18-06-2017, 06:11 PM
The third installment in the "Plutocracy" documentary series is now available for viewing online. It is titled Plutocracy III: Class War. Apologies for the previous email; this link works.
https://vimeo.com/221675839
I had hoped to release the film on the hundredth anniversary of America's entry into WWI but didn't quite finish in time. As it turns out, Donald Trump decided to bomb Syria on that date, dispelling any hopes that American foreign policy would fundamentally change under the new administration.
With Class War I bring the Plutocracy series full circle, ending just before the Battle of Blair Mountain, where Part I began. The film opens with the Ludlow massacre of 1914, perhaps the most notorious American labor event of the 20th century. Those of you who watched my first documentary effort, Psywar, will recall that Ludlow also resulted in the birth of the modern public relations and "crisis management" industries via Ivy Lee and the Rockefeller Foundation. Along with Walter Lippman, Edward Bernays and other intellectuals, Ivy Lee went on to serve as a propagandist under the Creel Committee during WWI.
WWI is the centerpiece of Class War, and the title has a dual meaning. Beyond the massive bloodshed of the war itself -- killing mostly working class men -- there was also a war at home. Draconian legislation was passed -- some of which remains on the books. The previously marginal Bureau of Investigation (later to be known as the Federal Bureau of Investigation or FBI) came into its own under a young J. Edgar Hoover. The Espionage Act of 1917, which has been used in the modern era to persecute or threaten whistleblowers like Chelsea Manning and Edward Snowden, was used to incarcerate numerous great figures of the age such as socialist leader Eugene Debs and anarchist leader Ricardo Flores Magon. It was also used to break up the Industrial Workers of the World -- the most radical union in the history of the United States.
I covered the IWW (aka the Wobblies) extensively in part II of the series ("Solidarity Forever") and continue their story in part III. In terms of personal tales I focus on Joe Hill, Frank Little and Wesley Everest. The latter two men were lynched by right-wing vigilantes in collusion with police; Hill was lynched by the state for a crime he didn't commit and executed by firing squad. Less well known are Frank Mooney and Warren Billings, two labor leaders who were framed for a 1916 bombing in San Francisco and spent over 20 years in prison. I also return to the inspiring Lawrence Textile strike, briefly covered in Part II, and the stories of Arturo Giovannetti and Joseph Ettor.
Bleeding through WWI was the "red scare", in which immigrants involved in the labor movement were rounded up, denied due process rights and in many cases deported (among them Emma Goldman and Alexander Berkman), as well as the "red summer," a series of riots against blacks in 1919. As I have done in previous entries of the series, I try to stress the role that class conflict played and continues to play in causing racism and other forms of division.
Against this backdrop was a bombing campaign allegedly committed by the "Galleanists" (after Luigi Galleani), a group of mostly Italian American anarchists committed to the "propaganda by the deed" strategy. I cast doubt on the claim that all of these bombings were organic in nature, noting the widespread use of agent provocateurs by private detective agencies and police.
Chris Hedges wrote, "World War I ushered in the modern era. The war bequeathed industrial killing - wars fought with machines and sustained by industrial production - as well as vast wartime bureaucracies, which could for the first time administer and organize impersonal mass slaughter over months and years that left hundreds or thousands dead in an instant, many of whom never saw their attackers."
Millions of American men were forced under threat of imprisonment or execution to "die for Wall Street," as Eugene Debs put it. Emma Goldman and other dissidents attempted to challenge the Selective Service (conscription) Act on the grounds that it violated the 13th's amendment's prohibition against slavery and involuntary servitude. Their legal challenge failed, as did a petition by peace activists in Nebraska demanding that any politician who voted in support of the war be themselves forced to serve. A terrific idea, never implemented for obvious reasons.
There was a remarkable but little known episode in Oklahoma that occurred in response to the Selective Service Act: the Green Corn rebellion. I devote about 7 minutes to the subject, not enough to do it justice but enough to give the viewer a general idea of what happened. The Green Corn rebellion was an attempt by desperately poor black, white and Native American sharecroppers to literally overthrow the United States government. I couldn't find a single image of the event online or anywhere else, nor could the good folks at the Oklahoma Historical Society, but I did manage to track down a few newspaper clips via the the OHS's online database.
