Britain’s Social Policy

Britain’s National Health Service (NHS), set up by the Department of Heath in July 1848 as a healthcare provision, is based on its citizen’s needs not ability to pay. The Department of Health oversees the NHS with funds provided through taxpayers (History of the NHS, n. d. ). Launched as a single organization, the NHS was founded around 14 regional hospital boards in three segments consisting of hospital services; family doctors, dentists, opticians and pharmacists; and local authority health services, including community nursing and health visiting (Ibid).As with any public service agency, changes are imminent. Since 1948, the NHS has undergone major changes in the organizational structure of the agency and in the manner in which patient services are provided. While the NHS proved beneficial to Britain’s citizens, there remained negatives in the program. In spite of improvements and successes, the NHS food was still rationed, building materials were short, and t here was a significant economic crisis and a shortage of fuel. In spite of efforts to improve conditions, the war created a housing crisis in addition to the post-war reconstruction of cities.The New Towns Act (1946) created major new centers of population, but each center was in need of health services. During the period from 1948 to 1957 (History of the NHS), the agency underwent administrative difficulties, financial problems, criticism over minimal fees charges to recipients (e. g. â€Å"a flat rate of ? 1 for ordinary dental treatment†) (Ibid), problems balancing all responsibilities and demands of the government and public, and maintaining medical professional and community health issues. By 1960, the NHS began to see positive changes. The introduction of improved drugs lead to better treatment to citizens.It was during this period that the polio vaccine was introduced along with â€Å"dialysis for chronic renal failure and chemotherapy for certain cancers were develop ed† (NHS, n. d. ). As time progressed, through 1967, problems concerning doctor’s pay arose. However, some of the problems were resolved through the Royal Commission. Like the reformation in pay structures, improved management conditions also became a significant concern. In fact, the NHS introduced a Hospital Activity Analysis to enable medical professionals and managers â€Å"better patient-based information† (NHS, n.d. ). Furthermore, the 1960s brought about a change in segmentation as medical staff was divided into specialty groups, leading to additional criticism (e. g. the 1962 Porritt Report called for unification) (NHS). Also launched in 1962 was Enoch Powell’s Hospital Plan, a ten-year program approving the development of district general hospitals for areas with populations of about 125,000 (NHS), advocating new postgraduate education centers, and giving nurses and doctors a better opportunity for education and future employment and stability.In 1967, recommendations for developing a senior nursing staff structure and moving forward with advancements in hospital management were made in the Salmon Report, while the Cogwheel Report marked the first report on the organization of doctors in hospitals. By 1968, the NHS boasted clinical and organization optimism. However, the optimism was short-lived. Medical progress was notable (e. g. inclusion of endoscopy and Computerized Axial Tomography scanning), including an extension of investigative groups.Also prevalent during the period of 1968 to 1977, transplant surgery became widely used, pharmaceutical improvements were evident, and intensive care units gave the NHS a renewed sense of how medical care would be provided to its citizens. This renewed spirit was short-lived with the mergence of Lassa Fever. The general practice charter encouraged the formation of primary health care teams, new group practice grounds and a rapid increase in the number of health centers.Additionally, t his period saw a change in the Government’s Hospital Plan as new hospitals began to provide even more people with improved and local services. Also indicative of progressive changes is the arrival of information technology through â€Å"health service computerization and clinical budgeting† (NHS). Nevertheless, advancements did not remove the continued debate concerning the organizational structure of the NHS. In 1974, a new system was introduced, but conflict continued combined with an increase in inflation.When inflation reached 26 percent, a wage restraint was enacted. According to the NHS, â€Å"industrial action hit the NHS while consultants were also alienated by proposals to reduce private practice within the service† (NHS, n. d. ). NHS historical sources relate that by 1978 the NHS â€Å"had become a victim of its own success† (n. d. ). Changes were imminent. The introduction of new technology and multifaceted treatment methods led the NHS and its governing forces to realize additional advancements were imperative.By the late 1980s, the NHS reported highly recognized advances, including the areas of primary health care, genetic engineering, successful drug advancements, and the introduction of the MRI of which the agency states: â€Å"the number of operations for fractured neck or femur and osteoarthritis of the hip was reaching almost epidemic proportions†¦increasing numbers of heart and liver transplants were being performed and surgical treatment for heart disease was becoming more common† (n. d. ).In spite of the positive changes, the NHS continued to face on constant dilemma –financial stability. Increasing demand for services exceeded the resources available, leading to the mandated audit process of what NHS professionals were doing. By 1987, the NHS’s medical staff was in debt (NHS, n. d. ), waiting lists were increasing, and hospital wards were being closed (n. d. ). The NHS reports the peri od of 1988 to 1997 as its â€Å"most significant cultural shift since its inception with the introduction of the so-called internal market† (NHS, n. d. ).A 1989 White Paper, Working for Patients, was passed into law (Community Care Act 1990). Leading up to the beginning of the 1990s, the NHS saw the emergence of the internal market while health organizations became NHS trusts (independent, competing organizations with their own managements). By 1991, the NHS reported 57 Trusts, with all care provided by Trust at the end of 1995. All of the changes marked what the agency calls the â€Å"New NHS† and defines this change as â€Å"modern, dependable† (NHS, n. d. ). The new NHS operates under â€Å"six principles† of which include:†¢ The renewal of the NHS as a genuinely national service, offering fair access to consistently high quality, prompt and accessible services right across the country; †¢ To make the delivery of healthcare against