1 00:00:01,680 --> 00:00:10,760 Speaker 1: Cool Zone Media book Club, The Club, the Club, the Club. Hello, 2 00:00:11,080 --> 00:00:13,239 Speaker 1: and welcome to the cools On Media Book Club, the 3 00:00:13,280 --> 00:00:15,160 Speaker 1: only book club where you don't have to do the 4 00:00:15,240 --> 00:00:18,759 Speaker 1: reading because I do it or you. My name is 5 00:00:18,800 --> 00:00:24,120 Speaker 1: Margaret Kiljoy and I read you stories every week. And also, 6 00:00:24,640 --> 00:00:27,280 Speaker 1: big things are coming to Cool Zone Media Book Club, 7 00:00:27,720 --> 00:00:31,760 Speaker 1: big things that I can't tell you about yet, but 8 00:00:31,800 --> 00:00:37,040 Speaker 1: it's going to be exciting. I believe it in my heart. Anyway, 9 00:00:37,159 --> 00:00:40,960 Speaker 1: this week, I am bringing you more nineteenth century well 10 00:00:40,960 --> 00:00:44,400 Speaker 1: actually early twentieth century in this case anarchist fiction because 11 00:00:44,520 --> 00:00:48,879 Speaker 1: I am on a kick and I'm enjoying kind of 12 00:00:49,520 --> 00:00:53,160 Speaker 1: looking at all the different ways that people did political 13 00:00:53,200 --> 00:00:57,320 Speaker 1: fiction over the course of the years. And largely what 14 00:00:57,400 --> 00:01:02,600 Speaker 1: I'm finding is that people wrote really bluntly about radical ideas, 15 00:01:03,200 --> 00:01:07,240 Speaker 1: and I don't know, I find the way that fiction 16 00:01:08,080 --> 00:01:12,800 Speaker 1: as a form slowly shifts over the centuries to be fascinating. 17 00:01:13,600 --> 00:01:18,720 Speaker 1: That said, today's story it's very bluntly political, but it's 18 00:01:18,760 --> 00:01:22,880 Speaker 1: still weirdly more nuanced than some other stories that I've 19 00:01:22,880 --> 00:01:27,800 Speaker 1: read you. And it's by an early anarchist feminist named 20 00:01:27,840 --> 00:01:28,440 Speaker 1: Lizzie M. 21 00:01:28,520 --> 00:01:29,000 Speaker 2: Holmes. 22 00:01:29,680 --> 00:01:34,200 Speaker 1: She's a second generation like feminist freelove radical. She was 23 00:01:34,240 --> 00:01:36,839 Speaker 1: born in eighteen fifty, making her one of the first 24 00:01:37,160 --> 00:01:41,520 Speaker 1: second generation radicals that I've ever read about. But her 25 00:01:41,560 --> 00:01:45,600 Speaker 1: mom was a freelove advocate, and she grew up partly 26 00:01:45,640 --> 00:01:48,880 Speaker 1: in a free love commune, and her mother wrote for 27 00:01:49,480 --> 00:01:52,160 Speaker 1: the magazine The Free Love and I believe anarchist second 28 00:01:52,160 --> 00:01:54,640 Speaker 1: guessing myself off the top of my head, newspaper called 29 00:01:54,720 --> 00:01:58,320 Speaker 1: Lucifer the light Bringer, which is a name that goes 30 00:01:58,640 --> 00:02:04,600 Speaker 1: hard for a night nineteenth century newspaper, Lucifer the light Bringer, 31 00:02:04,720 --> 00:02:08,160 Speaker 1: That's what her mom wrote for. Lizzie herself grew up 32 00:02:08,400 --> 00:02:12,920 Speaker 1: to become one of the more important labor organizers in Chicago. 33 00:02:13,000 --> 00:02:14,720 Speaker 1: She started off as one of the only women in 34 00:02:14,720 --> 00:02:18,120 Speaker 1: the Nights of Labor, which was a more liberal organization, 35 00:02:18,160 --> 00:02:20,880 Speaker 1: despite having a name that goes hard. And then later 36 00:02:20,960 --> 00:02:23,480 Speaker 1: she met a woman that I talk about all the time, 37 00:02:23,639 --> 00:02:28,600 Speaker 1: Lucy Parsons, who was born into slavery and became a 38 00:02:28,639 --> 00:02:32,840 Speaker 1: prominent socialist and anarchist and a labor organizer in Chicago. 39 00:02:33,080 --> 00:02:37,480 Speaker 1: And so she meets Lucy, and Lucy's like, ye have 40 00:02:37,520 --> 00:02:41,040 Speaker 1: a checkout anarchy and checkout socialism, And Lizzie's like, yep, 41 00:02:41,280 --> 00:02:44,080 Speaker 1: that sounds good to me, Sign me up. And so 42 00:02:44,120 --> 00:02:48,520 Speaker 1: she started working for a newspaper called The Alarm in Chicago, 43 00:02:48,800 --> 00:02:53,560 Speaker 1: which the editor was Lucy Parson's husband, Albert Parsons, who 44 00:02:53,600 --> 00:02:56,040 Speaker 1: you might remember as one of the people who was 45 00:02:56,080 --> 00:02:59,800 Speaker 1: hanged by the US government literally just for being an anarchist. 46 00:03:00,120 --> 00:03:04,440 Speaker 1: He was hanged in eighteen eighty seven, And so Lizzie's 47 00:03:04,520 --> 00:03:09,239 Speaker 1: boss got hanged, and Lizzie herself and her good friend 48 00:03:09,280 --> 00:03:11,880 Speaker 1: Lucy Parson spent a while in jail as a result 49 00:03:11,919 --> 00:03:16,480 Speaker 1: of all this stuff. But she went on to live 50 00:03:16,480 --> 00:03:19,679 Speaker 1: her life, and she wrote a lot of fiction and 51 00:03:19,880 --> 00:03:23,960 Speaker 1: other stuff over the years, and eventually she married this 52 00:03:24,000 --> 00:03:27,280 Speaker 1: other anarchist guy, and they moved to the Southwest and 53 00:03:27,680 --> 00:03:30,040 Speaker 1: sort of got to live happily ever after, in a way, 54 00:03:30,160 --> 00:03:33,119 Speaker 1: kind of disappearing from public life in nineteen oh eight, 55 00:03:33,600 --> 00:03:38,480 Speaker 1: but not before. In nineteen oh five, I think she 56 