An age of boom and bust, of cut throat competition, high unemployment, a decimated building industry, corruption and shameless robbery by the rich.
Sounds familiar?
That’s exactly the point Tressell was making in his book “The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists”, set in the early 19 th century.
The arguments about how to manage the continual crises of Capitalism are a red herrings as far as ordinary people are concerned – Protectionism or Free Trade, it hardly matters to the person on the street. The only thing that will help them is a major restructuring of the system, replacing it with a way of life that is based on compassion, co-operation, not selfish greed and savage competition.
Tressell was not afraid to promote Socialism as the alternative. It was his polemical style and courageous vision that made the book so popular. It looked at the relationships between boss and worker in a more direct, unsentimental way than anything before in literature.
Perhaps a new look at Tressell’s work can uncover some of the idealism that inspired him and his generation, and help give Socialists in Britain impetus for rebuilding their strategy for ending the disastrous system we’re living under at the minute.
