Critics Of Modern America

ASU HST 200 (Historical Themes) The Growing Pains of Urbanization, 1870-1900 Critics Of Modern America Many Americans of the period, both theorists and regular workers, believed that the era's reforms would bring them chances and benefits, but there were also many who were against the social changes that were beginning to take place. Authors like Edward Bellamy, Henry George, and Thorstein Veblen were important in disseminating criticisms of the industrial period, despite their lesser popularity than that of Twain and London. All three of them felt that the industrial period was a move in the wrong direction for the nation, even if their criticisms were very different from one another. Edward Bellamy describes a utopian America in his 1888 novel Looking Backward, 2000–1888, in which the nation has moved from a capitalist model to a socialist society and is living in peace and harmony. In the book, Bellamy makes predictions about the future, including the arrival of credit cards, cable television, and cooperative "superstores" that resemble Wal-Mart today. Appealing to people who believed the industrial age of big business was leading the nation astray, Looking Backward became a huge bestseller in the late nineteenth century, ranking third only to Uncle Tom's Cabin and Ben Hur. Later, Eugene Debs, the leader of the nationwide Pullman Railroad Strike in 1894, remarked on how Bellamy's writings encouraged him to embrace socialism as a counter to the industrial capitalism paradigm that exploits people. Furthermore, Bellamy's writings encouraged the release of no less than thirty-six further books or essays by other authors, many of which either explicitly criticized or supported her viewpoint. Bellamy felt forced to write a sequel in 1897, titled Equality, in which he expanded on concepts he had previously presented on women's equality and educational reform, as well as a society of vegetarians who communicate universally. Nonfiction author Henry George, an economist most known for his 1879 book Progress and Poverty, which attacked the disparity seen in an industrial economy, was another writer whose work reflected the views of the day. He proposed that while everyone should own what they produce, all land and natural resources should belong to everyone equally and be subject to a "single land tax" to discourage the holding of private property. His ideas directly impacted the development of the widely played board game Monopoly and had a significant impact on a number of progressive economic reformers. Thorstein Veblen, who bemoaned in The Theory of the Leisure Class (1899) that capitalism produced a middle class more concerned with its own comfort and consumption than with optimizing productivity, offered another criticism of late nineteenth-century American capitalism. When Veblen first used the term "conspicuous consumption," he was referring to the ways in which a certain class of nonproducers took advantage of the working class that made the products that they consumed. These actions, which included establishing corporate trusts, only widened the gap between the wealthy and the poor in American society and led to inefficiencies in the economy that needed to be fixed or reformed. As America struggled with the problems and changes brought about by industrialization and urbanization in the late 19th century, a wide range of voices appeared to criticize the path of society. Among these critics were writers with astute observations of the emerging industrial era in such works as Edward Bellamy, Henry George, and Thorstein Veblen. The utopian novel "Looking Backward, 2000–1888" by Edward Bellamy, published in 1888, depicted an America that had made the shift from capitalism to socialism and was now a peaceful, harmonious society. Bellamy's forecasts of new innovations, including credit cards and cooperative "super-stores," struck a chord with people who thought big business's ascent was throwing the nation off course. "Looking Backward" became extremely famous, and it was included on the late 19th century bestseller list with such classics as "Uncle Tom's Cabin" and "Ben Hur." As a reaction to exploitative industrial capitalism, Bellamy's ideas served as an inspiration for Eugene Debs, the leader of the Pullman Railroad Strike in 1894, who embraced socialism. Bellamy's works had an impact that went beyond his own, inspiring the development of a great deal of books and articles that either endorsed or refuted his views. Bellamy wrote a follow-up book called "Equality" in 1897 in response to popular demand, including topics like as women's equality, educational reform, and a global vegetarian society with communication. The economist Henry George, well known for his 1879 book "Progress and Poverty," offered a another perspective on how industrialization has affected society. In order to reduce the growth of private property and solve economic inequality, George promoted a "single land tax" and the redistribution of land and natural resources. Not only did his theories impact economic theory but they also had a long-lasting effect on popular culture, influencing the creation of the board game Monopoly and serving as a source of inspiration for a group of progressive reformers. In 1899, Thorstein Veblen wrote "The Theory of the Leisure Class," a key treatise that bemoaned the rise of a middle class that was more focused on ostentatious luxury than on constructive labor. The core of Veblen's critique of capitalism was the idea of "conspicuous consumption," in which a wealthy but unproductive few showed off their possessions while abusing the labor of the working class. He emphasized the need for structural change by pointing out how the concentration of corporate trusts increased economic inequity and inefficiency. Bellamy, George, Veblen, and other critics' views taken as a whole represented a general apprehension about the social and economic consequences of industrialization. Their publications questioned widely held beliefs about wealth accumulation and development, igniting discussions about the future of American society and igniting reform and social justice movements.