00:03:38,560 --> 00:03:45,680 Speaker 1: wrote this story called the Evolution of an Agitator. Some 57 00:03:45,880 --> 00:03:49,120 Speaker 1: years ago, a young minister of the Gospel was given 58 00:03:49,240 --> 00:03:51,920 Speaker 1: charge of a good sized church in the southwestern part 59 00:03:52,000 --> 00:03:56,360 Speaker 1: of Chicago. He had shown such marked ability, such eagerness 60 00:03:56,360 --> 00:03:59,320 Speaker 1: and enthusiasm in the care of a small village pastorate 61 00:04:00,080 --> 00:04:02,520 Speaker 1: that his superiors thought he must have a larger field 62 00:04:02,560 --> 00:04:06,240 Speaker 1: on which to expend his power, and resolved to promote him. 63 00:04:06,480 --> 00:04:09,120 Speaker 1: So they placed him over this church, situated in one 64 00:04:09,120 --> 00:04:12,160 Speaker 1: of the most populous districts in the city, where people 65 00:04:12,240 --> 00:04:16,120 Speaker 1: were nearly all poor. If plenty of work was promotion, 66 00:04:16,839 --> 00:04:21,279 Speaker 1: young de wilt Stillman was certainly promoted. The neighborhood consisted 67 00:04:21,320 --> 00:04:24,440 Speaker 1: of the so called lower grade of workmen. They were 68 00:04:24,440 --> 00:04:28,239 Speaker 1: indeed lower in point of pay, such as railroad grade hands, 69 00:04:28,400 --> 00:04:32,080 Speaker 1: sewer diggers, stone breakers, and the cheaper sort of hucksters 70 00:04:32,080 --> 00:04:35,839 Speaker 1: and peddlers, with a large circle of hangers on, men 71 00:04:35,880 --> 00:04:39,159 Speaker 1: who had no trade or regular occupation, but did what 72 00:04:39,200 --> 00:04:43,080 Speaker 1: they could find to do honest or otherwise. Such a 73 00:04:43,080 --> 00:04:46,560 Speaker 1: neighborhood promised plenty of work for an energetic and devoted 74 00:04:46,720 --> 00:04:50,839 Speaker 1: disciple of the Lord. His first great aspiration was for 75 00:04:50,920 --> 00:04:54,400 Speaker 1: the saving of souls. To win souls from the sins 76 00:04:54,440 --> 00:04:57,599 Speaker 1: of the world and have them sanctified for heaven seemed 77 00:04:57,640 --> 00:05:00,200 Speaker 1: to him the greatest and holiest work he could could 78 00:05:00,240 --> 00:05:03,720 Speaker 1: engage in, and from the day he was ordained, he 79 00:05:03,760 --> 00:05:06,920 Speaker 1: sat in his study or paced the floor day after day, 80 00:05:07,360 --> 00:05:10,479 Speaker 1: searching for burning thoughts and burning words in which to 81 00:05:10,560 --> 00:05:14,800 Speaker 1: express them. And here he renewed his efforts. He studied, 82 00:05:15,200 --> 00:05:18,200 Speaker 1: he racked his brains, he wrestled with the Lord for 83 00:05:18,240 --> 00:05:21,800 Speaker 1: strength and wisdom to present in vivid form the truths 84 00:05:21,800 --> 00:05:25,360 Speaker 1: of the Gospel. And for three successive sundays he gave 85 00:05:25,400 --> 00:05:28,919 Speaker 1: the brilliant results of his travail to the small congregation 86 00:05:29,040 --> 00:05:32,440 Speaker 1: of respectable, well to do people who were scattered over 87 00:05:32,480 --> 00:05:35,599 Speaker 1: the body of his comfortable church that for all looked 88 00:05:35,720 --> 00:05:39,000 Speaker 1: very big and empty. He was well liked and well 89 00:05:39,080 --> 00:05:42,240 Speaker 1: praised as a bright and promising minister, but he was 90 00:05:42,240 --> 00:05:45,560 Speaker 1: not satisfied. He felt that people he talked to did 91 00:05:45,560 --> 00:05:48,599 Speaker 1: not need his passionate devotion of soul. He wanted to 92 00:05:48,600 --> 00:05:52,320 Speaker 1: reach the really wicked, the sinful, the wretched, the degraded. 93 00:05:52,839 --> 00:05:55,080 Speaker 1: He felt that he had a message for them, and 94 00:05:55,160 --> 00:05:57,360 Speaker 1: if they would not come to him, then he must 95 00:05:57,400 --> 00:06:00,160 Speaker 1: go to them. He gave the subject a grint great 96 00:06:00,200 --> 00:06:03,040 Speaker 1: deal of prayer and thought, and finally began to visit 97 00:06:03,080 --> 00:06:06,160 Speaker 1: the most crowded, the poorest looking places in his district. 98 00:06:06,839 --> 00:06:09,719 Speaker 1: It embarrassed him at first to intrude into these wretched 99 00:06:09,760 --> 00:06:12,120 Speaker 1: homes with no errand which he could explain in the 100 00:06:12,120 --> 00:06:15,520 Speaker 1: first few moments of greeting, the inmates gaped at him 101 00:06:15,520 --> 00:06:18,440 Speaker 1: in wonder, as though expecting him to state his business 102 00:06:18,440 --> 00:06:22,320 Speaker 1: and get out. But he was too thoroughly in earnest 103 00:06:22,760 --> 00:06:25,760 Speaker 1: to be long at a loss. Gradually he began to 104 00:06:25,800 --> 00:06:27,920 Speaker 1: find out what to say to them, how to get 105 00:06:27,920 --> 00:06:30,360 Speaker 1: in touch with them, how to encourage them to look 106 00:06:30,440 --> 00:06:33,800 Speaker 1: upon him as their friend. They were as strange new 107 00:06:33,839 --> 00:06:36,840 Speaker 1: people to him, a newly discovered race, as it were, 108 00:06:37,320 --> 00:06:39,400 Speaker 1: and he had their language to learn as well as 109 00:06:39,440 --> 00:06:43,839 Speaker 1: to teach them his. And slowly, slowly they began to 110 00:06:43,880 --> 00:06:46,560 Speaker 1: talk to him, to let