I began reading Atlas Shrugged in 1976.
I’m almost done.
What ended the depression of 1932 wasn't FDR and that has been known for years. What ended that depression was a massive influx of “free money” from Europe that started around 1938.
Europe was facing another massive war and its leaders knew they couldn't out produce Germany which was on a war footing. So, they came to America with their national gold reserves and invested in America's future production.
The declassified secret histories of World War II show multiple transfers of gold reserves to the US to serve as both collateral and investment capital.
In a micro sense - how would your personal finances change if you could suddenly double or triple your pre tax income without working more than the standard 40-hour week?
Take that level of change and apply it to the nation for a four year period, 1938 - 1941. After 1942 we were on a war footing ourselves which lasted another 4 years. After that we were the only intact industrial base in the world.
My ideas as to where we could find another surge of “free money” to pull us out of this depression is the subject for another posting.
Reminds me of WIN—Whip Inflation Now.
They did this back in old England, you know. Or tried to. Vagrancy laws designed to stop any mobility and keep the workforce in place.
bump
Anyone out there asking whose hiding the truth about this Regime?
Life is imitating some genuinely terrifying art.
Here is an interesting snip from a 2010 FrontPageMag interview with Robert Buchar, political refugee from the former Czechoslovakia:
FP: With Obama in power, do you think we are inevitably heading toward socialism in the USA? What are the chances, in your view, in terms of how things are going, that socialism may finally rule the world? If yes, who can legitimately claim credit for it?
Buchar: You know, as serious as it is, from my perspective, it’s almost funny. I feel like I'm experiencing an amazing déjàvu. It started with the Clinton administration and now it’s picking up the speed. Many things I see happening I remember from my previous life in communist Czechoslovakia. In politics, academia, media… it looks to me like the current government is following the old textbook written in Moscow in the last century when the Soviets were taking over the Eastern Europe. But, of course, people here don’t know anything about it. Politicians and the media perfected the process of indoctrination. Deception got very sophisticated. Masses without any knowledge of history in today “now-culture” can be manipulated on a daily basis. A recent Rasmussen poll asked a simple question, “Which is a better system—capitalism or socialism?” Only 53% of American adults said capitalism. Even the same question was asked young adults under 30, 37% prefer capitalism, 33% socialism, and 30% are undecided.
Obviously, the scale is tipping off. Decades of intensive Soviet deception are finally paying off. We have a young generation now without any idealism and values. In this conformist society, people just follow the orders. It’s all about manipulation...
...People in America believe that the idea of global socialism is dead. But it is not. If you look at its development in Europe and Latin America, you see that there is now more socialism than ever before. Because of public opinion, or rather, the media, political parties, political movements, parliaments, and institutions are all becoming more and more socialist. And now in the United States we are really picking up speed in that direction. ...
As a sceptic, I would say, yes we are heading toward socialism in America and there is no power to turn the ship around. But at the bottom of my heart I believe there is something special about the American people that common sense will prevail at the end and America will survive. But who knows. ...
Obamacare is actually worse. Obamacare regulation is an ongoing dynamic process. The original 2700 page bill pales in comparison to the rules that have been added since then, solely at the discretion of the Executive Branch. The original bill effectively grants license to the HHS Secretary to do whatever in the hell she wants to do. Not too far down the road, she will issue a mandate that all insurers cover abortion. At least with Directive 10-289, all that was put in writing in advance. With Obamacare, the rules change from day to day.