these new national standards a matter of local responsibility, with local doctors and nurses in the driving seat in shaping services; †¢ To get the NHS to work in partnership, breaking down organizational barriers and forging stronger links with local authorities; †¢ To drive efficiency through a more rigorous approach to performance, cutting bureaucracy to maximize every pound spent in the NHS for the care of patients;†¢ To shift the focus onto quality of care so that excellence would be guaranteed to all patients, with quality the driving force for decision-making at every level of the service; †¢ To rebuild public confidence in the NHS as a public service, accountable to patients, open to the public and shaped by their views. (â€Å"Six Principles†) Of all influences on the changes in the social policies of Britain the NHS and Community Care Act 1990 has had the greatest impact. In fact, before the Act, most of Britain’s health and public services were pla nned and provided by health and local authorities (Commissioning the New NHS, 1998).The Act divided the role of health and local authorities by changing their internal structure thereby giving local authority departments responsibility for assessing the needs of the local population and then purchasing the necessary services from providers (1998). However, under the terms of the Act, a select number of health and social services authorities opted out of what would mean competing with other providers to work together in other sections of the community (e. g. voluntary groups and housing associations) (1998).Under a â€Å"mixed economy of care† (NHS), social policies evolved to also include a service specification inviting providers to â€Å"tender for the contract to provide those services† (Commissioning the New NHS, 1998). This mixed economy was intended as a tool to give citizens a variety of health care choices. However, according the Department of Heath’s re port (1998): Some local authorities chose to purchase services as part of a ‘block contract’ (where a certain service is provided for a fixed price and a fixed length of time).Purchasing services in this way may actually reduce choice for the individual, as frequently no alternatives (outside those provided by the block contract) are made available. Key Elements of Housing Policy Post-war housing policy is believed to have been a â€Å"notable success† (Ball, 1983). Since the days following the war, the physical housing situation in Britain has improved dramatically. In the period of the 1950s to 1980, Britain had seen a significant net gain of 200-250,000 dwellings each year (p. 2).In fact, Ball (1983) reports that â€Å"millions of slums have been demolished† and â€Å"thousands of other dwellings have been renovated to [meet] modern standards† (1983). Britain’s housing conditions have seen a significant improvement, specifically into the 1 980s. In fact, the change was so dramatic that less than 5 percent of dwellings were overcrowded. Improvements in housing includes the inclusion of a bath/shower and an inside toilet. Of all policies in post-war Britain, the 1977 Housing Policy Review was the best moment of all changes in housing provision.By the early 1980s, however, satisfaction disappeared and a growing housing crisis became a concern once again. According to Ball (1983), Britain’s post-war housing record has been poor compared with other West European countries. While all experienced a housing boom from the late 1950s to the early 1970s, Britain’s population size resulted in its trailing behind other countries’ house building rates (see Table 1), most predominately those with a similar welfare state social democratic tradition. Key elements of the housing policies includes the Department of Health’s responsibilities to:†¢ Identify local market information on the supply of housing , care and support services for older and disabled people; †¢ Access support on developing and implementing regional and local housing with care action plans; †¢ Obtain advice on public and private sector capital and revenue streams to inform business investment decisions; †¢ Disseminate guidance on the DH’s Extra Care Housing fund and grant allocation arrangements; †¢ Facilitate the adaptation of good practice to local settings; †¢ Support successful applicants with the development process and share their learning with unsuccessful applicants;†¢ Access knowledge management tools to support practice development and service improvement. †¢ Secure funding to research, test and evaluate new and innovative models of housing with care solutions support; †¢ Offer training and consultancy resources to support service development and change management processes; and †¢ Convene regional LIN meetings to identify and share what works (Departm ent of Health, 2007). According to Gummer (2005), in the 25 years since the UK’s â€Å"right to buy† housing policy, approximately 2 million families have become homeowners, changing the way Britain’s housing policies and market is perceived.The â€Å"right to buy† policy opened opportunity to â€Å"a whole new group† giving them â€Å"a stake in the community that they had never had before† (p. 69). However, in spite of the positive changes, Gummer (2005) reports that Britain continues to receive criticism with the most cited concern being â€Å"that the sale of council houses means there is a shortage of homes to let† (p. 69). Contrary to the positives, negative critism has surfaced, including a Contract Journal article (Penny, 2005) stating that â€Å"social housing schemes could be about to receive a much-needed shot in the arm — as well as a much-needed boost from the private sector† (p.40). Penny (2005) argues the impracticability of Britain’s urging to commit to a social housing PFI. â€Å"Unless you know exactly what you are taking on, anyone involved in such a scheme could be taking a huge risk,† argues Penny (p. 40). The author, among others, believe that the proposed new NHS LIFT approach indicates the public sector retains an interest in the scheme of which Penny also argues will â€Å"sidestep tenants’ objections to being put into the hands of a firm being run solely to generate profit† (Ibid).Despite obvious objections, the Contract Journal (Penny, 2005) does see positive aspects of moving to NHS LIFT-style management and asserts that a move flexible program would benefit the public in more ways than better housing alone. Based on references concerning LIFT-style initiatives (NHS LIFT Guidance, 2007; Penny, 2005; Millet, 2005) the program addresses almost all concerns in social housing, including the continued coverage of health and schools. As time progres ses, Britain’s housing policy changes continue to be focus of debates on just how much of the changes are for the good of citizens and how much is political agenda.One must question the validity of various housing programs, including the current and forthcoming plans for housing for the elderly. One such program is the Wanless Telecare proposal (Housing LIN Policy Briefing, 2006) that the Audit Commission defines as â€Å"any service that brings health and social care directly to a user, generally in their own homes, supported by communication and information technology. Data is collected through sensors, fed into a home hub and sent electronically to a monitoring center† (2006, p.1). According to the Briefing document (2006), Britain’s government believes the Telecare program can help older people to remain in their homes for longer (p. 1). However, while the program proposal defines the costs associated with implementing the program as â€Å"modest† (20 06, p. 2), they are high, specifically to the homeowner. The set up fee of a basic home safety package costs about ? 