Speaker 1: who does and doesn't count for this and that, But 536 00:28:53,000 --> 00:28:55,200 Speaker 1: that seems like a decent starting place for where these 537 00:28:55,200 --> 00:28:57,840 Speaker 1: people are at. And then in eighteen seventy seven there's 538 00:28:57,840 --> 00:29:00,360 Speaker 1: this big funk off railway strike, which at some point 539 00:29:00,360 --> 00:29:02,640 Speaker 1: I love to do an episode all about because it 540 00:29:03,160 --> 00:29:05,520 Speaker 1: covers the entire country, and by the entire country, I 541 00:29:05,520 --> 00:29:07,560 Speaker 1: mean the entire country at the time where people actually 542 00:29:08,240 --> 00:29:10,520 Speaker 1: or whatever. It covers like the mid Atlantic, in the 543 00:29:10,520 --> 00:29:13,120 Speaker 1: Midwest and all those things. It starts in West Virginia 544 00:29:13,120 --> 00:29:16,040 Speaker 1: and Maryland when workers got their third pay cut in 545 00:29:16,080 --> 00:29:17,920 Speaker 1: a year, and we're like, funk this, and they went 546 00:29:17,960 --> 00:29:20,840 Speaker 1: on strike. It's spread across most of the country. Railways 547 00:29:20,840 --> 00:29:24,200 Speaker 1: shut down everywhere, people are riding everywhere. And in Chicago 548 00:29:24,240 --> 00:29:26,560 Speaker 1: people went hard as fuck. Uh, and they had all 549 00:29:26,560 --> 00:29:30,080 Speaker 1: these banners like life by work or death by fight. 550 00:29:31,160 --> 00:29:33,800 Speaker 1: One speaker said, better a thousand of us shot dead 551 00:29:33,840 --> 00:29:37,120 Speaker 1: in the streets than ten thousand dead of starvation, because 552 00:29:37,400 --> 00:29:39,640 Speaker 1: I mean people were starving, right. This isn't like just 553 00:29:41,040 --> 00:29:43,600 Speaker 1: you know, minors. They don't just like want to be 554 00:29:43,600 --> 00:29:47,160 Speaker 1: able to afford a new xbox, like they're they're trying 555 00:29:47,240 --> 00:29:51,480 Speaker 1: to like not die. People don't deserve nice things too. 556 00:29:51,520 --> 00:29:55,440 Speaker 1: But the situation was a lot was quite dire, Yeah, totally. 557 00:29:56,000 --> 00:29:59,200 Speaker 1: And so in Chicago the shot dead industries thing was 558 00:29:59,200 --> 00:30:01,520 Speaker 1: a little bit prescient. Actually wasn't a lot of cities, 559 00:30:01,880 --> 00:30:04,320 Speaker 1: um because after three days of striking, the police in 560 00:30:04,360 --> 00:30:07,440 Speaker 1: the military as well as hundreds of deputized civilians of 561 00:30:07,480 --> 00:30:10,920 Speaker 1: the middle and upper classes attacked and shot into the crowd, 562 00:30:11,240 --> 00:30:13,600 Speaker 1: and in the end they killed thirty workers and like 563 00:30:13,760 --> 00:30:18,240 Speaker 1: ten cops were injured. Jesus, And like everywhere else in 564 00:30:18,240 --> 00:30:21,160 Speaker 1: the country, the words to the ten cops injured that 565 00:30:21,160 --> 00:30:25,800 Speaker 1: that seems like not quite enough. But yeah, you know, yeah, 566 00:30:25,800 --> 00:30:31,400 Speaker 1: well well stick with me. Um good, Well no, because 567 00:30:31,400 --> 00:30:34,239 Speaker 1: I know where the story goes. I guess it's not 568 00:30:34,320 --> 00:30:37,960 Speaker 1: really good either way. Yeah, that is the thing, Like, 569 00:30:38,520 --> 00:30:41,200 Speaker 1: it's hard not to cheer on retribute to violence when 570 00:30:41,240 --> 00:30:43,680 Speaker 1: like terrible things are being done by people and violence 571 00:30:43,720 --> 00:30:45,920 Speaker 1: is visited upon the people doing the terrible things, but 572 00:30:46,240 --> 00:30:50,400 Speaker 1: it generally doesn't resolve itself neatly, right, that is absolutely 573 00:30:50,760 --> 00:30:54,000 Speaker 1: that is absolutely true. And so the media attacked the 574 00:30:54,000 --> 00:30:56,320 Speaker 1: strikers as well, and they basically, of course called for 575 00:30:56,360 --> 00:30:59,200 Speaker 1: their extermination, like they used the word extermination this is 576 00:30:59,240 --> 00:31:02,600 Speaker 1: ten years or Lucy Parsons used that, like we should 577 00:31:02,640 --> 00:31:05,360 Speaker 1: exterminate the rich. And I feel like that that cause 578 00:31:05,400 --> 00:31:12,840 Speaker 1: and effect matters, you know, um and uh, I don't know. Basically, 579 00:31:12,840 --> 00:31:14,760 Speaker 1: people are trying everything they could think of to get 580 00:31:14,760 --> 00:31:16,880 Speaker 1: better conditions, and they were basically just told you should 581 00:31:16,880 --> 00:31:21,080 Speaker 1: all be killed. And during all of this, that's also 582 00:31:21,240 --> 00:31:24,280 Speaker 1: important because yeah, she didn't, she didn't just like start 583 00:31:24,320 --> 00:31:26,880 Speaker 1: at like, well, the only solution is violence. A bunch 584 00:31:26,920 --> 00:31:30,120 Speaker 1: of powerful people and influential people were like, the only 585 00:31:30,120 --> 00:31:33,280 Speaker 1: solution is violence against you, and she was like okay, yeah, 586 00:31:33,280 --> 00:31:39,880 Speaker 1: exactly exactly, all right then, yeah, um, and even during 587 00:31:39,920 --> 00:31:42,600 Speaker 1: all of this until this. Basically Albert and Lucy are 588 00:31:42,640 --> 00:31:45,440 Speaker 1: both like pretty moderate in their socialism. Like Albert gave 589 00:31:45,480 --> 00:31:48,440 Speaker 1: some speeches that's this whole thing at this point, but 590 00:31:48,560 --> 00:31:51,640 Speaker 1: he like advocated restraint and that people should avoid sabotage 591 00:31:51,680 --> 00:31:53,840 Speaker 1: and that everyone should go vote in the upcoming elections 592 00:31:53,880 --> 00:31:57,959 Speaker 1: to make everything better. Um yea. And his his moderate 593 00:31:58,000 --> 00:32:00,600 Speaker 1: position got him fired from the Chicago Time where he worked, 594 00:32:00,600 --> 00:32:03,160 Speaker 1: and so suddenly he was completely without a job. Um 595 00:32:03,760 --> 00:32:06,160 Speaker 1: because and I'm guessing because the Chicago Times thought he 596 00:32:06,240 --> 00:32:10,280 Speaker 1: was too extreme, yes, yes, too extreme. Yeah, And at 597 00:32:10,280 --> 00:32:13,760 Speaker 1: this point Lucy opens up a dress shop. Yeah, he 598 00:32:13,800 --> 00:32:18,480 Speaker 1: gets canceled, and so Lucy Parsons opens up a dress 599 00:32:18,480 --> 00:32:21,560 Speaker 1: shop and is supporting her husband and her two kids 600 00:32:21,560 --> 00:32:25,760 Speaker 1: at the point, and this kind of rex socialism in 601 00:32:25,840 --> 00:32:31,000 Speaker 1: Chicago and the like, especially like party socialism, the kind 602 00:32:31,040 --> 00:32:34,600 Speaker 1: of like let's all go vote socialism. They actually tried 603 00:32:34,640 --> 00:32:36,840 Speaker 1: to go more and more moderate, not Lucy and Albert, 604 00:32:36,880 --> 00:32:39,640 Speaker 1: but like the largest socialist parties, they tried to go 605 00:32:39,680 --> 00:32:41,560 Speaker 1: more and more moderate to bring in new members. But 606 00:32:41,600 --> 00:32:44,320 Speaker 1: it had literally the opposite effect, and everyone became more 607 00:32:44,320 --> 00:32:49,360 Speaker 1: and more radical, and in eight three they all joined 608 00:32:49,360 --> 00:32:52,160 Speaker 1: a new anarchist organization called the i w p A 609 00:32:52,520 --> 00:32:59,560 Speaker 1: the International Working People's Association, which is a dead boring name, yes, 610 00:33:00,040 --> 00:33:03,320 Speaker 1: but name at least is the Working People's Association instead 611 00:33:03,320 --> 00:33:05,240 Speaker 1: of the Working Men's Association, which I feel like it's 612 00:33:05,240 --> 00:33:08,800 Speaker 1: saying that is pretty that is it actually pretty pretty based. 613 00:33:09,760 --> 00:33:12,040 Speaker 1: It was somewhere between a federation and a loose network. 614 00:33:12,080 --> 00:33:15,480 Speaker 1: There was no party, there's no membership organization. Different collectives 615 00:33:15,520 --> 00:33:18,400 Speaker 1: or which were called clusters, joined just by endorsing a 616 00:33:18,440 --> 00:33:20,920 Speaker 1: manifesto that some of them had written in Pittsburgh called 617 00:33:21,400 --> 00:33:24,040 Speaker 1: can you guess the really original name of the manifesto 618 00:33:24,080 --> 00:33:28,840 Speaker 1: that they wrote in Pittsburgh Working people Association Manifesto close 619 00:33:28,920 --> 00:33:35,080 Speaker 1: It was the Pittsburgh Manifesto. Um, yeah, day of Pittsburgh 620 00:33:35,080 --> 00:33:38,320 Speaker 1: Manifesto would be all about I don't know, what's the 621 00:33:38,400 --> 00:33:42,560 Speaker 1: Pittsburgh sandwiches with a lot of meat in them. Well, 622 00:33:42,560 --> 00:33:45,640 Speaker 1: that's that's the seventh point that they considered in the 623 00:33:45,680 --> 00:33:47,880 Speaker 1: six point manifesto that they settled on. I think it's 624 00:33:47,880 --> 00:33:50,240 Speaker 1: because some people from out of town were there. More 625 00:33:50,320 --> 00:33:54,719 Speaker 1: roast beef white a roast beef, that's right, Pittsburgh. Now 626 00:33:54,760 --> 00:33:56,520 Speaker 1: I'm just actually wondering how many of these people back 627 00:33:56,520 --> 00:33:59,120 Speaker 1: then were actually vegetarian, because there's this whole weird overlap 628 00:33:59,240 --> 00:34:01,800 Speaker 1: between the left vegetarianism that goes back hundreds of years. 