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From: nyvia roman
T1: nyviaroman@msn.com
Date: 4/8/01
Time: 1:41:36 PM
Remote Name: 63.17.150.165
When I read LUS, chapters 3&4, I was really struck by the way in which the workers were completely stripped of their humanity. On pages 77-78 they are described as machines that can be tossed away when no longer useful. In order to exploit these workers the employers needed to make them even lower then animals, unfeeling machines.
During this time, exploitation took on many different forms, it was not uncommon for people to work 100 hours weekly. In other forms of exploitation, they were also stripped of fair wage earnings and proper housing. These workers lived under unthinkable conditions. Often there was sickness, lack of food and little if no education received by these people. On page 79 there is a description given of the conditions that these workers endured. Furthermore, it was not only a matter of exploitation by these big factory owners. These poor people were also being exploited by landlords. Often times, they were forced to pay a very high price for living under the poorest of conditions. They paid $10 to $15 monthly from wages that were barely enough to survive.
Another thing that struck me was the feeling that no matter what, these workers had no one to protect them. On page 76, Frederick Townsend Martin lets us know that politics was a matter of throwing your weight around. There is generally the idea that politicians work for the people, here it was quite different, they worked for the rich. No matter who the politican elected for any position it was more then likely that he was brought off by someone. The rich had managed to monopolize the economy and politics.