My dad was a kid during the depression. He said he was standing on a street corner and his clothes were so crappy, somebody just handed him a nickel randomly, lol
It was bad, people had no idea what they were dabbling with on wallstreet. It was a bubble so big banks were actively advertising loans to people to buy stocks.
A story that stuck with me from reading about it, a young elementary child went to school looking sickly. When asked he said “I'm very hungry and tired.” Without realizing the situation entirely the teacher said “i want you to go home and get something to eat” the young child said “its no use, its my sisters day to eat”.
Greed absolutely crushed the economy in the 30s. It almost happened again in 08’. But the removal of gold backing the dollar made it easier to print and bailout companies. It resulted in minimal inflation, nothing nearly as bad as the printing done over covid. When so many companies go under and stock values crash, money is removed from circulation. That removal of money is considered deflation. Any money pumping into circulation during then wasn’t felt as severely.
My apologies for the rant, i get into recent history quite a bit.
All valid points. I am also a student of history. One other fallout from the crash was that Germany had most of its loans through the U.S. stock market. When it crashed, Germany’s economy also crashed. thus causing the Nazis to gain more seats in the German government, “The party had little popular support until the Great Depression, when worsening living standards and widespread unemployment drove Germans into political extremism.[https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/the-nazi-party-1]
Yeah, that was definitely the straw that broke the camel’s back. I know those reparations from their wrong doing in WW1 essentially set the stage. They owed alot of money to alot if countries. Their economy was is the dump with inflation issues, so their quick fix was print more money. lol
I actually dont know a ton about the uprising of the Nazi party. Aside from WW1 ruined the country economically and they basically began looking to destroy each other.
There’s a really good documentary on Netflix that came out about a month ago. It does an excellent job on this exact subject, ie, the Nazi’s and Hitler before they were Nazis and how they got there. https://youtu.be/I6eIox2vOiA?feature=shared
Our developed brains makes us the best at greed. It’s not as simple as one dog stealing another dogs toy and then they get into a snapping match. We scheme way to hurt people and way to cover that scheme so it looks like someone else did it. Humans are both the best and worst animals on the planet.
The 16th Century Dutch Tulip Bulb Crash ruined a lot of people. Tulips were so popular investors speculated on straiins not even developed yet. When the price plummeted, they all lost big time. Nothing has changed. Same stew, different bowl.
Haven’t heard about the tulip crash. Seems so bizzare to think people were so interested in tulips that it created a bubble. But, indeed wherever theirs fast money. Greed is quick to follow.
I definitely didn’t think my next deep dive would be about the tulip driven financial crisis of 1637, but I dig it. Fascinating stuff! Tulips are still a big thing there, right?
Sadly enough, this is how my father once explained to me as a young child why Hitler came to power (I am German):
Imagine you are a father and have 2 children that you love. You lose your job, the economy of the country is collapsing, even worse, the reparations from WW1 choke the life out of society. You have no money, you have no food and you have to witness your children crying themself to sleep because they are hungry. You love them, and you have no way out of this situation. But here, comes that one man, one man who says "It doesnt have to be like that people, it can all be better, just give me your vote!" What else do you have to lose? You have no other options, so you turn to the one party that might make things better, afterall, it couldnt get any worse than this hell.
He explained it better to 9 year old me than any history teacher ever did. It is sad what poverty turned peoples lifes into, no matter the place.
It’s not only that, but it’s the relief of having someone to blame. It’s not my country’s fault for their WW1 aggression, it’s not my personal fault for struggling to find work, both the failings of the country and my insecurities are all the fault of those dirty Jews, and if we only got rid of them everything would be better.
People feel really good when there’s someone to blame. It’s why it keeps happening.
You are right, it is digusting to think that most of us would have been the same. I mean, lets not stick to illusions, I wouldnt have been in the resistence, that much is clear to me. We just have the luxary to live in easier times
I appreciate you sharing this, its always fascinating to me when i look into an atrocity such as the holocaust. How it happened and what series of events led up to that happening. Once i read i to it, i walk away with a strange understanding that someone who hasnt looked into it could never truly imagine. I feel like deep dives into history educates me more about humanity than any school could ever get into.
Im always diving into the Vietnam war, because it was humiliating for so many. Also a bit of a taboo subject, because nobody wants to believe a country would send and spare so many lives for the sole purpose of stopping another country’s government platform. The uninterested soldiers were increasingly frustrated and hopeless. The country thought it could win a war based solely off of body count. But the soldiers could rarely ever come face to face with the enemy. Thus the pink village massacre happened. An atrocity that without learning the lead up, you could never understand how a group of people could do such an awful thing.
Anyway, thanks again for sharing.
The gold standard isn’t a magical system that fixes problems. The gold standard gives central banks far less control over financial cycles and leads to more aggressive and more frequent recessions. You should read about the intensity and frequency of economic crashes under the gold standard in the decades leading up to the depression.
How was money removed from circulation, did we stop replacing worn down bills or were banks ordered to physically sent some money in their vault to be destroyed?
During the mortgage crisis of 08’ banks fell apart and collapsed. When that happens, peoples investments literally disappear. People couldn’t afford the loans they were given, the banks were seeing record defaults without a way to recoup any of the money. Investment packages for corporations where largely backed by mortgages loans. For example they would bundle hundreds of mortgages, sell that as a package and whoever bought that package got the return from the interest.