629 00:34:01,800 --> 00:34:05,000 Speaker 1: But we'll talk about that some other time. Okay, So 630 00:34:05,080 --> 00:34:08,520 Speaker 1: the six points of this of their program that you 631 00:34:08,520 --> 00:34:11,920 Speaker 1: have to agree to in order to join. First, destruction 632 00:34:11,920 --> 00:34:14,400 Speaker 1: of the existing class rule by all means, i e. 633 00:34:14,600 --> 00:34:20,360 Speaker 1: By energetic, relentless revolutionary and international action on that sounds good. Second, 634 00:34:20,560 --> 00:34:25,279 Speaker 1: establishment of a free society based on cooperative organization of production. Yeah, 635 00:34:25,280 --> 00:34:28,560 Speaker 1: that would be nice. Third, free exchange of equivalent products 636 00:34:28,560 --> 00:34:33,760 Speaker 1: by and between productive organizations without commerce and profit mongery. Sure. 637 00:34:34,400 --> 00:34:38,200 Speaker 1: Fourth organization of education on a secular, scientific, and equal 638 00:34:38,239 --> 00:34:42,359 Speaker 1: basis for both sexes also sounds fine. Like the both 639 00:34:42,400 --> 00:34:45,880 Speaker 1: sexes part. These folks are really really really hit and 640 00:34:45,880 --> 00:34:49,719 Speaker 1: hard on that on that part. Fifth, equal rights for 641 00:34:49,800 --> 00:34:54,399 Speaker 1: all without distinction to sex or race. Dope, very good. 642 00:34:54,600 --> 00:34:58,040 Speaker 1: Sixth regulation of all public affairs by free contacts between 643 00:34:58,040 --> 00:35:01,440 Speaker 1: autonomous independent communes and a SoC seations resting on a 644 00:35:01,480 --> 00:35:06,359 Speaker 1: federalistic basis. That sounds pretty nice. It would be good 645 00:35:06,360 --> 00:35:08,759 Speaker 1: to have that. Yeah, Like I look at this and 646 00:35:08,760 --> 00:35:11,399 Speaker 1: I'm like Okay, that's good. Yeah, I mean I don't 647 00:35:11,640 --> 00:35:15,600 Speaker 1: I don't particularly disagree with anything there. Yeah, I might 648 00:35:15,640 --> 00:35:19,760 Speaker 1: have some additional questions about how to handle the exchange 649 00:35:19,760 --> 00:35:22,400 Speaker 1: of goods without commerce thing, because that that's that's a 650 00:35:22,520 --> 00:35:25,480 Speaker 1: that's a complicated matter. But I know, I feel like 651 00:35:25,480 --> 00:35:27,959 Speaker 1: they've meant something pretty specific there that I just don't 652 00:35:27,960 --> 00:35:30,360 Speaker 1: know what is. Yeah, I think there's a number of 653 00:35:30,360 --> 00:35:32,399 Speaker 1: ways you could try to do that. You know, there's 654 00:35:32,440 --> 00:35:35,360 Speaker 1: like you get your mutualists and your whatnots. But but 655 00:35:35,520 --> 00:35:38,120 Speaker 1: I don't know. I'm not a I'm not an economy expert, 656 00:35:38,160 --> 00:35:40,279 Speaker 1: but broadly speaking, I don't disagree with any of that. 657 00:35:40,280 --> 00:35:42,640 Speaker 1: That all seems like good stuff to to strive for 658 00:35:42,800 --> 00:35:47,600 Speaker 1: in a society. And they grew really rapidly, especially in Chicago, 659 00:35:47,719 --> 00:35:50,440 Speaker 1: but all over the country, and as the Socialist Party 660 00:35:50,480 --> 00:35:54,280 Speaker 1: and especially the sort of more moderate socialists kind of diminished, 661 00:35:54,320 --> 00:35:57,319 Speaker 1: Basically everyone's like, oh, no, this sounds Good's hard to 662 00:35:57,320 --> 00:35:59,200 Speaker 1: be moderate when they've just shot thirty of you in 663 00:35:59,239 --> 00:36:03,840 Speaker 1: the street. Ah, yeah, that makes me not very moderate. Um. 664 00:36:04,600 --> 00:36:07,719 Speaker 1: The American branch, because this actually was an international organization, 665 00:36:07,800 --> 00:36:11,879 Speaker 1: the American branch was mostly European immigrants. Their newspapers were 666 00:36:12,480 --> 00:36:15,080 Speaker 1: like five of the seven newspapers or something, I don't know, 667 00:36:15,200 --> 00:36:17,319 Speaker 1: some number. A lot of them were in German, but 668 00:36:17,360 --> 00:36:19,840 Speaker 1: then there were other ones, other newspapers in Czech, English 669 00:36:19,840 --> 00:36:25,160 Speaker 1: and Norwegian. And they took their inclusive policies really seriously. 670 00:36:25,200 --> 00:36:28,200 Speaker 1: At one point a socialist organization wanted to merge with them, 671 00:36:28,239 --> 00:36:32,040 Speaker 1: but the anarchists were like, you all exclude Chinese folks 672 00:36:32,080 --> 00:36:35,799 Speaker 1: from your organization, and so they refused. And in one 673 00:36:35,800 --> 00:36:38,880 Speaker 1: of the papers, the i w p A said, the 674 00:36:38,920 --> 00:36:41,439 Speaker 1: i w p A would never feel that it's ranks 675 00:36:41,440 --> 00:36:44,840 Speaker 1: were complete if it excluded working people of any nationality whatsoever. 676 00:36:45,480 --> 00:36:47,719 Speaker 1: And they went on to say that the socialist organization 677 00:36:47,760 --> 00:36:50,040 Speaker 1: was basically serving as tools of the capitalists by letting 678 00:36:50,120 --> 00:36:55,200 Speaker 1: racism divide the working class. They kind of ruled, and 679 00:36:55,400 --> 00:36:58,280 Speaker 1: all of the different clusters had total autonomy. The Chicago 680 00:36:58,360 --> 00:37:01,280 Speaker 1: cluster was really excited it about building a mass movement 681 00:37:01,280 --> 00:37:03,640 Speaker 1: through union organizing. Some of the other clusters were more 682 00:37:03,680 --> 00:37:10,040 Speaker 1: into like autonomous and individual action UM. In Chicago, each 683 00:37:10,080 --> 00:37:13,239 Speaker 1: meeting elected a chairman to facilitate and they rotated it. 684 00:37:13,640 --> 00:37:19,040 Speaker 1: The recording secretary and treasurer rotated and but they were 685 00:37:19,040 --> 00:37:22,040 Speaker 1: a subculture also, right, and that doesn't get talked about enough. 686 00:37:22,080 --> 00:37:24,720 Speaker 1: I I really like subcultures. That's why I'm always pointing 687 00:37:24,719 --> 00:37:27,600 Speaker 1: out when this thing's happened in history. But they hung 688 00:37:27,600 --> 00:37:29,919 Speaker 1: out in the Chicago beer halls, and that's basically where 689 00:37:29,920 --> 00:37:33,839 Speaker 1: they did all of their propagandizing. And to talk about 690 00:37:33,840 --> 00:37:36,279 Speaker 1: their subculture, I'm gonna quote the historian Paul Average in 691 00:37:36,280 --> 00:37:40,840 Speaker 1: his book The Haymarket Tragedy. Beyond their publishing ventures, the 692 00:37:40,880 --> 00:37:43,560 Speaker 1: anarchists engaged in a broad range of cultural and social 693 00:37:43,560 --> 00:37:47,040 Speaker 1: activities which enhanced their feelings of solidarity and greatly enriched 694 00:37:47,040 --> 00:37:49,880 Speaker 1: their lives. In a relatively short period. They created a 695 00:37:49,920 --> 00:37:54,680 Speaker 1: network of orchestras, choirs, theatrical groups, debating clubs, literary societies, 696 00:37:54,880 --> 00:37:58,759 Speaker 1: and gymnastic and shooting clubs involving thousands of participants. They 697 00:37:58,880 --> 00:38:02,720 Speaker 1: organized lectures, con sort of picnics, dances, plays and recitations 698 00:38:03,200 --> 00:38:06,080 Speaker 1: in which children as well as adults took part. Saloons 699 00:38:06,080 --> 00:38:09,080 Speaker 1: and beer gardens became bustling centers of radical life. The 700 00:38:09,120 --> 00:38:13,480 Speaker 1: International moreover, engaged in mutual aid services, providing assistance to 701 00:38:13,600 --> 00:38:18,640 Speaker 1: members and their families and times of need. Badass, I 702 00:38:18,719 --> 00:38:21,080 Speaker 1: know and like the thing that I really like about 703 00:38:21,080 --> 00:38:23,600 Speaker 1: it is that it's like these were all really poor 704 00:38:23,640 --> 00:38:26,760 Speaker 1: people who were like working six days weeks, twelve hour days, 705 00:38:27,040 --> 00:38:31,400 Speaker 1: and they they managed to have fulfilling, rich cultural lives. 706 00:38:32,520 --> 00:38:37,000 Speaker 1: They had masquerade balls and ship they had shooting contests, um, 707 00:38:37,040 --> 00:38:39,200 Speaker 1: and the some of the plays were written by participants. 