Will History Repeat Itself?

I hate talking about politics, mainly cause I hate the arguing that comes from it. I don't mind others opinions, but I hate it when they are on a rant and I am forced to listen to it when I don't agree and vice versa. It always make for an uncomfortable situation for both parties. I am taking a history class(1500's to the present) this semester and I have been so frustrated with the parallels that I see taking place. I recently wrote an essay over the great depression chapter, and was astonished at some of the things that were coming up. I just want you to read my paper and comment on what you think, about the similarities. The comment can be as long or as short as you would like to make it, but I do ask that you leave me some feedback as to what you think. I am in no way pointing fingers at any political leaders and I am not trying ton envoke an argument. I just want to know what you think. Enjoy!


Chapter 35: Considering developments during the Depression Era, what evidence do you see that this era was a time of social, political and cultural decline?

Introduction

The Great Depression did much to change the shape of political, social, and cultural structures around the world. Unfortunately not all of the changes were for the better. Although one might often think of the early 1900s as a time of high moral standards, much of the decline that we see today can be traced to degradations that started around the time of the Great Depression.

United States

The effects of the Great Depression in the United States affected everyone. It struck without prejudice of occupation or social status. The stock market fell and companies and investors lost their investments. This led to the collapse of companies and high unemployment rates. These problems were further exacerbated by bank failures causing people to lose their savings. Even those who had employment often didn’t know from one day to the next if they would still be employed. Not only was the economy depressed but so were people’s spirits. This led to eventual depression of social, political, and cultural structures and norms.

Evidence of this depression and social decline was the increased rate of suicides. One group of people who were especially prone to suicide was the investors. Devastating losses in the stock market pushed some of the investors over the edge. Another evidence of social and cultural decline was the increased rates of begging and the increase in the number of vagrant camps. For many people the norm of the clean house with the white picket fence was gone and in its place was life on the streets - begging or moving from place to place in search of work. The social and cultural decline also affected the structure of the basic social unit, the family. It was often hard for a man to find work, but women were sometimes able to find work at lower paying jobs. This led women to be out of the house more, leaving children to be raised by the father, if any parent was in the home. Fathers also faced the struggle of accepting the fact that they were not the bread winner in the home. This led to significant changes in family dynamics. The evidence of cultural decline was also noticed in clothing. As women began working outside the home their fashions fell victim to the depression and became more sedated.

Cultural entertainment also experienced decline through the depression. People began to turn to movies and comic books as a way to escape reality (862). The level of decline thus exhibited is debatable but even by today’s standards movies and comic books aren’t considered as cultured as plays and classic novels.

Politics also declined during the Depression. In 1933 President Franklin D. Roosevelt took office and introduced the New Deal. The New Deal offered the hope of change for all Americans. President Roosevelt’s New Deal seemed all encompassing; it included things like Social Security and welfare. Social Security required that employees would contribute money from each paycheck to a general fund and, in return, when they were old or unemployed they would still have an income on which to live. Welfare provided for those who didn’t qualify for or who needed more than Social Security would provide. Welfare provided for people to be fed, clothed, and sheltered but it didn’t offer health care. The New Deal also brought a change in banking, and many other reforms were put into place. While all of these things seemed to be great for the economy, a lot of people began to depend on these government programs for their survival (864). This was the beginning of the welfare state and the all-providing ‘big brother’ government that we see now.

Europe

Contrary to popular belief in the United States, the Great Depression was not just a national crisis. The Great Depression was more of a global economic collapse affecting everyone around the world. Many of the social and cultural declines that were experienced in the United States were closely paralleled in the rest of the world, especially Europe. One of the key features of the Depression across Europe was political decline. The effects of this decline led to the foundation of much of the history of the 20th century.

One of the main underlying themes in Western Europe’s response to the depression was counterproductive policies. Some of the countries raised the national tariff to keep out foreign products in hope of boosting their own production; unfortunately this made things way worse for them and everyone else. Imported goods were cheaper than the domestically produced goods. The implementation of high tariffs made the price of imported goods increase so no one could sell their goods. However no one could even afford domestic goods and other countries suffered more because their revenue from exports decreased. Governments also sought to cut spending in the hopes of preventing inflation but this only put government workers out of jobs.

With poor government decisions being made, the people’s confidence in the government wavered. Many people started to seek out other options such as communism, or to form other radical parties. In certain situations the depression led to one of two outcomes, either the parliamentary system became incapacitated and too divided to make any decisions or the parliamentary system was overturned. France became a prime example of the first situation, and the political process was often at a standstill because the two sides of government were so divided. However the Scandinavian states had it right, they increased government spending, introduced a social insurance program that far surpassed the welfare program of the United States in which it protected against illness or unemployment. More industrial sectors emerged and they encouraged innovation (863).

Germany managed a response that was able to get them out of the depression but with too high of a cost in the long run. Due to World War I and the blame that Germany incurred from that loss, the nation became the perfect breeding ground for Fascism. At the start of the Depression the German parliament was weak and shaky in its traditions. There was tension between the classes and foreign and military policies were struggling due to restrictions placed upon them after World War I. The nation demanded a powerful leader who would create a strong state and revive the nation through foreign and military policy. This opened the door wide for the rise of a Fascist party. The man who arose with fair speech and promises of change was Adolf Hitler. His policies led to great expanse of the economy and also to World War II (864).

Conclusion

The Great Depression was a time of turmoil and uneasiness. Countries made bad decisions that laid the foundations for World War II. Strong leaders took over some countries and implemented programs that brought their economies around. However, some of these programs bred another whole set of problems. The advent of the welfare programs was good in one sense, in that it provided relief for those in need. However, the continued use of these programs has led to generations of welfare abuse that have hindered people and society. We are now facing a welfare society where more and more people have a sense of entitlement and expect the government to provide for them without any effort on their part. The family structure also underwent change as more and more women began to work. Some of our social ills today stem from the deterioration of the family that began during this time. Several of the problems brought on by the depression were resolved with the rebounding of the economy. Other problems have continued to fester and still plague us today, leading to what may well be a repeat of history.

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