The Jungle is what radicalized me when I read it during high school.
I know the takeaway for so many people is that food back then was tampered with and that was horrifying. At least, that seems to be all anyone ever talks about.
The story of the family hit me so hard, though. The food impurities thing seemed horrible, but sort of remote. We have laws about it now, and at that age, I didn’t realize that food handling is still pretty bad, but the risk of eating human fingers or sawdust in ground meat is probably not a certainty.
What rocked my world was watching that family get used up. They came in search of opportunity. Capitalism and a cruel and uncaring society ate them piece by piece, until they turn to addiction and begging/prostitution to cope/survive.
It’s a soul-crushing novel. Would recommend.
Just the poison in our food and environment, lack of safety controls in our jobs, complete lack of liability from corporations, and no social support when we’re inevitably ground into the dirt.
Welcome to The Jungle originally by Upton Sinclair, now a live experience brought to you by the SCOTUS’ lack of ethics.
The Jungle is what radicalized me when I read it during high school.
I know the takeaway for so many people is that food back then was tampered with and that was horrifying. At least, that seems to be all anyone ever talks about.
The story of the family hit me so hard, though. The food impurities thing seemed horrible, but sort of remote. We have laws about it now, and at that age, I didn’t realize that food handling is still pretty bad, but the risk of eating human fingers or sawdust in ground meat is probably not a certainty.
What rocked my world was watching that family get used up. They came in search of opportunity. Capitalism and a cruel and uncaring society ate them piece by piece, until they turn to addiction and begging/prostitution to cope/survive.
It’s a soul-crushing novel. Would recommend.
Congratulations, you got Sinclair’s actual intended message, unlike most people.
Do they at least have some fun and games for us while we wait for them to bring us to our sha-na-na-na-na-na-na knees, knees?
Just the poison in our food and environment, lack of safety controls in our jobs, complete lack of liability from corporations, and no social support when we’re inevitably ground into the dirt.
We seem to have drastically different definitions of “fun” and possibly also “games” 😁