708 00:38:39,239 --> 00:38:41,680 Speaker 1: They wrote like new words to popular songs, and they 709 00:38:41,680 --> 00:38:45,120 Speaker 1: basically were like completely punk and I really like them. Yeah. 710 00:38:45,120 --> 00:38:48,960 Speaker 1: And they were doing some remix art. Yeah. I mean 711 00:38:49,000 --> 00:38:54,239 Speaker 1: everything you've described sounds so like like high end and 712 00:38:54,239 --> 00:38:59,279 Speaker 1: and expensive for lack of a better word, so it 713 00:38:59,440 --> 00:39:02,200 Speaker 1: just makes it even cooler. Yeah. And they just did 714 00:39:02,200 --> 00:39:05,880 Speaker 1: it by actually all just doing it together collected, you know, 715 00:39:06,680 --> 00:39:10,799 Speaker 1: teamwork makes the dream work. Yeah. And they would have 716 00:39:10,840 --> 00:39:13,040 Speaker 1: these um they would have huge celebrations of the Paris 717 00:39:13,080 --> 00:39:15,840 Speaker 1: Commune every every year on the anniversary of the Paris Commune, 718 00:39:15,840 --> 00:39:17,920 Speaker 1: which was basically when the city of Paris like stole 719 00:39:17,960 --> 00:39:22,000 Speaker 1: itself back from its government for a while. And then 720 00:39:22,000 --> 00:39:24,200 Speaker 1: they had protests, and the protests were even more popular 721 00:39:24,239 --> 00:39:26,520 Speaker 1: than everything else, and they regularly drew thousands of workers 722 00:39:26,520 --> 00:39:28,880 Speaker 1: to march to the streets and their banners were things 723 00:39:28,960 --> 00:39:31,719 Speaker 1: like millions labor for the benefit of the few. We 724 00:39:31,800 --> 00:39:35,040 Speaker 1: want to labor for ourselves. They would have multiple brass bands, 725 00:39:35,040 --> 00:39:38,240 Speaker 1: they had fucking floats, They had carriages drawn by mules 726 00:39:38,280 --> 00:39:41,560 Speaker 1: with like allegorical displays like Uncle Sam driving around like 727 00:39:41,600 --> 00:39:45,320 Speaker 1: a policeman because he serves the policemen. And the speakers 728 00:39:45,360 --> 00:39:49,680 Speaker 1: like kept hitting the same points about including equal participation 729 00:39:50,120 --> 00:39:53,839 Speaker 1: by women in the labor movement. And their newspapers were 730 00:39:54,000 --> 00:39:56,959 Speaker 1: not just they were like there was like muck raking about, 731 00:39:56,960 --> 00:39:58,600 Speaker 1: like this is what the cops are doing. That's bad 732 00:39:58,600 --> 00:40:02,080 Speaker 1: and stuff, but they also included like philosophy and translations 733 00:40:02,080 --> 00:40:04,560 Speaker 1: of literature from other languages, and there was like fiction 734 00:40:04,560 --> 00:40:07,759 Speaker 1: and poetry. And again it's this idea that these like 735 00:40:07,760 --> 00:40:09,600 Speaker 1: like some of the people writing this poetry, which I'm 736 00:40:09,600 --> 00:40:11,600 Speaker 1: sure some of it was terrible, but whatever was like 737 00:40:12,400 --> 00:40:16,840 Speaker 1: written by workers who had never considered literary things before. Um, 738 00:40:16,880 --> 00:40:19,160 Speaker 1: and so just I don't know a whole other way 739 00:40:19,200 --> 00:40:21,839 Speaker 1: to raise people out of poverty, it seems like. And 740 00:40:22,239 --> 00:40:24,160 Speaker 1: you'll be shocked to know their hatred of government and 741 00:40:24,200 --> 00:40:28,640 Speaker 1: capitalism was completely mutual. Uh. The media spent a lot 742 00:40:28,640 --> 00:40:31,200 Speaker 1: of time villainizing them, and in particular the same as 743 00:40:31,239 --> 00:40:33,640 Speaker 1: the anarchist focused on the Paris Commune. So did the media. 744 00:40:34,040 --> 00:40:36,360 Speaker 1: Basically it was like, oh you'll like this. They were like, 745 00:40:36,560 --> 00:40:41,560 Speaker 1: don't let it happen here, because God forbid people self 746 00:40:41,680 --> 00:40:45,840 Speaker 1: organized and rule themselves. If they did, we'd have total anarchy. 747 00:40:46,560 --> 00:40:54,200 Speaker 1: Mm hmm um. Oh yeah that that I mean, it 748 00:40:54,239 --> 00:40:57,640 Speaker 1: makes sense like they of course they're scared of that, 749 00:40:59,239 --> 00:41:02,560 Speaker 1: but you know what, they're not scared of products and services. No, 750 00:41:02,680 --> 00:41:05,840 Speaker 1: of course not. Mainstream society was not scared of goods 751 00:41:05,840 --> 00:41:12,280 Speaker 1: and services, including the ones that support this podcast. Here's 752 00:41:12,320 --> 00:41:21,360 Speaker 1: the ads. Okay, we're back and we are all excited 753 00:41:21,400 --> 00:41:23,799 Speaker 1: to talk about people with a bunch of guns and 754 00:41:23,880 --> 00:41:27,839 Speaker 1: cool outfits. We're going to talk about the people whose 755 00:41:27,920 --> 00:41:29,680 Speaker 1: name I don't know how to pronounce because I cannot 756 00:41:29,680 --> 00:41:31,880 Speaker 1: speak German and every time I try to learn, it 757 00:41:31,880 --> 00:41:33,680 Speaker 1: goes in one part of my brain and out of 758 00:41:33,680 --> 00:41:36,120 Speaker 1: the other. I speak fluent German. I'll figure it out, Okay, 759 00:41:36,400 --> 00:41:40,280 Speaker 1: Lear and vir Varian, Yeah, yeah, you get it right. Okay. 760 00:41:40,480 --> 00:41:43,640 Speaker 1: The learon ver Verin were a group that we kind 761 00:41:43,640 --> 00:41:46,200 Speaker 1: of can't leave out because the labor organizers were organizing 762 00:41:46,239 --> 00:41:50,120 Speaker 1: themselves into armed formations ready for community defense or revolution. 763 00:41:50,280 --> 00:41:53,880 Speaker 1: Both defensive and offensive action, and at least two of 764 00:41:53,880 --> 00:41:56,160 Speaker 1: the labor unions, the metal workers and the Carpenters, had 765 00:41:56,280 --> 00:41:59,080 Speaker 1: armed sections that met regularly for drill and instructions and 766 00:41:59,239 --> 00:42:03,200 Speaker 1: armed conflked and the American group of the i w 767 00:42:03,320 --> 00:42:05,759 Speaker 1: p A had a similar auxiliary, but none of them 768 00:42:05,800 --> 00:42:08,920 Speaker 1: could compete in numbers or sheer coolness with the Laron 769 00:42:09,040 --> 00:42:12,920 Speaker 1: ver Verin, which was the Education and Defense Association. Because 770 00:42:13,640 --> 00:42:17,640 Speaker 1: these are very literal namers here, especially the Germans. It 771 00:42:17,719 --> 00:42:19,839 Speaker 1: was a leftist militia movement in response to the right 772 00:42:19,880 --> 00:42:22,160 Speaker 1: wing militias that have been forming and in response to 773 00:42:22,520 --> 00:42:26,200 Speaker 1: all the strikers getting murdered. And this is how we 774 00:42:26,280 --> 00:42:28,719 Speaker 1: get the first real challenges to the at least some 775 00:42:28,760 --> 00:42:32,440 Speaker 1: of the first challenges the Second Amendment and gun control 776 00:42:32,640 --> 00:42:35,920 Speaker 1: in the United States that that inspires people to want 777 00:42:35,920 --> 00:42:39,000 Speaker 1: gun control. Yeah, the state freaked out and banned all 778 00:42:39,040 --> 00:42:41,680 Speaker 1: the non official militias and the open carry of rifles. 779 00:42:42,160 --> 00:42:44,040 Speaker 1: Lear and Vir fought it to the Supreme Court and 780 00:42:44,040 --> 00:42:46,920 Speaker 1: they lost, basically paving the way for states rights to 781 00:42:46,960 --> 00:42:51,680 Speaker 1: restrict firearms ownership and militia formations. But that's an exciting 782 00:42:51,719 --> 00:42:57,680 Speaker 1: piece of history. UM no comment and so they would 783 00:42:57,680 --> 00:43:01,640 Speaker 1: march in anarchist parades, and different historians will describe their 784 00:43:01,640 --> 00:43:03,640 Speaker 1: outfits differently, but all of them sound really good. And 785 00:43:03,680 --> 00:43:06,600 Speaker 1: I'm going to pick the blue blouses and black pants 786 00:43:07,000 --> 00:43:11,160 Speaker 1: and cult revolvers. When the laws wouldn't allow rifles, there 787 00:43:11,160 --> 00:43:13,960 Speaker 1: were and they would like march in formation alongside the parades. 788 00:43:14,640 --> 00:43:16,920 Speaker 1: There's four companies of them. They had somewhere between four 789 00:43:17,000 --> 00:43:20,480 Speaker 1: hundred and three thousand members because I didn't keep really 790 00:43:20,520 --> 00:43:27,560 Speaker 1: good membership records for very good reasons. Yeah, And they 791 00:43:27,680 --> 00:43:30,160 Speaker 1: drilled weekly and then monthly, all of the companies came 792 00:43:30,200 --> 00:43:32,000 Speaker 1: together and drilled. And then also when they had the 793 00:43:32,040 --> 00:43:34,560 Speaker 1: anarchist picnics, they'd have these like mock battles where they'd 794 00:43:34,640 --> 00:43:37,080 Speaker 1: run around in practice fighting at the picnics. It just 795 00:43:37,280 --> 00:43:44,319 Speaker 1: sounds and basically this is like they raised a ton 796 00:43:44,400 --> 00:43:46,359 Speaker 1: of money from people who have had no money in 797 00:43:46,440 --> 00:43:50,600 Speaker 1: order to buy guns for everyone. During one six month period, 798 00:43:51,200 --> 00:43:55,200 Speaker 1: and anarchist quartermaster raised one thousand, two fifty five dollars 799 00:43:55,239 --> 00:43:58,000 Speaker 1: for new weapons, which is thirty seven thousand dollars today. 