Radium Girls & the Failure of Unregulated Capitalism

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  • Опубліковано 30 вер 2024

КОМЕНТАРІ • 132

  • @Meromorphic
    @Meromorphic  Рік тому +41

    Hope you guys enjoy this one! Very different from my normal stuff. I'll be going back to Unpacking videos and other such after this! One small correction: Mae Keane was an employee of Waterbury Clock Co. in Connecticut, not Radium Dial. (Of course only realized the error after uploading 😢)

    • @Oig-ln7ep
      @Oig-ln7ep Рік тому +3

      It is downright criminal that this video doesn’t have more views. This is absolutely incredible.

    • @Meromorphic
      @Meromorphic  11 місяців тому +1

      @@Oig-ln7ep thank you friend!

  • @feathersfororphans
    @feathersfororphans Рік тому +59

    Christ. Can the algorithm show this man some love already?

    • @Meromorphic
      @Meromorphic  Рік тому +7

      Appreciate it my friend. It'll happen. I believe. Lol

  • @fisher123fisher
    @fisher123fisher 11 місяців тому +79

    Unregulated capitalism = worker exploitation

    • @MosquitoValentineNH
      @MosquitoValentineNH 23 дні тому +1

      As opposed to state-owned collective farms and factories.. worker’s paradise! 🙄👌‼️

  • @jacobweeks777
    @jacobweeks777 Рік тому +45

    Woah Mero, you can't just show up with that luscious mane all of a sudden

  • @mOOOp42
    @mOOOp42 Рік тому +141

    Wow just wow. As a guy who works and complains about too much regulation in the USA this video was a nice refresher as to why these policies exist in the first place. Thank you, I needed this and I'm always amazed that our world just barely holds on to society with small checks and balances like this.

    • @thewandering01
      @thewandering01 11 місяців тому +26

      Every regulation is written in blood. None of them is adopted just for fun. It's because things were so bad (and went on so long), that the regulations were made despite the will of the wealthy and corporations.

    • @weylinwebber4180
      @weylinwebber4180 9 місяців тому +4

      Bro I had a guy put rat poison in the air quality tester while I was working at Tesla in a week later and the technician told me all the results were stellar.
      That is when your soul gets litmus test and unfortunately many seem to fail while telling themselves they're doing the best they can.
      They are all evil and they are all complicit unfortunately.

    • @Sandvichman.
      @Sandvichman. 8 місяців тому +3

      i take it you're a completely average, working class person? how do you come to any of these conclusions, especially as someone who BENEFITS from regulation? do you know what the early 1900s looked like? i just dont get it

    • @weylinwebber4180
      @weylinwebber4180 8 місяців тому +2

      @@Sandvichman. Sir coming from the standpoint of a child who grew up in a conservative military family and then spent three years at the hell hole called Tesla Fremont stamping,.
      The simple answer is that it's cultural. You have guys who complain but then they act like being put underneath these conditions also makes them tough.
      The same guy is that constantly bitch and moan about not making enough money will still stop you from causing too much trouble because they feel their job is at risk.
      Dude I just confronted my supervisor for my time there telling him about sexual assault and drug dealing and the fucker told me he already knew about it but couldn't do anything.
      Which of course he already knew about it I told him in 2017 but I don't think he gave enough of a shit to even remember that.
      Put all that together and you get some terrified hardworking people because they literally believe their lives depend on it.
      And from that perspective it does.
      Please let me know if you have any questions.

    • @Sandvichman.
      @Sandvichman. 8 місяців тому +1

      @@weylinwebber4180
      i think you described it perfectly

  • @Tom-bs3zh
    @Tom-bs3zh Рік тому +16

    Still, after all this, hardly anybody got the hint, as Eben Byers' doctor prescribed him Radithor (radium water) for a broken arm in 1927. He died jawless in 1932.

  • @theodorixjohnson4336
    @theodorixjohnson4336 Рік тому +39

    This is one of the first horror stories we are taught as occupational health and safety engineers this triangle shirtwaist, Chernobyl and Bhopal and my god I hope I never allow something this horrific to ever happen

    • @Tiger74147
      @Tiger74147 11 місяців тому +1

      I haven't heard of Bhopal. I should look that up. ...then again, maybe I've had enough gloomy reading for a lifetime haha.

