On Charles Dickens first visit to the US in 1842, he wrote aghast
letters back home to England about the plundering ways of the robber
barons, the cruelty of slavery, and the disparity between the haves and the
have-nots in the immigrant slums. He was in America just prior to the
California gold rush. Investment in infrastructure like the railways was conducted under euphemisms of progress. Quiet voices equated the railroads to the "tentacles of an octopus"
that wrecked havoc upon the land and its natives as it crawled further
into the hinterland.
This Dickensian America is perhaps now most apparent to those mingling on Wall Street. The rest rest in gratitude for the toils of the quiet voices who found their way to the pulpit over a century and a half.
"...some of America's advances, particularly in the area of free speech, that have been achieved by centuries of popular struggle, are to be admired. In many respects, the United States is the freest country in the world. I don't just mean in terms of limits on state coercion, though that's true too, but also in terms of individual relations. The United States comes closer to classlessness in terms of interpersonal relations than virtually any society" (Noam Chomsky).
This Dickensian America is perhaps now most apparent to those mingling on Wall Street. The rest rest in gratitude for the toils of the quiet voices who found their way to the pulpit over a century and a half.
"...some of America's advances, particularly in the area of free speech, that have been achieved by centuries of popular struggle, are to be admired. In many respects, the United States is the freest country in the world. I don't just mean in terms of limits on state coercion, though that's true too, but also in terms of individual relations. The United States comes closer to classlessness in terms of interpersonal relations than virtually any society" (Noam Chomsky).
End Notes-
Adams, Tim (2003-10-30). "Noam Chomsky: Thorn in America's Side". London: The Observer. Retrieved 2007-09-04
Chomsky, Noam. 2003. Chomsky on Democracy & Education. Routledge. p. 399
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