I left a note on last week's assignment, but most of you won't see it, so let me repeat - great job guys! I really enjoyed your posts, and some of you found powerful quotes that I hope stick with you. So many things Dr. King said made an impact, and not just because of his style of delivery. His thoughts were deep, and he spoke powerful truth in his fight for justice and equality. Most people don't realize that his final trip to Memphis was not to work on behalf of the African-American population, but rather to bring attention to the way workers, black and white, were being mistreated.
This week's assignment takes us to a topic that deserves our attention - the Great Depression. It is altogether fitting that we should be studying America's greatest financial crisis - our weakest point other than the Civil War - against the backdrop of our current economic situation. It is important to understand that for the great majority of our history our economy has been the envy of the world. Even in times of hardship, the US rarely has suffered as much as other countries have, thanks in large part to our abundant natural resources, our free-market system, and the so-called "protestant work ethic" that defines our national character. Christian morality coupled with economic and political freedom have made this country the world leader it is today - still the country more people desire to emigrate to than anywhere else on earth. (Think about that the next time you are having a down day - millions would trade place with you in a heartbeat).
We discussed in lecture that the economy works in cycles, and every factor works in relation to many others. When things start to go bad, they can get bad in a hurry; conversely, when things start to improve, the whole economy rises together. Examine this chain of events from the last five years and note how problems tend to grow until they get out of hand:
It's hard to pick a starting point, but here's a try:
1. gas prices rise for a number of reasons (war in Iraq, instability in oil-producing regions, and especially the decision to weaken the US dollar in relation to other currencies in order to close the dangerous trade deficit).
2. higher gas prices mean higher costs of production for every good and service sold in the US - groceries, clothes, cars become more expensive to buy.
3. higher prices mean that people purchase fewer things
4. factories and stores lay off workers because fewer things are being purchased.
5. Unemployment and higher prices mean that many can't pay their home mortgages, which were too high to begin with because Americans had purchased homes they couldn't afford.
6. Banks close when people stop paying their home mortgage payments.
Now, if we think about where things are headed after number six, it doesn't look good, does it? You have personally witnessed every one of these events (if you are aware of your surroundings, at least). Now, consider how the Hoover administration dealt with similar circumstances in the early 1930s: the government did nothing, believing that it was not the role of government to meddle in the economy. The banks failed and most Americans lost everything. For years America struggled, and some families never regained their financial security. Thousands died of disease and malnutrition, and tens of thousands were homeless.
Compare that to the Bush and Obama administrations (knowing that the final chapter hasn't been written, only history will tell if their efforts were successful or not): The Bush administration broke every precedent in the history books by bailing out Bear Sterns (an investment bank that had survived the Great Depression!). This began the practice of using tax-payer dollars to shore up desperate companies, especially banks and auto makers. When millions of Americans stopped paying their home mortgages, the US government (using tax dollars, of course) bailed out Fannie May (funny name, it's just a nick, but it's the company that holds most of the mortgages in America). Without this swift and unprecedented action, it is amazing to think of the terrible disaster that would have occurred. The warning note is that the government, not having enough tax dollars on hand, borrowed heavily and increased the federal debt to an amount you have to see to believe. Stop right now, open up another browser, and paste in the link http://www.usdebtclock.org/ to get an idea.
Here's the assignment:
Review the pictures posted at http://history1900s.about.com/od/photographs/tp/greatdepressionpictures.htm . Which one do you think best sums the American experience of the Great Depression?
One of the iconic notions of the Great Depression is the thousands of homeless individuals (mostly men, but including thousands of teens) who "rode the rails" - illegally jumped on trains to travel in search of work or lodging. Go to the website http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/rails/ and read about it. Report back on your findings.
Finally, answer the question: Do you think the recent government intervention policies will work? Why or why not?
Thanks, and happy reasearching. The requirements are the same as in every preceeding assignment. God bless!
1. I think several of those pictures do a fairly good job in partially summing the American experience during the great depression. The unemployment one, the relocation one, and the "farms for sale" picture were all very representative of that time, but I think the picture titled "Life during the depression" really sums it up the best. During these times a lot of families had almost no money. They were unemployed and couldn't make any money, so sometimes they could barely afford food. Many were homeless, and were desperate for money and work, which leads me into...
ReplyDelete2. With so many people with no homes, money food, or jobs, many were forced to wander to look for work and became hoboes. To try to find jobs, many would illegally hop on freight trains to get from place to place. This was very dangerous, but sometimes there only chance at traveling to find work and food. Over 6,00 hoboes were killed each year by accidents and guards assigned to make sure this didn't happen. They would ride around to many different cities and towns searching for jobs and begging for food.
3. I'm not really sure whether or not the recent government intervention policies will work. I don't know much about this kind of thing. I do hope that they will prevent another depression like the one of the 30's, but still, these policies could just be delaying one.
The two pictures that I picked weren’t from the website that was recommended. I looked on Google and found a picture of a family living in a shack that wouldn’t even be fit to use as a chicken house, let alone as a place to live. The other one was of a mother holding her baby with a young child standing beside her, sitting inside a tent with an empty plate on what looks like a suitcase or something. The mother and both of the children are dirty and look more than a little hungry.
ReplyDeleteRiding the rails was, for most, the only way to get to another town so they could try to find a job. If you didn’t ride the rails then you walked, if you didn’t do either of these you hitchhiked, which wasn’t the smartest thing to do in many cases. When I was little my grandpa told me about how he used to jump rail cars. Although he did it mostly for fun, he knew what it was like to end up at some random place and then have to find your way home. I think it would be fun to jump a train sometime, but with it being so dangerous my mom would have a cow if she found out what I was planning to do.
If by government intervention you mean the health care bill, then I’m sure that some of you might disagree with me but I don’t think it’s a good idea. By passing the bill that Obama wants, we would be asking for a life totally dictated by the government. By this I mean that the government would be able to tell you what is and isn’t healthy for you. Now I know that to some this may sound good but do you really want someone telling you that because it is unhealthy you can no longer own a dog? I know that it doesn’t sound like much but that is what it will come to. You will no longer be able to decide if you want life-support, you will be told whether of not you can have it. That doesn’t make me feel very confident about the future.
1.I looked at most of the pictures in the link provided. Many of the children in the pictures showed me how the children lived in the depression. Many were born or merely very young in the depression and never had the opportunity to know life could be much different. The farm foreclosures really kind of bothered me as well. The face that entire lives were ruined by several "Economic" blunders. The entire country was uprooted and the American "Roaring Twenties" mindset died very quickly.
ReplyDelete2.
While many people "Rode the Rails" most walked, or hitchhiked their way to work across the country. My great-grandfather Wilmer Adams hitch-hiked to Circe, Arkansas and worked as a migrate farmer in the strawberry fields in the early spring ,and the corn fields in the fall. He worked there for the duration of the depression as far as we know. He is an example of a migrate worker that hits close to home.
3.
As far as the recent gov't attempts to stave off a "depression" probably will cause more problems than it could ever dream of fixing. Yes I am blaming the current administration for the excessive spending that they are borrowing from my grandchildren, and I am saying that driving up inflation is not the key to fixing economic problems.
Jon your emphasis on the Riding the Rails portion of the assignment. Mentioning the mortality rate of those who only wanted work really shows their commitment to finding work. Obviously they didn't intend on dying looking for work but unfortunately that is the way it ended for some migrate workers.
ReplyDeleteHannah I also enjoyed your portion of the Riding The rails section. I love personal accounts on what seems like far off history and the stories your grandfather told you embody that. I really enjoyed your essay.
ReplyDelete1. Many of those pictures illustrate what America had become during the great depression. I think whta shows what is was all truely about was this picture: http://history1900s.about.com/library/photos/blygd46.htm. This picture shows the true personal effect upon the American man. No one at this time was safe in his occupation. whether or not you were the big cheese didn't matter at this time. You probably din't want to be since you had to fire so many people. How would you like to have that on your conscience?
