Music Monday ~ Remembering Paul Robeson

Paul Robeson, born this day, 9 April, in 1898, was one of the greats, a true supporter of the workers of the whole world, including the Welsh and Scottish miners of the UK, with whom he felt deep connection.

Happy Birthday Paul Robeson! Yes, the struggles go on!

Brilliant and multi-gifted, Paul Robeson gained prominence as athlete, lawyer, concert singer, actor, and social activist. Born to an African-American minister and his wife in Princeton, New Jersey. Robeson's mother died when he was just 6 years old. The family underwent difficult economic times when their father resigned from his ministry position because of pressure by the white financial supporters of the church. After nine years of low paying work, Robeson Snr. accepted appointment to the parsonage of another church. Paul attended New Jersey schools, and by high school had proven himself an outstanding student and athlete. He won a four-year scholarship to Rutgers, despite efforts by the high school principal to prevent him from taking the qualifying exam.

Because he was excluded from living at the Rutgers dormitory, Robeson lived with a black family during his college years. His athletic talent earned him a place on the school’s football team, where he had to overcome physical assaults by teammates in attempts to keep him off the team. When the team travelled, he roomed with the coach, rather than members of the team. By the end of his college years, he attained 14 varsity letters in football, basketball, baseball, discus, shotput and javelin. He also excelled in other college activities, becoming a prize-winning debater, and a glee club member. Robeson’s academic achievements culminated in his nomination and acceptance into the Phi Beta Kappa Society and Rutgers’ honor society, Cap and Skull. At graduation, his classmates selected him as class valedictorian. In his valedictorian address, he called upon his classmates to work for equality for all Americans.

After graduating from Rutgers, Robeson entered Columbia University Law School, supporting himself by working as a professional football player, a job as a postal worker, positions in athletic coaching, and acting jobs. Although he attained his law degree, Robeson pursued a career as a performer because the law firm where he was hired barred his representation of clients.

Paul starred in several theater performances, and rose to prominence in the Harlem Renaissance movement. With his powerful baritone voice, he transitioned from acting to concert vocalist, opening in solo concerts by the mid-1920s.

Making his home base in London, he associated with many followers of socialist thought, including George Bernard Shaw. He toured the United States and Europe extensively as a concert performer.

When World War II began, he returned to the United States, with a commitment to overcoming fascism. Despite his political statements, Robeson remained a popular performer. However, after the war ended and the red-baiting McCarthy era evolved, Robeson became target of various government probes. He announced in 1947 that he would retire from his career as a concert performer to devote his time to overcoming racism and fascism.

During the 1950s and 1960s, Paul Robeson continued his political activities, which were intensively scrutinized by the U.S. government. FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover declared him a national security threat, and Robeson’s passport was cancelled. This caused international protest. He regained his right to travel eight years later. He returned to Europe, and made journeys to the Soviet Union and Africa. After extensive travels, he expressed interest in returning to the United States to join the Civil Rights Movement.

Paul Robeson died in January 1976, he left a legacy as an extraordinarily gifted actor, singer, and political activist.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Robeson
http://astrologyspeaks.blogspot.com/2012/03/


Here's a rendition by Paul that I'd not heard before - "Mood Indigo" music composed by Duke Ellington and Barney Bigard with lyrics by Irving Mills.



And...his tribute to the Welsh miners

Radically Speaking

Re-airing an archived post from 2010, with corrections and additions to birth data used in my original post.

Socialism. In the USA nowadays this word ranks alongside colonoscopy as something citizens would least like to experience. The fact is though, socialism is nothing more than an attempt to re-balance a system which has become too heavily weighted on one side - the side of the powerful and wealthy. If a system remains in just balance there's never a need for socialism or any similar isms. Just as colonoscopy can, in the right circumstances, be A Good Thing, so can socialism.

John Reed, Abbie Hoffman, Saul Alinsky, Emma Goldman have all been featured in this blog in the past (relevant posts can be found by clicking on "socialism" in the Label Cloud in the sidebar) they embraced socialism as an ideal. They, surely, were influenced by the writings of an earlier group of radicals originating in Germany: Moses Hess, Friedrich Engels and Karl Marx.The driving force behind all these radically minded individuals was a wish to correct imbalance and injustices heaped upon ordinary working people by the ruling and wealthy classes - whether these were in the form of royalty, dictators, land owners, wealthy capitalist employers or religious leaders.

In the 19th century, as the industrial revolution got underway, there was much injustice and imbalance around! Of course, there had been just as much of it before then. As far back as history has been written, the ordinary man in the street or man in the field has been treated badly by those "above him". Serfdom in mediaeval times in Britain and Europe was much the same as African-American slavery in effect. As centuries trundled on, philosophy and radical thought began to trickle down......

Moses Hess, the eldest of today's featured trio to some extent influenced both Engels and Marx. He was born in Bonn on 21 January 1812, to Jewish Orthodox parents, soon drawn to philosophy and particularly philosophical socialism. Hess played a prominent role in transforming Hegelian theory by conceiving of man as the initiator of history rather than as a mere observer. He was reluctant to base all human destiny on economic causes and class struggle, and he came to see the struggle of races, or nationalities, as the prime factor of past history. He was responsible for converting Engels to Communism, and he introduced Marx to social and economic problems.

Friedrich Engels (on right in photograph) was born on 28 November 1820 in Barmen (now Wuppertal), Germany. His father had interests in textile mills in England. Already active in radical causes when he met Karl Marx in 1842, Engels was soon influenced by this man who he saw as a more original thinker than himself.

During the 1840s Engels spent a period working as a manager at one of his father's mills in the north of England. Shocked by the conditions working people were forced to live in, he wrote his first prominent work, "The Condition of the Working Class in England" published in 1844. For anyone who has no knowledge of working class life in 19th century Britain, there's an extract from Engel's writing on the Dante-esque scenes of Old Manchester at this website. In 1847 Marx was asked to write a document proclaiming the principles of communism; Engels collaborated and helped write the now famous Communist Manifesto. In 1850 Engels returned to England to run the factory of which he was now part owner. During this time he also provided assistance to the then poverty stricken Karl Marx who had been driven from Brussels for his revolutionary activity.

Karl Marx (on left in photograph above) was born to Jewish parents in Trier, Germany, on 5 May 1818. He studied law and at some point was introduced to the writings of G.W.F Hegel. Marx was especially impressed by Hegel's theory that a thing or thought could not be separated from its opposite. For example, the slave could not exist without the master, and vice versa. Hegel argued that unity would eventually be achieved by the equalizing of all opposites, by means of the dialectic (logical progression) of thesis, antithesis and synthesis. This was Hegel's theory of the evolving process of history.

