It could have ben EPIC: Upton Sinclair as Governor of California (1934)

[Aznavour]

So, at the beginnings of the 20th century, while Eugene Debs left Union organizing in favor of losing presidential elections and being in jail, American Socialism was best represented by its best actual socialist, muck-cracking journalist and author Upton Sinclair, famous for his hard-hitting exposes about the inhumane conditions in which Capitalism kept the working class, the corruption of Yellow Journalism, the awful conditions in which the meat industry operated, the rise of Henry Ford, you name it. But, for the purposes of this thread, we'll focus on what he did after leaving the Socialists for the Democrats and the famous End Poverty in California campaign, under which he ran for governor in 1934.

Buoyed by the terrible conditions of the Great Depression and the recent election of Franklin Roosevelt to the White House, Sinclair faced stiff opposition from Hollywood, William Randolph Hearst, the big Media, etc., which resorted to an unprecedentedly dirty campaign, in which Sinclair also lacked the support of FDR or the Socialists, which had expelled them. Thus, he lost the 1934 election to Frank Merriam, gaining 37% in part due to the Red Scare fearmongering and votes siphoned off by the Progressive Party, then still a force in California politics.

Not gonna delve into the necessary details for a Sinclair victory, although we presumably don't lack options (Governor Merriam sending the National Guard to shoot up the Longshoremen Strike of 1934? A two competing Republican tickets? Explicit FDR support for Sinclair? No Progressive Party run? I guess the details are less important than asking, what then?

How would the Governorship of Upton Sinclair have gone? Ho much of his program could he have implemented? Would the organized opossition against him have tried to get him impeached or recalled? How would his relation with FDR have been? Would he have been tempted to have a go at the presidency in 1940?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/End_Poverty_in_California_movement

Sinclair laid out his vision for EPIC in his 1933 book I, Governor of California, and How I ended Poverty: A True Story of the Future.Specifically, the plan called for state seizure of idle factories and farm land where the owner had failed to pay property taxes.The government would then hire the unemployed to work on the farms and at the factories. The farms would then operate as self-sufficient, worker-run co-ops. EPIC also called for the implementation of California’s first state income tax.The tax was to be progressive, with the wealthiest being taxed at 30%. The plan would also have increased inheritance taxes and instituted a 4% tax on stock transfers. EPIC also included government-provided pensions for the old, disabled, and widowed. To implement EPIC, Sinclair called for the creation of three new government agencies: the California Authority for Land (CAL), the California Authority for Production (CAP), and the California Authority for Money (CAM). CAL was to implement the plan for seizure and cultivation of unused farm lands. CAP was to do the same for idle factories. CAM meanwhile was to be used to finance CAL and CAP by issuing scrip to workers and issues bonds for the purchase of lands, factories, and machinery.

 

[Mumby]

One unforeseen consequence would be diverting Robert A. Heinlein's OTL writing career. Heinlein was deputy editor of EPIC News, and if Sinclair had won, I think Heinlein would have continued his involvement in politics - and IOTL the failure of his political career led to him taking up science fiction writing to pay off his campaign debts. If he had continued in politics, under the aegis of a left oriented Democratic party, he may also have remained on the left and not transitioned toward the conservative-libertarianism he later espoused.

Something I explore in Chasing Shadows is a successful Sinclair campaign leading to Heinlein continuing his not especially lucrative political career (though he's not yet attained elected office in the story), so his then wife Leslyn can pursue her own professional career as an actress rather than being treated as little more than a support strut for his writing.

 

[OHC]

I don't know a ton about California state politics, but presumably an EPIC California gives Harry Bridges and the longshoremen free rein and a base from which to organize. What could they accomplish if they didn't have to deal with Merriam? ILWU rivaling the Teamsters in the inland freight industry? Earlier Democratic Revolution in Hawai'i?

 

[Uhura's Mazda]

One unforeseen consequence would be diverting Robert A. Heinlein's OTL writing career. Heinlein was deputy editor of EPIC News, and if Sinclair had won, I think Heinlein would have continued his involvement in politics - and IOTL the failure of his political career led to him taking up science fiction writing to pay off his campaign debts. If he had continued in politics, under the aegis of a left oriented Democratic party, he may also have remained on the left and not transitioned toward the conservative-libertarianism he later espoused.

Something I explore in Chasing Shadows is a successful Sinclair campaign leading to Heinlein continuing his not especially lucrative political career (though he's not yet attained elected office in the story), so his then wife Leslyn can pursue her own professional career as an actress rather than being treated as little more than a support strut for his writing.

Obligatory 'this might make Social Credit a thing in America' Mazdapost.

 

[Mumby]

I don't know a ton about California state politics, but presumably an EPIC California gives Harry Bridges and the longshoremen free rein and a base from which to organize. What could they accomplish if they didn't have to deal with Merriam? ILWU rivaling the Teamsters in the inland freight industry? Earlier Democratic Revolution in Hawai'i?

An actual opposition of some kind within the CIO to John L. Lewis?

 

[OHC]

Couple more random thoughts:

- Looking at Culbert Olson's tenure might be a good place to start, since Olson was an EPIC member - a lot of his agenda ended up stalled by conservatives in the state legislature, and presumably the same thing would happen to Sinclair. Whether that would make his governorship a great disappointment, or whether it would energize Californians to vote in left-leaning Democrats on the state level and untie his hands, is up to you.

- Payment of workers in scrip was banned in 1938 by the Fair Labor Standards Act - would there have been an exemption for government employees if it was associated with EPIC rather than with the company store?

 

[Aznavour]

After seeing the Huey Long thread, I wonder if perhaps Sinclair could be recruited to play spoiler in 1936 under the Share our Wealth banner, or if that is perhaps too fanciful a possibility.

 

[Burton K Wheeler]

I don't know enough to comment much about this, but I will say that Sinclair's brand of American-style libertarian socialism is exactly my jam politically speaking and I'd love to see something with this.