Will we see homeless shantytowns in 2010?
...and if so, why does Obama insist on giving us "healthcare reform" instead of jobs?
The widespread prosperity of the "Roaring Twenties" ended abruptly with the stock market crash in October of 1929 and the Great Depression followed. At one point in the depth of the depression, 25% of the American workforce was out of work. For many Americans, these were very hard times.
"Hooverville" became a common term for shacktowns and homeless encampments during the Great Depression. There were hundreds of Hoovervilles throughout the country, each testifying to the housing crisis that accompanied the employment crisis of the early 1930s.
"Hooverville" was a deliberately politicized label, coined and used to emphasize that President Herbert Hoover and the Republican Party were held to be responsible for the economic crisis and its miseries. (No, they didn't inherit it from Bush.)
Homeless man sitting in a "Hooverville" shantytown in Seattle, Washington 1931
Homelessness followed quickly from joblessness once the economy began to crumble during the early 1930s. Homeowners lost their property when they could not pay mortgages or pay taxes. Renters fell behind and were evicted. By 1932 millions of Americans were living outside the normal rent-paying housing market.
Many squeezed in with relatives. Unit densities soared in the early 1930s. Some squatted, either defying eviction and staying where they were, or finding shelter in one of the increasing number of vacant buildings.
And hundreds of thousands took to the streets, finding what shelter they could, under bridges, in culverts, or on vacant public land where they built crude shacks..."Hovervilles". Some cities allowed squatter encampments for a time, others did not.
Some of the men who were forced to live in these conditions possessed construction skills and were able to build their houses out of stone. Most people, however, resorted to building their residences out of wood from crates, cardboard, scraps of metal, or whatever materials were available to them.
Homeless shantytown known as a "Hooverville" in California - 1933
The economic troubles of the 1930s were worldwide in scope and effect. Economic instability led to political instability in many parts of the world. Political chaos, in turn, gave rise to dictatorial regimes such as Adolf Hitler's in Germany and the military's in Japan.
At the end of 1931, infrequent rallies, and even riots, began to occur throughout the nation. Frustration and fear permeated the country.
In John Steinbeck's famous novel "The Grapes of Wrath", the Joad family settles into a Hooverville in California. (See my post about the Dust Bowl)
Bonus Expeditionary Force
In May of 1932, 300 World War I Veterans set out from Oregon to Washington DC to lobby for a bill for their wartime bonus pay. Many more joined them as they traveled. They called themselves the Bonus Expeditionary Force.
When they reached Washington DC, they were organized into tent-camps. Army Chief of Staff Douglas MacArthur was concerned that the group was a communist attempt to undermine the government, but they were merely hungry veterans, many of them accompanied by their families.
In 1932 the bill was defeated in the Senate, but the Veterans did not riot; they simply sang "America the Beautiful" on the Capitol steps and returned to their encampments.
Herbert Hoover was uncomfortable with the attention the World War I heros were drawing to his administration, and city officials worried about riots. Thus, the President ordered General Douglas MacArthur to clear the area, immediately.
MacArthur gathered cavalry, infantry, a machine gun squadron, and tanks and proceeded up Pennsylvania Avenue. MacArthur was joined by Maj. Dwight D. Eisenhower and George S. Patton Jr. The cavalry advanced with swords drawn. The militia destroyed the make shift homes of the veterans, often with fire. The veterans were driven across the bridge to the opposite side of the Anacostia River, where another encampment was destroyed by fire. No one was certain how that fire started.
The veteran's bill was finally passed in 1936, but the bill required an override of a Presidential veto. This time the President was Franklin Delano Roosevelt, a Progressive Democrat who had been elected and in office since 1932.
After 12 Years of Misery
In 1941 World War II finally kick started the economy again. Millions of men and women joined the armed forces, and an even larger number went back to work in well-paying defense jobs.
And onced again, America prospered...until now, 80 years later, in 2010.
Hundreds of "Hoovervilles" sprang up all across America during the 1930's - A sign of things to come in 2010 and beyond?
...and if so, why does Obama insist on giving us "healthcare reform" instead of jobs? Maybe in 2010 we'll have Obama-villes.
Watch the documentary, "The Money Masters - How International Bankers Gained Control of America"
Related posts on the current unemployment situation:
The New Poor - Millions of Unemployed Face Years Without Jobs
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog1.php/2010/02/21/the-new-poor-millions-of-unemployed-face
The Jobless and Suicides in 2010
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog3.php/2010/03/07/out-of-work-buy-a-shotgun
Government Jobs (Bigger Government) Drive Employment Numbers
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog1.php/2010/03/01/government-jobs-bigger-government-drive
Actual Unemployment in 2010 - Recession Worse than Reported
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog1.php/2010/02/04/actual-unemployment-in-january-2010-rece
Deep Recession Shows No Sign of Letting Up - Maybe Getting Worse
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog1.php/2010/02/24/deep-recession-shows-no-sign-of-letting
Largest U.S. Labor Union: AFL-CIO says Jobs Won't Return
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog1.php/2010/01/07/largest-u-s-labor-union-afl-cio-says-job
More Bad News for the Unemployed in 2010 - and Beyond
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog1.php/2010/02/23/more-bad-news-for-the-unemployed-in-2010
Almost 1 out of 5 People are Out of Work in the U.S.A.
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog1.php/2009/12/31/unemployment-december-2009-new-release
FOX News Wages War on Unemployed - Thinks They're Lazy
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog1.php/2010/03/02/real-reason-why-extended-unemployment-be
Extended Unemployment Benefits in 2010 - Fully Explained
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog3.php/2010/02/16/extended-unemployment-benefits-in-2010
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