ReplyDelete2. From the website listed I learned about what the hunt for a job was like. I knew this happened, but now that it was brought to my attention I see how desperate these people actually got.
3.Government intervention at this point IS A JOKE. They caused this whole thing. Blunt? yes. I don't care. It's so obvious to me that our government is a childish bunch of liberals that I refuse to repsect them. Spending money you don;t have is NEVER a good idea. I don't care who you are. The level of immatureness in the oval office is rediculous. There's my thoughts on gov't "intervention". As far as that goes, they are like the catalyst in a chemical reaction. Only speeding up the process that the were already causing.
Jon, I think if we look at the problem at all we could see that the government that is in charge today is ruining America. When they pass this new health care bill and tell us we can't eat nachos, that'll be the day..
ReplyDeleteJon, on a less serious note, i love your use of the word hobo. While it's terrible that the economy drove people to homelessness, it's funny that you used that word.
ReplyDeleteThe picture I chose was the man standing in a dust storm. The picture represents to me people and the great depression. The man standing in the midst of the storm and being overwhelmed by the dust and wind yet not giving in. That to me represented the American depression. It was something to go through not stay in.
ReplyDeleteI could see how "Riding the Rails" could be a
great adventure for some but a night mare for others. I couldn't imagine being told there was not enough food and that you had to leave home so that your siblings would be able to eat. I find it interesting that Bob "Guitar Whitley" Symmonds of Washington who picked fruit in California to survive is still riding the rails.
Concerning the recent government intervention policies. I honestly do not know enough about them to make an educated guess. I do think that history does repeat itself if you can't learn your lesson. To me you don't borrow money to get out of debt. That is not God given common sense. I think greed, dishonesty and the need for scrambling to get to the top at any cost is not the road to the American dream. Sounds more like a roller coaster ride to hell. Some of the atmosphere that was in America during the Hoover administration sounds so much like where we are today. I hope we can learn some lessons.
Hey Jaykub, I hadn't thought about how the children lived during the depression. Being born during the depression and not knowing that there was a different way of living. The pictures remind you of how Haiti must have been before the earthquake. My mom said that her mother talked about the depression and then how her girlfriends mother talked about the depression completely differently. It must have been harder on her friends mother because she still carried a lot of scars.
ReplyDeleteHannah, I liked what you said about the rails being the only way you could get around from town to town. Roads were not like how we know them. When you watch Andy Griffin you see Andy Taylor driving on dirt roads. Not everyone had cars especially during the depression. During World War II people had to put their cars on blocks in order to save on their tires and gas. I think looking at history makes me appreciate the things I take for granted.
ReplyDelete1) Gosh I could have chosen numerous pictures on the provided website, but the one that clearly illustrated the Great Depression to me was the picture of the Family Walking Along the Road. It appeared to be 2 little girls, a little boy, and a Mom and Dad. As soon as I saw that picture, I immediately thought of the children. The mind of a small child is so innocent, so new, not knowing how to comprehend tragedy. I can't imagine how confused they must have been when their parents told them that they were leaving home and wouldn't be coming home. Awful, just awful.
ReplyDelete2) On the second link provided, I chose to read the timeline. One thing that caught my eye was February 1931. This marked the beginning of the "food riots." This means exactly what it sounds like, people began to form riots in order to obtain food. For example: in Minneapolis, Minnesota, hundreds of men and women smashed the windows of a local market and stole fruit, canned goods, bacon and ham. The owner of the store pulled a gun on the rioters, but was overpowered and had his arms broken. It took over a hundred policemen to break up the riot, and seven people were eventually arrested. Think about that...food is something we all take for granted today. We take for granted places like Kroger, Wal-Mart etc. for selling us food. Back in the Depression, you had to work for a week to obtain the money to purchase a loaf of bread!!
3) Certainly the most talked about topic in politic's today is the recent "bailing out" of companies around the United States. Now because my stupid computer isn't submitting the long essay I keep typing, I'll keep this short (try to anyway.)
When the government bailed out the banking industry, they sent the entire country (and the entire world) a message: "you don't have to accept the responsibility of giving out bad loans to people who can't afford to pay them back, we'll pay for everything." That is WRONG. This is basically letting the banking industry off the hook, and setting them up to fail again in maybe 20 (probably less) years. And what about where all this money is coming from?? TAXES. Sure maybe our parents don't have to pay those EXTREMELY high taxes now, but we will, our children will, and our grandchildren will. And I for one don't want to be paying 40% of every dollar I make in the future for taxes. So, in short, I don't agree with the recent government intervention.
Ryan, I liked your essay, especially the third section. And yes it was blunt, but bluntness is what the Government needs to hear!! They need to know that money doesn't grow on trees, and that you have to pay back what you borrow from China and Saudi Arabia. Digging the American Taxpayer's in a hole for the future is not a good thing, because we already pay a fortune in taxes, and its only going to get worse. Sadly.
ReplyDeleteNice Work Ryan.
Hannah, your essay was great. Especially the section discussing Government Intervention. And I completely agree. I know I DO NOT want to be told what and what not to do by some flunkie from the government (and yes I just used the word flunkie.) There is a point where the government should just back away from the people. But at this point, the government is too foolish to figure that out. We can only home Mike Huckabee wins in 2012. Fingers Crossed!!
ReplyDeleteNice Essay Hannah.
1)I researched the pictures on the website and what I think greatly illustrated the Great Depression was A Family Leaving South Dakota for the West. If you look at the family, you can see what they're going through because they basically have every one of their possessions on the back of the car. I also noticed that on the back of the car there was written in large letters "Oregon or Bust." It was really true becausegoing to Oregon to work was possibly their last chance for survival.
ReplyDelete2)With the lack of jobs many people had to ride the rails to search for them. If not the only other means of transportation were walking or hitchhiking, but they were not as quick as the railroad. In the end, the many people that did this were so desperate for work and food that they would do almost anything to provide that for themselves such as the dangerous task of riding the rails.
3)Do I think that the recent government intervention policies will work? I personally have mixed emotions on what it will due. Some of the things like bailing out big businesses and banks is completely wrong because it is using the tax payers money and those businesses somewhat got themselves in that predicament. This means that what debts the government has will be paid through the increased taxes that will be put on our generation and the generations to come. Only God knows what will happen, but hopefully he will in some way influence our leaders to make the right decision even if they might be corrupt.
Biggin, I totally agree because I couldn't imagine what it would be like to be told that your family was out of food. I mean if you really sit and think about it a while, you realize that we Americans complain a lot because we are just a little hungry(for example: right before lunch). The people then were truly starving and it was possibly a life or death matter for them on what they would do to feed themselves. Unlike us Americans, we don't really know what that feeling is like. We should be thankful everyday for modern conveniences like Kroger and Wal-mart where there is always a supply of food that is sometimes inexpensive
ReplyDeleteSam Wier, it is totally true that our generation and the many many generations to come will be paying off this incredible debt. I looked at the national debt clock and it said that the national debt is at $12,331,709,500,750 and still growing. If you think about it, that is an incredible amount of debt that we will be paying off for the rest of our lives.
ReplyDeleteGood essay, Sam.
1) I think that the first picture, “Women and Children”, sums up the depression the best. It is a very popular picture and I am sure almost everyone has seen it at least once. I know I have seen it countless times. It sums it up the best because, like the saying goes “A picture tells a thousand words” and that is pretty true for this one. In the picture you have despair, anguish, shame, hopelessness, sadness, shock, suffering, pain, sorrow, etc. Pretty much everything that anyone was feeling during the depression can be summed up in that picture.
ReplyDelete2) During this deep depression, riding the rails was quite popular and, to me, made some sense. If I was living on the street and it was obvious it would not get better were I was, I would try to go some place were I at least had a a chance. That is was many people did in the 20's and 30's. It was mostly teens, but I am sure many adults did as well. The rode in hopes of finding anything that would help them get their lives going again. The chances were slim, but still many people rode the rails in hope of that chance.
