HIS-FPX1150_Assessment4-1

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Economics

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Jan 9, 2024

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Living History The Great Depression: From One’s Perspective December 29, 2023 HIS-FPX1150_ Assessment4-1 The Great Depression was worst economic downturn in our country’s history and caused an anguished impact on my life in my early adulthood. It all began in 1929, when I thought it was just a typical problem that could be resolved and we would keep living our regular lives. The

economic expansion during the “Roaring Twenties” came to an abrupt end. The onset of the Great Depression came, as most people at the time saw it, with shocking suddenness (Himmelberg, R. F., 2000). The New York Stock Exchange suffered an unprecedented 50% when investors panicked and swiftly liquidated 16 million shares of stock, losing hope in the American economy. Prior to October 24, 1929, as an upper-middle-class professional, my family had enjoyed financial security. Then, on that dreadful historic day, my family began to face and worry about financial instability. I will never forget the struggles my family went through at the time. My work informed us that there will be a thirty percent pay decrease because of the way the economy fell. We all attempted to live a normal life. I had to do things that I had never previously performed. For instance, in order to be self-sufficient, I had to establish and maintain a little kitchen farm to help. Even though my family was little, I had difficult times supporting them. In order to support the family, my wife had to work, even if it was only a one-day or one-week job. And there was always the Saturday night ordeal as to whether or not I would get home with a paycheck (Rauchway, E., 2008). Most people, including my friends, had comparable problems to what I had. One of my friends once moved away from his family because he felt ashamed of his inability to support them. I know people who have had to give everything up and moved to communities of shacks on the edges of cities or landfills that, soon enough, Americans learned to call “Hoovervilles.” (Rauchway, E., 2008). I lost my life savings as well. My only options were to take on the burden and live, or to ignore it and not live at all. I pulled my kids out of private school and got a second job. Despite the numerous negative effects, the Great Depression had on my life, I am a stronger person now than I was before.

The Great Depression was, as I just mentioned, the worst economic downturn of my lifetime. It changed my regular, everyday existence and made it into a life I never would have imagined for me and my family. Since it started four years ago, I have juggled multiple jobs to support my family, who were enjoying a happy and secure life before to the economic collapse. I was always teetering on the verge of becoming unemployed. Before this, I had a life savings and was financially secure. But as the Great Depression set in, all of my savings vanished and life became one of hardships. The Great Depression forced me to accept a new way of living and a certain degree of thrift. Moving my family to live with my parents when I had to move out of my house to avoid debt that would have prevented us from eating was another difficulty. I had to sell my cars for less money than their worth so I could utilize the proceeds to start and run a produce farm that my family could use. Since the prices of agricultural products have dropped by more than 70% from their prior market worth, I did not cultivate for commercial use. After I took the kids out of boarding school, I gave them agricultural training so they could assist on the farm. People in the community who depended on farm produce for their daily requirements had to adjust to their difficult circumstances because the money they received from selling their produce was insufficient to even meet their basic need. People found solace and hope in the church and the support of their family. Africa Americans suffered even more. The precipitous decline in employment options and wages brought about by the Great Depression hit African American domestic workers particularly hard with lowered wages, and increased hours by employers’ demands ( Stewart, C. A., 2021). Even those with higher education qualifications, found employment difficult to achieve. The Great Depression forced men and women to compete

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for the few jobs that were available, even temporary ones, in a community and society where women had not historically participated substantially in the workforce. It surprised me to see how many women were joining the workforce to help support their families and spouses. It even forced my wife to take a job as a secretary. The majority of the occupations they engaged in were such like telephone operators, secretaries, and teachers, which at the time were seen by males as socially taboo. As the nation descended into the Great Depression, an unusual circumstance devasted families and moved thousands of children into foster homes and orphanages ( Morton, M. J., 2000). Some of my children’s friends were placed in foster care because their parents could not afford to take care of them. And I have heard some gave up their children to orphanages because they have lost hope of ever caring for their offspring. The Great Depression was linked to a number of problems. One of the main problems was unemployment. It was the highest unemployed rate in our nation's history, at 24.7% of the total population. The other event involved many bank collapses, partly due to a decline in public trust in banking, which resulted in depositor "runs," or massive cash withdrawals, forcing banks to liquidate and file for bankruptcy (Himmelberg, R. F., 2000). Along with the stock market's collapse came the forced closure of financial institutions. Both individuals and businesses lost a substantial sum of money, if not all of it. The largest and most devastating economic downturn in history was the Great Depression. It was marked by sharp fluctuations in industrial production and prices (deflation), a rise in the unemployment rate, panics in financial institutions, and sharp rises in the rates of food insecurity, destitution, and unstable housing. Almost every country on the planet was impacted throughout its roughly ten-year duration. The economic crisis had its worst impacts in America, where GDP decreased by 30%, unemployment increased to over 25%,