    • @fisher123fisher
      @fisher123fisher 11 місяців тому

      @@Tiger74147 there was a phosphene? gas leak in the union carbide factory. It killed hundreds around the town

    • @paulahurley
      @paulahurley 2 місяці тому +1

      Add DuPont to that list…it’s terrifying how many workers are sacrificed in the pursuit of power and wealth.

  • @rogelioestrada4530
    @rogelioestrada4530 Рік тому +31

    I was in a play about this story and it was really eye-opening to read about the messed up stuff these companies were doing to these girls. I really love how you covered this topic and the empathy you showed to the victims of these companies

    • @Meromorphic
      @Meromorphic  Рік тому +4

      Hey thank you so much! I'd definitely like to see this play!

    • @wowimsatan2802
      @wowimsatan2802 10 місяців тому +1

      I was also in this play!! Who were you? I was Roeder (super emotionally intense)

    • @rogelioestrada4530
      @rogelioestrada4530 10 місяців тому

      @wowimsatan2802 It was years ago but I was one of the board ppl and also the factory manager telling the girls off about the rags

    • @wowimsatan2802
      @wowimsatan2802 10 місяців тому

      @@rogelioestrada4530 thats fun!!! its such an emotionally heavy production and its so hard to put yourself into the role of the people who knew they were causing such evil

  • @inz1
    @inz1 Рік тому +23

    This is quite literally the best content you’ve ever put out.
    Bravo. Encore.

    • @kathymueller639
      @kathymueller639 Рік тому +1

      It is really incredible!

    • @kathymueller639
      @kathymueller639 Рік тому +1

      BRILLIANT History is so incredibly important! I have learned so much today, and thank you for your dedication to gathering FACTS😊

  • @MosesLeadzy
    @MosesLeadzy Рік тому +8

    The vibes i get from this video oddly resemble a potato. I don’t know what or why or anything, it just gives me potato vibes.
    So yes, communism = 🥔 in my book.

    • @MosesLeadzy
      @MosesLeadzy Рік тому +1

      shoot i ment capitalism not communism

  • @chrispylee1019
    @chrispylee1019 9 місяців тому +7

    So, thanks to this video, I found out my grandma grew up in the same town all of this happened. Crazy.

    • @Meromorphic
      @Meromorphic  9 місяців тому +1

      Oh damn! You should ask her about it!

  • @ArsenicArtist
    @ArsenicArtist 8 місяців тому +7

    I'm currently in my final year of high school, and I've chosen to have my English summative be about this video essay. It is truly the most detailed video I've seen on the subject, you did an amazing job!

    • @Meromorphic
      @Meromorphic  8 місяців тому +2

      Aww this is so freaking cool!! I actually teach HS Math and Physics for my day job. Hit me up at the email in my profile or on insta if you have any questions, and good luck!

    • @ArsenicArtist
      @ArsenicArtist 8 місяців тому +1

      @@Meromorphic Thank you, I'll be sure to email you with any questions I may have! Have a wonderful day/night

    • @ArsenicArtist
      @ArsenicArtist 15 днів тому

      ​@Meromorphic a very late update: my English summative got an A+! I held a class discussion about this topic and about this video essay. Again, you did a wonderful job on it 👏 probably the best researched video I've ever seen on the topic

  • @neplvr
    @neplvr Рік тому +10

    Woaahhh UA-cam recommendations are really good

    • @Meromorphic
      @Meromorphic  Рік тому +2

      Oh hell yeah! Good to hear it's being recommended!

  • @greekandbulgariangamertv8633
    @greekandbulgariangamertv8633 Рік тому +6

    That an interesting topic if you ask me also think some times of how many stuff that we today say are bad for our health back in the day they think it was perfectly healthy or at least not that could cause a health related illness it makes me wonder what staff do we day use today that in the future will find that it is actually bad for us in the end of the day we are not that different with the 20s we are both parts of history that that will one day become the past and in the future people will call as stupid

  • @lemonlordminecraft
    @lemonlordminecraft Рік тому +7

    Damn, this is a crazy piece of history and I'm glad you jumped out of your usual stuff to pen it. I clicked on this after watching another one of your videos and was initially going to click off of it because, quite frankly, I was in the mood for more cartoon unpacking but I am so glad I stayed. Bravo, my good sir, bravo. Wish this had gotten the attention it deserved 💔 all the other videos covering this are not nearly as in-depth

    • @Meromorphic
      @Meromorphic  11 місяців тому +1

      Thank you so much! I really appreciate it. Hopefully one day the algorithm will deign to shine it's light on it. Lol

  • @honey-bagder3451
    @honey-bagder3451 Рік тому +6

    Thus far in, this documentary is way better than the movie.

