The History of May Day (May 1) - Important Holiday For Communists and Socialists

[FrankRep]

https://encrypted-tbn3.google.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSEIMq7nVrgPDlgAhJh5VAMd2lSAw7pH kiBt1dMax4GyTGWJ-Lq


The History of May Day - Important Holiday For Communists and Socialists (http://www.thefreelibrary.com/_/print/PrintArticle.aspx?id=146956829)


William F. Jasper | The New American (http://www.thenewamerican.com/)
May 29, 2006


Most Americans associate May Day with the hanging of flower baskets or the National Day of Prayer. With the Cold War now a distant memory, we seem to have forgotten that May 1st, or May Day, has been for over a century the most important calendar day of the year for communists, socialists, and anarchists. This was the traditional day in the Soviet Union and the communist bloc countries for massive parades, replete with missiles, tanks, rank upon rank of goose-stepping troops, red flags, and huge posters of Marx and Lenin. This has not changed in countries that are still officially communist, such as China, North Korea, Cuba, and Vietnam. In non-communist countries of the world, the communist and socialist parties have continued to hold May Day celebrations, usually under the banner of International Workers Solidarity Day.

According to The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, communist countries and communist parties celebrate May Day "by mobilizing the working people in the struggle to build socialism and communism." The same source goes on to report: "On May Day the working people of the Soviet Union show their solidarity with the revolutionary struggles of the working people in capitalist countries and with national liberation movements. They express their determination to use all their power for the struggle for peace and building of a communist society."

Andy McInerney, a staff member of the communist Workers World Party and a leader of the ANSWER Coalition's illegal alien organizing effort, extolled the glories of May Day in the Spring 1996 edition of Liberation & Marxism. McInerney wrote:



Every year, the ruling classes around
the world are again reminded of their
vulnerability and of the power of their
gravediggers. On May 1, the world
working class displays its strength
in demonstrations and strikes. May
Day--International Workers' Day--is
a reminder to the ruling classes
that their days are numbered.... From
1919 onward, the success of May
Day in the United States would depend
on the success of the communist
movement.


"The decision to make May 1st a day of annual demonstrations," says The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, "was made in July 1889 by the Paris Congress of the Second International, to commemorate an action by the workers of Chicago, who organized a strike for May 1, 1886, demanding an eight-hour workday, and held a demonstration that ended in a bloody confrontation with the police."

The communist encyclopedia's account of May Day's origins cited above is deceptive and deficient on several important points. The Chicago strikes and demonstrations of 1886-1888 culminated in the violent Haymarket Square riots, which included the murder of Chicago police officers, when anarchists hurled a dynamite bomb into police ranks. In the aftermath of the terrorist event, Captain Michael J. Shaack of the Chicago Police Department launched an in-depth investigation that resulted in a monumental 700-page book exposing a vast network of communists and anarchists working in concert across the nation, with direct ties to confederates in Europe. Captain Shaack's expose, Anarchy and Anarchists, demonstrated that what appeared on the surface to many people to be spontaneous, desultory incidents were actually very meticulously planned revolutionary events.

American labor unions, recognizing the communist effort to exploit May Day worldwide as well as the communist effort to penetrate and control labor, refused to follow the Marxist-led Second International and instead has traditionally celebrated Labor Day in September.


SOURCE:
http://www.thefreelibrary.com/_/print/PrintArticle.aspx?id=146956829

[Anti Federalist]

Yay!

Can not wait for celebration of joyous solidarity for world socialism and make glorious revolution with komrades.

[oyarde]

Great , come on Frank , no need to ruin what was otherwise a tough , busy day with reminding me of this . Naturally , I am pissed , Socialists , Commies , Fascists and what I generally just refer to as thieves have a holiday , I consider this unwise , unfair and not prudent , but if it must occur , there should be twelve LIBERTY Holidays ea yr.

[heavenlyboy34]

Silliness

The earliest May Day celebrations appeared in pre-Christian (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian) times, with the festival of Flora (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flora_(mythology)), the Roman goddess of flowers, and theWalpurgis Night (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walpurgis_Night) celebrations of the Germanic (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germanic_peoples) countries. It is also associated with the Gaelic (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaels) Beltane (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beltane). Many pagan celebrations were abandoned or Christianized (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianization) during the process of conversion in Europe. A more secular version of May Day continues to be observed in Europe and America. In this form, May Day may be best known for its tradition of dancing the maypole dance and crowning of the Queen of the May (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_of_the_May). Various Neopagan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neopaganism) groups celebrate reconstructed (to varying degrees) versions of these customs on May 1st.
The day was a traditional summer holiday in many pre-Christian (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian) European (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europe) pagan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paganism) cultures. While February 1 was the first day of Spring (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spring_(season)), May 1 was the first day of summer (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summer); hence, the summer solstice (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summer_solstice) on June 25 (now June 21) was Midsummer (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midsummer). In the Roman Catholic (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Catholic)tradition, May is observed as Mary's month, and in these circles May Day is usually a celebration of the Blessed Virgin Mary (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virgin_Mary). In this connection, in works of art, school skits, and so forth, Mary's head will often be adorned with flowers in a May crowning (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_crowning). Fading in popularity since the late 20th century is the giving of "May baskets," small baskets of sweets and/or flowers, usually left anonymously on neighbours' doorsteps.[ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_day#cite_note-1)2 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_day#cite_note-1)]

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_day#cite_note-1)International Workers' Day (which the OP alludes to) didn't begin till 1886.

