Once again, watched my favorite doc about 19th-century Chicago.

[Brigid]

One thing I notice when they talk about the labor strife of the latter part of the century is that it didn't seem to matter much who was in political office, the city's business elite still mostly got their way. Democrat Carter Harrison served five terms as mayor, because the elite couldn't match his popularity out in the neighborhoods. He was sympathetic to the working class, but that didn't help them much. Low wages and poor working conditions were the prevailing influences in their lives. They could switch jobs, of course; but that made little difference when one employer was just as bad as another. Not much has changed, has it?

[dixiegrrrrl]

1. Is there a title to the doc?

[rurallib]

3. or perhaps a link - I like Chicago history.

[dixiegrrrrl]

6. I found if seeking "chicago History" on Youtube..

all sorts of surprising things pop up...

I must be the last person on earth to realize what a wealth of good docs is on YouTube...

[Brigid]

4. It's called "Chicago: City of the Century."

It's based on the book by Donald Miller. It came out in 2003. The doc was produced by PBS. I think it's programs like this that make the right dislike PBS.

ETA: Both are available on Amazon.

[dixiegrrrrl]

5. also available on Netflix

http://dvd.netflix.com/Search?oq=&ac_posn=&v1=Chicago%3A+City+of+the+Century&search_submit=

and on torrents, for those who need to know.

[Threedifferentones]

2. That depends on what you mean by change. Our living standards are certainly higher BUT

the game plays the same.

Now days poor people can expect all kinds of things that were not even invented in the 19th century. You know, all these things that run off electricity.

We also have workman's comp, public schools and child labor laws, food and drug safety standards, over time pay, social security, minimum wage, etc. etc.

Also, for Americans whose skin is not "white" there is way more opportunity.

Still, a huge portion of us are still a missed paycheck away from being homeless. And as you said, there may be an array of jobs available but so many of them are just more of the same for the worker. As such it is easy to feel like a slave to a job you hate.

And meanwhile a few oligarchs sit at the top of our wealth-pyramid and rake in huge profits just because they "own" so much that we depend on.