him into the tragic secret 111 00:06:46,640 --> 00:06:51,120 Speaker 1: of their lives, their poverty, their ignorance, their helplessness, and 112 00:06:51,160 --> 00:06:55,200 Speaker 1: the vortex conditions which surrounded and overwhelmed them, and which 113 00:06:55,200 --> 00:06:59,039 Speaker 1: they could not understand. It was like receiving new revelations 114 00:06:59,080 --> 00:07:03,520 Speaker 1: every day of a new world, of new sensations, new experiences, 115 00:07:03,640 --> 00:07:08,240 Speaker 1: new conditions, things he had never dreamed of before. In 116 00:07:08,279 --> 00:07:10,800 Speaker 1: the face of that, he learned it seemed impotent to 117 00:07:10,840 --> 00:07:14,080 Speaker 1: ask them why they did not come to church. How 118 00:07:14,080 --> 00:07:16,640 Speaker 1: would they be received by his congregation were they to 119 00:07:16,680 --> 00:07:19,320 Speaker 1: come into church in their rags, as many of them must, 120 00:07:19,320 --> 00:07:22,640 Speaker 1: If they came at all. The railroad men worked on 121 00:07:22,720 --> 00:07:25,720 Speaker 1: Sunday when they worked at all. For corporations do not 122 00:07:25,880 --> 00:07:29,520 Speaker 1: lay off men for sabbath. Factory women worked all day 123 00:07:29,520 --> 00:07:32,800 Speaker 1: Sundays for themselves, or they could never be neat and whole. 124 00:07:33,480 --> 00:07:35,640 Speaker 1: And many were too wretched and hungry to sit and 125 00:07:35,680 --> 00:07:39,520 Speaker 1: listen to a sermon throughout a whole forenoon. He was 126 00:07:39,600 --> 00:07:45,360 Speaker 1: literally appalled, almost paralyzed, at the poverty he found, the universal, dragging, 127 00:07:45,600 --> 00:07:50,040 Speaker 1: haunting poverty. He had never dreamed of such things. He 128 00:07:50,080 --> 00:07:52,840 Speaker 1: had supposed, in a vague sort of way, that when 129 00:07:52,840 --> 00:07:56,080 Speaker 1: people were overtaken by extreme poverty, it was due to 130 00:07:56,120 --> 00:08:00,640 Speaker 1: some unusual misfortune, or their own carelessness, or ship lifelessness, 131 00:08:01,200 --> 00:08:05,040 Speaker 1: or perhaps to drunkenness and evil habits. For surely, he 132 00:08:05,120 --> 00:08:08,080 Speaker 1: had thought, in this land of plenty, no one need 133 00:08:08,120 --> 00:08:10,600 Speaker 1: remain in a condition of squalor if he tries to 134 00:08:10,640 --> 00:08:14,040 Speaker 1: get out. But he had seen enough with his own eyes. 135 00:08:15,320 --> 00:08:18,400 Speaker 1: He had seen strong men, able and eager to work, 136 00:08:18,480 --> 00:08:22,280 Speaker 1: begging for a chance day after day in vain, growing 137 00:08:22,320 --> 00:08:25,080 Speaker 1: more gaunt, more haggard, more desperate, and less able to 138 00:08:25,120 --> 00:08:28,800 Speaker 1: work as each one passed. He had seen frail women 139 00:08:28,880 --> 00:08:32,920 Speaker 1: with strained emaciated faces, fighting the fierce specters of hunger 140 00:08:32,960 --> 00:08:35,840 Speaker 1: for their little ones with a puny needle or washboard, 141 00:08:36,480 --> 00:08:39,440 Speaker 1: almost in vain, for the specters gnawled and snapped at 142 00:08:39,440 --> 00:08:41,920 Speaker 1: their bodies and glared in at their windows at night 143 00:08:42,040 --> 00:08:45,720 Speaker 1: despite their efforts. He had seen little children clawing over 144 00:08:45,720 --> 00:08:48,520 Speaker 1: a slop barrel, searching for something that might be eaten. 145 00:08:49,240 --> 00:08:51,480 Speaker 1: He had seen men and women sink down in their 146 00:08:51,480 --> 00:08:56,080 Speaker 1: harness and die with overwork and too little nourishment. He 147 00:08:56,120 --> 00:08:58,120 Speaker 1: had not the face to go to such people and 148 00:08:58,200 --> 00:09:01,679 Speaker 1: ask them to prepare for future life. What chance had 149 00:09:01,720 --> 00:09:05,079 Speaker 1: they in this one? It cannot be possible. There was 150 00:09:05,120 --> 00:09:07,839 Speaker 1: a future of torment for people whose whole existence was 151 00:09:07,880 --> 00:09:11,679 Speaker 1: a struggle against the sufferings of want. God was good, 152 00:09:12,360 --> 00:09:15,760 Speaker 1: he believed that. Yet, and you know what else is good? 153 00:09:17,000 --> 00:09:22,280 Speaker 1: Everything that advertises on this show, it's always good. No, 154 00:09:22,400 --> 00:09:25,680 Speaker 1: I can't tell you that it's really a crapshoot. Who 155 00:09:25,760 --> 00:09:29,000 Speaker 1: knows what's advertised. You'll find out, or you won't. You'll 156 00:09:29,040 --> 00:09:31,360 Speaker 1: press the skip button, or you'll have cooler zone media, 157 00:09:31,400 --> 00:09:34,360 Speaker 1: in which case you just hear me cutting into ads 158 00:09:34,400 --> 00:09:36,840 Speaker 1: and then no ads. But here are the ads if 159 00:09:36,880 --> 00:09:54,800 Speaker 1: you have them. And we're back. And these conditions of 160 00:09:54,800 --> 00:09:58,360 Speaker 1: poverty were not due to any unusual emergency or catastrophe, 161 00:09:58,840 --> 00:10:01,480 Speaker 1: something that would pass away and leave them in a normal, 162 00:10:01,559 --> 00:10:05,360 Speaker 1: comfortable condition and time. No, these men and women and 163 00:10:05,440 --> 00:10:08,960 Speaker 1: children were constantly living on the verge of death and despair. 