William "Big Bill" Haywood, born on this day in 1869, was a founding member of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) and a member of the executive committee of the Socialist Party of America. During the first two decades of the 20th century, Haywood was involved in several important labor battles, including the Colorado Labor Wars, the Lawrence Textile Strike, and other textile strikes in Massachusetts and New Jersey.

Haywood was an advocate of industrial unionism, a labor philosophy that favors organizing all workers in an industry under one union, regardless of the specific trade or skill level. He believed that workers of all ethnicities should be united, and favored direct action over political action.

Haywood was renowned for leading strikes in times of crisis. When martial law was declared during the Lawrence Textile Strike, Haywood traveled to the strike and implemented many innovative tactics to help the workers involved. One such ploy was to conspicuously send the hungry children of striking workers to host families in other states, garnering good press for the working families.

In 1917, Big Bill Haywood was arrested for espionage, along with 164 other members of the IWW. He was convicted, and, while temporarily released from prison due to an appeal, fled to the Soviet Union, where he served as labor advisor to Vladimir Lenin and spent the rest of life.

"The mine owners did not find the gold, they did not mine the gold, they did not mill the gold, but by some weird alchemy all the gold belonged to them!"

  • Big Bill Haywood

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  • LoudMuffin [he/him]
    ·
    3 years ago

    I never grew out of shyness :sadness:

    spoiler

    why can't I figure out how to play this shitty game called life

    • CommieElon [he/him]
      ·
      3 years ago

      I feel you and I’m still fairly shy and definitely prefer my alone time. I came out of my shell this year. Practice makes perfect, just put yourself into uncomfortable situations and you’ll eventually learn how to socialize.

    • Dimmer06 [he/him,comrade/them]
      ·
      3 years ago

      As the other person said, fake it til you make it, and here's how you fake it:

      1. Make and maintain eye contact, smile (appropriately) and don't smell bad (I'm not assuming you do but its an easy way to get pushed away)
      2. Speak loudly and clearly.
      3. Practice small talk. Easiest way to start is just to smile and say "good morning" to the people you interact with regularly. Remember and say their name. The standard small talk formula is

      Greeting-> how are you today-> make a comment on an ongoing situation that is relevant to that person or ask them a question that you know they have an answer to (my go-to with coworkers is to discuss the work they're doing that day)

      1. The weather is a boring subject but easy to talk about and it can lead to other subjects. Don't fear weather discussions but don't lead with them.
      2. If the person you're talking to isn't engaging (short answers, not maintaining eye contact, that sort of thing) it's okay. Maybe they're busy or they're shy too. Just find a way to disengage (I gotta run, have a good day!) and go about your business.
      3. Work your relationship up to actual conversations. If you're a total stranger, people probably won't want to talk with you. If you've said "hello" to someone every day you have seen them for two weeks, it means you've expressed interest in them and they'll be more inclined to talk

      It helps if you do this every day. Also try to be in a situation where you can regularly interact with the same group of people (work, school. etc.) Listen to gossip but don't gossip. Use what you hear to ask questions about things people might be willing to talk about (hobbies, beliefs, work, school). You'll quickly find a lot of people are talkers and you'll learn to ask the right questions that make them talk a lot and you can just actively listen for the most part.