Sunday Debs

The politicians and preachers of capitalism are
set up as the shepherds of the flock, the politicians
holding aloft the banner of patriotism and the preachers
arrayed in the livery of religion.

These are the real betrayers of the people, the
hypocrites that Christ denounced and for which he
was crucified; the slimy, oil-tongued deceivers of their
ignorant, trusting followers, who traffic in the slavery
and misery of their fellow-beings that they may tread
the paths of ease and bask in the favors of their masters.

“YEA, THEY ARE GREEDY DOGS, WHICH
CAN NEVER HAVE ENOUGH, AND THEY ARE
SHEPHERDS THAT CANNOT UNDERSTAND;
THEY ALL LOOK TO THEIR OWN WAY, EVERY
ONE FOR HIS GAIN, FROM HIS QUARTER.”
• • • • •

A few days ago one of the most prominent capitalist
preachers in New York City issued a frenzied
appeal from his pulpit for military preparedness. This
particular dog awakened just long enough to bark furiously
at the command of his plutocratic master.
He may not have received his 30 pieces of silver at the
time; the reward of his apostasy comes in gold and
flows into his capacious receptacle that connects with
his master’s bank vault all the year around.

Beware of capitalism’s politicians and preachers!
They are the lineal descendants of the hypocrites of
old who all down the ages have guarded the flock in
the name of patriotism and religion and secured the
choicest provender and the snuggest booths for themselves
by turning the sheep over to the ravages of the
wolves.

-Eugene Debs; The American Socialist, July 1916