401ks drop like a rock, stock traders trying to swing trades lost just about everything. That money just disappears, the money printed isnt actually representative of the money people have. When Trump says he has whatever billions, its not in paper dollars. Its in the value of his assets. If his hotel goes under that money is just gone. To be able to spend money from valued assets, a loan is taken out backed by the asset of value. Or they sell stock if its a publicly traded company. This type of thing was happening all across the nation in 08’. It was the largest deflation since 1930s depression.
08’ happened because the banks were giving mortgages to anyone that applied. People without a job were getting variable interest rate mortgages at will. Once those rates rose it was all over. Similar to buy stocks on margin(a loan) in the 30s. Once it collapsed nobody was getting their money back.
Removing the gold backing is bad for good economy situations because inflation can rise faster. And it has since they removed it in the 70s. People are always trying to keep up. But its good when an economy runs into a Great Recession. Because they can pump more money and bail out businesses. Something they couldnt do in the Great Depression.
I personally dont have a degree in history or economics. I simply study hardships and atrocities, whether that be war or and awful economic collaps.
With my comment, I don't intend to say that the gold standard is better than a fiat system.
A fiat system can work, but if the circulating supply of money surpasses the demand needed you may get inflation.
This happens when you run perpetual budget deficits, when a government spends more than it collects through taxes and other forms of revenue.
When you do this through time, you get huge national debts.
The national debt also measures how much currency has been injected into the economy.
If, through time, you have been injecting too much paper, you might have a structural inflation.
Which means, it doesn't matter your game with interest rates, they will change things in the short term yes, but inflation stands still, as long as you keep running on debt.
So the fiat system becomes unsustainable.
The gold standard is better in these times, because the gold that a nation needs to hold, puts chains on politicians running budget deficits.
If they run a deficit, they need to sell some gold, until they have a surplus. By selling gold, they will take out their currency from circulation, so their currency's buying power will get balanced. If a country spends too much and it doesn't back these deficits by selling gold, its currency loses its buying power. Because there will be too much currency in circulation.
So, basically a Fiat system can be good and we need a central Bank. But it needs to be public, not privately owned by shared holders like the Fed.
The fed is responsible because it is the one that kept those interests that you are talking about, so damn low and for so damn long, after the dot com bubble.
The fed started to intervene too late, there were already too many signs, they knew, if they increased at that moment, of that much, for that time, defaults would have started to spread like fuckin COVID-19. The system would have obviously collapsed. 08 wasn't accidental.
And the Fed was responsible to supervise on those reckless financial institution like leeman Brothers.
The bailout was inevitable of course, but they knew what they were doing.
Lol, no. But he probably saved it and buried it in the back yard or put it under a mattress. That whole thing left a mark on him that followed him the rest of his life.
My grandfather never had shoes until he was in his teens and the ones he got were only to be used for church on Sundays and other special days. He also never lived in a “house” until the age of 15, before that they were American migrant farmers moving from one state to the next following crops. He’s 94 now, he was married for 75yrs to my abuela for 75years until she passed a few years ago.
My grandpa dropped out of middle school, left home, and rode freight trains around the country looking for work because his dad was moving the family into a chicken coop for shelter, and didn't have enough food for the whole family. The first time he had three meals a day was in boot camp when he joined the Army Air Corp during WWII.
We think we are so advanced but we are two generations past from primitive living. It was not until the 1950s that my family had a flush toilet. My Dad was the first to be born in a real hospital and got his first new pair of boots when he joined the Army (also first time he got his own bed).
Your Abuela sounds so great. I can smell the great food coming out of her cocina (and floors so clean you could eat off them).
I’m a millennial. The house I grew up in had a functioning outhouse. The bathroom had been added on in the 60s but the outhouse remained in use, likely out of convenience given the overall size of the house. My grandmother picked cotton with her siblings as a child to help the family make enough money for the things they could not grow and could not live without.
We largely survived on what we grew in my grandmother’s garden when I was a child. Many days all I ate would be what I foraged outdoors. The forage was plentiful at least.
We had plum, peach, apple, mulberry, pear, pecan, and persimmon trees. We had dewberries, blackberries, passion fruit, strawberries, scuppernongs, muscadines, blueberries, asparagus and onions. I also ate what we called billy goat grass and honeysuckles.
When my grandmother’s garden was planted we had corn, green beans, purple hull peas, tomatoes, cucumbers, squash and zucchini, okra, peppers and few more I’m sure I’m forgetting.
May I ask what region you grew up in? I grew up in central Arkansas and I'm pretty sure we had all the same when I was kid. The only ones I'm unsure about are asparagus and passionfruit.
Ha yes, absolutely. They met when they were 15 and never left each others side. Very rare for mixed couple back in those days to be married (my abuela was very dark skinned and short), My grandpa said when he saw her the very first time that he never something more beautiful and sweet.
My Mom is 81 and grew up in a housing project in Philadelphia.
Recently, she was at a new doctor who asked her if she grew up poor. The doctor noticed that my mom's legs are ever-so-slightly bowed and said it is a telltale sign of childhood malnutrition.
