Labor and Freedom

by Eugene V. Debs

This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.

Genres: Politics, Philosophy, Nonfiction, Economics, History, Essays, Labor

112 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1916

About the author

Eugene Victor Debs was an American union leader, a founding member of the International Labor Union & the Industrial Workers of the World, as well as candidate for President as a member of the Social Democratic Party in 1900.

In 1855, labor leader, reformer and socialist Eugene V. Debs was born in Terre Haute, Ind. He was not baptized by his formerly Catholic mother. The family living room contained busts of Voltaire and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. When a teacher gave Debs a bible as an academic award, inscribing it, "Read and obey," Debs later called, "I never did either." (New York Call interviews with David Karsner). He dropped out of high school at age 14 to work. By 1870 he had become a fireman on the railroad, attending evening classes at a business college. His labor activism began in 1875. As president of the Occidental Literary Club of Terre Haute, Debs brought "the Great Agnostic" Col. Robert Ingersoll, whom he always revered despite political differences, Susan B. Anthony and other famous speakers to town. He was elected state representative to the Indiana General Assembly as a Democrat in 1884, while continuing his labor activities. As editor of the Locomotive Firemen's journal for many years, Debs routinely attacked the church, promoted women's and racial equality, and promoted justice for the poor. "If I were hungry and friendless today, I would rather take my chances with a saloon-keeper than with the average preacher," Debs once said (cited in Eugene V. Debs: A Man Unafraid, 1930, by McAlister Coleman). He saved his strongest denunciations for the Roman Catholic Church, for being an anti-democratic, anti-family, authoritarian "political machine."

In June 1893, Debs organized the first industrial union in the United States, the American Railway Union in Chicago, which held a successful 18-day strike against Great Northern Railway the next year. Debs and leaders of the union were arrested during the Pullman Boycott and Strike of 1894, and were sent to jail for contempt of court for 6 months in 1895. An inspired campaigner, Debs ran for president as a candidate of the Socialist Party in 1900, 1904, 1908, 1912 and 1920, employing the "Red Special" train to visit America during his 1908 campaign. The irreligious Debs was beloved by many. He was associate editor from 1907-1912 of the Appeal to Reason, a popular weekly published by freethinker E. Haldeman-Julius in Girard, Kansas. In 1918, Debs delivered his famed anti-war speech in Canton, Ohio, in protest of WWI, and was arrested and convicted in federal court under the wartime espionage law. His appeals to the jury and to the court before sentencing went into legal history. Debs was sentenced to 10 years in prison and was disenfranchised for life, losing citizenship. While in prison, he was nominated to run for president and conducted his last campaign, winning nearly a million votes. His opponent, Warren G. Harding, commuted Debs' sentence and released him on Dec. 25, 1921. Debs was welcomed by 1,000 fellow Terre Hauteans upon his return. His health broken by his imprisonment, he died at a sanitarium. The Terre Haute home he built with his wife in 1890 is today a National Historic Landmark of the National Parks Department and a museum. D. 1926.

More: http://debsfoundation.org/

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

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/t...

http://www.biography.com/people/eugen...

http://www.marxists.org/archive/debs/

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/wilson/p...

http://www.ushistory.org/us/37e.asp

http://www.history.com/topics/eugene-...

Reviews

[J.L. Sutton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I hadn’t read much of Debs’ work when I visited his home in Terre Haute, Indiana, a few years ago. I’m glad that has changed. Labor and Freedom is an impressive collection of essays and speeches from a progressive voice from the late 19th century and early 20th century. Debs is a champion of the working class. That rings loud and clear in everything in this collection. While Debs is sometimes a bit over the top (in terms of his rhetoric), his arguments for freedom and his appeals to equality are as applicable today as they were 100 years ago. One of his most interesting essays is on Theodore Roosevelt; Debs blasts the hero worship of Roosevelt while providing a counterbalance to our current popular image of this president. Debs also writes about women’s suffrage (and Susan B. Anthony) in this collection as well as the abuses of power inherent in the economy.

[The Conspiracy is Capitalism · Rating 3 out of 5]

US working class legend:

I just finished reading Bernie’s 2016 Our Revolution: A Future to Believe In (which name-drops Debs) and while picking through the contradictions of "social democracy" (political democracy, economic capitalism), I was prompted to explore how much the modern US social democrat/Progressive differs from a Socialist/Wobbly like Debs.

The Missing
--This is a collection of essays/speeches on labour/socialism/women's rights/capitalist US parties; the format offered rhetorical fiery but limited analysis.
--What I really came for is to see what Debs has to offer on US foreign policy and the global division of labour, as this is a major flaw in US social democrats (ex. The Socialist Manifesto: The Case for Radical Politics in an Era of Extreme Inequality). After all, Debs was jailed for protesting WWI and was a founding member of the international labour union "Wobblies" (IWW: International Workers of the World). This was missing; perhaps it can be found in Debs' later works like Walls and Bars: Prisons and Prison Life in the Land of the Free.
--Reading historical works is fine, but always helpful to tie historical lessons together with structural (geopolitical economy) analysis:
-The Global Minotaur: America, the True Origins of the Financial Crisis and the Future of the World Economy
-And the Weak Suffer What They Must? Europe's Crisis and America's Economic Future
-Capital and Imperialism: Theory, History, and the Present
-The Darker Nations: A People's History of the Third World

[J · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's hard not to love Debs.

