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Antiwork

I would make “The ragged trousered philanthropists” mandatory reading in school, regarding the teaching of worker’s rights.

We've all heard the news of book bannings sweeping the United states. With books that examine Black history, gay rights, and US history (including the labor movement) being the primary targets. Which got me thinking, what books would I place on a mandatory reading list. The ragged trousered philanthropists is a book by Robert Tressel. It follows the lives of several hard worn working stiffs in Edwardian England, most of them painters. The primary pov, is a self-insert for Mr. Tressel. A moderately educated man, struggling to get his colleagues to realize and care about the unscrupulous manner in which they are all being exploited by the wealthy (often referred to as “those who perform no useful work”). It examines the cruel sleight of hand by which men are made to think of being offered work as something generous performed by their charitable employers. Ignorant of the fact that these…


We've all heard the news of book bannings sweeping the United states. With books that examine Black history, gay rights, and US history (including the labor movement) being the primary targets. Which got me thinking, what books would I place on a mandatory reading list.

The ragged trousered philanthropists is a book by Robert Tressel. It follows the lives of several hard worn working stiffs in Edwardian England, most of them painters. The primary pov, is a self-insert for Mr. Tressel. A moderately educated man, struggling to get his colleagues to realize and care about the unscrupulous manner in which they are all being exploited by the wealthy (often referred to as “those who perform no useful work”).

It examines the cruel sleight of hand by which men are made to think of being offered work as something generous performed by their charitable employers. Ignorant of the fact that these same employers sweat them (what they use to call crunch back then) to a point of finishing all the available work ahead of schedule. Leaving the workers in dire straits as they've been driven to finish all the work available for the season early, while being paid a flat hourly rate; meaning they must stretch their meager dollars across the work slump until things are busy again.

Hell, the novel even illustrates the manner in which that era's version of a Rent-A-Center will deliberately target the poor, knowing they will never keep up with the rental payments.

It helped me phrase the sentiments I share with the rest of this sub in a more verbose manner, and I would certainly recommend it to anyone here.

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