Being part of an independent workers union can put your job at risk; leading a union can often lead to something worse. It can lead to losing your job, being threatened, or even killed because of your rebellious views. Unions tend to arise when workers' rights are undermined. However, the social elite opposes unions because they do not want to loosen their grip on workers. When composing The Iron Heel, Jack London took into account the events around him and expressed his socialist views through various characters. In The Iron Heel, Jack London criticizes the rise of the oligarchy and its suppression of justice, as well as the individuals who questioned its supremacy and legitimacy. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay London was a socialist himself, he joined the Socialist Labor Party in 1896 and was inspired to write this book by what was happening around him at the time, the beginning of the 20th century. In the novel, Jack London portrays him through Philip Wickson, described as a one-time oligarch. Mr. Wickson tells Ernest: “We will crush you revolutionaries under our heels and walk on your faces. The world is ours, we are its masters, and it will remain ours (London 97)”. Jack London refers to the Russian Revolution of 1905 through this quote. Peaceful protestors and workers in Russia were in desperate need of change and help, as could be seen in their petition. The petition reads: “We are beggars, we are oppressed and overworked, we are insulted, we are not considered human beings but slaves. The time has come for us when death would be better than the prolongation of our intolerable sufferings” (Johnstone). Workers were worked beyond their breaking point, treated brutally and unfairly like slaves. Their situation was so sad that many preferred death. In The Iron Heel, there is a story of a worker who lost an arm while trying to save a machine from breaking down so he could save the company from a huge loss. He didn't lose his arm because he was irresponsible, but rather because he was overworked and tired. Businessmen took advantage of his helplessness. When the worker, Jackson, asks for compensation because he has lost his job and only source of bread and butter, leaving him to look after his wife and children, he is ridiculed. Even lawyers are afraid to fight his case, not wanting to lose their profession or reputation by fighting for a hopeless cause. Lawyers also know that large firms have already hired prominent lawyers who were the best in the business. London includes this story in the book to describe the cruel and ruthless attitude that big businesses had towards their workers. It also demonstrates that in such societies money can buy even the most extreme goods, such as justice. Oligarchy is a form of government in which a small group has control over the country. The sanction tends to take over and acquire almost complete power and authority over the people. The oligarchy is usually made up of people from the upper classes. In the novel, an oligarchy comes to power, further widening the gap between the classes and unwittingly collapsing the economy. Although the working class constitutes a much larger percentage of the population, it cannot easily defeat the oligarchy. This can be seen in the numerous failed revolts of socialists in the story, including Ernest and Avery Everhard, the book's protagonists who are leadersrevolutionary socialists. The Everhards recognized that society needed more socialists because without diverse points of view society would collapse due to the ever-widening gap between the classes. James Gray Pope, recently representing unions at a law firm, shed more light on this gap. Pope writes of the widening gap between rich and poor in the United States and argues that it is the result of the nation's lack of social vision. One of the main reasons why the working class cannot defeat the upper class is that it is not united. American workers have failed to build a class movement for economic redistribution and social welfare protection. The working class is too divided in its unions to be united. Unions are too focused on negotiating for immediate self-interest and improving the lives of their members (Pope). Sanctions and oppression of leaders tend to increase when the lower classes are disorganized; they become an easier target for suppression. History has repeatedly shown that citizens begin to take collective action against the government when it no longer meets their needs. History also shows that it is easier to achieve success for an idea when it has a large number of supporters. Large numbers intimidate employers because the demands come from a strong power. Citizens also unite when they see corruption spreading in the government (Yap). By uniting against a common cause, it is easier to get work done and needs met. While being disorganized makes a victim easier as unfair attitudes are directed towards him. When the need arises for justice, better wages, reasonable hours, and safer working conditions, unions form so that workers can express their needs and negotiate them as one group. group. Being a union worker comes with many benefits. This may include having an organization that will represent a worker in the event of mistreatment. The union also has negotiating power by acting as a mediator between the employer and the rest of the employees. However, unions can also be dangerous. Union activism is often punishable by death and leaders are jailed by governments who see unions as a threat to the social and economic elite (Bacon). In The Iron Heel, Ernest is first chastised for his views by philosophers and corrupt business owners, before being killed. They were all threatened by his ideas and opinions, fearing that they would incite other workers and union members against them, knowing that it would become impossible to control the masses of revolutionaries. Union members are consistently seen as a threat to the upper class, particularly big business and corrupt capitalists. A member of the Socialist Party itself, Jack London firmly opposed the capitalist system. The party made the following statement in 1912: The Socialist Party declares that the capitalist system has outgrown its historical function and has become entirely incapable of dealing with the problems facing society today. We denounce this now outdated system as incompetent and corrupt and a source of unspeakable misery and suffering for the entire working class (Socialist Party Platform). The Socialist Party wanted social reform to take over the capitalist system. They recognized that the capitalist system was corrupt and therefore jeopardized the rights of the working class. Incidents like these dismantle the working class in every way. The Socialist Party believed that concentrationcapitalist class was mercilessly crushing the small business class. London writes: “They, as a class, believed that they were the only ones maintaining civilization.” (London 