800 00:43:58,640 --> 00:44:01,240 Speaker 1: I mean that probably went further than thirty seven thousand 801 00:44:01,280 --> 00:44:05,120 Speaker 1: dollars for new weapons would go today. I assume, but 802 00:44:06,200 --> 00:44:08,120 Speaker 1: I don't know. I mean, they probably all weren't trying 803 00:44:08,120 --> 00:44:09,759 Speaker 1: to get the like two thousand dollar a r s. 804 00:44:09,800 --> 00:44:15,040 Speaker 1: You know, this is a real sure, that's still like 805 00:44:15,360 --> 00:44:19,480 Speaker 1: eighty weapons. I mean there was you know, probably three 806 00:44:19,480 --> 00:44:21,160 Speaker 1: thousand of them. Okay, okay, I see what you can 807 00:44:21,239 --> 00:44:23,160 Speaker 1: see what you're going with this? Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm 808 00:44:23,239 --> 00:44:25,600 Speaker 1: just assuming it went further than it would today, because again, 809 00:44:25,640 --> 00:44:28,600 Speaker 1: that's about like eighty nine guns, you know, more if 810 00:44:28,600 --> 00:44:30,560 Speaker 1: you're doing some of your own milling and ship like, 811 00:44:31,200 --> 00:44:36,319 Speaker 1: they were all budget workers. So yeah, basically they were 812 00:44:36,320 --> 00:44:39,960 Speaker 1: community defense organizations and they perceived the revolution as completely 813 00:44:39,960 --> 00:44:43,279 Speaker 1: inevitable also, and they wanted to be ready. They they 814 00:44:43,280 --> 00:44:45,520 Speaker 1: thought capitalism was about to collapse under its own weight. 815 00:44:45,520 --> 00:44:47,400 Speaker 1: How could it not with all the stuff they were 816 00:44:47,440 --> 00:44:49,440 Speaker 1: seeing they were in. I mean, after all, they were 817 00:44:49,560 --> 00:44:52,239 Speaker 1: like everybody thinks that and it's never right. Well, but 818 00:44:52,320 --> 00:44:55,000 Speaker 1: hear me out. They were in a major depression about 819 00:44:55,080 --> 00:45:05,040 Speaker 1: ten years after another major depression. I so, but yeah, 820 00:45:05,080 --> 00:45:07,759 Speaker 1: capitalism didn't collapse this time that time, but it will 821 00:45:07,840 --> 00:45:10,040 Speaker 1: just now I probably won't collapse this time either. Yeah. 822 00:45:10,320 --> 00:45:12,879 Speaker 1: It's it's it's pretty it's pretty durable. It can take 823 00:45:12,920 --> 00:45:15,600 Speaker 1: the punches. Look, you've got to give capitalism credit. It's 824 00:45:15,640 --> 00:45:17,719 Speaker 1: it's a prize fighter. I feel, take the hits. It 825 00:45:17,880 --> 00:45:20,000 Speaker 1: rides away, you know, it could take the hit. But 826 00:45:20,040 --> 00:45:23,960 Speaker 1: it's especially good at like dodging, you know. Yeah, it's 827 00:45:24,040 --> 00:45:29,879 Speaker 1: just like blobs around your fist and then raises your 828 00:45:29,880 --> 00:45:36,040 Speaker 1: rent thirteen times in seventeen months anyway, exactly, Okay, which 829 00:45:36,040 --> 00:45:38,319 Speaker 1: brings us quite naturally to the fight for the eight 830 00:45:38,320 --> 00:45:40,360 Speaker 1: hour work day, which is you know, promised at the 831 00:45:40,360 --> 00:45:42,879 Speaker 1: top of the hour. The fight for the eight hour 832 00:45:42,920 --> 00:45:44,960 Speaker 1: work day is what all this is about. But it's 833 00:45:44,960 --> 00:45:47,239 Speaker 1: also not what all this is about. But it was 834 00:45:47,280 --> 00:45:49,040 Speaker 1: this thing that was happening at the time, and it 835 00:45:49,120 --> 00:45:53,800 Speaker 1: was coming to a head around this time. Basically, people 836 00:45:53,840 --> 00:45:56,320 Speaker 1: didn't like working from sun up to sundown or sometimes 837 00:45:56,360 --> 00:45:58,520 Speaker 1: fourteen hour days regardless of whether or not the sun 838 00:45:58,600 --> 00:46:01,520 Speaker 1: was up. And really, but that's ten a whole hours 839 00:46:01,560 --> 00:46:03,919 Speaker 1: for them to, you know, have families in sleep. I know, 840 00:46:04,440 --> 00:46:06,560 Speaker 1: I feel like that's just greedy. I think. So they're 841 00:46:06,560 --> 00:46:09,759 Speaker 1: pretty much stealing from the bosses. Yeah, I mean we don't. 842 00:46:09,760 --> 00:46:15,240 Speaker 1: We don't. We don't give our workers that much free time. Yeah, 843 00:46:15,400 --> 00:46:18,319 Speaker 1: I didn't spend I didn't. I wasn't up till three 844 00:46:18,320 --> 00:46:21,000 Speaker 1: in the morning last night working on this. Um, I 845 00:46:21,040 --> 00:46:24,400 Speaker 1: don't know what you're talking about. Okay. So, in city 846 00:46:24,440 --> 00:46:27,480 Speaker 1: after city, in trade after trade, basically all of these 847 00:46:27,520 --> 00:46:29,840 Speaker 1: people started fighting for Originally, they weren't even fighting for 848 00:46:29,840 --> 00:46:31,319 Speaker 1: the eight hour work day. They were fighting for the 849 00:46:31,400 --> 00:46:35,000 Speaker 1: like ten hour work day, you know, or even just 850 00:46:35,360 --> 00:46:38,560 Speaker 1: please not fourteen hours or whatever. Yea, what if we 851 00:46:38,600 --> 00:46:42,160 Speaker 1: had two days for the weekend. And so they had 852 00:46:42,200 --> 00:46:44,600 Speaker 1: a whole bunch of strikes all throughout the nineteenth century, 853 00:46:44,680 --> 00:46:46,640 Speaker 1: and some of them were one some of them were lost. It. 854 00:46:46,760 --> 00:46:49,920 Speaker 1: It went on like that for over a hundred years. 855 00:46:50,560 --> 00:46:53,280 Speaker 1: Every every few years, some trade in another city would 856 00:46:53,360 --> 00:46:55,960 Speaker 1: or other country would would win the ten hour day 857 00:46:56,000 --> 00:46:59,239 Speaker 1: or the eight hour day, and but sometimes they would 858 00:46:59,239 --> 00:47:03,480 Speaker 1: win in legislate and it wouldn't do anything. Chicago actually 859 00:47:03,520 --> 00:47:06,040 Speaker 1: won the eight hour work day in the eighteen sixties, 860 00:47:06,840 --> 00:47:09,560 Speaker 1: but they didn't they want it in legislation, but it 861 00:47:09,600 --> 00:47:11,800 Speaker 1: was so full of loopholes that it was never enforced, 862 00:47:12,400 --> 00:47:16,120 Speaker 1: and so kind of ironically or maybe fittingly, a ton 863 00:47:16,200 --> 00:47:17,960 Speaker 1: of the strikers and socialists and even some of the 864 00:47:17,960 --> 00:47:20,560 Speaker 1: anarchists were on some level just actually fighting for the 865 00:47:20,640 --> 00:47:25,040 Speaker 1: law to be applied evenly across classes, UM, which obviously 866 00:47:25,120 --> 00:47:27,440 Speaker 1: they won because that happens now the law is definitely 867 00:47:27,520 --> 00:47:35,520 Speaker 1: applied evenly across classes. I think. I hope it's not spoiler, 868 00:47:35,680 --> 00:47:41,960 Speaker 1: it's not okay. So four members of the labor movement 869 00:47:41,960 --> 00:47:44,120 Speaker 1: from across the country met in Chicago, which was kind 870 00:47:44,120 --> 00:47:46,120 Speaker 1: of the center of a lot of the labor movement stuff, 871 00:47:46,520 --> 00:47:51,040 Speaker 1: and they declared two years later May one six they 872 00:47:51,040 --> 00:47:53,280 Speaker 1: were going to enforce the eight hour day through strikes 873 00:47:53,280 --> 00:47:59,000 Speaker 1: and walkouts just nationwide, all industries, UM. Which I feel 874 00:47:59,000 --> 00:48:01,080 Speaker 1: like it's like worth noting that they gave themselves two 875 00:48:01,160 --> 00:48:04,960 Speaker 1: years in order to plan a general strike. Yep, that's 876 00:48:05,000 --> 00:48:08,680 Speaker 1: probably worth noting the statement of like a really single, singular, 877 00:48:08,800 --> 00:48:12,359 Speaker 1: specific goal. I also really like the idea of like 878 00:48:13,040 --> 00:48:15,799 Speaker 1: this is a thing we've decided we're getting, and then 879 00:48:15,960 --> 00:48:18,759 Speaker 1: we're going to enforce the fact that we're getting that 880 00:48:19,120 --> 00:48:21,680 Speaker 1: using that kind of language that the state uses in US, 881 00:48:21,760 --> 00:48:24,600 Speaker 1: that like people are very familiar with, as opposed to 882 00:48:24,680 --> 00:48:27,400 Speaker 1: kind of the we're agitating for change or we're trying 883 00:48:27,400 --> 00:48:30,040 Speaker 1: to like bring electoral change. No, no, no, we are 884 00:48:30,960 --> 00:48:33,960 Speaker 1: in the same way that the state enforces things, you know, 885 00:48:34,000 --> 00:48:36,239 Speaker 1: through its police. We are enforcing that we get this 886 00:48:36,320 --> 00:48:39,200 Speaker 1: eight hour work day through our