    • @Meromorphic
      @Meromorphic  Рік тому +2

      Thanks. I meant to say in there somewhere that I do not recommend the movie. It's pretty bad. But honestly, I just forgot. 😅

  • @thequeenofcringe1585
    @thequeenofcringe1585 8 місяців тому +4

    The fact that lip pointing was a practice is insane to me. You don’t put paint in your mouth no matter what’s in it. Just get a brush better suited for the job. A thin brush with short bristles is much more effective for painting small things.

    • @carborundorum
      @carborundorum 7 місяців тому +1

      Lip pointing was outlawed in Europe. Instead of brushes, glass applicators were used. USRC switched to glass but the painters couldn't work as fast or as precisely, so they switched back to brushes because they were paid by the piece.

  • @beannathrach2417
    @beannathrach2417 11 місяців тому +5

    A further obscenity is the liability of an offender can depend on their knowledge. If you can show you didn't know about the danger, you might be able to evade. So businesses don't want to know about dangers they create because they can't be sued for dangers they don't know about.

  • @three_iii9198
    @three_iii9198 Рік тому +5

    What a painful listen, my heart breaks for the girls 😢 you did an amazing job with the video tho! Awesome work, keep ot up 😄👍

  • @coloronmyarm
    @coloronmyarm Рік тому +6

    Good job man. I know you worked on this one for a while. Keep up the good content

  • @youtubeuniversity3638
    @youtubeuniversity3638 2 місяці тому +1

    0:30 Personally my take's "'Broken As Intended' Is Not Self-Contradictory".

  • @MeghanBean
    @MeghanBean 5 днів тому +1

    It’s so scary we’re the same species… barbarians in business suits

  • @mirnacudiczgela1963
    @mirnacudiczgela1963 2 місяці тому +1

    Valuing the dollar over human life is evil enough for me. Period.

  • @nintendbro3275
    @nintendbro3275 2 місяці тому +1

    This seems really appropriate with the whole chevron case rn 😳😂

  • @HamboogyYT
    @HamboogyYT Рік тому +3

    Based Meromorphic

  • @Eainai
    @Eainai 6 місяців тому +2

    How in the actual ass did a well-written, accurate, beautifully animated, extremely informative documentary get so few likes? I'd give more than one like if I could, but since I cannot, I hope you'll accept my subscription.

  • @ykMMD
    @ykMMD Місяць тому +1

    Wow, what a video. The content, montage and visuals are incredible. Thank you for this!

    • @Meromorphic
      @Meromorphic  Місяць тому

      Thanks so much! It really means a lot reading comments like these

  • @MeghanBean
    @MeghanBean 5 днів тому +1

    I have to believe in a hell

  • @Abrahamwaffle
    @Abrahamwaffle 6 місяців тому +2

    I cannot tell you how shocked i was when i saw the view count after finishing the video, holy shit this deserves so much more

  • @alexispartee4086
    @alexispartee4086 2 місяці тому +1

    The picture of Catherine Donahue is actually Grace Fryer. I just finished reading Radium Girls. This was a great follow-up to the book!

    • @LlamaLlamaMamaJamaac
      @LlamaLlamaMamaJamaac 2 місяці тому

      I’m not far into the video, but around 2:37 the “tooth and jaw necrosis results in needing repeated extractions” picture, pretty sure that’s Catherine Donahue…. that was taken at the moment when she learned her prognosis in the courtroom

    • @alexispartee4086
      @alexispartee4086 2 місяці тому

      @@LlamaLlamaMamaJamaac yeah that is definitely Catherine Donahue. The part of the book that covers her slow death is so heartbreaking. Her husband was a real one-of-a-kind guy. The picture I was referring to is the one at 41:12 which I only know because that one is in the book as well.