3) Government policies working? When? I think definitely not. Like many of the others, spending money, LOTS of money, while we are already in debt up to our grandchildrens eyeballs is just stupid in my opinion. I don't keep up with politics that much, but it doesn't take anyone smart in them to realize the stupidity in their decisions.
1) i decided to look at the second picture, "dust storms". i think the great depression was somewhat of a great dust storm, when people panic disaster struck but as we see today when people dont panic and empty their bank acounts (thanks to FDIC) we did not enter a devistating economic disaster. the Great dustorms in reallity took place in the plains states and many books have been written and shows made to show the devistation that occured, it was nick named "the great dust bowl" by many.
ReplyDelete2)During the Great depression more than a quarter million Americans illegally jumped trains, these americans where normal AMericans, and when we think of great crimes of the 20's and 30's i dont think of jumping trains, obviously its stealing but i think justifying stealing is near impossible but when you have been laid off from work and there are no jobs the option of heading somewhere else with the hope of a paying job its hard to say what id do, it was life and death for many people who saw jumping trains as their only option. however, it is not simply jumping on, it is ver ydangerous and many people died in the process.
3) well, in our recent history our Government has become more and more involoved in our everyday lives, however many taxes hove existed for more than a century, the Government has become more involoved in our economy, now i am totally in suport of fair trust-busting and the crack down on coruption, i even think that the bank bail outs were neccessary for preventing another Great Depression, we must learn from history and not repeat it. i love politics and seeing others views and knowing what i believe (politically) and why i feel the way i do. i love to think about it and even respectfully debate. after looking at not only history but the world we live in today as well, i think spending more and more money we dont have is completely irresponsible, its insane, who in their wright mind would want to flush TRILLIONS down the drain. its crazy, we need people with common sense who spend money on things we really need, not a stupid car company that acted in the way it did, lets take a lesson form Sir Isaac Newton, for every action there is an equal and oposite re-action.
First I would like to thank Mr. Akers for putting the link to the debt clock. That really helped bring the national debt into perspective.
ReplyDeleteOne picture that really struck me was the one of men standing in a bread line. The amount of people in the line helped to bring it all into perspective. These were people who just a short time ago had jobs and were able to support families then without warning they lost everything. The picture of the unemployed men marching in Camden, New Jersey also shows just how wide spread the lose was. Another picture that sums up the depression is the one of the squatter’s shack.
For many young men and women of the great depression the only place to turn was the railways. During the great depression 250,000 teenagers road the rail system looking for work. They did this for many reasons. Some wanted an adventure while others were looking for work. The people who rode the railways accounted for one sixteenth of the unemployed people during the great depression.
Now for the last part of the question. Will the current government intervention policies work? I do not think that the policies that the government has been installing will work. They might have a good short term effect but if you look at the big picture they will only put us in deeper and deeper debt.
I typed this once then this inbacilic piece of modern technology that is not only inferior in speed, but also inferior in memory and since its conception has troubled man with foolishness similar to what it has given me. To say the least,I am utterly distraught. The fact that this is suppose to save me time and be convient is almost a slap in the face after I have been going at this for 45 minutes. A hand-written paper and history book would without a doubt be faster in this instance. But I digress;
ReplyDelete1.) The picture that I found most impacting was the Girl Making Supper. She looks no more than 10 years old and yet she is cooking what appears to be table scraps over a wood stove in a shack that is only as tall as she is. I'm sure that both of her parents, and possible older siblings are all out looking for work, desparently trying to make ends meet. I don't know if this is the average family in the Great Depression, or if the media was capturing the worst case scenarios to capture the reader's heart as they so often do, but the picture looks bleak at best.
2.)"Riding the Rails"
Hopping trains was a fairly common practice during major economic downturns,such as what happened to American in the 30's. Men would do this mainly because cars were not near as popular 80 years ago, and the Americans that did have cars were mostly forced to sell them when the economy starting heading down the tubes. It was obviously faster than walking, and trains often went through large cities. The train hoppers would get off at these cities in hope to find better imployment oppertunities. They didn't know where the trains were going, and there was no promise of employment. To jump a train seems like a desparate, last ditch resort to provide for your family when everything had been lost.
3.) Mr. Akers, by "Government Intervention" you are sort of unclear. There are two things that come to mind. First off was the recent Government bailouts by the Obama administration. I don't like how they took it upon themselves to indebt the next three generations of my family that haven't even been born yet. Coming into the world with hundreds of thousands of dollars of national debt hanging over your head does not seem like a plesent place to be. However, I think that without the bailout, big business in America would be DEAD and life as we know it would be forever changed. The second thing that I can think of is the Socialized Heathcare bill that the Obama administration has been trying to shove down our throats. Frankly, if it means that I cannot provide for my own family (or, as it is right now, that my family can't provide for me), I could care less if someone else dying of diease. It isn't my job, or my parents job to carry a nameless person's weight in the world. Is it fair? No. But neither is making others pay for it. It is an absolutely bogus concept, that in many of forms has been tried HUNDREDS of times thoughout history and has consistently FAILED. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing repeatedly and hoping for different results. I only hope that our governement is sane.
Many famous photographs came out of The Great Depression, perhaps the most famous being those of Dorthea Lange. However, in my opinion, the one that best sums up the Depression era would be “An Eighteen Year Old Mother from Oklahoma.” I don’t know if this has ever been quoted, but if not it should be: the photograph is the face. More can be read in the eyes of a person than any surrounding they may be in. In “An Eighteen Year Old Mother from Oklahoma,” the face says it all. The young girl is tired. She is weak. She is sick. She wishes she was somewhere else, someone else. The world is crumbling around her and there’s nothing she can do about it.
ReplyDeleteI loved the section on the rail riders. It would make quite a good novel, which I may someday write. What I found while researching was that a lot of teenagers ran away from home by hitching a ride on the railroad—we know them as teen “hoboes.” They left for various for reason, but the most popular were because of poor economic conditions and because they wanted an adventure. This adventure is set in the backdrop of The Great Depression.
And about the government bailouts; this is something I get round-up about. I really don’t understand the people who are completely against them because if the government hadn’t stepped in to assist Fanny Mae then almost everyone you know who has a mortgage would have been in a ridiculously large predicament. Do I think the bailouts will work? No. Bear Stearns and the others didn't go bankrupt because of loan defaults and foreclosures. These were a result of a lack of transparency in the financial market, which bailouts won’t fix. Were the bailouts necessary? Absolutely. If the government had done nothing, then things would be much worse than before and people would have one more thing to talk bad about Obama (which I don’t like when people do) for. He had to try something.
Camden,
ReplyDeleteI am commenting on your essay mainly because you were in surgery just the other day and are still managing to post. That takes determination, props for that. I also liked the debt counter, the numbers looked unrealistically large, and it is frightening to think that those enormous numbers are ours to pay off.
I also agree with your point that the bailout are only a short term solution. I don't know if I could provide a better answer though.
Good essay, get some rest. Hopefully you will return to good health and be "yak yak yak-ing" in class with us oncemore very soon.
Pope,
ReplyDeleteI also liked your essay. The FDIC is a good point. I rest well knowing that the banks are federally insured. Even still, if people went nuts and pulled out all of their money the banks would still crash. Hopefully they all have the common sense to know that as long as they leave their money where it is, the banks are stable, for now.
Jake. I liked your essay and I understand your perspective, but as far as the bailout goes I want to say this: You talk about Obama's bailouts, but George Bush is actually the one who started the bailouts. You can't just blaim Obama because he has a lot of advisors who are encouraging him to do the things he does. It's not just him. If he had done nothing then we republicans would be saying, "he's gonna sit there and let our economy die!!" but since he tried something we say, "he's using our tax dollars and putting us in debt!! (to save our economy [hopefully])" The poor guy can't win in the eyes of republicans and we are too rash at judging and disrespecting him. I understand disagreeing with his morals, but people talk bad about him for the stupidest things. In FDR's administration he used tax dollars and tried a lot of failed systems, but he saved us.
