The Iron Heel

[bekah]

The Iron Heel by Jack London is available at:

<http://london.sonoma.edu/Writings/IronHeel/iron>

Bekah
catching up after a very long week at work and another one coming up 
and then, finally,  at long last but just in the nic,  Spring 
Break!   


At 11:48 AM -0800 3/6/07, Mark Kohut wrote:
>impregnability".....
>Agadir, Queen of the Iron coast.
>couple fierce iron statues
>painting, Iron Gateway
>
>all the rairoad dissing too.....
>
>some I can find easily on the wiki.
>
>Mark Kohut <markekohut at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>We have all noticed Pynchon's negative references to iron all thru ATD, right?
>
>Dave Monroe <monropolitan at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>Jack London, The Iron Heel (1908)
>
>http://london.sonoma.edu/Writings/IronHeel/
>
>http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/1164
>
>The novel is based on the (fictional) "Everhard
>Manuscript" written by Avis Everhard which she hid and
>which was subsequently found centuries later....
>
>The Manuscript itself covers the years 1912 through
>1932 in which the Oligarchy (or "Iron Heel") arose in
>the United States. In Asia, Japan conquered East Asia
>and created its own empire, India gained independence,
>and Europe become socialist. Canada, Mexico, and Cuba
>formed their own Oligarchies and were aligned with the
>US. (The fates of South America, Africa, and the
>mid-East aren't given.)
>
>[...]
>
>The Oligarchy are the largest monopoly trusts (or
>robber barons) who manage to squeeze out the middle
>class by bankrupting most small to mid-sized business
>as well as reducing all farmers to effective serfdom.
>This Oligarchy maintains power through a "labor caste"
>and the Mercenaries. Labor in essential industries
>like steel and rail are elevated and given decent
>wages, housing, and education. Indeed, the tragic turn
>in the novel (and Jack London's core warning to his
>contemporaries) is the treachery of these favored
>unions which break with the other unions and side with
>the Oligarchy. Further, a second, military caste is
>formed: the Mercenaries. The Mercenaries are
>officially the army of the US but are in fact in the
>employ of the Oligarchs....
>
>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Iron_Heel
>
>Any traces thereof in AtD? Let me know ...
>
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