The Atlas Gentleman's Social Club 1945

[Lief 🗽]

While I am hopeful that Madero's forces will be the victors in Mexico, the future of that country quite obviously lies with radical agrarian reform, as argued for by Emiliano Zapata and his followers. In fact, I am so enamored of Mr. Zapata that I will be attaching a very large photograph of him to the bottom of all my correspondence sent into this society for the foreseeable future (along with, just under the portrait, a delightful quotation from one of our society's members, perhaps our resident Oklahoman snake-oil peddler's assistant).

[Lief 🗽]

I for one think the Socialist Party will have a very good shot at, if not winning, at least making significant gains and perhaps emerging as the second party in the coming presidential election. For progressives, it's clear that Taft has been a major failure, and unless the Democrats nominate Bryan once more, they're likely to stick with some unassuming conservative who will once again have trouble winning much more than the former Confederacy. The Socialists will have a terrific opportunity.

[Lief 🗽]

I for one think the Socialist Party will have a very good shot at, if not winning, at least making significant gains and perhaps emerging as the second party in the coming presidential election. For progressives, it's clear that Taft has been a major failure, and unless the Democrats nominate Bryan once more, they're likely to stick with some unassuming conservative who will once again have trouble winning much more than the former Confederacy. The Socialists will have a terrific opportunity.

It is interesting to hear this opinion; on this side of the Atlantic a consensus has grown in recent years that the cause of Socialism in America is bewilderingly weak. Werner Sombart's arguments have been particularly influential, which is unfortunate as they are quite seriously flawed in several respects.

While Sombart's devotion to Marxism and his keen understanding of Marx and Engel's works is to be commended, we should remember that both Marx and Engels predicted that socialism would see some of its greatest and earliest success in the United States. Engels stood by this view until his death, not two decades ago. No, I am very confident that the Socialist Party will see great success in 1912. In the past year we have elected hundreds of candidates across the country, including many mayors who will hopefully work to build effective urban political machines. It's likely our party membership will be some 125,000 before the next election. If not for the personal vote for Bryan in 1908, Debs may well have polled over a million votes; he should easily clear that hurdle next November. Of course the continued willingness of that bastard Gompers to align his union with the capitalist parties is hurting the Socialists, but mark my words: by the '20s no one will be asking why there is no socialism in the United States ever again.

[Lief 🗽]

I find it very silly that we continue to discuss the up-coming American election with such interest. While we here are debating whether or not to switch from one party representing capitalism and all its worst excesses to the other representing capitalism and all its worst excesses plus a healthy dose of neo-Confederate racism and bigotry, real progress and a glimpse of this country's and the world's future is occurring in Russia! Though harsh censorship, scare campaigns and in-fighting have temporarily retarded the growth of our own communist movement, parties across Europe are making real gains. The Communists in Germany gained some 10% at the last election! I am just hopeful that workers across the continent (and hopefully one day on our own shores) continue to turn to Marxism, instead of that incipient brand of thug politics preached by that Mussolini fellow. Luckily I think only the Italians are depraved enough to elect a couple of blackshirted criminals to be in charge of their country.

[Lief 🗽]

While I admire the reforms that Governor LaFollette has championed, and indeed if our country had some sort of electoral system that allowed one to cast a second preference, he would surely have mine, progressive reformism has been a failure. We are in a period of intense revolutionary potential and it would be folly to throw this away by supporting a Republican, even if he does style himself a "progressive." True progress will only be made through a revolutionary overthrow of the capitalist system.

[Lief 🗽]

While in my more youthful days I supported Norman Thomas in 1932 (I was only 13 at the time!), as you all know, I've more than come around on Roosevelt, and adamantly believe him to be the best President in the history of this country. What he has done in not only rebuilding our economy but reforming it to prevent a return to either the poverty of the Depression or the widespread inequality and dangerous financial speculation of the 1920s cannot be celebrated enough. Now that we are building a truly democratic and prosperous society, why are we going to throw it all away to once again embrace militarism and imperialism, spending millions in enriching the weapons and munitions companies, and dooming so many young Americans to death in Europe? Let's follow Stalin's path: make peace with the Germans (and let them get a little bit of, frankly, somewhat justified revenge for how they were treated after the last war) and focus on our own domestic prosperity.