ReplyDelete1.) Well, I think you could find a perfect element of the Great Depression in all of the pictures, but the one I am choosing is the “A Mother of Seven Children.” I liked this one because I could find some deep symbolic meaning for it, but I will just say that you can see how the people felt. Imagine having seven children to support during a major economic crisis. You can really imagine what the woman is thinking while she’s sitting there. Her kids are probably tired and hungry, complaining to her a lot, but she’s sitting there just wondering what’s going to happen. How are they going to make it? I love looking at those pictures. Everything you read about you can see through them.
ReplyDelete2.) Riding the rails is not portrayed the way it really was. When I read information and personal experiences, it’s surprising. It’s shown pretty lightly in movies, but then to see what people went through is another story. Those who rode the rails were trying to get away from home or were looking for something to supply their needs. They went through the loneliness and hunger that we imagine through the Great Depression. They really did hit rock bottom, and whether they did what was right or wrong didn’t matter at this point. They had to survive. I think now that people look back on those choices they made, a lot of them have regrets. They had their own adventure, most not enjoyable. These people had nothing and made it through. It really makes us seem weak. We all have food and clothing while these others had to do whatever they could to survive. It’s amazing.
3.) I believe that first of all, people choose to use what money they don’t have very unwisely. Now for the recent government policies it depends. There is a long train of reactions that causes us to be where we are today, but when the government takes the money it doesn’t have and does things with it that isn’t beneficial to the country, that’s where I have to look at it twice. Now do I think we’re going into another Great Depression, no, but I think the government could make much better decisions about the money they have spent and are spending.
•Which one do you think best sums the American experience of the Great Depression?
ReplyDeleteI think that the picture of “A Mother of Seven Children” by Dorthea Lange is the one that best describes what was going on in the Depression. Because many women didn’t have jobs and back then the average person had more children than we do now. So I think that moist of the time you would see children in their tattered clothes and their mothers watching them wondering how in the world they’re going to feed them.
•“ riding the rails”
I think that this happened because there were no jobs in those areas where the boys/men lived and the income of one family member working was not enough to support the family. As described in this film the boys were not much older than we are. For example, Jim Mitchell left his Wisconsin home at the age of sixteen. Many of the teens that traveled by” riding the rails” were not even paid a full days wage. In the article I read George Rhodes said, "Once I worked for a man who wanted me to unload a coal car, I stood there and threw down the coal. I worked all day. He gave me two tomatoes."
These teenagers had a hard time they slept on trains, were arrested, spent days without food, and had the danger of losing their limbs hopping from train to train.
•Do you think the recent government intervention policies will work? Why or why not?
There is no definite answer to this question. It all relies on how the situation(s) is controlled. If it leans to far to one side we will collapse in the worst depression of all time, but if we lean to far the other way we could possibly see our nation being very prosperous.
Now to now they are going about the “saving of our nation” we cannot tell whether it is good or bad. Because we are given a limited amount of information and some of the senators/representatives don’t even know all of the contents of the bills that they are passing into law. All that I can say is that I hope that our nation continues to grow and be prosperous.
The Great Depression was a period of time in American history that is just what it gets its name from-it’s greatly depressing. All of the pictures on the site seem to be a good portrayal of the poverty that these people fell into. However, the one that sticks out the most to me is the picture of the young girl making supper. The details of the picture portray that the girl’s bare feet are covered in dirt, it’s a very run down looking poorly built shack she’s in. You wonder what on earth she could be cooking and if it’s even going to be good to eat. But it’s the facial expression that really got me. You can only see her profile but she looks to me like she’s very sad, with a slight sense of hopelessness, and none of this was her fault.
ReplyDeleteI thought it was very interesting reading the stories of the some of the young teenagers who ran away from home during the depression and hopped on trains in search for something better. When they said that at the time, they were just young and it sounded like a good idea, at first you think they must’ve been out of their minds. But when I read about Jim Mitchell from Louisiana who’s father said there wasn’t enough food for their family and similar stories to these, I could see how they would think of taking off. Eventually, though, they soon found out their leaving was a mistake. From being stuck in the back of a blind car cold and miserable, to working hard to clean out a coal car for two tomatoes, to stealing food, to eating a birthday cake alone on a hill crying, these people try to forget their bad memories of what they had done and I don’t blame them for it.
Recent attempts from the government to prevent another “depression” have been bailing out the banks, bailing out the car industries, and the stimulous package to help create jobs. So far, we haven’t been able to see that these have helped. The car ondustry has been wanting to borrow more money, and the jobs created by the stimulous package are either short term or in fields that don’t create a profit to eventually pay for themselves. So, in short, I haven’t seen any proof that the current government intervention is helping anything.
1)Wow, all those pictures were really sad! Ok, there were a lot of them that I liked, but i'll just mention two. The first one is a picture of a dust storm. It must have felt like what you feel like when a dust storm is coming. Its this huge, overwhelming thing coming up to swallow you, and you can't avoid it, or do anything about it. Then its all around you, trying to suffacate you, to kill you, and you can only wait for it to pass.
ReplyDeleteThe other picture is of two kids and their mom standing in the doorway of their house. They would look just like people today, if they were wareing different clothes, except that they are a lot sadder looking. It just brings it closer to home that they where people just like us, only in different circumstances, which, if we aren't carefull, might repeat themselves. I don't want to end up with a picture of myself in a history book, especially under those circumstances! One thing that I noticed, is that in the pictures, there aren't many teenagers. Maybe they all died as children.
2) I couldn't get the train thing website to work, but i'll still comment about it from some books I've read. No plagerism. I think that it would have been a lot of fun to ride trains, because you go through the woods instead of along a road. If you had to get off a train while it was moving, you had to "land rolling". Basically, you had to dive straight out from the side of the train, so that, when you landed, you would start barrel rolling. If you didn't roll into anything, all that would have happened is that you would have gotten a little dirty, and maybe gotten the wind knocked out of you, a much better equivilant than just jumping of, and getting all skraped up.
3)I think that the recent government interventions will work for a little while, but not for long.
1)I think that all of these pictures illistrate the struggles of being ouof work,and looking for work when there is none and having to give up youre home and to try to take care of a family all at the same time with no sort of cash flow at all.The pictures that i think best illistrate the struggles of americans is "Farms for sale"beacouse it shows the sacrifice that had to be made,they had to both give up there home and source of income with one dicesion.the other picture that stood out to me was"Migrant workers"it showed that many of americans had to abandon there normal lives too try to seek work on the road.
ReplyDelete2)In the 20's and 30's many americans "Road the rail"which makes since it was the easiest way to get out when you know where youre at right now the situation is only gonna get worse.Soriding the rails was an easy way to get out of town and to try youre luck els where.
3)well akers to be honest i dont keep up with polotics all i know is that we are in extreme debt,that will not be relived in our lifetime
1. Imagine this: You have three siblings and a father, it's Christmas Eve and you haven't eaten a full meal in months. Your stomach growls; you feel weak. You come into the house after hours of searching for a job; you're cold, tired, and hungry. Did I mention you are only nine years old? Anyways, you see your family sitting at your rotting, dirty, kitchen table. Nothing else, no plates, no food, nothing. This is a picture of The Great Depression.
ReplyDelete2.When I was little my favorite game to play I called "Lost Kids". I loved to pretend I was a homeless orphan, kind of like "The Boxcar Children", and that I lived in the woods. I would literally build a "house" and hunt for food. (One time my friend Spencer and I boiled craw-dads over a fire and actually ate them.) I would make my brother and cousins and friends play too. When I was a little older, I would take my horse and pretend he was my only form of transportation. I really loved this game. "Riding the rails" was much like this game I used to play. Except, you weren't risking your life and hopping a train for fun; it was because you had no other choice. You built your house in the woods, you hunted for your food; that was your life. Playing lost.
