Capitalism the Play
Wow never before could I have thought that a person could make me loathe and despise history but, of all people, my history prof for this semster has. As part of the class we have to have online discussions about the books that we have read and to try and meaningfully respond to each other's works. With our latest book I finally got fed up with the anti-capitalist sentiment of both the book and the class in general so I decided to write the following play about it.
[Curtains open on a pristine prarie in the Great Plains]
{enter Greedy, selfish, useless Capitalist opressor of the masses with the virtuous,
selfless, compassionate environmentalist friend of the masses}
Environmentalist: Ahh what a lovely ecologically sound place, so full of beauty and life
lets simply bask in the beauty of nature!
Capitalist: I see an opportunity here, I can invest what money I have into a track of rail
to open up this land to farmers who will use this rich soil to grow crops which they will
sell to me so I can sell it to the people in the cities and in Europe and make lots of
money! I can make a fortune out here, but first I need to hire some help.
E: Bah! You would exploit this land for something as greedy and selfish as a profit?!
Nature is too precious to allow to be exploited by your selfish motives! You'll destroy the
habitats of the animals here and your railroad will destroy this land's natural beauty! But
enough talk I have to go back home, time for a long month long journey back, why can't
there be a faster way to travel? [close curtain]
[curtain opens on the docks of a city, penniless immigrants line the docks looking for
work]
{Enter Greedy, selfish, useless Capitalist opressor of the masses}
C:Listen up I'm willing to hire ten score sturdy men to help me build a railroad out West
I'm willing to pay $10.00 a day and your traveling expenses to the construction site, who-
[Greedy, selfish, useless Capitalist opressor of the masses is shouted down by scores of
men begging him to pick them, some in broken English, others in a gabbering of their
native tounge]
[close curtain]
[open curtain on a railroad station with grain silos and loading shoots]
{Enter Greedy, selfish, useless Capitalist opressor of the masses and virtuous, selfless,
compassionate environmentalist friend of the masses}
E: What is this?! You have destroyed the natural beauty of this land, you have caused
irrevocable environmental damage! Your short sighted uneducated selfish greedy desire
to make a profit will doom future generations to starvation and destitution! You care
nothing for nature or the people you're hurting with your selfish exploitation of nature
and the working man! You must tear down this edifice of opression!
C: This railroad has employed hundreds who were starving on the docks and my desire
to make a profit has given them an opportunity that they never had where they came
from. My railroad is saving thousands from starvation by transporting grain from brand
new farms in the American West to the people in the cities and in Europe. If I listen to
you and close down my railroad my going out of business will kill off all the local farmers
in this region and then there won't be any grain being sold to the people in the East.
E: But you're exploiting the land and causing environmental damage! You're exploiting
the working class and making them your wage-slaves!
C: Damn right I'm exploiting the land, its my land I will manage it however I like. Who
are you to be so arrogant and dictatorial as to say how a man should manage his own
property and how he makes a living? And exploiting these men? These men are
working for me on their own free will they want to work for my railroad because its the
best job they can get around these parts. And how can you say that my railroad is
creating slaves when half the trains that I run every day go and carry food to the Union
soldiers fighting the slave owning Confederacy, and with the other half going to the
factories making the guns to equip that army?
E: You are just to greedy and selfish to realize the affects your uneducated desire to
make a profit does to nature and the working man. I'm going on the next train to
Washington to demand a law that will force you greedy capitalists to stop exploiting the
land and the people!
C: Sigh*
[Close Curtain, strike the set]
Written and directed by Eric Anton of TANSTAAFL Productions copyright 2006
Suprisingly the response I got from it was incredibly positive, even if only two people posted:
Author: Henry Meldrum (hmeldrum)
Date: Tuesday, March 14, 2006 10:24pm
Most definitely the best and most accurate response to date. I agree entirely with the
premise of the skit, and Eric does a wonderful job narrowing down the main themes of
the second part of Steinberg's "Down To Earth". Narrowing down the main goals of both
capitalists and environmentalists is simple, however, going in depth to discover what
really caused the American economy of the 19th and 20th centuries to take a drastic turn
into the direction of capitalism is a bit tougher. Environmentalism during the mid-19th
century could have had a profoundly negative effect on the country had our ancestors
decided to listen to the environmentalist. Eric points out the fact that on the east coast at
this point in time (mid-19th to early-20th century) immigration rates were accumulating
at incredibly fast rates causing the Melting Pot scenario, carrying alongside with them
poverty, hunger, and a constant itch to put their woes behind them and live out the
American Dream. Alongside the immigration woes, the idea of property which we've
seen everywhere throughout the course arose as well. Whether or not capitalists took
advantage of the American environment and the lower-class wage-working population
remains debatable, at least to me. What doesn't appear to remain a debate is the fact
that capitalistic ventures into the West most defintely provided a strong back bone for the
unemployed to get their feet on the ground; Unfortunately at WHATEVER cost necessary.