WWI also saw the birth of the modern propaganda industry. The efforts of the Creel Committee (named after its head George Creel) probably constitute the largest propaganda campaign in American history. I explore the subject in depth, in particular the idea of "Americanism" and the demonization of the enemy. More controversially I suggest that the sinking of the ocean liner Lusitania by German U-boats was a desired event by certain British figures (notably Winston Churchill) as well as pro-war factions in the United States.
The film ends with the Seattle General Strike of 1919. Though it lasted barely a week, it is recognized as perhaps the closest American workers have ever come to autonomy and self-management.
To my knowledge, this is the first documentary to comprehensively examine the domestic experience of the American people in the period between 1912 and 1919. It is a truly remarkable tale.
Some of you emailed and asked whether I would be covering the founding of the Federal Reserve Bank in Part III. I figured it best to leave that subject to Part IV. I also delayed the section on Taylorism, Fordism and Scientific Management, as I'll be dealing with Henry Ford and his private army extensively in the next segment. Ditto the relationship between American corporate/banking elites and the rise of fascism.
Class War is my favorite of the series so far, and I hope to say the same of the next entry, which will focus mainly on the great depression period, though will also include a section on the 20's. I intend to begin with the bombing of Wall Street in 1920.
To that end I'm hoping people will consider donating to my fundraiser. I no longer have any reserve capital to finance my films, and rely entirely on donations. I don't need all that much. You can view a progress bar for the fundraiser at Metanoia Films. For a donation I will send you a DVD. Just make sure to indicate that you desire one if you donate.
As always, I couldn't have done it without you.
In solidarity,
Scott Noble
https://vimeo.com/221675839
I had hoped to release the film on the hundredth anniversary of America's entry into WWI but didn't quite finish in time. As it turns out, Donald Trump decided to bomb Syria on that date, dispelling any hopes that American foreign policy would fundamentally change under the new administration.
With Class War I bring the Plutocracy series full circle, ending just before the Battle of Blair Mountain, where Part I began. The film opens with the Ludlow massacre of 1914, perhaps the most notorious American labor event of the 20th century. Those of you who watched my first documentary effort, Psywar, will recall that Ludlow also resulted in the birth of the modern public relations and "crisis management" industries via Ivy Lee and the Rockefeller Foundation. Along with Walter Lippman, Edward Bernays and other intellectuals, Ivy Lee went on to serve as a propagandist under the Creel Committee during WWI.
WWI is the centerpiece of Class War, and the title has a dual meaning. Beyond the massive bloodshed of the war itself -- killing mostly working class men -- there was also a war at home. Draconian legislation was passed -- some of which remains on the books. The previously marginal Bureau of Investigation (later to be known as the Federal Bureau of Investigation or FBI) came into its own under a young J. Edgar Hoover. The Espionage Act of 1917, which has been used in the modern era to persecute or threaten whistleblowers like Chelsea Manning and Edward Snowden, was used to incarcerate numerous great figures of the age such as socialist leader Eugene Debs and anarchist leader Ricardo Flores Magon. It was also used to break up the Industrial Workers of the World -- the most radical union in the history of the United States.
I covered the IWW (aka the Wobblies) extensively in part II of the series ("Solidarity Forever") and continue their story in part III. In terms of personal tales I focus on Joe Hill, Frank Little and Wesley Everest. The latter two men were lynched by right-wing vigilantes in collusion with police; Hill was lynched by the state for a crime he didn't commit and executed by firing squad. Less well known are Frank Mooney and Warren Billings, two labor leaders who were framed for a 1916 bombing in San Francisco and spent over 20 years in prison. I also return to the inspiring Lawrence Textile strike, briefly covered in Part II, and the stories of Arturo Giovannetti and Joseph Ettor.
