War of the Classes / Revolution / The Shrinkage of the Planet (Three Essays) [Paperback]

Jack London (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1595690409 | ISBN-13: 978-1595690401 | Publication Date: May 30, 2006

Political essays by Jack London. --- "As yet, to the average bourgeois mind, socialism is merely a menace, vague and formless. The average member of the capitalist class, when he discusses socialism, is condemned an ignoramus out of his own mouth. He does not know the literature of socialism, its philosophy, nor its politics. He wags his head sagely and rattles the dry bones of dead and buried ideas. His lips mumble mouldy phrases, such as, 'Men are not born equal and never can be;' 'It is Utopian and impossible;' 'Abstinence should be rewarded;' 'Man will first have to be born again;' 'Cooperative colonies have always failed;' and 'What if we do divide up? in ten years there would be rich and poor men such as there are today.' It surely is time that the capitalists knew something about this socialism that they feel menaces them." (Jack London)

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Product Details

• Paperback: 104 pages
• Publisher: Mondial (May 30, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1595690409
• ISBN-13: 978-1595690401
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,885,448 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars History repeating, August 8, 2011

By 

Eric C Kennedy - See all my reviews

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This review is from: War of the Classes / Revolution / The Shrinkage of the Planet (Three Essays) (Paperback)

This is a somewhat rare look back in time, for a discussion of socialism, revolution, trade unionism, government powers, and class warfare that is more applicable now than ever before.

5.0 out of 5 stars What is or shall be, not what ought to be, October 16, 2010

By 

Luc REYNAERT (Beernem, Belgium) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: War of the Classes / Revolution / The Shrinkage of the Planet (Three Essays) (Paperback)

In these visionary Marxian texts with autobiographical material (`Why I became a socialist'), Jack London explains his rather optimistic, but not always scientific, view on the world stage and its battles. His texts present also a sharply delineated portrait of the US society at the beginning of the 20th century.

World supremacy
Jack London depicts our world stage as a `battle for marts and exchanges. Brain will endure and the captains of war will be the captains of industry.' It is a relentless fight to build an industrial, commercial and financial empire.

Society (class war)
The history of our human society is a history of class struggles between the owners of capital (the moneyed class) and the owners of labor force (the working class). The working class asks for a democratic rule in all industries. If the law of the country permits it, the fight will happen at the ballot box; if not, the working class will resort to force.
The representatives of the working class, the trade-unions, don't want a society where there is less work than there are men to do work and where those who found work are confronted with a surplus labor army used by the capital owners to check their just demands.

The endgame
For Jack London, either the functions of private corporations will increase till they absorb the central government (pure capitalism), or the functions of government will increase till it absorbs the corporations (pure communism). For him, the capitalist class will be overthrown by the working class.

Fata Morgana (Darwinism)
Jack London's Fata Morgana is his prediction that `all social forces are driving man on to a time when the old selective law, the heartless and cruel natural selective process, will be annulled through the rise of the common man and his consciousness.'

Portrait of US society at the beginning of the 20th century
`It was no uncommon thing in these sweatshops for men to sit bent over a sewing-machine continuously from eleven to fifteen hours a day, using foot power. Consumption carried off many; poor nutrition and exhaustion many more.'

A visionary, but unscientific, optimist
Jack London saw the shrinkage of the planet: `the telegraph annihilated space and time.'
He also foresaw the formation of the European Union: `Europe is to quit bickering among her parts and to form a union, a commercial combination of the whole continent.'
He was a fundamental optimist (`the cheery optimism is innate with life itself'). But this vision stands in sharp contrast with the disastrous living conditions he saw around him.

Evaluation
Jack London clearly saw the veiled, but ruthless, battle for world supremacy (a business empire based on a strong navy) among the nations, as well as the deadly struggle between the few haves and the mass of the have-nots. The capitalist class won apparently the social battle in the Western world. There is still less work than there are men to do work. But, the plebeians became more conscious through the shrinkage of the planet (internet) and are trying to build a safety net for everybody.
Scientifically, however, his longing for the end of Darwinism is pure wishful thinking.

These still very relevant texts are a must read for all real democrats and for all fans of Jack London.

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars From the Publisher: Political essays by Jack London., February 15, 2007

By 

akompano (New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: War of the Classes / Revolution / The Shrinkage of the Planet (Three Essays) (Paperback)

Let's just quote Jack London, a very political writer, himself, to introduce this volume of three historical essays: "As yet, to the average bourgeois mind, socialism is merely a menace, vague and formless. The average member of the capitalist class, when he discusses socialism, is condemned an ignoramus out of his own mouth. He does not know the literature of socialism, its philosophy, nor its politics. He wags his head sagely and rattles the dry bones of dead and buried ideas. His lips mumble mouldy phrases, such as, 'Men are not born equal and never can be;' 'It is Utopian and impossible;' 'Abstinence should be rewarded;' 'Man will first have to be born again;' 'Cooperative colonies have always failed;' and 'What if we do divide up? in ten years there would be rich and poor men such as there are today.' It surely is time that the capitalists knew something about this socialism that they feel menaces them."