action. We're organizing to 887 00:48:39,239 --> 00:48:41,160 Speaker 1: do that. I think that's a really smart way of 888 00:48:41,200 --> 00:48:44,400 Speaker 1: like framing it. Yeah. Yeah, they weren't sucking around. And 889 00:48:44,440 --> 00:48:46,960 Speaker 1: even the even like the moderates and the you know, 890 00:48:47,120 --> 00:48:49,759 Speaker 1: the less radical among the labor movement, they still knew 891 00:48:49,760 --> 00:48:53,280 Speaker 1: what was at stake. Um at the beginning, the Chicago 892 00:48:53,320 --> 00:48:55,800 Speaker 1: anarchists were opposed to the eight hour struggle, not because 893 00:48:55,800 --> 00:48:58,080 Speaker 1: they were opposed to better conditions for workers, but they 894 00:48:58,080 --> 00:49:01,520 Speaker 1: were basically baby ups. What's a baby step? We need 895 00:49:01,560 --> 00:49:03,880 Speaker 1: to all seize control the workplaces in our cities and 896 00:49:04,000 --> 00:49:06,759 Speaker 1: have a revolution. Um, it's it's that it's that old. 897 00:49:06,880 --> 00:49:08,880 Speaker 1: I mean, it wasn't an old argument then that it 898 00:49:09,000 --> 00:49:12,480 Speaker 1: is now we still have that like why would you Yeah, anyway, 899 00:49:12,520 --> 00:49:14,319 Speaker 1: we don't need to get into that. Yeah, although I 900 00:49:14,360 --> 00:49:17,480 Speaker 1: will say it is an argument that people have not 901 00:49:17,600 --> 00:49:21,560 Speaker 1: ever resolved though. But but actually I find it interesting 902 00:49:21,600 --> 00:49:24,480 Speaker 1: the way they came around to it, which is, on 903 00:49:24,560 --> 00:49:26,800 Speaker 1: some level they realized which way the wind was blowing 904 00:49:26,880 --> 00:49:28,640 Speaker 1: and maybe that was cynical, and they were like, Okay, 905 00:49:28,640 --> 00:49:31,799 Speaker 1: well we better join up with everyone else. But I 906 00:49:31,880 --> 00:49:33,320 Speaker 1: kind of think that, like maybe they took some of 907 00:49:33,360 --> 00:49:35,920 Speaker 1: their own lessons to heart, because they don't want to 908 00:49:35,920 --> 00:49:37,520 Speaker 1: tell other people what to do, and they don't want 909 00:49:37,520 --> 00:49:39,880 Speaker 1: to have like a revolutionary vanguard that tells everyone what 910 00:49:39,920 --> 00:49:42,640 Speaker 1: they should want. And what people wanted was to fight 911 00:49:42,680 --> 00:49:45,279 Speaker 1: for the eight hour work day, and so instead, by 912 00:49:45,960 --> 00:49:48,239 Speaker 1: six the Chicago anarchists were all in, and they were 913 00:49:48,360 --> 00:49:51,640 Speaker 1: really really good organizers and propagandists and shooting soon. Chicago 914 00:49:51,760 --> 00:49:54,160 Speaker 1: is the center of all this struggle. And there's a 915 00:49:54,239 --> 00:49:59,399 Speaker 1: quote from another anarchist, Italian anarchist Mala Testa. He wrote 916 00:49:59,440 --> 00:50:02,080 Speaker 1: in an essay called reformism that I feel like applies here, 917 00:50:02,480 --> 00:50:06,200 Speaker 1: which is we will take or win all possible reforms 918 00:50:06,239 --> 00:50:09,680 Speaker 1: with the same spirit that one tears occupied territory from 919 00:50:09,680 --> 00:50:13,520 Speaker 1: the enemy's grasp in order to keep on advancing. That's 920 00:50:13,520 --> 00:50:16,920 Speaker 1: how I've always seen reformism personally. Honestly, it's like, well, 921 00:50:16,920 --> 00:50:18,520 Speaker 1: of course we should get that. It's a good thing, 922 00:50:18,560 --> 00:50:21,880 Speaker 1: we should get it. I feel fine about this. So 923 00:50:21,960 --> 00:50:26,760 Speaker 1: far nothing well yeah, and so so then they strike 924 00:50:26,880 --> 00:50:29,399 Speaker 1: and they win, and everything has been happily ever after, 925 00:50:29,480 --> 00:50:32,200 Speaker 1: and slowly we've all adopted the six point platform, and 926 00:50:32,239 --> 00:50:36,640 Speaker 1: we live in utopian society which has no inner conflict. Yeah, 927 00:50:36,960 --> 00:50:38,960 Speaker 1: that's how it happened. Huh. Yeah, I was wondering why 928 00:50:38,960 --> 00:50:43,520 Speaker 1: things were still perfect. Yeah yeah, okay, so uh but 929 00:50:43,680 --> 00:50:45,759 Speaker 1: during this build up, Okay, it's important to note the 930 00:50:45,800 --> 00:50:48,200 Speaker 1: anarchists weren't alone and thinking there's about to be a revolution. 931 00:50:48,600 --> 00:50:51,480 Speaker 1: General Sherman of the U. S. Army wrote, there will 932 00:50:51,520 --> 00:50:54,799 Speaker 1: soon come in armed contest between capital and labor. They 933 00:50:54,800 --> 00:50:57,680 Speaker 1: will oppose each other, not with words and arguments and ballots, 934 00:50:57,719 --> 00:51:01,000 Speaker 1: but with shot and shell, gunpowder and cannon. The better 935 00:51:01,040 --> 00:51:04,480 Speaker 1: classes are tired of the insane howlings of the lower strata, 936 00:51:04,560 --> 00:51:11,440 Speaker 1: and they mean to stop. Oh, buddy, Sherman. Sherman. Sherman Sherman. Uh. 937 00:51:11,880 --> 00:51:17,520 Speaker 1: Problematic faith, not even really a faith, as he competed 938 00:51:17,560 --> 00:51:19,759 Speaker 1: my marriage. I mean, he was actually critical to the 939 00:51:19,800 --> 00:51:22,560 Speaker 1: invention of concentration camp as a concept because of the 940 00:51:22,600 --> 00:51:26,160 Speaker 1: things that he did do Indigenous Americans. It's like it's 941 00:51:26,200 --> 00:51:28,800 Speaker 1: like you've got this artist who releases a great album 942 00:51:28,840 --> 00:51:30,640 Speaker 1: and then it turns out they were like doing some 943 00:51:30,719 --> 00:51:34,920 Speaker 1: sort of horrible crimes too, and it's like, I really 944 00:51:34,920 --> 00:51:38,520 Speaker 1: liked it when you were burning large chunks of Confederacy. 945 00:51:38,560 --> 00:51:41,880 Speaker 1: But I can't back the rest of your career. Yeah, 946 00:51:42,400 --> 00:51:46,600 Speaker 1: it's like with William Henry Harrison, totally supportive of his presidency, 947 00:51:46,719 --> 00:51:50,000 Speaker 1: the only really perfect presidency anyone's had. Now, the stuff 948 00:51:50,040 --> 00:51:52,600 Speaker 1: he did before that I won't defend. But as a 949 00:51:52,960 --> 00:51:56,440 Speaker 1: while he was president flawless, I do not know enough 950 00:51:56,480 --> 00:51:59,360 Speaker 1: to come in. Unfortunately, he died thirty days into his 951 00:52:00,040 --> 00:52:02,160 Speaker 1: that was him. Okay, he's the one who died. To me, 952 00:52:02,560 --> 00:52:04,439 Speaker 1: he didn't get a chance to do anything bad. Yeah, 953 00:52:04,680 --> 00:52:11,759 Speaker 1: great precedents, no notes, um Okay. So so during this 954 00:52:11,840 --> 00:52:14,640 Speaker 1: build up towards eight six, basically all of America is 955 00:52:14,680 --> 00:52:18,240 Speaker 1: like this is also completely unfamiliar to the modern audience. 956 00:52:18,480 --> 00:52:20,239 Speaker 1: All of America is like, are we about to have 957 00:52:20,280 --> 00:52:24,000 Speaker 1: another civil war? Like? What's about to happen? That is 958 00:52:24,040 --> 00:52:26,080 Speaker 1: one of the things that comforts me sometimes is that 959 00:52:26,120 --> 00:52:28,920 Speaker 1: we've been asked, we've asked that question pretty regularly, and 960 00:52:28,960 --> 00:52:32,920 Speaker 1: we've only occasionally had civil wars. Yeah, that's true. Both 961 00:52:32,960 --> 00:52:36,640 Speaker 1: the press and the clergy are basically working really hard 962 00:52:36,680 --> 00:52:39,920 Speaker 1: to smear anarchists and spread fear. Uh. They were all 963 00:52:39,960 --> 00:52:42,799 Speaker 1: painted as as aliens and mad men, and they're trying 964 00:52:42,840 --> 00:52:46,680 Speaker 1: to destroy America's prosperity and freedom, and it it kind 965 00:52:46,680 --> 00:52:49,480 Speaker 1: of worked in public opinion started turking, turning against them 966 00:52:49,480 --> 00:52:52,920 Speaker 1: as the incarnation of evil, and then the anarchists, for 967 00:52:52,960 --> 00:52:55,840 Speaker 1: their part, started saying the same thing back about capitalists 968 00:52:55,840 --> 00:53:00,440 Speaker 1: and cops, calling capitalists leeches and cops blood, which is 969 00:53:00,480 --> 00:53:03,839 Speaker 1: basically like calling them pigs. And so both both sides 970 00:53:03,840 --> 00:53:09,800 Speaker 1: are working to the animal others. Yeah, which Bill brings 971 00:53:09,800 --> 00:53:13,880 Speaker 1: it to a head and spring, and the stage was 972 00:53:13,960 --> 00:53:19,360 Speaker 1: set for tragedy. On May one, a ton of owners 973 00:53:19,360 --> 00:53:21,960 Speaker 1: and a ton of industries across the country actually capitulated 974 00:53:21,960 --> 00:53:24,000 Speaker 1: without a strike and granted the eight or nine hour 975 00:53:24,120 --> 00:53:28,160 Speaker 1: day to their employees. A ton more did not. Well, 976 00:53:28,160 --> 00:53:32,760 Speaker 1: that's not not um So something like three forty thousand 977 00:53:32,840 --> 00:53:36,400 Speaker 1: people went on strike on May one, which is impressed. 