Jack London 2 - The Iron Heel And Other Stories Book

I had never read any of Jack London's works before. Now that I've read this one, I'm very tempted to read some more. This is exactly the kind of thorough examination, with perfectly viable examples, of why capitalism does not work. The characters and their stories are made up, but they are mirror images of so many people in our world today. Given that this book was first published in 1908, I first thought it was amazing how accurately London portrays all parties in the capitalist game of today. As I consider it though, it seems that he is simply telling the story that has played out time and again - the inevitable corruption of power in a capitalist society.

As I read the novel, I couldn't help wishing that the average Westerner would read it as well - especially those who seem to think that capitalism "gives them the freedom to be successful if they're willing to work hard." Unfortunately, hard work has much less to do with success than does luck of being born into a family of influence. Sadly, the average Westerner is so brainwashed into thinking that capitalism is working for them, they are completely unwilling to even consider other alternatives. This book presents the true driving force of capitalism and how it suppresses the common sense of the masses in order to sustain itself. It shows, with examples, why so-called "conspiracy theories" are not implausible (as capitalists would have us believe), but inevitable and necessary to keep a capitalist system from collapsing. This is the book that inspired Orwell's 1984, and sadly most of the governments of our time.

As a side-note, this book is in the public domain and is available as an eBook (several formats) on Project Gutenberg. Therefore, there are no excuses for not reading it!