3. Alright, to put it in Layman's terms: Our government today and those of the recent past have not done a very good job, at all. I can't put ALL blame on President Obama because it wasn't like the economy was pristine when he stepped into office. However, he's not doing a good job at all trying to get it back in good shape. Proposing a health care plan that is being estimated to cost over 1 trillion dollars is not good. The debt that is accumulating will not be paid off in one-hundred years. So, no I don't think the government's policies are working.
Ryan, I liked what you said about spending money you don’t have is never a good thing for anyone. I think that’s what starts these massive economic troubles. The people of America and the government spends vast amounts of money without putting thought into where it’s going to come from. Yes, I understand that government money works in numbers much larger than I will ever get see, but they still need to handle the money with responsibility along with Americans. When everyone learns to handle money responsibly, we may see some improvement.
ReplyDeleteAnna, it’s true that these children had to go through the depression and it wasn’t their fault. It was an awful time to have to be responsible for raising a family. Both of my grandfathers were born during the depression and I can’t imagine having to take care of a baby during this hard of a time. They were poor, but I think being raised in that environment taught them something. They now do not overspend on unnecessary things. Work was also a mixed blessing. I’m sure at the time they really didn’t have the strength to work as hard as they did, but that experience gave them something. They were taught to have that endurance and work hard. It’s lasted through all the years.
ReplyDeleteFor me I think that the pictured entitled “Great Depression Picture: Families on the Road with All Their Possessions” speaks to me the most. Just look at the vehicles they are in. They look like they’re about to fall apart just by sitting. The picture says “with all of their possession” which by the looks of it, is just a few items. Also I notice the horrible condition the road was in. I guess it means that they are in for an uncomfortable ride and probable a long one. Those trucks look like they could barely do thirty. Is that tire even filled with air?
ReplyDeleteMan I would have hated to have been a hobo. It would have been miserable. The trip would have been very long and tiresome. Not to mention that if you got caught, they toss you overboard resulting in injury or death when you hit the ground going sixty miles an hour.
Do you think the recent government intervention policies will work? Why or why not? That is the question that economist would kill for the answer. But seriously, do you really think that putting America in over 52 trillion dollars would solve anything. If it did wouldn’t it cause something else to happen? Would it not do more damage in the long run than what has already been done? You saw the clock. This is ridicules. The government is trying to solve a debt related problem with even more debt. Is debt not our problem? The fact is that China has bought up a large portion of our debt. If you invest in a company, you become part owner in that company. Is it not the same when countries invest in each other? If it is, China, a communist country, is part owner of The United States of America. They way I see it; there are very few options we could do to solve this problem. We pay off our debt and tax our citizens so much that they would be unable to pay their bills and would have to give up their homes. Not to banks but to the government. We could sell Alaska. The Communist Government of China could collapse. This would only solve a part of our dept. Their are many solutions to this problem but very few offer a good solution. The government should have never spent what not even the citizens combined had. I see far worse future economic trouble ahead just to solve what might have happen today.
1) I think the picture that best sums up the American experience during the depression is unemployed workers marching in New Jersey. This is because one of the biggest, if not the biggest problem in the depression was unemployment, and this picture gives an idea of the vast number of unemployed. During the depression there was plenty of food, clothes, houses, cars, and pretty much any other manufactured good. The problem was that no one had the money to buy any of these things because they were unemployed. When there is plenty of production but not enough of it being bought it is known as an economic bubble. This can be caused by any number of things, such as unemployment.
ReplyDelete2) During the depression, people were desperate to find work and opportunities. Since they were unable to find jobs in the towns they lived in, they would jump into a train for a chance to find a job in another town. To me it doesn’t sound like the best idea because the economic conditions probably wouldn’t be any better in a different town, but they figured it would be worth a try. Riding the rails was dangerous, and many died from accidents involving the trains.
3) First of all, the government has no business intervening in the economy in the ways that they have. Some intervention is good, but not to the extent our government has. In capitalism, you have the right to succeed or fail in business without the government telling you what you can and can’t do. The government has no right to buy or bail out a private company if it fails, and then tell them they have to do this and that. Anyway, as to whether or not it will work, I say it will not in the long run. Government bailouts are a quick fix and may postpone immediate problems, but do not work in the long run because of the deficits they produce and government inefficiency. Our national debt is already not sustainable, and all the government intervention has skyrocketed our nation's debt, and this will catch up to us in the long run.
1.) The first picture I saw that I really tapped into was the one called “Dust Storms”. The links on the side was talking about a man who was walking through one and it started listing off different states that this was happening in. This is kind of ironic huhh?? (It ties in with chapel from this morning!! ) Many men, women and children were walking through a storm during the Great Depression. At some times they couldn’t see what was going on around them, and no one was there to help. It was foggy and they could trust god to guide their wisdom and their hearts all the way through. The other one I liked also was titled, “Migrant Workers”. As I was scrolling down the page, sure I was only going to write about the one I previously mentioned- I stumbled upon this one. A man who seems so simple, but complicated to the core has a long road ahead of him. This could resemble our economy, and how it had to walk and strive to get better, to get wear it needed to be. Or just simply an American man who was adventuring the land before him. A man who wanted freedom but also to persevere to the finish of economic freedom.
ReplyDelete2.) On the website you gave us I found my way to the link on the left side of the page and found a time line of events that happened throughout the Great Depression. Isn’t it crazy about how in just a couple days our nation plummeted to the ground? How our economic system bursted into bankruptcy? In the year of 1931, February, Americans in the Los Angeles area were complain about how the Mexican Americans had jobs and they didn’t, 6024 people were deported by the end of the month. In the time line it lists off random fatcs about different months of the years of the depression, and some other facts that are greatly known today.
3.) Right now I see God’s hand of protection over the country, I don’t have an interest with government at all. And I don’t know why, maybe that’s the way Abba wired me. But I simply do not. So the answer to this question might be a little sketchy. So right now I’m just believing that God will guide us until the last days, if that is in his will. And so I do think the recent policies will work for the time being, but if they don’t they’ll just change it like they always do. (:
The one with the two young boys at the rehabilitation clinic is pretty good, but the picture that stands out to me is the one with the migrant families living in tents. It shows a woman and two kids standing next to a beat up car. This one really captures the reality of what it was like during the Great Depression. We usually don’t think about how there were poor families that had to just move around the country looking for work. They would set up camp whenever they had to, and that is where they would stay for however long. People were flat out desperate to find a job in those rough times.
ReplyDeleteMany unemployed people were desperate during the depression, obviously. Thousands of men in New York City stood in street corners selling apples. There were many “food riots,” and grocery stores were plundered frequently by starving, audacious groups of people. Of course, there is also the example that Mr. Akers gave of men illegally boarding trains in hopes of finding a job wherever that train would take them. There seems to be plenty of evidence that the majority of unemployed people in the 30’s did everything they could do to earn money and provide for their families, like selling fruit. Nowadays, a lot of unemployed people don’t even try to work. I’m not talking about everyone, but that is sometimes the case.
No, I do not believe that the recent government intervention policies will work. When a government tries to spend more money than it really has, bad things happen. Instead of stimulating the economy, they are just going to cause more inflation and more debt. I also don’t like how the government is trying to socialize health care. If you just look at history, socialism always leads to trouble and is not efficient.
Some of the things that happened in the Great Depression changed people’s lives forever within the course of one day. ONE DAY! How you ask? The banks called they want you to pay off all your debt and you have till tomorrow to do it what do you do. You can't pay it back and they take everything from you. You lose everything and you can't get another job imagine how many people this happened to. WAY TOO MANY! This was a terrible time where all kinds of good people were cast out on the streets riding the rails because they made one bad decision. This is what I think it would be like to live in the Great Depression. The government plans and policies haven't fully played out yet and we haven't seen what is yet soon to come but I think it could turn out to be extremely bad.