And the Haymarket bombing was not done by an anarchist.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haymarket_bombing
An unknown person threw a dynamite bomb (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bomb) at police (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Police_Department) as they dispersed the public meeting. The bomb blast and ensuing gunfire (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting) resulted in the deaths of seven police officers and at least four civilians, and the wounding of scores of others.
In the internationally publicized legal proceedings that followed, eight anarchists (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anarchism) were convicted of conspiracy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conspiracy_(crime)), although the prosecution conceded none of the defendants had thrown the bomb. Seven were sentenced to death and one to a term of 15 years in prison. The death sentences of two of the defendants were subsequently commuted to terms of life in prison and another committedsuicide (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide) in jail rather than face the gallows. The other four were hanged (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanging) on November 11, 1887.
The Haymarket affair is generally considered significant as the origin of international May Day (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_Day) observances for workers.[4] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haymarket_bombing#cite_note-3)[5] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haymarket_bombing#cite_note-4)
The site of the incident was designated a Chicago Landmark (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Landmark) on March 25, 1992.[6] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haymarket_bombing#cite_note-Chicago-Landmark-5) The Haymarket Martyrs' Monument in nearby Forest Park was listed on the National Register of Historic Places (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Register_of_Historic_Places) and designated a National Historic Landmark (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Historic_Landmark) on February 18, 1997.[2] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haymarket_bombing#cite_note-nhlsum-1)

[James Madison]

The Bavarian Illuminati, founded May 1st, 1776 by Adam Weishaupt and Meyer Rothschild.

1840s: Karl Marx pens the Communist Manifesto, which is based on the writings of Weishaupt. Later funded by Rothschild to overthrow the Romanov dynasty of Russia.

[Nirvikalpa]

Silliness

The earliest May Day celebrations appeared in pre-Christian (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian) times, with the festival of Flora (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flora_(mythology)), the Roman goddess of flowers, and theWalpurgis Night (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walpurgis_Night) celebrations of the Germanic (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germanic_peoples) countries. It is also associated with the Gaelic (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaels) Beltane (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beltane). Many pagan celebrations were abandoned or Christianized (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianization) during the process of conversion in Europe. A more secular version of May Day continues to be observed in Europe and America. In this form, May Day may be best known for its tradition of dancing the maypole dance and crowning of the Queen of the May (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_of_the_May). Various Neopagan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neopaganism) groups celebrate reconstructed (to varying degrees) versions of these customs on May 1st.
The day was a traditional summer holiday in many pre-Christian (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian) European (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europe) pagan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paganism) cultures. While February 1 was the first day of Spring (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spring_(season)), May 1 was the first day of summer (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summer); hence, the summer solstice (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summer_solstice) on June 25 (now June 21) was Midsummer (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midsummer). In the Roman Catholic (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Catholic)tradition, May is observed as Mary's month, and in these circles May Day is usually a celebration of the Blessed Virgin Mary (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virgin_Mary). In this connection, in works of art, school skits, and so forth, Mary's head will often be adorned with flowers in a May crowning (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_crowning). Fading in popularity since the late 20th century is the giving of "May baskets," small baskets of sweets and/or flowers, usually left anonymously on neighbours' doorsteps.[ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_day#cite_note-1)2 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_day#cite_note-1)]

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_day#cite_note-1)International Workers' Day (which the OP alludes to) didn't begin till 1886.

Thank you, exactly what I was going to say.

[heavenlyboy34]

Thank you, exactly what I was going to say.
you're welcome ~hugs~

[FrankRep]

Thank you, exactly what I was going to say.

Lets focus on the original topic: May Day.


May 1: International Workers' Day (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Workers%27_Day)


International Workers' Day is the commemoration of the 1886 Haymarket Massacre in Chicago, when, after an unknown person threw a dynamite bomb at police as they dispersed a public meeting, Chicago police fired on workers during a general strike for the eight hour workday, killing several demonstrators and resulting in the deaths of several police officers, largely from friendly fire. In 1889, the first congress of the Second International, meeting in Paris for the centennial of the French Revolution and the Exposition Universelle, following a proposal by Raymond Lavigne, called for international demonstrations on the 1890 anniversary of the Chicago protests. May Day was formally recognized as an annual event at the International's second congress in 1891.

[heavenlyboy34]

Lets focus on the original topic: May Day.


May 1: International Workers' Day (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Workers'_Day)


International Workers' Day is the commemoration of the 1886 Haymarket Massacre in Chicago, when, after an unknown person threw a dynamite bomb at police as they dispersed a public meeting, Chicago police fired on workers during a general strike for the eight hour workday, killing several demonstrators and resulting in the deaths of several police officers, largely from friendly fire. In 1889, the first congress of the Second International, meeting in Paris for the centennial of the French Revolution and the Exposition Universelle, following a proposal by Raymond Lavigne, called for international demonstrations on the 1890 anniversary of the Chicago protests. May Day was formally recognized as an annual event at the International's second congress in 1891.
Nobody changed the topic. The title says "May Day". Post 4 is about May Day (which Nirvikalpa quoted). Notice your article was also incorrect about the Haymarket bombing.