978 00:53:36,440 --> 00:53:38,960 Speaker 1: There were only like three d and fifty thousand people 979 00:53:38,960 --> 00:53:41,520 Speaker 1: in the country at this exactly, so there's ten thousand 980 00:53:41,520 --> 00:53:46,960 Speaker 1: people not on strike and they're all cops probably, And 981 00:53:47,560 --> 00:53:50,480 Speaker 1: in Chicago alone, forty thou people walk off the job, 982 00:53:50,560 --> 00:53:53,000 Speaker 1: which is like half the population of Chicago something. It's 983 00:53:53,000 --> 00:53:55,359 Speaker 1: not actually half, I'm being hyperbolic, but it's a lot. 984 00:53:55,440 --> 00:53:57,560 Speaker 1: It's it's a it's a lot of significant chunk of 985 00:53:57,560 --> 00:53:59,479 Speaker 1: the people who did not burn to death in the fire. 986 00:54:00,000 --> 00:54:03,280 Speaker 1: And then another forty thou the other half practically joined 987 00:54:03,520 --> 00:54:06,280 Speaker 1: um joined them in a march of eighty thousand people 988 00:54:06,280 --> 00:54:09,080 Speaker 1: in Chicago. And so this is the first May Day 989 00:54:09,120 --> 00:54:12,640 Speaker 1: labor march in history. And it's now are the people 990 00:54:12,680 --> 00:54:15,840 Speaker 1: who work with the companies that yielded are they going 991 00:54:15,880 --> 00:54:18,000 Speaker 1: on strike as part of the general strike or are 992 00:54:18,080 --> 00:54:21,040 Speaker 1: they like not, I'm not certain. I I kind of 993 00:54:21,920 --> 00:54:25,680 Speaker 1: my general impression is that probably the workers who yielded 994 00:54:25,760 --> 00:54:27,960 Speaker 1: might have been, like, it's Saturday, and I don't know, 995 00:54:28,040 --> 00:54:30,840 Speaker 1: we're about to have a war. Let's go code, you 996 00:54:31,000 --> 00:54:33,800 Speaker 1: go to your parade. That's my like my gut feeling, 997 00:54:33,840 --> 00:54:36,279 Speaker 1: but I don't actually know, okay. And then like in 998 00:54:36,280 --> 00:54:38,440 Speaker 1: all the history books, they're always at least the ones 999 00:54:38,520 --> 00:54:40,200 Speaker 1: I read, they're like, and it was lad at the 1000 00:54:40,239 --> 00:54:43,040 Speaker 1: front by Lucy Parsons, Albert Parsons and their two kids. 1001 00:54:43,080 --> 00:54:45,160 Speaker 1: And I kind of want to like point this out 1002 00:54:45,320 --> 00:54:47,560 Speaker 1: because I'm like, they were probably near the front or 1003 00:54:47,600 --> 00:54:50,000 Speaker 1: maybe at the front, but it's not like this was 1004 00:54:50,080 --> 00:54:54,000 Speaker 1: Lucy and Albert Parsons who who did this you know. Um, 1005 00:54:54,120 --> 00:54:56,720 Speaker 1: they they if they let it, they were not alone 1006 00:54:56,760 --> 00:54:58,239 Speaker 1: in it. They but they might have been at the front. 1007 00:54:58,239 --> 00:55:00,160 Speaker 1: And it's also a really nice image to have them 1008 00:55:00,200 --> 00:55:04,040 Speaker 1: at the front. Um. There are two kids, Um, they're 1009 00:55:04,080 --> 00:55:06,200 Speaker 1: like I don't remember, they're like seven or something at 1010 00:55:06,200 --> 00:55:08,960 Speaker 1: this point, one of them, the older one is And 1011 00:55:09,480 --> 00:55:12,840 Speaker 1: during this big, happy march, you'll be shocked to know 1012 00:55:13,640 --> 00:55:16,280 Speaker 1: it all happened under the watchful gaze of police, private 1013 00:55:16,280 --> 00:55:20,360 Speaker 1: security and deputized civilian snipers perched on rooftops all along 1014 00:55:20,400 --> 00:55:24,520 Speaker 1: the route. Another thing that hasn't happened again deputized civilian 1015 00:55:24,560 --> 00:55:27,399 Speaker 1: snipers I know. And then this also will totally surprise you. 1016 00:55:28,560 --> 00:55:36,920 Speaker 1: Out of sight militia waited with gatling guns with gatling guns. Um. 1017 00:55:36,960 --> 00:55:39,680 Speaker 1: So this all feels pretty familiar to me. But this 1018 00:55:40,080 --> 00:55:42,560 Speaker 1: all feels like a thing that's happened repeated but nothing 1019 00:55:42,560 --> 00:55:45,960 Speaker 1: bad happened. And then the next day, but also is 1020 00:55:45,960 --> 00:55:48,680 Speaker 1: something that's happened before. And then the next day Sunday, 1021 00:55:49,280 --> 00:55:51,600 Speaker 1: nothing bad happened. There wasn't a strike on Sunday because 1022 00:55:51,600 --> 00:55:55,040 Speaker 1: they didn't have to, um, because it's but everyone Hateshi Monday, 1023 00:55:55,040 --> 00:56:00,440 Speaker 1: am I right? Yeah? Worst, So on my day May 1024 00:56:00,440 --> 00:56:04,120 Speaker 1: three more workers walk off the job, including the lumber shovers, 1025 00:56:04,480 --> 00:56:06,320 Speaker 1: which is the coolest name of a job but actually 1026 00:56:06,320 --> 00:56:08,919 Speaker 1: sounds like a terrible job. They're name for a job. 1027 00:56:08,960 --> 00:56:10,759 Speaker 1: I'm sure it's it's a nightmare of a job, but 1028 00:56:10,760 --> 00:56:12,440 Speaker 1: it's a very funny thing to call you. Yeah, it 1029 00:56:12,440 --> 00:56:15,920 Speaker 1: just basically means you like move logs and lumber around. Yeah, 1030 00:56:15,960 --> 00:56:19,040 Speaker 1: I kind of guess what lumber shoving was from the content. Yeah, okay, 1031 00:56:19,080 --> 00:56:23,440 Speaker 1: fair enough. And then the seamstress has also went on strike. 1032 00:56:23,480 --> 00:56:25,160 Speaker 1: I'm sure other ones did, but those are the two 1033 00:56:25,160 --> 00:56:27,040 Speaker 1: that I like found about and I got excited about. 1034 00:56:27,440 --> 00:56:32,440 Speaker 1: And then there's the McCormick Reaper Works, which that's a 1035 00:56:32,840 --> 00:56:37,280 Speaker 1: that's a pretty tough name for a business, the Reaper Factory. 1036 00:56:37,320 --> 00:56:39,760 Speaker 1: It does it does sound like they make war Christ. 1037 00:56:41,120 --> 00:56:42,879 Speaker 1: What they did is they automated the jobs of all 1038 00:56:42,880 --> 00:56:46,439 Speaker 1: the farmers and or fed the world, depending on who 1039 00:56:46,480 --> 00:56:50,600 Speaker 1: controls the means of production. Basically, yeah, and it it 1040 00:56:50,719 --> 00:56:53,880 Speaker 1: was the first automated harvesting machine. It like revolutionized farming. 1041 00:56:54,120 --> 00:56:58,520 Speaker 1: Um and it's factory at this long history of labor struggle, 1042 00:56:58,560 --> 00:57:02,320 Speaker 1: and they had a union until earlier that year. McCormick 1043 00:57:02,360 --> 00:57:04,120 Speaker 1: not the original McCormick who invented it, but I think 1044 00:57:04,120 --> 00:57:07,040 Speaker 1: his kid. Basically, he was like, you know what, I 1045 00:57:07,040 --> 00:57:08,879 Speaker 1: want to automate your jobs, and I don't like having 1046 00:57:08,920 --> 00:57:12,319 Speaker 1: a union around. So he fired his entire workforce who 1047 00:57:12,320 --> 00:57:14,000 Speaker 1: were not out on strike at the time, and then 1048 00:57:14,000 --> 00:57:17,360 Speaker 1: he just hired non union workers. So and a lot 1049 00:57:17,400 --> 00:57:19,720 Speaker 1: of anarchists from the metal Workers Union had worked there. 1050 00:57:19,800 --> 00:57:21,600 Speaker 1: And so every time there was a picket, police and 1051 00:57:21,640 --> 00:57:26,200 Speaker 1: Pinkerton's arrived armed to the teeth. Pinkerton's for are the 1052 00:57:26,600 --> 00:57:31,240 Speaker 1: private security of the capitalists at this time? Yeah, So 1053 00:57:31,720 --> 00:57:34,400 Speaker 1: on May three, at the lumber shover's rally a few 1054 00:57:34,400 --> 00:57:39,480 Speaker 1: blocks away from the McCormick Reaper factory, they they heard 1055 00:57:39,480 --> 00:57:41,520 Speaker 1: the McCormick bell strike the end of the day, and 1056 00:57:41,560 --> 00:57:44,120 Speaker 1: so all the lumber shovers ran over to join the 1057 00:57:44,160 --> 00:57:46,920 Speaker 1: picket and to throw rocks at the scabs who had 1058 00:57:47,080 --> 00:57:50,320 Speaker 1: stolen their jobs. The picketers drove the scabs back into 1059 00:57:50,320 --> 00:57:53,040 Speaker 1: the factory. Then the cops arrived, and then they threw 1060 00:57:53,040 --> 00:57:55,360 Speaker 1: stones at the cops, and then the cops drew revolvers 1061 00:57:55,360 --> 00:57:59,959 Speaker 1: and fired into the crowd. Um two people at least 1062 00:58:00,000 --> 00:58:03,640 Speaker 1: were killed. No cops were so much as injured, and 1063 00:58:05,000 --> 00:58:06,440 Speaker 1: I wanna I want to give you a sense of 1064 00:58:06,440 --> 00:58:12,280 Speaker 1: how the media handled this, the mainstream media, that bastion 1065 00:58:12,320 --> 00:58:15,080 Speaker 1: of neutrality. The New York Times reported it like this, 1066 00:58:21,520 --> 00:58:24,000 