Dennis Drabelle: "The Great American Railroad War"
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2012-08-23/dennis-drabelle-great-american-railroad-war
The Central Pacific Railroad, America’s first Transcontinental Railroad, revolutionized the way Americans traveled, communicated and did business. But it was also a hotbed of corruption and greed. A new book tells the story of two American writers who took on the Central Pacific with the power of the pen. Journalist Ambrose Bierce, nicknamed “Bitter Bierce,” exposed the railroad’s corruption using satire and wit. And Frank Norris, a novelist, wrote of the warring relationship between California wheat farmers and the railroad trust. Together, they revealed the dark side of this American powerhouse. Diane talks with the author about this nineteenth century monopoly and two writers who challenged it.
Guests
Dennis Drabelle
author and contributing editor and mysteries editor for The Washington Post Book World.
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Read An Excerpt
Excerpt from "The Great American Railroad War" by Dennis Drabelle. Copyright 2012 by Dennis Drabelle. Reprinted here by permission of St. Martin's Press. All rights reserved.
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Did Bierce and Norris talk about the concomitant slaughter, ethnic cleansing and the destruction of the Native American way of life to make way for the railroads?
Money has been a corrupting factor, especially of politicians, since the beginning of history. Not at all surprising, considering that money is the Deity that most people actually worship. In fact, we seem to have confused the God of Materialism with the God of Creation.
And corruption has brought down great nations in the past, and will continue to bring them down in the future.
The human race will never learn the lessons of the past. So corruption will continue unabated.
I always thought of the climax of The Octopus as the confrontation of the Octopus CEO by the protagonist, who gains access to the executive's offices and barges in ready to confront a monster.
However, he finds himself face-to-face with a wizened old man, someone's grandfater. And in their exchange, the protagonist comes to see the railroad as something that the people have demanded.
It would be interesting to hear Drabelle's take on the scene and the idea that the railroad, and other Leviathan corporations - not unlike today's "global enterprises" - are manifestations of our consumer society.
I am listening to this interview. I thought I heard Halliburton who I work for mentioned as a "profiteer". I am incensed that the liberal midia continues this perception. I think that it refers to KBR which Halliburton has divested.