This is a political cartoon printed in the Chicago Tribune in 1934. It's funny because it relates so much to many things being said today. On the sign at the bottom left it says:
That's fantastic! From my little knowledge on the US, this caricature was made in the beginning of the Roosevelt's New Deal, which - in the test of history - proved to be a genius move which not only saved the US from total financial collapse but also played a major rule in making it the superpower of today, right? so you are right it shows in the best possible way how wrong people can be......
Thanks, Chaos. However, the only reason I had in posting this was that it was interesting to find a political cartoon from 1934 that seemed somewhat relevant to issues today. We could discuss the New Deal, but in all honesty, it's not a subject I'm very knowledgeable in. I could be wrong, but, from what I understand, it increased government control, and it's debatable as to whether it was effective in ending the depression.
There are certainly a few people who would characterize it as a "savior" from financial collapse, though most historians I've heard of generally agree that WWII is what got America moving again and made it the superpower of today. In fact, if you read the link you posted, there are many legitimate arguments to be made that the New Deal prolonged the depression, and it was ONLY WWII that brought America out of it. The only indisputable successes of the New Deal era were some incredible public works projects, built on the backs of the poor and cheap labor in a depressed economy. More telling than written characterizations of the effects of the legislation are the actual numbers, from your link: Real Gross National Product (GNP) 101.4(1929) 84.3(1931) 68.3(1933) 103.9(1937) 96.7(1938) 113.0(1940) Unemployment 21.7%(1934) 19%(1938) In other words, five years after the New Deal, the economy languished. Regardless of your opinion of the New Deal, the similarities between the political commentary and the govt spending are uncanny. I suspect that, if this spending is allowed to continue, we may be in for a 10 year block of stale economic numbers, just like the 1930s, and we will need a nice world war to really pull us out.
Good link. He doesn't even address the massive industrialization America went through in support of the war, but I thought these words coincided nicely. In other words, even though our debt to GDP was enormous, private sector investment soared when the Govt. cut its spending. Go figure. Why do I feel like I'm living in 1932? Maybe because our president sees himself as the new FDR. http://www.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/01/20/miller.obama.legacy/index.html http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=99618417 http://www.theusreport.com/the-us-r...bama-administration-ducks-middle-class-t.html To make matters worse, you have people like Krugman who have become little more than partisan hacks, like "scientists" selling global warming.
This is another political cartoon (1933) that seems to mirror this time. This was in the New York City World Telegram. Not that unusual, I suppose, as the Republicans and Democrats are always fighting.