Inspired from youth by Albert Camus' sense of the Absurd, I try to be a voice for REASON in the growing darkness and moral insanity of global capitalism .
Thursday, April 30, 2026
Famous Providence , Rhode Island horror write H.P. Lovecraft became very critical of capitalism during the Great Depression years ( he died in 1937 ) [ GOOGLE AI result ]
[Where does famous horror writer H.P. Lovecraft criticize capitalism during the time of the Great Depression ? ] H.P. Lovecraft’s most explicit criticisms of capitalism appeared in his voluminous personal letters and political essays during the 1930s. Spurred by the economic devastation of the Great Depression, Lovecraft underwent a "radical political evolution," transitioning from a traditionalist conservative to a supporter of moderate socialism and Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal.Key Essays on Economics"Some Repetitions on the Times" (1933): Lovecraft argues that "laissez-faire capitalism is dead" and advocates for government control over the distribution of resources to prevent societal collapse."A Layman Looks at the Government": In this essay, he pushes for the socialization of large-scale industry and finance to relieve mass unemployment."The Journal and the New Deal": An unpublished piece where he defends government intervention as a necessary survival mechanism for civilization.Correspondence and LettersLetter to Catherine L. Moore (1937): Written in the final year of his life, Lovecraft describes capitalism as a "crazy orgy" of "legalised" corruption.View on Profit: He critiqued the "irrational surplus called profit," claiming it forced "artificial scarcity" and "starvation wages" to maintain the system."Socialism or Barbarism": Echoing famous socialist slogans, he warned that the only options left for the West were socialism or a "military & emotional fascism" used by the plutocracy to cling to power.💡 Key Takeaway: Lovecraft came to believe that high culture—which he valued above all else—could not survive under the "unbalanced" materialism of capitalism and would be better preserved through a social-democratic state.To explore how these views impacted his stories, would you like to see symbolic examples of economic decay in his fiction (like The Shadow over Innsmouth)?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment
Comments that are courteous, concise and relevant are always welcome, whether or not they agree with the views expressed here or not. Profanity is not necessary. Thank you for reading “Time Enough At Last!”
Ron