HISTORY Revolution in Seattle, by Harvey O'Connor, 1981, 300 pp., $7.50, from: Left Bank Books Box B, 92 Pike Street Seattle, WA 98101 I Change Worlds, by Anna Louise Strong, 1981, 430 pp., $7.95, from: Madrona Publishers, Inc. 2116 Western Ave. Seattle, WA 98121 In the current political climate, veteran activists may find the temptation to reminisce too great to resist. How providential, then, that these two volumes have recently been reprinted for the first time since 1963. Both books cover a watershed period in the history of socialism-the first thirty-five years of the 20th century. In America it was a time when labor radicalism came of age, matured, and quietly passed away. That cycle was especially pronounced in Seattle and is poignantly chronicled by veteran socialist Harvey O'Connor in Revolution in Seattle. The title is a bit misleading·. The Seattle "revolution" of 1919 was actually a five-day general strike intended by the 60,000 workers who took part (a large majority of the Seattle labor force) as a show of strength. It was certainly that. Not only did all the Seattle unions join together in an amazing display of solidarity, they also assumed much of the burden of running the local economy. For five days labor ran the city: labor decided what businesses would continue to function, labor distributed milk for the children, labor delivered all the essential services. It was a glorious experiment in management by the workers. So why did it end so soon? Because labor leaders were unsure of what they were trying to accomplish and with no goal in mind there was little point in continuing the strike. Revolution in Seattle covers more than just the strike itself. It begins by tracing the origins of Northwest radicalism and explores its early battles, including the struggles of the IWW to organize the woods, the free speech fights., and the Everett massacre. Later chapters deal.with the awesome post-war reaction that crushed whatever revolutionary spark may have existed in American labor. The chapter on the Centralia, Washington massacre of IWW members is truly frightening. For radical readers this will likely be a sad book for it demonstrates all too clearly how tame the American left has become since the days when labor ruled a city. On the other hand, it may be just the thing to rouse some ACCESS people out of their Reagan-induced blues. For another perspective on the Seattle strike, from one who reported on it, readers can turn to I Change Worlds, the autobiography of Anna Louise Strong. Born into an upper-class family, Strong studied philosophy at the University of Chicago, and became a respected school board member in Seattle. At the time of the strike in 1919 she was a reporter on Seattle's Union Daily . Later she would spend 15 years in the Soviet Union and would travel to Poland, Spain and China to witness revolutionary upheavals there. First published in 1935, her autobiography is thus several stories in one; it is a story of a successful woman in a man's world, of a journalist, of a world traveler, and of a socialist. But most of all, it is the story of one person's reaction to a wodd - -- WIND ----- "Wind Power: A Turning Point," by Christopher Flavin, Worldwatch Paper #45, July 1981, $2.00 from: Worldwatch Institute 1776 Massachusetts Ave., N.W. Washington, DC 20036 "Wind energy is a rapidly expanding field -with far more immediate potential than inost people realize," says Christopher Flavin. The Worldwatch researcher predicts that if the recent trend toward impressive technical achievement continues, wind may be in for a period of rapid development. Together with expanded hydropower facilities, wind could supply more than half of the world's additional requirements for electricity over the next two decades. Mechanical wind pumps hold the promise of improving the lives of millions of people in developing countries by supplying water for desperately needed irriAugust/September 1981 RAIN Page 11 caught up in the throes of change. Only two chapters of the book deal with the Seattle labor movement but they cover it well, providing precisely that which the O'Connor book lacks-a clear analysis of why the strike happened and why it was ineffectual. Most of the book is taken up by her years in the Soviet Union, where she was uniquely well-situated to observe the early years of the revolution with all of their confusion, turmoil and struggle. "I had the incredible good fortune," wrote Strong, "to be born in an epoch when the whole earth is tortured by the pangs of birth." Historians of social change are fortunate to have her recorded observations of that world. -SMA gation projects. But if this bright scenario is to be realized, Flavin cautions, important institutional constraints will have to be overcome. Insufficient capital has slowed wind research in many regions and some utilities still seem troubled by the "threat" of competition from wind turbine owners. The spread of wind pumps in the Third World has been hampered by lack of official support and by the failure of some development programs to sufficiently emphasize locally-appropriate designs and indigenous production. Flavin sees the support provided by na- •.· tional governments in stich·areas as .technical, •.research and tax incentives .as the crucial starter's gun need.ed·fo trigger wind's widespread use, and he notes that the potential for wind is such that even a modest boost from governments over the next several years might be enough to yield "a vibrant and self-sufficient industry. 11 With the current American administration clearly in mind, Flavin warns that to discontinue such support now "would be like stopping work on a major bridge when it is only a few meters short of completion." -JF
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