Remember this is 1850 and the local 7-11 isn't hiring for the midnight shift, so any job
available is a job worth dying for, or at least moving cross-country. Capitalists worked to
ignite the economy and further progress the country in any way possible. By doing so
men like the Capitalist in Eric's skit provided millions with various benefits. The rich got
richer, but the poor were definitely not suffering as a result. Had the capitalist listened to
his environmentaly concerned friend America would be in a much different state
obviously. Debatable it is as to whether or not the country would've retained the power
we hold today, it is the capitalists, not the environmentalists that preserved the 19th and
20th century way of American life, no matter how much money they reserved for
themselves as a result.
Author: Dominique Damico (ddamico)
Date: Tuesday, March 14, 2006 11:44pm
I found Eric's response to be very unique and interesting. I thought he was very
accurate in how he described the capitalist and environmentalist. He also added an
interesting element when he said that “ this railroad has employed hundreds who were
starving on the docks..” He shows another side of capitalist that shows that they may be
concerned a little bit for helping out others, not only profiting for themselves. Though it
is obvious that self profit is their main objective and he did make it clear how selfish
capitalist are in gaining economic benefits, he also showed another aspect. However, I
would have thought it would have been even more interesting if Eric would have used
specific examples from the reading to make his points more meaningful. Eric talked a lot
about the railroads so maybe he could have added something about the farmers since
the railroad system allowed farmers to become more commercialized. Eric says that
capitalist are exploiting the land and care nothing for nature. Giving a specific example of
the destruction of forest due to the new industrial approach to lumber or how the
passenger pigeon were such a nuisance to farmers that they killed many of them off are
some specific points made in the book. Eric’s idea was very creative and appealing to
read but giving specific example from the book, in my opinion would have made it more
fascinating.
[Curtains open on a pristine prarie in the Great Plains]
{enter Greedy, selfish, useless Capitalist opressor of the masses with the virtuous,
selfless, compassionate environmentalist friend of the masses}
Environmentalist: Ahh what a lovely ecologically sound place, so full of beauty and life
lets simply bask in the beauty of nature!
Capitalist: I see an opportunity here, I can invest what money I have into a track of rail
to open up this land to farmers who will use this rich soil to grow crops which they will
sell to me so I can sell it to the people in the cities and in Europe and make lots of
money! I can make a fortune out here, but first I need to hire some help.
E: Bah! You would exploit this land for something as greedy and selfish as a profit?!
Nature is too precious to allow to be exploited by your selfish motives! You'll destroy the
habitats of the animals here and your railroad will destroy this land's natural beauty! But
enough talk I have to go back home, time for a long month long journey back, why can't
there be a faster way to travel? [close curtain]
[curtain opens on the docks of a city, penniless immigrants line the docks looking for
work]
{Enter Greedy, selfish, useless Capitalist opressor of the masses}
C:Listen up I'm willing to hire ten score sturdy men to help me build a railroad out West
I'm willing to pay $10.00 a day and your traveling expenses to the construction site, who-
[Greedy, selfish, useless Capitalist opressor of the masses is shouted down by scores of
men begging him to pick them, some in broken English, others in a gabbering of their
native tounge]
[close curtain]
[open curtain on a railroad station with grain silos and loading shoots]
{Enter Greedy, selfish, useless Capitalist opressor of the masses and virtuous, selfless,
compassionate environmentalist friend of the masses}
E: What is this?! You have destroyed the natural beauty of this land, you have caused
irrevocable environmental damage! Your short sighted uneducated selfish greedy desire
to make a profit will doom future generations to starvation and destitution! You care
nothing for nature or the people you're hurting with your selfish exploitation of nature
and the working man! You must tear down this edifice of opression!