[FrankRep]

Nobody changed the topic. The title says "May Day". Post 4 is about May Day (which Nirvikalpa quoted). Notice your article was also incorrect about the Haymarket bombing.

My topic is about International Workers' Day AKA: May Day.

[FrankRep]

Here's a full article dedicated to the Haymarket Affair.



Misled into laboring for anarchy: the Haymarket Affair is a classic example of how well-organized agitators cleverly manipulated many well-intentioned laborers into committing acts of social demolition. (http://www.thefreelibrary.com/_/print/PrintArticle.aspx?id=172012844)


Michael Telzrow | The New American (http://www.thenewamerican.com/)
Nov 26, 2007


On a rain-soaked night on May 4, 1886, a crowd of about 1,000 laborers gathered near Haymarket Square in Chicago, to rail against the action of police at the McCormick labor strike a few days earlier. Among them were anarchists and socialists, who struck a chord with laborers by calling for an eight-hour work day and better working conditions, but whose agenda included the elimination of capitalist society through violent means. Unfortunately, the subversive elements were in control.

City authorities, fearing another McCormick incident which resulted in the death of one striker, decided not to interfere in the meeting. But as a precautionary measure, they assembled a large police force in the vicinity near the Desplaines police station. Of the 176 men under the command of Chicago Police Inspector John Bonfield, 50 were ordered to insert themselves among the crowds to watch for signs of trouble. The site was well chosen by the anarchists, who intended a confrontation. It was dimly lit and the alleyways offered an escape route should things turn badly for the agitators.

And a confrontation was exactly what occurred. The police, receiving reports that the crowd was being incited to violence, decided to move in. Inspector Bonfield and Captain William Ward led the way at the front of the first of four divisions, arrayed like columns of infantry ready for battle. Upon seeing the blue-clad officers moving toward the crowd, British-born socialist Samuel Fielden cried: "Here come the bloodhounds. You do your duty and I'll do mine!" Captain Ward commanded the crowd to disperse and walked within three feet of Fielden, shouting: "I command you, in the name of the people of the State, to immediately and peaceably disperse." Fielden responded by jumping off the wagon, and declaring, "We are peaceable."

Just then, an unknown assailant in the crowd launched a bomb into the ranks of the second division of policemen. The homemade device sailed through air, its fuse glowing like a lit cigar. The following explosion was heard for miles around. Instantly, a volley of small arms was fired into the ranks of the policemen from the periphery of the mob. The results of the explosion were terrifying. The entire column of the second division lay on the ground. Elements of the third and fourth divisions were injured too. Inspector Bonfield quickly rallied the troops and ordered them to fire upon the assailants. The protestors fled in all directions. Fielden fired his revolver into the ranks of the police and then disappeared from the scene. When it was over, the casualty list included one police officer dead and over 70 wounded. The bomb thrower was never identified.

The Labor/Socialist Nexus

America in the late 19th century was a country undergoing profound change on the labor front. The number of immigrants streaming into the United States brought foreign-born numbers to unprecedented levels. Most of them were laborers. At the same time, labor advocates and organizations began asserting their influence on a much greater scale than ever before. The old trade-union models which traced their origins to the early republic still existed, but new groups began emerging to meet the upsurge in the numbers of working men and women of all trades--both unskilled and skilled. All of these developments, the upsurge in immigration and the rise of labor unions, coalesced to produce one of the most volatile periods in U.S. history.

As early as the 1840s, trade unions were clamoring for the eight-hour day. By the 1880s, they were still fighting for a reduced work day but had added demands for higher pay and better working conditions to their wish lists. They differed from their mid-19th-century trade union counterparts by adopting new methods of labor solidarity. And for a brief time groups like the Noble and Holy Order of the Knights of Labor succeeded in uniting disparate groups under the leadership of men like Uriah S. Stephens, and later Terence V. Powderly. By 1873, the Knights had formed their first district assembly in Philadelphia. The Knights continued to grow even as trade unions collapsed following the economic panic of 1873. At their first General Assembly they formed a national organization and began pushing for reforms that included the eight-hour day and the elimination of convict labor.

Unlike the trade unionists, the Knights welcomed all wage earners, skilled and unskilled, to their ranks regardless of profession, excepting lawyers, doctors, bankers, and liquor salesman. They reached their developmental apex after Powderly succeeded Stephens in 1879. Powderly, a former mayor of Scranton, Pennsylvania, preferred the boycott to the strike, but the Knights owed their greatest victories to the latter. In 1884, they struck successfully against wage cuts in Union Pacific railroad shops, and in 1885 they managed a stunning victory over railroad magnate Jay Gould. As a result the ranks of the Knights swelled to more than 700,000 by 1886. For the Knights it was a short-lived victory. Gould, stung by his defeat in 1885, outmaneuvered the Knights during a rail strike when he called in the Pinkertons to ensure that the trains kept running. The Knights called off the strike but the real damage to their reputation would occur at Haymarket Square a year later.

Assembling the Troops

The Haymarket Affair had its origins in labor's ongoing quest for the eight-hour day. The Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions of the United States and Canada took the lead and set May 1, 1886 as the deadline for the eight-hour day, calling for general strikes from all trades. Prone to indecision, Powderly did not support the call for strikes, but some of his assemblies joined with the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions in a show of solidarity. In Chicago, the largely German-speaking Socialistic Labor Party gained increasing influence in the labor movement along with a small group of committed anarchists. A sense of growing solidarity helped the various groups to coalesce around the eight-hour day issue and Chicago became the center for the national movement. It was a virtual powder keg in Chicago, and no one quite knew what to expect on the eve of May 1, 1886.

