1935 - 1939

Some people on this board are out of a job or are struggling to get by.

Even though America's economy is terrible right now, it sure could be much worse. Here is a look at the United States during 1935-1939.

 

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Hard times are hard. We sure have it a lot better nowadays. Where are those pics from?

 

The G****s of Wrath indeed

 

One more government program and that's where we'll all be.

 

Those are from a series of photos taken by Dorothea Lange. She was a do***entary photographer working for the U.S. Farm Security Administration, which was investigating living conditions of Depression-era migrant farm workers; which was pretty dismal. They haven't improved much.

http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/lange/index.html

 

If it wasn't for things like unemployment insurance a****st other social safety nets things today would be just as bad as the Great Depression. Keep in mind the way they figured unemployment figures were different back then. There are a total of 6 different tables that the Bureau of Labor Statistics use. The one that the government uses for the official rate today is the U3 unemployment rate which hovers at 10 percent. U6 which uses methodology closer to what was used to determine the unemployment rate of the thirties is hovering right around 17.5 percent currently. I think in 1994 the government "revised" how unemployment was figured, no doubt to help certain folks in an election year. Keep in mind as well that we have a lot of troops overseas who would normally be competing in the job market not here. There is also a good reason why congress keeps supporting extensions for unemployment, there are not that many jobs out there and fed m***es equal calm m***es.

 

So what is the answer? What is your solution? Or do we do nothing and it (the economy & unemployment) will all work itself out?

 

I won't be surprised when this thread is closed.......

Trouble is all the solutions do nothing to address the root of the problem. This goes way beyond some investors figuring out a sneaky way to take sub-prime mortgages and mix them with prime mortgages and then selling them as mortgage backed securities. The problem lies with the whole fact of why our economy is reliant on home equity as a major economic force. As the manufacturing sector has slowly been exported out of this country there was no other sector that could take it's place. So instead debt became the main instrument to drive economic progress. Wages have been flat for the better part of a decade yet the economy kept growing. The growth has come almost solely from increasing debt load. That is why everyone was so freaked out about the credit crunch. Because this easy credit was the only thing keeping the economy afloat. Home equity made up for lost spending power. There has been absolutely nothing that touches on any this from anyone in the political arena.

The solution is obvious, slowly start bringing back manufacturing into this country and stop allowing illegal immigration. Illegal immigration only drags down wages and it allows shady companies to get away cheaply when it comes to workman's comp. Even if one pays the same wages for a citizen versus an illegal the illegal is still cheaper to hire simply because the illegal can get their hand chopped off and be told "so sorry, if you report me I am calling the INS".

Also the whole service based economy is a bunch of nonsense. If other countries can produce physical goods cheaper than we can than why can't they also provide services cheaper than we can. One would have to ***ume smart people only exist here in the USA to believe that we will become a successful knowledge based economy.

 

You can't say much about this topic without being political. That said, the current crop in Washington could give a rats *** about the average American as long as they get re-elected and have the cushy salary and benefits they enjoy. The whole bunch (and I mean everyone) should be replaced with some that have America and Americans as their only objective.
This post should be gone by morning.

Frank

 

my .002, it boils down to people need to stop being so stupid and greedy. that's started the wave and then it took out a lot of good people.

ok close it...............

 

thanks for the pics-those are great. a good reminder of how bad bad can really be-and how by comparison, we are doing ok.

 

Don't be political on here, just be thankful for what you do have.

 

Although I know this thread will get closed, I have to put in my two cents. We need to vote out all of the congressmen and senators and slap some term limits on all of them. If the president has term limits why shouldn't they? New blod is the only way to straignten it out. New blood won't be beholding to special interests and the like. It's time to clean house!

 

When the great depression is mentioned I cannot help but think of how many brand new Fords where sold between 1929-1939. Seems everyone, was able to afford a new car, makes me wonder. Most cars in those images would have been almost new or at least only a few years old at best.

 

Cars were much cheaper back in the day. Adjusted for inflation a brand new Model A would cost about $4,867 in today's money. A car just a couple of years old would cost about the same as a $2,500 dollar clunker now.

 

Lack of government programs / safety nets is why the great depression was so bad. All the people who are on unemployment have a few bucks (I know not many) to spend and it keeps money flowing and keeps them and there family's (hopefully) off the streets. If we just let our people fall on there faces (after paying taxes there whole lives) we will just wind up another third world country

 

AMEN..x1000

Where is James Earl Ray when you need him?

 

But, a Model A wasn't required to have air bags, whatever MPH bumpers, catalytic converters or any number of other things mandated to be there today.

Some of the requirements for "specially constructed vehicles" even amaze me.....since you can build an "EPA exempt" motorcycle. All of the "required safety equipment" is just as funny to me, since in IL, that same motorcycle is required to basically have no safety equipment whatsoever! You don't even have to wear a helmet....but don't forget your seatbelt in a car.

Without getting "political", it's also amazing that the auto industry didn't seem to suffer total catastrophe during the Great Depression. Sure, lots of brands went under or were forever changed, but they still made and sold a lot of the cars we so love and covet today. With so much of our manufacturing base gone, the same cannot be said of the current situation.

Hard times indeed! Some interesting stories came out of that era! The things people did just to survive seem so incredible today!

Tim D.