Land of Oz - Economy and Politics

Economy and Politics

Some political analysts have claimed that Oz is a thinly disguised socialist utopia, though some Baum scholars disagree. Advocates of this theory support it using this quotation from The Emerald City of Oz:

"There were no poor people in the land of Oz, because there was no such thing as money, and all property of every sort belonged to the Ruler. Each person was given freely by his neighbors whatever he required for his use, which is as much as anyone may reasonably desire. Every one worked half the time and played half the time, and the people enjoyed the work as much as they did the play, because it is good to be occupied and to have something to do. There were no cruel overseers set to watch them, and no one to rebuke them or to find fault with them. So each one was proud to do all he could for his friends and neighbors, and was glad when they would accept the things he produced."

This is a revision of the original society: in the first two books, the people of Oz lived in a money-based economy. For instance, the people of the Emerald City use "green pennies" as coinage. Money was not abolished in the course of the series, but excised from the conception of Oz. Indeed, in The Magic of Oz, a character from Oz gets into trouble when he goes to Ev because he was unaware of the concept of money. This decision to remove money from Oz may reflect Baum's own financial difficulties in the times when he was writing these books.

Since Oz is ruled by a monarch, benevolent though she may be, Oz is closer in nature to an absolute monarchy than a welfare state or a Marxist one. When she was first introduced, Ozma was the monarch specifically of the Emerald City, but in the description of Ozma of Oz, Oz is presented as a federal state, rather like the German Empire, in monarchies rather than republics: having an overall ruler in Ozma, and individual kings and queens of smaller portions.

The society grew steadily more utopian, in that its peace and prosperity were organized, but from the first book, it was a stupendously wealthy country, in contrast to Kansas's crop failures, droughts, and mortgages—just as it also is colorful to contrast with Kansas's gray. On the other hand, despite the presence of the Emerald City, Oz is an agrarian country, similar to Kansas; the story has been interpreted as a populist parable, and certainly contains many populist themes.

In The Wonder City of Oz, Princess Ozma (called "Queen Ozma" in this book) is seen running for election ("ozlection") to her office as ruler against Jenny Jump, a half-fairy newcomer from New Jersey. However, this book was not written by Baum, but by John R. Neill, Baum's second successor. Further, the concept of the "ozlection" was not in Neill's manuscript for the book, but was added by an editor at Reilly and Lee, the publisher.

At times the rulers of Oz's territories have grander titles than would normally be customary, but this is done mostly for the satisfaction of the incumbents. The ruler of the Winkie Country is the Emperor, the Tin Woodman. The ruler of the Quadling Country is Glinda the Good. The Munchkin Country is ruled by a king, later identified as Cheeriobed, who is revealed to be married to the Good Witch of the North, who, a spell broken, abdicates leadership of the Gillikin Country to Joe King and Queen Hyacinth of Up Town.

The Royal Flag of Oz is based on the map of the Land of Oz; the four colors represent the four countries, and the green star represents the Emerald City.