164 00:10:10,400 --> 00:10:13,480 Speaker 1: A hard winter was coming on. A great many men 165 00:10:13,559 --> 00:10:16,120 Speaker 1: thronged the city who had no work and no homes, 166 00:10:16,520 --> 00:10:19,400 Speaker 1: and were already crowding the police stations and the tunnels 167 00:10:19,480 --> 00:10:23,319 Speaker 1: under the river for shelter at night. Something must be done. 168 00:10:23,679 --> 00:10:25,840 Speaker 1: He could not bear it, He could not sleep at 169 00:10:25,920 --> 00:10:28,800 Speaker 1: night for thinking of the misery. The rich must give 170 00:10:28,840 --> 00:10:32,560 Speaker 1: their abundance. These poor must be relieved, The wealthy must 171 00:10:32,600 --> 00:10:35,440 Speaker 1: be made to feel the sufferings. If burning words could 172 00:10:35,480 --> 00:10:39,000 Speaker 1: do it, and this from hence should be his life work. 173 00:10:39,080 --> 00:10:43,080 Speaker 1: He resolved anew others might save their souls. He would 174 00:10:43,080 --> 00:10:46,560 Speaker 1: devote himself to saving their bodies, then their souls if 175 00:10:46,559 --> 00:10:49,920 Speaker 1: he could. He sent out a general request to his 176 00:10:50,000 --> 00:10:53,400 Speaker 1: members to attend the next Sunday morning services, and then 177 00:10:53,440 --> 00:10:57,560 Speaker 1: he prepared his sermon in agony, in stress of soul 178 00:10:57,760 --> 00:11:01,000 Speaker 1: and struggle of spirit. He built up his great sermon, 179 00:11:01,440 --> 00:11:04,040 Speaker 1: and the next Sabbath morning, he poured it over the 180 00:11:04,080 --> 00:11:07,760 Speaker 1: heads of his hearers like lava from a volcano. They 181 00:11:07,760 --> 00:11:11,959 Speaker 1: were aroused, astonished, thrilled, and moved until they were ready 182 00:11:12,000 --> 00:11:17,080 Speaker 1: to do almost anything. He proposed a Friday evening gathering, 183 00:11:17,080 --> 00:11:20,800 Speaker 1: to which his hearers should bring food, clothing, money, anything 184 00:11:20,800 --> 00:11:23,800 Speaker 1: which the needy could use, and he appointed a committee 185 00:11:23,800 --> 00:11:25,760 Speaker 1: to go out among the poor and bring in the 186 00:11:25,800 --> 00:11:28,800 Speaker 1: most destitute, to tell the people that whenever they were 187 00:11:28,840 --> 00:11:31,160 Speaker 1: in great need of any of the necessities of life 188 00:11:31,160 --> 00:11:34,160 Speaker 1: and could not procure them by their own exertions, to 189 00:11:34,200 --> 00:11:37,439 Speaker 1: come there on Friday evenings and their needs should be satisfied. 190 00:11:38,280 --> 00:11:42,840 Speaker 1: The people responded with wonderful alacrity and spirit. On the 191 00:11:42,840 --> 00:11:47,440 Speaker 1: next Friday evening they came in throngs, bringing clothing, provisions, coal, 192 00:11:47,679 --> 00:11:50,840 Speaker 1: and even money to the amount of several hundred dollars, 193 00:11:51,520 --> 00:11:54,040 Speaker 1: until it would seem that no one need go hungry 194 00:11:54,040 --> 00:11:58,520 Speaker 1: and cold. Ah, he exclaimed joyfully, that was all that 195 00:11:58,600 --> 00:12:01,840 Speaker 1: was needed, A warn, appeal to those who have for 196 00:12:01,920 --> 00:12:04,959 Speaker 1: those who have not. I knew the world was not 197 00:12:05,120 --> 00:12:11,359 Speaker 1: hopelessly selfish. Presently the poor began to come, shirkingly, doubtingly 198 00:12:11,840 --> 00:12:15,080 Speaker 1: at first, fearing some trap, so unused were they to 199 00:12:15,160 --> 00:12:18,439 Speaker 1: such kindness. But when they found that the gifts were 200 00:12:18,440 --> 00:12:22,199 Speaker 1: without condition except their need, they came in throngs, some 201 00:12:22,280 --> 00:12:26,240 Speaker 1: with tears, some with glad smiles, some humbly, and some 202 00:12:26,360 --> 00:12:29,040 Speaker 1: boldly and defiantly, as though what they received was what 203 00:12:29,080 --> 00:12:32,679 Speaker 1: they should have had long before. And the Friday evening 204 00:12:32,720 --> 00:12:36,440 Speaker 1: meetings became an institution of the city. That winter, people 205 00:12:36,480 --> 00:12:38,520 Speaker 1: in other parts of the city heard of the movement 206 00:12:38,559 --> 00:12:41,760 Speaker 1: and brought their gifts. And not from that district alone 207 00:12:41,840 --> 00:12:45,400 Speaker 1: came the poor, but from every quarter of the city, homeless, 208 00:12:45,480 --> 00:12:51,400 Speaker 1: haggard men, worn whan women, neglected children, the worthy, poor 209 00:12:51,520 --> 00:12:54,959 Speaker 1: and the unworthy. And none were sent away empty handed. 210 00:12:56,240 --> 00:12:59,480 Speaker 1: Only in extreme cases was money given, and then the 211 00:12:59,559 --> 00:13:03,319 Speaker 1: cases were or thoroughly investigated. Mister Stowman believed he had 212 00:13:03,360 --> 00:13:06,440 Speaker 1: his charities well systematized, and he had faith in the 213 00:13:06,440 --> 00:13:10,040 Speaker 1: goodness and the usefulness of his work. Of course, now 214 00:13:10,080 --> 00:13:12,800 Speaker 1: and then some came who did not need charity. The 215 00:13:12,840 --> 00:13:16,720 Speaker 1: professional beggar, the habitual drunkard, the shrewd gammin of the 216 00:13:16,720 --> 00:13:20,320 Speaker 1: street were often in evidence, and many a pitiful story 217 00:13:20,400 --> 00:13:22,120 Speaker 1: was trumped up to get a hold of some of 218 00:13:22,120 --> 00:13:26,240 Speaker 1: the money, And of course the Reverend doctor de Witt 219 00:13:26,240 --> 00:13:30,560 Speaker 1: Stowman was severely criticized by the wiser ones. He was 220 00:13:30,600 --> 00:13:33,600 Speaker 1: spoiling the poor they would never try to help themselves 221 00:13:33,679 --> 00:13:35,360 Speaker 1: as long as they could come to the church for 222 00:13:35,400 --> 00:13:39,040 Speaker 1: what they needed, and he was encouraging to sit and dependency. 