Pullman Debs

It has been regarded as a patriotic duty for Americans, on the 4th of July, to apostrophize Liberty and to select from the vocabularies of all languages eulogistic words to describe its value and its glory, and when words failed to express those essential attributes of liberty which made life itself an inferior blessing, bonfires have blazed, cannons have belched their thunder, banners have waved, drums have throbbed, and bugle blasts have called the people to assemble and rejoice together over God’s inscrutable decree in bestowing upon Americans blessings denied to all other peoples, kindreds, and tongues since time began. Nor do I doubt that on this anniversary such exhibitions will be repeated, but it will be a hollow mockery. The stage will be gorgeous with scenery for the play of liberty, but liberty will be absent—only its ghost will appear, only its “canonized bones” will be present.
—Eugene V. Debs, “Liberty’s Anniversary,” July 4, 1895

What to Eugene Debs Was the Fourth of July? - Dissent Magazine Few figures on the left have been as committed to realizing the democratic promise of American politics as Eugene Debs.