The anarchist and, later, socialist movements that swept America in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries lay the foundations for many of the ideologies and activist movements that follow into the present. In my opinion, it is one of the most significant movements to impact the world, introducing ideas and concepts ahead of its time. These movements are also one of the first times the artistic expression is actively used as a form of rebellion against an elite, bourgeois class.
“Pyramid of Capitalist System” 1911 by The International Publishing Company, Cleveland, Ohio
During this era of American history, the working class comes to recognize and sympathize each other’s plights as beginnings of communist ideology spread around the world. In New York City, the increasingly educated working class (due to prior activism resulting in compulsory public education) begin to realize that rather than competing for meager incomes from unskilled factor labor amongst various religious and ethnic groups like before, they need to fight the systemic injustice of capitalism. This realization comes from the recognition of the increasing wage gap through the housing. While the laborers had to deal with stuffy, unsanitary tenements in the corners, their employers can be found on, as Emma Goldman put it, “Fifth Avenue… laid in gold, every mansion a citadel of money and power” (Jaffe 96). This difference in standard of living of people who worked in the same building seemed unjust to the laborers who worked long hours with little pay.
When you consider the contemporary meaning of anarchy, often something similar to The Walking Dead or The Purge is what is connoted. But on the contrary, the “anarchy” that was preached during this time period was far from the contemporary meaning. In fact, what that anarchy called for then is eerily similar to many movements, including the feminist and LGBT, today. The anarchist movement focused on the achievement of one thing: freedom. Freedom in every sense: political, economic, cultural, sexual etc. While the most common one discussed is economic freedom through a communist revolution, activist Enna Goldman used anarchist ideologies to pioneer some of the first feminist arguments. One of the things Goldman argued was essential for the freedom of working-class women was contraceptives. She argued that they allowed them “to limit the number of children, control family expenses, and lead better lives” all of which are used in feminist arguments today (Jaffe 102). She makes logical claims to prove how the lack of contraceptives limit the freedom of women at a time when even speaking of contraceptives as an idea was taboo. While now it may seem obvious that the option for contraceptives should be a right, at the time it was an “anarchist” idea.
The socialist movement in America becomes an even bigger deal than other movements as it was one of the first to directly commission and use art as rebellion. This started out as a publicity stunt coordinated by heads of the IWW during the Paterson Strike to increase the visibility and positive publicity of their movement. The idea was to hold a pageant to boost the morale and raise relief funds of the tiring strikers. So, an artist by the name John Reed to help them depict the struggle they are fighting through performance. This blurred the line to be indistinguishable between art and protest. This is evident in the testimonies of those present were unable to distinguish protest from the performance. Art played a far more interesting role in forming socialist ideologies in newspapers like The Masses. As a magazine with the creed go “against rigidity and dogma wherever it is found; printing what is too naked or true for a money-making press,” it lived up to its name (Lampert 101). This ideology is part of the reason it became so popular. The Masses was a rough, gritty blend of editorials, essays, poems, and pictures to propagate socialist ideals. They criticized everything from the capitalist system to major employee abuse scandals to the United States government, not losing any of the vigor or wit even in its final days. What made it the most unique magazine is how far it pushed the limits in not only radical ideologies but in art forms too. Despite being so popular and criticizing the government during the Espionage Act of 1917 and making corporate bigwigs angry, the members of the magazine got away relatively unscathed. They were put on trial twice, both times resulting in no verdict. This privileged position was due to the fact they were white, male, and American-born, as one juror put it (Lampert 108).
While even now socialism has some negative connotations to it due to not just one, but two Red Scares the implications of the ideology go far ahead to redefine what natural rights we are entitled to. This is a train of thought can lead to major amendments to the constitution and help us develop what freedoms we should be given. While during the movement there was much opposition to what we should have and now some of it seems to be a given, it is important to remember that what is required by a people changes with time. The freedoms and rights we need are dynamic and will never be set, and because of this activism and opposition will be ever-present in our society. It is up to us to evaluate through discussion and example the validity and necessity of our freedoms and rights.
-PR