and industrial output fell by about 47%. Life on farms become very unstable. Merely 16% of households on farms made more money annually than the $1500 national median. In the South, tenant farm families and sharecroppers made $350 or less a year. When their wages fell too low to repay bank loans, farmers all around the United States lost their lands ( Musbach, J. W., 2001). Even with jobs, Americans had to make do with relatively little money. People's lack of funds made it nearly impossible for them to finance their own lives. There were obstacles and difficulties during this period, but there were also solutions created, such as the Townsend program and soup kitchens, among many other initiatives aimed at assisting with this serious issue. Americans endured extreme hardship. The country was failing. The collapse of the stock market resulted in many people losing their employment. Most economists and historians disagree as to what exactly caused this historical economic crisis, although the most widely accepted theories include the 1929 stock market crash, banking panics, financial contraction, and the gold standard. Similarly, just as there is little agreement on what caused the Great Depression, there is also uncertainty on how to solve it; once again, a few factors were clearly responsible. Generally speaking, countries who abandoned the gold standard, depreciated their currency, or increased their monetary base recovered first. The UK, for instance, did not rejoin the gold standard until 1931. In addition, expansionary fiscal policy—which included the New Deal's employment and welfare programs as well as higher war spending at the start of World War II—probably contributed by increasing consumer spending and earnings, though experts disagree about how significant this factor was. Reducing interest rates, altering taxes and expenditures

(implementing fiscal policy), and creating long-term measures to improve economic efficiency and production are additional potential remedies for the Great Depression. The impacts of the Great Depression seem to be similar to the recent pandemic's impacts - or, more precisely, its economic repercussions. They somewhat parallel the economic strain during the Great Depression. It indicated that early experience of economic meltdown and financial uncertainty has an intriguing influence on people's adaptability and perspectives toward risks and opportunities. Some individuals made fortunes even during the Great Depression. Meaning that the event stimulated innovative thinking in certain people. Such thinking occurred for some people during the recent pandemic with the personalization of face masks. Others who grew up under the instability and hardship of the Great Depression become less confident in the future and avoided taking risks as well as looking for opportunities. Due to their opportunity- averse mindset, some individuals who witnessed and experienced the Great Depression had chronic stress-related health problems that negatively impacted their chances of success as adults and never went away. An abundance of data demonstrates how young adults were influenced psychologically by the unprecedentedly high unemployment rates during the Depression and the unprecedentedly low unemployment rates during the war (Caplow, Hicks, & Wattenberg, 2001) The Great Depression taught people the value of economic security and the importance of enduring hard times. It also demonstrated the important roles that money, banks, and the stock market play in the economy. Save for emergencies. Preparation is always a good idea, and one of the most crucial lessons to learn from the Depression is that anything can happen. Individuals who failed to have established savings ultimately found themselves bankrupt, jobless, and

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heavily indebted. Take steps to avoid debt. Debt is still a big issue in modern society. Throughout the pandemic, people have been happy to postpone paying their credit card bills, but until their interest is also suspended, they are only making matters worse. Try your hardest to pay off your debt as quickly as you can to avoid making the same mistakes that were made during the Great Depression. To reduce interest costs, cut your monthly payments, and pay off debt more quickly, you might want to consider a debt consolidation loan. Overall, one must always plan ahead and create an emergency fund for whatever lies in the future. The Great Depression occurred a few months after the most prosperous times in my life. At a drop of a dime, everything changed and we all had to adapt. My advice to the future generations: learn from what happened in mine and be cautious with the stock markets, live within your means and, as much as you can, save for that rainy day. Because like the saying goes, “When it rains, it pours.” References: Rauchway, E., (2008). “ Great Depression and the New Deal : A Very Short Introduction” , Oxford University Press, Incorporated, 2008. Retrieved December 25, 2023 from:

http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/capella/detail.action?docID=415892. Himmelberg, R. F. (2000). “ The Great Depression and The New Deal .” Bloomsbury Publishing USA. Retrieved December 25, 2023 from: https://ebookcentral-proquest- com.library.capella.edu/lib/capella/reader.action?docID=3000127 Morton, M. J. (2000). “Surviving the Great Depression: Orphanages and Orphans in Cleveland.” Journal of Urban History, 26(4), 438-455. Retrieved December 25, 2023 from: https://doi- org.library.capella.edu/10.1177/009614420002600402 Stewart, C. A. (2021). “ Household Accounts: Black Domestic Workers in Southern White Spaces during the Great Depression .” The Journal of American History., 108 (3), 492–520. Retrieved December 26, 2023 from: https://doi.org/10.1093/jahist/jaab230 Musbach, J. W. (2001). “Life on a farm during the Great Depression.” Magazine of History , 16 (1), 33-34. Retrieved December 25, 2023 from: https://www.proquest.com/docview/213735949/fulltextPDF/3CCEEFAD67764D3BPQ/1? accountid=27965&sourcetype=Scholarly%20Journals Caplow, T., Hicks, L., & Wattenberg, B. J. (2001). “ The First Measured Century: An illustrated guide to trends in America ,” 1900–2000. Washington, DC: AEI Press, Retrieved December 25, 2023 from: https://www.loc.gov/item/2003478898/

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