Time to Revisit The Wizard of Oz — A Pertinent Allegory
Have you ever watched the 1939 classic The Wizard of Oz, starring Judy Garland (mother of Liza Minnelli)? The movie is based on a 1900 novel written by L. Frank Baum. It just occurred to me that some Millennials may not be familiar with this piece of work, or know that it is actually an allegory of an important period in American history leading up to the Gilded Age.
Allegories seek to convey hidden messages or ulterior meanings — usually political or moral — under the guise of symbolic narrative. The message/meaning being conveyed is the tenor. The narrative — expressed by objects, words and images — is the vehicle. Allegories have been used in literature and theater since antiquity.
The vehicle of The Wizard of Oz is a fantastical odyssey of a young girl with silver slippers and her three friends along the yellow brick road to the magical Land of Oz. The tenor of the book is the political tension between Eastern bankers and creditors (who wanted to limit money supply by an exclusive “gold standard” by which to keep Midwestern farmer-borrowers perpetually indebted) and Midwestern farmer-borrowers (who wanted a more abundant money supply from silver with which they eventually free themselves from debt). At first glance, it is not obvious how the vehicle conveys the tenor. More on that later.
First, a bit of history: Out of necessity, Congress and the states financed the Revolutionary War (Apr 1775 — Sep, 1783) with paper currency known as Greenbacks to pay for the soldiers, food, munitions and other expenses. But many merchants refused to accept it. This distrust contributed to currency inflation (i.e. the redeemable value became progressively less than the face value of the currency). Paper money markets in the 1770s and ’80s were volatile.
After the war, Congress lacked enough silver coinage to redeem all the paper currency it had issued. When soldiers’ pay depreciated to next to nothing, it plunged people into deep poverty. Veterans’ claims to a military pension in lieu of pay took decades to satisfy. Bankruptcies among veterans and other debtors were common.
Despite all this, banks proliferated across the country in the early 19th century. Thousands of banks were issuing their own bank notes purportedly backed by gold and silver held in their vaults. Understandably, people trusted those issued by their own community banks more. Bank notes were undeniably easier exchange than coinage and an added source of industrial capital which created more wealth by spurring new economic activities. Trade was conducted with it; wages were paid by it. The increased liquidity of bank notes created more wealth for the enterprising and opportunistic, even though the avenues to new wealth were often exploitive (e.g. through dispossession of indigenous land and property, and employment of enslaved labor, etc.)
People entrusted their deposits to the same banks that issued paper money, and got burned. Wages in bank notes would end up being worth far less than face value because a bank failed or because creditors refused to assume the risk of acquiring more currency. This was especially true during the economic panics of 1819, 1837 and 1857.
Federal regulation of paper money’s emission, exchange and value finally started with the Treasury Department’s redemption program and President Ulysses S. Grant’s “demonetization” of silver in 1873 (i.e. dropping the silver dollar from coinage), which caused the “Panic of 1873” (later dubbed the “Crime of 1873”) which in turn triggered a global economic depression which lasted till 1878/9. Congress passed the National Banking Act of 1875 during that depression which standardized bank notes, and adopted a de facto gold standard in 1879 (requiring all federal money be backed by gold), —thus limiting the nation’s money supply.
Banks use deposits to make loans and earn profit on the interest spreads. The biggest borrowers in the 19th century were farmers. Whereas “money being inflated away” hurt depositors and lenders, it helped debtors because they pay their loans back with money “worth far less”. If a farmer owed $3,000 and could earn $1 for every bushel of wheat sold at harvest, he needed to sell 3,000 bushels to pay off the debt. If inflation pushed the price of a bushel of wheat up to $3, he needed to sell only 1,000 bushels.
The chronically indebted Midwestern farmers saw limiting the nation’s money supply as benefitting the wealthy (east coast creditors/bankers) at their expense. They wanted inflation. They first tried to encourage Congress to resume printing of Greenbacks like the ones issued during the Civil War. But the Greenback Movement failed.
Meanwhile, the post-Panic of 1893 depression deeply affected every sector of the economy, and produced great political upheaval. In 1894, “Coxey’s Army” — a group of unemployed led by Coxey (a Midwestern businessman) — marched to Washington, D.C. And the farmers backed William Jennings Bryan’s 1896 presidential bid, run on the campaign of resumption of silver coinage. Bryan was defeated by bankers (and urban voters) backed William McKinley.