Marx met Moses Hess, a radical who called himself a socialist, and began attending socialist meetings organized by Hess. Members of the group told Marx of the sufferings being endured by the German working-class and explained how they believed that only socialism could bring this to an end. Marx had become a close friend of Friedrich Engels, who had just finished writing a book about the lives of the industrial workers in England. Engels shared Marx's views on capitalism and after their first meeting Engels wrote that there was virtually "complete agreement in all theoretical fields". Marx and Engels decided to work together. It was a good partnership, whereas Marx was at his best when dealing with difficult abstract concepts, Engels had the ability to write for a mass audience.

A look at the natal charts of these three German radicals. Maybe there'll be an interesting link between them. Birth data for all 3 (now updated/corrected) taken from Astrodatabank. Times of birth may or may not have been rounded up, for all are "on the hour".

Moses Hess born 21 January 1812 in Bonn, Germany at 5.00 pm.

Friedrich Engels born 28 November 1820 in Barmen (now Wuppertal), Germany, at 9.00 pm.

Karl Marx born 5 May 1818 in Trier, Germany, at 2.00 am.

The planet most astrologers would expect to see prominent in such charts as these is Uranus - the rebel, the avant garde, the anti-status quo planet, and/or its sign of rulership, Aquarius. The two younger men were born with Uranus conjunct Neptune, as were all of their generation (illusion, delusion, creativity) in Sagittarius - sign of the philosopher. In the case of Hess, his Sun was (just) in Aquarius, with Uranus in Scorpio, in harmonious trine to Mars and Pluto.

In Engel's case, as well as being conjunct Neptune, Uranus is also conjunct two peronal planets: Mercury (communication "to a mass audience") and Mars (drive & energy)and in the same expansive Sagittarian cluster as natal Sun (self).

Part of the reason Engels and Marx got on so well is likely reflected in the placements of their natal Moons : in Virgo for Engels, in trine to Karl Marx's Moon/Sun in Taurus.

If the time of birth for Karl Marx is accurate, then Aquarius rising defines him. His ascendant degree is in harmonious sextile to Uranus, Aquarius's modern ruler. Taurus Sun conjunct Moon is something of a surprise - but what it does signify is a determined and stubborn nature. Mercury, next door in its home sign of Gemini would lighten and loosen things quite a lot, at least in his communication style, while still retaining an inner entrenched position.

Many other chart factors could be taken as significant individually, but here I'm mainly interested to discover whether any link exists between the three charts.

Arty Farty Friday ~ John French Sloan, Socialist of the Ashcan School

Around the time Uranus moved from Sagittarius to Capricorn in late 1904/early 1905 and formed an opposition to Neptune in the early degrees of Cancer, a new atmosphere was arising. Writers, journalists and artists opened their eyes to what was going on in the real world, the injustices, the strivings of ordinary people. The Muckrakers (see archived post HERE), including novelists such as Upton Sinclair heard "the call" and responded.

John French Sloan, Self portrait

John French Sloan was one of a group of New York painters, hailing from Philadephia, who also heard the same "call" and decided to give American art something of a makeover. They'd seen too many scenes depicting mythological and biblical tales, too much stodgy moralising in paint. Their aim was to depict real Americans doing real, everyday things. Critics labelled these painters with a then somewhat derogatory term, "The Ashcan School". Sloan was one of the most politically minded of this group, and demonstrated this very clearly in his secondary style of artwork: sketches for radical magazines such as The Masses.

I think the most telling piece of all in his natal chart is Venus (planet of the arts) in helpful sextile to Uranus (planet of rebellion/revolution).

 12 noon chart - click to enlarge

Sloan was born on in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania on 2 August 1871. He studied art in Philadelphia, worked as an illustrator there, and moved to New York in 1904, after he married. The couple made their home in Bohemian Greenwich Village. Many of his paintings reflect the way life was for ordinary New York folk. Vintage photographs from that era can tell us something of those times, but most are studio portraits; Sloan and his peers left us, in their paintings, some little slices of informal everyday life in the early years of 20th century.

This under 3 minute video shows just a few of Sloan's paintings. More can be seen via Google Image.

 Hat-tip HERE

In 1912 Sloan assumed the position of art editor of The Masses, a magazine with strongly socialist leanings, addressing working-class issues.

 From HERE

Around the start of World War I Sloan became disillusioned with the ability of the Socialist party to make a real difference in workers' lives. He withdrew from the Socialist party, reduced his magazine input, and ceased working for The Masses completely in 1916, following a dispute regarding the magazine's art and political content. He was always a strong supporter of women's suffrage and contributed drawings to feminist magazines, Woman Voter and Woman's Journal.

John Sloan’s drawing of a coal miner’s suicidal vengeance after the murders of his wife and children has become an icon of American labor history. It is an enduring memorial to the twenty individuals—thirteen of them women and children—who were shot at or burned to death when Colorado National Guardsmen fired upon an undefended union tent colony on April 20, 1914, in what was quickly dubbed the Ludlow Massacre. This watershed event dramatized the abuse of unregulated authority by industrialists and their agents and won widespread national support for the cause of the miners.(HERE)

 John D. Rockefeller with blood on his hands.  Workingmen’s fists try to break down the door behind him.  Bible with his initials is on the floor at his feet. (See here)

 "In Memoriam". "Here is the real triangle"  relates to  Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire in 1911 (Here)

 N.A.M. =  National Association of Manufacturers

Besides funding pro-fascists groups like the Silver Shirts, corporate America sponsored several other groups that maintained a speck of respectability. One such organization that figured prominently in spreading the propaganda was the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM). The first president of NAM was Samuel Bush, father of Prescott and grandfather of George H. W. Bush [great grandfather of George W. Bush]. Such organizations as NAM would serve as bridge groups between the rich corporate owners and the public.
MORE HERE.

 "Positively disgusting! It's an outrage to public decency to allow such exposure on the streets"

 Puzzle: Find a way to vote without helping the Dough Dough Class.

See HERE (click on image to clarify.)

The following two drawings are Sloan's illustrations for Mary Alden Hopkins,"Women March," in Collier's magazine, May 18, 1912.

 Hooray, hooray for Mother!

Socialism Pamphlet from 1910 Echoes in 2014.