ReplyDeleteI think the picture titled “18 year old mother” best captures what the Great Depression was like. The young mother looks defeated as she sits outside a dirty tent with her son. According to the information provided she was a migrant, moving from place to place to survive. I can’t imagine what it would have been like to be in her position. Whether or not she had someone else to help support her with her child, it would be extremely difficult just to carry on.
ReplyDeleteMany homeless citizens in the Great Depression would illegally hop on trains and hitchhike around the country trying to find odd jobs here and there to earn some money. They soon became known as “hobos” and became there on people group, in a sense. As time went by a “hobo code” was developed- symbols or pictures posted in a certain area to help other hobos. For example, a drawing of two circles meant that the police of that town didn’t tolerate hobos; while a drawing of a plus sign with a circle meant that a doctor lived nearby that wouldn’t charge for service.
I do not know yet whether or not the actions our government has taken will bring us out of this recession, but I do know that if they hadn’t done anything we could very well be in the same situation as Americans of the 1930s were in.
1) Well I think the pictures about Breadlines and Soup Kitchens, Unemployed, Farms for sale, and Relocating: On the Road were the one that best described the depression.
ReplyDelete2) Well I read in the timeline section and found that it said that in March and November of 1930 there were about 3.2 million people who were unemployed and that in New York City there ere about 6 thousand unemployed individuals who were on street corners selling apples for 5 cents each. In February of 1931, there was a "food riot". In Minneapolis, people broke windows of grocery stores and stole food. It took about 100 policemen to get control of this riot.
3) And now for the last question. NO. I do not think they will work. Like the health care bill, this bail out stuff, and then all the money they are having to borrow to actually do this stuff is ridiculous. The health care bill is ridiculous. Basically, all it does is give the poor and homeless free health care. Now don't get me wrong, that's all good and dandy but that isn't all of it. People who do have health insurance will have restrictions and such. I went to naturalnews.com and on there they had someone, who actually understands all the stuff that is in this 1,017 page bill, to put on there some of the things that is stated in the bill. I will only list a few. For page 16: " This states that if you have insurance at the time of the bill becoming law and change, you will be required to take a similar plan. If that is not available, you will be required to take the government option!" Wow, ummm can you say controlling? Page 29 - "Your health care will be rationed." So, we'll only get a certain amount. What if someone needs more than they give? wow that's just stupid. Anyways, page 30 - " A government committee will decide what treatments and benefits you get ( and, unlike an insurer, there will be no appeals process)" Ok, so a government committee is going to decide all that stuff. Wow, well are any of those people doctors? I sure hope so, so that they actually know what their doing... It just keeps getting worse. Page 42 - " The 'Health Choices Commissioner' will decide health benefits for you. You will have no choice. None." Well that one kinda goes with the one I put before it. Page 59 - " The federal government will have direct, real-time access to all individual bank accounts for electronic funds transfer" Well ain't that nice, the government will have all access to your money. Ok, I just got a few more I'd like to share. Page 102 - " those eligible for Medicaid will be automatically enrolled: you have no choice in the matter." Page 124 - " No company can sue the government for price-fixing. No "judicial review" is permitted against the government monopoly. Put simply, private insurers will be crushed." So in all of this all it does is take complete control of health care, takes your choices away, makes you do what they want you to do, and takes away to much money. I think it's kinda obvious why it's bad and won't work very well. Yes, I know I was very straight forward and didn't put it in a way that would make sound all nice like President Obama did because that would be a lie. It isn't nice, it's a very bad idea. I'm sorry if I offended any of you, that's just my point of view on this matter.
1) all of these pictures were really depressing and very depictive what life was life like when people had no jobs. Not being able to provide for their family ,and have them starving to death. Having tour children homeless and die just houndreds of families did during the great drepression. These pics best show the diffcuties of the farms. Because their homes and work place was the same and they seemed to be the ones who sufferd most from this. the last pic was the “migrant workers” who also like the farmers had to give up their ways of life to go out and look for other jobs.
ReplyDelete2)In the 1920's and the 1930's many Americans rode the rail roads to get where they needed to go to because this was the fastest way to get anywhere during this time. Unless they were living in the woods because they wasn’t out there.
3)our government is trying to prevent another drepression. Some ways they r trying to prevent it is by bailing out companies and trying to create jobs but so far it really hasn’t been working out well for our country there for a while we were very close to being right back to where we were then
1st...Several of these pictures do a good job representing the Great Depression...the one which showed me what the Great Depression was mainly about was the one of the migrant workers...which with job opportunities very slim many men and teens would have to travel many of miles to find any job for whatever amount of money just so they could provide what little they could for there families to keep them from starvation for as long as possible.
ReplyDelete2nd...Like in the migrant workers picture riding the rails was a quicker way for people to move farther out for job opportunities....if caught in the act there would be serious consequences and many would suffer greatly...but this was also very helpful to the people who made by making transportation faster and easier for finding work.
3rd...I think that governments attempts to try to stop another depression will just be more trouble...by people turning there attention to the big things that cause problems they will slowly forget about the little things that will eat away at them and eventually will cause enough damage that by the time people see what is happening it will be to late and be un-fixable causing so many problems that could have easily have been prevented
Ryan, I agree with you, spending money that you don’t have is never a good idea. When you spend what you don’t have that means that someone ells has to pick up your debt. Now to some this may sound like a good idea, but when you think about your kids having to pay for someone else’s multi million dollar house, it starts to sound less appealing. About the maturity level. It not only applies to the Oval Office but to the every day person. You have to have maturity to be able to make good decisions. I’m sad to say that maturity is becoming less and less of a concern. People seam to think that maturity is a weakness or something.
ReplyDeleteAnd way to go with using chemistry in history. Never thought I’d see that one.
Josh, I agree with what you said about how bad things happen when the government spends money it doesn’t have. And as far as what you said about socializing health care, I agree with you when you said that if you look back through history it was never a good idea. Isnt that why we study history- to learn from other people’s mistakes in the past and understand how the world works better? History repeats itself, and it doesn’t seem like our nation as a whole has learned anything from the past. Maybe the government hasn’t been of much help at all, but then people who spend what they don’t have and are in debt aren’t very smart either.
ReplyDeleteCharity, there’s nothing wrong with not having any initial interest in what’s going on with the government today, but I don’t think it would hurt you to have some interest in it. You don’t have to absolutely love politics and always keep up with what’s on the news in order to have a slight idea of what’s going on. I definitely don’t do that, but I think that forming opinions and wanting to know and being curious about the decisions being made today is good for you. Not only does it sharpen your opinions and broaden your world view, but it can also be another tool in how you can witness to someone, and know how to pray for your country better, and stand even more firmly in what you believe. You’re absolutely right that God is in control, and He has ultimate power. I’m not disagreeing with you about anything you said, I’m just trying to point out some positives to researching these things.
ReplyDeleteMadyson, I, like you, used to play like I was kid in different time period (my most favorite was being a pioneer kid and taming the wild west). Although I never boiled craw-dads and ate them I did do some pretty interesting things. One time my mom locked me and my brother out of the house, (now I understand that she was more than likely on the phone and didn’t want us in the house) and being the typical me I thought that she didn’t want us any more, and that we would have to build a house to live in. The house we built consisted of concrete blocks, sticks, and as many leaves as we could find. She eventually let us back inside and I promptly informed her that we had survived on our own just fine and that there was no need to worry about us because we could take care of our selves.
ReplyDeleteI loved these games and sometimes I wish that I still had that little kid imagination where nothing goes wrong and everything is fun.
I have no clue what it would have been like to have to get a job to support my family at such a young age. I don’t even like thinking about it.
Ashley Glass, I would like to say congradulations. You wrote the best essay that I have read so far. I really like how you took all the time to look up the problems with the health care bill. It sounds like this is some thing that you are very passionate about. GOOD JOB.
