Public servants going into government to clean things up?
asserted
servants → go → things
As our guide Bill Graffin explains, this 101-year-old pioneering feat of engineering treats as much as 400 million gallons of wastewater each day.
asserted
feat → explain → wastewater
So, before the treatment center was built, how was water in Milwaukee treated?
asserted
water → build → Milwaukee
"It wasn't," Graffin replied.
asserted
Graffin → reply → ?
Kevin Shafer, executive director of Milwaukee's sewer system, explained: "All the sewage in the region went right to the rivers, which then went to Lake Michigan.
asserted
which → explain → Michigan
And then we took our drinking water out of Lake Michigan."
asserted
we → take → Michigan
He said private industry could have built the sewage treatment system, "but that initial capital investment was huge.
uncertain
investment → say → system
So, it really took a public tax base to pay for it."
asserted
it → take → it
And that's just what happened in 1925 under the leadership of Milwaukee's Socialist mayor.
asserted
what → happen → mayor
In fact, Milwaukee was once the capital of American Socialism, and was the only major American city to elect three Socialist mayors.
asserted
Milwaukee → elect → mayors
They collectively presided for nearly 40 years, beginning in 1910.
asserted
They → preside → 1910
So why, in Milwaukee of all places, did voters elect a Socialist government?
asserted
voters → elect → government
"Because they were the best choice, absolutely," said John Gurda, the preeminent historian of Milwaukee.
asserted
Gurda → say → Milwaukee
"You have a lot of things going on.
asserted
lot → have → things
One was corruption in high places, so there was an appetite for change; and then you had a huge working-class population as well – 57% of Milwaukee's males worked in manufacturing.
asserted
% → be → manufacturing
'Machine shop of world,' that was the self-signed slogan.
asserted
that → sign → world
So, appeals to that class consciousness were really well-received.
asserted
appeals → receive → consciousness
Also key: the city's vibrant community of educated German immigrants who'd been raised with Socialist ideals before coming to America.
asserted
who → educate → America
They'd gather at Turner Hall.
asserted
They → gather → Hall
"This was really a center of German social life, as well as kind of an intellectual salon," said Gurda.
asserted
Gurda → say → life
"You got lectures here, lots of discourses, debates."
asserted
You → get → discourses
Now, this was a distinctly practical, Midwestern flavor of Socialism, focused less on class warfare and more on what they said was improving the lives of working-class people: more parks, public housing, and functioning sewers, which is why it was dubbed "Sewer Socialism."
asserted
it → focus → parks
"It was probably more social democracy back in those years," said Gurda, "and I think probably less ideological than practical."
asserted
I → say → years
Asked if that was why it was successful, because it didn't emphasize ideology, Gurda said, "Yes, absolutely."
asserted
Gurda → ask → ideology
He added that Milwaukee's Socialists were anti-capitalist, "but they worked with anyone."
asserted
they → add → anyone
While recent polls show it's increasingly appealing to younger voters, it's still more often an accusation hurled to cast suspicion on a candidate, such as attack ads accusing Michigan's Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed of promoting Socialism.
asserted
it → show → Socialism
[For the record, El-Sayed has said repeatedly that he is not a Socialist.
asserted
he → say → record
"No, not at all," Gurda said, "and I think what people learned over time, they learned to trust the Socialists.
asserted
they → say → Socialists
One of the first acts of the first Socialist mayor, Emil Seidel, was erecting a public exhibit on the city's budget – which was not exactly thrilling political theater.
asserted
which → erect → budget
"It appealed to immigrant thrift," Gurda said.
asserted
Gurda → appeal → thrift
"Because people, the average German house frau, you gotta make a dollar stretch, and the Socialists were doing that on the city level."
asserted
Socialists → got → level
It was Milwaukee's second Socialist mayor, Daniel Hoan, who made the biggest impact on the city.
asserted
who → make → city
During his 24 years in office, Milwaukee won award after award for being the safest, healthiest and cleanest big city in America.
asserted
Milwaukee → win → America
"We won the public health award so often that Milwaukee had to be retired, to give other cities a chance," Gurda said.
asserted
Gurda → win → chance
Hoan was the mayor who spearheaded the Jones Island Water Treatment Facility.
asserted
who → spearhead → Facility
But this Socialist was thinking more like a capitalist when he helped come up with a product that could be made from the wastewater: Milwaukee Organic Nitrogen, better known as the fertilizer Milorganite.
uncertain
that → think → fertilizer
"A lotta people think it's poop in a bag, and it's not," said Bill Graffin.
asserted
Graffin → think → bag
And Milwaukee hit pay dirt with Milorganite.
asserted
Milwaukee → hit → Milorganite
Still sold today, it brings in millions each year to the city.
asserted
it → sell → city
"Master gardeners love it, the golf course superintendents, and homeowners," Graffin said.
asserted
Graffin → love → it
…and 7 more, not listed.
The Aporia