On May 1, 1886, the Knights, trade unions, and socialists--approximately 80,000 Chicago workers--struck for the eight-hour day. The local bilingual socialist/anarchist organ Arbeiter-Zeitung urged the workers on with a mix of militant headlines and inflammatory rhetoric. Bravely Forward! Cowards, to the rear! Men, to the front! read the headlines on May 1. The paper's editor, August Spies, a German-born member of the International Working People's Association, led the strikers up Michigan Avenue.

The march was peaceful but on May 3, the uneasy peace was shattered when McCormick Reaper Works strikers fought replacement workers. Attempting to restore order, Chicago police clashed with the striking employees, killing one of them in the process. For Spies, a witness to the event, it was an act that cried out for vengeance.

Revenge!

Spies, like many of his anarchist and socialist brethren, believed in the doctrine of Propaganda of the Deed. It was an idea based on the belief that a decisive violent act is capable of rousing individuals to action. Its foremost proponent was Johann Most, a German anarchist who moved to Chicago in 1882. Most championed the use of dynamite in the commission of terrorist acts. The German demagogue felt that dynamite was the perfect weapon to support the Propaganda of the Deed doctrine. Dynamite had only recently been developed by Alfred Nobel, a Swedish inventor looking for an alternative to the use of unstable nitroglycerine in construction projects. Its capability to cause extensive damaged leveled the playing field between civilians and armed policemen. This appealed to Most, who realized that individuals now possessed a weapon that was perfectly suited to advance the socialist agenda. He went so far as to publish instructions for building dynamite bombs, while Spies's Arbeiter-Zeitung published a number of tracts containing specific direction about the use of dynamite as a tool of terror. The editors of another Chicago socialist newspaper, The Alarm, unabashedly opined that "one dynamite bomb properly placed, will destroy a regiment of soldiers a weapon easily made and carried with perfect safety in the pockets of ones' clothing." Louis Lingg, who would eventually be convicted of conspiracy after the Haymarket riot, stated, "If they use cannons against us, we shall use dynamite against them." Lingg was an expert bomb-maker and would later use his skills to kill himself on the eve of his scheduled execution.

In the days following the McCormick riot, Spies published increasingly inflammatory editorials calculated to agitate the mobs. On May 3, he penned his famous "Revenge" circular with headlines that screamed "Revenge! Workingmen to Arms!" The text in English read: "If you are men, if you are the sons of your grand sires, who have shed their blood to free you, then you will rise in your might Hercules, and destroy the hideous monster that seeks to destroy you. To arms, we call you to arms!" The German-language version was much stronger in its militancy, urging "annihilation to the beasts in human form who call themselves rulers!" On May 4, he continued to stoke the fires of discontent. Raising the specter of class warfare, he wrote, "Blood has flown. It happened as it had to. The militia have not been drilling in vain. It is historical that private property had its origin in violence. The war of classes has come. To arms! To Arms!"

The stage was now set. Imbued with the doctrine of violence, the socialists and anarchists mobilized under the red and black flags determined to effect social revolution change through illegal force.

For his part, Powderly saw the dangers of socialist and anarchist infiltration in the Knights. In the spring of 1886, he issued a circular that attempted to quell some of the more radical elements in the eight-hour workday movement. For all his alleged faults, Powderly knew that the socialist and anarchist elements that infected the labor movement were really about the deconstruction of society and the abolition of capitalism. In his circular he wrote:



Men who own capital are not our enemies. If that theory held good, the workman of today would be the enemy of his fellow-toiler on the morrow, for, after all, it is how to acquire capital and how to use it properly that we are endeavoring to learn. No! the man of capital is not necessarily the enemy of the laborer; on the contrary, they must be brought closer together. I am aware that some extremists will say I am advocating a weak plan and will say that bloodshed and destruction of property alone will solve the problem. If a man speaks such sentiments in an assembly read for him the charge with the Master Workman repeat to the newly initiated who join our "army of peace." If he repeats such nonsense put him out.


Unfortunately for Powderly, many of his Knights ignored his instruction.

Haymarket

There was nothing left but to mobilize the forces of destruction for action. Anarchist and socialist leaders scheduled a public meeting for the evening of May 4 at Haymarket Square. In preparation for the event they met to discuss a plan of action at a place known as Greif's Hall. Representatives of the various armed sections gathered there on the afternoon of May 3. Spies' inflammatory "Revenge" circular was distributed, and under the guidance of Gottfried Waller, later a witness for the state, the 70 or so socialists and anarchists in attendance devised a plan to incite a riot at Haymarket Square while simultaneously bombing Chicago police stations. The ambitious plan was adopted and the next morning the call for the mass meeting was printed and distributed throughout the city. Captain Michael J. Schaack, investigator and state's witness at the Haymarket trial, later wrote, "The carnival of riot and destruction ... only awaited the proper signal from the committee."