223 00:13:39,840 --> 00:13:43,679 Speaker 1: Mister Stillman heeded criticism when he could. He organized a 224 00:13:43,720 --> 00:13:46,760 Speaker 1: self help club designed to help men out of unemployment 225 00:13:46,840 --> 00:13:50,240 Speaker 1: into positions, and to show women and children what to 226 00:13:50,320 --> 00:13:53,040 Speaker 1: do to earn a little money, and he instituted some 227 00:13:53,160 --> 00:13:56,280 Speaker 1: lectures during the evening while some were being waited upon 228 00:13:56,320 --> 00:13:58,920 Speaker 1: in the rooms below. The audience room was thrown open 229 00:13:58,960 --> 00:14:01,679 Speaker 1: for those who had listened to the good speakers. Encourage 230 00:14:01,679 --> 00:14:06,760 Speaker 1: his hearers to sobriety, industry, economy, et cetera. But these 231 00:14:06,760 --> 00:14:10,640 Speaker 1: efforts seemed fruitless. There was simply no work to be 232 00:14:10,679 --> 00:14:14,920 Speaker 1: had anywhere. The new vacancies that occurred occasionally were snapped 233 00:14:15,000 --> 00:14:17,599 Speaker 1: up by men who could yet make a respectable appearance. 234 00:14:18,120 --> 00:14:22,080 Speaker 1: They were not for the men from Stillman's charity. Every 235 00:14:22,120 --> 00:14:24,480 Speaker 1: possible means of making a little money for women and 236 00:14:24,560 --> 00:14:27,920 Speaker 1: children had already been utilized by hungry men and the 237 00:14:27,960 --> 00:14:31,840 Speaker 1: poor people who were so kindly advised only cried helplessly 238 00:14:31,920 --> 00:14:35,200 Speaker 1: and murmured, Oh sirs, we do as we can, and 239 00:14:35,240 --> 00:14:37,760 Speaker 1: as we must. We can't save when there is so 240 00:14:37,840 --> 00:14:40,640 Speaker 1: little anyway, And as for the drop o beer of 241 00:14:40,640 --> 00:14:43,440 Speaker 1: an evening, what else have we got to cheer us up? 242 00:14:44,480 --> 00:14:47,040 Speaker 1: And worst of all, there seemed to be no end, 243 00:14:47,560 --> 00:14:52,760 Speaker 1: no cessation to this terrible destitution. For all their marvelous work, 244 00:14:53,240 --> 00:14:56,240 Speaker 1: the stream of poverty flowed on without any decrease that 245 00:14:56,320 --> 00:14:59,560 Speaker 1: he could see. The poor woman with her four children 246 00:14:59,640 --> 00:15:02,680 Speaker 1: suppor on one Friday evening was there again just as 247 00:15:02,680 --> 00:15:05,880 Speaker 1: cold and needy the next Friday night. The out of 248 00:15:05,920 --> 00:15:09,160 Speaker 1: workmen turned up week after week as miserable and gaunt 249 00:15:09,160 --> 00:15:13,200 Speaker 1: as ever, the hungry children were as numerous and deplorable 250 00:15:13,280 --> 00:15:16,880 Speaker 1: as in the beginning. Mister Stowman began to realize that 251 00:15:17,000 --> 00:15:20,520 Speaker 1: charity was no remedy for poverty. It might be a 252 00:15:20,520 --> 00:15:23,600 Speaker 1: little relief all he could pour into the vortex of 253 00:15:23,680 --> 00:15:27,760 Speaker 1: misery that swirled round in the city affected it as nothing. 254 00:15:28,560 --> 00:15:31,240 Speaker 1: But you know what, he didn't try. He didn't try 255 00:15:31,320 --> 00:15:35,920 Speaker 1: taking advantage of these sweet, sweet deals that probably would 256 00:15:35,960 --> 00:15:39,560 Speaker 1: have fixed all the problems. I can't come up with 257 00:15:39,600 --> 00:15:42,960 Speaker 1: any reason why they wouldn't here's. 258 00:15:42,680 --> 00:15:54,840 Speaker 2: Ads and we're back. 259 00:15:57,520 --> 00:15:59,600 Speaker 1: It was a larger subject than he had dreamed of 260 00:15:59,640 --> 00:16:03,040 Speaker 1: when he the work. It required deep thought and study. 261 00:16:03,760 --> 00:16:06,920 Speaker 1: What was the matter? This was supposed to be a great, rich, 262 00:16:07,120 --> 00:16:11,200 Speaker 1: free country. The resources of nature were plentiful. Men were 263 00:16:11,240 --> 00:16:14,880 Speaker 1: eager to work and turn these resources into wealth. Why 264 00:16:14,880 --> 00:16:18,880 Speaker 1: could they not do it? Mister Stowman made a new resolution. 265 00:16:19,400 --> 00:16:21,560 Speaker 1: He decided to bring the men who claimed to know 266 00:16:21,680 --> 00:16:24,640 Speaker 1: all about these problems to come and speak on Friday evening, 267 00:16:25,160 --> 00:16:29,040 Speaker 1: subject to criticisms and questions. Surely the truth could be 268 00:16:29,040 --> 00:16:33,120 Speaker 1: reached at last in some way, as in temperance so 269 00:16:33,320 --> 00:16:35,720 Speaker 1: often had been blamed for the poverty of the people. 