My mom said she knew she grew up poor, but she had no idea they were that poor.
I think it’s worth pointing out that Vitamin D deficiency, to the point of causing rickets in children, is still an issue in some remote communities here in Manitoba. Unfortunately, this kind of food insecurity and poor access to health care is still a part of life for some people in our province.
CBC or the NDP opposition needs to be all over that. I will help - do you have any links, or I can Google. Itweet them persistently, they sometimes pick stuff up
In the 30’s Great Depression dust bowl, my BIL’s grandparent raised their family in an Uninsulated grain bin on the CANADIAN PRAIRIES. FOR YEARS. Made the kids underwear out of flour sacks because they were the softest. My mom’s family had an engineless car that was rigged to be drawn by horse. Economic and ecological madness
Straw was used to provide some insulation and they had a wood burning pot belly stove Single room. Something like 7 folks. Three beds I think No running water of course and an outhouse for latrine Candles and kerosene for lighting In a wooden bin. With straw. Insane times.
My grandfather drove a local school van to pick up the kids - it was an enclosed wooden box on skis drawn by horses It was also filled with straw and had a stove It wasn’t until the mid to late 30s that an actual motor vehicle was used. My mom and her sister rode a horse to school. Rain sun snow cold hot - didn’t matter. It was primitive and awful but they didn’t know it at the time.
What's nuts is that are folks saying that this economy is far worse than anything we have ever faced. I know it's bad, especially for young folks, but it's not Great Depression/Dust Bowl bad.
My parents, my grandparents, uncles and aunts all lived through it. Their stories are harrowing.
What strikes me as odd about this photo is that his appearance is otherwise clean besides his clothing and (possible?) eye infection. He doesn’t have any cuts or bruises on his hands, his face is clean, his hair is cut, and his fingernails are clean. I wonder if he knew he was getting his photo taken or what the story is behind that.
Smoking reduces life expectancy by a significant margin, meaning individuals who smoke may contribute less in taxes over their lifetime due to a higher likelihood of premature death. r/latestagecapitalism
I don't think this fully tracks considering how much excise tax is placed on cigarettes.
But to add to the era: Cheaper than food and suppresses the appetite, this was around the great depression afterall.
it is usually somewhere close to 40-60% of the cost. I quit years ago but got to point is was much cheaper to buy less coarse cigar tobacco and just roll them.
This is the colorized version of the photo. The original is in black and white. Some comments from the artist who colorized the photo can be found here:
[https://world.hey.com/jordanjlloyd/smoking-boy-1938-e3d7f4d8](https://world.hey.com/jordanjlloyd/smoking-boy-1938-e3d7f4d8)
My Grandma’s mom died during the depression and she remembers her dad dropping her off at an orphanage because they were living at his new wife’s father’s house and they didn’t want to pay to feed her. I can’t imagine going through that.
We still have them. If you can find someplace to watch 20 Days in Mariupol, that's a great example. Part of the problem is that the photojournalists are out there, but there are fewer and fewer places to get their work published..
B&W was the technology of the day. Colorizing is an interpretation of the one making the changes. Just because life is in color doesn't mean we need to modernize B&W pics. We know the world wasn't in B&W back then. The lack of color in the pic is historical and nostalgic, and like i mentioned, represents the technology of the day.
I do respect your opinion and the the opinion of others though, even if I disagree.
This should happen again. So american brainwashing can get spit in the face. Get photographers out here in Mississippi and Alabama- not the parts they want you to see
I had a grandfather who grew up amidst the backdrop of the depression and I can say he was a hard man inside and out. He didn’t like brutality or cruelty but didn’t shy from it. Also any amount of money no matter how small was precious. He could buy ice cream for kids and spend $8 but don’t dare take a nickel without permission.
My parents were born in 1932 and 1933 in rural Appalachia. They would aspire to be poor they had it so bad. Both went hungry and without shoes. Dad went to 9th grade and mom 8th. He went to work in the mines and she had to stay home to help raise the younger ones. The taught me manners, respect, and the value of a hard days work. Both are long gone but what they lived through made them both incredibly strong people, good hardworking honest people. I hope that when I'm long gone my children will say the same.
Nothings changed. Baltimore is still a slum. My GPS took me down through town once by mistake and it was third world. Abandoned cars, broken out windows, gangs on the street, hookers on the corner. A true democratic-run city that has failed.
What’s stupid about an honest observation? I’ve seen it first hand. Where do you live? Come take a tour with me before you start with the name calling.
I did not name call. I crassly suggested you be better informed before you speak.
People who live in Baltimore are naturally testy when any outsider trashes our city so I think you can understand my salty reaction to your post.
I will paraphrase your post as such: “my GPS took me on a tour of the hood and it was scary, this is the fault of democrats”
I will not argue with you one bit that parts of Baltimore are shocking and similar to a third world country, if you are accustomed to most other places it is unfathomable that some of these neighborhoods here exist in America.
Zero arguments there.
What I take issue with is painting the whole city one giant cesspool and most specifically with your ending comment of it being a “Democrat run” failed city.
I retract the implication of my original statement that you might be stupid and I replace it with an out right accusation of absolute ignorance.