This collection of speeches and other works covers mostly the first two decades of the 20th century, a time when the hope for the end of capitalism in the US seemed at its highest.

This hope, whether Debs truly felt it or not, is the main focus of the pieces included here. He is passionate, consistent, and clear: capitalism is undemocratic.

The only "problematic" aspect here may be Debs' praise of the leaders women's suffrage movement - he quotes some of their more obnoxious statements about race though, when he addresses race himself, he only does so in noting that membership in the Socialist Party is open to all. He specifically states that the party is open to all regardless of race, sex, creed, etc.

Of course, I'm writing my review in the year 2020 on Goodreads, a platform owned by Amazon, one of the most powerful and exploitative corporations in history. I bought the eBook itself via Amazon (though it was free).

A thoroughly corrupt and inept gang of the wealthy are selling the United States for scrap -- and Debs' vision, like that of Upton Sinclair though not as joyfully naive, feels no closer to fulfillment.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Man, this guy could write a speech.

Also: The free audio version available on Librivox is pretty good. Recommended, especially as most of these essays were written to be read out loud.
https://librivox.org/labor-and-freedo...

[Matjaz · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's an interesting collection of writings to get a glimpse into American trials and tribulations of the working class, the equality of people of color,women and the widening gap between the "rich white elite" around the turn of the 20th century. But at the end of the day it's just another socialist propaganda that aims for the low-hanging fruit with accusatory and aggressive writing. But some of the thinking is eerily fresh and crisp today as it was 100+ years ago along with the contemporary state of affairs: oppressed workers and minorities, a president with very questionable moral standards and the money dictating the course of history.

This one paragraph is an especially potent food for thought:

You may, at times, temporarily better your condition within certain limitations, but you will still remain wage-slaves, and why wage-slaves? For just one reason and no other--you have got to work. To work you have got to have tools, and if you have no tools you have to beg for work, and if you have got to beg for work the man who owns the tools you use will determine the conditions under which you shall work. As long as he owns your tools he owns your job, and if he owns your job he is the master of your fate. You are in no sense a free man. You are subject to his interest and to his will. He decides whether you shall work or not. Therefore, he decides whether you shall live or die. And in that humiliating position any one who tries to persuade you that you are a free man is guilty of insulting your intelligence. You will never be free, you will never stand erect in your own manly self-reliance until you are the master of the tools you work with, and when you are you can freely work without the consent of any master, and when you do work you will get all your labor produces.

Hot damn... Also today I learned that Jesus was the original communist :))

Solid 3/5

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a collection of articles and speeches by Debs. It covers a variety: strike-breaking, socialism, women's rights, John Brown, Theodore Roosevelt's anti-labor record, Jesus as a working class leader (?), etc.

The first article tells about a 65-year-old former railroad worker / unionist who now scrapes by repairing people's umbrellas. When he encounters Debs he is excited and tells Debs about his dedication to unions. In some ways, the article is emotive, but I also was uncomfortable about Debs recounting that the worker was such a big fan of Debs, and describing how much shabbier the repairer's clothes were than Debs' clothes.

Perhaps, the best is Unity and Victory, a speech Debs gave to a state convention of the American Federation of Labor in 1908. He discusses the importance of unions that cover all employees rather than craft unions - noting how bosses made contracts with the craft unions which forbid them to honor other unions' picket lines. He discusses the importance of socialism and politics for working people, but says the unions shouldn't cause internal divisions by backing candidates and parties. Generally, he gives a fairly wide view of what working people need to do and work toward.

[Muhammad · Rating 4 out of 5]

The lineal descendants of Caiaphas and Judas and the pharisees and money-changers of old are still parroting the same miserable falsehood to serve the same miserable ends, the only difference being that the brood of pious perverts now practice their degeneracy in the name of the Christ they betrayed and sold into crucifixion twenty centuries ago.

The laws of evolution have decreed the downfall of the capitalist system. The handwriting is upon the wall in letters of fire. The trusts are transforming industry and next will come the transformation of the trusts by the people. Socialism is inevitable. Capitalism is breaking down and the new order evolving from it is clearly the Socialist commonwealth.

[Mare · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fine introduction to Debs and his philosophy of socialism in the U.S. Obviously, it is a bit dated, but it is a great primary source to give context to understanding of the 1912 election and labor in that era.
EDIT: This is public domain and thus available for free. I listened to the audiobook on Librivox. J complained that the reader sounded like Rev. Lovejoy, but other than that 👍

[Jimmy Allen · Rating 5 out of 5]

"The more things change, the more they stay the same." Surprisingly, this book is current in that Debs describes the class warfare that continues today. Debs says that both political parties support Capitalists, the Democrats the middle class, and the Republicans the upper class. Debs' says that Labor is not represented.

