Linh Lam
Dr. Leiker
History 141
28 February 2016
With the new era of technology, farmers were forced off their land and sharecropping came to an end. Subsistence lifestyles came to an end. Without assistance or concern, people turned to the only thing they knew which was to move westward for labor wages. The people were cheated, cornered into unbearable living conditions, and constrained to a life of heartache and hell.
Capitalism corrupted the hearts of people. Automobile salesmen would base the price on the demand, how much the buyer had, and how desperate the buyer was. Auto parts would be inflated like crazy because the salesmen knew the people were determined to move westward, because they have nothing left there and even if they stayed they could not find jobs and their resources were dwindling each day. The salespeople were not only rude and inflated prices on the people but they lied as well. During this time, one could go and steal an auto part, be called a thief and arrested yet a salesman, who lies and charges sky rocket prices on faulty machinery, would not be considered a cheat instead that would be called “sound business”(Steinbeck 163). Being forced to move, with little to no finance security is already difficult but selling everything the people owned for practically nothing to buy outrageously priced auto parts that were already on the verge of their life span was utterly frustrating. People knew they were being swindled but they could not do anything because there wasn’t anybody to go and beat up. All the blame and guilt was pushed onto an imaginary monster called banks and companies. People could not go after an individual to release their anger, concerns, or plead.
Families moved west as instructed with the promise of a better life only to be met with more drawbacks. Orchard owners and plantation owners had sent out a surplus of flyers for workers which resulted in a surplus of people competing for the same job. Wages were $0.15 an hour and often times it got so competitive that men ended up working all day just for a bit of sugar and a cup of flour. Some men would try to labor on a small patch of land on the edge of a property that was unused – going to waste, just something to feed his family and keep their hunger at bay. When deputies and others scouted out one, they would rip, kick, destroying whatever progress the man had accomplished in front of him, crushing his dreams and hopes of his family be able to go to bed with their bellies full instead of the usual hunger pangs. Other times when crops are not able to be harvest in time, they are burned to the ground as hungry people watch.
If it appears that any organizing is taking place amongst the poor, authorities will snatch up the leader and throw them in jail. Other tactics to keep organization to a minimum is forcing people out of their camps and burning down Hoovervilles - forcing people to leave and breaking the people apart. Other times, people within’ a community will seek out troublemakers and exile them before they stir up trouble for the rest.
Capitalism was seen as the fruit of hard work and ambition by the rich. The rich are righteous. They legally obtained their property and assets but the poor are lazy, incompetent of achieving anything minor of success. Whoever has the ambition and resources to become rich is fortunate, those who don’t – well that just sucks for them. The wealthy do not see or often times do not care about the struggles of others. To the working poor capitalism was the wicked ogre that kept their families deprived of the basic necessities of life. Capitalism reflected humanity’s vileness and greed.
Being a red or communist was seen as radical by the wealthy – fearful of any threats to their assets. In all honesty, communism was not something to be scared of. Communism was going back to the basic stage of humanity. When the Joad family first reached California they had stayed at a Hooverville. All the families were the same; they had nothing and just wanted a chance to redeem themselves as men – breadwinners, to provide for their wives and children. Being a communist did not mean they wanted to take away other person’s fortune rather they wanted to be the same chance for a better life. When Ma shared what was left of the stew with the hungry children of Hooverville; that was a form of communism. The Joad did not have much but they still shared what they had with others; feeling the guilt and empathy for having something someone else lacked – a basic human trait that is killed by greed. When Rosasharn lost her baby, instead of keeping to herself she extended a relationship to a complete stranger – sharing her breastmilk to the dying father. Many would feel sorrow and pity; most would not have given that amount of intimacy even to a dying person. Communism provided what humans lacked, the emotion and mindset as a whole and tending to one another as a person would if one of his body parts was injured or broken.
Even as citizens of America, the people did not have basic human rights the Constitution promised. Families could not protect one another as members passed away, like flies on a hot summer day. They did not have the freedom of the wealthy; they did not have the freedom Liberty symbolized with her torch. The people were slaves to corporations and enterprises. They were not free in reality. The people were made into slaves with little to no choices and if they made any sign of dissatisfaction they would be killed and labeled as a vagabond or thrown in jail. It was simple; work until you die, die of starvation, or be killed. Floyd called out the contractor on his way of hiring - not stating how much they would get paid, how many men needed, and how he would not present his contractor’s license. He had gotten screwed over too many times by the contractors and business owners with the dirt cheap wages. The so called contractor become enraged and called up a deputy to give Floyd trouble, accusing him of breaking into a used car parking lot. People in power created trusts and connections to gain even more advantages over the working poor.
Calling out big businesses’ deceits and demanding for opportunities to a better life is met with blacklists and deaths yet being dwindled and cheated by the very people who are supposed to be serving the public is perfectly normal and is strictly enforced. That kind of society is warped and suicidal. People are either physically exhausted or psychologically deteriorated to the point that they become animals and end up dead, shot by the local authorities as if they’re putting down a wild beast. As businesses become bolder and people remain quiet, more individuals will become wild with anger, injustice swirling inside – demanding to be unleased upon those who have wronged and condemned them. The wealthy will continue to put the poor’s sweat and blood into their pockets as more people die. Steinbeck is opening up others people’s stories of injustice – to let others know that they are not alone. If they remain separate they will get picked off like jackrabbits but if they stand united as one, their voice and appeals shall be heard and given. Reform will
occur and inequality will not continue to live in the Land of The Free.