360 plus monitoring costs of ? 5 per week. Home health monitoring is more expensive, around ? 700 and ? 10 per week monitoring costs.Given these high figures, combined with the already luminous housing problems with the elderly, how can such a program benefit citizens? According to the Audit Commission’s review of the Telecare housing safety program, â€Å"Telecare equipment and services provide the opportunity to react to hazardous events and to alert and prevent deterioration in an individual’s ability to care for themselves† (2006, p. 3). One specific pilot study (West Lothian: Opening Doors for Older People, 1999 quoted in Department of Health White Paper, 2006) for the inclusion of Telecare surveyed 10,000 households in the West Lothian district age 60 or over.The survey purpose was to reveal the validity of Telecare inclusion as a possible m eans of â€Å"reengineering† services for older people to include the development of extra care housing and changes to home care services. According to the survey, implementing Telecare on its own without wider system improvements is a wasted opportunity. In fact, the survey revealed: †¢ Telecare is not a cut price alternative to personal care, but sits alongside it †¢ A technology driven approach does not work †¢ A focus on cost saving/shunting does not work †¢ A high level of commitment at senior level is required†¢ West Lothian has found ‘minimal interest’ from the local NHS in telecare/telemedicine possibilities (Department of Health, 2006; Audit Commission, 2004; Brownsell et al, 2001). Understanding the changes in Britain’s housing policy since 1979 enables its citizens to better equip themselves for what future changes may come. In fact, Britain’s housing policies have fluctuated, indicating a positive change and decl ining to criticism and little faith of its citizens. While the government is consistently working toward bettering its housing policies, there remains many avenues yet to be explored. References:Audit Commission (2004). Older People: Implementing Telecare. London: Audit Commission. Ball, M. (1983). Housing Policy and Economic Power: The Political Economy of Owner Occupation. Methuen: London. Brownsell, S et al (2001). An attributable cost model for a telecare system using advanced community alarms. Journal of Telecare and Telemedicine, Volume 7. _______________ (1998). Commissioning the new NHS, 1999/2000. Department of Health, HSC (98) 198. Department of Health (2007). Official website. Crown, retrieved January 11, 2007 from http://www. dh. gov. uk/Home/fs/en Department of Health White Paper (2006).Our health, our care, our say: a new vision for community services. London: The Stationery Office. Gummer, J. (2005, Nov 5). â€Å"Right to buy† was the right move for everyone. E states Gazette, Issue 544, 69. Millet, C. (2005, Oct 10). Social housing set for LIFT-style deals. Contract Journal, Vol. 430 Issue 6545, 1. ______________ (2007). NHS LIFT Guidance. Crown, retrieved January 10, 2007 from http://www. dh. gov. uk/ProcurementAndProposals/PublicPrivatePartnership/NHSLIFT/N HSLIFTGuidance/fs/en Penny, E. (2005, Oct 10). Editor’s Comment. Contract Journal, Vol. 430 Issue 6545, 40. United Nations Statistical Yearbook 1978

Loneliness in Of Mice and Men Essay

Explore the issues connected with loneliness in John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men. Loneliness is examined carefully in Of Mice and Men. In the world of itinerant ranch-hands, loneliness is an inescapable part of life and Steinbeck records this through the plot and characters in his novel. Being lonely is the lack of an emotional, mutual bond, which leads the characters to lose a sense of self-worth and dignity. This essay explores what Steinbeck discusses about loneliness in Of Mice and Men and how he uses the characters of Candy, Crooks, George, Lennie and Curley’s wife to express these views. George and Lennie are the most interesting starting point for such an exploration since they are the only two characters in the novel who are defined by their companionship rather than loneliness. George proclaims proudly to Lennie in the early pages of the novel, that itinerant ranch-hands, typical of the economic Depression in the USA in the 1930s, â€Å"are the loneliest guys in the world† but â€Å"with us [them] it ain’t like that†. Both George and Lennie know that their friendship gives them a future and gives their life purpose and significance. They want to own a farm where they can â€Å"live off the fatta the lan'† and rear animals; where their feeling of self-worth will not stem from gambling and prostitutes, but from their camaraderie-their importance to each other. On the other hand, other wandering workers â€Å"got no family† and they â€Å"don’t belong no place.† George and Lennie know that their companionship sets them apart-it makes them dignified enough to have a dream and think about putting down roots, a dream that most ranch-hands would have had at the time, but would never achieve. Other ranch-hands’ remained as ‘islands’, their lives cut off from anybody else’s. The fact that the bond between George and Lennie would have been rare-it is the only instance of true friendship between men in the novel-shows that at the time of the Great Depression, every man was for himself. Indeed, a few characters are suspicious of their friendship, thinking it financially exploitative: â€Å"You takin’ his pay away from him? †¦ Well, I never seen a guy take so much trouble for another guy.