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Blame the Government for the Great Depression
B y L awrence W. R eed
Wlje
o rtla n h
© b seru er
The bottom dropped out o f the
stock market on October 24, 1929,
thereby earning that date the histori
cal moniker "Black Thursday.” Thus
began the longest and deepest eco
nomic decline in U.S. history.
Oregonians endured the hard
ships ofthe economic malaise, though
the state was not hit to the same
degree as others whose dominant
employers were auto, textile, and steel
companies. Even so, Governor Meier
summed it up in 1934, “Oregon is
dead broke.”
As we approach the anniversary
o f Black Thursday, the question
USPS 959-680
Established 1970
looms: could we experience another
economic calamity o f such magni
tude? The answer: only if we allow
government to pursue the same ruin
ous policies it imposed during the
1920s and 1930s.
Throughout the 1800s and prior
to the Great Depression, Americans
experienced at least six major eco
nomic downturns. Most were over in
two years, none lasted more than
four. The common thread linking
them : disastrous manipulation o f the
money and credit supply by govern
ment.
Most economists now under
stand that the stock market did not
cause the 1929 crash. The crash was
a symptom o f wildly erratic shifts in
the nation’s money supply. The Fed
eral Reserve System was the primary
culprit, having stimulated a boom with
dirt-cheap interest rates and easy
money in the early‘20s. By 1929, the
central bank had jacked up rates so
high that it choked o ff the boom and
forced a reduction in the money sup
ply by one-third between 1929 and
1933.
Like the serious economic down
turns before it, disastrous manipula
tion o f the money supply sparked the
Great Depression. However, theGreat
Depression lasted 12 years - three
times longer than any o f its predeces
sors - because the government com
pounded its monetary errors with a
series o f harm fill interventions.
In 1930, Congress took a reces
sion and turned it into the Great De
pression. The Smoot-Hawley T ariff
Act, the most protectionist legisla
tion in U.S. history, raised tariffs so
high that A m erica’s borders were
virtually closed to foreign goods. A
vicious international trade war com
menced, setting the stage for World
W arll.
President Hoover signed the
Revenue Act o f 1932, which doubled
the income tax for most Americans.
To make matters worse, exemptions
were lowered; the earned income tax
credit was abolished; corporate and
estate taxes were raised; and new gift,
gasoline and auto taxes were imposed.
Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt
campaigned against the Republican
Hoover on a platform o f less govern
ment. Unfortunately, when the victo
rious Roosevelt took office he gave
America much more. His New Deal
enacted new taxes, raised old ones
(he once proposed a 99.5 percent tax
rate on incomes over $ 100,000), pun
ished investment, and smothered
business with red tape and regula
tions.
STA FF
E
d it o r
P
C
in
h ie f
,
u b l is h e r
Charles H. Washington
Close The
Book On Hate
B y M arian W right E delman
E d i T o R
Larry J. Jackson, Sr.
B
u s in e s s
M
anager
Gary Ann Taylor
A sst . P ublisher
Michael Leighton
C
o py
E
d it o r
Joy Ramos
C
r e a t iv e
D
ir e c t o r
Robert Parker
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tative Am algam ated Publishers. Inc. N e w Y o tk .
N Y . and The W est f'o a s t B lack Publishers
Association- Serving Portland and Vancouver
Barnes &Noble, Inc. and the Anti-
D efam ation League have begun
“Close the Book on Hate," an innova
tive joint campaign meant to help
break the cycle o f hate through read
ing.
The cam paign’s goal is to gain
respect for all types o f differences,
and especially to fight racism, anti-
Semitism, and homophobia. “Close
the Book on Hate” is using books and
related programs held at Bames &
Noble store to give children, parents,
teachers, caregivers, and civic lead
ers new resources to combat preju
dice and discrimination in America,
and in doing this, the campaign is
finding new ways o f teaching one of
the crucial lessons all o f our children
need to learn.
Black parents and parents o f chil
dren from other minority groups have
always understood first-hand just
how pervasive hatred and prejudice
still are in our culture.