Among the speakers at Haymarket Square was August Spies, who used the opportunity to rail against the McCormick incident and to exhort "workingmen" to arm themselves. Also in attendance was democratic Mayor Carter Harrison who, after hearing a few restrained speeches, determined that there was no need to hold the police force in reserve. He departed in the middle of a speech given by Samuel Fielden, whose remarks grew bolder and more inflammatory shortly after Harrison left the scene. Fielden exhorted the crowd to have nothing to do with the law except to "Throttle it! Kill it! Stab it!" Fielden's revolutionary rhetoric began to incite the crowd. Several officers in the crowd began to send situational reports to Inspector Bonfield of the Chicago Police Department. Still, Bonfield initially resisted sending in the force to disperse the crowds. He later reported that he wanted to be "clearly within the law, and wishing to leave no room for doubt as to the propriety of our actions, I did not act on the first reports, but sent the officers back to make further observations." Shortly after 10 o'clock, a number of officers sent back reports that the crowd was becoming increasingly agitated. It was at that point that Bonfield ordered elements of the reserve to move to disperse the crowd. Moments later, an unknown assailant would launch the revolutionary missile that would kill one police officer and unmask the socialist conspiracy.

Conspiracy Trial

It was easy for the authorities to round up those morally responsible for the incident because the inflammatory actions of Spies, Fielden, and a host of others were evident from the outset. But who bore the criminal responsibility? Captain Schaack launched a massive investigation. Detectives started with the offices of the Arbeiter-Zeitung--the heart and soul of the anarchist/socialist movement in Chicago. There they uncovered the infamous manuscript of the "Revenge" circular and a trove of other incriminating documents that suggested a conspiracy, including testimony that dynamite had been stored in the offices of the Arbeiter-Zeitung.

Ultimately, eight anarchist leaders of the conspiratorial clique, including Louis Lingg, August Spies, and Samuel Fielden, were arrested and sentenced to death despite the lack of any evidence directly linking them to the bomb thrower. Lingg admitted to building dynamite bombs and attending the conspiracy meeting at Greif's Hall, but he denied throwing the bomb. In the end, Spies, Fielden, Lingg, Albert Parsons, Michael Schwab, George Engel, Adolph Fischer, and Oscar Neebe were indicted for the murder of police officer Mathias Degan. Though the court could not connect any of them directly to the bomb thrower, they were found guilty of murder on the basis of their conspiratorial activities and public exhortations to violence. All of them, save Oscar Neebe, were sentenced to death.

Lingg decided not to wait for the hangman's noose and took his life in jail by detonating a small bomb in his mouth! The sentences of Fielden and Schwab were commuted to life in prison, and the others were hanged. Fischer's last words before he died were, "Hurray for Anarchy ? This is the happiest moment of my life." Albert Parsons declared, "Let the voice of the people be heard." The bodies of the dead men were laid to rest at Waldheim Cemetery. Six years later, the Haymarket Martyrs Monument was erected in memory of the dead anarchists. In 1887, Governor John P. Altgeld of Illinois pardoned Fielden, Schwab, and Neebe.

Anatomy of a Riot

The stage-managed, anti-capitalist riot of Haymarket Square followed a favored pattern of communists, anarchists, and other revolutionaries since the dawn of mass communication. Author Eugene H. Methvin detailed the process in a groundbreaking work entitled The Riot Makers: The Technology of Social Demolition. The first step is the development of an organization. Lenin once said, "Give me an organization of professional revolutionaries, and I will turn Russia upside down." In the late 19th century, there was no shortage of organizations in America dedicated to the restructuring of American society. Some, like the Knights of Labor, were dedicated to effecting change on a level that would preserve the basic structure of American life; others, like the anarchists and socialists, sought a complete reshaping of society. It was from these organizations that the socialist seed was planted on this continent, and they could not have done it without a well-oiled organizational machine in place.

The second stage according to Methvin is based upon preconditioning the masses. It is essential that the masses be convinced that the current system is corrupt or deficient and in need of change. They must adopt a code of generalized beliefs. Methvin writes that "precondition functions as the process by which the radical subculture of political violence maintains itself, attracts new members and acts disruptively upon the dominant culture in pursuit of its ... world vision." For the late 19th-century radicals it was the belief that capitalism was inherently corrupt.

Third, a specific issue must be chosen for agitation. The struggle for the eight-hour day and other labor issues served as the perfect vehicle to agitate the masses. In Methvin's model, sloganeering like that employed by the leaders of the anarchists and editors of their organs in Chicago functioned as the "precise tools for engineering, molding and directing opinion." Cries of injustice and revenge induced many garden-variety labor-rights activists to walk side by side with socialists and anarchists in 1886 Chicago. Once the preconditioning and advance work has been done, the conspirators stage a rally and employ the on-the-scene techniques that achieve the desired objective. In the case of the Haymarket conspirators, the objective was to provoke the police to use force in order to produce a violent revolutionary response from labor groups, and to signal the beginning of such an event to their followers among the anarchists and socialists.

It also had the benefit of likely producing a pantheon of martyrs from which the socialists could benefit. Martyrdom has the power to turn public opinion and destroy opposition to radicalism. The manufacture of martyrs is also an effective recruitment tool. The capital punishment of the Rosenbergs in 1953 was used as an occasion by the communists to condemn American justice. According to Methvin, Lee Harvey Oswald's introduction to Marxism came through a leaflet protesting the execution of the two nuclear spies. Today, Muslim extremists use similar techniques to attract recruits to their hideous death cult.

