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Comrades
This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.
344 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1909
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About the author
Thomas Dixon Jr.
53 books18 followersThomas Frederick Dixon Jr. was a Southern Baptist minister, playwright, lecturer, North Carolina state legislator, lawyer, and author.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
April 30, 2025
One of Thomas Dixon, Jr.'s best works. He previously took aim at socialism in one of his worst (The One Woman), but Comrades has a much better story and political commentary. A bunch of leftist radicals establish a socialist commune on an island off the coast of California. Predictably, failure ensues. As had previously happened with small religious or ideological planned communities or would later happen with whole communist states, starting with Russia, any community based around an artificial philosophy that clashes with human nature will inevitably fail.
August 25, 2014
I quite enjoyed this book, but only after I had finished reading. By a third of the way through, I felt that the story would end up being too similar to "The Root of Evil," but by about two thirds of the way through I no longer felt that the story would not take a turn to become a rehash.
What I took away from this story was not that Socialism is wholly evil, but it is the people who apply it turn Socialism into something that is evil. There were a number of questions that some of the characters brought up regarding how a Socialist society can function as pure Socialism and how it is doomed to fail that I thought was well timed story-wise.
In the end, I would recommend "Comrades" as an early 20th century look at Socialism vs. Capitalism and not at all as a guidebook for social change. It is a fiction and I read it as such.
What I took away from this story was not that Socialism is wholly evil, but it is the people who apply it turn Socialism into something that is evil. There were a number of questions that some of the characters brought up regarding how a Socialist society can function as pure Socialism and how it is doomed to fail that I thought was well timed story-wise.
In the end, I would recommend "Comrades" as an early 20th century look at Socialism vs. Capitalism and not at all as a guidebook for social change. It is a fiction and I read it as such.
January 1, 2019
The story is about efforts to make a socialist community on a US island in the 1890's. Dixon intends to say even with only socialist advocates, a socialist community would face crises and authoritarianism. It does show that building a new community / society requires planning and beginning with known rules. For example, problems occur from the start because their process for who's allowed to join the community didn't include who was capable of and willing to do necessary jobs. The community provided everyone with food, clothing and shelter, so I was unconvinced that socialistic people demanded higher pay than they'd had before to cover other expenses.
At meetings, one character asks many questions - how or what society should do in certain situations. Many of the questions would be worth asking in any society. For example, he asks what to do if Community A has a good doctor and Community B has a bad doctor. Unequal health care is still an issue, so far market forces didn't solve it.
However, this character also asks, "What shall be done with the Negro, the Chinaman, and the Indian when their numbers largely increase? Will these inferior races be placed on an absolute equality with the Aryan and will they be allowed to freely intermarry?"
(Dixon thinks socialism reduces freedom, but so would he.)
When weekly town meetings where anyone can have his say are suspended, a critic of the leaders says they're suppressing free speech. Whether or not the meetings should be continued, "free speech" in the US doesn't require towns to have weekly public meetings. Dixon has these double standards.
During the community's first year, a schemer quietly builds a secret faction, helping him win the election (a voice vote at a public meeting, so we know the vote was honest.) He becomes a dictator. Such threats aren't limited to socialism. A bad guy won the election, but the vote was less rigged than you can find in the US.
There are reasonable questions on how to maintain majority rule when government runs the economy. But award-winning scholarly books like Affluence and Influence show the wealthy have greatly disproportionate influence over US government. Billionaire influence is preventing adequate action on climate, environment, income inequality, money in politics, automation, etc. Yes, when Dixon wrote, there was less known of this, but we know more now.
Available at Project Gutenberg
At meetings, one character asks many questions - how or what society should do in certain situations. Many of the questions would be worth asking in any society. For example, he asks what to do if Community A has a good doctor and Community B has a bad doctor. Unequal health care is still an issue, so far market forces didn't solve it.
However, this character also asks, "What shall be done with the Negro, the Chinaman, and the Indian when their numbers largely increase? Will these inferior races be placed on an absolute equality with the Aryan and will they be allowed to freely intermarry?"
(Dixon thinks socialism reduces freedom, but so would he.)
When weekly town meetings where anyone can have his say are suspended, a critic of the leaders says they're suppressing free speech. Whether or not the meetings should be continued, "free speech" in the US doesn't require towns to have weekly public meetings. Dixon has these double standards.
During the community's first year, a schemer quietly builds a secret faction, helping him win the election (a voice vote at a public meeting, so we know the vote was honest.) He becomes a dictator. Such threats aren't limited to socialism. A bad guy won the election, but the vote was less rigged than you can find in the US.
There are reasonable questions on how to maintain majority rule when government runs the economy. But award-winning scholarly books like Affluence and Influence show the wealthy have greatly disproportionate influence over US government. Billionaire influence is preventing adequate action on climate, environment, income inequality, money in politics, automation, etc. Yes, when Dixon wrote, there was less known of this, but we know more now.
Available at Project Gutenberg
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews