4 ms·

America’s social and political turmoil during the 1910s and 20s

72 points by trifit 4y ago

tomohawk 4y ago
> [Under President Wilson] It became a federal offense to send “seditious” newspapers and magazines through the mail, which was the only way anyone could subscribe to them in the days before the Internet. Masses magazine, for instance, was deemed “unmailable” after it published a political cartoon that showed the Liberty Bell crumbling. A pamphlet titled “Why Freedom Matters” was banned not for criticizing the war but for criticizing censorship. At least the author of the pamphlet knew why. “Sometimes,” Hochschild writes, “as if anticipating the protagonist of Kafka’s The Trial, a journalist could not even learn what he or she was accused of.” Newspapers and magazines in foreign languages were likewise banned whether they criticized the government or not. Who knew what kind of diabolical speech might appear in a paper that censors couldn’t read? Interesting times, indeed.
Incipient 4y ago
Admittedly without being American, or looking into the 20s much, is it potentially an oversimplification to say "problems back then, problems now, they're all the same, so we're all good"? Is the vastly different technology stage, and global economic scene not critical to the current issues?
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
blast 4y ago
Robert Goldstein, the filmmaker the article talks about, seems to have had an unfortunate fate. https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2000/06/the-unluckiest-man-in-movie-history.html https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2000/06/the-unluckiest-m...
- mistrial9 4y ago
  entertaining to read that, but sheds zero light on the real conflicts at the time
rektide 4y ago
Officially the worst review of this great book yet! The article fails again and again to mention what Wilson was such a horrible authoritarian against. The book is about the destruction of labor-organization, destruction of socialistic ideas/ideas. It was a purification towards capitalism & war-industrial forms. It's astounding how far this article can go to talk up the threat of authoritarianism, can regurgitate some of the core what happened, but ignores so much of the conflict of why it was all happening, what the actual clashing ideologies were. And it feels, in light of what the book is saying, false to accept the review's initial premise: that Wilson was acting progressive at all, through this time, through these events. Those were who he was busy jailing, best he could. Alas, completely expactable that we'd get a review like this, from this website. Here are some other reviews: https://www.ft.com/content/61a319b2-4930-4f1e-b048-ec4647b7c173 https://www.ft.com/content/61a319b2-4930-4f1e-b048-ec4647b7c... https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2022/11/02/american-midnight-hochschild-review/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2022/11/02/american-mid... https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/03/books/review/american-midnight-adam-hochschild.html https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/03/books/review/american-mid... https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/09/29/arts/brief-era-brutality-change-american-midnight/ https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/09/29/arts/brief-era-brutal... See also the recent post, on jailed socialist presidential candidate Eugene V Debs' 1918 anti-war speech, https://www.fifthestate.org/archive/360-spring-2003/a-1918-anti-war-speech-sent-eugene-v-debs-to-prison/ https://www.fifthestate.org/archive/360-spring-2003/a-1918-a... https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33754957 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33754957 (330 points, 21d ago, 256 comments)
- ancapsfascists 4y ago
  It's Quillette, a right wing propaganda outlet. They write articles to serve their narrative first, then true to bend facts to that narrative. I'm always surprised when it shows up on HN, because usually the crowd here is interested in factual, rational discussion rather than agitprop.
  - boomerzoomer 4y ago
    Quillette is not right wing. It’s the new “anti-woke liberalism” like IDW. Just because you disagree with wokeness doesn't make you right wing. Its just a schism in the left. There is same schizm on the right. Log cabin republicans are not right wing. In fact most republicans are not right wing. They are just liberals driving the speed limit.
ves 4y ago
Never thought I’d see quillette on the front page
- ancapsfascists 4y ago
  It, unfortunately, regularly hits the front page.
- m0llusk 4y ago
  Never is a very long time.

72 points by trifit 4y ago

> [Under President Wilson] It became a federal offense to send “seditious” newspapers and magazines through the mail, which was the only way anyone could subscribe to them in the days before the Internet. Masses magazine, for instance, was deemed “unmailable” after it published a political cartoon that showed the Liberty Bell crumbling. A pamphlet titled “Why Freedom Matters” was banned not for criticizing the war but for criticizing censorship. At least the author of the pamphlet knew why. “Sometimes,” Hochschild writes, “as if anticipating the protagonist of Kafka’s The Trial, a journalist could not even learn what he or she was accused of.” Newspapers and magazines in foreign languages were likewise banned whether they criticized the government or not. Who knew what kind of diabolical speech might appear in a paper that censors couldn’t read? Interesting times, indeed.

Incipient 4y ago

Admittedly without being American, or looking into the 20s much, is it potentially an oversimplification to say "problems back then, problems now, they're all the same, so we're all good"? Is the vastly different technology stage, and global economic scene not critical to the current issues?

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

blast 4y ago

Robert Goldstein, the filmmaker the article talks about, seems to have had an unfortunate fate. https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2000/06/the-unluckiest-man-in-movie-history.html https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2000/06/the-unluckiest-m...

mistrial9 4y ago
entertaining to read that, but sheds zero light on the real conflicts at the time

rektide 4y ago

Officially the worst review of this great book yet! The article fails again and again to mention what Wilson was such a horrible authoritarian against. The book is about the destruction of labor-organization, destruction of socialistic ideas/ideas. It was a purification towards capitalism & war-industrial forms. It's astounding how far this article can go to talk up the threat of authoritarianism, can regurgitate some of the core what happened, but ignores so much of the conflict of why it was all happening, what the actual clashing ideologies were. And it feels, in light of what the book is saying, false to accept the review's initial premise: that Wilson was acting progressive at all, through this time, through these events. Those were who he was busy jailing, best he could. Alas, completely expactable that we'd get a review like this, from this website. Here are some other reviews: https://www.ft.com/content/61a319b2-4930-4f1e-b048-ec4647b7c173 https://www.ft.com/content/61a319b2-4930-4f1e-b048-ec4647b7c... https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2022/11/02/american-midnight-hochschild-review/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2022/11/02/american-mid... https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/03/books/review/american-midnight-adam-hochschild.html https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/03/books/review/american-mid... https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/09/29/arts/brief-era-brutality-change-american-midnight/ https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/09/29/arts/brief-era-brutal... See also the recent post, on jailed socialist presidential candidate Eugene V Debs' 1918 anti-war speech, https://www.fifthestate.org/archive/360-spring-2003/a-1918-anti-war-speech-sent-eugene-v-debs-to-prison/ https://www.fifthestate.org/archive/360-spring-2003/a-1918-a... https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33754957 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33754957 (330 points, 21d ago, 256 comments)

ancapsfascists 4y ago
It's Quillette, a right wing propaganda outlet. They write articles to serve their narrative first, then true to bend facts to that narrative. I'm always surprised when it shows up on HN, because usually the crowd here is interested in factual, rational discussion rather than agitprop.
- boomerzoomer 4y ago
  Quillette is not right wing. It’s the new “anti-woke liberalism” like IDW. Just because you disagree with wokeness doesn't make you right wing. Its just a schism in the left. There is same schizm on the right. Log cabin republicans are not right wing. In fact most republicans are not right wing. They are just liberals driving the speed limit.

ves 4y ago

Never thought I’d see quillette on the front page

ancapsfascists 4y ago
It, unfortunately, regularly hits the front page.
m0llusk 4y ago
Never is a very long time.