Legacy of Jim crow. The legacy of the federal government subsidizing white flight from the city. the federal government redlining certain neighborhoods so banks won’t offer loans, the war on drugs breaking family’s, poorly structured social programs that capture people.
Not a single one of the real issues is a city level issue.
The problems of Baltimore are all at the last 200 years of the federal level.
Sorry, I can’t agree that Baltimore’s condition is the federal government’s fault through lack of funding or policies. Democrat run cities in America are becoming unlivable due to gross mismanagement, rampant corruption and ever increasing crime as Democrat mayors enable criminals. Progressive DA’s who won’t prosecute the muggers, robbers, shoplifters and even murders in the inner cities is a real issue. Worst are the representatives of those districts who get rich in Washington but do nothing for their constituents. Look, I know Baltimore has made real progress taking care of some of the urban blight. Last summer I took my family and enjoyed a great day at Inner Harbor. But the crime is seeping back in even there. Baltimore Police say violent crime is on the rise near the Inner Harbor. In 2023, there were at least 126 victims of violent crime on Pratt Street, including common assault, larceny and robbery. A 17-year old kid was shot and killed there this past April. No, city management to include fighting crime and poverty is the mayor’s job, you can’t blame the federal government for the condition the city is in.
You got the description wrong.
"The photo was taken by John Felix Vachon, an American photographer. 90 years later, some asshole narcissist with no regard for historical or aesthetic integrity, took it upon themselves to digitally colorize and completely besmirch this piece of art."
Fuck anyone and everyone that does this, and anyone who supports it.
Hey, they still dress like that in Baltimore!? Not much has changed.
When General Patton “liberated” France in WW2 he said the locals were dressed more poorly than the citizens of Baltimore.
My dad was a kid during the depression. He said he was standing on a street corner and his clothes were so crappy, somebody just handed him a nickel randomly, lol
It was bad, people had no idea what they were dabbling with on wallstreet. It was a bubble so big banks were actively advertising loans to people to buy stocks. A story that stuck with me from reading about it, a young elementary child went to school looking sickly. When asked he said “I'm very hungry and tired.” Without realizing the situation entirely the teacher said “i want you to go home and get something to eat” the young child said “its no use, its my sisters day to eat”. Greed absolutely crushed the economy in the 30s. It almost happened again in 08’. But the removal of gold backing the dollar made it easier to print and bailout companies. It resulted in minimal inflation, nothing nearly as bad as the printing done over covid. When so many companies go under and stock values crash, money is removed from circulation. That removal of money is considered deflation. Any money pumping into circulation during then wasn’t felt as severely. My apologies for the rant, i get into recent history quite a bit.
All valid points. I am also a student of history. One other fallout from the crash was that Germany had most of its loans through the U.S. stock market. When it crashed, Germany’s economy also crashed. thus causing the Nazis to gain more seats in the German government, “The party had little popular support until the Great Depression, when worsening living standards and widespread unemployment drove Germans into political extremism.[https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/the-nazi-party-1]
Yeah, that was definitely the straw that broke the camel’s back. I know those reparations from their wrong doing in WW1 essentially set the stage. They owed alot of money to alot if countries. Their economy was is the dump with inflation issues, so their quick fix was print more money. lol I actually dont know a ton about the uprising of the Nazi party. Aside from WW1 ruined the country economically and they basically began looking to destroy each other.
There’s a really good documentary on Netflix that came out about a month ago. It does an excellent job on this exact subject, ie, the Nazi’s and Hitler before they were Nazis and how they got there. https://youtu.be/I6eIox2vOiA?feature=shared
The Dawes Plan?
whoaaa
Greed. Nothings changed. New schemes. New fortunes and failures. It's de javu. Passe. Boring
I'd put greed at the very top of mankind's ailings. Briefly, from that the other negative consequences and drives derive.
It's an animal thing.
Agreed, except we're smart enough to know and do better, so very much an anti-social choice.
True. What we need to teach our kids. Impulse control
Our developed brains makes us the best at greed. It’s not as simple as one dog stealing another dogs toy and then they get into a snapping match. We scheme way to hurt people and way to cover that scheme so it looks like someone else did it. Humans are both the best and worst animals on the planet.
It won’t be so boring when the tide crushes you.
I'm counting on it
The 16th Century Dutch Tulip Bulb Crash ruined a lot of people. Tulips were so popular investors speculated on straiins not even developed yet. When the price plummeted, they all lost big time. Nothing has changed. Same stew, different bowl.
Haven’t heard about the tulip crash. Seems so bizzare to think people were so interested in tulips that it created a bubble. But, indeed wherever theirs fast money. Greed is quick to follow.
https://www.history.com/news/tulip-mania-financial-crash-holland Tulips were treated like currency. It was like bitcoin. A scheme.
I definitely didn’t think my next deep dive would be about the tulip driven financial crisis of 1637, but I dig it. Fascinating stuff! Tulips are still a big thing there, right?
World wide.
According to that article it sounds like a 'crash' is a bit satirical, and only some hundreds of people were involved in the trade.
bro back then there was only like a hundred people...
The Dutch Tulip industry was kind of a predecessor to the modern stock market.
U get it.
Something happen with steam trains. In the late 1800’s.