128). The capitalists saw themselves as the supreme class, the class that owned not only the workers, but also the revolutionaries who emerged from that class. They deluded themselves that without them humanity would collapse and anarchy would reign. Jack London was able to accurately hypothesize the dangers that trade unions would face in the modern world, as can be seen in the history of Colombia. Labor unions in Colombia were one of the most predominant in Latin America until the end of the 20th century. In the 1980s, many union members and leaders were murdered and targeted, including Colombia, a dangerous country for unionist members for several decades. Thousands of people were killed and as a result only 4% of workers were part of a union in 2009. This percentage was down from an estimated 12% in 1988. Most of the murders were committed by parliamentarians or the Colombian army (Bacon). In the book, Ernest Everhard is one of the leaders of the revolution and a representative of the workers, who is later executed for his views against the oligarchy. Initially, Everhard had an important group of supporters but when Everhard was killed along with others, the number of revolutionaries decreased dramatically. London describes a government that imprisons opponents and outspoken critics, controls news and information. The capitalist class, although small in number, absolutely controls the government: legislative, executive and judiciary (Socialist Party Platform). Likewise, many countries today have complete control over their citizens. China, for example, is a communist country that shares many traits with the oligarchy shown in the novel. The Chinese government uses the law to crack down on anyone who challenges the Communist Party's right to rule, directly or indirectly. In July 2015, nearly 300 civil lawyers, support staff and activists were arrested and tortured. However, every time the Chinese Communist Party is accused of torturing activists, it dismisses all accusations as false (China is torturing civil rights lawyers). This gives citizens the illusion that the government is right, unfairly. control their opinions without them knowing. Many families of these activists were threatened, just as Avis Everhard was later executed for preparing the Second Uprising, just as her husband had helped with the First Uprising. Those who had close ties to Ernest were threatened, and those who shared his views were killed. China also controls and censors the media under President Xi Jinping. Professor Zhan Jiang, a Chinese media specialist, described the current situation in China as “the worst time for media and Internet freedom since the beginning of the new century (Dimitrov)”. In China, the Central Propaganda Department examines censorship issues at the macro level, following trends in society. They censor and monitor the media nationwide. In contrast, propaganda departments at the local level are tasked with censoring and monitoring sources of information deemed unclassified, including advertising (Dimitrov 124). The Chinese government says it has the legal right to control Internet content and that censorship does not affect citizens' right to free speech. The government maintains censorship on all media that reach large audiences. This includes television, texting, movies, print, video games, literature, and the Internet. Freedom House rates China's press as unfree, giving it the worstranking (“Freedom in the World 2017”). The absence of freedom leads to oppression. When an oligarchy comes to power, many people begin to feel oppressed. Many times citizens begin to gather in groups and plan conspiracies against the oppressive oligarchy. They soon begin to publicize their ideas through writings and speeches, taking advantage of the little freedom of the press and speech they have. This is when the elite and oligarchy begin to feel endangered by the groups and ideas they spread to the public. In The Iron Heel, Ernest writes books that are despised and then banned, speaks in speeches that are then criticized, and organizes a revolution, The First Rising, that ultimately fails. In many countries there is a trend: freedom of the press and oppression of journalists. Freedom of the press is identified as a fundamental human right that includes freedom of speech, assembly, thought and expression. It is a privilege because without it citizens and society will be unaware of what is happening in the world they live in. There are attacks and assaults against the press and journalists who put their lives and careers on the line to tell the truth to citizens. This can be seen in the growing number of journalists who are losing their lives. Since 2008, 456 journalists have been forced into exile and 232 journalists were imprisoned in 2012 (Davidson). In most cases, government officials and the upper classes are responsible for the imprisonment and torture of journalists due to the constant threat of being exposed for their wrongdoings. Some governments orchestrate the media as pawns to appear righteous in the eyes of the general public. They want them to stop writing critically about them and the regime, often threatening them. Jack London was able to accurately predict a world that soon began to form a couple of years after his death. He was able to capture the essence of oligarchies and how they unintentionally create unions that they then oppress. As a member of the Socialist Party, Jack London was able to express his views through the two main authors of the Everhard manuscript, Avery Everhard herself and the man who annotated it a couple of centuries after Avery hid it. In writing this book not only was Jack London greatly influenced by the events that happened around him, but also Karl Marx. In addition to being known as the "socialist boy", London was also known as the "American Karl Marx" because his views and opinions aligned very well with those of Karl Marx. Overall, London was able to defend the union workers in this novel by exposing the oppression they face and the aggression journalists face when trying to reveal the truth. Annotated Works Cited Bacon, David. “US fuels Colombia's dirty war against unions.” Canadian Dimension, Vol. 33, no. 5, September/October 2001, p. 27. EBSCOguest. I was able to use this source to connect the brutality faced by unions in Colombia to the brutality faced by unions in the book. “China is torturing civil rights lawyers” The Economist June 15, 2017: www.economist.com. Network. June 30, 2017. I used this source to describe how members of the revolutionaries are treated. Davidson, Greg. “Freedom of the press must be protected.” Editor and Publisher, Vol. 150, no. 8, August 2017, page. 6. EBSCOhost. I was able to use this source to discuss the oppression the press faces even though they should have free will. Dimitrov, Martin K. “The Political Logic of Media Control in China.” Problems of post-communism, vol. 64, no. 3/4, May-August 2017, pp. 121-127..