I had prepared this post just before I tumbled into the anti-bio-driven underworld. On re-surfacing, looking it over again, I reckon its content fits in even better now:

Tidying my desk of accumulated bits and bobs I found an old pamphlet bought on one of our trips years ago for, according to the ticket, $4. I'd placed it in a pile of "pending" papers to feature in a future post - then forgot about it.
The pamphlet, titled Should Socialism be Crushed? was

published in Chicago by the National Socialist Party, around 1910. A bit of light research indicates that its author was Robert Hunter (here's his Wikipedia page). Hunter was a prominent figure in socialist circles in the USA in the early 1900s, during part of what has become known as the "Robber Baron Era".

"Hunter ran for political office twice on the socialist ticket, first for a seat in the New York State Assembly, and next as a candidate for United States Senator for the State of Connecticut; both campaigns ended in defeat. After the outbreak of the First World War a rift in the socialist movement led to Hunter’s resignation, along with those of a number of other high-profile members, including London and Sinclair. Years later, Hunter would support Republican Wendell Willkie over President Franklin D. Roosevelt during the 1940 presidential campaign." (Wiki)

What a turncoat! Anyway, reading through the aged and frail 31 page pamphlet, it was the final paragraphs which struck a chord or rang a bell. With a few amendments some lines might have been written last week, especially those I have highlighted.

 Back cover of pamphlet. Click to enlarge image.

After discussion of the workers' situation in Europe and Britain:

When they organised trade unions and fought they got at least something. And remember this when the workers of America organise a political union and vote and fight for themselves they will be victorious.

Now brothers, do you think these accomplishments of the Socialists of Europe should be condemned as anarchy, and free love? Do you think any labor men are working in your interest when they fight with Belmont, Low and Carnegie [capitalists of the time] to stamp out Socialism and to disrupt a political movement of the workers?

In fact can you see anything wrong with socialism? Can you honestly oppose political party unity and the political organization of the workers?

Do you wish to fight a workingmen's party, financed by ourselves and administered by ourselves?

Republicans will fight these views because they need our votes to keep them in power. Democrats will fight these views for the same reason. Both those parties are owned, controlled and financed by the very men who own, control and finance the Manufacturers' Association and the Civic Federation. They are the men who come pretty near owning this country and they intend to prevent the growth of organizations hostile to them. They believe this country was made and developed by capitalists to be forever owned and controlled by capitalists.

To preserve their trusts and monopolies organized to rob and exploit the people, they have been forced to buy legislatures and courts. To preserve their political machines they will, if necessary, spend millions to fight a workingmen's party. To convince the people that Socialism is a monstrous doctrine advocated by vicious, immoral agitators, they will even try to buy labor leaders and labor editors. They used to fight Trade Unionism that way. They will fight every new doctrine for welfare of the people in the same way. Belmont and his crowd are simply fighting to maintain THEIR POWER, just as the slave owners of the South fought to maintain their power or the Czar of Russia fights to maintain his power.

Typing the pamphlet's title into Google search box brought up this, from New York Times of June 22 1910:

A SOCIALIST PAMPHLET. "Should Socialism Be Crushed" Makes Strange Use of Statistics,
by F.G.R. GORDON.
(This brief abstract is all that's available without subscription).

To the Editor of The New York Times: The Socialist politicians are up to their old tricks of trying to fool the people, and have now issued through the National Executive Committee of the Socialist Party a pamphlet named "Should Socialism Be Crushed?"

What else can I say? There's this: plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.

"You say socialism like it's a bad thing!"

Today a post from the archives gets another airing:


Socialism. In the USA this word ranks alongside colonoscopy as something citizens would least like to experience. The fact is though, socialism is nothing more than an attempt to re-balance a system which has become too heavily weighted on one side - the side of the powerful and wealthy, against the interests of ordinary people. If a system remains in just balance there's never a need for socialism or any similar -isms. Just as colonoscopy can, in the right circumstances, be A Good Thing, so can socialism.

John Reed, Abbie Hoffman, Saul Alinsky, Emma Goldman have been featured in posts on this blog in the past, under a heading "US Radicals" who embraced socialism as an ideal. They, surely, were influenced by the writings of an earlier group of radicals originating in Germany: Moses Hess, Friedrich Engels and Karl Marx.The driving force behind all these radically minded individuals was a wish to correct imbalance and injustices heaped upon ordinary working people by the ruling and wealthy classes - whether these were in the form of royalty, dictators, land owners, wealthy capitalist employers or religious leaders.

In the 19th century, as the industrial revolution got underway, there was much injustice and imbalance around. But then, as far back as history can take us, the ordinary man in the street or man in the field has been treated badly by those who liked to assume they were "above him". Serfdom in mediaeval Britain and Europe was much the same as African-American slavery in effect. As centuries trundled on, philosophy and radical thought began to trickle down......




Moses Hess, the eldest of today's featured trio to some extent influenced both Engels and Marx. He was born in Bonn on 21 June 1812, to Jewish Orthodox parents, soon drawn to philosophy and particularly philosophical socialism. Hess played a prominent role in transforming Hegelian theory by conceiving of man as the initiator of history rather than as a mere observer. He was reluctant to base all human destiny on economic causes and class struggle, and he came to see the struggle of races, or nationalities, as the prime factor of past history. He was responsible for converting Engels to Communism, and he introduced Marx to social and economic problems.








Friedrich Engels was born on 28 November 1820 in Barmen (now Wuppertal), Germany. His father had interests in textile mills in England. Already active in radical causes when he met Karl Marx in 1842, Engels was soon influenced by this man who he saw as a more original thinker than himself.

During the 1840s Engels spent a period working as a manager at one of his father's mills in the north of England. Shocked by the conditions working people were forced to live in, he wrote his first prominent work, "The Condition of the Working Class in England" published in 1844. For anyone who has no knowledge of working class life in 19th century Britain, there's an extract from Engel's writing on the Dante-esque scenes of Old Manchester at this website. In 1847 Marx was asked to write a document proclaiming the principles of communism; Engels collaborated and helped write the now famous Communist Manifesto. In 1850 Engels returned to England to run the factory of which he was now part owner. During this time he also provided assistance to the then poverty stricken Karl Marx who had been driven from Brussels for his revolutionary activity.




Karl Marx was born to Jewish parents in Trier, Germany, on 5 May 1818. He studied law and at some point was introduced to the writings of G.W.F Hegel. Marx was especially impressed by Hegel's theory that a thing or thought could not be separated from its opposite. For example, the slave could not exist without the master, and vice versa. Hegel argued that unity would eventually be achieved by the equalizing of all opposites, by means of the dialectic (logical progression) of thesis, antithesis and synthesis. This was Hegel's theory of the evolving process of history.

