Would you have voted for Eugene V. Debs?

[BillKephart]

I was on Wiki just reading random articles for fun (one of my favorite pass-times) and I decided to read up on Eugene V. Debs. He was mentioned in passing in my high school history class but there were no really details other than he led the pullman porter strike and ran for president as a socialist a few times.

I was really amazed by what I read. This guy was pulling one million votes in a nation of 75-80 million, in pre-depression America and in prison at the time no less.

I'm thinking of trying to find some of his writings so I can get a more intimate picture of what he really thought and advocated.

I know a lot of other leftists don't want to devote time to the farce that is bourgeois elections but by the same token you really gotta respect this guy for what he did.

So, any thoughts on Debs?

-Bill Kephart

[Conghaileach]

If you're looking for works by Debs, you can find it at the MIA - Eugene V. Debs Internet Archive (http://www.marxists.org/archive/debs/)

I don't know much about Debs myself, so I'm not sure whether running in elections was meant as a protest vote or if he was typical of some in the Second International who believed that socialism could be voted into bourgeois parliaments. Regardless, he was a tireless fighter for the working class and deserves respect for that.

[The Grey Blur]

I think he was a Socialist-Propagator of some sort in that his presidential camapaigns were really about increasing working-class awareness of Socialism

That's only a vague guess though

EDIT: Hell yeah I would have voted for Debs! But I would have been a member of the IWW as well :lol:

[LoneRed]

I definitely would have voted for him, he has been the only worthwhile candidate in US history that deserves a vote. a great man, he knew that he was running to create awareness of socialism, and not to win

[which doctor]

He ran for prison for Christ's sake! I don't think he ever expected to win, he just wanted to flex the prole muscles of America.

Yes, I would have voted for him.

[Red Axis]

I think we need a new Eugene v. Debs, and yes, I would have voted for him.

[Morpheus]

I wouldn't vote for him, I think the IWW's critique of electoralism was spot on.

[LoneRed]

the IWW thinks that society can be changed solely through the economic sphere, they are dead Wrong.

[chimx]

way to harsh the mellow.

[CCCPneubauten]

I sure would have voted for him. Great man. Great ideas. Great Party.