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Propaganda Makes You Think!
We don’t learn about capitalism, communism, and socialism, yet we ignorantly believe in superior capitalistic principles.
“History is not the past. It is the present. We carry our history with us. We are our history.” — James Baldwin
When imperialist nations clashed over possession of colonized territories, they cultivated public support for WWI by disseminating nationalist rhetoric. Labor activist groups mobilized to protest the war and compulsory draft, but governments silenced and criminalized “disloyal” statements. Resentment festered throughout the conflict, and before WWI ended, social unrest erupted globally.
In 1917, Russians unseated the Tsar, and 100,000 Australians went on strike. Japanese demonstrations led to the prime minister’s resignation and political transformation in 1918. In 1919, Germans expelled the Kaiser, and US labor organizations gained national recognition for their motion to establish a democratic worker-run society. The Russian working class briefly glimpsed a labor-led government, but Lenin’s death buried their freedom, and globally, the workers’ movement failed to progress.