† The only reason their friendship exists is because Lennie is so simple; his vulnerability and dependence on George make him loyal and trustworthy, unlike any other ranch-hand. Although George says, â€Å"When I think of the swell time I could have without you, I go nuts,† he knows that Lennie’s presence makes him feel more important and confident than an average itinerant worker like him would normally-being in charge with Lennie makes him feel in charge of his life. Tragically, however, by the end of the novel this is what George becomes-an average itinerant worker; he has to kill Lennie and after losing the only emotional human connection he had, George’s dream and dignity are both destroyed: â€Å"He usta like to hear about it so much I got to thinking maybe we would [be able to have the farm.]† The fact remains that such an honest friendship has a flawed foundation-Lennie’s mental debility, although making a friendship possible, also makes him too vulnerable to make prudent decisions. Loneliness is thus inevitable for George and all his fellow wanderers. In many ways, George and Lennie’s relationship is mirrored by that between Candy and his dog. Again, Candy is able to gain true loyalty and trust only from a dog-a one-dimensional, vulnerable being. When the thick-skinned Carlson asks, â€Å"He ain’t no good to you †¦ Why’n’t you shoot him Candy?† the only answer Candy can produce is that he â€Å"had him so long†. Over the years, Candy has developed a special bond of care, as opposed to simple utility, with his dog. To Carlson, who can only understand the value of a person in terms of their practical usefulness, due to his experience of the Great Depression, this bond is meaningless. After his dog is shot, Candy is reduced to a useless old cripple, also encapsulated in solitude. The dog’s companionship had allowed Candy to cherish his past and be hopeful for his future, but now he has nothing to look forward to: â€Å"When they can me here I wisht somebody’d shoot me †¦ I won’t have no place to go an’ I can’t get no more jobs.† The dream farm tempts Candy, too, because he feels that owning a place will prevent him from becoming a lonely monument for passing ranch-hands to observe. His desperation for the farm is so intense that even after Lennie’s death he hopes George may work towards it, but to no avail-Candy too is destined to be alone, unknown and uncared for once he can no longer serve a practical purpose.

Cause and Effects of the Great Depression

The Causes and Effects of The Great Depression In America Few Americans in the first months of 1929 saw any reason to question the strength and stability of the nation's economy. Most agreed with their new president that the booming prosperity of the years just past would not only continue but increase, and that dramatic social progress would follow in its wake. â€Å"We in America today,† Herbert Hoover had proclaimed in August 1928, â€Å"are nearer to the final triumph over poverty than ever before in the history of any land. The poorhouse is vanishing from among us. â€Å"1 In mid-October, 1929, the average middle-class American saw ahead of him an illimitable vista of prosperity. The newly inaugurated president, Herbert Hoover, had announced soberly in the previous year that the conquest of poverty was no longer a mirage: â€Å"We have not yet reached our goal, but given a chance to go forward with the policies of the last eight years, and we shall soon with the help of God be within sight of the day when poverty will be banished from the nation. † This was the economic promise interwoven with what a popular historian would call the American Dream. More complacently, Irving Fisher and other economists in the confidence of Wall Street assured the citizen that he was dwelling upon â€Å"a permanently high plateau† of prosperity. 2 Only fifteen months later, those words would return to haunt him, as the nation plunged into the severest and most prolonged economic depression in its history. It began with a stock market crash in October 1929; it slowly but steadily deepened over the next three years until the nation's economy (and, many believed, its social and political systems) approached a total collapse. It continued in one form or another for a full decade, not only in the United States but throughout much of the rest of the world, until war finally restored American prosperity. 3 In the autumn of 1929, the market began to fall apart. On October 21, stock prices dipped sharply, alarming those who had become accustomed to an uninterrupted upward progression. Two days later, after a brief recovery, an even more alarming decline began. J. P. Morgan and Company and other big bankers managed to stave off disaster for a while by conspicuously buying up stocks to restore public confidence. But on October 29, all the efforts to save the market failed. â€Å"Black Tuesday,† as it became known, saw a devastating panic. Sixteen million shares of stock were traded; the industrial index dropped 43 points; stocks in many companies became virtually worthless. In the weeks that followed, the market continued to decline, with losses in October totaling $16 billion. Despite occasional hopeful signs of a turnaround, the market remained deeply depressed for more than four years and did not fully recover for more than a decade. 4 The sudden financial collapse in 1929 came as an especially severe shock because it followed so closely a period in which the New Era seemed to be performing another series of economic miracles. In particular, the nation was experiencing in 1929 a spectacular boom in the stock market. 5 In February 1928, stock prices began a steady ascent that continued, with only a few temporary lapses, for a year and a half. By the autumn of that year, the market had become a national obsession, attracting the attention not only of the wealthy, but of millions of people of modest means. Many brokerage firms gave added encouragement to the speculative mania by offering absurdly easy credit to purchasers of stocks. It was not hard to understand why so many Americans flocked to invest in the market. Stocks seemed to provide a certain avenue to quick and easy wealth. Between May 1928 and September 1929, the average price of stocks rose more than 40 percent. The stocks of the major industrials, the stocks that are used to determine the Dow Jones Industrial Average, doubled in value in that same period. Trading mushroomed from two or three million shares a day to more than five million, and at times to as many as ten or twelve million. There was, in short, a widespread speculative fever that grew steadily more intense. A few economists warned that the boom could not continue, that the prices of stocks had ceased to bear any relation to the earning power of the corporations that were issuing them. But most Americans refused to listen. 