The American Jewish Socialist movement arose with the mass immigration of Eastern European Jews after 1880. It took decades for the Socialists to gain widespread support within the immigrant community, but by the 1910s they had built a mass movement with a number of large and influential institutions and growing electoral success.
By that time, the Socialist Jewish Daily Forward was the most widely read Yiddish daily in the world; the Workmen's Circle, a Jewish labor fraternal order under Socialist leadership enrolled tens of thousands of members; and Socialists headed the bourgeoning needle-trades unions. Beginning in 1914, the Socialist Party scored a series of political victories in Jewish districts in New York, electing Meyer London to Congress and a number of members to the city and state legislatures. The Socialists continued to have a number of differing attitudes toward the Jewish Question. Impressed by the kibbutzim and other Socialist projects in Palestine, some of the old cosmopolitan radicals softened their opposition to expressions of Jewish nationalism. In doing so, they drew closer to the Labor Zionists, who favored a synthesis of Socialism and Jewish nationalism. On the other hand, many Socialists who had been members of the anti-Zionist Jewish Labor Bund in Russia and Poland before coming to the United States continued to oppose Zionism as both utopian and chauvinistic, promoting instead a secular Jewish identity and acceptance of life in the Diaspora. The Great Depression of the 1930s seemed to the Socialists to confirm all of their predictions concerning the injustice and irrationality of capitalism. Ironically, it also brought many of them closer to the American political mainstream. President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal--especially its enactment of old-age pensions and unemployment insurance--seemed to some to represent the fulfillment of long- standing Socialist demands. The New Deal's pro-labor stance also helped the ILGWU and other unions reach new heights of membership and influence. Impressed, the more moderate wing of the Socialist Party (the "Old Guard") supported Roosevelt and other New Dealers without joining the Democratic Party, which they viewed as corrupt and racist. The Old Guard found its greatest support within the Jewish Socialist institutions of New York--the Forward, the Workmen's Circle, and the garment unions. In 1936, these Jewish Socialists helped form the new American Labor Party (ALP), which maintained an independent existence in New York while backing progressive politicians such as Roosevelt, Governor Hebert Lehman, and Mayor Fiorello La Guardia. In the wake of World War II a variety of factors combined to severely weaken the various factions of the Jewish left. American Jews experienced rapid social mobility, moving solidly into the middle and upper-middle class. Explicitly working-class politics were less attractive to them. On Nov 19, 9:01 am, Travis <[email protected]> wrote: > ** > Hardnox posted: " Have a nice day. ~ Hardnox" Respond to this post > by replying above this line > New post on *Fellowship of the Minds* > <http://fellowshipofminds.wordpress.com/author/hardnox1/> The 47% > Explained<http://fellowshipofminds.wordpress.com/2012/11/19/the-47-explained/> > by > Hardnox <http://fellowshipofminds.wordpress.com/author/hardnox1/> > > <http://fellowshipofminds.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/voters2.jpg> > > <http://fellowshipofminds.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/freeshit.jpg> > > <http://fellowshipofminds.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/voter.jpg> > > Have a nice day. > > ~ Hardnox > *Hardnox <http://fellowshipofminds.wordpress.com/author/hardnox1/>* | > November 19, 2012 at 4:00 am | Categories: 2012 > Election<http://fellowshipofminds.wordpress.com/?cat=4934384>, > Humor <http://fellowshipofminds.wordpress.com/?cat=376>, > Liberals/Democrats/Left<http://fellowshipofminds.wordpress.com/?cat=115894710>, > Welfare <http://fellowshipofminds.wordpress.com/?cat=35261655> | > URL:http://wp.me/pKuKY-iAG > > Comment<http://fellowshipofminds.wordpress.com/2012/11/19/the-47-explained/#r...> > See all > comments<http://fellowshipofminds.wordpress.com/2012/11/19/the-47-explained/#c...> > > Unsubscribe or change your email settings at Manage > Subscriptions<https://subscribe.wordpress.com/?key=80d8873ee52adffe4e178d01c25562cf...>. > > *Trouble clicking?* Copy and paste this URL into your > browser:http://fellowshipofminds.wordpress.com/2012/11/19/the-47-explained/ > Thanks for flying with WordPress.com <http://wordpress.com> -- Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more.
