This is a picture of the floor of the New York Stock Exchange right after the crash, where millions of dollars apparently disappeared. This relates to something I said about how government involvement in industry is so necessary due to the fact that money is almost hypothetical these days. Even back then money was no longer based on the gold standard. People just did things, bought things and sold things, like they do things today, on credit or with bank loans. Banks gave out more money than they actually had. Because the government was not involved, then and today, people lost track of how much they owed or lent out, and people were able to use the lack of physical money to manipulate people into debt. For me this picture represents the need for people to be educated in economics, those who control large portions of our economy to have incentive to operate more ethically and for the government to ensure that manipulation and corruption are not taking place.

The Great Depression

“The Great Depression had important consequences in the political sphere. In the United States, economic distress led to the election of the Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt to the presidency in late 1932. Roosevelt introduced a number of major changes in the structure of the American economy, using increased government regulation and massive public-works projects to promote a recovery. But despite this active intervention, mass unemployment and economic stagnation continued, though on a somewhat reduced scale, with about 15 percent of the work force still unemployed in 1939 at the outbreak of World War II. After that, unemployment dropped rapidly as American factories were flooded with orders from overseas for armaments and munitions.”

I chose this passage because it addresses two issues related to class. One it touches on something mentioned in the lecture, how we are in a similar situation today as we were during the great depression. Just like the depression led to electing a leader who they knew would bring change, many say Obama was elected because he was the furthest thing from George W. Bush. Also, when Obama was elected, the question was again raised about how involved government should be in regulating business. This last crash was in large part due to a lack of regulations over finance companies, banks and investment companies, just like the first crash which led to the Great Depression. One big difference between our time and the time of Roosevelt is that back then, war seemed to help us get out of the depression. This time many people blamed the crash in part on the fact that we spent so much money on a war that so many people disagreed with. I think one reason World War II helped to pull us out of the depression is because it was so obvious that fighting a man trying to take over the world was necessary. Everyone came together and played a role and our economy improved as a result. This time around this country is so divided on whether or not involvement in the Middle East is necessary or even ethical. Now so much time and energy is wasted on arguing that nothing is getting done. A lot more would be accomplished if this country had the same common goal like we had 70 years ago.

Woodrow Wilson

“Similarly, it was no business of the law in the time of Jefferson to come into my house and see how I kept house. But when my house, when my property, when my so-called private property became a great mine, and men went along dark corridors amidst every kind of danger to dig out of the bowels of the earth things necessary  for the industries of a whole nation and when it was known that no individual owned those mines, that they were owned  by great stock companies, then all the old analogies absolutely collapsed and it became the right of the government to go  down into those mines and see whether human beings were being properly treated in them or not…”

Wilson is saying that when the government of this nation was first formed things were very different. The laws made regarding business and industry do not apply anymore because business and industry were had become more complicated and was in Wilson’s time playing a much bigger role in the everyday lives of every American. At the beginning of this country’s existence, businesses were much more independent of each other and were much smaller. This meant that the community was not nearly as dependent on the success of one single company but rather people had more options and therefore businesses were much more inclined to do things ethically. It is also harder for an employer to get away with unfair conditions or maltreatment when a company is much smaller because the relationship with the employees is much more intimate. However, when companies grew to be so big that those running it and making decisions on how employees are being treated grows to be a whole community in itself, then it becomes much easier to overlook bad conditions, abuse of laborers and unfair wages. In part it is because when a company is so big and employs a substantial portion of a community, that community becomes dependent on its existence and becomes less likely to question things or protest unfairness. This is why it has then become necessary for the laws to change and for government to get more involved. So much more is at stake because so many more people are involved and have so little to do with how things are carried out. There are only a few owners of a mine but hundreds or thousands of workers who are the victim of every over sight and neglect. This means an entire town can suffer because of the way a small group of people decide to run a company and that it is easier to get away with willingly making those decisions.

I definitely agree that government should be involved in business. Especially these days when economics is so complicated and most people including myself have very little understanding of how it actually works. Sometimes it feels intentionally designed that way. It seems like it is very easy, even more so today than Wilson’s day, for companies to get away with corruption or illegal activity. Especially now that money is barely even real anymore. Everything is hypothetical numbers on a computer screen. Also, so much is accomplished on credit so people are getting paid with money that no one even has yet. Over all what I am trying to say is that things were so complicated in Wilson’s time compared to Jefferson’s time just like our time is way more complicated than Wilson’s time and the more complicated things get, the more regulations we need because there is that much more opportunity and ability to manipulate people through business and industry. I also like how Wilson discusses the lack of intimacy between employers and employees. This is another factor that makes corruption, neglect and abuse of employees easier because not only is it harder to complain to a man you have never met but also it leaves the employers out of touch with how things actually work on the front lines of any industry making it harder to properly run that industry even if they wanted to. This is another reason government should get involved. Maybe even those trying to run their company as honestly and efficiently as possible need some government involvement just as assistance.

The Gettysburg Address

“Now we are engaged in a great civil war; testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure… and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.”

What Lincoln is saying here is that he is wondering whether or not it is possible for a country like the United States to exist any longer than it already has. This country was unique at the time, in that it was very diverse, very big and founded on the idea that everyone should have as many rights as possible. I have always thought that one of this country’s biggest problems is that we have too many people to please everyone at once all the time. The way of life varies so much that one man delegating over everything can be very challenging. A good example of this is the fact that there were several different opinions on slavery. It seems obvious today that it was very wrong and a big regrettable part of our past, but even back then it wasn’t as simple as pro-slavery versus anti-slavery. There were also moderates like Lincoln who were against the expansion of slavery but not trying to abolish it all together. Today we see him as being on the same side as men like Frederick Douglas but back then Douglas was very outspoken about being opposed to Lincoln’s views. These different views existed because life in the north was very different and did not rely so heavily on free manual labor because they were so industrialized. The south however was still very agricultural and while it did not actually need free manual labor to survive, they had been using it for so long that suddenly taking it away would change things drastically forever against the will of many. One problem with giving everyone rights is that everyone has an opinion that they can be open about and can take steps to try and change people’s minds. I agree that should be the case but in a country this big it tends to result in very strong polar opposite views on man key issues. I think Lincolns question is still relevant today. We are still very torn on most issues and always working against each other instead of getting things done. When it comes to going to war over seas, gay marriage, the right for a woman to choose, the death penalty, the teaching of intelligent design, universal healthcare and many other issues, this country is extremely torn. People tend to feel very strong one way or the other with very little middle ground and it reminds us the challenge of keeping such a large diverse country alive. Technically to this day, the people still have the right to lobby to have the laws changed to establish slavery provided the right people are elected to various offices. Obviously there are way too many people who oppose slavery to ever allow that to happen but because we have the freedoms we have, that path still does exist. This is one of the reasons some people feel the states should have more self-governing abilities and the federal government should go back to the more specific roles it had in the first place. Because there are so many different beliefs that stem from the different ways people live there day to day lives due to both cultural and geographic differences. Everyone having to freedom to work towards their own agendas based on those beliefs is what makes remaining united so challenging.