Marx met Moses Hess, a radical who called himself a socialist, and began attending socialist meetings organized by Hess. Members of the group told Marx of the sufferings being endured by the German working-class and explained how they believed that only socialism could bring this to an end. Marx had become a close friend of Friedrich Engels, who had just finished writing a book about the lives of the industrial workers in England. Engels shared Marx's views on capitalism and after their first meeting Engels wrote that there was virtually "complete agreement in all theoretical fields". Marx and Engels decided to work together. It was a good partnership, whereas Marx was at his best when dealing with difficult abstract concepts, Engels had the ability to write for a mass audience.

A look at the natal charts of the three featured German radicals. Maybe there'll be an interesting link between them.

Marx is the only one for whom Astrodatabank offers a time of birth, so the other two charts are set for 12 noon.








The planet most astrologers would expect to see prominent in such charts as these is Uranus - the rebel, the avant garde, the anti-status quo planet. The two younger men were born with Uranus conjunct Neptune (illusion, delusion, creativity) in Sagittarius - the sign of the philosopher. In the case of Hess, Uranus was in Scorpio, but would have been conjunct his natal Moon (inner self), either tightly or loosely, whatever his time of birth.

In Engel's case, as well as being conjunct Neptune, Uranus is also conjunct Mercury (communication "to a mass audience") and Mars (drive & energy)and in the same expansive Sagittarian cluster as his natal Sun (self).

Part of the reason Engels and Marx got on so well has to be the placements of their natal Moons : somewhere in Virgo for Engels - more likely than not in trine with Marx's Moon/Sun in Taurus. Even if not in close trine, their common Earthy Moon would be a significantly compatible link.

If the time of birth for Karl Marx is accurate, it puts Uranus close to mid-heaven. Aquarius rising defines what we know of him, and the ascendant degree is in harmonious sextile to Uranus, Aquarius's modern ruler. Taurus Sun conjunct Moon is something of a surprise - but what it does signify is a determined and stubborn nature, though Mercury nextdoor in its home sign of Gemini could lighten and loosen this quite a lot - at least in his communication style, while still retaining an inner entrenched position.

Lots of other chart factors could be taken as significant individually, but Uranus does seem to be an obvious link here.

A Presidential Run for Senator Bernie Sanders?

Senator Bernie Sanders has said that if no other populist candidate enters the 2016 presidential race, he will be prepared to do so. It is essential, he said, to have someone in the 2016 presidential campaign who is willing to take on Wall Street, address the “collapse” of the middle class, tackle the spread of poverty and fiercely oppose cuts to Social Security and Medicare. (See Burlington Fee Press HERE and numerous pieces reporting on this in all the usual places.)

The above came along with news at the weekend that Kshama Sawant, who ran unsuccessfully for the Washington State House of Representatives, won a seat on the Seattle City Council, making her the first socialist to win a city-wide election in Seattle since the radical progressive Anna Louise Strong was elected to the School Board in 1916. (See here).

Warms the heart somewhat! While the chances of our seeing a President Sanders, should he decide to run, are slim in the extreme, what his candidacy would do is widen the conversation. As Ralph Nader said during an interview at In These Times

"You may not win, but you send a message that is very discomforting. First, Democratic politicians hate primaries. It disrupts their routine—their weekends. Second, they’re always afraid some dirt will come out and a lucky star will hit a primary challenger........"

Time to re-post scribbles of mine about Senator Bernie Sanders, combining posts from 2008 and 2010 :


Senator Bernie Sanders took a stand on 10 December 2010. It's time someone did so. Our President appears to have forgotten what the people elected him to do.

In a speech lasting over 8 hours Senator Sanders (Independent-Socialist) from Vermont, made good on his threat to present a kind of "filibuster" against President Barack Obama’s deal with Republicans to extend the Bush Tax Cuts in exchange for an extension on unemployment benefits.

Senator Sanders began as follows, full transcript of the speech is at his website, linked at the top of this post. Some highlights are shown in a video HERE.

Mr. President, there is a war going on in this country, and I am not referring to the war in Iraq or the war in Afghanistan, I am talking about a war being waged by some of the wealthiest and most powerful people in this country against the working families of the United States of America, against the disappearing and shrinking middle class in our country. The reality is that many of the nation’s billionaires are on the war path. They want more, more, more. Their greed has no end and apparently there is very little concern for our country or for the people of this country if it gets in the way of the accumulation of more and more wealth and more and more power....................
(And later) How can I get by on one house? I need five houses, ten houses! I need three jet planes to take me all over the world! Sorry, American people. We've got the money, we've got the power, we've got the lobbyists here and on Wall Street. Tough luck. That's the world, get used to it. Rich get richer. Middle class shrinks

The voice of Senator Sanders is a voice in the wilderness - but it is at least one voice, and from what I've read in articles and comments since Friday he has a lot of appreciative supporters.

Why then, does the very word "socialist" strike fear and loathing into the hearts of so many in the USA? Bernie Sanders presented what are broad socialist ideals in his speech. President Obama, ridiculously labelled "socialist" by some Republicans is so far from matching that label that it'd be funny, if it were not so serious for the majority of the ordinary people of America. And don't forget, "the ordinary people" are the majority, they ARE America.
Update: Yesterday the Senate moved the Bill forward. Only 8 voted against it, including Senator Sanders, of course. Perhaps the House of Representatives will offer more opposition.

What follows comes from a post of mine written in 2008, after Senator Sanders had appeared on the TV show Real Time with Bill Maher.

Socialism. The very word strikes fear in the hearts of too many Americans. However, if a politician is shrewd enough to call it Populism - then it sneaks in by the back door. Bernie Sanders is too straightford a character to mince his words in order to pander to his public.

Socialism. It's impossible to define it in a few words. Researching the internet on the subject only serves to confuse a simple mind like mine. In the smallest of nutshells, and slightly tongue-in-cheek, the "2 Cows Philosophy" defines it thus:

A SOCIALIST:
You have two cows. The government takes one and gives it to your neighbor.
A REPUBLICAN:
You have two cows. Your neighbor has none. So what?

Interestingly, the same list also defines:

A CHRISTIAN: You have two cows. You keep one and give one to your neighbor.

Compare "A Socialist" with "A Christian". It's odd, isn't it, that in a country so proud of its Christian values, socialism is derided and feared ?