One of Debs' points is that Labor creates wealth (product), but the Capitalists have private ownership of the product. Even in the early 1900s, Debs says the Capitalists are plutocrats. Profits are increasing despite wages not keeping up with the cost of living increases.

Debs go on to say we are wage slaves and we are not free men. He argues that this is what socialism is all about.

[James Mullen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eugene V. Debs writes and speaks passionately and eloquently on the class struggle in the US, in a way that is still relatable and stirring in modern America. That is in equal parts due to the disappointment of the nation's current situation and how it hasn't changed for the better in a meaningful way in over a century as well as the masterful oration and linguistics on display from this largely forgotten American Hero.

[Ed Barton · Rating 4 out of 5]

American Socialism

Debs was the only real American Socialist to get traction in elections and public opinion - and paid for it through the trampling of his free speech rights and imprisonment. While I disagree with nearly every position Debs takes, it’s important to both understand his positions and concerns, as well as recognize his influence in the early 20th Century and the failure of our government to protect his right to spread his message.

[Paige McLoughlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

a collection of inspiring writings and speeches by Eugen Debs, Socialist and American Original. Ran for President from jail in 1920 during the red scare and the palmer raids on the socialist party ticket. I admire Bernie a great deal but he hasn't topped Debs's exploits. Lost history more people should be acquainted with.

[Sunwyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

THE WRONG BOOK!!

I bought what I thought was Labor and Freedom by Eugene Debs and what I got was The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper! What the hell is going on here? The cover says one thing but the contents are another thing.

[Alec · Rating 5 out of 5]

The umbrella mender is one of the most inspiring stories I have ever heard.

[Adam · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's still going on

Debs confronts the problems caused by capitalism and discusses a socialist movement. Things haven't changed much in the last 100 years.

[The Lazy Reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the words of Eugene V Debs himself:

"Such has been the fate of all who, like the great souls, loved principles better than popularity, and humanity more than themselves."

[Tyler Hill · Rating 5 out of 5]

A truly great American that more people need to learn about. A solid collection of his thought that is supremely relevant today.

[Travis Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the message. Read it. Reflect on it. REPEAT!

[Maneesh Goel · Rating 3 out of 5]

100 years later and not much change

[Luís Garcia · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best and more committed work I have read.
Read it!!!

(lido no Cadaval, Portugal)

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eugene Debs can write like no other politician! I am usually a cool-headed person, and I also disagree with him on his revolutionary stance, but his way with words simply managed to instill a bit of revolutionary fervor in me. I'm just glad that no modern-day politician has the incredible oratory, and writing skills of Eugene Debs, otherwise, I just might fall for their political rhetoric.

Beauty of prose aside, this collection of articles, and speeches exposes a long forgotten, or dare I say suppressed, struggle of the US working class to gain a more decent standard of living. Few people today know that workers (including children) used to be shamelessly exploited for up to 12-14 hours a day by an economic system not all that different from the one we find ourselves in now. Few people know about the Ludlow Massacre, and even fewer people know about a myriad of other similar struggles.

His views on the plight of the common people are extremely progressive for his time, he was staunch supported of Susan B Anthony's efforts, he spoke out against systematic racism; and at no time did he support abolishing of democracy (as people with misconceptions about socialism are wont to believe), on the contrary, he argues for a world where the workers directly, and democratically control their workplace environments, rather than the private owners, or the state. This collection of essays is probably a must read for anyone who doesn't understand what socialism, in the original sense, meant.

Also, the following passage is written in 1912, does it sound familiar?

There is one infallible test that fixes the status of a political party and its candidates. Who finances them?

[Travis Dicken · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent summary of Debs.

Of the few works available on the United States most important labour leader, this collection of Eugene Victor Debs selected essays and speeches provides an excellent if brief introduction to his thought, his view of socialism, women's emancipation, the Socialist Party, and other issues. By presenting the man in his own words, it also allows the reader to grasp just why Debs was such an inspiring figure for the labour movement, as well as one of the best examples of a genuinely socialist man. Highly recommended for all comrades, students of American history, and anyone with a desire to encounter socialism first hand, as opposed to through the demagoguery of the Republican and Democratic parties.

[Mickey Hernandez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Debs is an eloquent and talented reader. He knows how to use his pen and writes in such a way that one cannot help to be stirred, wherever they may fall on the political spectrum. However, this collection of writings has no detailed and compelling arguments for why communism is, in Debs eyes, the best system of governing. This book simply offers a collection of speeches and essays (possibly originally published in pamphlets) that were handed out to common working people, and they serve no other purpose than to touch at the emotional sphere of the argument for socialism. While still a good read, if one is looking for essays that discuss the economic advantages of socialism then look elsewhere.

[Oliver Larkin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite good. I've always been a fan of Debs, and while this doesn't contain some of his best speeches, it's a great collection to introduce others to Debs with.

Especially relevant given the current political climate in America.

[Jakob · Rating 3 out of 5]

Charming, inspiring collection of articles and speeches.

[Corey · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is interesting to read this 100 years later, not much has changed.

[h · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eugene V. Debs had a way with words, and these orations are as important now as they were when penned.