"With a Strange Twist of History's Knife, Once Again, the Pinkertons Are in the Middle"

"Are enforcers and protectors who serve those who can afford to pay inherently undemocratic? If capitalism, in its evolutions, has paid for the Pinkertons to serve the functions government can't provide, what does that mean about Pinkertons—and about government? Another entry on the Pinkertons' timeline touts its service to clients during 21st-century hurricanes, events that create miniature Wild Wests—frontier-like situations, where the government and law enforcement can't always protect everyone's property and bodies. Is this fair? In our new Gilded Age, our popular entertainments, like Red Dead 2, are reflecting back our uncertainty and rage about the inequities we're living through."

Rebecca Onion at Slate discusses the historical image of the Pinkerton Detective Agency.