All-American Anarchist: Joseph A. Labadie and the Labor Movement

Book Description

This engaging biography chronicles the life and work of Joseph A. Labadie, Detroit's controversial individualist anarchist and nationally prominent labor organizer at the height of Gilded Age labor ferment. A flamboyant and colorful personality, he was one of Detroit's most popular figures, affectionately known as its "Gentle Anarchist."

Labadie, in his activities as unionist, socialist, anarchist, and passionate social agitator, was involved in a profusion of worker and radical causes. The book follows his idiosyncratic life from a childhood among a Pottawotami tribe in the Michigan woods through his involvement in the Socialist Labor Party, Knights of Labor, Greenback movement, trades councils, typographical union, eight-hour-workday campaigns and the rise of the American Federation of Labor. The story of his relationships with Samuel Gompers, Terence Powderly, Eugene Debs, Johann Most, Benjamin Tucker, Emma Goldman, Peter Kropotkin and the Haymarket anarchists illuminates their personalities and the flavor of the era in which they lived.

Labadie also promoted his libertarian philosophy by campaigning against protectionism, patent and copyright laws, labor bureaus and labor legislation, compulsory taxation and schooling, and anything he believed limited personal liberty.

Customer Reviews:

The Forgotten Origins of the Libertarian Movement.......2007-05-21

Libertarians today are often considered extreme conservatives. Their opposition to taxation and government regulation is widely regarded as a defense of "big business" and the popular press, to the extent they mention libertarians at all, tends to see them as a branch of the Republican Party. But liberarianism is actually a radical philosophy with deep roots in the history of American reform movements, most notably abolitionism and especially the labor movement. Detroit labor organizer Joseph Labadie was a radical printer and tradesman who helped found both the Knights of Labor and the later AFL, particularly its Michigan wing. But Labadie also came to realize that the state was no friend of organized labor. Unlike modern labor historians who try to wrestle America's labor movement into a Marxist paradigm (Philip Foner and his intellectual heirs come to mind here) Labadie came to believe that true socialism would find its best expression in free markets and anarchism. This fabulous biography by Carlotta Anderson covers Labadie's extensive career.

Joseph Labadie was a self educated printer who lived in Michigan and migrated to Detroit. The boom and bust cycle of the early 19th century caused tremendous economic hardship upon workers and Labadie quickly fell in with trade unionists and members of America's very diverse socialist party. He was a founding member of the Knights of Labor and remained throughout his life an advocate for the working poor. But Labadie also felt education was the key to any successful social reform and he practiced what he preached. A careful reader, he soon had mastered the works of Adam Smith, Herbert Spencer, Thoreau, and especially the writings of Josiah Warren and Pierre Joseph Proudhon. Reading the latter, he came to realize that demanding workers receive their fair share of production was in fact a type of property right. (This was the basis of Proudhon's famous paradox, namely that property is both theft and liberty.) The way to insure that workers received their due was to destroy government privileges which allow businesses to skim value from their workers. Ever the idealist, Labadie was not content to simply end government established "monopolies." He also thought that government itself could be abolished once people realized their true interests.

Labadie continued his work for over 50 years. Beyond hs efforts to establish workers' equality he defended those who were victims of an unjust legal system, wrote prodigious amounts of poetry, protested US entry into World War II, and advocated alternative health care. But his greatest legacy was the collection of letters, newspapers, tracts and broadsides that he and his wife collected over the years. These became the basis for the justly famed Labadie collection at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Much of America's radical history would have been lost were it not for this gentleman anarchist who was widely respected by all of Detroit.

Labadie's influence, however, extended far beyond that of his collection. His son Laurence also became a prolific anarchist writer. Long after individualist anarchism had died out and trade unions had succumbed to begging the state for monopolistic privileges of their own, Laurence kept up the lonely fight for freedom from government and proper renumeration of workers. But the 20th century also saw a variety of different issues arise and the younger Labadie addressed these as they came up. Nuclear war, integration of schools, and agrarian reforms including the beginnings of the modern organic health movement all received his incisive commentary. In the process he created a body of work which went on to inspire modern libertarianism.

On the whole then, Anderson's volume is an excellent introduction to American labor history as seen from the perspective of one of its most prominent (but now largely forgotten) proponents. But it is much more than that. This book illustrates why American historians consistently fail to understand and appreciate America's labor movement. Instead of trying to explain how labor was co-opted by "capitalism," they should understand that for 19th century workers, true free market capitalism was their ideal. If anything, the movement was co-opted by an older economic system: merchatilism. Although not widely recognized, this is in fact the economic system that characterizes America today. Ms. Anderson has done an admirable job of presenting an historical alternative that was never tried. She is to be commended for this. All students of American history and especially labor history should read this book.