Now back to the allegorical Wizard of Oz. Dorothy symbolizes the “nobility” of the Midwest (Coxey), the Tin Man symbolizes industry which needed oil (liquidity) to grow and employ, and the Scarecrow symbolizes the ignorant farmer (who didn’t have a brain). Together, they represent the American working class at the turn of the 19th century which was hurt by the Nation’s monetary policy (first expansive then restrictive, — but all controlled by powerful banks). The Cowardly Lion symbolizes William Jennings Bryan (who was actually called the “Lion of the Free Silver Movement” during his Presidential bid but considered a coward because he backed away from the movement after losing his bid). The allegory was historically accurate because the Free Silver Movement was first started by farmers, then joined by the workingmen, then by Bryan. The group trekked down the yellow brick road (symbolizing the gold standard) to the magical Land of Oz (symbolizing Coxey’s 1894 march to Washing D.C.), with Dorothy wearing her silver slippers (the ruby slippers Judy Garland wore in the movie are a departure from the original book) — symbolizing Free Silver.
The fraudulent Wizard symbolizes the “evasive, hard-to-pin-down, everything to everybody” President William McKinley. The real powers to reckon with are the wicked witch of the East (symbolizing JP Morgan of New York) and the wicked witch of the West (symbolizing JD Rockefeller of Chicago/Cleveland). The munchkins are the “little people” oppressed by the wicked witches. Other symbolisms abound throughout the book. Oz is an abbreviation for ounces, — a measure of gold or silver bullion. The city Dorothy and friends sought is emerald green and the fraudulent wizard peered through green shades. Dorothy and friends had to follow seven passages and three flights of stairs (symbolizing the “Crime of 1873”). The ultimate symbolism is, of course, throwing water (liquidity) to kill the wicked witch of the West (stranglehold on money supply via the gold standard favored by bankers).
So how is this allegorical piece of work pertinent in 2023? Because it is a timely and stark reminder that since the 1980s, we have been reliving the period leading up to, and through The Gilded Age. All through the late 1800s, a handful of super rich and powerful robber barons (Andrew Carnegie the steel mogul, Cornelius Vanderbilt the rail mogul, JD Rockefeller the oil mogul, JP Morgan the banking mogul) received privileged access and financing from the government via extensive use of lobbyists. They made up the 1% that controlled all the wealth while the 99% struggled mightily. Today, we have identical wealth disparity. Back then, the real issue was not about gold versus silver per se, or even the level of liquidity in the system. It was that the quantity and price of money were not effectively controlled by an elected government (via government issued currencies) but by banks which used that control to transfer wealth (through debt and default) from the mass to themselves. Today we have the identical issue. Back then, we had the Lost Generation — a cohort of young intellectuals disillusioned with prevailing governance and politics. Today, the American Dream appears dead for Millennials, who protest by quietly quitting while their Chinese counterparts protest by “laying flat”. Back then, distrust in institutions and leaderships was rampant. Today, we not only had Jan 6 but palpable and persistent distrust in media, industry, healthcare, even education. Here’s a less than obvious analogue: The rampant global drug-use today is nothing new; it took the form of opium-use back in the Gilded Age (symbolized by the cowardly Lion’s falling asleep in the poppy fields, — saved by an army of field mice symbolizing the people). Back then, political and corporate corruption was rampant. So is it today. Back then, power in the American Presidency was a fraudulent illusion, — the real power lied with banking and industrial magnates. The same is true now. Back then, the population was severely polarized between the well-to-do urbanites and the workers in the heartland, resulting in the Populist Movement in the 19th century. We have the same situation today.
I cite The 4th Turning often, because for me, this cyclical view of history provides an effective compass to gauge where we are and where we are headed next. Each cycle of four “turnings” averages roughly 80 years. The Gilded Age was almost exactly two cycles ago from now. To me, that period is a much more accurate analogue for current times than one cycle ago — the 1970s. Inflation in the 1970s stemmed from different root causes and was not accompanied by the high debt levels like today’s. As well, the social mood in the 1970s was arguably quite different than today’s (which greatly resembles that in the Gilded Age).
If I'm correct that the Gilded Age mirrored today’s conditions, then what “cautionary tale” can we take from history? Well, from the ashes of post-Panic of 1893 economic depression came reform, — including Teddy Roosevelt’s Trust busting — in a Progressive Era triggered by the Muckrakers’ expose’ of corruption. Today, Muckrakers, if any, will have to come from ALT-Media. Mainstream media is owned by six large corporations which use media to promote their own corporate interests. It is rife with obscenely overpaid pretty faces who merely sensationalize weather and other trivialities and read off scripts given to them by their corporate masters. Sadly, most Americans are not exposed to ALT-Media and still dutifully rely on mainstream media for “truth”. There is no Teddy Roosevelt among the 2024 presidential candidates. And if “progressive” means AOC and WOKE-ism, God help us!
Author and essayist Salman Rushdie opined that The Wizard of Oz deliberately highlighted the inadequacy of adults, and demonstrated how the weakness of adults compelled children to grow up and seize control of their own destinies. So where's the hope for breaking the stranglehold on the Nation’s money supply by today’s banking cartel? The Web 3/Crypto/AI movement! This is the cyclone that will sweep Dorothy out of Kansas, realizing her own power along her exciting and scary journey. I wish the Millennials all the luck and all the fun!