Speaker 1: the eight hour Movements built us first blood today and 1067 00:58:24,120 --> 00:58:27,760 Speaker 1: Joseph Buttleck, a lumber shover eighteen years old, was fatally wounded, 1068 00:58:27,760 --> 00:58:30,040 Speaker 1: and a dozen more strikers with bullet holes in their bodies, 1069 00:58:30,080 --> 00:58:32,600 Speaker 1: representing the result of the first encounter. There was a 1070 00:58:32,640 --> 00:58:35,640 Speaker 1: collision at McCormick's Reaper Works between a mob of seven 1071 00:58:35,760 --> 00:58:39,400 Speaker 1: or eight thousand anarchist workmen and tramps maddened with free 1072 00:58:39,400 --> 00:58:43,080 Speaker 1: beer and free speech, and a squad of policemen. More 1073 00:58:43,120 --> 00:58:45,680 Speaker 1: than five hundred shots were fired and hundreds of windows 1074 00:58:45,680 --> 00:58:48,400 Speaker 1: in the works were stoned. There are broken heads and 1075 00:58:48,440 --> 00:58:51,360 Speaker 1: bruised bodies all through the lumber district tonight. But the 1076 00:58:51,440 --> 00:58:57,720 Speaker 1: downtrodden masses have risen and had their fun. Yeah. Yeah, 1077 00:58:58,000 --> 00:59:00,480 Speaker 1: to be fair, New York Times like think it's like 1078 00:59:00,520 --> 00:59:02,760 Speaker 1: thirty years later came up with the concept of being 1079 00:59:02,800 --> 00:59:05,000 Speaker 1: a neutral newspaper, and they had not done so at 1080 00:59:05,000 --> 00:59:08,880 Speaker 1: this time or since. Yeah, well, they came up with 1081 00:59:08,920 --> 00:59:12,680 Speaker 1: the concept thinking about that time. They had the Dictator 1082 00:59:12,720 --> 00:59:14,720 Speaker 1: of Turkey right at column or was that the Washington 1083 00:59:14,840 --> 00:59:18,520 Speaker 1: I forget Okay, So the article goes on at like 1084 00:59:18,520 --> 00:59:20,800 Speaker 1: a great length that it talks about how heroic the 1085 00:59:20,840 --> 00:59:24,040 Speaker 1: police are and how includes all these like completely impossible 1086 00:59:24,080 --> 00:59:27,360 Speaker 1: details like the entire crowd roared in one voice kill 1087 00:59:27,480 --> 00:59:31,439 Speaker 1: the police, um, and how that does sound dope, I know? 1088 00:59:32,000 --> 00:59:34,160 Speaker 1: And how But they also claimed that the crowd was 1089 00:59:34,280 --> 00:59:36,840 Speaker 1: throwing stones and then shooting guns in the air, but 1090 00:59:36,880 --> 00:59:41,320 Speaker 1: somehow miraculously wasn't shooting at the cops um, even though 1091 00:59:41,360 --> 00:59:44,840 Speaker 1: they were ostensibly trying to murder the police. Yeah, they 1092 00:59:44,840 --> 00:59:46,640 Speaker 1: were maybe trying to arc it down, you know, it's 1093 00:59:46,640 --> 00:59:49,640 Speaker 1: like fielders. Oh yeah, yeah, totally. They were like we've 1094 00:59:49,640 --> 00:59:56,400 Speaker 1: read about these cans as mortars. Um. So some of 1095 00:59:56,400 --> 00:59:58,800 Speaker 1: the anarchists who are there runoff and they call for 1096 00:59:58,840 --> 01:00:01,400 Speaker 1: a demonstration the next day to be called at Haymarket Square. 1097 01:00:02,000 --> 01:00:04,520 Speaker 1: Most of the flyers just say like, hey, show up, 1098 01:00:05,000 --> 01:00:07,840 Speaker 1: But then a few of them show say hey, show 1099 01:00:07,920 --> 01:00:12,320 Speaker 1: up with guns. What the fuck? Because they well, that's 1100 01:00:12,520 --> 01:00:15,160 Speaker 1: that's gonna get you in some trup. Just just knowing 1101 01:00:15,200 --> 01:00:17,600 Speaker 1: the America, I know that's gonna get you in some trup. 1102 01:00:17,960 --> 01:00:20,200 Speaker 1: And not judging it, but that's gonna get you in 1103 01:00:20,200 --> 01:00:23,080 Speaker 1: some trump And so first they printed the show up 1104 01:00:23,080 --> 01:00:25,040 Speaker 1: with guns one and then actually one of the people 1105 01:00:25,040 --> 01:00:29,439 Speaker 1: who later dies was like, uh, that's a bad idea. Yeah, 1106 01:00:29,480 --> 01:00:31,640 Speaker 1: that's gonna get us in some trouble. And so they 1107 01:00:32,520 --> 01:00:34,680 Speaker 1: reprinted all Unfortunately, they're all they they all work for 1108 01:00:34,720 --> 01:00:37,120 Speaker 1: these newspapers they own, so they like because they all 1109 01:00:37,120 --> 01:00:39,280 Speaker 1: work for the different anarchists newspapers, so they can print 1110 01:00:39,320 --> 01:00:41,320 Speaker 1: whatever they want. So then they print a new one 1111 01:00:41,520 --> 01:00:44,120 Speaker 1: that does not say show up with guns, and but 1112 01:00:44,240 --> 01:00:46,720 Speaker 1: a couple hundred of the like show up with gun 1113 01:00:46,760 --> 01:00:49,960 Speaker 1: ones slip out, probably by accident, maybe not by accident, 1114 01:00:50,480 --> 01:00:54,520 Speaker 1: who the funk knows. So the next day cops attacks 1115 01:00:54,560 --> 01:00:58,680 Speaker 1: striking workers throughout the city. Some strikers destroyed a drug 1116 01:00:58,720 --> 01:01:01,360 Speaker 1: store that police were using to telephone back to their headquarters. 1117 01:01:02,400 --> 01:01:05,120 Speaker 1: But the the rally, the one that had some flyers 1118 01:01:05,200 --> 01:01:07,760 Speaker 1: and hey, show up a guns, was not fierce. It 1119 01:01:07,920 --> 01:01:10,120 Speaker 1: started off really late. That turnout was like two thousand 1120 01:01:10,160 --> 01:01:13,760 Speaker 1: people instead of the twenty thou people expected. Probably people 1121 01:01:13,760 --> 01:01:15,640 Speaker 1: have been frightened off because they were like, oh no, 1122 01:01:15,680 --> 01:01:18,960 Speaker 1: we don't actually want a war, Yeah, we don't wanna 1123 01:01:19,160 --> 01:01:21,280 Speaker 1: maybe this show up to the gun with guns situation 1124 01:01:21,320 --> 01:01:24,240 Speaker 1: isn't the right thing to bring my kids. Exactly exactly, 1125 01:01:24,960 --> 01:01:29,400 Speaker 1: this may not be the one for me. And so 1126 01:01:30,160 --> 01:01:32,480 Speaker 1: a hundred cops are waiting in the wings and the 1127 01:01:32,760 --> 01:01:35,000 Speaker 1: mayor shows up, and the mayor is just there to 1128 01:01:35,000 --> 01:01:36,880 Speaker 1: make sure everything's peaceful. He was this like, he's a 1129 01:01:36,880 --> 01:01:39,439 Speaker 1: big free speech guy and a big free assembly guy 1130 01:01:39,520 --> 01:01:42,400 Speaker 1: and also a don't invite federal troops to shoot striking 1131 01:01:42,400 --> 01:01:47,080 Speaker 1: workers guy. Um well, I that sounds fine, it sounds 1132 01:01:47,120 --> 01:01:49,360 Speaker 1: like your best case scenario in this Exactly, he is 1133 01:01:49,360 --> 01:01:52,800 Speaker 1: the best case scenario of a mayor absolutely. Um. And 1134 01:01:52,840 --> 01:01:54,960 Speaker 1: he also but he doesn't actually have control of the police, 1135 01:01:54,960 --> 01:01:58,840 Speaker 1: which is completely unfamiliar to the modern audience. Um. He 1136 01:01:58,840 --> 01:02:00,720 Speaker 1: he tells the police what's do and then they think 1137 01:02:00,760 --> 01:02:03,760 Speaker 1: about it and then they do whatever they want. That's 1138 01:02:04,920 --> 01:02:09,160 Speaker 1: the same. What are you talking about. I've never heard 1139 01:02:09,200 --> 01:02:15,560 Speaker 1: of a COVID that never happened. Um. Okay. So so 1140 01:02:16,000 --> 01:02:18,200 Speaker 1: the mayor's friends are like, don't be so conspicuous, and 1141 01:02:18,240 --> 01:02:20,080 Speaker 1: he's like, no, I'm going to be conspicuous. I want 1142 01:02:20,080 --> 01:02:22,320 Speaker 1: the people to know their mayors here. Um. Because he's 1143 01:02:22,360 --> 01:02:25,360 Speaker 1: a reasonably stand up guy. You know, he seems he 1144 01:02:25,360 --> 01:02:27,760 Speaker 1: seems fine. So first this guy, August Species goes up 1145 01:02:27,800 --> 01:02:30,000 Speaker 1: and he's the runs one of the newspapers. He's actually 1146 01:02:30,000 --> 01:02:32,640 Speaker 1: the one who canceled the police show up armed thing. 