The Great Depression

The Great Depression was one of the worst times in history. It took place right after the roaring 20’s where everyone was wealthy and didn’t have to worry about expenses. That soon changed after their little bubble got popped and put back in reality where everyone started to struggle more and more. During the 30’s the stock market crashed and things weren’t looking too good. Poverty struck and starvation started to become more evident. Something needed to change but nobody knew exactly the right way to go. That was up until Franklin Roosevelt got into office. But no matter who you were back then, the majority of the population was poor.

In the beginning of The Great Depression Herbert Hoover was the president of the United States. His approach to end the depression wasn’t exactly the first choice that you would think of. He decided to wait it out and let everything smooth itself out. Many people thought that this was a terrible idea because of how long it took. I mean at first you do think, he is the president he should do something. At first I thought that. But that turned out to be the right move. Unfortunately, this president is only remembered for The Great Depression. He wasn’t really as bad of a president that everyone made him look. But because of that one huge event that happened during his time in office, that’s what made up his reputation.

This depression lasted for 10 whole years (1929-1939). That’s how long all of the men, women, and children suffered. Everyone was so desperate that they tried to get together all their money including the money that they originally had in the banks. Because of that drastic change that everyone made, a lot of banks declared bankruptcy. It wasn’t just the banks of course. Since people didn’t have much money to purchase any miscellaneous stuff, businesses weren’t doing too good either. That also brings us to the topic of unemployment. If the businesses aren’t doing well, they either have to cut people’s pay or let them go all together. It depends on how bad they are doing. It is all a chain reaction. If one part of the economy starts to suffer, than it won’t be long before the domino effect to set in. By just 1932 over 10 million people in the population were unemployed. Something definitely needed to change for things to get any better.

So of course because of all the unemployment, poverty started to set in. Many of the wealthier people started to open up some soup or bread kitchens for the people to line up to get some free food. Those lines turned out to be very long. It’s so sad to see pictures of back then with all those people lined up to get food from the kitchens. It really shows how much they were struggling back then. Don’t think that that has completely stopped to this day. You probably have seen at least a few people standing by the side of the road asking for money because they are homeless. Well one year I decided to do something a little different. Around Thanksgiving my family decided to volunteer at one of those soup kitchens (yes they still have them just not as many). It made me feel so good to help out the people who were struggling to make it. It doesn’t matter how they got to that point because why should there be any homeless people at all? Our economy is not at all perfect yet. We still have a lot of work to do to make it any better. But when I see how happy those people are to see turkey and mashed potatoes on their plate, it makes me very grateful for what I have. That’s what you should try to do for Thanksgiving. Try to help out people who don’t have a roof over their head and you’ll realize right away how much you take for granted every day when other people out on the streets who are freezing would love to be where you are. Imagine most of the population out on the streets with nothing. It was a horrible time and I haven’t even seen it first-hand to realize that. I wouldn’t even want to see any of it first-hand.

During the Great Depression some people found a way to get by a little better but not in the legal way. There was a lot of crime. Back then there were a lot of gangsters who would rob, kidnap, and even murder. There was a man named Al Capone. He was the lesser evil of all of the gangsters. He actually opened up a soup kitchen for the public. So, Al Capone soon became almost like the “Robin Hood” in his area. He was friends with the local cops so they weren’t going to get him in trouble. Capone had some tricky choices for friends. A criminal friends with a few cops? That doesn’t sound right but it was actually a smart move for him. If he was comrades with them, they wouldn’t put too much effort into getting him arrested. But that later ended when there was a fight that happened called “Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre”. In this debacle, he killed a few gang members that were not in his group. Whether they were in his gang or not, he killed people. That made his reputation get destroyed because he was never the violent type. After that, he got arrested. This sounds really bad but this wasn’t the worst. There was also a man name John Dillinger who was not only a gangster but a robber. He was mostly in the Chicago area and he was pretty successful with his crimes. But like all the bad guys they did get stopped. Before he got arrested though, he robbed a total of 24 banks and 4 police stations. I’d say he did some damage. He was also considered a gangster that wasn’t violent at all. But unfortunately, the one time he did kill someone, it was a police officer. There was a federal organization called the BOI (Bureau of Investigation) that took down these criminals and many other gangs. Even though this organization is considered the “good guy” they kind of made the criminals look worse than they really were. They didn’t do that by accident. It was actually a strategy to expand their Bureau. A man named J. Edgar Hoover actually called Dillinger and his gang “Public Enemy #1”. That of course made them look like terrorists who come into towns robbing stores, banks, and killing everyone in their way. That’s what you think of the worst criminals right? Well that’s what they made John Dillinger look like even though he was not violent. Yes, these men do need to go to jail because they are breaking the law but there is no need for media to make people look worse than they really are. They still do that to this day. It’s not just with the crime that goes on. When you checkout at the grocery store you pass by magazines. I call them gossip and liar magazines. They just make all the celebrities look worse than they really are. Anybody that has that kind of media power, can make an angel look bad. With the right picture and wording, they can make people look terrible. So of course this Bureau will do it since it’s not their image to worry about. It actually works in their favor.

All of this is definitely the worst of the 30’s. But Hoover was towards the end of his presidency in the 30’s. So that meant that a new president was going to be voted into office. That man was Franklin Roosevelt. He actually served four terms! That’s the most terms that one president served in history. One of the most well-known things that Franklin did during his presidency was create the New Deal Program. He is actually given credit that when he did this it pulled our country out of the depression. But that is not the truth. World War II and more economic advances is what made our country get out of The Great Depression. The New Deal was just a handful of new laws that were put into place. Some of the programs still exist today. There was the Federal Housing Administration which managed mortgages. The Security and Exchange Commission (this one still exists) which monitors investment banks and there were many others. Overall, a lot of these programs were obsolete when World War II broke out and just because of different reasons they just were declared unconstitutional.

The Great Depression makes you realize a few things. If you see pictures or just read about this time, it makes you notice how much you have. The food that you get on your plate every day, the clothes on your back, the extra entertaining things that all of the kids have these days. You never will see a kid coloring at restaurants now. You see their face in an IPad. This generation has to learn to realize how much they have compared to people back then and even now who have nothing. I am part of the generation that I’m talking about but I realized a long time ago how much that I shouldn’t’ take for granted. Some people say that the economy now is similar and maybe even worse than the Great Depression in the 30’s. I believe it. Everyone is just too blind to see it. I never like it when I walk in a store and I see kids begging their parents for a plastic toy or something that is not necessary but they say that they need it. I know that they are just kids but think about why the parents say no. The economy. Not everyone can go out every other day and purchase miscellaneous stuff. That is where you have to get creative. Parents should show their kids that they can play pretend, go on a walk, spending time together is better than any toy. That goes for the whole family. Everyone has a bad day right? But when you go home to your family all your worries go away and that’s the one thing that you are absolutely sure that you are grateful for. So to conclude, learning about the past depressions and noticing how good I have it, I recommend that all of you go spend time with your family and be grateful for everything that you have in your life.