Socialist Labor Party of Germany Quotes
In the society of to-day the means of production are a monopoly of the capitalistic class; the dependence of the working classes which results from this is the cause of misery and of servitude in all its forms.
Socialist Labor Party of Germany, The Gotha Program, Labor Congress in Gotha, Germany, 1875
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
In May of 1886 police had killed some strikers for an 8 hour work day at the McCormick Plant in Chicago. A left wing newspaper called a rally using the word “revenge.” (See {43614}.) The next day, at the rally, someone threw a dynamite bomb killing several police who in turn wounded and killed many of the protestors. 31 people were indicted for the “Haymarket Bombing,” 8 were tried, and 7 were convicted and sentenced to death including Spies. There was however, no evidence linking any of the defendants with the bombing, only evidence linking them with left wing, anarchist positions and writings.
At the time, it did seem impossible that labor and capital would ever have harmonious relations. But the notion that slavery would solve the problem is as preposterous as anything ever entered into the American political dialogue. But there were many in the South, and some in the North, who actually believed it. Even 150 years later, while labor and capital relations were much better than pre Civil War, they still could not be described as “harmonious” or “friendly”.
