Inequality In Upton Sinclair's The Jungle

Inequality among humans has been and always will be a problem in the world. Large sums of people are extremely wealthy, live in mansions, drive multiple cars, and will never have a financial worry. Even larger sums of people are stuck working like slaves each day, and all they have to show for it is a cement box and if lucky a few personal belongings. A great example of these two life realities is the existence and operation of sweatshops. Huge companies like Wal-Mart, Nike, Apple and many others makes tons of money in the United States, while people in third world countries are doing their dirty work for around a dollar a day! It is apparent after reading “The Jungle” by Upton Sinclair that sweatshops have been an issue and huge struggle for

many people for quite some time. This novel does an excellent job of helping the audience relate to an unjust not only working, but also life situation that a lot of Americans have a hard time understanding in 2015.
Upton Sinclair had a purpose and motive when writing “The Jungle”; he hoped to make a change in the nation.

He wanted to make a point and prove to people around the U.S. the reality of the working conditions immigrants were placed in. A little while after this novel had been open to the public, Upton Sinclair was quoted saying, “I aimed at the public’s heart and by accident I hit it in the stomach.” In a simplified breakdown of this quote, Sinclair meant that he wanted to help meatpacking workers, not to improve the quality of meat. The focus was meant to be on the working conditions, not the quality of the product. He incorporated many views and opinions into the text that was hoping to nudge the public toward a socialistic society. The hope for redistribution of wealth in the United States was extremely apparent. All the things Jurgis went through in his life really related back to the fact that he worked his butt off and was still very poor and underappreciated. After all the very difficult things Jurgis overcame, he finally found some hope and purpose combining some of his beliefs with that of the Socialist Party. Sinclair was so determined before drafting this novel that he took a trip to Chicago to get a firsthand visual of what was really going on and how the industry worked behind the scenes (Schlosser, ”I Aimed For The Public’s Heart….”). It is obvious that this trip really influenced his writing and made the novel that much more important to him. Unfortunately for

