The Power Sruggle in the Film, Matewan
The film Matewan brings to life the workings of a small West Virginia coal-mining town in the 1920's. Stone Mountain, as the town was called, existed for mining exclusively. Every resident of the town worked for the Stone Mountain Coal Company. The company was the dominant force in the community, acting as a feudal lord. It owned all the land, residential areas and restaurants. In this particular town residents had no other choice than to work for the Coal Company because it had monopoly control over all the resources thus creating a feudal economic system. The miners were forced into a bondage contract with the company, because of the lack of choice they had regarding their employment, which is a fundamental element in a feudal system. The owners of the Stone Mountain Coal Company who profit from the coal generated never actually stepped foot on the Stone Mountain mine land. They had no idea who worked for them and what their situations were. The workers never knew their employer instead the owners sent two representatives to ensure the excavation of the coal happened. The representatives became a third force necessary for the existence of feudal economy in Matewan. They were sent from the company to manage the organization and production of the mine. The representativesÕ primary job was to enforce the rules that the company had established in order to maintain power of the town, mine and essentially the workers. They used threats to induce fear in the miners as a way to stimulate and motivate them to work, because the miners had little significant reason to work besides basic survival.
The Coal Company exploited the workers by underpaying them and restricting their freedom as consumers. The miners were forced to buy their own tools, clothes, food, etc. from the Ôcompany storeÕ many times at higher prices than necessary. This created circulation of money from the company to the laborer back to the company. The miners worked for obvious reasons: to supply themselves and their families with shelter, food and clothing. They relied on company power to supply a means of employment. However, the company in turn relied on the laborers, because without them the company would have no means by which to excavate the coal and continue the production process.
Maintaining feudal conditions through violence and intimidation, the army holds the populace in a constant state of fear. Guaranteeing that the peasants stay ill and in need furthers the necessity that they work to stay alive, but prevents them from doing so. This is the paradox of the poor worker, but one the army does not see. The army blindly kills anyone who tries to help the peasants, murdering all the doctors and priests that enter the villages. They do so to keep the peasants in need and in ignorance, to prevent them from learning another way of life. Lacking knowledge of the outside world ensures that the peasants will remain in the plantations, because fear of the unknown is stronger than fear of the known. Acting as feudal knights, the army forces people into the feudal plantation relationship using fear and intimidation.
In the late nineteenth century, many European immigrants traveled to the United States in search of a better life and good fortune. The unskilled industries of the Eastern United States eagerly employed these men who were willing to work long hours for low wages just to earn their food and board. Among the most heavily recruiting industries were the railroads and the steel mills of Western Pennsylvania. Particularly in the steel mills, the working conditions for these immigrants were very dangerous. Many men lost their lives to these giant steel-making machines. The immigrants suffered the most and also worked the most hours for the least amount of money. Living conditions were also poor, and often these immigrants would barely have enough money and time to do anything but work, eat, and sleep. There was also a continuous struggle between the workers and the owners of the mills, the capitalists. The capitalists were a very small, elite group of rich men who held most of the wealth in their industries. Strikes broke out often, some ending in violence and death. Many workers had no political freedom or even a voice in the company that employed them. However, through all of these hardships, the immigrants continued their struggle for a better life.
It is the worker’s condition that he truly focuses on. Many of the problems that people faced during this time include: tenement housing, poor working conditions, child labor, monopolies of business, social and political inequality, and most importantly people putting profits over lives. It is around the same time that a terrible fire broke out at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory. The unsafe working conditions made the employees escape nearly impossible.
Writer and Director John Sayles movie Matewan, portrays the town of Matewan, West Virginia during their historic struggle out of feudalism in the 1920's. Because a single large company owned everything in Matewan, it was nearly impossible to rise out of the feudal relationship, especially since preaching the ideals of capitalism could easily result in losing all of one's property and material possessions. While feudalism can easily be written off as a economic and social structure of the past, this notion is easily proven false in Matewan; the people of Mingo County had no choice but to follow the orders of The Stone Mountain Coal Company. Hence, when the ideals of capitalism were introduced to the Matewan people by Joe Kinnehan they were stunned and shocked by what he was suggesting. Of course, The Stone Mountain Coal Company were more than shocked, they were outraged and adamant about not letting the workers of Matewan be part of any union.