Throughout the show (Real Time) Bernie Sanders' responses elicited enthusiastic cheers from the audience. Granted, it was a largely liberal audience, but the fact that a socialist's words were accepted by them so graciously was a baby step forward. In the United States socialism is more often than not equated with communism. It's a serious mistake which has been fed to the public by right-wing pundits.

A quick look at the natal chart of Bernie Sanders then. Perhaps he has the astrological patterning to make a brand of socialism palatable to Americans.

Is there some reflection of his political leanings here? Aquarius planets perhaps, or strong Uranus - both have connections with socialist thinking. Born 8 September 1941, New York NY. No birth time known, so this is a chart set for noon on his date of birth. Ascending sign and exact degree of Moon in Aries not shown.



Hmmmm....no Aquarius (unless it was the rising sign, which we can't know without a birth time). His Sun lay smack-dab in the middle of Virgo indicating a discerning and critical nature, one that can separate the wheat from the chaff with consummate ease.

Mercury (mental processes and communication) is found in an early degree of the more tactful and diplomatic Libra, and trines Uranus at 00 Gemini - here's that socialist rebel mindset of his! And.... Saturn is conjunct Uranus, albeit in a very late degree of adjacent sign, Taurus.

Saturn and Uranus are opposites in essence. Tradition versus the avant garde, the old versus the new, status quo versus change, capitalist versus socialist. Bernie Sanders has them well-blended in his personality blueprint!

The signs the two planets occupy, Gemini and Taurus, could also be said to represent opposite ideas - free thinking, adaptable (Gemini) and the more traditional fixed mind-set (Taurus). He has an innate understanding of traditional values, but with a yearning to modernise and improve them to fit 21st century needs, and the unusual talent of being able to communicate on both levels. These characteristics have helped him to make his brand of socialism acceptable in Vermont, one of the first 13 states, steeped in tradition, yet willing to step into the 21st century with Senator Sanders.

A glance at the ephemeris for November 2016 tells that Uranus will be transiting Aries close to his natal Moon and Mars at that time; Jupiter in Libra will be heading towards his natal Venus. Uranus is planet of unexpected change, Jupiter transits usually signify something beneficial. If he decides not to run because another populist/progressive candidate does so, then it might indicate that a new, national, position would open up for him then.

A Fine Subject for Speculation

Cannonfire had a thought-provoking post up yesterday:
Cancer conspiracy speculation: It goes way beyond Hugo Chavez. We'll never know for sure how much that is now pure speculation was indeed fact, skillfully hidden. It would be amazing if all the named South American leaders afflicted by cancer were in fact murdered: assassinated in slow motion. A list:


Lula - Former President of Brazil; Dilma - Current president of Brazil; Cristina Kirchner - Argentina's current president; Nestor Kirchner - Former president of Argentina; Hugo Chavez - Venezuela's President; Evo Morales - Bolivian socialist leader; Fernando Lugo - the Paraguayan President; Ollanta Humala - President of Peru.

"If the world were good for nothing else, it is a fine subject for speculation." (William Hazlitt).

Assassination is usually envisaged as carried out via gun shot(s), but that method has obvious drawbacks. Its immediacy makes it more than likely that the shooter will be identified and apprehended. There's always the chance that the shot(s) will miss target, but still result in capture of the gunman. Technological progress must surely, by now, have afforded would-be assassins more sophisticated and insidious ways of attaining their objective. It's not at all in the realm of sci-fi or dystopia that a direct method of inducing cancer in a targeted individual has been developed. It'd be nigh on impossible to track down the guilty party, or to pinpoint the cause, especially in the case of an otherwise healthy and vibrant non-smoker.

Thinking on this brought to mind a non-shooting assassination case in London, in 1978. The assassinated was Georgi Markov a Bulgarian dissident writer. (From Wikipedia)

Markov originally worked as a novelist and playwright in his native country, then governed by a communist regime under Chairman Todor Zhivkov, until his defection from Bulgaria in 1969. After relocating to the West, he worked as a broadcaster and journalist for the BBC World Service, the US-funded Radio Free Europe, and Germany's Deutsche Welle. Markov used such forums to conduct a campaign of sarcastic criticism against the incumbent Bulgarian regime. As a result of this, it has been speculated that the Bulgarian government may have decided to silence him, and may have asked the KGB for help. He died as a result of an incident on a London street when a micro-engineered pellet containing ricin was fired into his leg via an umbrella wielded by someone associated with the Bulgarian secret police.

(Photograph: Fernando Llano/AP)

"Socialist Mind".....?

On a blog a few weeks ago, I rather unwisely stuck my oar into a thread about gun control. Someone commented that "Twilight has a socialist mind"....it was not meant as a compliment!

What is a socialist mind? Depends who you ask, and who is doing the labelling. Everyone has their own idea about socialism. Labelling, however, in any political context is a lazy tactic used to criticise and demean. I guess it gives the person attaching the label feelings of superiority? To appear to be correct in all their opinions? Unwilling to even give another point of view any consideration at all, because theirs is always correct, incontrovertible - one must be stupid not to realize this, of course.

My "socialist mind" requires that the nation's government should deal fairly with matters pertaining to the population, follow voters' wishes in accordance with promises made to them, and not according to how many thousands of $$$$$$$$$$ some corporation or other body donated to their party's or their personal campaign chest.

My "socialist mind" requires that the government should regulate and control the purchase of firearms, with checks on background and mental health of purchaser as an absolute minimum requirement. Limits on the number and power of firearms and ammunition owned by any single individual should be in place.

My "socialist mind" requires that my government does not involve itself in illegal killing of innocent people in foreign countries without giving them fair trial, whatever their crime, and that use of drones be heavily regulated and restricted to surveillance except in clear emergency situations.....absolutely no arbitrary "kill lists" of either American citizens or citizens of other nations!!

My "socialist mind" requires that the ability of employees to form unions be unrestricted, and that working conditions be subject to minimum requirements on both sides, presented via a written contract of employment (including days of paid sick leave, annual leave, hours of work etc.)

My "socialist mind" requires that health care should be available to all via a nationally organised plan similar to those citizens of most western European countries enjoy.

My "socialist mind" requires that elections should not be financed by input of corporate money, but should be publicly funded and the time spent on campaigning should be strictly limited - maximum of 3 months perhaps.

There's more but that's the drift......

What is so bad about any of that?