C: This railroad has employed hundreds who were starving on the docks and my desire
to make a profit has given them an opportunity that they never had where they came
from. My railroad is saving thousands from starvation by transporting grain from brand
new farms in the American West to the people in the cities and in Europe. If I listen to
you and close down my railroad my going out of business will kill off all the local farmers
in this region and then there won't be any grain being sold to the people in the East.
E: But you're exploiting the land and causing environmental damage! You're exploiting
the working class and making them your wage-slaves!
C: Damn right I'm exploiting the land, its my land I will manage it however I like. Who
are you to be so arrogant and dictatorial as to say how a man should manage his own
property and how he makes a living? And exploiting these men? These men are
working for me on their own free will they want to work for my railroad because its the
best job they can get around these parts. And how can you say that my railroad is
creating slaves when half the trains that I run every day go and carry food to the Union
soldiers fighting the slave owning Confederacy, and with the other half going to the
factories making the guns to equip that army?
E: You are just to greedy and selfish to realize the affects your uneducated desire to
make a profit does to nature and the working man. I'm going on the next train to
Washington to demand a law that will force you greedy capitalists to stop exploiting the
land and the people!
C: Sigh*
[Close Curtain, strike the set]
Written and directed by Eric Anton of TANSTAAFL Productions copyright 2006
Suprisingly the response I got from it was incredibly positive, even if only two people posted:
Author: Henry Meldrum (hmeldrum)
Date: Tuesday, March 14, 2006 10:24pm
Most definitely the best and most accurate response to date. I agree entirely with the
premise of the skit, and Eric does a wonderful job narrowing down the main themes of
the second part of Steinberg's "Down To Earth". Narrowing down the main goals of both
capitalists and environmentalists is simple, however, going in depth to discover what
really caused the American economy of the 19th and 20th centuries to take a drastic turn
into the direction of capitalism is a bit tougher. Environmentalism during the mid-19th
century could have had a profoundly negative effect on the country had our ancestors
decided to listen to the environmentalist. Eric points out the fact that on the east coast at
this point in time (mid-19th to early-20th century) immigration rates were accumulating
at incredibly fast rates causing the Melting Pot scenario, carrying alongside with them
poverty, hunger, and a constant itch to put their woes behind them and live out the
American Dream. Alongside the immigration woes, the idea of property which we've
seen everywhere throughout the course arose as well. Whether or not capitalists took
advantage of the American environment and the lower-class wage-working population
remains debatable, at least to me. What doesn't appear to remain a debate is the fact
that capitalistic ventures into the West most defintely provided a strong back bone for the
unemployed to get their feet on the ground; Unfortunately at WHATEVER cost necessary.
Remember this is 1850 and the local 7-11 isn't hiring for the midnight shift, so any job
available is a job worth dying for, or at least moving cross-country. Capitalists worked to
ignite the economy and further progress the country in any way possible. By doing so
men like the Capitalist in Eric's skit provided millions with various benefits. The rich got
richer, but the poor were definitely not suffering as a result. Had the capitalist listened to
his environmentaly concerned friend America would be in a much different state
obviously. Debatable it is as to whether or not the country would've retained the power
we hold today, it is the capitalists, not the environmentalists that preserved the 19th and
20th century way of American life, no matter how much money they reserved for
themselves as a result.
Author: Dominique Damico (ddamico)
Date: Tuesday, March 14, 2006 11:44pm
I found Eric's response to be very unique and interesting. I thought he was very
accurate in how he described the capitalist and environmentalist. He also added an
interesting element when he said that “ this railroad has employed hundreds who were
starving on the docks..” He shows another side of capitalist that shows that they may be
concerned a little bit for helping out others, not only profiting for themselves. Though it
is obvious that self profit is their main objective and he did make it clear how selfish
capitalist are in gaining economic benefits, he also showed another aspect. However, I
would have thought it would have been even more interesting if Eric would have used
specific examples from the reading to make his points more meaningful. Eric talked a lot
about the railroads so maybe he could have added something about the farmers since
the railroad system allowed farmers to become more commercialized. Eric says that
capitalist are exploiting the land and care nothing for nature. Giving a specific example of
the destruction of forest due to the new industrial approach to lumber or how the
passenger pigeon were such a nuisance to farmers that they killed many of them off are
some specific points made in the book. Eric’s idea was very creative and appealing to
read but giving specific example from the book, in my opinion would have made it more
fascinating.