1147 01:02:32,640 --> 01:02:35,960 Speaker 1: I think, I'm not entirely sure cancel culture. Yeah uh. 1148 01:02:36,000 --> 01:02:38,440 Speaker 1: And then Albert Parson goes up, and Albert Parsons he 1149 01:02:38,480 --> 01:02:42,120 Speaker 1: talks for like an hour, and I kind of suspect 1150 01:02:42,160 --> 01:02:44,400 Speaker 1: I wouldn't actually like Albert Parsons as a person, like 1151 01:02:44,400 --> 01:02:46,600 Speaker 1: who shows up to this. No, you shouldn't ever talk 1152 01:02:46,680 --> 01:02:53,040 Speaker 1: for an hour at a round, like five minutes. Yeah, 1153 01:02:53,520 --> 01:02:56,200 Speaker 1: and so okay, So the mayor realizes that everything's fine, 1154 01:02:56,960 --> 01:02:59,640 Speaker 1: and the speakers are actually kind of toning down. Often 1155 01:02:59,680 --> 01:03:01,960 Speaker 1: they give speeches where they're like, we're gonna, you know, 1156 01:03:02,440 --> 01:03:04,280 Speaker 1: find the rich where they live and blow them up 1157 01:03:04,280 --> 01:03:06,960 Speaker 1: and all this ship Like they're not subtle speakers normally, 1158 01:03:06,960 --> 01:03:08,960 Speaker 1: but they're being a little more subtle tonight because they're 1159 01:03:09,000 --> 01:03:11,640 Speaker 1: a little bit like, oh shit, oh shit, this is 1160 01:03:11,680 --> 01:03:14,280 Speaker 1: all about to go really weird. So the mayor realizes 1161 01:03:14,320 --> 01:03:16,680 Speaker 1: it's fine, and he he focks off and he goes 1162 01:03:16,720 --> 01:03:19,160 Speaker 1: over the cop shop and he tells the police captain 1163 01:03:19,240 --> 01:03:23,840 Speaker 1: to stand down. The police captain didn't agree, and then 1164 01:03:23,840 --> 01:03:25,560 Speaker 1: the third speaker goes on and it says a guy 1165 01:03:25,640 --> 01:03:28,400 Speaker 1: named Samuel Fielden, and I just feel bad for this 1166 01:03:28,440 --> 01:03:31,200 Speaker 1: guy because he goes on at ten pm. Feel bad 1167 01:03:31,240 --> 01:03:33,760 Speaker 1: for field Ye. He goes on at ten pm, a 1168 01:03:33,920 --> 01:03:37,400 Speaker 1: storm is rolling in. Most of the crowd disperses because 1169 01:03:37,400 --> 01:03:40,120 Speaker 1: the rain is coming, and then Albert parsons the fucking dick. 1170 01:03:40,200 --> 01:03:42,040 Speaker 1: It's like, hey, everyone, let's go to the beer hall, 1171 01:03:43,160 --> 01:03:46,760 Speaker 1: even though Fielding is still up there speaking. And that's 1172 01:03:46,760 --> 01:03:51,479 Speaker 1: gotta be heartbreaking, Like you get all this adrenaline social terms. 1173 01:03:51,480 --> 01:03:54,880 Speaker 1: He really seems like the Donny of the situation. I 1174 01:03:54,960 --> 01:03:57,840 Speaker 1: once played a show where the main draw was the 1175 01:03:57,880 --> 01:03:59,880 Speaker 1: band that went on before me, and then everyone left, 1176 01:04:00,000 --> 01:04:02,120 Speaker 1: and then I just like played for like the person 1177 01:04:02,160 --> 01:04:04,480 Speaker 1: who booked the show after like a hundred people have 1178 01:04:04,560 --> 01:04:07,600 Speaker 1: been watching the band before. Um it's like the same 1179 01:04:07,640 --> 01:04:11,880 Speaker 1: only people end up dead. Um so. But and he 1180 01:04:11,880 --> 01:04:13,840 Speaker 1: he spoke to the two hundred or so people who 1181 01:04:13,840 --> 01:04:16,320 Speaker 1: are left, and at one point he made a reference 1182 01:04:16,320 --> 01:04:18,200 Speaker 1: to how the only thing to do with the law 1183 01:04:18,400 --> 01:04:20,640 Speaker 1: was to throttle it, to kick it, to stab it. 1184 01:04:21,040 --> 01:04:23,800 Speaker 1: And two detectives who are watching it run off and 1185 01:04:23,840 --> 01:04:28,360 Speaker 1: tell the police Captain Bondfield that the speech was too naughty, 1186 01:04:28,480 --> 01:04:34,000 Speaker 1: So the cops come running immediately. Uh Fielding was still speaking. 1187 01:04:34,360 --> 01:04:37,200 Speaker 1: He ended his speech with and I quote, people have 1188 01:04:37,280 --> 01:04:40,200 Speaker 1: been shot, men, women and children have not been spared 1189 01:04:40,240 --> 01:04:43,200 Speaker 1: by the capitalists and minions of private capital. It has 1190 01:04:43,240 --> 01:04:46,120 Speaker 1: no mercy. So are you. You are called upon to 1191 01:04:46,160 --> 01:04:50,080 Speaker 1: defend yourselves, your lives, your future. What matters whether you 1192 01:04:50,200 --> 01:04:52,760 Speaker 1: kill yourselves with work and get a little relief or 1193 01:04:52,800 --> 01:04:55,960 Speaker 1: die on the battlefield resisting the enemy. What is the difference? 1194 01:04:56,240 --> 01:04:59,800 Speaker 1: Any animal, however loathsome will resist when stepped upon our 1195 01:05:00,000 --> 01:05:03,040 Speaker 1: and less than snails or worms. I have some resistance 1196 01:05:03,080 --> 01:05:05,320 Speaker 1: in me. I know that you have to. You have 1197 01:05:05,360 --> 01:05:07,880 Speaker 1: been robbed, and you will be starved into a worse condition. 1198 01:05:08,680 --> 01:05:11,520 Speaker 1: The captain of the police orders the crowd to disperse. 1199 01:05:12,240 --> 01:05:15,240 Speaker 1: A light flashes through the air, falling into the crowd 1200 01:05:15,240 --> 01:05:19,320 Speaker 1: of police, and a bomb explodes. And that's what we'll 1201 01:05:19,400 --> 01:05:23,640 Speaker 1: leave it for today. Okay. I do have a note, 1202 01:05:23,920 --> 01:05:27,280 Speaker 1: which is that I don't feel like snails and worms 1203 01:05:27,280 --> 01:05:29,400 Speaker 1: really do do resist much when you step on them. 1204 01:05:30,120 --> 01:05:32,880 Speaker 1: I feel like biological he wasn't on there. I don't 1205 01:05:32,920 --> 01:05:36,520 Speaker 1: disagree with the statement and broad but I have stepped 1206 01:05:36,560 --> 01:05:39,080 Speaker 1: on the odd worm and I did not didn't seem 1207 01:05:39,120 --> 01:05:41,280 Speaker 1: like they resisted. I'm I'm getting do into the way 1208 01:05:41,320 --> 01:05:45,240 Speaker 1: I have you. Have you checked, um right above your bed, 1209 01:05:45,280 --> 01:05:49,600 Speaker 1: in the in the rafters and the attic space. Yeah, 1210 01:05:49,800 --> 01:05:52,440 Speaker 1: it's always filled with worms. Yeah, like it's supposed to 1211 01:05:52,680 --> 01:05:57,760 Speaker 1: know they're they're they're as organizing revenge. Oh well that's 1212 01:05:57,800 --> 01:06:02,560 Speaker 1: probably fair, Robert. We're talking about worms now. Yeah, speaking 1213 01:06:02,560 --> 01:06:04,480 Speaker 1: of worms, do you have anything you want to plug 1214 01:06:04,560 --> 01:06:07,800 Speaker 1: that made no sense? Um? Well, my friend Margaret has 1215 01:06:07,840 --> 01:06:10,680 Speaker 1: a show called cool People Who Did Cool Things? Um, 1216 01:06:10,720 --> 01:06:14,400 Speaker 1: so you probably check that out, except that's not the title. 1217 01:06:14,880 --> 01:06:18,040 Speaker 1: You were really close. I was really close. What what 1218 01:06:18,080 --> 01:06:21,960 Speaker 1: did we land on? He stuff people who did cool stuff? Right? 1219 01:06:22,120 --> 01:06:24,040 Speaker 1: We talked about whether or not to use stuff or 1220 01:06:24,080 --> 01:06:26,320 Speaker 1: things for like thirty minutes, didn't we there was there 1221 01:06:26,360 --> 01:06:29,960 Speaker 1: was a thirty minute combo and stuff was was thee 1222 01:06:30,000 --> 01:06:33,360 Speaker 1: I think I probably argued for stuff specifically too. This 1223 01:06:33,440 --> 01:06:36,479 Speaker 1: is great. I'm I'm I'm really see. This is why 1224 01:06:36,640 --> 01:06:38,520 Speaker 1: you gotta have someone like me as the brains of 1225 01:06:38,520 --> 01:06:42,240 Speaker 1: this outlet, really keeping everything together. Really, it's like the 1226 01:06:42,280 --> 01:06:44,920 Speaker 1: time that I changed it could when you wanted to 1227 01:06:45,000 --> 01:06:47,000 Speaker 1: name it could happen here, It can happen here, and 1228 01:06:47,040 --> 01:06:50,560 Speaker 1: I changed it and then it was just done. That's 1229 01:06:50,560 --> 01:06:54,280 Speaker 1: good because then I would have been preemptively ripping off 1230 01:06:54,440 --> 01:06:56,120 Speaker 1: the book by the head of the A D l 1231 01:06:57,000 --> 01:07:00,080 Speaker 1: It can't happen here. It was published a year and 1232 01:07:00,120 --> 01:07:03,040 Speaker 1: a half after it could Happen Here came out and 1233 01:07:03,400 --> 01:07:06,080 Speaker 1: had a similar premise, but wasn't wasn't it all related 1234 01:07:06,120 --> 01:07:08,680 Speaker 1: to my work and was not not at all? Anyway, 1235 01:07:08,720 --> 01:07:11,800 Speaker 1: It's fine, It's fine. See I always have your back. 1236 01:07:12,440 --> 01:07:16,240 Speaker 1: There we go, Thanks Sophie, You're welcome. Makes head of 1237 01:07:16,280 --> 01:07:21,240 Speaker 1: the A d l Um Margaret is there? Is it? 1238 01:07:21,240 --> 01:07:23,200 Speaker 1: Where can people follow you? You can find me on 1239 01:07:23,240 --> 01:07:25,480 Speaker 1: Twitter at Magpie kill Joy, and you can find me 1240 01:07:25,520 --> 01:07:28,200 Speaker 1: on Instagram at Margaret Killjoy. And you can listen to 1241 01:07:28,200 --> 01:07:30,760 Speaker 1: my new podcast which is called Cool People Who Did 1242 01:07:30,760 --> 01:07:36,640 Speaker 1: Cool Stuff? Well, and we'll be back on Wednesday with 1243 01:07:36,720 --> 01:07:43,000 Speaker 1: part two. Cool People Who Did Cool Stuff is a 1244 01:07:43,000 --> 01:07:46,160 Speaker 1: production of cool Zone Media. Or more podcasts and cool 1245 01:07:46,240 --> 01:07:49,320 Speaker 1: Zone Media, visit our website cool zone Media dot com, 1246 01:07:49,400 --> 01:07:51,560 Speaker 1: or check us out on the I Heard Radio app, 1247 01:07:51,600 --> 01:07:54,360 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts