"The organization and constant onward sweep of this movement exemplifies the resentment of the many toward the selfishness, greed and the neglect of the few"
About this Quote
The intent is to translate workplace conflict into a larger democratic drama: the many versus the few. Lewis frames resentment not as a shameful emotion but as an earned political fuel, produced by “selfishness, greed and neglect.” Those nouns are chosen like indictments. Greed names extraction; neglect names indifference. Together they argue that labor unrest isn’t irrational agitation but a rational response to sustained disregard.
Subtextually, Lewis is also pre-empting the favorite critique of unions as special interests. By insisting the few have already been acting as a ruthless minority, he flips the charge: collective bargaining becomes the corrective to concentrated power, not a distortion of it. In the mid-20th-century context of coal and steel wars, New Deal reform, and fierce anti-union backlash, this language functions as both mobilization and legitimacy. It gives workers a story in which their anger is not merely personal but structural, and their solidarity is the mechanism that turns grievance into leverage.
Quote Details
| Topic | Equality |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite | Cite this Quote |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Lewis, John L. (n.d.). The organization and constant onward sweep of this movement exemplifies the resentment of the many toward the selfishness, greed and the neglect of the few. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/the-organization-and-constant-onward-sweep-of-26665/
Chicago Style
Lewis, John L. "The organization and constant onward sweep of this movement exemplifies the resentment of the many toward the selfishness, greed and the neglect of the few." FixQuotes. Accessed February 2, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/the-organization-and-constant-onward-sweep-of-26665/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"The organization and constant onward sweep of this movement exemplifies the resentment of the many toward the selfishness, greed and the neglect of the few." FixQuotes, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/the-organization-and-constant-onward-sweep-of-26665/. Accessed 2 Feb. 2026.
