HandoutMatt Davis
*Before the Great Depression began, new buildings like office buildings, stores, factories, utilities, streets, apartments and single-family homes, added substantially to the infrastructure in the 1920’s
*Roosevelt created the New Deal to give more jobs to Americans and rebuild much needed infrastructure. It added many things including new government infrastructure.
Institutions.
*Our government should always be aware of its citizens, and if they're in need, it should provide ways of getting relief: including things like shelter and infrastructure for the poor.
Physical Structures
*For example, the basic physical structures of a community are apartments, group homes, health clinics, soup kitchens, churches, community centers.
*This kind of basic physical structure is needed in the community because they provide a sense of personal space and some hope that one can turn their life in a better direction. For a person to live comfortably, the buildings that make up a community are necessary.
Roads
*Besides the buildings that are needed in a community, American infrastructure includes the roads that connect communities and the nation, roads which enhance the lives of the people who take them.
*Route 66, for example, is a road that provided the opportunity for travel to those who thought they would never get away. The Route was specially designed for safe, speedy travel, often avoiding congestion from cities.
*Today there are things like The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009which have set aside $105.3 billion, of its $787 billion in measures for the improvement of our nation's infrastructure, including highways, bridges, sewage, public lands, government buildings, communications technologies, energy infrastructure.
Overall
*The responsibility we have for each other, with respect to our nation's infrastructure, is dependent on our desire to succeed, and a desire to see our country succeeding. Strong infrastructure literally paves the way for success. Without its benefit, the American experience would not be the same.
Ludo Nengo
Presentation Hand-out
12/5/10
TOPIC: WELFARE/ DIRECT RELIEF
OVERVIEW
- Welfare is the government’s effort to improve the livelihood of individuals who are struggling to survive in modern society.
- It improves people’s status financially but also increases chances of employment and mental stability
- In most countries wealth fare is provided mostly by family/the local community rather than the government.
HISTORY
- Welfare in the U.S. began in 1930 during the Great Depression
- Government became concerned with the rising number of families that couldn’t support themselves.
- America needed a system that would bring aid to people with little to no income.
FINDINGS
- In this project I’ve determined that as members of a society we do have an obligation to help and support the people around us. One common misconception about welfare is that it is simply a crutch that poor people abuse to get by. This image of welfare has been focused on black and Latino minorities. This is an issue because it creates unnecessary and damaging opposition to welfare programs. The purpose of welfare is to help individuals in society that are in need. The lasting goal is to lift those individuals out of poverty and to make them self-sufficient, operating members of society.
Breno Defaria
Now
Americans would have to make at least 10 times the donations they currently give to charity to fully replace government social spending.
About 90 percent of charity funds are both collected and spent locally, which means that rich communities tend to have well-funded charities, and poor communities tend to have poorly funded ones. For this reason, only 10 percent of all charitable donations are directed to the poor. Re-allocating charity donations to the communities that need them most will incur intense political opposition from the communities that fund them.
In 1993, Americans contributed $126 billion dollars to charity. This averages out to $880 per contributing household
Then
Few private and government retirement pensions existed in the United States before the Great Depression. The prevailing view was that individuals should save for their old age or be supported by their children. About 30 states provided some welfare aid to poor elderly persons without any source of income. Local officials generally decided who deserved old-age assistance in their community.
1933, 20 percent of the nation's school children showed evidence of poor nutrition, housing, and medical care.
The Rockefeller Foundation
Financially supported education in the United States "without distinction of race, sex or creed"
Established the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health and Harvard School of Public Health, two of the first such institutions
Developed the vaccine to prevent yellow fever
Funded the work of dozens of Nobel Laureates
Helped found The New School
Supported the establishment of a large range of American and international cultural institutions;
Funded agricultural development to expand food supplies around the world.
Sabria Niles
Private Charities
. It’s our moral obligation
. If no one volunteered to help during the Great Depression, how do you think America would be today?
. Makes you feel good inside
. When asking many people why they decided to volunteer, they said more that it was because they felt that it was the right thing to do or they knew someone who went through problems or had a disability, and so they decided to help in remembrance of their insignificant other
. A little support goes along way
. A lot of people go through problems and without the help of others, things may turn out really bad and they may never be able to get out of their tribulations
. You feel fulfilled
. It uplifts their spirits
Alex
New Deal Project: Labor Unions and Workers’ Rights
-Recognized as representatives of workers in many industries.