6 The depression of the stock market impressed the general public with the idea that it would depress general business. Because of a psychological consequence, it did, but it should not have. There are 120,000,000 persons in the country and at the maximum not more than 10,000,000 were involved in stock market transactions. The remaining 110,000,000 persons suffered no loss. The bulk of the population may not have suffered the loss of stock investments, but there were plenty of other ways to calculate loss, and by the end of 1929, with unemployment rising, with shops and factories ornamented by closed or out of business signs, and, perhaps most terrifying of all, the closing of the nations banks, taking with them millions of dollars in deposits. More than 9,000 American banks either went bankrupt or closed their doors to avoid bankruptcy between 1930 and 1933. Depositors lost more than $2. 5 billion in deposits. 8 Two-hundred and fifty six banks failed in the single month of November 1930, and further yet on December 11, when the United States Bank, with deposits of more than $200 million, went under. It was the largest single bank failure in America history up to that tim e, and contributed no little portion to an economic hangover in which, in the words of banker J. M. Barker, â€Å"cupidity turned into unreasoning, emotional, universal fear†. 9 The misery of the Great Depression was, then, without precedent in the nation's history. 10 The most searing legacy of the depression was unemployment, which mounted steadily from the relatively low levels experienced between 1922 and 1929. The percentage of the civilian labor force without work rose from 3. 2 in 1929 to 8. 7 in 1930, and reached a peak of 24. 9 in 1933. The estimates of unemployment amongst non-farm employees, which include the self-employed and unpaid family workers are even higher. These are horrifying figures: millions of American families were left without a bread-winner and faced the very real possibility of destitution. 11 Within a few months after the stock market collapse of October 1929, unemployment had catapulted from its status of a vague worry into the position of one of the country's foremost preoccupations. Unemployment increased steadily, with only a few temporary setbacks, from the fall of 1929 to the spring of 1933. Even a cursory reference to the several existing estimates of unemployment will amply show the rapidity with which unemployment established itself as an economic factor of the first order of importance. 12 By 1932, a quarter of the civilian labor force was unemployed and the number was still rising. State and local relief agencies lacked sufficient funds to meet the demands of families for bare sustenance. Discouraged by continual turn-downs, the unemployed had stopped looking for jobs. On good days in the great cities the jobless sat on park benches reading discarded newspapers, and many who had lost their homes slept in the parks. While some families managed to stay in their homes and apartments, even though they failed to pay the rent or mortgage interest, others were evicted. To keep some semblance of a home, families built shelters from discarded crates and boxes on vacant land or in the larger parks. Municipal authorities, unable to provide adequate help, were forced to adopt a tolerant attitude against these squatters. As time passed the structures became more elaborate and habitable, but older children were inclined to wander away and look for opportunities elsewhere. 13 Fifty years after his presidency and twenty after his death, Herbert Clark Hoover remains the person most Americans held responsible for the economic calamity that struck after 1929. Few of our political leaders have been more ridiculed and vilified during their tenure in office. By 1931, new words and usage based on his name had entered the country's cultural vocabulary: Hooverville†: a temporary bivouac of homeless, unemployed citizens. â€Å"Hoover blankets†: the newspapers used by people to keep warm at night while sleeping in parks and doorways. â€Å"Hoover Flags†: empty pants pockets, turned inside out as a sign of poverty. â€Å"Hoover wagons†: any motor vehicle being pulled by a horse or mule In the heat of the 1932 election, hitchhikers displayed signs reading â€Å"If you don't give me a ride , I'll vote for Hoover. â€Å"14 From the New York Times, October 22, 1932 Fifty-four men were arrested yesterday morning for sleeping or idling in the arcade connecting with the subway 45 West Forty-second Street, but most of them considered their unexpected meeting with a raiding party of ten policemen as a stroke of luck because it brought them free meals yesterday and shelter last night from the sudden change in the weather. From the New York Times, September 20, 1931 Several hundred homeless unemployed women sleep nightly in Chicago's parks, Mrs. Elizabeth A. Conkey, Commissioner of Public Welfare, reported today. She learned of the situation, she said, when women of good character appealed for shelter and protection, having nowhere to sleep but in the parks, where they feared they would be molested. â€Å"We are informed that no fewer than 200 women are sleeping in Grant and Lincoln Parks, on the lake front, to say nothing of those in the other parks,† said Mrs. Conkey. â€Å"I made a personal investigation, driving park to park, at night, and verified the reports. † The commission said the approach of winter made the problem more serious, with only one free woman's lodging house existing, accommodating 100. These are just two of the many stories that came of the poverty of the depression. 15 Not quite three and a half years had passed since the stock market crash, had plunged the United States, and most of the world, into the worst economic debacle in Western memory. Industrial output was now less than half the 1929 figure. The number of unemployed, although difficult to count accurately, had mounted to something between 13 and 15 million, or a recorded high of 25 per cent of the labor force-and the unemployed had 30 million mouths to feed besides their own. Hourly wages had dropped 60 per cent since 1929, white-collar salaries 40 per cent. Farmers were getting less than 50 cents a bushel for wheat. The stark statistics gave no real picture of the situation-of the pitiful men selling apples on city street corners; of the long lines of haggard men and women who waited for dry bread or thin soup, meager sustenance dispensed by private and municipal charities; of the bloated bellies of starving children; of distraught farmers blocking the roads to dump milk cans in a desperate effort to drive up the price of milk. â€Å"They say blockading the highways illegal,† said an Iowa farmer. â€Å"I says, ‘Seems to me there was a Tea Party in Boston that was illegal too. 16 The suffering extended into every area of society. In the industrial Northeast and Midwest, cities were becoming virtually paralyzed by unemployment. Cleveland, Ohio, for example, had an unemployment rate of 50 percent in 1932; Akron, 60 percent; Toledo, 80 percent. To the men and women suddenly without incomes, the situation was frightening and be wildering. Most had grown up believing that every individual was responsible for his or her own fate, that unemployment and poverty were signs of personal failure; and even in the face of national distress, many continued to believe it. Unemployed workers walked through the streets day after day looking for jobs that did not exist. When finally they gave up, they often just sat at home, hiding their shame. 