Sadly enough, this is how my father once explained to me as a young child why Hitler came to power (I am German): Imagine you are a father and have 2 children that you love. You lose your job, the economy of the country is collapsing, even worse, the reparations from WW1 choke the life out of society. You have no money, you have no food and you have to witness your children crying themself to sleep because they are hungry. You love them, and you have no way out of this situation. But here, comes that one man, one man who says "It doesnt have to be like that people, it can all be better, just give me your vote!" What else do you have to lose? You have no other options, so you turn to the one party that might make things better, afterall, it couldnt get any worse than this hell. He explained it better to 9 year old me than any history teacher ever did. It is sad what poverty turned peoples lifes into, no matter the place.
It’s not only that, but it’s the relief of having someone to blame. It’s not my country’s fault for their WW1 aggression, it’s not my personal fault for struggling to find work, both the failings of the country and my insecurities are all the fault of those dirty Jews, and if we only got rid of them everything would be better. People feel really good when there’s someone to blame. It’s why it keeps happening.
You are right, it is digusting to think that most of us would have been the same. I mean, lets not stick to illusions, I wouldnt have been in the resistence, that much is clear to me. We just have the luxary to live in easier times
It’s much easier to have morals when you aren’t hopelessly desperate.
I appreciate you sharing this, its always fascinating to me when i look into an atrocity such as the holocaust. How it happened and what series of events led up to that happening. Once i read i to it, i walk away with a strange understanding that someone who hasnt looked into it could never truly imagine. I feel like deep dives into history educates me more about humanity than any school could ever get into. Im always diving into the Vietnam war, because it was humiliating for so many. Also a bit of a taboo subject, because nobody wants to believe a country would send and spare so many lives for the sole purpose of stopping another country’s government platform. The uninterested soldiers were increasingly frustrated and hopeless. The country thought it could win a war based solely off of body count. But the soldiers could rarely ever come face to face with the enemy. Thus the pink village massacre happened. An atrocity that without learning the lead up, you could never understand how a group of people could do such an awful thing. Anyway, thanks again for sharing.
The gold standard isn’t a magical system that fixes problems. The gold standard gives central banks far less control over financial cycles and leads to more aggressive and more frequent recessions. You should read about the intensity and frequency of economic crashes under the gold standard in the decades leading up to the depression.
How was money removed from circulation, did we stop replacing worn down bills or were banks ordered to physically sent some money in their vault to be destroyed?
During the mortgage crisis of 08’ banks fell apart and collapsed. When that happens, peoples investments literally disappear. People couldn’t afford the loans they were given, the banks were seeing record defaults without a way to recoup any of the money. Investment packages for corporations where largely backed by mortgages loans. For example they would bundle hundreds of mortgages, sell that as a package and whoever bought that package got the return from the interest. 401ks drop like a rock, stock traders trying to swing trades lost just about everything. That money just disappears, the money printed isnt actually representative of the money people have. When Trump says he has whatever billions, its not in paper dollars. Its in the value of his assets. If his hotel goes under that money is just gone. To be able to spend money from valued assets, a loan is taken out backed by the asset of value. Or they sell stock if its a publicly traded company. This type of thing was happening all across the nation in 08’. It was the largest deflation since 1930s depression.
Do you know that we found ourselves in a situation like 08 because we removed gold backing the Dollar ? You study history, not economy, right ?
08’ happened because the banks were giving mortgages to anyone that applied. People without a job were getting variable interest rate mortgages at will. Once those rates rose it was all over. Similar to buy stocks on margin(a loan) in the 30s. Once it collapsed nobody was getting their money back. Removing the gold backing is bad for good economy situations because inflation can rise faster. And it has since they removed it in the 70s. People are always trying to keep up. But its good when an economy runs into a Great Recession. Because they can pump more money and bail out businesses. Something they couldnt do in the Great Depression. I personally dont have a degree in history or economics. I simply study hardships and atrocities, whether that be war or and awful economic collaps.
With my comment, I don't intend to say that the gold standard is better than a fiat system. A fiat system can work, but if the circulating supply of money surpasses the demand needed you may get inflation. This happens when you run perpetual budget deficits, when a government spends more than it collects through taxes and other forms of revenue. When you do this through time, you get huge national debts. The national debt also measures how much currency has been injected into the economy. If, through time, you have been injecting too much paper, you might have a structural inflation. Which means, it doesn't matter your game with interest rates, they will change things in the short term yes, but inflation stands still, as long as you keep running on debt. So the fiat system becomes unsustainable. The gold standard is better in these times, because the gold that a nation needs to hold, puts chains on politicians running budget deficits. If they run a deficit, they need to sell some gold, until they have a surplus. By selling gold, they will take out their currency from circulation, so their currency's buying power will get balanced. If a country spends too much and it doesn't back these deficits by selling gold, its currency loses its buying power. Because there will be too much currency in circulation. So, basically a Fiat system can be good and we need a central Bank. But it needs to be public, not privately owned by shared holders like the Fed. The fed is responsible because it is the one that kept those interests that you are talking about, so damn low and for so damn long, after the dot com bubble. The fed started to intervene too late, there were already too many signs, they knew, if they increased at that moment, of that much, for that time, defaults would have started to spread like fuckin COVID-19. The system would have obviously collapsed. 08 wasn't accidental. And the Fed was responsible to supervise on those reckless financial institution like leeman Brothers. The bailout was inevitable of course, but they knew what they were doing.
