Debs for His Time and Ours
Eugene V. Debs Reader: Socialism and the CLass Struggle

Ruff, Allan
http://www.solidarity-us.org/node/4557
Date Written:  2016-01-01
Publisher:  Against the Current
Year Published:  2016
Resource Type:  Article
Cx Number:  CX21350

Book review of William A. Pelz's Eugene V. Debs Reader: Socialism and the CLass Struggle.

Abstract: 
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Excerpt:

Taking as a given that today's political culture and social terrain are in many ways vastly different than what they were back then, Debs' outlook on a range of fundamental issues, arrayed chronologically in this collection, remain surprisingly alive.

His internationalist class perspective, his critique of the two major "capitalist parties," and his stance regarding independent political action still speak volumes. His strategic commitment to building a working-class movement, firmly based upon the two pillars of militant, inclusive unionism and electoral work, remains vitally important.

In addition, Debs' principled class-based anti-racism, opposition to immigration restriction, his demands for gender equality, as well as his unswerving opposition to imperialist war still stand as exemplary guides.

As summarized in the book's introduction and preface, Debs' socialist understandings of the nature of the capitalist beast grew out of his lived experience as an American heartland son of the working class.
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