17 An increasing number of families were turning in humiliation to local public relief systems, just to be able to eat. But that system, which had in the 1920s served only a small number of indigents, was totally unequipped to handle the new demands being placed on it. In many cities, therefore, relief simply collapsed. New York, which offered among the highest relief benefits in the nation, was able to provide families an average of only $2. 9 per week. Private charities attempted to supplement the public relief efforts, but the problem was far beyond their capabilities as well. As a result, American cities were experiencing scenes that a few years earlier would have seemed almost inconceivable. Bread lines stretched for blocks outside Red Cross and Salvation Army kitchens. 18 Thousands of people sifted through g arbage cans for scraps of food or waited outside restaurant kitchens in hopes of receiving plate scrapings. Nearly 2 million young men simply took to the roads, riding freight trains from city to city, living as nomads. The economic hardships of the Depression years placed great strains on American families, particularly on the families of middle-class people who had become accustomed in the 1920s to a steadily rising standard of living and now found themselves plunged suddenly into uncertainty. It was not only unemployment that shook the confidence of middle-class families, although that was of course the worst blow. It was also the reduction of incomes among those who remained employed. Economic circumstances forced many families, therefore, to retreat from the consumer patterns they had developed in the 1920s. Women often returned to sewing clothes for themselves and their families and to preserving their own food, rather than buying such products in stores. Others engaged in home businesses taking in laundry, selling baked goods, accepting boarders. Many households expanded to include more distant relatives. Parents often moved in with their children and grandparents with their grandchildren, or vice versa. 19 The public did not understand the causes or solutions of unemployment, but people could judge polices by results. They had little tolerance for anyone who said current polices were working when, in fact, more jobs were being lost. One indication of how desperate the situation was came in June when Chicago mayor told one House Committee that it still had a choice: it could send relief, or it could send troops. 20 With local efforts rapidly collapsing, state governments began to feel new pressures to expand their own assistance to the unemployed. Most resisted the pressure. Tax revenues were declining along with everything else, and state leaders balked at placing additional strains on already tight budgets. Many public figures, moreover, feared that any permanent welfare system would undermine the moral fiber of its clients. 21 People never enjoy paying taxes. With the lower incomes of the depression came widespread demand for retrenchment and lower local taxes. Indeed, many local citizens and property owners were quite unable to pay their taxes at all. Since a large part of the revenues of local government is spent for public education, it was perhaps inevitable that the tax crisis should produce cutbacks in schools. Many communities decreased their school spending severely. In effect, they passed the burden on to the teachers, the students, or both. No one will ever be able to calculate the cost to American civilization that resulted from inadequate education of the nation's children during the Great Depression. The colleges' problems were somewhat different. Although the budgets of almost all colleges, public and private, were not what they should have been, a greater problem was that of students who were destitute. Rare was the college that did not have several cases of severe student poverty. Thousands of students in the 1930's made important sacrifices to stay in college. Because the students of the depression constituted, on the whole, a hungry campus generation they gave college life a new and earnest tone. The goldfish gulpers may have got the big headlines in the late 1930's, but they were not typical depression undergraduates. 22 During the first two years of the depression the schools did business about as usual. By September, 1931, the strain was beginning to tell. Salary cuts were appearing even in large towns, and the number of pupils per teacher had definitely increased. Building programs had been postponed. In a few communities school terms had been considerable shortened, and in others some of the departments and services were being lopped off. But, on the whole, the school world wagged on pretty much as usual. During the 1932-33 term the deflation gathered momentum so rapidly that many communities had to close their schools. By the end of last March nearly a third of a million children were out of school for that reason. But the number of children affected, shocking as it is, does not tell the story so vividly as does the distribution of the of the schools. Georgia had 1,318 closed schools with an enrollment of 170,790, and in Alabama 81 percent of all the children enrolled in white rural schools were on an enforced vacation. In Arkansas, to site the case of another sorely pressed state, over 300 schools were open for sixty days or less during the entire year. By the last of February more than 8,000 school children were running loose in a sparsely settled New Mexico. And over a thousand west Virginia schools had quietly given up the struggle. 23 The downswing which began in 1929 lasted for 43 months. The ‘Great Depression' has the dubious distinction of being the second longest economic contraction since the Civil War, second only to that which began in 1873 and continued for 65 months. The length of a depression, however, can only give a limited indication of its impact; the amplitude and national ramifications of 1929-33 give those years a special importance. 