The S Word: A Short History of an American Tradition...Socialism

by John Nichols

Overview

A fascinating history of socialism and a short, sharp, irreverent rejoinder to right-wing red-baiting

“A chilling reminder of how much rich American history has been erased by shallow messaging.” —Naomi Klein, author of The Shock Doctrine

During the Cold War, it became a dirty word in the United States, but “socialism” runs like a red thread through the nation’s history, an integral part of its political consciousness since the founding of the republic. In this unapologetic corrective to today’s collective amnesia, John Nichols calls for the proud return of socialism in American life. He recalls the reforms lauded by Founding Father Tom Paine; the presence of Karl Marx’s journalism in American letters; the left leanings of founders of the Republican Party; the socialist politics of Helen Keller; and the progressive legacy of figures like Chaplin and Einstein. Now in an updated edition, The “S” Word makes a case for socialist ideas as an indispensable part of American heritage. A new final chapter considers the recent signs of a leftward sea change in American politics in the face of increasing and historic levels of inequality.

Today, corporations—like other rich “individuals”—pay fewer taxes than they did in the 1950s, while our infrastructure crumbles and the seas rise. The “S” Word addresses a nation that can no longer afford to put capital before people.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781844678211
Publisher:	Verso Books
Publication date:	03/21/2011
Sold by:	Penguin Random House Publisher Services
Format:	eBook
Pages:	352
Sales rank:	799,126
File size:	615 KB

About the Author

John Nichols is the Washington correspondent for The Nation magazine, a contributing writer for the Progressive and In These Times, and the associate editor of Madison, Wisconsin’s Capital Times. He’s the author of several books, including The Death and Life of American Journalism, The Genius of Impeachment and The “S” Word.

Table of Contents

Preface and Acknowledgements: Whitman, Sylvie and the Emmas vii

Chapter 1 "More of a Socialist than I Thought": Walt Whitman and a Very American Ism 1

Chapter 2 "A Broader Patriotism": Thomas Paine and the Promise of Red Republicanism 25

Chapter 3 Reading Marx with Abraham Lincoln: Utopian Socialists, German Communists and Other Republicans 61

Chapter 4 A Legal and Peaceable Revolution of the Mind: The Socialism That Did Happen Here 101

Chapter 5 "Simply a Stupid Piece of Despotism": How Socialists Saved the First Amendment 141

Chapter 6 For Jobs and Freedom: The "Militant Radical" Socialist Who Dared to Dream of a March on Washington 175

Afterword: "But What about Democratic Left Politics?" 231

A Note on Sources 265

Index 293

What People are Saying About This

Bill Moyers

The Tom Paine … of our time.

Gore Vidal

Of all the giant slayers now afoot in the great American desert, John Nichols’s sword is the sharpest.

Editorial Reviews

A chilling reminder of how much rich American history has been erased by shallow messaging. A crucial book.”
—Naomi Klein

“Of all the giant slayers now afoot in the great American desert, John Nichols’s sword is the sharpest, his footwork the most graceful, his brain the most cunning.”
—Gore Vidal

“The Tom Paine … of our time.”
—Bill Moyers

“[A] search for the legacy of our homegrown radicals.”
—Washington Post

From the Publisher

A chilling reminder of how much rich American history has been erased by shallow messaging. A crucial book.

Naomi Klein

What? Not a nasty foreign import? As American as Walt Whitman and Emma Lazarus? Much as John Nichols’s timely book may befuddle Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck, Americans embarrassed by the slurs surrounding all things socialist will find much to think about in The “S” Word.

Laura Flanders

The Tom Paine … of our time.

Bill Moyers

Of all the giant slayers now afoot in the great American desert, John Nichols’s sword is the sharpest, his footwork the most graceful, his brain the most cunning.

Gore Vidal