-Most prominent public unions include those of teachers and police.
-Activity by labor unions centers on collective bargaining over wages, benefits, and working conditions.
-Also on representing their members if management attempts to violate contract provisions.
-American unions remain an important political factor despite being much smaller than its peak in the 1950’s.
-Been important through their own membership and through coalitions with like-minded activist organizations around issues such as immigration rights, trade policy, health care, and living wage campaigns.
-Today most unions are aligned with one of two larger umbrella organizations.
-AFL-CIO
*Created in 1955
*From 1955 to 2005, member unions represented nearly all unionized workers in the U.S.
*Made up of 56 national and international unions.
*Represent more than 11 million workers as of 2008.
-Change to Win Federation
*Split from AFL-CIO in 2005.
*Associated with strong advocacy of the organizing model.
-American union membership in private sectors in recent years has fallen under 9%, the lowest since 1932.
1930’s:
-Nation slid towards depths of Great Depression
-Future of organized labor seemed bleak.
-In 1933, # of labor union members was just 3 million, compared to 5 million a decade before.
-Most union members in 1933 belonged to skilled craft unions.
-Most were aligned with the American Federation of Labor (AFL).
-Labor unions received many gains in the 30’s in part from the Roosevelt administration.
-Also by legislation enacted by Congress during the early New Deal.
-The National Industrial Recovery Act (1933) provided for collective bargaining.
-The premise of collective bargaining is that by representing all employees a union can negotiate a better collective contract than each worker could get through individual negotiations.
-The 1935 National Labor Relations Act (Wagner Act) required businesses to bargain in good faith with any union supported by the majority of their employees.
-Meanwhile, the Congress of Industrial Organizations split from the AFL
-Became much more aggressive in organizing unskilled workers who had not been represented before.
"Labor Unions During the Great Depression and New Deal."Great Depression and World War II, 1929-1945. The Library of Congress, 26 Sept. 2002. Web. 4 Dec. 2010. <
Sherk, James. "Do Americans Today Still Need Labor Unions? | The Heritage Foundation." Conservative Policy Research and Analysis | The Heritage Foundation. 1 Apr. 2008. Web. 06 Dec. 2010. <
Trevor Williams
Period 1
11/25/10
Social Security
- Signed in by FDR in August of 1935
- Monthly benefit once you reach the age 65
- You pay into it your entire life
- The government pulls small taxes out of your pay checks that go into social security
- It was not as easy to live to the age 65 during this time period
- Also pays monthly income to workers that are disabled
- You have to work 40 quarters to be eligible for social security
- Social Security is the governments way of providing help for citizens once they can no longer work
- This is a perfect example of the responsibility that people have for each other
- Social Security looks out for citizens when they need help
- I interviewed a group of people in Tiburon on their thoughts on Social Security:
-The majority of them thought that it was extremely important and that they were going to be very dependent on it once they were no longer working
-Many of them also have worries that the government will not be able to supply their social security when they are of age
Clay F.
During the Great Depression / Now / ConnectionFarmers struggled to produce enough food to survive due mainly to the poor weather conditions. No one had money to buy crops or animals. Farmers exhausted the land through overproduction of crops and became unsuitable for farming.
An apple cost 5 cents
Farmers usually had a variety of crops and animals in the fields such as vegetables, fruit, chickens , hogs and cattle
Soup lines were created to help feed families with too low of income, if you were white that is. Black people were discriminated against. / Food is over produced to be made cheap. Government created Farm subsidies, where they pay the farmers a set amount every year even if market prices drop. They also manage the supply of agricultural and the price that it is sold. It costs the government $5 billion a year.
Apples cost about a dollar
Today there are usually farms that specialize in one crop or animal
Food stamps are given to people with low incomes to help them get food if you are a citizen. Illegal Immigrants aren’t allowed to apply for food stamps. / In the great depression, when everything failed the farmers went out of business. Now if everything fails, the farmer will still get paid the same amount while the government will pay the difference.
During the depression government wanted inflation so that there would be more money in circulation, making the value of money decrease.
During the great depression farms were controlled by the farmers, today the farms are controlled by big corporations who mass produce a certain crop to maximize profits.
Both systems are designed for certain people that need help. But there is no system for everyone.
