Scott Nearing

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Scott Nearing (1916)

Scott Nearing (born August 6, 1883 in Morris Run , Tioga County , Pennsylvania , † August 24, 1983 in Maine ) was an American author, educator and farmer. In his writings and public speeches, he took a stand on the topics of economy , politics, ethics , society, peace , equality and ecology .

Life

Nearing grew up in a wealthy family as his father was in the timber trade and his grandfather was a mine manager. After high school, he studied at the University of Pennsylvania , graduating in 1905 with a degree in economics and rhetoric . He postulated the then unheard-of thesis that industrial workers were selling their work performance below value and therefore chronically "losses". He also publicly opposed child labor , which was widespread at the time , especially in the mining industry. In 1908 he married Nellie Seeds (1886-1946), and in 1912 his son John Scott was born. In 1914 Robert was adopted.

Due to his commitment against child labor, his position as professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania was dismissed in 1915 after nine years of teaching . In 1917 he lost another teaching position at the University of Toledo because of his protests against the entry of the USA into World War I. He was acquitted in the ensuing trial for undermining military strength . His textbooks, which were previously used as standard works in economics, were removed from the curriculum. From 1917 to 1922 he was a member of the Socialist Party. In 1925 he separated from his wife Nellie Seeds and traveled to the Soviet Union for the first time . In 1927 he joined the Communist Party, from which he was expelled in 1930 because he published The Twilight of Empire in the same year .

In 1932, at the height of the Great Depression, Nearing moved in with his partner Helen Nearing, née 20 years his junior . Knothe (1904–1995), whom he had met in 1929, on a run-down farm in Vermont . As self-sufficient and with the sale of self-made maple syrup , they created the basis for their livelihood there. In 1947 they married. After Vermont became more and more touristy and the flow of visitors became too much for the Nearings, they decided in 1952 to start again and built a farm in Brooksville , Maine .

In his autobiography, The Making of a Radical (dt. A life against the current ), he describes himself as a convinced pacifist, socialist and vegetarian. He divided his activities as follows: four hours a day were devoted to earning a living on the farm, four hours of writing and another four hours of social activities: lectures, discussions, etc. His aim was always to lead a "good life", and many of his works are dedicated to the search for this.

In 1973 he was awarded the title of “Honorary Emeritus Professor of Economics” by the University of Pennsylvania. A late attempt at redress after his release in 1915.

In 1981 he is one of the contemporary witnesses in the film Reds by and with Warren Beatty about John Reed and the Russian Revolution of 1917.

Nearing made a conscious decision to die: Shortly after his 100th birthday, he stopped eating and only drank juices and, in the last few days, only water.

bibliography

Scott Nearing has published over 50 books and articles in his life which cannot be fully reproduced here.

  • 1908 Economics (with Frank D. Watson). Macmillan, New York.
  • 1911 The Solution of Child Labor Problem. Row Peterson, New York.
  • 1912 Woman and Social Progress. Macmillan, New York.
  • 1912 The Super Race: An American Problem. BW Huebsch, New York.
  • 1915 The New Education. Row, Peterson & Co., Chicago.
  • 1915 Anthracite: An Instance of Natural Resource Monopoly . John C. Winston Co., Philadelphia.
  • 1917 The Great Madness: A Victory for the American Plutocracy. Rand School, New York.
  • 1923 Oil and the Germs of War. Nellie Seeds Nearning, Ridgewood.
  • 1924 Bolshevism and the West. Debate between Scott Nearning and Bertrand Russell . League for Public Discussion, New York.
  • 1925 Dollar Diplomacy: A Study of American Imperialism (with Joseph Freeman). Huebsch and Viking Press, New York.
  • 1925 Educational Frontiers: A Book about Simon Nelson Patten and other Teachers. Thomas Seltzer, New York.
  • 1927 Whither China? International, New York.
  • 1929 Black America . Vanguard Press, New York.
  • 1930 The Twilight Empire. An Economic Interpretation of Imperialist Cycles. Vanguard Press, New York.
  • 1932 Free Born: An Unpublishable Novel. Urquhart Press, New York.
  • 1933 Fascism. Self-published, Jamaica (Vermont).
  • 1936 The European Civil War: The First Twenty Years 1917–36. Christian Social Justice Fund.
  • 1944 United World. Open Road Press, Mays Landing.
  • 1947 The Revolution of Our Time. Island Press , New York.
  • 1954 Man's Search for the Good Life. Social Science Institute, Harborside. (German. The search for the good life , Rowohlt, Reinbek near Hamburg 1986. ISBN 3-499-17986-5 )
  • 1961 Freedom: Promise and Menace, A Critique on the Cult of Freedom. Social Science Institute, Harborside.
  • 1965 The Conscience of a Radical. Social Science Institute, Harborside. (German Another way , Pala-Verlag, Schaafheim 1985. ISBN 3-923176-20-1 )
  • 1972 The Making of a Radical - A Political Autobiography Harper & Row, New York. (German. A life against the current , Pala-Verlag, Schaafheim. ISBN 3-923176-08-2 )
  • 1975 Civilization and Beyond: Learning from History. Social Science Institute, Harborside.

Together with Helen Nearing:

  • 1950 The Maple Sugar Book. Schocken Books, New York.
  • 1970 Living the Good Life. Schocken Books, New York. (German: Live a good life , Pala-Verlag, Darmstadt 1996. ISBN 3-89566-115-5 )
  • 1979 Continuing the Good Life. Schocken Books, New York. (German continuation of the good life. The next years in Maine 1952–1979 , Pala-Verlag, Darmstadt 1997. ISBN 3-89566-116-3 )

See also

literature

Web links

Commons : Scott Nearing  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Scott Nearning: A Scott Nearing Reader (Ed. Steve Sherman). Scarecrow Press, 1989. pp. Xiii ff
  2. ↑ Scott Nearning: A Scott Nearing Reader (Ed. Steve Sherman). Scarecrow Press, 1989. pp. Ix
  3. ↑ Scott Nearning: A Scott Nearing Reader (Ed. Steve Sherman). Scarecrow Press, 1989. pp. X
  4. ^ Helen Nearing: Loving and Leaving the Good Life . Chelsea Green, Vermont 1992. p. 15
  5. ^ Helen Nearing: Loving and Leaving the Good Life . Chelsea Green, Vermont 1992. p. 16
  6. ↑ Scott Nearning: A Scott Nearing Reader (Ed. Steve Sherman). Scarecrow Press, 1989. pp. X
  7. ↑ Scott Nearning: A Scott Nearing Reader (Ed. Steve Sherman). Scarecrow Press, 1989. pp. Xi
  8. ↑ Scott Nearing: Another Way . Pala Verlag, Schaafheim 1985. P. 94ff
  9. ↑ Scott Nearing: The Quest for the Good Life. Rowohlt Verlag, Reinbek near Hamburg 1986. p. 152
  10. ↑ Scott Nearning: A Scott Nearing Reader (Ed. Steve Sherman). Scarecrow Press, 1989. p. Xii
personal data
SURNAME Nearing, Scott
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American environmentalist, educator, peace activist, and writer
DATE OF BIRTH August 6, 1883
PLACE OF BIRTH Morris Run , Tioga County , Pennsylvania
DATE OF DEATH August 24, 1983
Place of death Maine