Tuesday, June 27, 2006
This Day in American History
On this day in 1905 the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) the Wobblies are organized in Chicago. The Wobblies were the more militant socialist edge of the labor movement, and their members included Eugene Debs and William D. "Big Bill" Haywood. The Wobblies had plans for the "emancipation of the working class from the slave bondage of capitalism." They were a big tent outfit welcoming immigrant workers from any nation of origin, with the idea that if they became large enough, they would call an apocalyptic strike that would effectively fell the capitalist system. I think total, humiliating failure is a charitable final analysis of all their efforts. Truth be told, I think I saw some Wobblies at an anti-war rally a few months ago--all eight of them.
# posted by Roger Fraley @ 7:19 AM 
