The Beach, Withernsea, Yorkshire, circa 1904.   Postcard, author's collection.

My grandfather was born and raised in Withernsea, but by 1904 he had already emigrated to the States, been married and had three daughters, lost his first wife, remarried and had a son, my uncle, in 1903. 

Labor Day is also the official end of summer, hence another beach scene.  In the past I have written about the labor movement and the struggles of the working man (and child), but to little effect, as I imagine you already know.

My grandfather was raised in poor laborer's housing.  He came to this country to find work.  The point is, I might feel quite differently about things if he'd had a title, an estate with extensive land, a seat in the House of Lords, and was upset about the decline of the power of the aristocracy.  He might have done any number of things in such a case.  Say, for instance, if he'd been Sir Oswald Mosley, eldest son of a baronet in a family of prosperous landowners, who saw those family estates sold off with the subsequent loss of the hereditary power and prestige of his class.  In those circumstances my grandfather might have done something drastic, but it was not the case, and he did not.  Unlike Sir Oswald.  

Yes, I tend to view the current situation from the perspective of class.  Except the ruling class these days is a corporate elite.  And although some of the poor like to think of themselves as "middle class" it's only because it sounds nicer than "working poor."  So it's really the rich versus the poor again, my darlings.  And therefore, why the poor, why the increasingly unemployed and bankrupted and homeless and uninsured working class poor would think it's a good idea for one minute to support the efforts of the corporate elite to deny them health care, a living wage, a safe workplace and fair lending practices is, quite frankly, beyond me.  

Happy Labor Day.  Happy End of Summer.