ReplyDeleteI would also like to add that Kentucky is better than Tennessee.
Many people had a similar response to the third question, but Sam responded very well. The government is sending out a bad message, pretty much saying that they will take care of your bankruptcies if it happens to you. This is the wrong mindset, and honestly if you manage to blow millions, probably billions, of dollars and go bankrupt, you probably deserve it.
ReplyDeleteRobbie, I agree with you one your response to the picture. That picture really is a strong statement of the depression. Unemployment definitely was a major problem and probably the biggest one. Having plenty of food, clothes, and others goods, but no one who is able to buy the is a big problem and should not happen.
ReplyDeleteCharity, I am definitely not disagreeing with you that God is in control, but I don’t think that is a good reason to ignore government and what is currently going on in the world. The Bible says to trust God, but it never says to just be oblivious of government, history, and politics. As Christians, we should be thinking people. I can kind of see what you’re saying, though. It’s not that big of a deal.
ReplyDeleteWow, Ashley, I’m very impressed with your essay. It’s pretty cool how you took the time to find all of that information from the health care bill. You really exposed a lot of the obvious problems with it. I definitely agree with you that the health care bill is an awful idea. It is a hidden menace that needs to be exposed.
ReplyDeleteSam, you once again had a really good essay. You made a really good point about the fact that people now days take simple things like Wal-Mart, and Kroger for granted. If people now knew what it was like to be without food the world would be a completely different place. I also noticed that if you rearange the bold words in your essay they spell out EXTREMELY WRONG TAXES. Are you trying to send some subliminal messages.
ReplyDeleteJosh,
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with and like what you said about the government spending money before they have it. It's like the government having a giant credit card and being completely irresponsible with it. Basically, they spend millions and billions of dollars and say okay, we'll pay it off. Eventually. These actions are very dangerous and can lead to (as we can see) severe debt.
Wow! Ashley Glass, your essay is incredible. The amount of research you put into it is amazing. I really cannot elaborate on that, except to say I completely agree with you on your answer to question number three. It's a sad terrible thing when someone cannot afford medical treatment, it's not "fair"; it's truly awful. However, the government stepping in and regulating health care is NOT the answer. I also love the comment you made: "I sure hope they are doctors," this made me laugh hysterically. It's the truth though; I have a right in my treatment, and I have a right to choose it. Not to be forced to take it just because the president says so. Anyways, great job!!
ReplyDeleteI think the two pictures that give you the best visual of the Great Depression are “A Squatter’s Shack” and “Homeless Family on Road.” These two pictures greatly yet sadly depict people’s lives during the Great Depression. The first picture, “A Squatter’s Shack” shows the poor poor living condition’s a lot of people had to deal with. Due to the depression many people lost homes because of the lost money. That relates to both this picture and my second choice, “HomelessFamily on Road.” The family in this picture, you can tell even from just their backs, is worn down, and tired. It seems they have been traveling for quite someitme looking for a place to stay. This occurance happened to many Americans during the Great Depression.
ReplyDeleteDuring this period, there was a major number of people losing jobs, which cause loss of money, causing loss of home. When they lsot their jobs and homes, they started traveling looking for other jobs elsewhere. Some even became so desperate that they would illegally hop onto trains and travel that way. Somewhere around 6,000 people died yearly on these trains. This is the definition of a “hoboe” someone so desperate they’ll risk their life to try and “advance” themselves in society.
And lastly, throwing a little bit of today’s economy into the picture, I do not think all of the government interventions of late will help our economy. It seems to me that the polocies are more about turning our country into a socialistic economy than fixin ours the way it is. Also, the bail outs will either be major successes or total bomb shells. Well have to wait and see.
Mady, oh my goodness. You had an awesome essay.
ReplyDelete1) The first part of your essay gave a great description of what went opn in the Great Depression... And this would probably happen today if the labor laws had not been passed. Overall I thouht it was a great depiction of human life in the 1930's.
2)The part of your essay that was about "Riding the Rails" was so cute... I persionally have never eaten craw-dads or built a house in the woods ( though I do enjoy hiking in them). But I could not imagine living like that every day... Hunting for food and having to worry about the owner of the woods you had parked yourself in waxs friendly or not... Seriously, if you think about it if you found somone living on your property what would you do??? Throw him off your land, most likely with the assistance of a gun. So as you said in you're essay it may be fun to "play lost" but not to live it...
3) The third part of your essay I thought you hit the nail right on the head. I agree that not all of the Nation's debt is because of the spending of the Obama administration but the fault of his predecessors as well. And that even though the health care bill seems like an amazing idea in the long run it will cause nothing but trouble. Because the government already controled health insurance even if the bill is/was passed. For example; Lets say that you become critically ill. If you continue to work and refuse to sign up for Medicade/Medicare you will stil have to pay the government $10,000 for NOT using their services. SO do you think it's a good idea to give the government complete control of our health care????
Justin,
ReplyDeleteYour essay was really good and the information in it was very much worth reading. I didn’t look at the migrant worker photos until I read your essay, and they truly did a great job. They showed how much traveling for jobs really was part of this period. I also like the way that you could link your choice of pictures into your answer to the second question. And on the third subject, me and you would agree that the polocies are actually causing more trouble than good to our coustries economy.
Jeremy,
ReplyDeleteI also enjoyed reading your essay. I like how you described multiple pictures in your response, not just one specific pictures. It really gives you a good look at all aspects of the depression not just one. I don’t know if it was a fact or an attempt at humor, but I like your comment about nor railroads in the woods. And like Justin and I you have the same view that the government polocies aren’t helping.
Guffey, you had a good essay. I didn't look at the picture of th 18 yr. old mother but I cannot imagine myself in her shoes... It's tragic, I mean I don't even have kids and the little ones that I babysit I can't imagine the grief in my heart if their families were in such a state..
ReplyDeleteSecondly, I had no idea that the term "hobo" came out of the 1930's. And even though we through around that name today as a joke back then it was people ( for the most part I hope) that were looking for a job but couldn't find one.... And I know that now we have hobos but hello!!! why do we??? because there are so many more oppurtunities ( both scholastic and otherwise) that no one should be left out.... I mean if you don't have enough money to go to college get a job somewhere... Because the V.P of McDonalds started by working the drive-thru... Why can't you be just as successful???
Also, I agree with your 3rd paragraph about you don't know where they descissions that are being made today will lead us. I personally don't know either but I hope it a brighter one and not one that leads to a complete socialistic society.
Ryan had a good point. The government has a lot of say in matters, good or bad. The thing is the government can control what happens in the economy. The only problem is that no one exactly knows how to do this. We can experiment, but it will be costly and may do some serious damage. Think of it like a reactor. In a reactor you have atoms breaking down into simpler atoms in a process called fission. Fission works based on a principle called cause and effect, much like an economy. An atom splits and its electrons cause another atom to split and so on. In the same way in an economy one part may determine what happens in another part. The thing is if a reactor runs continually without something keeping the reaction slowed it can overheat to the point the radioactive fuel melts through the reactor and through the ground where it comes in contact with groundwater. A huge amount of radioactive steam is released to do some serious damage. To keep a reactor from doing this we have a control rod which absorbs the electrons slowing down the process. If all the control rods were lowered into the reactor then the reaction would cease. The same thing could happen to an economy. Too much involvement or the wrong kind of action could lead to a stopped economy. And to little involvement could destroy the economy.
ReplyDeleteJosh had a good point. Of course if you spend more many you will end up with more debt. I don’t think that this administration understands how bad debt is. I don’t think that Obama has even seen that clock Mr. Akers showed us.