270 00:16:36,120 --> 00:16:39,120 Speaker 1: He asked a great temperance lecturer to fill the rostrum 271 00:16:39,160 --> 00:16:42,480 Speaker 1: on the next Friday evening. He was very eloquent and 272 00:16:42,520 --> 00:16:45,160 Speaker 1: brought tears to the eyes of many. But a critic 273 00:16:45,200 --> 00:16:47,920 Speaker 1: in the audience showed that under the condition laboring men 274 00:16:48,000 --> 00:16:51,560 Speaker 1: lived either exhausted with toil or disheartened hunting for a 275 00:16:51,640 --> 00:16:54,680 Speaker 1: chance to toil. They were obliged to go to the saloon. 276 00:16:54,920 --> 00:16:58,240 Speaker 1: They needed some relaxation, and a nickel would bring them 277 00:16:58,280 --> 00:17:01,920 Speaker 1: a little sociability. Warned warmth and good cheer nowhere else 278 00:17:01,920 --> 00:17:04,119 Speaker 1: as it would at the saloon and back of the 279 00:17:04,160 --> 00:17:08,080 Speaker 1: poor consumer was the army of men engaged in producing, distributing, 280 00:17:08,240 --> 00:17:11,560 Speaker 1: and dealing with liquors in various ways. If the temperance 281 00:17:11,600 --> 00:17:14,360 Speaker 1: cause should be effective, what would become of these men? 282 00:17:15,200 --> 00:17:17,840 Speaker 1: Was there room among the other wage workers for them? 283 00:17:18,400 --> 00:17:22,520 Speaker 1: They all knew there was not. He engaged a single taxer, 284 00:17:22,600 --> 00:17:26,080 Speaker 1: who was likewise criticized and questioned, but he gave much 285 00:17:26,080 --> 00:17:28,720 Speaker 1: food for thought, and Stowman was convinced that the earth 286 00:17:28,800 --> 00:17:32,000 Speaker 1: not beheld as private property if poverty were to be banished. 287 00:17:32,960 --> 00:17:37,240 Speaker 1: He invited some noted philanthropists with cooperative and colonization schemes 288 00:17:37,240 --> 00:17:41,159 Speaker 1: to offer, and these also started some deep thinking. He 289 00:17:41,240 --> 00:17:44,919 Speaker 1: had able trade unionists who ably and effectively advocated the 290 00:17:45,000 --> 00:17:48,640 Speaker 1: universal organization of all laborers as a remedy for poverty 291 00:17:48,640 --> 00:17:54,360 Speaker 1: and involuntary idleness. Socialists of all shades of belief, even anarchists, 292 00:17:54,440 --> 00:17:57,840 Speaker 1: occupied his platform at different times that winter and the next, 293 00:17:58,520 --> 00:18:01,159 Speaker 1: whilst still the work of check was continued in the 294 00:18:01,240 --> 00:18:05,280 Speaker 1: rooms below. Mister Stowman became more and more interested in 295 00:18:05,320 --> 00:18:09,399 Speaker 1: these radical practical questions, and almost gave himself to the 296 00:18:09,440 --> 00:18:12,440 Speaker 1: study of them. But of all he heard he could 297 00:18:12,440 --> 00:18:15,480 Speaker 1: not immediately make up his mind which was correct. But 298 00:18:15,560 --> 00:18:18,280 Speaker 1: some of the fundamental principles that underlay all of them 299 00:18:18,359 --> 00:18:22,399 Speaker 1: he was ready to accept. But meanwhile his congregation was 300 00:18:22,440 --> 00:18:27,320 Speaker 1: becoming dissatisfied and uneasy. Where was he leading them? What 301 00:18:27,560 --> 00:18:30,639 Speaker 1: an amount of crazy, incendiary talk they had listened to 302 00:18:30,720 --> 00:18:33,960 Speaker 1: in his lecture room, and how little of gospel doctrine 303 00:18:34,000 --> 00:18:37,240 Speaker 1: he himself had given them in the last year. They 304 00:18:37,280 --> 00:18:40,080 Speaker 1: were compelled to speak to him about it, And soon 305 00:18:40,640 --> 00:18:43,280 Speaker 1: mister Stowman found that he would probably be without a 306 00:18:43,280 --> 00:18:46,719 Speaker 1: pulpit if he continued his present career. It was a 307 00:18:46,760 --> 00:18:49,400 Speaker 1: serious problem to him, for he had not been brought 308 00:18:49,480 --> 00:18:52,560 Speaker 1: up to do anything else but preach. He might find 309 00:18:52,600 --> 00:18:55,119 Speaker 1: himself in the position of men he had tried to help, 310 00:18:55,880 --> 00:18:59,399 Speaker 1: forced to hunt in vain for a job. But what 311 00:18:59,520 --> 00:19:01,879 Speaker 1: else could he looked to for real help to the 312 00:19:01,920 --> 00:19:05,159 Speaker 1: poverty of stricken masses. He had not been able to 313 00:19:05,200 --> 00:19:07,879 Speaker 1: find the answer to the question of why poverty should 314 00:19:07,880 --> 00:19:11,439 Speaker 1: ceaselessly exist in a world of plenty, either in the 315 00:19:11,480 --> 00:19:14,320 Speaker 1: religion he had loved so well, in the study of 316 00:19:14,359 --> 00:19:18,800 Speaker 1: ethics alone, or in the charity or sympathetic sentiment, or 317 00:19:18,800 --> 00:19:22,760 Speaker 1: in intellectual pursuits per se in the field of economic 318 00:19:22,800 --> 00:19:26,119 Speaker 1: research alone was any possible chance of an answer to 319 00:19:26,160 --> 00:19:29,560 Speaker 1: be found, And he must not be afraid of the answer. 320 00:19:30,240 --> 00:19:34,760 Speaker 1: It might upturn every preconceived idea he had ever cherished. 