All-American anarchist: Joseph A. Labadie and the labor movement.: An article from: Labour/Le Travail

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All-American anarchist: Joseph A. Labadie and the labor movement.: An article from: Labour/Le Travail

Manufacturer: Canadian Committee on Labour History
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Labour/Le Travail, published by Canadian Committee on Labour History on March 22, 1999. The length of the article is 1342 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: All-American anarchist: Joseph A. Labadie and the labor movement.
Publication: Labour/Le Travail (Refereed)
Date: March 22, 1999
Publisher: Canadian Committee on Labour History
Issue: 43 Page: 270-2

Article Type: Book Review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Book Description

Includes color separators, platemakers, typographers, and companies specializing in desktop publishing. Presents financial ratios by sales size, product specialty (color separators, platemakers, etc.), and type of market served (printers and lithographers, advertising agencies, etc.).

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I enjoyed this valuable resrouce

Vintage Watch Guide

100 Years of Vintage Watches: Identification and Price Guide

A nice coffee table book.

Beautiful Photos, Valuable Reference

100 Years of Vintage Watches: Identification and Price Guide (100 Years of Vintage Watches)
Dean Judy
Manufacturer: Krause Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Clocks & Watches | Antiques & Collectibles | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
General | Antiques & Collectibles | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
Manufacturing | Industrial, Manufacturing & Operational Systems | Engineering | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0873498275

Book Description

A glorious century of vintage wristwatches springs to life in

1,000 spectacular color photos! 100 Years of Vintage

Watches features wristwatches and pocket watches produced

from 1870-1970, the most popular period for watch

collectors.

Author Dean Judy provides readers with practical tips on the

hobby, as well as advice on what items to avoid. Each listing

features a detailed description and accurate pricing

information. Before-and after-pictures illustrating the

restoration stages, along with photos of near mint versus the

average watch, will aid readers in identifying and valuing their

own collections. The book features famous Swiss makers such

as Alpina, Breitling, Cyma, Tissot, and Zodiak, as well as

many American watch companies, including Bulova, Elgin,

Hamilton, and Illinois.

Customer Reviews:

I enjoyed this valuable resrouce.......2007-03-05

I've always loved watches and also deal in antiques and do estate sales. This book is very helpful. WE even found the exact watch my father in law has in it which thrilled us and one that was my late fathers' that I wore in my wedding. A great informational resource, great pics and a huge help!! Jonathan Saturen

Vintage Watch Guide.......2007-02-07

This is a great reference however it has very limited information and only a fraction of collectible Watches are listed.I will admit the photography is excellent!

100 Years of Vintage Watches: Identification and Price Guide.......2005-09-30

Disappointing. Little if any information about European and English watches. Misleading title should be call American watches and a few others.

Unless you are into American watches - a waste of time and money

A nice coffee table book. .......2005-03-02

The book has thousands of pictures of watches, mostly pocket ones. However, it does not cover the history of such watches It's just a picture timetable of watch development.

Beautiful Photos, Valuable Reference.......2004-07-03

I found this book to be excellent reading. It includes hundreds of beautiful photos and a brief but fascinating historical summary for several well-known foreign and American watch manufacturers. Even a person who knows nothing about watches would enjoy browsing through this book. Highly recommended.

Book Description

“Offers one of the most imaginative takes on paper crafts yet. Filled with groan-worthy puns, sharp color photographs, and detailed directions, this how-to tome also provides 20 patterns with upscale designs few could resist. The basics are explained up front, including materials, tools, and techniques.”—Booklist.

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Early Homes of Massachusetts: From Material Originally Published as the White Pine Series of Architectural Monographs, Edited by Russell F. Whitehead and Frank Chouteau Brown

Manufacturer: Crown Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Architecture | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
Residential | Building Types & Styles | Architecture | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
General | Home Design | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
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Early homes of New York and the Mid-Atlantic States: From material originally published as the White pine series of architectural monographs, edited by ... (Architectural treasures of early America)

The Evolution of colonial architecture: From material originally published as the White Pine series of architectural monographs, edited by Russell F. Whitehead ... (Architectural treasures of Early America)

ASIN: 0405100647

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Parkinson's Handbook
DWIGHT MCGOON
Manufacturer: NORTON & COMPANY
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Parkinson's Disease: A Holistic Program for Optimal Wellness

ASIN: 0393311430

Book Description

Carlo Gesualdo, Prince of Venosa, is equally celebrated as the composer of madrigals of great power and tortured complexity and as the murderer of his wife and her lover in flagrante delicto. His life and compositions are not unconnected. His neurotic sensibility found an ideal outlet in the
mannerist tendencies of late Renaissance music, and his works are the most extreme examples of those tendencies. Watkins's extended study of Gesualdo's life and works was originally published in 1973. Alongside detailed analysis of Gesualdo's remarkable madrigals and of the few works in other
genres, it contained much new biographical material, particularly on the latter part of the composer's life. This new edition has been extensively updated, and contains a new chapter covering the research of recent years. The preface to the first edition, by Igor Stravinsky is reprinted.

