Analysis: Reason Must Be Substituted for Force
The topic "Analysis: Reason Must Be Substituted for Force" delves into the post-World War II landscape in the United States, where the aftermath of the war prompted significant discussions about the future of labor unions, government regulation, and the economy. As the nation transitioned from a wartime economy, there was a surge in union membership driven by the demand for manufactured goods, which contrasted sharply with the declining appeal of unions in the preceding decades. Key figures, such as Charles E. Wilson, president of General Motors, emphasized the importance of choosing between a regulated economy and a return to free-market principles.
Wilson articulated concerns about the potential for increased government intervention leading to a loss of individual liberties, drawing parallels between government control during the war and the risks of collectivism. He positioned labor unions as tools of aggression that could disrupt the public interest through strikes, advocating for a more reasoned, cooperative approach to labor relations. This perspective suggests a tension between the rights of workers and the need for economic stability, ultimately calling for constructive engagement rather than coercion. The discussion invites reflection on how societies can balance individual rights with collective needs in evolving economic contexts.
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Analysis: Reason Must Be Substituted for Force
Date: October 5, 1945
Author: Charles E. Wilson
Genre: speech
Summary Overview
To defeat the Axis powers in World War II, the United States needed the full cooperation of all its citizens. To bring people together in this way, the federal government established programs that curtailed the traditionally free market and instead imposed regulations on manufacturing industries that produced goods vital to the war effort.
Meanwhile, the organized labor movement, which had seen a decline in popularity from the early twentieth century, boomed during the war. The increased need for manufactured goods and raw materials meant more factory jobs and more opportunities for unions to grow their influence. Union leaders saw a great potential for power and opportunity to define the climate of postwar industry, but corporate leaders had different ideas. In 1945, Charles E. Wilson, president of the automobile manufacturer General Motors, gave a speech, scant weeks after the end of World War II, in which he encouraged industry leaders to reject the alleged aggression, coercion, and Communist influences of unions.
Defining Moment
The US organized labor movement grew significantly during the early part of the twentieth century, but declined in the early 1930s. By 1933, union membership numbered around three million, down from five million about ten years prior. Unions initially struggled to organize workers in rapidly growing mass production industries such as steel, textiles, mining, and automobile manufacturing. But the New Deal and pro-union policies of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's administration paved the way for a resurgence of labor organization. The National Industrial Recovery Act of 1933 authorized collective bargaining, and the National Labor Relations Act of 1935 (or Wagner Act) required employers to bargain in good faith with unions supported by the majority of their employees.
Around the same time, two of the biggest unions in the United States—the American Federation of Labor (AFL) and the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO)—aggressively expanded their membership and influence across the country. The CIO in particular largely focused on organizing unskilled workers and factories in modern industries.
World War II brought significant growth in manufacturing jobs, and a corresponding growth in union membership: by the end of the war, about 14.5 million workers—about 35 percent of the nation's employees—belonged to a union. However, the postwar climate proved to be difficult for the manufacturing industry. The decreased need for goods and raw materials related to the war effort brought significant layoffs, which led to walkouts and strikes across the country in 1945 and 1946. Fearing the power unions held to bring their facilities to a halt, many companies initially gave in to union demands.
On October 5, 1945, Charles E. Wilson, president of General Motors (GM), gave a speech during a luncheon of the Chicago Executives' Club. His speech discussed the direction the United States should take with respect to free markets following the end of World War II. Wilson and GM had a significant stake in how the people, the government, and the labor unions addressed this issue in both the near and long terms. Many of GM's suppliers had been shut down due to union strikes, and at the time of Wilson's speech, a strike vote was about to take place that had the potential to close GM's plants as well. Wilson noted that GM had finally returned to making cars after the government-imposed hiatus to produce goods for the war and its operations were already threatened by union action. America, he said, must decide whether to continue the government control established during the war and pursue a path of socialism, or to return to a free capitalist society.
Author Biography
Charles Erwin Wilson was born in Minerva, Ohio, on July 18, 1890. He graduated from the Carnegie Institute of Technology in 1909 as an electrical engineer and went to work for the Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company. In April 1919, Wilson became chief engineer of the Remy Electric Company, a subsidiary of GM. He was promoted through the ranks of management, and in 1929 was named assistant to the president of GM. By May 1929, Wilson was made a vice president; in 1939, he became the executive vice president.
Wilson was appointed acting president of GM on June 18, 1940, and officially elected as the company's tenth president on January 6, 1941. He managed GM throughout the United States' involvement World War II and oversaw operations as the company shifted from manufacturing automobiles to manufacturing aircraft on orders from the federal government, and back again.
Wilson resigned his presidency at GM to become the US secretary of defense under President Dwight D. Eisenhower in January 1953. He served in that position until October 1957, when he resigned from office and rejoined GM as a director. Wilson remained an active associate of GM and its subsidiaries until his death on September 26, 1961.
Document Analysis
Charles E. Wilson states that World War II ended several weeks prior, but the cleanup of its aftermath has just begun. This effort will require “hard work, patience, understanding and some sacrifice” on everyone's part, and the nation has reached a “fork in the road” where the future must be decided. He observes that during the war, Americans accepted a great deal of government intervention, including higher taxes, the draft, regulation of jobs and manufacturing, rations, and even the “dictatorship” of focusing the entire nation's efforts on winning the war. But as society reorganizes itself for peacetime life, Americans must decide which direction they will pursue. In particular, he asks whether the United States will return to a free market system regulated by competition, or continue to accept increased federal government regulation of business and life.
Wilson concludes that Americans will not be happy as “servants of the State.” Instead, he argues, the government should be the servant of the people. He recalls his childhood experience growing up in Ohio near a Communist settlement called Zoar and describes how that society unraveled after its original leader died and its second-generation leaders could not agree on how to share the community's wealth. Wilson cites this as an example of why Communism cannot work in the United States. He then draws parallels to the recent war, explaining that it was an example of socialism's failure on the national scale.
Based on his experiences, Wilson states that “any form of collectivism or state socialism must lead inevitably to dictatorship and the loss of individual liberty.” He asserts his support for a “liberal western philosophy” based on political freedom, individual rights, and no interference with personal conduct, concepts he sees as in direct opposition to Marxism. Wilson claims the Western system of government is derived from the principles of Christianity, while collectivism curtails religious freedom.
Finally, Wilson directly discusses labor unions, claiming that they are being used “as a tool of aggression to promote industrial strife, rather than to safeguard the rights and equities of workmen.” He asserts that strikes are an unfair form of coercion and go against the public interest, with the potential to disrupt the lives of millions of people through economic warfare. Wilson admits that society can find ways to improve in the face of increased industrialization, but argues that such advances should be achieved with reason rather than force. Unions, too, must decide how to proceed for the future: continue their coercive ways or “take a constructive position in our free competitive society.”
Bibliography and Additional Reading
Dubofsky, Melvyn, & Foster Rhea Dulles. Labor in America: A History. 8th ed. Wheeling: Harlan, 2010. Print.
“Generations of GM History: Wilson, Charles E.” GM Heritage Center. General Motors, 2014. Web. 21 Jan 2015.
Herman, Arthur. Freedom's Forge: How American Business Produced Victory in World War II. New York: Random, 2012. Print.
“Labor Unions during the New Depression and New Deal.” Library of Congress. Lib. of Congress, 2014. Web. 21 Jan 2015.
Wall, Wendy. “Anti-Communism in the 1950s.” Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. Gilder Lehrman Inst. of American History, 2015. Web. 21 Jan 2015.