Upton Sinclair's Contributions To The Theme Of Socialism

During the end of The Gilded Age, technology and innovation expanded, and the United States was thought of as becoming a growing empire. With this growing empire came a lot of changes, trends and differences in opinions. Theodore Roosevelt, Ida M. Tarbell, and Upton Sinclair, sat down to discuss the continuing problems that started with the Gilded Age. Theodore Roosevelt was an astounding opinion leader and was someone people considered to be as the prominent head of the Progressive Era.

Towards the end of the novel, Sinclair uses the main character, Jurgis, to advocate Socialism and convey to his audience that this will be the solution to all his problems. Although Chicago still remains a capitalist society, Sinclair definitely had

Muckrakers was a term coined by Theodore Roosevelt for journalists or novelists who sought out controversial allegations and misconduct among businesses and politics; bringing awareness and causing reform within America. A fluctuation of muckrakers began to sweep America during the early 1900s; as its citizens questioned the very framework of the contentious country they reside in. Later, becoming a powerful force, where a single column of text had the ability to influence millions of Americans. Pioneering the path for thousands of journalists to follow in their footsteps, subsequently, finding answers to questions often overlooked by the general population. America’s government has always eluded from sharing inside information to both foreign

“The same endless vista of ugly and dirty little wooden buildings. Here and there would be a bridge crossing a filthy creek.” This was Upton Sinclair’s description of the city of Chicago in the early 20th century in his book The Jungle, and it was not flattering. The things that went on inside the city was even uglier, and it was done by one corporate, capitalism. Capitalism became a major problem in America as it bred horrible working and living conditions for the working class, and there was many reasons for why this happened (i.e. greed).

The 1890s to the 1920s witnessed the emergence and widespread of the Progressive Era filled with social activism and political reform which were supported by people of all classes, especially women and manual laborers, to fight against corruption across the United States. In this effort, many journalists and writers known as muckrakers worked their best to expose the social problems, crave effective solutions, and urge the public to take action. During this era, they identify numerous issues hidden beneath society. Among them, a well-known muckraker novelist, Upton Sinclair published The Jungle in 1905, which significantly affect the meat industry with the implementation of the Meat Inspection Act of 1906 and the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906.

As I stated before, to this day, many American’s disagree with the idea of socialism. One of the reasons why they dislike it is because it makes those of higher statuses and wealth or in power lose their opportunity to grow their businesses and become much bigger and more

As stated before, Upton Sinclair, was ahead of his time with his ability to dig for the truth and show Americans the truth regarding the Chicago meat packing industry. Another large passion of his was politics and the belief in socialism. He advocated against capitalism and ridiculed it within his novel by portraying it as the cause of much downfall for the main character. Sinclair did more for this country with the novel he wrote then many politicians are able to do in a lifetime. He showed through his power of writing the importance of every citizen within America to be woke and involved in every aspect of their lives.

INTRO In the Book, The Jungle by Upton Sinclair, we are taught that capitalism is evil and that socialism is the right way. This book is an political fiction that was written in 1906 which was just under 60 years after socialism, the enemy of the capitalism, was created but 11 years before the USSR was created. Due to this no one would know the evils that were to come from socialism. Sinclair uses the book, especially the the first twenty to thirty chapters, to display his thoughts and believes.

Journalists and authors, such as Upton Sinclair from document 2, can be credited with exposing the corruption during the gilded age. Sinclair was know as a muckraker and his purpose in writing books such as The Jungle was bring light to what was happening in these factories. His work played a key role in the progressive era by holding these business men accountable. The Progressive Party also played a key role in the progressive era. Based on their platform, it is shown that their purpose is to benefit the working class by laws and

The Bosses squeezed and drained the life of those men. In the book The Jungle written by Upton Sinclair he described the life of a struggling family try to work and stay alive in the filth. The working conditions in the factories were unsafe, unsanitary and people made little. The purpose of this book was for people to become socialist other than capitalist.

George Orwell viewed capitalism as a serious injustice to humanity. Capitalism kept people unemployed and in poverty perpetually, helpless to improve their situation. Orwell did not as much see this as strictly the direct result of oppressing classes, but also as a direct result of the market’s inherent failings. He did not see any good in the social programs of the time, but saw them as a stagnation of people within poverty. George Orwell wrote during the depression that engulfed Europe and the United States during the 1930s.

According to Kerry Ferris and Jill Stein in The Real World: An introduction to Sociology, “socialism is an economic system based on collective ownership of the means of production, collective distribution of goods and services.” We can say socialism is common ownership or rights. This means the resources of the world being owned in common by the entire global population. In simple words, this is an economic system in which goods and services are provided through a main central system of loyal government ownership rather than through competition and a free market system. Socialism, as and substitute to capitalism, is an economic system which is measured and regulated by the government so as to ensure the welfare and equality of opportunity

During the time period of the 1900’s, the meat packaging industry in Chicago, as Sinclair mentions in his novel, The Jungle, was a very unsanitary and extremely dangerous workplace that lacked much more than just a few safety precautions. Simple things, such as enforcing hand washing or workers’ rights were unheard of in the working environment. It is clear that Upton Sinclair was trying to expose the worker’s horrendous labor conditions in order to improve their situation, along with the introduction of socialism. Upton Sinclair, in his novel, talks about how a Lithuanian immigrant by the name of Jurgis Rudkus, and his family, travel to Chicago trying to make ends meet. However, they soon realize Chicago was not the place for that.

One downside of socialism is that the government appears to have a lot of power at hand, which could easily lead to heavy corruption and abuse. Also, with this structure of government, there is lack of incentive. If one is hard working, investing, creative, and ingenuity, they are not rewarded. If there is no reward for extra hours of work, one would definitely not put in those hours. This then leads to laziness and irresponsibility, which are not punished.

The idea that socialism is just sharing is belied by only the 100 people who have died as a result of the implementation of socialism in their country, people who failed to share voluntarily enough and therefore were taken off to the gulags or shot and placed in mass graves. Socialism is widely thought as a benevolent and wonderful thing that really has no downside, except for the casual “we have to shoot people if they do not comply and abide by my version of what charity should