Turn Me On, Dead Man

In Henry Littlefield's Populist allegory, the yellow brick road represents the gold standard. [1]The monetary system in the United States in the 19th and well into the 20th century was that paper money was redeemable for gold at a fixed exchange rate. Populists regarded the gold standard as unfair and argued instead for "bimetallism," the use of both silver and gold as the monetary standard. Symbolizing the silver standard were Dorothy's shoes, which were silver in Baum's original story rather than the ruby slippers featured in the 1939 MGM movie. Dorothy does not understand the power of the silver shoes, so she heads down the treacherous yellow brick road. The Populists believed that the gold standard, like the yellow brick road, had many pitfalls for ordinary people.

Dorothy's trek down the yellow brick road to the Emerald City recalls an event that took place during the winter of 1893-1894. High unemployment led a populist from Massilon, Ohio, named Jacob Coxey to organize a march on Washington, DC to promote his plan to put people back to work through a public works program. Coxey felt that Congress should increase the amount of money in circulation and use those funds for a public works program that would improve the roads. Coxey hoped to attract as many as 100,000 unemployed workers as he marched toward the nation's capital, but he led only 500 people into Washington, DC. "Coxey's Army", as it came to be called, was quickly put down by federal troops. Though Coxey did not meet his goals he did succeed in drawing attention to the plight of the unemployed and he encouraged other workers to organize. What was unique about Coxey's effort was that he looked to the federal government to sponsor this program.

In Joey Green's Buddhist interpretation of The Wizard of Oz, the yellow brick road is the path to self-actualization. As he puts it, "As long as she follows the Yellow Brick Road, all roads lead to self-actualization." [2]"Follow the yellow brick road" is the mantra is Green's interpretation of The Wizard of Oz. [3]The yellow brick road represents a pilgrimage in Darren John Main's New Age take on The Wizard of Oz.