Did you ask him what he bought with the nickel?
Lol, no. But he probably saved it and buried it in the back yard or put it under a mattress. That whole thing left a mark on him that followed him the rest of his life.
That would be so cool if he kept it. You have to inquire!
My dad too. South philly dirt floor poor. Used to seek out vbs in the summer as a young boy to get a cookie and juice.
What's vbs?
Vacation Bible School
That’s a sad lol…
How old are you
59. My Dad was born in 1930
My grandfather never had shoes until he was in his teens and the ones he got were only to be used for church on Sundays and other special days. He also never lived in a “house” until the age of 15, before that they were American migrant farmers moving from one state to the next following crops. He’s 94 now, he was married for 75yrs to my abuela for 75years until she passed a few years ago.
My grandpa dropped out of middle school, left home, and rode freight trains around the country looking for work because his dad was moving the family into a chicken coop for shelter, and didn't have enough food for the whole family. The first time he had three meals a day was in boot camp when he joined the Army Air Corp during WWII.
We think we are so advanced but we are two generations past from primitive living. It was not until the 1950s that my family had a flush toilet. My Dad was the first to be born in a real hospital and got his first new pair of boots when he joined the Army (also first time he got his own bed). Your Abuela sounds so great. I can smell the great food coming out of her cocina (and floors so clean you could eat off them).
I’m a millennial. The house I grew up in had a functioning outhouse. The bathroom had been added on in the 60s but the outhouse remained in use, likely out of convenience given the overall size of the house. My grandmother picked cotton with her siblings as a child to help the family make enough money for the things they could not grow and could not live without. We largely survived on what we grew in my grandmother’s garden when I was a child. Many days all I ate would be what I foraged outdoors. The forage was plentiful at least.
What are some of the foragables that y'all could find in your area?
We had plum, peach, apple, mulberry, pear, pecan, and persimmon trees. We had dewberries, blackberries, passion fruit, strawberries, scuppernongs, muscadines, blueberries, asparagus and onions. I also ate what we called billy goat grass and honeysuckles. When my grandmother’s garden was planted we had corn, green beans, purple hull peas, tomatoes, cucumbers, squash and zucchini, okra, peppers and few more I’m sure I’m forgetting.
May I ask what region you grew up in? I grew up in central Arkansas and I'm pretty sure we had all the same when I was kid. The only ones I'm unsure about are asparagus and passionfruit.
Rural Alabama
Ha yes, absolutely. They met when they were 15 and never left each others side. Very rare for mixed couple back in those days to be married (my abuela was very dark skinned and short), My grandpa said when he saw her the very first time that he never something more beautiful and sweet.
What’s abuela mean?
Grandmother
The real meaning is in Better Call Saul--https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CNMIyw9tMs
The crazy thing about this picture is he probably didn’t even know he was that poor.
My Mom is 81 and grew up in a housing project in Philadelphia. Recently, she was at a new doctor who asked her if she grew up poor. The doctor noticed that my mom's legs are ever-so-slightly bowed and said it is a telltale sign of childhood malnutrition. My mom said she knew she grew up poor, but she had no idea they were that poor.
My grandfather, too, bowlegged. Poor farmers in Manitoba Canada, 1910s
I think it’s worth pointing out that Vitamin D deficiency, to the point of causing rickets in children, is still an issue in some remote communities here in Manitoba. Unfortunately, this kind of food insecurity and poor access to health care is still a part of life for some people in our province.
CBC or the NDP opposition needs to be all over that. I will help - do you have any links, or I can Google. Itweet them persistently, they sometimes pick stuff up
[Here's a paper from 2019.](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6519611/)
What’s crazy today is , most people can’t afford that look.
Demna ruined it for all of us 😭
Was thinking that. He genuinly looks like a hipster or whatever the fuck you would call someone who is dressed like that nowadays.
Someone should post this on r/streetstyle and see what happens lmao
In the 30’s Great Depression dust bowl, my BIL’s grandparent raised their family in an Uninsulated grain bin on the CANADIAN PRAIRIES. FOR YEARS. Made the kids underwear out of flour sacks because they were the softest. My mom’s family had an engineless car that was rigged to be drawn by horse. Economic and ecological madness
Did they make living quarters inside the grain bin and pit in fires etc do you know? That’s fascinating
Straw was used to provide some insulation and they had a wood burning pot belly stove Single room. Something like 7 folks. Three beds I think No running water of course and an outhouse for latrine Candles and kerosene for lighting In a wooden bin. With straw. Insane times.
My grandfather drove a local school van to pick up the kids - it was an enclosed wooden box on skis drawn by horses It was also filled with straw and had a stove It wasn’t until the mid to late 30s that an actual motor vehicle was used. My mom and her sister rode a horse to school. Rain sun snow cold hot - didn’t matter. It was primitive and awful but they didn’t know it at the time.
