The Ragged Trousered Philanthropist.

 

It was an engineer who was a member of the CPGB, who advised me to read the Ragged Trousered Philanthropist by Robert Tressell, many years ago. Over the years, I have the read the book several times.

The Ragged Trousered Philanthropist was a book that was read by many British soldiers in the trenches in WWI. It probably as the same standing as Tom Paine's 'Rights of Man' or Robert Blatchford's book 'Merrie England', which have all been influential. The book is set in the fictional town of Mugsborough (Hastings), and is centred around a group of men, who work for a firm called Rushton & Co. The discussions that those Edwardian working men have amongst one another, are still being played out today in pubs and clubs across the country, and it is said that you can identify some of the characters in the book, with people that you know. Those working men also blame foreigners for most of their misfortunes in life, rather than the political system, but they vent their spleen on French onion sellers.

There's no doubt that the books ideological hero, the socialist Frank Owen, is Robert Tressell. It's also clear that Owen is largely contemptuous about many of his work mates and this is reflected in the title of the book and the name of the town. He basically thinks they're mugs and he's right.

A cloth cap Tory like Lee Anderson, of Reform UK, could have fallen straight out of the pages of the Ragged Trousered Philanthropist and so could many of the constituents of Clacton-on-Sea - one of the most socially deprived parts of England - who voted for the grifter Nigel Farage and Reform UK, who want to slash state benefits that many of his constituents rely on.

People often say that the book should be compulsory reading in British schools, but it's unlikely that the book will ever be put on the school curriculum because of its socialist content. I think two other books that should be on the curriculum for British schools is "News from Nowhere' by William Morris and 'Candide' by Voltaire.