24 Economists, historians, and others have argued for decades about the causes of the Great Depression. But most agree on several things. They agree, first, that what is remarkable about the crisis is not that it occurred; periodic recessions are a normal feature of capitalist economies. What is remarkable is that it was so severe and that it lasted so long. The important question, therefore, is not so much why was there a depression, but why was it such a bad one. 25 America had experienced economic crises before. The Panic of 1893 had ushered in a prolonged era of economic stagnation, and there had been more recent recessions, in 1907 and in 1920. The Great Depression of the 1930s, however, affected the nation more profoundly than any economic crisis that ad come before not only because it lasted longer, but because its impact was far more widely felt. The American economy by 1929 had become so interconnected, so dependent on the health of large national corporate institutions, that a collapse in one sector of the economy now reached out to affect virtually everyone. Even in the 1890s, large groups of Americans had l ived sufficiently independent of the national economy to avoid the effects of economic crisis. By the 1930s, few such people remained. 26 Some economists argue that a severe depression could have been avoided if the Federal Reserve system had acted more responsibly. Instead of moving to increase the money supply so as to keep things from getting worse in the early 1930s, the Federal Reserve first did nothing and then did the wrong thing: Late in 1931, it raised interest rates, which contracted the money supply even further. 27 At the time, a substantial majority of Americans and nearly all foreigners who expressed opinions on the subject believed that the Wall Street stock market crash of October 1929 had triggered the depression, thereby suggesting that the United States was the birthplace of the disaster. The connection seemed too obvious to be a coincidence. Many modern writers have agreed; for example, the French historian Jacques Chastenet says in Les Annees d'Illsions: 1918-1931, â€Å"After the stock market crash on the other side of the Atlantic came an economic crisis. The crisis caused a chain reaction in the entire world. 28 Many years after it ended, former President Herbert Hoover offered an elaborate explanation of the Great depression, complete with footnote references to the work of many economists and other experts. THE DEPRESSION WAS NOT STARTED IN THE UNITED STATES,† he insisted. The â€Å"primary cause† was the war of 1914-18. In four-fifths of the â€Å"economically sensitive† nations of the world, including such remote areas as Bolivia, Bulgaria, and Australia, the downturn was noticeable long before the 1929 collapse of American stock prices. 29 Unsolved economic and social problems, accumulated over many years, made the Great Depression more of a culture crisis than can be measured in new laws or economic statistics. Americans had always been confident that the unique virtues of their society-its stronger economic base, its more alert citizenry, and its higher moral principals-would protect it from the evils and failures of Europe and would inevitable lead to new levels of civilization. In spite of the derision of a few artists and intellectuals, this â€Å"American Dream† still persisted in the 1920's. Somewhere in the dark passages of the Great Depression, as the forces of world history weakened belief in the uniqueness of the United States as a nation set apart, the dream faded and became indistinct. While America would recover economically and would rise to new heights of material achievement scarcely thought possible in the 1929, the myth of a unique destiny would never regain its old force and certainty. Henceforth Americans would share some of the realistic disillusionment of Europeans, some of the sense that survival alone was an achievement in a world not necessarily designed for the triumph of the human spirit. 30 Endnotes 1. Richard N. Current, The Great American History (CD-ROM) The Civil War to WWII, Carlsbad, CA. : Comptons New Media McGraw-Hill 1995) p. 1 2. Dixon Wecter, A History Of America The Age Of The Great Depression, (New York, NY. : The Macmillan Co. 1948) p. 1 3. Current Opcit. p. 2 4. Ibid. p. 8 5. Ibid. p. 6 6. Ibid. p. 7 7. T. H. Watkins, The Great Depression America in The 1930s, (Boston, MA. : Little Brown and Co. 1993) p. 54 8. Current Opcit. p. 16 9. Watkins Opcit. p. 55 10. Current Opcit. p. 4 11. Peter Fearon, War Prosperity & Depression The U. S. Economy 1927-45, (Lawrence, KA. : University Press 1987) p. 137 12. David A. Shannon, The Great Depression, (Englewood Cliffs, NJ. : Prentice Hall Ins. 1960) p. 13. Thomas C. Cochran, The Great Depression and World War II 1929-1945, Glenview, IL. : Scott Foresman and Co. 1968) pp. 29-30 14. Michael E. Parrish, Anxious Decades America in Prosperity and Depression 1920-1941, (New York, NY. : W. W. Norton & Co. 1992) p. 240 15. Shannon Opcit. pp. 13-15 16. The Editors of TIME-LIFE BOOKS, This Fabulous Century 1930-1940, (New York, NY. : Time-Life Books 1985) p. 23 17. Richard N. Current, The Great American History (CD-ROM) The Civil War to WWII, (Carlsbad, CA. : Comptons New Media Inc. McGraw-Hill 1995) p. 20 18. Ibid. . 21 19. Ibid. p. 22 20. Robert S. McElvaine, The Great Depression America 1929-1941, (New York, NY. : Times Books 1984) p. 122 21. Current Opcit. p. 21 22. David A. Shannon, The Great Depression, Englewood Cliffs, NJ. : Prentice Hall Inc. 1960) p. 93 23. Ibid. p. 94 24. Peter Fearon, War Prosperity and Depression The U. S. Economy 1917-45, Lawrence, KA. : University Press 1987) p. 89 25. Current Opcit. p. 9 26. Ibid. p. 3 27. Ibid. p. 17 28. John A. Garraty, The Great Depression, San Diego, CA. : Harcourt Brace Jovanovich 1986) p. 4-5 29. Ibid. p. 4 30. Thomas C. Cochran, The Great Depression and World War II 1929-1945, (Glenview, Il. : Scott Foresman and Co. 1968) p. 1 Bibliography Cochran Thomas C. , The Great Depression and World War II 1929-1945, Glenview, Ill. , Scott Foresman and Co. , 1968 Current Richard N. , The Great American History (CD-ROM) The Civil War to WWII, Carlsbad California, Compton's New Media Inc. & McGraw-Hill, 1995 Editors of TIME-LIFE BOOKS, This Fabulous Century 1930-1940, New York, NY. , Time-Life Books, 1985 Fearon Peter, War, Prosperity, and Depression The U. S. Economy 1917-45, Lawrence, KA. , University Press, 1987 Garraty John A. , The Great Depression, San Diego, CA. , Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1986 McElvaine Robert S. , The Great Depression America 1929-1941, New York, NY. , Times Books, 1984 Parrish Michael E. , Anxious Decades America in Prosperity and Depression 1920-1941, New York, NY. , W. W. Norton & Company, 1992 Shannon David A. , The Great Depression, Englewood Cliffs, NJ. , Prentice Hall, 1960 Watkins T. H. , The Great Depression America in The 1930's, Boston MA. , Little Brown and Co. , 1993 Wector Dixon, A History of America The Great Depression, New York, NY. , The Macmillan Co. , 1948

Book Review: War! What Is It Good For?