Lenin studied his radical predecessors and borrowed much from their techniques. Today the legacy of "social demolition" that characterized the season of upheaval in Chicago is carried on faithfully by radical protesters the world over and always orchestrated from above.

The Haymarket Affair is a mere footnote in the history of the United States. On the surface it is merely one of several labor-versus-establishment riots characteristic of the late 19th and early 20th centuries that followed a familiar pattern--workers strike for better wages, hours, etc., only to be crushed by state militia or local police forces. But there is a greater historical lesson to be learned. The mass-manipulation techniques employed by the instigators of the Chicago riot prefigured Lenin and the rise of communism by some 31 years. Lenin may have perfected the techniques of social disruption and mass manipulation, but the "Reds" and anarchists of 1886 Chicago were already on to it.

When the Haymarket Affair is taught in American schools today, it is usually presented as a heroic struggle for the eight-hour workday juxtaposed against police brutality and soulless capitalism. In reality it is no such thing. Rather, it is a classic example of how well-organized nihilistic agitators cleverly manipulated many well-intentioned laborers into committing acts of social demolition, while gaining sympathy for the socialist and anarchist movements.


SOURCE:
http://www.thefreelibrary.com/_/print/PrintArticle.aspx?id=172012844

[heavenlyboy34]

Silliness

The earliest May Day celebrations appeared in pre-Christian (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian) times, with the festival of Flora (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flora_(mythology)), the Roman goddess of flowers, and theWalpurgis Night (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walpurgis_Night) celebrations of the Germanic (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germanic_peoples) countries. It is also associated with the Gaelic (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaels) Beltane (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beltane). Many pagan celebrations were abandoned or Christianized (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianization) during the process of conversion in Europe. A more secular version of May Day continues to be observed in Europe and America. In this form, May Day may be best known for its tradition of dancing the maypole dance and crowning of the Queen of the May (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_of_the_May). Various Neopagan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neopaganism) groups celebrate reconstructed (to varying degrees) versions of these customs on May 1st.
The day was a traditional summer holiday in many pre-Christian (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian) European (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europe) pagan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paganism) cultures. While February 1 was the first day of Spring (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spring_(season)), May 1 was the first day of summer (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summer); hence, the summer solstice (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summer_solstice) on June 25 (now June 21) was Midsummer (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midsummer). In the Roman Catholic (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Catholic)tradition, May is observed as Mary's month, and in these circles May Day is usually a celebration of the Blessed Virgin Mary (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virgin_Mary). In this connection, in works of art, school skits, and so forth, Mary's head will often be adorned with flowers in a May crowning (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_crowning). Fading in popularity since the late 20th century is the giving of "May baskets," small baskets of sweets and/or flowers, usually left anonymously on neighbours' doorsteps.[ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_day#cite_note-1)2 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_day#cite_note-1)]

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_day#cite_note-1)International Workers' Day (which the OP alludes to) didn't begin till 1886.

And the Haymarket bombing was not done by an anarchist.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haymarket_bombing
An unknown person threw a dynamite bomb (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bomb) at police (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Police_Department) as they dispersed the public meeting. The bomb blast and ensuing gunfire (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting) resulted in the deaths of seven police officers and at least four civilians, and the wounding of scores of others.
In the internationally publicized legal proceedings that followed, eight anarchists (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anarchism) were convicted of conspiracy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conspiracy_(crime)), although the prosecution conceded none of the defendants had thrown the bomb. Seven were sentenced to death and one to a term of 15 years in prison. The death sentences of two of the defendants were subsequently commuted to terms of life in prison and another committedsuicide (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide) in jail rather than face the gallows. The other four were hanged (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanging) on November 11, 1887.
The Haymarket affair is generally considered significant as the origin of international May Day (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_Day) observances for workers.[4] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haymarket_bombing#cite_note-3)[5] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haymarket_bombing#cite_note-4)
The site of the incident was designated a Chicago Landmark (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Landmark) on March 25, 1992.[6] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haymarket_bombing#cite_note-Chicago-Landmark-5) The Haymarket Martyrs' Monument in nearby Forest Park was listed on the National Register of Historic Places (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Register_of_Historic_Places) and designated a National Historic Landmark (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Historic_Landmark) on February 18, 1997.[2] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haymarket_bombing#cite_note-nhlsum-1)

Frank, you really think this^^ is "off topic"? Did you read the title you gave the thread? Think before -repping next time.

[heavenlyboy34]

My topic is about International Workers' Day AKA: May Day.Your title says "The History Of May Day". If you didn't really mean that, you shouldn't have given it that title.

[FrankRep]

Your title says "The History Of May Day". If you didn't really mean that, you shouldn't have given it that title.

My topic is about International Workers' Day AKA: May Day.

[heavenlyboy34]

My topic is about International Workers' Day AKA: May Day. IWD falls on May Day, but they are not one and the same. See the history of May Day in post #4. My birthday falls on winter solstice but you don't see me demanding people say "HB34's Birthday, not solstice!!!11!!!".

You really don't need to get aggressive just because I pointed out an error in your post. It's not like I pulled down your pants in public or something. Sheesh!

[FrankRep]

IWD falls on May Day, but they are not one and the same. See the history of May Day in post #4. My birthday falls on winter solstice but you don't see me demanding people say "HB34's Birthday, not solstice!!!11!!!".

