EUGENE VICTOR DEBS (1855-1926) was one of the greatest and most articulate advocates of workers’ power to have ever lived. During the early years of the labor movement in the United States, Debs was far ahead of his times, leading the formation of the American Railway Union (ARU) and the American Socialist Party.

Debs was born in Terre Haute, Indiana, on November 5, 1855. He left home at 14 to work on the railroad and soon became interested in union activity. As president of the American Railway Union, he led a successful strike against the Great Northern Railroad in 1894. Two months later he was jailed for his role in a strike against the Chicago Pullman Palace Car Company. While in jail, Socialist and future Congressman Victor Berger talked with Debs and introduced him to the ideas of Marx and socialism. When he was released from prison, he announced that he was a Socialist.

He soon formed the Social Democratic Party, which eventually became the Socialist Party in 1901. He became their perennial presidential candidate. He ran on the Socialist ticket in 1904, 1908, 1912, and 1920 when he received his highest popular vote—about 915,000 (3.4%)—from within a prison cell. He had been arrested once again, this time for “sedition”; because he opposed World War I. Many Socialists were imprisoned during this time because they felt that the war was being fought for the profits of the rich, but with the blood of the poor. Debs was fortunately released in 1921.

Debs died in Elmhurst, Illinois, on October 20, 1926, but he is remembered to this day by countless labor activists from all over the political spectrum. The Eugene V. Debs Foundation works to continue his legacy into the 21st century…

To learn more about Debs and his life, read Stephen Marion Reynolds’ Biography of Eugene V. Debs for a full accounting of his life and times.

Biographies, Critiques, Criticisms, Sketches, Autobiographies, Obituaries and Memoirs of Eugene V. Debs iww

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  • RION [she/her]English
    7•2 years ago

    Opens up Cost Plus Drugs (a Mark Cuban company)

    Looks inside

    The drugs cost minus

  • RION [she/her]English
    9•2 years ago

    Fallout 4 continues to piss me off. It’s simultaneously so good but so bad screm-a

    • Commiejones [comrade/them, he/him]English
      3•2 years ago

      I really wish I could like it because the power armour is so cool but the difficulty curve is so bad. No matter what you set the difficulty at or what mods you add it just delays when it eventually becomes super easy. You can’t do anything until you reach a certain level of personal security and then it stops being fun because there is no challenge. And the story isn’t compelling enough to keep you having fun without there being a challenge.

      • RION [she/her]English
        3•2 years ago

        Fwiw I’m still challenged ~25 hours in. Survival mode, Damn Apocalypse mod(s), XP gain throttled to x0.75 are the main factors. I can take down most things pretty fast (turrets still a problem) but they can drop me too. Just earlier I got owned by protectrons like five times in a row

  • kristina [she/her]English
    7•2 years ago

    i am a trans supremacist, if only trans people were politicians we would be living in a utopia trans-specter

  • jesse [any, comrade/them]English
    9•2 years ago

    Back when slavery was a thing, did proponents use the minuscule “benefits” as a reason it should continue? Because I feel like people do the same thing today when responding to valid criticisms of capitalism

    • buckykat [none/use name]English
      8•2 years ago

      They absolutely did, and they made up fake racist benefits too. Big one they liked to talk about was christianizing the slaves.

  • PointAndClique [they/them]English
    6•2 years ago

    Hey is your fridge running 🤭

    Then it’s got a better chance at election than Joseph R Biden in the 2024 Us presidential election 🤣 🤣 😂

  • Frank [he/him, he/him]English
    12•2 years ago

    Restrospectively it’s funny that Gen X and Millenial kids cleraly understood that video games are not real and that behavior in video games does not necessarily reflect behavior in reality, but Boomers, on a cultural level, absolutely did not understand that.

    • Poogona [he/him]English
      4•2 years ago

      All projection I’m sure Boomers spend every moment wanting to murder the wastrels around them and for them, vidya would indeed have given them the push they needed to lash out

  • Frank [he/him, he/him]English
    9•2 years ago

    “Liability” by Lorde is just the most “OMG I have been there girl you get me and I am so sorry for that” song. Dating with bipolar, or any severe mental health problem, is a process of accumulating tears. Very few people are actually capable of coping with a partner going through a serious, long term mental health crisis. You’re a liability. Lots of fun until you turn out to be a person with a serious disability that causes long term problems.