What Black adult cannot regurgi
tate the feelings o f rage and resent
ment we often felt from having to
“stay in our place,” watch our words,
cover our backs, and hide our fear in
segregated America? W hat parent is
not utterly devastated by being
forced to watch his or her child un
dergo similar experiences? Any adult
who has comforted a child who was
teased or hurt because something
about her is “different” understands
how early prejudice and hate can
leave emotional and physical scars.
And anyone who has seen these
hurtful behaviors coming from chil
dren knows how early children can
absorb the prejudice and hate from
the adults around them.
Fortunately, the opposite is also
true: just as children learn negative
lessons about difference in their
homes and communities, they can
leant acceptance, tolerance, and cel
ebration o f diversity the same way.
Teaching tolerance and respect early
and repeated is so important. The
“Close the Book on Hate" campaign
is showing children how they can
learn to appreciate and respect the
differences between themselves and
others.
A Key feature o f the campaign is
the leauge's innovative new book
"Hate Hurts: How Children Learn
a n d U nlearn P re ju d ic e ." c o
authored by Caryl Stem La-Rosa and
Ellen Hotheimer Bettmann and pub
lished by Scholastic, Inc., the book is
a guide for adults and children. It
contains practical tips, role-playing
suggestions, and other advice for
teaching children o f all age levels on
how to respond to di fferences in posi
tive, constructive ways; how to iden
tify and address unacceptable be
havior; and how to respond to other
people’s prejudice in ways that pre
serve their own well-being and self
esteem.
Hate Hurts is available in book
stores. Bames & Noble stores around
the county will have special displays
featuring Hate Hurts alongside other
works o f fiction, non-fiction, photog
raphy, and poetry for children and
adults emphasizing the importance
o f valuing diversity. Bames & Noble
stores will also be distributing the
campaign’s free brochure Close the
Book on Hate; 101 Ways to Combat
Prejudice which gives tip on how to
fight prejudice at home, in schools, at
the workplace, in religious congrega
tions, and in the larger community. It
also includes response strategies that
can be used when acts o f bigotry
happen and suggestions for how
communities can plan ahead to see
that these incidents are recognized
and are never tolerated. Finally, it
features a reading list o f books for
children and adults-the same kinds o f
excellent books, which will be fea
tured on the store displays.
The Children’s Defense Fund is
just one o f many national allies sup
porting this important campaign, and
we applaud Bames & Noble and the
Anti-Defamation League for their
partnership and vital work. Teaching
our children to treat others as they
wish to be treated is one o f the most
fundamental values we adults can
pass on. We would have a different
country and world if this lesson was
learned and followed. This campaign
is a wonderful step in teaching this
lesson and closing the book on hate
for good.
Implications of the
Middle East Crisis
B y T he R ev , J esse L. J ackson
Innocent lives have already been
lost in the Middle East. The escalat
ing spiral o f violence and hatred has
begun again. Even as we urge the
leaders o f the region and the world to
act now to end the violence before it
is too late, we must not ignore the
implications o f this crisis.
The human tragedy that would
occur if this crisis escalates is be
yond estimation. In the modern world,
this is not simply a regional crisis, but
a global one. Oil prices are already
spiking across the w orld. If the
violence escalates, it will take a toll
not only on those directly involved,
but also on people across the world.
As economies are hit with the in
creased price o f fuel, the poorer coun
tries and the poorer people in all coun
tries will suffer the most.
Our country needs to make a fun
damental commitment to develop
ment o f alternative energy sources,
greater energy efficiency and con
servation. For too long, the Congress
has blocked sensible progress in this
area. And surely, the nation needs
investment in alternative energy and
conservation, far more than the
wealthy few need another tax break.
Second, if yesterday, one-sixth of
our Social Security savings were in
the market, the losses would have
been staggering. With the same in
vestments, someone lucky enough
to have retired at the market’s high
would have a far more secure retire
ment than someone unlucky enough
to retire at the market’s bottom which
is not yet in sight.
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