Every so often, a student of history will stumble across something so profound and prescient that kicks them in the head with the force of a bull, and serves as a brutal reminder that the more things change, the more they stay the same.
Last night, I was rummaging through my family's vast collection of books while house-sitting. The collection is stored in a bomb shelter that has since been converted into a dirty, musty library in my parent's basement. I was searching for something interesting to pass the evening reading, and a fragile, yellow paperback called "The Money Changers" caught my eye. It wasn't the title which grabbed my attention, but the name of the author, written in small bold ink at the bottom of the spine, "Sinclair."
I was only familiar with Upton Sinclair's work through second-hand references. His famous work, "The Jungle" is one of the most influential works of fiction in the 20th century. It led directly to the creation of the FDA and helped usher in the life-saving safety regulations so many of us take for granted in the United States today. (Much to the chagrin of our political opponents.)
"The Money Changers," however, I was unfamiliar with. Written in 1908, it is a fictionalized chronicle of the 1907 financial panic. The panic which led directly to the implementation of the Federal Reserve system and helped set the wheels in motion for WWI. Told from the point of view of a New York socialite, it leads the reader through the personal lives and back-room dealings of the one-percent and how their rampant speculation, over-leveraging, corrupting political influence and elitist worldview brought forth pain and misery upon the people.
The I picked the book up at around 11, and didn't set it down again until 5:30 this morning. Unable to stop reading, passage after passage gnawed at my stomach as I realized that they could have just as easily been written four years ago instead of one hundred and four years ago. Some passages were so prescient to our political and financial climate today that I had to copy them down to share with others who understand that those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.
The purpose of this diary is to share a few of those passages and expand on their implications today. Also, I encourage all those who haven't read "The Money Changers" to read a copy if you have the time. I am writing it just as much for my own future reference as I am the DKos community, so I apologize if this diary gets a bit lengthy and muddled. After all, it is now 6:30am and I haven't yet slept, so please forgive any mistakes I may make.
It is well documented that market speculation, corruption, lack of proper oversight, financial consolidation and obscene leveraging leads to financial panics. A brief look at a history of such panics shows the same factors popping up every ten years or so with varying degrees of severity. The 1907 panic was caused by the same bad actors as the 2007 panic, even though the problem was just as acutely recognizable then as it is now. Certainly, some reforms such as the FDIC, formulation of the SEC, creation of the Federal Reserve and dozens of other actions have tried to mitigate the damage caused by financial crises, but for some reason we can't ever seem to truly learn from our mistakes. Upton Sinclair provides fantastic examples of the same type of risky financial plays that occurred then and now, and most readers on DKos are already well aware of them.
The most enlightening passages of the book to me were the ones which involved discussion of the political influence exerted by the monied interests, and their methods of controlling the media to sway public opinion. Although Sinclair lived in a different era of American politics, one of the omnipotent political machine controlled by the robber barons, I fear that for all our valiant efforts over the past century to end such influence have been eradicated by Citizens United.
One of the most interesting passages along this topic involves a conversation between the protagonist, Montague, and his young capitalist friend, Curtiss. It comes in chapter 11, and follows like this:
The younger man shrugged his shoulders. "What are you going to do about it?" he asked. "Your political machines and your offices are in the hands of peanut-politicians and grafters who are looking for what's coming to them. If you want anything, you have to pay them for it, just the same as in any other business. You face the same situation every hour—'Pay or quit.'"
"Look," Curtiss went on, after a pause, "take our own case. Here we are, and we want to build a little railroad. It's an important work; it's got to be done. But we might haunt the lobbies of your State legislature for fifty years, and if we didn't put up, we wouldn't get the charter. And, in the meantime, what do you suppose the Steel Trust would be doing?"
"Have you ever thought what such things will lead to?" asked
Montague.
"I don't know," said Curtiss. "I've had a fancy that some day the business men of the country will have to go into politics and run it on business lines."
The other pondered the reply. "That sounds simple," he said. "But doesn't it mean the overthrow of Republican institutions?"
"I am afraid it would," said Curtiss. "But what's to be done?"
There was no answer.
When reading that line from the young capitalist, I can't help but be reminded of the constant drumming from conservatives that the President ought to run the country like a CEO runs a business. A hundred years ago, the modern conservative ideology held the same sympathies! The response from Montague underscores the great threat of such an ideology. If government is run as a business, then the purpose of government to maintain the safety, security, welfare and basic human rights of its citizenry is lost. Citizens of the United States are not "shareholders" in a corporation, they are people who compose a government! Although, the financial powers-to-be appear to be incapable of thinking in any terms that don't involve gain and loss. This is evidenced by Curtiss, and his basic reply of "Meh."
This line of thinking appears to have evolved over the past hundred years, to the point that Willard Romney, a presidential candidate on a major party ticket, is now the quintessential embodiment of the businessman-politician. His party's platform is now nearly indistinguishable from the goals and aspirations of the modern day aristocracy, the monied elite. This platform is so radical, the he even said, "Corporations are people." An idea so preposterous that even J.P. Morgan, whom the book's antagonist is based on, would have scoffed at the idea (until it suited him).
When government is considered a business, it effectively removes the human aspect it is tasked to embody. It insinuates that votes are to be bought and sold, not earned. It turns government programs into commodities. Decisions would be expected to be me made based on the fiscal bottom line, as opposed to providing the public good. I could continue, but you get the picture. It is an inherently flawed world-view, it has been around for centuries, and we are losing the argument against it!!
I shall continue with a second diary later today. In the next diary I shall discuss the tactic of attacking a populist president for being hostile towards business...things never change.
I am too tired to continue this morning. I shall publish this now...incomplete...because judging by the number of half-finished diaries I have saved and subsequently deleted, this will never be published unless I do it now. Please take the time to read the book. It never hurts to have a little extra perspective regarding our current political/economic situation. Upton Sinclair makes so many fantastic observations that we can adapt and use in our current mess.
1:28 PM PT: Thank you for the fantastic response. When I wrote this in the wee hours of the morning I was unable to keep my thoughts particularly organized (although that seems to be the case most of the time, not just the morning...lol.)
I am somewhat ashamed that it got published to community spotlight in such a rough draft form. I intended on returning this afternoon to touch it up and write about some other passages from the book which struck me as important reminders of how far we HAVEN"T come in the past 100 years. Stay tuned and I should have something else up in the next few hours.