What would happen to you if you tried to make your way in the world believing all the clear, simple things you had ever been taught growing up? Here we have one response to that question, a commentary by the great novelist, journalist and political activist Upton Sinclair, on what we are to encounter as we make our way in this world we live in. It is set against the backdrop of its time (about a hundred years ago) and place (a capitalist microcosm called "Lockmanville" in upstate New York) and the viewpoint of its author. Young Samuel Prescott, having been robbed penniless, encounters the expected cast of characters, from the fiendish and jaded Capitalists to the sainted Socialists, with the righteous religious and the purchased politicians and police along the way, all perched upon the backs and shoulders of the poor and the powerless. But we can all find ourselves in here somewhere, and seek for the truth and the way forward. (Summary by D Pranitis)