Bleeding through WWI was the "red scare", in which immigrants involved in the labor movement were rounded up, denied due process rights and in many cases deported (among them Emma Goldman and Alexander Berkman), as well as the "red summer," a series of riots against blacks in 1919. As I have done in previous entries of the series, I try to stress the role that class conflict played and continues to play in causing racism and other forms of division.
Against this backdrop was a bombing campaign allegedly committed by the "Galleanists" (after Luigi Galleani), a group of mostly Italian American anarchists committed to the "propaganda by the deed" strategy. I cast doubt on the claim that all of these bombings were organic in nature, noting the widespread use of agent provocateurs by private detective agencies and police.
Chris Hedges wrote, "World War I ushered in the modern era. The war bequeathed industrial killing - wars fought with machines and sustained by industrial production - as well as vast wartime bureaucracies, which could for the first time administer and organize impersonal mass slaughter over months and years that left hundreds or thousands dead in an instant, many of whom never saw their attackers."
Millions of American men were forced under threat of imprisonment or execution to "die for Wall Street," as Eugene Debs put it. Emma Goldman and other dissidents attempted to challenge the Selective Service (conscription) Act on the grounds that it violated the 13th's amendment's prohibition against slavery and involuntary servitude. Their legal challenge failed, as did a petition by peace activists in Nebraska demanding that any politician who voted in support of the war be themselves forced to serve. A terrific idea, never implemented for obvious reasons.
There was a remarkable but little known episode in Oklahoma that occurred in response to the Selective Service Act: the Green Corn rebellion. I devote about 7 minutes to the subject, not enough to do it justice but enough to give the viewer a general idea of what happened. The Green Corn rebellion was an attempt by desperately poor black, white and Native American sharecroppers to literally overthrow the United States government. I couldn't find a single image of the event online or anywhere else, nor could the good folks at the Oklahoma Historical Society, but I did manage to track down a few newspaper clips via the the OHS's online database.
WWI also saw the birth of the modern propaganda industry. The efforts of the Creel Committee (named after its head George Creel) probably constitute the largest propaganda campaign in American history. I explore the subject in depth, in particular the idea of "Americanism" and the demonization of the enemy. More controversially I suggest that the sinking of the ocean liner Lusitania by German U-boats was a desired event by certain British figures (notably Winston Churchill) as well as pro-war factions in the United States.
The film ends with the Seattle General Strike of 1919. Though it lasted barely a week, it is recognized as perhaps the closest American workers have ever come to autonomy and self-management.
To my knowledge, this is the first documentary to comprehensively examine the domestic experience of the American people in the period between 1912 and 1919. It is a truly remarkable tale.
Some of you emailed and asked whether I would be covering the founding of the Federal Reserve Bank in Part III. I figured it best to leave that subject to Part IV. I also delayed the section on Taylorism, Fordism and Scientific Management, as I'll be dealing with Henry Ford and his private army extensively in the next segment. Ditto the relationship between American corporate/banking elites and the rise of fascism.
Class War is my favorite of the series so far, and I hope to say the same of the next entry, which will focus mainly on the great depression period, though will also include a section on the 20's. I intend to begin with the bombing of Wall Street in 1920.
To that end I'm hoping people will consider donating to my fundraiser. I no longer have any reserve capital to finance my films, and rely entirely on donations. I don't need all that much. You can view a progress bar for the fundraiser at Metanoia Films. For a donation I will send you a DVD. Just make sure to indicate that you desire one if you donate.
As always, I couldn't have done it without you.
In solidarity,
Scott Noble
"Let me issue and control a nation's money and I care not who writes the laws. - Mayer Rothschild
"Civil disobedience is not our problem. Our problem is civil obedience! People are obedient in the face of poverty, starvation, stupidity, war, and cruelty. Our problem is that grand thieves are running the country. That's our problem!" - Howard Zinn
"If there is no struggle there is no progress. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and never will" - Frederick Douglass
"Civil disobedience is not our problem. Our problem is civil obedience! People are obedient in the face of poverty, starvation, stupidity, war, and cruelty. Our problem is that grand thieves are running the country. That's our problem!" - Howard Zinn
"If there is no struggle there is no progress. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and never will" - Frederick Douglass