ReplyDeleteRyan, I really liked your essay. Ecspecially the 3rd part. I completely agree with you, the government intervention is a joke. After all that crap we went through with the Depression and all, you'd think that they would have enough sense not to do all this. Like you said, "Spending money you don't have is NEVER a good idea." How blind can they be?!? Why can't they see that using that money is THE stupidest thing to do right now. Oh yeah, lets add even more onto our HUMUNGO debt so that we'll be paying it off until Jesus comes back!! Yeah, that sounds like a grand ideal. Lets do it!!..... That was full of sarcasm if ya couldn't tell. ugh! Makes me so frustrated! But anyways, good essay.
ReplyDeleteHannah, It must be really interesting to hear your grandfather tell his stories about what it was like to be a teenager during the Great Depression. Hearing what it was like from someone who lived through it gives you a greater understanding than what a history book would teach you.
ReplyDeleteJacob, I had never considered the fact that some of these children in the Great Depression had no clue what it was like to know you wouldn’t go to bed with an empty stomach. I can’t even begin to imagine the uncertainty that they faced every day.
Jarred, I really enjoyed your essay; it helped me see what it would have been like to be in these peoples’ shoes. It’s one thing to see a photograph; and another thing to grasp the message the photographer is trying to send, and you did that quite well in your essay.
And of course I must comment on the third element of our assignment ;)
I agree with you for the most part; SOMETHING had to be done, otherwise we would just have another Hoover on our hands. Whether the bailouts were a solution or not…we all have our different opinions on that and that’s fine. But I greatly appreciate the respectful way you stated your opinion, it seems that kind of courtesy for others’ ideas is hard to come by these days. Very good essay.
As for the pictures, though they could all be appropriately described as depressing, I believe one of the most interesting pictures was the one entitled “A Young Penniless Oklahoma Mother”. In the most basic sense, this photo illustrates a woman crouching on the dusty ground, tents in the background, with her baby in her arms and her young boy crouching beside her. Their appearance, rough. Their background, bleak. It raises so many questions. Has she been widowed? Where did she come from and where is she going? Did she and her children survive? Who knows. That is why I find this photo so interesting.
ReplyDeleteI went to the PBS website and read about those who were on the road in their teens. I found this very interesting, as a teen, and the idea of running away on a grand adventure would be both appealing and frightening. I was surprised to learn that there were several young teen women who lived on the road during the depression. I can only imagine that. It would be so scary, but I bet they became very strong willed women and the now stereotypical strict but loving kind of grandmother. I was very intrigued to learn that one teen boy, James San Jule, worked all day unloading a coal truck and at the end was given two tomatoes.
To answer the final question, I do believe that the current government intervention will work…temporarily. For a short while, Americans will continue to live prosperous lives. (Even if they think they’re in a dire situation). But one day, all of our national debt will come back to haunt us in a very real way.
Josh and Anna,
ReplyDeleteJosh like you said “it’s not a big deal”, but I’m certainly not oblivious to what is going on around me, just because I have no interest with politics does not mean I have no idea what government is doing. I have opinions on many things the government is doing with our country, but I am not worrying about it. Instead of letting things like social health care eating me to the core I just let god take control and see what he does with it. I am sorry if I sound mean or anything but I just want you guys to see. All I said was that I had no interest with it. So I was being honest with my answer beforehand. Yes, I have no interest, but I know what their plans are- killing innocent babies and supporting it thinking they aren’t real humans. Laying things down and learning how to let go and let him take control of the harness is what I am trying to do. Let him take control of my worries with the government. So don’t take things out of hand. Josh, did I say that I was ignoring things happening around me? Or that I was oblivious? No I just do not have an interest with something that can become an idol to some. So once again I am sorry if you were offended, but I just wanted to make some things clear with you all. Love you both and God Bless. (:
Madyson, Great essay!! I liked how you compared riding your horse and pretending while playing those games to "Riding The Rails." It was cool. Oh and I can't believe you actually ate a craw-dad, so gross. haha. Anywho, good essay!
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ReplyDeleteRobbie,
ReplyDeleteVery good point on the picture! It’s true that unemployment was one of the biggest problems and that many of the other problems came BECAUSE of unemployment. So yeah, good choice on the picture that best represents the Depression. I was also interested in what you said about the rail-riding. There probably wasn’t much difference from town to town, but that they felt they had to try. There was such desperation during these times. It’s heart-wrenching to think they had to live such a dangerous life in search of work. Finally, it’s true about the government intervention. In a capitalistic system, there is no call for as much intervention as there has been. I think we may be heading down a new and different road.
Madyson,
I really loved the way you “framed” the photo that you chose. Hah. Pun intended. Very descriptive. You represent the situation well and that picture of the Great Depression definitely is an accurate one. Way cool about the “Lost Kids” game. I loved the craw-dad information. Good comparison with riding the rails. You really brought it around between them. It definitely was a hard life. Also, I agree with the critique of our current system. Good report.
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ReplyDelete1.)Wow all of those pictures were more or less just depressing. In many of the pictures the faces of the people looked so depressed, beaten, worn, unhappy, worried, unsure, tired. Many had no idea where they would go next or what they would do. It was awful. But there were several pictures that really struck me as portraying the great depression. The first one titled ( Young Penniless Oklahoma mother). It was sad. There a young mother sat with her two children. They looked like they lived in some sort of camp. And they looked very defeated. The second one was the (18 Year Old Mother From Oklahoma). There she sat in front of a tent with a dirty little baby sitting at her feet. She looked defeated and lost of hope. The third that really caught my attention was the (Girl Making Supper). You can't really see her face but her surroundings tell a lot. She is standing in front of a small stove with a few pans her clothes look pretty ragged. But her house or wherever she is cooking looks like its not even fit for a dog house in todays standards. It looks like a few boards with holes all in them standing up with maybe a roof over the top.
ReplyDelete2.) During The Great Depression millions were out of jobs and were desperate to find work. Men had to provide for their families in some way but how? . There were few jobs. So people started riding the rails looking for jobs. Im sure it was a very rough way to live going from town to town from day to day in a train many times having no idea where you were going where you would end up finding a job. and the consequences if caught im sure were not so pleasant. Many men did this but also teens and a few women.
My view on this whole government bail out is thats IT IS SOOOOO STUPID!!!! Seriously I don't understand how they think they are going to get us out of this debt crisis by borrowing and spending even more. You can't spend you way out of debt. You would think they would have enough sense to see that. its what got us into this possition in the first place. Debt is a horrible thing and its not helping to borrow from future generations and its not fair either to take from them for our mistakes. I don't know you take on all this but I don;t believe what out government is doing is helping us. In the long run I think it may be very detrimental to us in the future. And this health care bill... Don't even get me started lol. people should get their lazy butts up quit spending money on things they don't need get a job and pay for their own health care. Anyway I DO NOT agree with the government intervention.
Madyson i liked the part of the essay about the game you used to play. When Micaela, Shea, and me... or is is i... I can't remember lol but vanhoose would kill me if i got that one wrong... But anyways we used to play games just like that. We would build a little house cook what edible food we could find over a little fire and play we was orphans or whatever we decided. And when we got older we used our horses lol. But anyway it was very interesting how you tied that in because it really would in a way be what it was like.
ReplyDeleteWhen I looked at the pictures from the great depression, I feel a great sense of sympathy for these people. I couldn’t imagine how hard it would be to have had to live through that. I mean not knowing where you were going to sleep that night, or were your next meal was going to come from, none of us can really understand what that was like. And hopefully we never will. But when I was looking through the pictures the ones that hit me the hardest were the ones of kids. When I thought of the Great Depression I never thought of how hard it would have been to be a child back then. Imagine how scared they must have been. Imagine being a parent and having to explain to your child why they have don’t have a place to sleep tonight, or why they don’t have any food to eat. The conditions in this period were easily one of the worst in our country’s history. Back to the pictures, the picture that I thought symbolized the Great Depression the best by far was the Migrant Mother. You can literally see the pain in her face. And the fact that she made her kids turn their faces because she was so ashamed told the story for me. This picture gave me a better understanding of what it was like to live through the Great Depression.
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