  • @xardiesn.o.o.b4971
    @xardiesn.o.o.b4971 Рік тому +4

    Oh new video to spam watch at work thanks

    • @Meromorphic
      @Meromorphic  Рік тому +2

      Of course. Happy to help 🤣

    • @xardiesn.o.o.b4971
      @xardiesn.o.o.b4971 Рік тому +2

      @@Meromorphic I've watched the moral oral videos more times than I'd like to admit look forward to any video you upload

  • @weylinwebber4180
    @weylinwebber4180 9 місяців тому +2

    Hey morphic, really really well done quality video about how those are the top are always protected against the cataclysm that they've create and it brought into an uncomfortable realization that while working at Tesla they were basically doing the exact same thing and yeah about every month a guy would lose a leg or lose a hands lucky if they didn't get electrocuted or had something just straight up to crush them.
    Biggest problem was getting respirators for the aluminum dust and we had one guy who just decided nah I don't need it and would sit with his face at part lay level and then come back up looking like he was huffing spray paint.
    I expect a lot of my compatriates at that factory now have shortened lifespans.
    And actually my dad ended up dying as results of the harassment that he faced at the Sparks Reno factory at the age of 47 so I guess that's my data point right there.
    Anyways good job man let me know if you want to work on something about Tesla together.

  • @conniethomas4753
    @conniethomas4753 3 місяці тому +1

    Blimey those poor girls.

  • @martin90000
    @martin90000 11 місяців тому +1

    Awesome documentary, I really like your approach and angle. A bit long, but worth it :-) UA-cam needs more content creators like this, fewer like SSSniperWolf lol!

  • @wowimsatan2802
    @wowimsatan2802 10 місяців тому +1

    I had the privilege to play Arthur Roeder in my high school's production of Radium Girls a few years back and it was one of the most emotionally intense roles I had ever done, especially learning the history of the true events. I can't even begin to imagine how horrific it would be to live through these events.

  • @larshogan1275
    @larshogan1275 Рік тому +3

    Momma Mero!!

    • @Meromorphic
      @Meromorphic  Рік тому

      Shut up! My name change was supposed to be a secret

  • @lavalamp1
    @lavalamp1 11 місяців тому +2

    this is insanity that all this happened right after one another and it still went on this long

  • @hexoskeleton
    @hexoskeleton Рік тому +2

    A bit late to this one but Oof, ouch hate to hear it.

    • @Meromorphic
      @Meromorphic  11 місяців тому

      Lmao. Only 100 or so years, but can't fault ya

  • @kitkatisyummy6119
    @kitkatisyummy6119 25 днів тому

    everday the hammer and sickle looks more tempting to pick up

  • @Lexxxxiii
    @Lexxxxiii 3 місяці тому

    Hi. i love this video, and am saddened to see it is not being reccomended more.
    Comment, comment, i am commenting to boost engagement

  • @amyjones2501
    @amyjones2501 Місяць тому

    And then, the Supreme Court repeals the Chevron Act...

  • @1234567890sunshine
    @1234567890sunshine Рік тому +2

    How were the people who wore the watches affected? Did everyone wearing the watches also get poisoned?

    • @Meromorphic
      @Meromorphic  Рік тому +1

      Great question. I didn't come across any data on the subject, but if anything, they probably had burns on their skin and were at a higher risk for cancer. However, they weren't constantly injesting material. They had a single, trace amount of radium on their person. Alpha and beta decay would have been negated by the bottom of the watch and skin. So they'd still be getting a higher than background radiation pretty constantly, but probably not enough to be life threatening outside strange cases.

    • @MarcUK
      @MarcUK 11 місяців тому +2

      Wearing the watches was perfectly safe. The danger would come later on for anyone that had to open them up to do repairs/maintenance and not know the coatings were radioactive. Worst case is that the majority of those watches made are probably in landfill now.

    • @ArsenicArtist
      @ArsenicArtist 8 місяців тому

      I don't belive so! My grandfather owned one when I was a child, and he lived to 93 with no complications. The watches were safe unless you opened them to conduct repairs and came into direct contact with the paint

  • @abbygarrett154
    @abbygarrett154 Рік тому +2

    Insane story and sick edit!!! Thanks for sharing.

