One of the causes of the Great Depression was the international economic woes of the United States of America. During World War, the U.S.A. had lent money to its allied countries that they could not pay after the war. However, the US government demanded repayment, causing the American banks to lend to these foreign governments to pay back the war-era loan. These governments defaulted on the new loans leading to a crisis in the American banking industry and consequently the citizens who had saved money with them.
One of the actions taken by the Hoover administration to combat the depression was urging the employers to retain their workforce and at the same time urging Americans to work harder. This move, however, maintained Hoover’s lack of acknowledgment of the economic downturn and his optimism that hard work would restore normalcy. This refusal to admit the crisis increased the economic setback as it did not provide a real solution of giving aid to Americans.
One of the changes in popular culture due to depression was the shift from individualism to emphasis on community. This adjustment in popular culture happened because of the arising need for having a community around individuals dealing with a tough time. It was an advocacy method to encourage in helping those severely affected economically. President Hoover’s foreign policy was less intervening compared to Theodore Roosevelt’s and Woodrow Wilson’s. The former was harsh to its war allies on debt repayment, while for the last two, it was softer and collaborative. One impact of the Dust Bowl phenomenon was the loss of income and homes for most farmers due to the then prevailing drought.
Between 1930-1933, both the rural and urban white-majority face one common predicament, the loss of livelihood. In the rural context, the causes were loss of land or diminished productivity due to the drought that ensued. In both cases, this led to the loss of their homes as they could no longer pay their mortgages and rent. However, the significant difference between the two sides was how they dealt with their situations. In the rural settings, once a family could not sustain itself anymore, they moved in with their relatives. (Corbett et al., 2014). Furthermore, this movement continued once the host family was also sent packing. On the other hand, the urban white became homeless and relied on bread and soup relief once they were ejected from their houses.
The two most important reasons for the great depression were poor income distribution and the low-interest loans that forced people into taking unrealistic risks. The insufficient revenue supply aided in the crash of the stock market as it affected the buying and selling of stock. Whereas the wealthy bought the shares, the poor majority could not afford them, and thus, there was no buyer. On the other hand, the low-interest loans promised quick returns in land and stock as hyped, which resulted in loss of lifelong savings due to poor investment advice. The U.S. is unlikely to experience a similar depression for the same reasons as those that lead to the Great Depression.
Nevertheless, for other reasons such as health crisis and other uncontrollable factors, the U.S. could sink economically. The social services during the depression decreased in participation apart from the film industry, which reformed quickly by adopting community campaigns (Corbett et al., 2014). Both the poor and the middle class felt the effects of the depression as the poor became poorer and starved while the latter faced hunger and lost homes.
Reference
Corbett, P. S., Janssen, V., Lund, J. M., Pfannestiel, T. J., Vickery, P. S., & Roberts, O. (2014). US history. OpenStax, Rice University.