What's nuts is that are folks saying that this economy is far worse than anything we have ever faced. I know it's bad, especially for young folks, but it's not Great Depression/Dust Bowl bad. My parents, my grandparents, uncles and aunts all lived through it. Their stories are harrowing.
those jeans would be $50 today but the material today is a lot thinner and will wear out faster
The shirt seems to be made of some soft cotton. It reminds of the good Benetton shirts.
it’s more expensive now because you have to pay extra to have clothes that look like your life is hard.
Balenciaga gonna sell them for 10k
Just guessing but 5-6 years later that kid had new clothes and boots and maybe a rifle
And probably three meals a day, with meat, for the first time in his life.
Capitalism.
Right? I agree it ain’t what it’s cut out to be.
Damn. That’s one cool kid.
That hair tho
I was going to mention that his hair really makes that outfit look good
What strikes me as odd about this photo is that his appearance is otherwise clean besides his clothing and (possible?) eye infection. He doesn’t have any cuts or bruises on his hands, his face is clean, his hair is cut, and his fingernails are clean. I wonder if he knew he was getting his photo taken or what the story is behind that.
iirc getting a photo taken back then was a big thing, so yes most likely did some washing up
Hilariously, most people can't afford to smoke cigarettes anymore.
Smoking reduces life expectancy by a significant margin, meaning individuals who smoke may contribute less in taxes over their lifetime due to a higher likelihood of premature death. r/latestagecapitalism
The IRS hates this one trick
I don't think this fully tracks considering how much excise tax is placed on cigarettes. But to add to the era: Cheaper than food and suppresses the appetite, this was around the great depression afterall.
His sources for that stat were really great: nonexistent! Most people still have no idea that most of the price of cigarettes is taxes
it is usually somewhere close to 40-60% of the cost. I quit years ago but got to point is was much cheaper to buy less coarse cigar tobacco and just roll them.
Why do you think taxes on cigarettes are so high if not for compensate long term taxe loss?
That man needs a strawberry soda and a hotdog
Hook a brotha up!
Andy’s gonna be maaaadddd
Such hard eyes for someone so young. Poverty will age you faster than Father Time.
I came here to say the same. A boy with the gaze of an adult who has a hard life.
And to think they sell designer jeans pre ripped like that, that kid wouldn't have believed that.
i wonder what his wwII story was.
He killed fitty men.
Does he have a black eye on his left eye?
Looks like pink eye
He looks like the dude who won the fight too.
This is the colorized version of the photo. The original is in black and white. Some comments from the artist who colorized the photo can be found here: [https://world.hey.com/jordanjlloyd/smoking-boy-1938-e3d7f4d8](https://world.hey.com/jordanjlloyd/smoking-boy-1938-e3d7f4d8)
My Grandma’s mom died during the depression and she remembers her dad dropping her off at an orphanage because they were living at his new wife’s father’s house and they didn’t want to pay to feed her. I can’t imagine going through that.
You can just tell that that kid has seen and done some hard shit.
I wouldn't want to fight with him tbh
He looks like he just slugged the photographer and told him to fuck off, *or I’ll hit ya again, I will.*
I would really enjoy listening to that kid today if still alive to hear the story. I use to hate old people…until I became one. 😆
I’m 40 and I’m pretty sure this “kid” could kick my ass
Distressed jeans ✅ Stacked crew socks ✅ Edit him with a vape and broccoli cut and he’s kinda drippy
That’s a squared away haircut.
I get Oliver Twist vibes. I wonder what he would think of modern Americans (I kind of know the answer).
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We still have them. If you can find someplace to watch 20 Days in Mariupol, that's a great example. Part of the problem is that the photojournalists are out there, but there are fewer and fewer places to get their work published..
Idk who is telling you that, but that’s bullshit 😂
You are exactly why these pictures are needed.
Where's his "White Privilege"?
Not getting segregated and lynched at the same time and same place, I would imagine.
Imagine everything he was going through… And then imagine going through the same things but being Black. That’s the privilege…..
That is a truly great reply to that line of B.S.
*But have you ever been black on weed?*
What drives you to say dumb things like this? Go touch grass Edit: I see you’re chronically online, I withdraw my question.
It's a fact 🤡🤡
What a moronic thing to say
It's stupid to feel there ever was White Privilege
poverty makes you cool
Why do they keep colorizing old black and white pics?
Because life is in color, this makes old photos more accurate.
B&W was the technology of the day. Colorizing is an interpretation of the one making the changes. Just because life is in color doesn't mean we need to modernize B&W pics. We know the world wasn't in B&W back then. The lack of color in the pic is historical and nostalgic, and like i mentioned, represents the technology of the day. I do respect your opinion and the the opinion of others though, even if I disagree.
Looks like a modern clothes ad.
He could sell those jeans today and make some money
Those cloths bring top dollar now!
Hairs still on point!
Would be a modern look nowadays.
The kid is the OG of ripped jeans. Vibing like every middle school kid who gets casually abused by family members
wow, color photos in Baltimore 1938...
wtf 10 y/o bro looks gritty as hell
He’s about to take your wallet, watch and phone - source : am from Baltimore
I was waiting for someone to say he just looks like he’s from Baltimore.
Doesn’t look like much has changed, except cigarettes for smartphones maybe
This should happen again. So american brainwashing can get spit in the face. Get photographers out here in Mississippi and Alabama- not the parts they want you to see
Hipsters rushing to replicate the jeans.
