America Could Use Another Great Depression

Many Americans, especially those 35 and under, are convinced the economy has never been worse. Job opportunities are shrinking. Personal incomes are stagnant. It is getting harder to buy a home. The facts support their sentiments, however, Americans are much better off than the rest of the world.

By any measure, Americans enjoy more favorable career and economic prospects for success than their global neighbors.  Yet the bleak outlook persists in this country as generations of young people gauge their standard of living against their inflated, perhaps unrealistic, expectations.

What this "Entitled Generation" lacks is perspective.  They have no sense of history when it comes to the American economic experience. If they had grown up in less affluent times, this self-absorbed generation might view their current circumstances differently.

My parents' generation and their parents, experienced an epic economic collapse that left an indelible mark on their lives and their concept of success.  From 1929 to 1941, Americans suffered profound hardships during what became known as The Great Depression.

On October 29, 1929, the stock market plummeted leaving a trail of losses that amounted to $14 billion.  In a single week, the crash wiped out $30 billion in wealth.  That was ten times the annual federal budget and would be equivalent to $377 billion in today's dollars. Suicides were rampant.

Before the financial earthquake, there were 25,000 banks in America. By 1933, more than half the banks had shuttered their doors, leaving the country with 11,000 financial institutions. Depositors loss their life's savings.  Thousands of Americans suddenly were penniless.

Many small businesses were forced into bankruptcy.  Large firms survived by using skeletal workforces, reducing payrolls by thousands. More than 750,000 farmers lost their acreage in foreclosure or were coerced into selling to satisfy property tax judgments.  

Suffocating unemployment followed.  In 1933, the unemployment rate soared to 25 percent. Some cities were hit even harder.  In Toledo, four out of five Americans had no jobs.  There was no government safety net to help ease the pain.  Even those with jobs, were forced to take large pay cuts.

Millions of Americans lost their homes in the crisis, unable to pay their mortgage.  Bands of homeless men and women would hop on railroad cars in search of shelter and food.   More than 200,000 children clambered aboard.  About 50,000 people died or were injured leaping on trains.

The desperation gave rise to shanty towns, hastily cobbled settlements of the unemployed.  The people ate jack rabbits, dandelions and whatever scraps they could scrounge or steal.  During cold snaps, they huddled next to open fires using newspapers as blankets to warm their shivering bodies.

The crippling economic free fall extracted a toll on families.  More than 1.5 million husbands abandoned their wives.  Birth rates tumbled. Unable to provide for their children, some parents packed their kids and sent them on Orphan Trains to families that could provide work and food.

The depression was especially cruel on children.  An estimated 50 percent did not have adequate food, shelter or medical care.  Many suffered diseases. Schools were shut down because of lack of financial support, putting three million children on the mean streets.

Despite many government programs designed to create work for jobless Americans, it wasn't until the outbreak of World War II in 1941 that the misery finally abated.  Living through this era, Americans exhibited courage, stamina and ingenuity that have become the hallmarks of the country.

Today's new generations could learn lessons from The Great Depression. Nothing in life is guaranteed.  The government cannot solve every problem.  Success can be measured by simple things like shelter and food. Let's hope we don't need another Great Depression to relearn those principles.