Putting 100 years in respective and compare the 100, 200 million people died from a population of 10 billion which makes a percentage of 1 to 2 who died violently. Those born in the 20th century are lucky as the average of violent death is 10 times less compare to those born in Stone Age. This text has one of the greatest paradoxes of human history as it states that war has made the world much safer now. War Is considered as a massive murder and claiming that it has a positive consequence In not right, but the author argues to It as the philosopher Thomas Hobbes once concluded the same In the 1640 urine the English Call war.Archeology has shown that people has been killing themselves for about 50000 years and their population Just Increase by twice but during the Ice age 10000 BC where there were less wars, the plant and animal multiplied themselves at a very high rate. Before 10000 BC all humans had been hunters and after 10000 BC human started farming. Later something unusual happe n, the stronger started to include the weaker into larger societies. Slowly from Egypt to Peru many were adopting this method.The stronger understood that to cake lager societies they need to make a stronger government and this was done by suppressing violence among the subjects. Those who govern stop killing the well behaved as they are easier to govern and taxed that those who are violent thus, this has resulted into a 90% decrease in violent death. It Is true that not all government is good at delivering peace. Dictators Like Heelers, Stall's, Mass and Did Malls, tend to shoot, stave and gas a lot of people to make things done. Thus war has made states and states have made peace.War may not be a pleasant way of making larger and useful societies but it was the only way that human have found. The author argues that if conflicts could have been argued and resolved by discussion, human could have greatly benefited from it. The author added that people uses war as a way to make gover nment. The larger and safer the societies the richer the government. Peace can result in economical growth. So in a way war has enriched the world. The author concluded that somehow war has been beneficial as it has brought bigger societies, stronger government and bring peace and prosperity in the societies.Nowadays, people live twice as those in 10000 years before. War has not Just bring peace and wealth but also made us good at fight more efficiently organized and bigger destructive weapons. Book Review: War! What Is It Good For? By perplex The atrocity of war cannot be overstated but, Ian Morris gives a different view about it. In 1945, mostly 100 million people died and the nuclear war begun. Between the First World War and civil war it is said to be the worst but also the best time of states that war has made the world much safer now.War is considered as a massive ruder and claiming that it has a positive consequence in not right, but the author argues to it as the philosopher Thomas Hobbes once concluded the same in the 1640 during the English Civil war. Archeology has shown that people has been killing themselves for about 50000 years and their population Just increase by twice but during the ice age 10000 BC where there were less wars, the plant and animal has resulted into a 90% decrease in violent death. It is true that not all government is good at delivering peace. Dictators like Hitless, Stalin, Mass and Did Mains, tend to

Omparison of Different Dentification of Subcultures Research Paper

Omparison of Different Dentification of Subcultures - Research Paper Example Abraham Maslow, a famous psychologist, suggested that all people have an internal motivation for belonging in order to reach their fullest potential (Changingminds.org, 1). This viewpoint offers that people in group subcultures will model their behaviors after others in the group as a means to find this belonging. This is very noticeable in The Vermonter group but occurs far less in the International group. Vermonters are very particular about their fashion and where these fashions are purchased due to their own stereotypes about the local shopping options and their focus on advertisements. Many students in this group enjoy retail magazines and regularly discuss the different trends and styles found within them. In some instances, it seems that this is the only social topic that some members have in common. The Vermonters are definitely a popular culture-oriented group that enjoys entertainment and considers issues of wealth, fashion and personal image. This group often looks to one another to validate their opinions, both male and female, but the method by which this is done in The Vermonters is quite different. Females regularly ask one another about their opinions on a new fashion item or social opinion while male students generally look for quality discussion through humor and studies. Â   Â   Â  The International group does not appear to have this same connection to popular culture because their individual viewpoints on issues of media and television did not show that these items were important to the International student group. Students in this subculture were not observed discussing pop culture and fashion/commercial issues at any point in the research. This could suggest a group that is focused mainly on studies or simply do not have the same consumer values as the local students. Â   Â   Â  There is a specific organizational culture which exists at Champlain College which begins at the leadership level. The college obviously has a long-term goal of creating students with many different talents (sociology, psychology, etc).

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