The Great Depression Happened in 1929, Essay Example

There have been several periods throughout history in the United States that have defined the nation. There have been severe impacts in which there are consequences to the lack of good decision and disorganization, which have resulted in the citizens taking the burdens. The financial crisis in the United States, as well as the wars throughout the world, have directly and indirectly affected the citizens, of the United States. The Occupy of Wall Street in response to the overall power of Wall Street on the rest of the economy, the fall of Saddam, WikiLeaks, and the losing war on Iraq. These instances throughout history can mirror some of the same events that have taken place in the past, but if Americans should learn from the past, they will be better able to handle it in the future. The purpose of this essay is not to chide America on its mistakes, but to give an overview of the narrative of events throughout American History, and analyze how they confuse or clarify the understanding of our history.

The Crash of 1929, known more as The Great Depression is portrayed as one of the most exceedingly bad economic ruins in the U.s economy, which effected the majority of the world. Prior to the crash of stocks, numerous economists were not variably mindful of the recession burst, and bubbles, yet numerous who watched the economy guessed that it would soon recede. The Great Depression happened in 1929, yet it was bound to happen all through the 1920s. A mix of huge unequal dispersion of riches and stocks crash that sent the economy into a downward spiral. Economists still refute a definitive reason in which brought about the Great Depression; however, they understand that it was because of the shortcoming in the structure of the United States economy as well as in the worldwide economy. It is so short sighted to not possibly consider the reason for the Great Depression was only due to the market crash in 1929. It was a series of events that climaxed by the inconsiderateness in which the affluent and the leaders were heedlessly putting resources into funds for expansion.

The stock market bubble was beginning to burst in 1929, as many of the company workers were not able to invest money into the funds expansion, and the inevitable event caused a major slowdown. Many of the wealthy were hording their money and not putting it into the economy, and many in their middle class were casually spending, getting things on loans, and making payment plans. As the lower class was continuously suffering, as the wealth gap was among the highest, with the government greatly contributing. The economic system’s structural weakness along, with the dismal banking industry, was exasperating the economy, and when the stock markets crashed, and many were selling their stocks faster than the banks could keep up. It set of a catastrophic chain reaction that would lasted for almost a decade.

Looking at the FDR Deals, that would eventually add new jobs, and new deals that would refuel the economy. It not only impacted the confidence of the American people, but also regulated the banking industry, President Roosevelt placed great importance on circumventing the New Deals around the importance of the Mississippi River. Looking at the Mississippi River, the New Deal provided the Farm Security Administration and the Tennessee Valley Authority project in which corrected the problems of how timber practice and farming had caused erosion to the topsoil, in which was swept into the Gulf of Mexico. This led to impoverished farmers, and catastrophic floods. Roosevelt greatly felt that in order for the economy to make a full economic recovery, they must first raise farm prices, and recover agriculture. He wanted to construct a dam down the river that would help against flooding, but also help poor farmers, and generate electricity. While not of FDR’s New Deals worked, there were many that stuck in order to help balance the equality gap, and cater to the poor that was supplied with jobs, social security, benefits, and other services to refuel the economy.

Looking now at the present, there are many instances in which highlight the huge disparities in the economy. Looking back at history in which the wealth gap during the 20^th century, contributed to many economic fiascos, the 21^st century once again looks to the lack of equality spurned from Wall Street. After the Recession of 2008, many of the CEOs of major banking and financial companies received not only handouts, but also bonuses in excess of hundreds of millions of dollars. The media as well as average citizens were equally outraged. Not only did it highlight the inequality of rights and practices of the elite. However, it also shed light on the huge wealth gap of the 1% and the rest of the world. The 1% held the great share of wealth in the United States, more than the combined wealth of 99% of the population. To say that this confused many is not an understatement.  To counteract this issue, as well as to bring international and national attention to the wealth gap, many protestors took to the streets, specifically Wall Street to protest this. The Occupy Wall Street movement was monumental in showing how the illegal acts, recklessness, and greed contributed greatly to the US economy collapse. This narrative is important for American History, unlike in 1929, when many were not able to adequately voice their displeasure with the government, as well as the elite. The Occupy Movement sought to point out Wall Street as a great arbiter and contributor of the vast wealth gap in the United States, as well as the corruptive nature in which has gave way to numerous scandals, oppression over equality, and the placement of profit over people.

The media has played a major role in recent decades, in not only highlighting the financial crisis of 2008, the Occupy Movement, but also the fall of Saddam. During President Bush Jr. speech to West Point, he roused the graduates to enlist in the army to fight in the war against Afghanistan. As he put that, we were fighting a war against terror in which we must defend and preserve the peace. While the media reported on the word for word of the President’s speech, they also had their hand in exaggerating several aspects of the war. This includes the toppling of statue of Saddam Hussein, in which its fall was the signal to the start of the war. However, what the media failed to mention was that a group of Iraqis were already trying to bring down the statue. When the media sprung up, they shot the Americans pulling down the statue with the flag draped over it. The propaganda of the events, were staged to show that the Americans were the ones that were liberating the Iraqis, instead of them liberating themselves. The media’s portrayal of events was a patterned that has followed its coverage of the war. It was not until WikiLeaks, exposed the real events that were happening in war. Many members of the media and the US Army murdered the United States army in many collateral damage. While the media reported one side, the WikiLeaks showed something else. WikiLeaks also gave another perspective in to why Americans were losing the war in Iraq. It started from the top down, during the Bush presidency, to many different factors of disorganization, and dishonesty in going to war with a country that was not the blame for the events of 9/11. These historical events have shaped the way in which people have been confused about the actions of the US, and the concerns about the future of the United States. These events shows how the wealth gap and the media have contributed to the confusion of history. As well as the plight of many people that are not able to reveal the truth behind the actions of the government.  These narratives of the past are pose to show how the events in history has shaped the attitudes of the people in the present.