The driving power of change: Muckraker journalists
There were a number of famous muckrakers. One of the most famous was Ida Tarbell, a pioneer of investigative journalism. She was one of the main muckrakers and reformers leading the progressive era that began in the late 19th century.
In Ida’s most famous work, “The History of Standard Oil,” which took many years of relentless work, she revealed the illegal means John D. Rockefeller used to monopolize the early oil industry. McClure’s magazine published it in 19 installments. Her work was credited as the major contributing factor leading to the breakup of Standard Oil. Ida faced enormous pressure and attempts to undermine and discredit her work by Standard Oil, which included financial threats by Rockefeller’s lawyer to McClure’s magazine.
Other famous muckrakers were John Spargo, author on child labor, “The Bitter Cry of Children.” Lincoln Steffens, “The Shame of the Cities,” uncovered corruption of political machines in several major cities. Upton Sinclair’s, “The Jungle,” exposed the unsanitary conditions in the meat packing industry. Jacob Riis’s photography and writing documented the harsh realities of poverty in New York city tenements. As a result of journalist muckrakers, public opinion turned against the Robber Barons with rising outcry and dissent.
The year 1900, marks the beginning of the end of the Robber Baron era and the beginning of the progressive era. Construction of a cage of laws and regulations began to lock-up the capitalist monsters’ abuses and excesses.
Over the next 75 years, capitalism was put in a cage of laws and regulations that protected the public interest from the excesses and cruelty of unbridled capitalism. Corporations were made to pay progressive taxes. Antitrust laws were brought in breaking up private monopolies.
In Ontario in 1905, one of the most famous was ownership of the hydro-electric system was taken away from Robber Baron, Sir Henry Pellatt, who had built Casa Loma with his fortune. When Ontario Hydro was formed, its mandate was to provide nonprofit “power at cost.” Rates for electricity immediately dropped by 50 per cent. For 94 years it returned profits to the public and business in the form of low and stable rates. The rest of Canada quickly followed this blueprint and it made Canada a very prosperous place to do business. Workers’ employment rights were greatly improved with health and safety legislation; civil rights and unionization was greatly expanded.
Environmental laws and regulations were brought in for the first time. Much of this did not happen until after the end of the Second World War. In the early 1900’s, the Robber Barons were not done yet. Capitalist nations like Germany, Britain, France and others were in intense competition to acquire more colonies and gain control over more and more resources. This made capitalism one of the major causes of World War I. At the end of that war, the British drew lines on a map, dividing up the lands they still called Mesopotamia. To this day it is still one of the major causes of conflict in the Middle East.
The next crisis caused by capitalism was the stock market crash of 1929. This crisis in capitalism was caused by market manipulation, insider trading and particularly pump and dump schemes, where investors artificially inflated stock prices and published misleading information in the media they owned and then sold it at a profit. Many smaller investors who had borrowed money to invest in the fairy tale they had been told faced devastating losses, yet still remained responsible for their borrowed debt.
Capitalism and the Robber Barons of Germany were certainly the main cause of World War II. Capitalism’s financial expansion and resource acquisition fueled imperialism and the severe economic downturn in the great depression they caused, made rising tensions between nations much worse and conflict inevitable. It was the wealthy industrialists, who financed Hitler’s rise to power. They thought they could count on Hitler’s support to achieve their own goals, suppressing unions and left-wing opposition. The Nazis paid very well with many of those corporations still operating today. Mercedes Benz, BMW, Porsche, Siemens, Lufthansa, Deutsche Bank, Bayer and BASF are still here. The end of World War II marked the end of the Robber Baron age and an era of great progress began.
The cage containing the excesses of capitalism was completed with many more steel bars of laws and regulations protecting the public interest. The very long list of new progressive policies also led to an era of prosperity, where wealth was much more evenly spread. Unemployment insurance and the family allowance was brought in. New progressive taxes were established as well as a severe excess profits tax that capped profits at their prewar average.
The housing crisis of the time was solved with public housing. The rich were made to use our hospitals through the introduction of public universal healthcare so healthcare would be good for everyone. Many countries including Canada, introduced health insurance and old age benefits and pensions.
An increase in government funding for education at all levels, particularly colleges and universities, occurred because it was recognized as important for individual and national success. New social programs created a more robust safety net and greater social equality.
Workers gained greater rights to form and join unions. The right to collective bargaining and the right to strike was strengthened, while at the same time employers were prohibited from engaging in unfair labor practices like firing workers for union activity. Clauses like this were often included in collective agreements. These rights were recognized by the United Nations.
Banking and financial laws and regulations were expanded to ensure a stable financial system. The Canadian Deposit Insurance Corporation was established to protect depositors and create confidence in the banking system. Federal and provincial governments passed laws prohibiting discrimination, protecting human rights, in employment, housing, accessing healthcare, education and all public services. Women, 2SLGBTQIA+, transgendered, Black, Indigenous and people of colour pushed hard for and made significant gains.
Before the war there were not really any significant environmental laws and regulations. After the war, many environmental laws and regulations were enacted to address health concerns from the growing problem of pollution due to rapidly expanding industrialization and resource extraction.
Watersheds and wetlands were protected and conservation measures protecting forests and open areas were legislated. Increased scientific understanding of the connection of natural processes led to a more comprehensive approach to environmental protection.
Health and safety laws and regulations were legislated with much greater enforcement and penalties. Minimum employment standards such as the minimum wage and minimum standards governing hours of work and overtime were enacted.
While not perfect, construction of the cage containing the excesses of the capitalist monster was completed and an age of greater prosperity followed. That was until the late 1970’s when capitalism decided it did not like paying taxes or having its abilities to maximize profits being held prisoner in a cage of laws and regulations. Capitalism came up with an escape and an attack plan, including carefully and skillfully crafted language to con the world’s population. Then with the help of their paid for politicians, successfully broke out of their imprisonment in the cage that took so long for progressives to build.
Next up in part three is: Trickledown economics sets the stage and disaster capitalism.
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