Eugene Debs was arrested June 18, 1918 under the "Sedition Act, which made it a crime to "willfully utter, print, write, or publish any disloyal, profane, scurrilous, or abusive language about the form of the Government of the United States"
Debs did not contest the charges. He was stripped of his citizenship and given 10-year prison term. In his comments to the Court, he ended with these words :
"Your Honor, I ask no mercy and I plead for no immunity. I realize that finally, the right must prevail. I never so clearly comprehended as now the great struggle between the powers of greed and exploitation on the one hand and upon the other the rising hosts of industrial freedom and social justice. I can see the dawn of the better day for humanity. The people are awakening. In due time they will and must come to their own".
Much of what he fought for was set on the path of progress in the Great Depression under Roosevelt. But since the rise of the Power of the extreme Right under Reagan, we are now close to returning to the Path of Oppression by the Oligarch of the Wealthy. The Presidency of Donald Trump could end our era of
Progressive Progress. If we can preserve and improve our gains in Health Care we may stop or at least slow the slide into Wage-Slavery and restore the pathway out of Poverty.
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