321 00:19:35,280 --> 00:19:39,720 Speaker 1: It might topple over all his gods, smash all his prejudices, 322 00:19:40,200 --> 00:19:43,399 Speaker 1: destroy much that he had worshiped as beautiful and good. 323 00:19:44,280 --> 00:19:47,680 Speaker 1: It would destroy friendships and loves. And he saw only 324 00:19:47,720 --> 00:19:54,720 Speaker 1: a lonely, persecuted pathway ahead of him, saw himself maligned, misrepresented, neglected, 325 00:19:55,000 --> 00:20:00,320 Speaker 1: and unloved. But he could not turn back. He gave 326 00:20:00,400 --> 00:20:03,199 Speaker 1: up his honored position as a beloved minister of a 327 00:20:03,240 --> 00:20:07,119 Speaker 1: popular conception of the Gospel, and went forth to preach 328 00:20:08,080 --> 00:20:11,080 Speaker 1: what is more nearly the gospel that Christ taught, and 329 00:20:11,119 --> 00:20:14,800 Speaker 1: to receive more nearly the treatment accorded to him. But 330 00:20:14,880 --> 00:20:17,560 Speaker 1: he is helping the world to find the answer. 331 00:20:19,160 --> 00:20:20,720 Speaker 2: The end. 332 00:20:21,520 --> 00:20:23,080 Speaker 1: Oh, there's so much in that story. 333 00:20:23,119 --> 00:20:23,399 Speaker 2: I like. 334 00:20:23,480 --> 00:20:27,400 Speaker 1: Okay, Like I said, it's a very plain political thing, right, 335 00:20:27,440 --> 00:20:30,840 Speaker 1: There's like not really a lot of characterization going on. 336 00:20:30,880 --> 00:20:35,439 Speaker 1: There's actually only one character, mister Stillman, and he you know, 337 00:20:36,640 --> 00:20:38,959 Speaker 1: he has emotions and he has problems and stuff, and 338 00:20:39,000 --> 00:20:43,200 Speaker 1: actually it does follow the trifail sequence of modern storytelling 339 00:20:43,280 --> 00:20:47,760 Speaker 1: very well. The trifail sequence is this very normal way 340 00:20:48,000 --> 00:20:50,719 Speaker 1: for stories to be written in which a character has 341 00:20:50,760 --> 00:20:52,560 Speaker 1: a problem and he tries to solve it, but he 342 00:20:52,560 --> 00:20:55,000 Speaker 1: doesn't succeed at solving it, and so then he tries 343 00:20:55,000 --> 00:20:57,159 Speaker 1: again to solve it and he doesn't succeed at solving it, 344 00:20:57,240 --> 00:20:59,520 Speaker 1: and then he tries again, and then he usually succeeds 345 00:20:59,560 --> 00:21:02,879 Speaker 1: or fails. That's a very common storytelling method and this 346 00:21:02,960 --> 00:21:05,600 Speaker 1: absolutely follows that, which is interesting because it's from one 347 00:21:05,680 --> 00:21:08,680 Speaker 1: hundred and twenty years ago. You know, he tries first 348 00:21:09,200 --> 00:21:12,480 Speaker 1: by just you know, doing the gospel, and that's like 349 00:21:12,560 --> 00:21:15,520 Speaker 1: not working. So he tries again with charity, and that's 350 00:21:15,560 --> 00:21:18,119 Speaker 1: not really working, and so he tries again by bringing 351 00:21:18,160 --> 00:21:20,919 Speaker 1: in the like learned speakers to talk about all the things, 352 00:21:20,920 --> 00:21:23,439 Speaker 1: and that's not enough either. And what he has to 353 00:21:23,480 --> 00:21:27,320 Speaker 1: do is become a seeker. And that's what I like 354 00:21:27,359 --> 00:21:29,840 Speaker 1: about this story is that it's not like And then 355 00:21:29,880 --> 00:21:32,120 Speaker 1: he brought in the anarchists, and the anarchists were right, 356 00:21:32,200 --> 00:21:34,560 Speaker 1: and everyone was like, ah, yes, class war, that is 357 00:21:34,600 --> 00:21:37,439 Speaker 1: the solution. The class war needs two sides, you know. 358 00:21:38,280 --> 00:21:40,320 Speaker 1: But he's also not like, oh, those people had nothing 359 00:21:40,400 --> 00:21:42,639 Speaker 1: to say. He's like, I'm going to go become one 360 00:21:42,680 --> 00:21:45,600 Speaker 1: of those people. I'm going to go. Look, I'm going 361 00:21:45,640 --> 00:21:52,320 Speaker 1: to go try and learn what's necessary to end the 362 00:21:52,359 --> 00:21:56,959 Speaker 1: abject poverty that people live in. And you know, and 363 00:21:57,000 --> 00:21:59,960 Speaker 1: it avoids easy answers and including avoiding the easy ana 364 00:22:00,040 --> 00:22:02,159 Speaker 1: sert of anarchism, which I just I feel like is 365 00:22:02,200 --> 00:22:04,560 Speaker 1: like the most anarchistic way to write fiction, right, like 366 00:22:04,680 --> 00:22:07,560 Speaker 1: Ursula Lagwinn taught us that with the Dispossessed, and this 367 00:22:07,720 --> 00:22:10,359 Speaker 1: is the way the hell older than that. But I 368 00:22:10,400 --> 00:22:12,760 Speaker 1: also find it interesting that this was written in nineteen 369 00:22:12,760 --> 00:22:17,800 Speaker 1: oh five, three years before Lizzie kind of stopped living 370 00:22:17,840 --> 00:22:21,119 Speaker 1: public life and stopped writing and just sort of lived 371 00:22:21,160 --> 00:22:24,760 Speaker 1: in the Southwest to their husband. And don't really know 372 00:22:24,800 --> 00:22:26,639 Speaker 1: what she got up to. Then maybe someone does. I 373 00:22:26,640 --> 00:22:28,640 Speaker 1: haven't read whole books on her or anything like that. 374 00:22:29,400 --> 00:22:31,679 Speaker 1: You know, this idea that you spend your whole life 375 00:22:31,800 --> 00:22:35,120 Speaker 1: looking for the solutions to these problems and you might 376 00:22:35,119 --> 00:22:39,720 Speaker 1: not find them, but the searching has a real value 377 00:22:39,880 --> 00:22:42,679 Speaker 1: and a thing that I keep running across when I 378 00:22:42,720 --> 00:22:45,399 Speaker 1: read