On this day in 1918, Canadian socialist and labor activist Albert "Ginger" Goodwin was murdered by police while avoiding his draft into World War I by hiding out in the hills of Cumberland, British Columbia.
Born in Yorkshire, England on May 10th, 1887, Goodwin immigrated to Canada in 1909, at the age of 19, working as a coal miner in Nova Scotia.
In Canada, he organized with the Socialist Party of Canada and became a notable labor leader during the 1912–1914 Coal Miner's Strike against Canadian Collieries. Following the strike, he was blacklisted and was forced to move away from Cumberland to find work.
In 1916, he joined the Mining and Smelter workers Union and was elected as Secretary for the Trail chapter. Following his involvement with trade unions, Goodwin entered politics running as a candidate for the Socialist Party of Canada in the 1916 British Columbian election, although he did not win.
As World War I broke out, Goodwin became an outspoken advocate against the draft, initially refusing to sign up. When conscription became law in 1917, Goodwin was classified as fit for military service even though earlier health concerns had previously rendered him temporarily unfit. By then he had enemies not only in management and the government but also in the union of which he had been president. After twice vainly appealing his reclassification, he and several other draft evaders hid in the bush near Cumberland, where they were provided with supplies by people from the town. Police Constable Dan Campbell tracked Goodwin down and killed him. Campbell was charged with manslaughter but was exonerated before a grand jury, meeting in camera.
Goodwin's friends, both then and in the years since, have pointed out many discrepancies in the official record. On the day of his funeral, August 2, the Trades and Labor and Metal Trades Council of Vancouver called all members out for 24 hours to protest "the shooting of Brother A. Goodwin." The overwhelming response gave BC its first general strike.
"War is simply part of the process of Capitalism. Big financial interests are playing the game. They'll reap the victory, no matter how the war ends."
- Albert Goodwin
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It's kinda funny how Marxists often have the most moderate foreign policy takes. The "moderates" are always chomping at the bit to start WWIII, and a lot of the time we find ourselves being like, "Eh, both sides amirite?" And it seems like it's often been that way in history, like Lenin's take on WWI vs the social democrats rallying around their flags. I told a lib I know earlier that I was sick of listening to his "extremist position on China" and I meant it, I feel like that's a fun angle to catch them off their guard.
i always frame foreign policy stuff like this to my mom and she still says 'you're so extreme when it comes to foreign policy' as if she doesn't think my domestic stuff is extreme for NOT both sides-ing everything.
Even simply understanding other countries' positions is considered extremist in the context of foreign policy. If you even so much as look at what Russian or Chinese media is saying, you're an extremist, regardless of how skeptically you treat it.
yeah. i'll say something like "though obviously he was a brutal dictator who was responsible for the deaths of many innocents, it's not hard to understand why [leader of country x] is/was popular, when you look at what the us has done there and how he says he'll prevent more of that in the future" and my lib relatives will look at me like i just spouted some qanon shit about adrenochrome and how actually joe biden is only still alive because he's drinking the blood of iraqi schoolchildren
Never thought about it like this before but damn if this ain't true asf
liberals don't even realize that their opinions on china could be "extremist" because they get those opinions from capitalist MSM.
That's what makes it so fun to call out. I was just like, "I can acknowledge good and bad things about China, while you can only see the bad. My position is the moderate one."