Corporatism in America Part II
American Experiments in Socialism
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1. The Non-Partisan League built socialism in North Dakota, circa 1917. With near complete control of the legislature they took control of the mills and grain elevators, put controls on all banks and established a state bank, created dozens of new state offices and worked toward the "general socialization of all industry."
The Non-Partisan League (NPL) was not the brain-child of one man (Townley), it was discussed in socialist publications for years ahead of time and advertisements for organizers for the new league to organize in many Midwestern states appeared in a Kansas socialist weekly in 1916.
The policies failed and the farmers - the voters - turned against the NPL. The NPL then threatened to destroy their crops by fire or other sabotage if farmers did not employ strictly IWW members - to ensure socialist keeping of power. IWW then formed wage committees to plan the wages and hours of North Dakota farmers. Their plans were laid out in their publication Solidarity in 1917.
Many of the socialists who founded the NPL and were involved in the North Dakota experiment went on to become part of the Roosevelt administration.
2. NIRA and NRA
Under NIRA, firms could group as cartels, set "fair" prices and those prices once accepted by the NRA would be enforced by law on the industry; labor unions gained political power and government promised to intervene if wages were not "fair".
NIRA was a failure due to competitive cheating and was also declared unconstitutional, However the NLRA left unions in an even more powerful position, making it mandatory to join or pay dues and making it illegal for employers to fire workers for striking. Thankfully, this was overturned in 1947 with Taft-Hartley, and today NIRA is better known for its rodeo, and NRA for their guns.
3. Corporatism got its second wind when during WWII industries became directed more than just regulated by the Interstate Commerce Comission, the Civil Aeronautics Board, the Federal Power Commission and others. These boards set prices for the industry and regulated entry and exit. And Roosevelt intervened during any dispute between labor and management and nationalized (by executive order) any firms which would not obey his command. Between 1941 and 1945 more than 1/3 of the top 100 American corporations were seized either in whole or in part. Among those seized were railroads, mines and even the Montgomery Ward department store. In 1944 Roosevelt, angry at union strikes which were still going on, supported a National Service Act which would require Americans to either work or fight. The latter did not pass, and most of the price controls and much of the regulation and nationalization was dismantled after the war. This experiment went better than the others though it is hard to say how well and also how much of the success was due to short-term war-induced nationalism, mobilization, war industry and of course massive debt.
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1. The Non-Partisan League built socialism in North Dakota, circa 1917. With near complete control of the legislature they took control of the mills and grain elevators, put controls on all banks and established a state bank, created dozens of new state offices and worked toward the "general socialization of all industry."
The Non-Partisan League (NPL) was not the brain-child of one man (Townley), it was discussed in socialist publications for years ahead of time and advertisements for organizers for the new league to organize in many Midwestern states appeared in a Kansas socialist weekly in 1916.
The policies failed and the farmers - the voters - turned against the NPL. The NPL then threatened to destroy their crops by fire or other sabotage if farmers did not employ strictly IWW members - to ensure socialist keeping of power. IWW then formed wage committees to plan the wages and hours of North Dakota farmers. Their plans were laid out in their publication Solidarity in 1917.
Many of the socialists who founded the NPL and were involved in the North Dakota experiment went on to become part of the Roosevelt administration.
2. NIRA and NRA
Under NIRA, firms could group as cartels, set "fair" prices and those prices once accepted by the NRA would be enforced by law on the industry; labor unions gained political power and government promised to intervene if wages were not "fair".
The passage of NIRA ushered in a unique experiment in U.S. economic history—the NIRA sanctioned, supported, and in some cases, enforced an alliance of industries. Antitrust laws were suspended, and companies were required to write industry-wide "codes of fair competition" that effectively fixed prices and wages, established production quotas, and imposed restrictions on entry of other companies into the alliances.
NIRA was a failure due to competitive cheating and was also declared unconstitutional, However the NLRA left unions in an even more powerful position, making it mandatory to join or pay dues and making it illegal for employers to fire workers for striking. Thankfully, this was overturned in 1947 with Taft-Hartley, and today NIRA is better known for its rodeo, and NRA for their guns.
3. Corporatism got its second wind when during WWII industries became directed more than just regulated by the Interstate Commerce Comission, the Civil Aeronautics Board, the Federal Power Commission and others. These boards set prices for the industry and regulated entry and exit. And Roosevelt intervened during any dispute between labor and management and nationalized (by executive order) any firms which would not obey his command. Between 1941 and 1945 more than 1/3 of the top 100 American corporations were seized either in whole or in part. Among those seized were railroads, mines and even the Montgomery Ward department store. In 1944 Roosevelt, angry at union strikes which were still going on, supported a National Service Act which would require Americans to either work or fight. The latter did not pass, and most of the price controls and much of the regulation and nationalization was dismantled after the war. This experiment went better than the others though it is hard to say how well and also how much of the success was due to short-term war-induced nationalism, mobilization, war industry and of course massive debt.
Labels: corporatism, NRA
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