this older fiction. You know, this is absolutely in 379 00:22:45,440 --> 00:22:48,080 Speaker 1: the no Gods, No Master's era of anarchism. This is 380 00:22:48,119 --> 00:22:51,600 Speaker 1: absolutely in the era of like, you know, the church 381 00:22:51,680 --> 00:22:57,040 Speaker 1: is this great evil, but even during that era, people 382 00:22:57,040 --> 00:22:59,439 Speaker 1: are very aware of that. Often it's people who are 383 00:22:59,680 --> 00:23:06,320 Speaker 1: interested in these questions who are within religious institutions as well, 384 00:23:06,680 --> 00:23:09,959 Speaker 1: even if the institutions themselves are not the answer. And 385 00:23:10,040 --> 00:23:15,000 Speaker 1: so yeah, I just I like the complexity of this 386 00:23:15,119 --> 00:23:18,360 Speaker 1: simple story, and I expect I'm probably going to try 387 00:23:18,400 --> 00:23:22,200 Speaker 1: and read more of her stories in the near future. 388 00:23:22,440 --> 00:23:24,680 Speaker 1: I'm also interested in how you know, so far, I've 389 00:23:24,720 --> 00:23:28,159 Speaker 1: read you mostly men from that era, but that's not 390 00:23:28,200 --> 00:23:33,360 Speaker 1: actually an accurate cross section of the people writing radical 391 00:23:33,400 --> 00:23:36,560 Speaker 1: fiction at the turn of the twentieth century compared to 392 00:23:36,680 --> 00:23:42,080 Speaker 1: literature in general. I would guess that women are overrepresented 393 00:23:42,119 --> 00:23:45,960 Speaker 1: in radical fiction compared to you know, regular literature. But 394 00:23:45,960 --> 00:23:47,600 Speaker 1: I actually I could be wrong about that, because there 395 00:23:47,640 --> 00:23:51,159 Speaker 1: is actually this thing where in some ways writing was 396 00:23:51,280 --> 00:23:56,400 Speaker 1: one of the few jobs available to women, partly because 397 00:23:57,080 --> 00:23:58,920 Speaker 1: you don't really have a boss in the same way. 398 00:23:59,240 --> 00:24:02,480 Speaker 1: You know, it's not a really traditional way of having 399 00:24:02,480 --> 00:24:07,200 Speaker 1: a job. Speaking of women who have books, I have books. 400 00:24:07,400 --> 00:24:09,240 Speaker 1: This is me moving to pivots. I'm done with talking 401 00:24:09,240 --> 00:24:11,439 Speaker 1: about the story. I have a book called The Immortal 402 00:24:11,520 --> 00:24:14,840 Speaker 1: Choir Holds Every Voice that came out this very note 403 00:24:14,960 --> 00:24:17,040 Speaker 1: last month. That came out last month. I'll stop talking 404 00:24:17,040 --> 00:24:19,920 Speaker 1: about it soon probably maybe, or maybe I'll keep talking 405 00:24:19,920 --> 00:24:22,159 Speaker 1: about because I like it. It came out from Strangers 406 00:24:22,200 --> 00:24:24,600 Speaker 1: and Entangledilderness, which is a collectively run press that I'm 407 00:24:24,640 --> 00:24:28,120 Speaker 1: part of. That press, Strangers and a Tangledilderness just put 408 00:24:28,160 --> 00:24:30,119 Speaker 1: out a book, or was about to put out a 409 00:24:30,160 --> 00:24:34,280 Speaker 1: book called or So and it is Lorenzo or Setti 410 00:24:34,480 --> 00:24:38,040 Speaker 1: was an anarchist who died fighting Isis a few years 411 00:24:38,080 --> 00:24:42,640 Speaker 1: back as part of the YPG in Rojeva, and this 412 00:24:42,680 --> 00:24:47,080 Speaker 1: is his journals that was smuggled out by comrades and 413 00:24:47,119 --> 00:24:50,360 Speaker 1: first published an Italian and the Italian publisher reached out 414 00:24:50,400 --> 00:24:53,080 Speaker 1: to us and offered to let us publish it. And 415 00:24:53,119 --> 00:24:55,159 Speaker 1: I'm really proud to have gotten to have a small 416 00:24:55,160 --> 00:24:57,840 Speaker 1: part in helping publish this book. And so if you 417 00:24:57,880 --> 00:25:02,080 Speaker 1: look up this book or So Oh from Strangers in 418 00:25:02,080 --> 00:25:04,600 Speaker 1: a Tangled Wilderness, so you can pre order it. And 419 00:25:05,240 --> 00:25:08,960 Speaker 1: it's real good, it's real moving. It's not written as 420 00:25:08,960 --> 00:25:11,359 Speaker 1: a memoir, it's written as journals. And so there's a 421 00:25:11,359 --> 00:25:14,439 Speaker 1: lot of pieces written by his friends and family and 422 00:25:14,480 --> 00:25:16,480 Speaker 1: other people involved in that fight to kind of help 423 00:25:16,520 --> 00:25:21,680 Speaker 1: contextualize it all. And you might like it too, And 424 00:25:21,880 --> 00:25:25,120 Speaker 1: you also might like checking us out next week when 425 00:25:25,160 --> 00:25:28,520 Speaker 1: I bring you yet another story on cool Zone Media 426 00:25:28,520 --> 00:25:33,119 Speaker 1: book Club. I probably won't do that again, hie. 427 00:25:35,080 --> 00:25:37,600 Speaker 2: It could happen here as a production of cool Zone Media. 428 00:25:37,680 --> 00:25:40,320 Speaker 2: For more podcasts from cool Zone Media, visit our website 429 00:25:40,400 --> 00:25:42,639 Speaker 2: cool zonemedia dot com, or check us out on the 430 00:25:42,640 --> 00:25:46,200 Speaker 2: iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. 431 00:25:46,640 --> 00:25:48,760 Speaker 2: You can find sources where it Could Happen here, updated 432 00:25:48,840 --> 00:25:52,880 Speaker 2: monthly at coolzonemedia dot com slash sources. Thanks for listening.