Customer Reviews:

A gripping read with a fascinating foreword by Stravinsky.......2005-07-04

Don Carlo Gesualdo (1560 - 1613) was rich, artistic, and - as the second son of a noble Neapolitan family - free to indulge his passion for music. But disaster struck: his brother died, and it was decreed that he must carry on the line. The bride found for him - Donna Maria d'Avalos - was his cousin, and the greatest beauty in town. Older and more experienced, she had already sent two husbands to their graves -one of them according to rumor, from "an excess of connubial bliss". Don Carlo, (who may have been gay) fathered a son, whereupon he his interest wandered elsewhere to music and to hunting. One day his uncle divulged to him that his attention starved wife was enjoying a brazen affair with the handsome Duke of Andria, and that whenever possible they would "invite each other to battle on the fields of love". Alerted to the fact that Don Carlo knew about the affair, the Duke tried to persuade Donna Maria to end the affair, but she proclaimed she would sooner die. Thus was the scene set for Don Carlo's historic act.

One day in October of 1590 Don Carlo surreptitiously disabled his locks, then accounced that he would set out on a hunt only to creep back in the still of night with his henchmen. The chronicles go into salacious detail about what happened next: About the night-dress Donna Maria asked to be put out on the bed, about the maid posted as sentinel, and the sudden commotion as Don Carlo and his men broke down the doors to find the pair "in flagrante delicto di fragrante peccato", exhausted and asleep after their love-making. There were shots and multiple sword-thrusts, with Don Carlo unable convince himself the job was done until he had cut his victims to ribbons, and had personally skewered his wife to the floor, repeating to himself "I do not believe she is dead". He dragged the bodies out onto the stairs, along with a notice explaining why he'd killed them, for all the town came to gape at next morning. The Duke was still clad in a woman's night-dress, while his lover's "wounds were all in her belly, and especially in those parts which ought to be kept honest".

Neapolitans were riveted, with as many taking the lovers' side as that of their murderer. All the local poets were spurred into song, including the great Torquato Tasso, whose friendship with the protagonists inspried his tear-drenched sonnet "On the Death of Two Most Noble Lovers". Don Carlo's nobility ensured there was no trial, and he quietly withdrew to Ferrara, where he remarried, but only to find himself "assailed and afflicted by a vast horde of demons which gave him no peace unless twelve young men, whom he kept specially for the purpose, were to beat him violently three times a day, during which operation he was wont to smile joyfully."

Don Carlo built a private chapel, completed in 1592. Inside hung a painting depicting the Virgin Mary and saints all pointing to the sinner, Don Carlo, while the fires of purgatory burnt below - out of which angels pull the figures of a man and a woman. Could these be the murdered lovers before which Don Carlo implored forgiveness? His music certainly becomes filled with an obession with themes of guilt, sin, pity, and death - even the joy of love being mixed with a fascination with pain: 'dolorosa gioia', such 'joyous pain' being a typical outburst.

Never has there been a composer with a more macabre background than this, nor yet so muscially so obsessionally fascinating.

Stravinsky began his famous foreword to Glenn Watkins' biography of Gesualdo with the words "musicians may yet save Gesualdo from musicologist, but certainly the latter have had the best of it until now". Watkins makes a wonderful companion through the vertigo inducing chromatic spirals leading into the strange, visionary world of this dark genius. The entire book makes gripping reading not merely for the dark details of his biography but for the profound insights into late Renaissance to early Baroque period in which he dwelled.

So truth indeed is stranger than fiction.

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Gesualdo The Man And His Music
Watkins Glenn
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000UERNL0

Customer Reviews:

Five-Star YES.......2005-08-12

I think I understand why the previous reviewer was disappointed, for this book is so rooted in Jewish life and culture that it might indeed go right by someone who doesn't have these roots. But I couldn't put it down, except to stop now and then to stare into space and shake my head YES over such a devastatingly smart-guy-funny and old-guy-wise collection of stories. I also shook my head in wonderment--"Why was this book on a sale table marked down to a dollar and why isn't Bukiet famous?" He is the only American Jewish writer I've read in a very long time whom I consider worthy to fill the spot left by the brilliant Stanley Elkin. Eventually I would like to write the kind of substantial review that these stories deserve but for now, I will just say: these stories are good. In the sense of there being no higher compliment than GOOD. They partake of the reality of being GOOD. Laughter through tears, OK, that's not "new" but laughter through tears so that it hits you anew with total vitality and genuine human presence, why else bother to write and read fiction? So much flotsam and jetsam out there, I mean in the realm of trendy and purportedly mystical/comical Jewish tales, and most are a cleptrep of mishmosh. These stories are cut from the real cloth of Jewish life. That takes a master tailor, trust me.

Never Comes Together For Me.......2001-02-06

I read the first four of the nine short stories that comprise this book and I just couldn't be bothered to read on. It's not that the stories are poorly written per se, it's more the heavily Jewish themes that pervade them. The "Jewishness" of these stories is integral to each, and doesn't really speak to me, others may enjoy. His novel After is somewhat better.

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