American History

Debs view of ownership is two edged on the one side, he does not consider that the ownership that is claimed by the wealthy members of society is morally tenable, on the other side, he asserts that the workers actually hold a moral bassi for the ownership of the products and goods and services that labor manufactures.  Debs writes that We demand the machinery of production in the name of the workers and the control of society in the name of the people. We demand the abolition of capitalism and wage-slavery and the surrender of the capitalist class.

 The implied  answer to the selfish individualism of the industrialist ruling-class is the absolute convergence of the workers around a single, self-preserving ideal. Rather than wealth, the individual must seek dignity, justice nad equality, according to Debs vision.  Right along with the uplifting of workers, the liberation of minorities is contingent on the eradication of classicism and capitalism itself.  Debs insists that economic and cultural freedom are inextricably tied together We demand the complete enfranchisement of women and the equal rights of all the people regardless of race, color, creed or nationality.

Whereas Carnegie hoped to justify the stratified social castes of industrial America, Debs sought to abolish them altogether.  Only history will ultimately determine whether or not the denigration of the working-class offers the a morally justifiable basis for an industrial society infatuated with capitalism and materialistic gain.