You really don't need to get aggressive just because I pointed out an error in your post. It's not like I pulled down your pants in public or something. Sheesh!

The Topic:

International Workers' Day (AKA: May Day) is the commemoration of the 1886 Haymarket Massacre in Chicago.

[heavenlyboy34]

The Topic:

International Workers' Day (AKA: May Day) is the commemoration of the 1886 Haymarket Massacre in Chicago.
And as you see in my previous post^^, that bombing was incorrectly attributed to "anarchists". You don't need to get so angry, Frank. I'm just pointing out factual errors in your posts. Nothing personal.

[FrankRep]

And as you see in my previous post^^, that bombing was incorrectly attributed to "anarchists".

Marxists use anarchy as a tool and "anarchists" become useful idiots for the larger agenda. Please don't be that foolish.

"anarchists" = useful idiots

[oyarde]

Thank you, exactly what I was going to say. I come , originally , from a pagan culture , we were just simple folk , you know , the soltices and suchforth , they are more worthy of Holidays .... ;)

[heavenlyboy34]

Marxists use anarchy as a tool and "anarchists" become useful idiots for the larger agenda. Please don't be that foolish.

"anarchists" = useful idiots
:rolleyes: Anarchists were around long before Marx, Frank. The Marxists hijacked the word for their agenda. (pre 1900, it was common for anarchists to "arrive" at anarchy by taking religious studies to their logical conclusion, like Tolstoy)

[heavenlyboy34]

Listen to some Dervish and chill, Frank:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mdpci6qDe0

[oyarde]

And as you see in my previous post^^, that bombing was incorrectly attributed to "anarchists". You don't need to get so angry, Frank. I'm just pointing out factual errors in your posts. Nothing personal. :) Naturally , I am a bit distrustful of bombing anarchists ...

[FrankRep]

:rolleyes: Anarchists were around long before Marx, Frank. The Marxists hijacked the word for their agenda.

Listen again please. Marxists used "anarchists" as tools to overthrow the existing order to establish a new order.

[heavenlyboy34]

:) Naturally , I am a bit distrustful of bombing anarchists ... Thanks! +rep ~hugs~

[heavenlyboy34]

Listen again please. Marxists used "anarchists" as tools to overthrow the existing order to establish a new order.
That's what I said (and you didn't). So? Are you trolling me or are you just feeling silly tonight?

[FrankRep]

That's what I said (and you didn't). So?
We agree then: "anarchists" were useful idiots to the greater Marxist agenda.

[heavenlyboy34]

We agree then: "anarchists" were useful idiots to the greater Marxist agenda.
No. You missed everything I wrote. Your statement here^^ is fallacious. Marxists adopted (stole) the label "anarchist" to hide their agenda. They also use the big 2 parties to achieve their goals. Therefore, we should not participate in GOP or democrat politics!!11!! ;)

[FrankRep]

No. You missed everything I wrote. Your statement here^^ is fallacious. Marxists adopted (stole) the label "anarchist" to hide their agenda.

The Leaders were Marxists, but the actual rioters were clueless anarchists. Therefore, guess who gets blamed, the useful idiots: the anarchists.

Understand the game a little better now?

[FrankRep]

http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQgtH2leXQacDAVlDQElLPxtglTjyY4M sFvx0t4Rwyt4jd5iyap


MAY DAY: OCCUPY PLANS 'GLOBAL DISRUPTION'...
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-30/occupy-wall-street-plans-global-disruption-of-status-quo-may-1.html

Does Anyone Care?
http://www.cnbc.com/id/47233587

Looking To Shut Down Bridges, Tunnels In NYC and San Fran... MORE
http://cnsnews.com/blog/dan-gainor/occupy-promises-biggest-shut-down-city-new-york-has-ever-seen-blockade-san-fran

Bloomberg vows quick response...
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/occupy-wall-street-plans-snarl-city-traffic-day-article-1.1069632

[Lishy]

If Karl Marx were alive today, I guarantee you, he would NOT be a communist anymore! In fact, he might have been a libertarian today considering his concerns by which he called for a communist revolution in the first place.. Libertarianism and Communism are quite similar in their goals. The difference being libertarianism achieves the same balance in society WITHOUT need of abolishing our freedoms!

[idiom]

This thread is anarchy.

Why can't we all just celebrate this ancient holiday with sex and debauchery like always?

[Vanilluxe]

If Karl Marx were alive today, I guarantee you, he would NOT be a communist anymore! In fact, he might have been a libertarian today considering his concerns by which he called for a communist revolution in the first place.. Libertarianism and Communism are quite similar in their goals. The difference being libertarianism achieves the same balance in society WITHOUT need of abolishing our freedoms!

Technically a Karl Marx communism would have no government at all. Stalin and Lenin wanted a government which is the opposite of what Karl Marx advocates. I suggest you read the book, "The Kin of Ata Are Waiting For You" its really a mind blowing book.

[FrankRep]

This thread is anarchy.

Why can't we all just celebrate this ancient holiday with sex and debauchery like always?

Different days mean different things to different people.

[FrankRep]

Technically a Karl Marx communism would have no government at all. Stalin and Lenin wanted a government which is the opposite of what Karl Marx advocates. I suggest you read the book, "The Kin of Ata Are Waiting For You" its really a mind blowing book.

LOL. I've read the Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and you're lying. The Government will take ALL the power and wealth ... and magically ... LOL the government will give it all back to the people....

