Monday, December 6, 1982
Daily Nebraskan
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Voice of Protect9 : The times that try men's souls
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Voices of Protest
Alan Brinkley
Knopf
In Alan Brinkley's "Voices of Protest," the lives of
Huey Long and Father Coughlin are looked at from the
vantage of their impact on the people of the Great De-
pression. ai ine peaxs oi ineir power, iney were capable
had.
The "Share the Wealth Plan" called for a more progres
sive tax base that would tax the wealthy more heavily
and redistribute the money into lower income groups.
Though the plan was economically impossible at the
time, Long kept pressing for it with Congress and Frank
lin Roosevelt.
Coughlin was a Catholic priest who wanted economic
and social justice for all and who attacked the people,
whether bankers, millionaires or Roosevelt, who stood
in -the way of their goals.
The book follows the lives of both as they accrue the
power that was to vault them into national prominence.
Both men gained power regionally nd then built it into
a base of national support.
For Long, his famous control of Louisana began with
his election as governor in 1928 and reigrted until his
death. He kept control of the Legislature and appointed
his own successor as governor when he left for the U.S.
Senate. Later, he challenged the courts by changing the
state constitution to his advantage.
For Coughlin, his power was the result of the strength
he gathered about his Detroit parish because of his locally
broadcasted radio show. When he went national on CBS,
his audience grew into the Northeast and gave him a
greater power base.
As the Depression continued through Roosevelt's
first term, both men overestimated their power and
started directly challenging the president. This was the
downfall of both, as the people's faith in Roosevelt in
creased and turned on these men whose promises were
never backed with programs. In the 1936 election,
Long already dead, Coughlin 's third party did so poorly
that he withdrew his radio show.
In the chapter titled, "The Dissident Ideology,"
Brinkely presents the movements' ideals and shows that
within the ideals were strong contradictions. Both men
wanted to create communities as they existed in the 19th
centUry when small town merchants didn't rely on large
corporations. They also crusaded for a mere localized
government that wouldn't have to answer to a mono
lithic government in Washington.
Book Review
of calling on millions to bid for their causes in the halls
of Congress and the White House.
The reason for their power was that the 1930s had
left many people looking for a cause to believe in and
these .two men had the ability to give them organizations
to follow. Long's "Share the Wealth Plan" and Coughlin 's
"National Union for Social Justice" were attractive to
those who were in the process of losing everything they
Scandinavian music
celebrated at concert
"Scandinavia Today," a musical festival cele
brating Scandinavia's contributions to American
culture, will be presented Tuesday by the Lincoln
Symphony Orchestra in the O'Donnell Auditorium
on Nebraska Wesleyan University campus at 8 p.m.
Conducted by Robert Emile, the orchestra will
perform the "Estrella di Soria" overture by
fierwald, "Symphony No. 4" by Nielsen and Brieg's
"Piano Concerto in A Minor."
Audan Ravnan, a native of Norway who is cele
brating his 25th year as a member of UNL's music
faculty, will be guest pianist. He is the first indivi
dual performer to recieve the Governor's Arts
Award "for significant contributions to the cultural
life of Nebraska."
The program is sponsored by the National Bank
of Commerce and Security Mutual Life.
But central to the plans ot both was an expansion of
the role of the federal government to redistribute the
wealth and bring more justice to all. The world these
men wanted to create ceased existing 50 years before
when trains helped concentrate power in certain cities
and businesses, as Brinkley points out.
The 1930s were a time when millions of Americans
were turning to men like Long and Coughlin for help.
The "Voices of Protest" shows how these men were
able to use their power to challenge the political struc
tures in the name of a cause. In desperate times, people
turn to anyone who can give them hope and direction.
David Wiese
SMARTS
AT LINCON CENTER
PARK & SHOP LOTS
Save Money And Ride Together
'Rude Boy' at Sheldon;
features The Clash
"Rude Boy," an English film starring The Clash
and featuring concert footage of many the band's
great songs, will be shown in Sheldon Film Theater
Tuesday at 7 and 9 pjn.
The film is a benefit for KZUM, Lincoln's non
commercial, community -access radio station.
The Clash have become England's leading rock
'n' roll band and the subject of some controversy, '
as their music combines raw musical energy with
loaded political lyrics.
"Anyone interested in The Clash and the whole
late-'70s English punk rock scene must see 'Rude
Boy,' " Soho News said. "Great rock music theater
from The Clash."
"Rude Boy" was filmed in between the time
of The Clash's first album and its second, "Give
'Em Enough Rope." The live footage comes from
the band's first major tour and includes filmed
rehearsals and interviews. The story hangs loosely
around a roadie the band rescues from the dole,
then discards when the "rude" dissolves his life
in a bottle of booze.
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2541 So. 132 St.
Omaha. NE 68144
PH. 402 399-66661
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AT THE CITY AND EAST UNIONS.
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East Union: .Sunday through Thursday
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