Commenter "mike" yesterday left me a link to the video below - I think it fits in rather well here:

Political Words and Non-political Music

Is That all there is? by Dan DeWalt at This Can't Be Happening: a very good rundown on last Tuesday's presidential debate,
Clip:

"The media often tell us that because of our short attention span, need for instant gratification, disinterest in complex/subtle/foreign affairs, we get the politicians that we deserve, but it's more complicated than that. In fact, the media have contributed mightily to the dumbing down of questions and the simplification of issues the more easily to cast the election merely as stories abut the horse race, or to simply pit the candidates against each other. While Obama and Romney postured on stage to see who could give the best swagger display Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein and her running mate Cheri Honkala were being arrested for merely trying to enter and watch the debate as observers.

The inclusion of Stein, or Rocky Anderson, or any number of other serious third party candidates in that debate would have expanded the conversation to include many issues that really matter to people. Instead, courtesy of a conspiracy by the two main parties, we are led to believe that we only have a choice of two corporate toadies and that the only issue that matters is paying less for energy and lowering taxes."

And a song - same title as the article and a little advice ("If that's all there is my friends, then let's keep dancing, let's break out the booze and have a ball") - Peggy Lee with Leiber & Stoller's Is That all there Is?:

Excellent brief assessment of socialism and attitudes to even the word socialism in the USA, a piece by David Glenn Fox at The Leftist Review:
Socialism
Clip:

"If you would want to demonize something in the United States of America, simply tie it together with socialism and before long, you too could raise an angry torch-carrying mob or small army of ministers on phone-trees calling up the faithful to fight back the Red Menace.

Do you want to know what socialism is about? I mean, do you really want to know what socialism is about Charlie Brown? Socialism is a traffic light; it says the traffic stops for three minutes going this way and for three minutes going the other way. It doesn’t care what kind of car you drive or where you live. It divides the usage of the intersection fairly without standing or class. It is really a very simple solution to some very complex problems. Of course to conservatives, I suppose it does carve into that blessed freedom of theirs, which they are always so concerned about.
I imagine to a libertarian traffic lights must appear to be an abomination......."

And from Clusterfuck Nation, by James Howard Kunstler: Heretics Unite
Clip:

If you look closely at the artifacts of the centuries pre-dating the Renaissance, you detect a long-running mood of severe psychological depression when the human race dwelt in abject hopelessness and poverty, with only the hocus-pocus of the church promising better times beyond the mystery of death as the Zoloft of the day. Poggio was not alone in his enthusiasm for the lost world of the ancients, and eventually the rediscovery of a realm of ideas beyond the drear preoccupations of a corrupt church turned on a light for humanity that has burned for five hundred years.
I mention these old and arcane matters because the mood of humanity lately seems to be darkening again, and to some large degree for understandable reasons. Between the melting of the polar icecaps, the destruction of all edible life in the oceans, and the vulgar spectacle of the paved-over American landscape with its clown monuments mocking all civilized endeavor, and a long list of other insults to healthy life on earth, there's a lot to be depressed about.

And so..to a song written and sung by John Conlee - it suggests what we might need if we are to remain (almost) sane during these "interesting" times: rose-coloured glasses!

I own an old creaky pair - but a smart newer version is on order! They do make one feel better- I'm not kidding!

Senator Bernie Sanders, Independent Socialist.

Senator Bernie Sanders took a stand on 10 December. It's time someone did so. Our President appears to have forgotten what the people elected him to do.

In a speech lasting over 8 hours Senator Sanders (Independent-Socialist) from Vermont, made good on his threat to present a kind of "filibuster" against President Barack Obama’s deal with Republicans to extend the Bush Tax Cuts in exchange for an extension on unemployment benefits.

Senator Sanders began as follows, full transcript of the speech is at his website, linked at the top of this post. Some highlights are shown in a video HERE.

Mr. President, there is a war going on in this country, and I am not referring to the war in Iraq or the war in Afghanistan, I am talking about a war being waged by some of the wealthiest and most powerful people in this country against the working families of the United States of America, against the disappearing and shrinking middle class in our country. The reality is that many of the nation’s billionaires are on the war path. They want more, more, more. Their greed has no end and apparently there is very little concern for our country or for the people of this country if it gets in the way of the accumulation of more and more wealth and more and more power....................
(And later) How can I get by on one house? I need five houses, ten houses! I need three jet planes to take me all over the world! Sorry, American people. We've got the money, we've got the power, we've got the lobbyists here and on Wall Street. Tough luck. That's the world, get used to it. Rich get richer. Middle class shrinks

The voice of Senator Sanders is a voice in the wilderness - but it is at least one voice, and from what I've read in articles and comments since Friday he has a lot of appreciative supporters.

Why then, does the very word "socialist" strike fear and loathing into the hearts of so many in the USA? Bernie Sanders presented what are broad socialist ideals in his speech. President Obama, ridiculously labelled "socialist" by some Republicans is so far from matching that label that it'd be funny, if it were not so serious for the majority of the ordinary people of America. And don't forget, "the ordinary people" are the majority, they ARE America.
Update: Yesterday the Senate moved the Bill forward. Only 8 voted against it, including Senator Sanders, of course. Perhaps the House of Representatives will offer more opposition.

What follows comes from a post of mine written in 2008, after Senator Sanders had appeared on the TV show Real Time with Bill Maher.

Socialism. The very word strikes fear in the hearts of too many Americans. However, if a politician is shrewd enough to call it Populism - then it sneaks in by the back door. Bernie Sanders is too straightford a character to mince his words in order to pander to his public.

Socialism. It's impossible to define it in a few words. Researching the internet on the subject only serves to confuse a simple mind like mine. In the smallest of nutshells, and slightly tongue-in-cheek, the "2 Cows Philosophy" defines it thus:

A SOCIALIST:
You have two cows. The government takes one and gives it to your neighbor.
A REPUBLICAN:
You have two cows. Your neighbor has none. So what?

Interestingly, the same list also defines:

A CHRISTIAN: You have two cows. You keep one and give one to your neighbor.

Compare "A Socialist" with "A Christian". It's odd, isn't it, that in a country so proud of its Christian values, socialism is derided and feared ?

Throughout the show (Real Time) Bernie Sanders' responses elicited enthusiastic cheers from the audience. Granted, it was a largely liberal audience, but the fact that a socialist's words were accepted by them so graciously was a baby step forward. In the United States socialism is more often than not equated with communism. It's a serious mistake which has been fed to the public by right-wing pundits.

