Nick Brisini has written a review of the book Working Class Radicals: The Socialist Party in West Virginia, 1889-1920 by Frederick Barley.
The capitalist brainwashing of works over time to convince us that socialism has no place in “our” country. It is, they proclaim, Un-American as if capitalism was synonymous with America. Reading Working Class Radicals: The Socialist Party in West Virginia 1889-1920 one is introduced to a slice of the American Socialist that existed and continues to exist with more and more youth identifying as socialist.
Barkley’s study is filled with stories substantiated with evidence of the advances and successes of socialism. These successes were mostly in the coal fields of West Virginia during this period. This important study can, if read, give one a historical perspective on this timely question. It also provides interesting stories like those of Big Bill Haywood, Mother Jones and Eugene Debs. This book inspires one to do their own investigations of the American Socialist tradition. This tradition is largely ignored in most high school history courses.
Barkley details the electoral victories of the parts throughout this period in West Virginia. Many coal miners were influenced by their ideas. They saw capitalism was the source of their problems. Those who were most influenced by socialist ideas tended to be the more educated of the group. A case could be made that this pattern repeats today, It is highly unlikely that MAGA adherents spend much time in libraries.
Socialism, as Barkley points out, had an impressive run for 20 years in West Virginia. It influenced the thinking of many workers. However, antidemocratic laws and internal problems led to its decline. Barkley concludes that this example provides a relevant example for today for our own labor struggles.