Meatpacking in the Mid-West

Jim heartfield jim at heartfield.demon.co.uk
Sun Jun 27 16:09:25 PDT 1999


In message <37766A2D.2AB0BCFE at lor.net>, Tom Lehman <TLEHMAN at lor.net> writes
>http://www.thenation.com/1997/issue/970203/0203coop.htm
>
>Read the above---you may decide to become a vegetarian.
>
>Tom Lehman
>
In 1906 Upton Sinclair's book The Jungle drew attention to the dirty and repressive conditions in the meat packing industry, leading to a meat inspection law that broke the Beef Trust - or at least that's how the official version runs. Reflecting on the storm over the Jungle, Sinclair wrote that he was primarily moved by the condition of the workers, not the meat: 'I aimed at the public's heart, and by accident I hit it in the stomach. I am supposed to have helped clean up the yards and improve the country's meat supply - though this is mostly delusion. But nobody even pretends that I improved the condition of the stockyard workers.' (Kolko, Triumph of Conservatism, p103&7). Economic Historian Gabriel Kolko explained 'The reality of the matter, of course, is that the big packers were warm friends of regulation, especially when it primarily affected their innumerable small competitors.' (p107) -- Jim heartfield



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