A quick look at the natal chart of Bernie Sanders then. Perhaps he has the astrological patterning to make a brand of socialism palatable to Americans.

Is there some reflection of his political leanings here? Aquarius planets perhaps, or strong Uranus - both have connections with socialist thinking. Born 8 September 1941, New York NY. No birth time known, so this is a chart set for noon on his date of birth. Ascending sign and exact degree of Moon in Aries not shown.



Hmmmm....no Aquarius (unless it was the rising sign, which we can't know without a birth time). His Sun lay smack-dab in the middle of Virgo indicating a discerning and critical nature, one that can separate the wheat from the chaff with consummate ease.

Mercury (mental processes and communication) is found in an early degree of the more tactful and dipolimatic Libra, and trines Uranus at 00 Gemini - here's that socialist rebel mindset of his! And.... Saturn is conjunct Uranus, albeit in a very late degree of adjacent sign, Taurus.

Saturn and Uranus are opposites in essence. Tradition versus the avant garde, the old versus the new, status quo versus change, capitalist versus socialist. Bernie Sanders has them well-blended in his personality blueprint!

The signs the two planets occupy, Gemini and Taurus, could also be said to represent opposite ideas - free thinking, adaptable (Gemini) and the more traditional fixed mind-set (Taurus). He has an innate understanding of traditional values, but with a yearning to modernise and improve them to fit 21st century needs, and the unusual talent of being able to communicate on both levels. These characteristics have helped him to make his brand of socialism acceptable in Vermont, one of the first 13 states, steeped in tradition, yet willing to step into the 21st century with Senator Sanders.

Cameth the hour ~ Eugene V. Debs

"Cometh the hour, cometh the man" - that concept appeals to me. I think it originated, though not in those exact words, in Sir Walter Scott's novel Guy Mannering. There's a wee flavour of astrology about it. It has been known to work too, not always, but on many occasions. It's as though a communal need gathers critical mass and draws to it the right man/woman to deal with a serious or dangerous situation.

In the USA one such guy, in my not so humble opinion, was Eugene Debs. “A dynamic and visionary leader of the 19th century railroad workers; preeminent spokesman for the Socialist labor tradition; beloved by those whose lives he touched.” He came along when things in the USA were getting badly out of balance with the increase in industrialisation. Workers were being exploited, poverty was rife, inequality reigned. Debs didn't make it to the presidency, in spite of running in 1900, 1904, 1908 1912 and 1920 as Socialist Party candidate.His last campaign had to be conducted from behind prison bars, while serving a 10 year sentence for opposing America's entrance into World War I and denouncing the Espionage Act (designed to silence all anti-war sentiment). He was released under under a general amnesty on Christmas Day 1921 by Warren G. Harding.

Eugene Debs' noble ideals were noted and absorbed; some things improved then, and later, because of his efforts.

The late Howard Zinn's 1999 article, Eugene V. Debs and the Idea of Socialism is a good read, I shall take the liberty of using an extract from it here.

Debs was what every socialist or anarchist or radical should be: fierce in his convictions, kind and compassionate in his personal relations. ........................
In the era of Debs, the first seventeen years of the twentieth century-until war created an opportunity to crush the movement-millions of Americans declared their adherence to the principles of socialism. Those were years of bitter labor struggles, the great walkouts of women garment workers in New York, the victorious multiethnic strike of textile workers in Lawrence, Massachusetts, the unbelievable courage of coal miners in Colorado, defying the power and wealth of the Rockefellers. The I.W.W. was born-revolutionary, militant, demanding "one big union" for everyone, skilled and unskilled, black and white, men and women, native-born and foreign-born.

The following paragraph I found surprising, particularly the part about our state, Oklahoma. Things have changed beyond recognition here. News came yesterday of a plan by the Oklahoma Tea Party to raise a "constitutional" armed militia here to oppose the Federal government: see here:

More than a million people read Appeal to Reason and other socialist newspapers. In proportion to population, it would be as if today more than three million Americans read a socialist press. The party had 100,000 members, and 1,200 office-holders in 340 municipalities. Socialism was especially strong in the Southwest, among tenant farmers, railroad workers, coal miners, lumberjacks. Oklahoma had 12,000 dues-paying members in 1914 and more than 100 socialists in local offices.

And the following states exactly my own view (thank you Mr. Zinn, RIP)

The point of recalling all this is to remind us of the powerful appeal of the socialist idea to people alienated from the political system and aware of the growing stark disparities in income and wealth-as so many Americans are today. The word itself-"socialism"-may still carry the distortions of recent experience in bad places usurping the name. But anyone who goes around the country, or reads carefully the public opinion surveys over the past decade, can see that huge numbers of Americans agree on what should be the fundamental elements of a decent society: guaranteed food, housing, medical care for everyone; bread and butter as better guarantees of "national security" than guns and bombs; democratic control of corporate power; equal rights for all races, genders, and sexual orientations; a recognition of the rights of immigrants as the unrecognized counterparts of our parents and grandparents; the rejection of war and violence as solutions for tyranny and injustice.

There are people fearful of the word, all along the political spectrum. What is important, I think, is not the word, but a determination to hold up before a troubled public those ideas that are both bold and inviting-the more bold, the more inviting. That's what remembering Debs and the socialist idea can do for us.

Eugene V. Debs was born on 5 November 1855 in Terre Haute, Indiana. I can find no time of birth for him on-line, which I find surprising; Astrodatabank doesn't even have an entry for him.
So, a 12 noon chart must suffice. Ascendant degree/sign is unknown as is Moon's degree, though Moon would be in Virgo until 8pm and Libra afterwards.


Debs' natal Sun was in passionate, magnetic Scorpio. I've noticed that Scorpio input can often translate into personality as someone who has an exceptional ability to use words to their most mesmerising effect - Carl Sagan springs immediately to mind. Debs certainly had this very special talent.

Outer planets Pluto (ruler of his Scorpio Sun) and Uranus the rebel planet were both in Taurus and loosely opposing his Sun/Mercury. This opposition reflects a dynamic push-pull between two transformative outer planets in the rather stubborn conservative sign of Taurus against his Sun (self) and Mercury (mental processes ) in passionate, determined Scorpio. Debs, fortunately, was able to harness this dynamic to draw the best from both.