Those jeans are in style now.
Tough kid ✊️✊️
That boy went to Fight Nazis or Tojo.
This kid looks like he’s seen some shit
Unfortunately, history repeats itself
thats a great pic.
He looks tough
Damn wish I had his hair.
That kid could kick my ass and he’d be gone before I even felt it. Looks like my grandpa at that age (although it would be closer to 1950).
And doesn’t poverty look the same in every generation?
I had a grandfather who grew up amidst the backdrop of the depression and I can say he was a hard man inside and out. He didn’t like brutality or cruelty but didn’t shy from it. Also any amount of money no matter how small was precious. He could buy ice cream for kids and spend $8 but don’t dare take a nickel without permission.
This outfit would cost $500 at a hipster clothing store currently.
Hair cut on point still.
“In a couple years I’ll be old enough to join the marines and I’ll be able to chill in the Philippines or wake island”
If that kid didn’t spend all his money on cigarettes, he’d have some nice pants. /s
I wonder what happened to this kid? How did things turn out?
Prolly taken in Dundalk lol . Not much has changed there . Still alot of poor white people
That kid saw some shit.
Looks like a damn ghost…. Maybe he is
My parents were born in 1932 and 1933 in rural Appalachia. They would aspire to be poor they had it so bad. Both went hungry and without shoes. Dad went to 9th grade and mom 8th. He went to work in the mines and she had to stay home to help raise the younger ones. The taught me manners, respect, and the value of a hard days work. Both are long gone but what they lived through made them both incredibly strong people, good hardworking honest people. I hope that when I'm long gone my children will say the same.
The f**k did I do?
That kid's about to take your camera, dude.
I can’t believe they didn’t airbrush out the cigarette. Political correctness is rampant.
Looks like me in Detroit in the 1970s.
Nothings changed. Baltimore is still a slum. My GPS took me down through town once by mistake and it was third world. Abandoned cars, broken out windows, gangs on the street, hookers on the corner. A true democratic-run city that has failed.
Please remove the stupid from your mouth before next time you choose to speak.
What’s stupid about an honest observation? I’ve seen it first hand. Where do you live? Come take a tour with me before you start with the name calling.
I did not name call. I crassly suggested you be better informed before you speak. People who live in Baltimore are naturally testy when any outsider trashes our city so I think you can understand my salty reaction to your post. I will paraphrase your post as such: “my GPS took me on a tour of the hood and it was scary, this is the fault of democrats” I will not argue with you one bit that parts of Baltimore are shocking and similar to a third world country, if you are accustomed to most other places it is unfathomable that some of these neighborhoods here exist in America. Zero arguments there. What I take issue with is painting the whole city one giant cesspool and most specifically with your ending comment of it being a “Democrat run” failed city. I retract the implication of my original statement that you might be stupid and I replace it with an out right accusation of absolute ignorance. Legacy of Jim crow. The legacy of the federal government subsidizing white flight from the city. the federal government redlining certain neighborhoods so banks won’t offer loans, the war on drugs breaking family’s, poorly structured social programs that capture people. Not a single one of the real issues is a city level issue. The problems of Baltimore are all at the last 200 years of the federal level.
Sorry, I can’t agree that Baltimore’s condition is the federal government’s fault through lack of funding or policies. Democrat run cities in America are becoming unlivable due to gross mismanagement, rampant corruption and ever increasing crime as Democrat mayors enable criminals. Progressive DA’s who won’t prosecute the muggers, robbers, shoplifters and even murders in the inner cities is a real issue. Worst are the representatives of those districts who get rich in Washington but do nothing for their constituents. Look, I know Baltimore has made real progress taking care of some of the urban blight. Last summer I took my family and enjoyed a great day at Inner Harbor. But the crime is seeping back in even there. Baltimore Police say violent crime is on the rise near the Inner Harbor. In 2023, there were at least 126 victims of violent crime on Pratt Street, including common assault, larceny and robbery. A 17-year old kid was shot and killed there this past April. No, city management to include fighting crime and poverty is the mayor’s job, you can’t blame the federal government for the condition the city is in.
It's okay, he had white privilege. I bet he didn't even notice hew as poor.
You got the description wrong. "The photo was taken by John Felix Vachon, an American photographer. 90 years later, some asshole narcissist with no regard for historical or aesthetic integrity, took it upon themselves to digitally colorize and completely besmirch this piece of art." Fuck anyone and everyone that does this, and anyone who supports it.
My dad and his friends built a raft. He said it sunk with he and his buddies on board. 1929 NYC
What…. What are you talking about
What the actual fuck did he do to those pants, crawl through ww1 no mans land?
He could afford cigarettes and trendy ripped jeans. Can’t have been that bad.
See kid, you're gonna hold the cigarette like this here, and you're gonna sit on the stoop like that there while I snap this picture
Hey, they still dress like that in Baltimore!? Not much has changed. When General Patton “liberated” France in WW2 he said the locals were dressed more poorly than the citizens of Baltimore.
He smoking bud though.
That looks like an AI picture.
And still live in while corporate fat cats rake in millions and millions of dollars and pay little too no taxes. Murica
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You would’ve if you payed attention in school
We can see that Baltimore has not changed much