Jack Sandage
Criticism of Government
During the Great Depression:
During the start of the great depression Hoover was president, and when under his control the nation failed to get better the blame began to turn towards Hoover.
The common man thought that since Hoover was the president, and since the government is supposed to be for the people, he had a responsibility to help them.
When Roosevelt was first elected president in 1933 he vowed to help the people with the new deal, and now he is regarded as one of the best presidents in the history of the nation.
In the minds of many historians Roosevelt’s economic policies were flawed. Many did not like the idea of welfare, where everyone’s money is held in a collection. Even today many critics of Roosevelt believe that his economic policies prolonged the recession, and that it would have been more beneficial to let it run its course.
During the Current Obama Administration:
Obama, during his campaign, promised change, and promised to help the people of the nation. When Obama entered office he had an approval rating of 82%. By the end of his first week Obama’s approval rating had dropped to 68%, and later it dropped even more.
Many Americans believe that Obama has failed to make the changes that he promised.
When Obama proposed a healthcare reform a large percentage of the population felt that he was invading their personal freedoms and many people feel Obama is trying to take too much control of the average person and feel that government should not play as big a roll in the life of Americans.
Others believe Obama is not doing enough to help the American people, and are criticizing him for not changing the nation in the way he promised to.
James Gilmore
Period 1
12-2-10
THE DUST BOWL, the Great Plains in the 1930’s
*Drought from the early 1930s helped create the Dust Bowl, but it was a gradual process.
*The Homestead Act of 1862 was responsible for bringing in settlers in great numbers.
*Plowing removed the thick area of protective grasses in Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, and the Dakotas.
*Millions of acres of farmland were created; overproduction of the land ruined its farming potential.
*When drought and winds struck, the dry, brittle land could not tether plant-life or hold its own consistency.
*In addition to the states affected by plowing, nearby New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Iowa and Missouri also experienced the effects of the Dust Bowl.
*January 21, 1932, the first of many dusters centered in the Texas and Oklahoma panhandles, eastern portions of Colorado and New Mexico, and western Kansas.
*Locals who experienced this “black blizzard” insisted it had “an edge like steel wool.”
*The term “Dust Bowl” was coined April 15, 1935, by A.P. reporter Robert E. Geiger, in describing the region affected by the sudden and severe duster that occurred the previous day, Black Sunday.
HURRICANE KATRINA, Gulf coastal states in the late summer of 2005
*Hurricane Katrina was one of the strongest storms to impact the coast of the United States during the last 100 years.
*With winds up to 125 mph (a strong category 3 hurricane), Katrina caused widespread devastation along the central GulfCoast states of the US.
*Cities such as New Orleans, Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi, bore the brunt of Katrina's force and still to this day have not healed from the damage done by the storm.
*As the hurricane victims had their lives turned upside down, the victims of the dusters literally had their livelihood uprooted. The Oklahoma and Texas panhandles were particularly hard hit. *They were rendered helpless by Mother Nature, stricken of their wealth and commodities, and robbed of any capability to replace them.
*We are responsible for the health of our neighbors, since there are no environmental barriers that hold our affairs separate. Our responsibility entails remembering the past and not allowing our neighbors to get exposed to underlying dangers.
Welfare – Lucas Waldburger
- What is the purpose of Welfare?
Welfare is a government system to provide support to families and individuals who are in need of aid. The people who make up the welfare system get little or no income. The welfare system is primarily aimed towards families with many children, those with disabilities, and the elderly. Welfare provides: cash assistance so people can pay their bills; Medicaid, which ensures that the poor receive quality health care; and food stamps, which provides food to the needy.
- Who can get Welfare?
To apply for welfare, people must meet a large range of requirements to prove that they are in need of financial aid.
- Why do people stay on Welfare?
Most people decide to stay on welfare because they find that the government helps them out in such a way that they want to keep the benefit. This is especially helpful to those who have a hard time making their rent or payments of any other type.
Private Charity Mason Fernandez
I went to San Francisco to do my project. I carried around five different books in one hand while pretending to search for my phone in my pocket. Just as someone walked by me, I would lose control of the books and drop them. With a sigh of disappointment, I bent to pick them up and watched from the corner of my eye whether or not the person would assist me.
Here is what I derived from my experiment:
Phase 1: Drop books, pick books up.
- Almost no one stopped walking or even glanced down at me.
- There was a total of one person who asked if I needed help.