Sinclair, the public was completely outraged and focused on the unsanitary meat that the political aspect relating to working conditions was forgotten.
The Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 was more or less essential for the United States. It is crazy to think that a novel had such an impact on the passage of such important laws. This all started with the very descriptive and powerful language Sinclair used in his writing. His details were so vivid and consistent it was as if he were writing with a strong sense of anger. There are two examples of this in chapter 9 that really stuck in my head. The first example is when the cattle were fed something called “whiskey-malt”; this was the refuse of the nearby breweries. The other example was when a Lithuanian man that worked with Marija, canned only the old, crippled, and diseased cattle. These two examples alone are enough to make people cause havoc. As the nation continued to go crazy, the attention of the Republican Pro Business President Theodore Roosevelt was drawn. Interesting enough, Roosevelt himself loved reading books from socialists like Upton Sinclair (Schlosser). Along with the voice of the nation, Theodore had his own worries after reading the book, but needed actual proof before making any big decisions. The president was already uncertain about the meat industry after being appalled by some of the meat that was sent to troops in Cuba (Schlosser). Therefore, he sent two of his trusted advisors to Chicago, the setting of “The Jungle”, to confirm something needed to be done. After being in Chicago, the two men were quoted saying, “we saw meat shoveled from filthy wooden floors, piled on tables rarely washed” (Schlosser). They also claimed they saw workers urinating right on the floor near areas of meat. Teddy Roosevelt shortly after passed not only the Pure Food and Drug Act, but also The Meat Inspection Act. The federal government now ensures the responsibility of food safety.
The meat industry in the United States absolutely needs to and has always needed to be regulated. I will start with the reasons why I believe it was essential in the early 1900s. There are a couple obvious reasons that people today are likely outraged by; thirteen year olds commonly worked in factories, there was no worker compensation, and rat poop was found in sausages (Shafer, ‘Conditions in…..”). Other proof that there needed to be regulation is the feedback I relayed earlier from the trusted advisors. How in the world were people allowed to urinate on the floor where production took place, not even thinking about washing their hands? The meat industry was so poorly regulated and ran in the 1900s that it became the defining legacy of a book that wasn’t even focused on this issue. Thankfully, employment laws have evolved over time and fixed some of these issues. Since the early 20th century the meat industry has improved and made many changes, but there is still a need for constant regulation. To begin with, meat consumption in the United States has doubled in the last century ("Health & Environmental Implications of U.S. Meat Consumption & Production”). There are thirteen slaughterhouses that process the majority of the beef in this nation. If one of these slaughterhouses is diseased or there is a safety concern, this could cause a problem not only nationwide, but worldwide. Almost all meat, dairy, and egg products come from industrial food animal production (IFAP), a facility where all animals are kept. There are numerous public health problems that IFAP face; feed additives, antibiotic resistance, worker health, animal welfare, novel influenza, animal waste, foodborne illness and many others. Shockingly enough, these facilities also damage the environment. The wastes from the animals spill out in some way into the land, air and water. The most alarming part of the current meat industry is the fact that is it causing continuous global warming. The antibiotics fed to the animals cause a threat when they make their way into the environment. On top of the issue that these facilities release large amounts of greenhouse gases, some being dirtier than the most polluted cities in America (Brooks, “Stanford Woods…”). The need for regulation is apparent using a current example of one of the most popular restaurants in the U.S., Chipotle’s E Coli problem.
The United States is lucky enough to terminate the existence of sweatshops, but that is not nearly true around the world. A situation I was not very familiar with in Bangladesh really opened my eyes to what is happening in other countries. It was devastating to listen to the radio clip about the tragedy on April 24, 2013. I would have never guessed that just over two years ago a building collapsed killing 1,000 people that were more or less being treated as slaves. As expressed in the radio interview, people were afraid to even enter the building because of all the cracks. It is impossible to understand why anyone would have to work in such an environment making dirt money while the people they are working for are making millions barely doing anything. The existence of Nike sweatshops in Indonesia goes hand in hand with what is happening in Bangladesh. Like Jim Keady told us after spending a month in these peoples’ shoes, “it is impossible to maintain personal dignity on $1.25 per day”. Nike not only abuses these workers, but they pollute their air without even considering whom it may affect. The most disturbing part of the Nike operations is when Mr. Keady confronts Phil Knight. It is obvious that billionaire Mr. Knight knows exactly what is going on and how people are being treated and he doesn’t have a care in the world.
The way things are currently taking place; it is very unethical to export American jobs to third world countries.

The way operations are happening certain business owners are completely taking advantage of people that would do anything to make money just to support their family, while owners sit back and become rich. It is obvious that these people need work and financial help, so to make the process ethical the hard workers in sweatshops should make a reasonable and fair wage. There is no reason the top people in a company should have too much money to know what to do with it while the people that are killing themselves manufacturing the products all day live the way they have been for years. There is no such thing as a “good business” if the manufactures are not even paid a living wage. Within a business, it would be hard to argue that the people in a factory-working sunrise to sunset do not have the most demanding task. As bad as people need money in third world countries in 2015, a solution to sweatshops and people being tremendously under paid may be impossible. After putting some thought into this issue, the only possible solution I came up with that may reduce this unjust reality is the hope that future business owners care just as much about their workers’ lives as they do about their own. Like I stated earlier, there is no reason for an owner to have five different houses in five different places, while thousands of people doing the work for them share a cement

bathroom with ten other families.
It is well known that laws normally come after certain detrimental situations that people never want to see or hear about again. The best example I found of a book that influenced the passage of legislation in America was called “Uncle Tom’s Cabin.” This was the best selling book of the 19th century that helped bring a stop to slavery (“Impact of Uncle Tom’s Cabin…”). There are a number of crises throughout history that have initiated legislation in this nation. A very important example is when the race relations of the 20th century that led to the Civil Rights Act. This equality still gives people opportunities that would have never been possible without legislation. There are many different purposes of legislation; all depending on what change needs to be made. Laws are meant to govern our conduct, protects right and freedom, give effect to social policies, institute fairness, ensure justice, etc.
The world as a whole is way too big and complicated to expect complete equality. Unfortunately, it is very difficult to imagine a time when certain people of power will not take advantage of inferiors. Our hope is that in the future there is more legislation against situations of inequality and injustice, making the world a better and more peaceful place for all human beings.