On this day in 1912, the Paint Creek Mine War began when West Virginia miners struck, demanding formal union recognition and fairer labor practices. The incident quickly escalated into one of the worst labor conflicts in U.S. history.
The event, also known as the Paint Creek-Cabin Creek Strike, centered on the area enclosed by two streams, Paint Creek and Cabin Creek. It is considered part of the "Coal Wars", a series of armed conflicts between workers and coal companies from the 1890s - 1930s in the United States.
The strike lasted for fourteen months, and over 5,000 workers participated. Notable labor organizer Mother Jones (shown) came to West Virginia to support the workers, organizing a secret march of 3,000 armed miners to the steps of the state capitol in Charleston to read a declaration of war to Governor William E. Glasscock.
The confrontation directly caused approximately fifty violent deaths from armed conflicts between miners and strike-breaking forces, as well as many more deaths indirectly caused by starvation and malnutrition among the striking miners. In terms of casualties, it was among the worst conflicts in American labor history.
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Guess who's having a shit time of it lately.
CW: discussion of self harm, general negative emotions. TL:Dr :(
I have now officially been rejected by every lab in the country. Not a single scientific institution thinks I'm worthy to work even in roles that require the most bare minimum of qualifications. Since graduating in October, I've had one interview (which of course I fucked up) and been ghosted by every other opening I applied for. I've wasted five years getting my degree and it hasn't helped me be employable for shit.
Now to top it off, I received a letter from the WGS telling me that I've missed an appointment that I was never told I had and if I can't book a new one, I'll be withdrawn from treatment by the gender service. Ya girl has spent all day alternating between fighting intrusive thoughts of slashing open my wrists in the bath (there'd less mess with my corpse that way) and being put on various answer phones. Still no closer to fixing this than I was when I opened the letter this morning.
So now, I'm curled up somewhere cosy and dark desperately trying to stop thinking all these terrible thoughts and wishing I could just stop existing. All the while, that damn ringing in my ears has grown noticeably louder.
The fault is with capitalism, not you. But I know very well that staying motivated under capitalism is really difficult, this system is soul-crushing on purpose.
I don't really have an answer or advice for you, I wish I did. But I've definitely been there.