Yeah right!

[Vanilluxe]

LOL. I've read the Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and you're lying. The Government will take ALL the power and wealth ... and magically ... LOL the government will give it all back to the people....

Yeah right!

Tell me which section of the book says so, Karl Marx advocated absolutely no government. Basically de-evolutionize our system of hierarchy back to the **** erectus stage which is basically family or tribal mode. A lot political science professors said that Lenin and those type of communists are "Marxists wannabees". I would advise you to pay attention to world history class next time.

[Don Lapre]

Someone posted a thread a couple of weeks ago (I looked for it but couldn't find it) - and they said something about a gun shop owner warning that he heard from some "high sources" that major shit was going to go down in America on May 1.

We're here.


Who posted that?

Can't remember.

[ProIndividual]

I love it when people who have never read anarchist philosophers say "anarchists are useful idiots for communists"...when anarcho communism is only one type of anarchism, along with anarcho capitalism, various other forms of market anarchism, and every other form of economic structure in explicitly voluntary modes of organization.

Useful idiot was term used by communists to describe liberal statists in the West who rhetorically supported their positions up to certain point...not anarchists.

In this way, if anyone is a useful idiot, it's small government statists who parrot anarchist ideals up to a certain point, thereby advancing our agenda without realizing it. That's the true spirit of what useful idiot meant.

There is a huge difference between anarcho communism (ala Bakunin and Kropotkin) and state communism (ala Marx, Lenin, Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, etc.), between anarcho socialism (to include/disclude mutualism ala Proudhon, Tucker, Spooner, and Warren) and state socialism (ala European states, fascist states, etc.), and between anarchy (voluntary organization and polycentric legal order) and anomie (chaos, violence, rape, murder, normlessness - because of lawlessness OR too many laws, lack of social norms, fatalism, etc.).

Anarchism is a code of ethics, an epistemology, aesthetics, logic, and metaphysical understanding...in short, a philosophy. Statism has never been, and will never be, a philosophy...it's an ideology. Philosophies contain ideologies, but ideologies lack one or more of the five criteria I just listed to being a philosophy. In the case of statism, it lacks logic in argumentation (demonstrated thousands of times in the philosophy forum) and consistent ethics (again, demonstrated in the forum). It chooses pragmatism and practicality above morality and logical solutions to the problems statists assert can only be cured via pragmatism and practical surrender to illegitmate coerced authority and hierarchy.

Marx was one of these illogical statists. Putting aside for a moment a critique of his economic problems and his ethical flaws, we can see that he was completely illogical by advancing the idea that in order to achieve anarcho communis in society people needed to advance in the opposite direction toward total totalitarian statism first. I mean, if you can't see that's completely illogical, I feel sorry for you. He literally thought the way to anarcho (stateless) communism was through statist advance of socialism into statist dictatorial communism, and that magically the regime would just give up its power to the people and give birth to total anarchy.

That's the craziest idea in history. To say we need more statism to achieve anarchy (as opposed to a smaller state), is like saying we need a smaller state and then anarchy to achieve totalitarian statism!

Marx was largely an illogical and unethical economic cromagnon for this alone. He gave every great sociopath a wonderful ideology to follow as road map to the enslavement of his fellow man...all on the pretext of achieving maximum liberty (which of course logically can't happen in the way he described).

Read more, insult anarchists less, is the lesson of the day.

BTW, I celebrate May Day, not for the 8 hour work day, or for communism, or even for paganism...but because innocent men who shared my philosophy (even if not in economics or means to achieve a non-coercive society) were murdered by the state for a crime they didn't commit in a rigged trial. It should serve as a reminder to all anarchists; the state will murder us for any reason it wishes when it disagrees with our ideas. This is why revolution is BS, and evolution must occur. We'll be the first ones rounded up and shot, imprisoned, or deported if a violent revolution occurs...hence we must stand against it always. And some of the very people on these forums we call "allies" will be some of the ones advocating such a treatment for us...and some have said so directly.

Small government statists make convenient allies until we reach a level of tyranny THEY are comfortable with...then we are their enemies. Always remember that, for your own sake. There are only 3 types of people in this world: those who are comfortable with the current level of tyranny, those who want more, and those who want less. This is why left and right don't exist...because if being on the "right" is being for less government, most everyone is one the "right" in a totalitarian state. If being on the "left" means wanting more government, then most everyone is on the "left" when anomie occurs (either from too little or too much law). Every statist seems to have their own idea about what is a comfortable level of tyranny...whereas the anarchist says any level of tyranny is too much.

Happy May Day. Viva Anarchia.

[oyarde]

Commies do not merit a Holiday , I do not acknowledge this Holiday.As a true capitalist and Geat American Patriot , I intend to cancel Lunch & break for my guys today :)

[heavenlyboy34]

Commies do not merit a Holiday , I do not acknowledge this Holiday.As a true capitalist and Geat American Patriot , I intend to cancel Lunch & break for my guys today :)
What, you're not partaking in any pagan festivals? :eek:

[oyarde]

What, you're not partaking in any pagan festivals? :eek: They will think nothing of it , do it fairly often in order not to work over, these are well conditioned , hardass employees :)

[oyarde]

What, you're not partaking in any pagan festivals? :eek: A proper Pagan festival requires a couple of days off , no time for that ....