  • @randomartz8417
    @randomartz8417 27 днів тому

    I love playing video games to your videos. Keep it up!

  • @lucasbroto7928
    @lucasbroto7928 8 місяців тому +1

    I am in complete disbelief with the girls situation

  • @bksellers64
    @bksellers64 4 місяці тому +3

    The similarities between this and the mRNA vaccines is uncanny.

  • @Skokapus
    @Skokapus 4 місяці тому

    oh cool i did this play a couple months ago

  • @JDogVids
    @JDogVids 5 місяців тому

    Wtf bro this video needs way more recognition and you deserve way more subscribers, this is such a high quality video and I can tell you put alot of work into it, im subbed and glad I found this channel!

  • @kelsoistired
    @kelsoistired 4 місяці тому

    I own one of the clocks produced by radium dial for westclox and I'm always filled with anger and sadness when I think about its history for too long

  • @LOVEWORMZZ
    @LOVEWORMZZ 9 місяців тому

    bro, ty for this, I've read SO MUCH about the radium girls and so many video essays on here skip the part where they STEAL THEIR FUCKING BONES thanks for not leaving that CRITICAL detail out, excellent work!

  • @YasugoLiehu
    @YasugoLiehu 7 місяців тому

    25:46 Could you imagine his reaction?
    “Heh heh! Alright, alright, let's see how _high_ my levels are. He heh ha haaaah … … … oh… o-oh…”

  • @riki4644
    @riki4644 11 місяців тому +1

    underrated

  • @joeport1570
    @joeport1570 11 місяців тому

    Recently saw a play about Radium Girls, was fantastic and extremely brutal.

  • @RowieSundog
    @RowieSundog Рік тому

    I can't believe you have so few subscribers n views your videos are so well made!!

  • @Gnomageddon
    @Gnomageddon 11 місяців тому +2

    I grew up in Waterbury CT, they NEVER TOLD US about this messed up thing.....man.....i'm shocked.

    • @Meromorphic
      @Meromorphic  11 місяців тому +1

      Honestly not surprising. I grew up in one of the last towns in America to desegregate. They hung an effigy of a black schoolchild from the High School. Never heard a peep about it until I left the town for college and started looking into it. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mansfield_school_desegregation_incident

  • @genx7417
    @genx7417 6 місяців тому

    Calling US Radium evil is not simplistic it's 100% accurate 😑

    • @Meromorphic
      @Meromorphic  6 місяців тому +1

      Except that isn't what I said. I said attributing their actions to pure evil is simplistic. The doesn't mean it *wasn't* evil, it just misses the point entirely.

  • @Cheng-jq6fc
    @Cheng-jq6fc 11 місяців тому

    #RADITHOR was also
    terrifying case..

  • @youtubeuniversity3638
    @youtubeuniversity3638 10 місяців тому

    Subscriptioned did.

  • @danstevens6515
    @danstevens6515 Рік тому +2

    We have plenty of jobs now that are legal and ruin people’s lives, too

    • @Meromorphic
      @Meromorphic  Рік тому +1

      Yup. Unfortunately why this story is still relevant.

  • @Vextonomy
    @Vextonomy Рік тому

    O

  • @luizferrarezzi
    @luizferrarezzi Місяць тому +1

    no one wants to hear it but the people in power are treating climate change and covid with the same care

  • @kathymueller639
    @kathymueller639 Рік тому +3

    Thanks! BRILLIANT

  • @동동동-x9b
    @동동동-x9b 8 місяців тому +3

    I think it mainly just means we didn't know about how dagerous radium was, I don't think a communist utopia would have known about the dangers of radium before... knowing about dangers of radium.

    • @Meromorphic
      @Meromorphic  8 місяців тому +6

      Except, ya know, they DID know, as was proven in court. They knew, and yet did nothing. Less than nothing, even. **Tell me you didn't watch the video without telling me you didn't watch the video.**

  • @thatjojolesbian
    @thatjojolesbian 9 місяців тому +2

    it is a crime that something this high quality doesnt have more views