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Freemasons, Trade
Unions and the Tragedy of History
preface
CRAFT, TRADE OR MYSTERY
PART ONE: BRITAIN FROM GOTHIC CATHEDRALS TO THE TOLPUDDLE CONSPIRATORS
Dr. Bob James
The tragedy is at least six-fold:
First - students of history have been denied an adequate account of the
'lodge movement' and its social context, with the result that it is invisible to
the general populace and researchers in many fields have been denied the
challenge of seeing Freemasons, 'trade unions' and 'friendly societies' as fruit
of the same tree;
Second - the idea of mutual aid, the impact of its once wide-spread
existence, its origins and its demise have all been rendered invisible to the
detriment of our understanding of ourselves. The clearest example of historico-cultural
consequences of this process is the tradition of the 'true believer', the worker
who allegedly chose to be disciplined by the collectivity, the 'trade union', at
the precise moment she/he became aware of his/her individual freedom;
Third - the context of the 'true believer' has been the wholesale transfer of
an industrialisation mindset, including of certain ideological responses, from
the UK to colonial outposts, such as Australia, where, in consequence, the local
evolution of industrialisation has remained un-studied;
Fourth - mis-understanding the failure of the particular model of 'mutual
aid' dominant since industrialisation has prevented practitioners (lodge
members) and sympathetic observers (including historians) from redressing the
model in the direction of systems theory, ie replacing linear with integrated
perspectives. Thus, in general, social theory has pendulumed between two
goal-oriented models, 'free trade' and 'protectionism'; and
Fifth - as a consequence, the only perceived alternative to a government-run
health & welfare scheme during a return season of 'free trade', now called
economic rationalism, and reduced State functions, is the privateers-for-profit
model.
Sixth - while fraternal associations remain unknown and invisible as a
significant social phenomenon, their physical heritage, the regalia, records,
certificates, banners and lodge furniture are broken up, dumped and burnt, or
left to decay in unsuitable environments.
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