Conditions included horrible housing, taking women away from their husbands, and punishments including death. Several rules had to be followed. One of these rules was that the workers had to buy all supplies from one store. “In this store we were charged all sorts of high prices for goods, because every year we would come out in debt to out employer” (25). Ending the year in debt meant owing the contract holder something. Since they had no money, they were forced to pay with their hard labor.
When a group of people must adapt to a lifestyle distinct from the agricultural lifestyle one would not know what to expect. Like a nation that is just starting, it would take time to construct and enhance laws; it’s a trial and error process. These businesses were starting out and there were no regulations as to how to run them. Unquestionably, there were no laws imposed to aid the labor conditions of these employees like we know today. The testimony and interview proved that the 1800’s took advantage of the work of children, often depriving them of food. It was obvious most children stuck around due to the urgency of money, therefore I am sure employees threatened to replace them seeing how the money was needed for families. For those who worked in factories with heavy, dangerous machinery, they were prone to accidents or even death. According to the sub-commissioner, the young girls picked the coal “with the regular pick used by men” . It is typically easier for a grown man to lift a regular pick than it is for a young girl because of the physical development and obvious age difference. Still there weren’t any regulations to protect children against the harms of labor and their wages were unreasonably
As the citizens of Matewan attempt to break free of their feudal chains, they are not only attempting to change their economic situation, but also their current social state as well. Rebelling against the all-powerful Stone Mountain Coal Company, the workers are fighting against a socially and culturally accepted norm- a feudal economic system professed as "right" and "just" by their oppressor. The clash between the company and the striking, pro-union workers is but one historical conflict that attempted to bring about positive social change. As the miners struggle to break free from thier economic oppression and form a union, they push forward a preferred economic state of capitalism.
The period in American history between 1900 and 1920 was a very turbulent one. Civil unrest was brewing as a result of many pressures placed upon the working class. Although wealth was accumulating at an astonishing rate in America, most people at the lower economic levels were not benefiting from any of it. Worst of all for them, the federal government seemed to be on the side of the corporations. Their helpless situation and limited options is why the coal strike of 1902 is so important.
The variables that affect performance can be mostly classified into three major domains: motor active, affective, and cognitive. Some variables are internal, while others are external. The externalities, or outside factors that affect a performance, vary from situation to situation; nonetheless, they need to be dealt with in some way, so that the show can go on. The motor active domain is the one that is involved with the physical aspect of a performance; in tennis that refers to practicing all the shots that exist; synchronizing the bending of knees with having the right angle for a swing and hitting the ball a certain way (e.g: with topspin, flat, slice); as well as doing conditioning exercises to increase physical strength and endurance. The affective domain is the one involved with the emotional, mental, and spiritual aspect of a performance. In tennis, the way a player prepares himself in those areas depends solely on his style. I usually use self-talk and tell myself that I’m going to play great and going to have fun; I also take my mind off of tennis completely by doing something productive like homework for example so that I don’t think too much about the match to exhaust my mind, but I’m also doing something that requires my mind to focus on one thing. In fact, I’m writing this paper right now when I have a match in 5 hours. The cognitive domain is the one involved with the neurobiological aspect of a performance, or the changes that occur in the body as a result of the other variables. In order to deal with this domain, the player needs to deal with the variable that causes the change in the body. For example, if in a match I start feeling very tense and start sweating from being nervous, I might find out that instead of using positive self-talk, I was letting my mind worry about the people that are watching me rather than stay focused on playing. Biochemically, my brain is sending signals to cells that prompt them to make me feel tense and nervous. In order to reverse that, I’d have to convince myself that there is no real reason for feeling nervous and that there is no point in worrying about whoever is watching me. It’s all about perception in the end.
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Child Labor caused many problems and the breaker boys strike had a big affect on the end of child Labor. Child Labor was a horrible thing and cause kids to be very uneducated and most kids would end up being severely sick or even dying. Parents would force their children into child labor because they needed more money. This caused many problems and struggles and needed to be stopped. The breaker boys worked in coal mines with a big risk of dying, they could not live like this anymore so they put a stop to this.
The issue of wearing school uniforms has been subject to debate over a number of years. It is important to note that initially, the concept of students wearing school uniforms was not widely embraced. Initially, the concept of wearing school uniforms was mainly practiced in private schools and public schools begun to apply the concept as recently as 1994 (Chen, “Public School Uniforms: The Pros and Cons for Your Child”). This move was mainly implemented to address safety issues that have been affecting academic institutions. However, there are still different schools of thought that have reservations when it comes to the issue of wearing school uniforms. This boils down to the question of whether school uniforms are beneficial or they have
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