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Debs on Violating the Sedition Act: Paragraphs 4-6 Summary

America is a Mess That Needs Cleaning Up

  • Debs has been a champion of the working class for forever, since he was fourteen and started working on the railroad (all the livelong day).
  • He could have been a big shot (think Marlon Brando in On the Waterfront), but he'd rather fight for the little guy and go to jail.
  • Worse even than the treatment of male workers, Debs really pours it on about the mistreatment of the women and children who are being crushed in the factories and mills. (Preach, Debs.)
  • Money is the evil god of the current economic system.
  • America's so rich in natural resources and inventions and eager workers that things could be wonderful here…if only America wasn't hooked on its current economic system.
  • Don't blame God or nature for how screwed up things are, put the blame on capitalism.