The other outer planet, Neptune (imagination, dreams, creativity) lay in its own sign, Pisces in harmony with Debs' Scorpio Sun, and forming a wide Grand Trine with the addition of Saturn in the last degree of Gemini, about to move into Watery Cancer. The near-trines here are too wide to be strong aspects however, but the planets are in harmony. Neptune and Saturn in harmony bring the stability and common sense of Saturn into the often foggy dreams of Neptunian imagination. That's good! I'd guess this Water "circuit", and the fact that Debs' had no planets in the more potentially aggressive Fire signs, accounts in part for his reputation as a gentle, kindly guy. Howard Zinn starts the article linked above thus:

We are always in need of radicals who are also lovable, and so we would do well to remember Eugene Victor Debs.....Debs was nationally famous as leader of the Socialist Party, and the poet James Whitcomb Riley wrote of him:
"As warm a heart as ever beat
Betwixt here and the Judgment Seat."

These words from Eugene Debs himself are what endear him to me:

"If you go to the city of Washington, you will find that almost all of those corporation lawyers and cowardly politicians, members of congress, and mis-representatives of the masses claim, in glowing terms, that they have risen from the ranks to places of eminence and distinction. I am very glad that I cannot make that claim for myself. I would be ashamed to admit that I had risen from the ranks. When I rise it will be with the ranks, and not from the ranks."

Back my first thought: "Cometh the hour, cometh the man" - where is such a mortal in 2010? I suspect that "the hour" is nigh!

Another US Radical ~ Mother Jones

Yesterday's post featured Sarah Palin, a modern-day agitator who, to my mind is seriously misguided. An American female from the past who fits my bill more easily is the lady known as Mother Jones, once referred to in the US Senate as "the grandmother of all agitators". She was born in Cork, Ireland, daughter and grandaughter of Irish freedom fighters. Her grandfather was hanged; her father, Richard Harris, his wife and family fled to America in 1835. Mother Jones' real name was Mary Harris Jones. She grew up in Ontario, Canada, moved to the US and taught in Michigan and Memphis; worked as a seamstress in Chicago, married George E. Jones, an iron worker and enthusiastic union member, who no doubt helped to form her future passion for justice and improvement in the lives of the poor and working classes.

Whatever your fight, don't be ladylike. (Mother Jones)

From "Mother Jones, "The Miners' Angel" by Mara Lou Hawse

Life was relatively good for Mary Harris Jones until 1867. That year, when she was 37years old, within one week her husband and their four small children died in a yellow fever epidemic. After the epidemic had run its course, she returned to Chicago where, once again, she began to work as a dressmaker.
But tragedy followed Mother Jones. Four years later, in 1871, she lost everything she owned in the great Chicago fire. That event also changed her life drastically, and she discovered a new path to follow. She became involved in the labor movement and began to attend meetings of the newly formed Knights of Labor "in an old, tumbled down, fire scorched building."

One biographer believes that Mother Jones's interest in the labor movement really began when she sewed for wealthy Chicago families and observed the blatant economic and social inequities that existed. According to Fetherling, she said: "Often while sewing for the lords and barons who lived in magnificent houses on the Lake Shore Drive, I would look out of the plate glass windows and see the poor, shivering wretches, jobless and hungry, walking alongside the frozen lake front.... The contrast of their condition with that of the tropical comfort of the people for whom I sewed was painful to me. My employers seemed neither to notice nor to care......
.....During the time she was most active in the labor movement, the country was changing dramatically, from an agrarian economy to an industrial economy. Small enterprises were replaced by large ones.

The nature of work and of workers was altered. Waves of immigrants and displaced farmers dug the nation's coal and forged its steel. All too often, they received in return only starvation wages and nightmarish conditions. Within these men smoldered the sparks of class conflict which Mother Jones would fan for 50 years. To these workers, she would become an anchor to the past and an arrow toward a better future."

She later became a traveling lecturer for the Socialist Party of America, then a co-Founder of the IWW (Industrial Workers of the World). She left the Socialist Party in 1911 to return to assist in organising the United Mine Workers , and was still working in that capacity in West Virginia at age 93, after a decade earlier having been convicted and sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment by a military court. The then 83-year old battler was set free quite quickly by the new state Governor, after trouble had erupted in the Senate. Later though she was imprisoned on two occasions following strikes and marches, a notable one being to raise awareness about the horrors of child labor and the need for its abolition.

Some day the workers will take possession of your city hall, and when we do, no child will be sacrificed on the altar of profit! (Mother Jones)

There is some doubt about Mother Jones' correct birth data. There's no doubt about the place - it was Cork, Ireland. Some sources give 1 August 1837, while others state that she herself gave 1 May 1830 as her birth date. Out of interest and curiosity I've erected a chart for both dates - for 12 noon so rising signs will not be accurately shown, and Moon degree will not be reliable, unless in mid-sign even the sign will be in doubt. There should be enough to go on and to make a stab at which is the "real" chart for Mother Jones.
What I'd expect to be clearly indicated is a driving, passionate force for social justice, lots of energy, linkage of Uranus to personal planets - Uranus the avant garde rebel.

1 August 1837


Well....on balance I prefer the chart for 1 May 1830.

The 1 August 1837 chart has Sun, 3 personal planets and quite likely Moon all in Leo. Leo is certainly the sign of leadership, a trait which Mother Jones obviously possesssed in spades....so that much fits. But what kind of leadership does this chart indicate? Sun is in helpful sextile to energetic Mars and confrontationally square to Saturn which can either represent work (and workers?) or limitation and restriction. Uranus the avant garde rebel at 7 Pisces is in quincunx (an uncomfortable scratchy alignment to Mother Jones' Sun, but in harmonious trine to Saturn in Scorpio - that's not a very good fit in my opinion.


1 May 1830



The 1 May 1830 chart has Sun and Mercury in stubborn, practical Taurus forming conflicting square aspects to Saturn in Leo and Mars/Uranus in Aquarius. I like this, especially Uranus conjunct Mars which adds energy and dynamism to the rebellious spirit and challenges the more staid and practical Taurus Sun, both traits and their accompanying challenge were needed for the work this lady chose to do. Natal Moon would have been in Leo or Virgo - I'd guess Leo - the leadership indication needed here. As for the overall generational atmosphere, in 1830 Uranus and Saturn were in opposition, much as they are at present. This is a far more appropriate scenario for bringing forth Mother Jones' type traits, astrologically, than the trine between Uranus and Saturn contained in the 1837 chart.

I rest my case, but am open to correction!

A final quote from Mother Jones - still as appropriate today:

I believe that no man who holds a leader's position should ever accept favors from either side. He is then committed to show favors. A leader must stand alone.

PS: Mustn't forget to mention the website bearing her name:
Mother Jones.