Free Republic

World War II was the most destructive war in history. What caused it? The panic from the ongoing and worldwide Depression in the 1930s had empowered extremist movements the world over. Like-minded, violent dictators of otherwise quite different Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, Imperial Japan and Communist Soviet Union all wanted to attack their neighbors. Yet World War II could have been prevented had Western Europe united to deter Germany. Instead, France, Britain and the smaller European democracies appeased Hitler. The United States turned isolationist. The Soviet Union collaborated with the Third Reich. And Italy and Japan eventually joined it. The...

Senior military analyst Lt. Gen. Thomas G. McInerney spoke to Arutz Sheva on Tuesday, warning that rising Russian and Iranian influence, coupled with America’s waning Middle East presence, has put the US in the most dangerous situation it has been in since the 1930s just prior to World War II. … The General urged the world to wake up to the Iranian nuclear threat, which he fears may be allowed a free hand following deals in the ongoing Geneva conference. Aside from the Iranian danger, McInerney noted that spreading Russian influence poses a serious threat. In particular, McInerney highlighted the...

To: Those of You Born 1930 - 1979 At the end is a quote of the month attributed to Jay Leno.. If you don't read anything else, Please read what he Said. TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED THE 1930's, 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's! First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant. They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can and didn't get tested for diabetes. Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with bright colored lead-base paints. We had...

One of the darkest risks facing America is that so few of us are prepared for retirement.It's shocking, really. According to ConvergEx Group, "Only 58% of us are even saving for retirement in the first place. Of that group, 60% have less than $25,000 put away ... a full 30% have less than $1,000." According to Nielsen Claritas, Americans age 55 to 64 have a median net worth of $180,000 -- less than they'll likely need for health care spending alone during retirement.I recently asked Joseph Dear, chief investment officer of CalPERS, one of the world's largest pension funds, whether...

Just for fun : "The beginning of the "Happy Feet" number from King of Jazz (1930). After setting the mood of the piece with some giant dancing shoes and the Rhythm Boys.This short video presents a song from the orchestra leader Paul Whiteman,..." --see if you can recognize the man in the middle....

This will bring back some memories. You will love the cars in the photos too. Look at the price of gas in some of the pictures.

By Dr. Phil Taverna I ran across this book in my travels. And it peaked my interest. Who was the Forgotten Man? According to Amity Shlaes, her book, The Forgotten Man  is someone that will peak your interest for sure. When I first saw the expression, I expected to see a book written by a commie liberal and it was about the plight of the blacks and minorities who can't seem to get a fair share no matter how much money we throw at them.This book is mainly about FDR the biggest commie of the 40's but it also gives you...

It sounds like the bizzare script of a Hollywood B-movie. In a parallel universe the Nazis have won the war, Adolf Hitler moves to LA where he mingles with the stars of the silver screen while running his evil empire from a luxurious ranch deep in the LA hills. But during the 1930s, American sympathisers were so confident this exact scenario was actually going happen they spent millions building a deluxe compound ready for their fuhrer's imminent arrival.

The current economic crisis rivals the one of the 1930s.  Despite shameless propaganda by government and its cronies in the media, people understand that the situation is getting worse.  Consumer confidence continues to decline as does confidence in the future.We are headed for an event that history will record as worse than the Great Depression.  It is unavoidable.The Level of DebtThe principal reason for the dire prediction is the level of debt outstanding.  Current debt levels are simply not sustainable.  Assets and cash flows cannot support or service this debt.No economic recovery can occur without massive debt reduction.  As...

Krugman: This Austerity Craze Is Just Mind-Boggling--It's As If We WANT The 1930s To Happen Again Henry BlodgetJun. 17, 2010, 10:07 PM Paul Krugman continues to hammer away on the idea that the world's sudden lurch toward austerity will crush the recovery and send us tumbling back into recession. Suddenly, creating jobs is out, inflicting pain is in. Condemning deficits and refusing to help a still-struggling economy has become the new fashion everywhere, including the United States, where 52 senators voted against extending aid to the unemployed despite the highest rate of long-term joblessness since the 1930s. Many economists, myself...

IN PRESIDENT Obama, conservatives face the most formidable liberal politician in at least a generation. In 2008, he won the presidency with a majority of the popular vote—something a Democrat had not done since Jimmy Carter's squeaker in 1976—and handily increased the Democrats' control of both houses of Congress. Measured against roughly two centuries worth of presidential victories by Democratic non-incumbents, his win as a percentage of the popular vote comes in third behind FDR's in 1932 and Andrew Jackson's in 1828.

I’ve been drawing comparison to the 1930’s for the last year or so. Over the last week, the comparisons are becoming clearer. So, I think it’s time to put it all down, and let the readers tell me if I’m barking up the wrong tree. Factor One: Anti-Semitism Of course, the early 20th century, and especially after WWI and during the Great Depression, Jews were the popular scapegoats for all of the ills suffered in Germany. While Anti-Semitism wasn’t limited to Germany, it was in Germany where it reached it’s demonic end. I don’t think I need to recap Nazi...

I spoke with Robert Barro of Harvard yesterday about the stimulus bill, fiscal policy, and related issues in macroeconomics. I wanted to speak with Professor Barro after reading his piece in the Wall Street Journal about the multiplier on government spending. The piece, which argued that the multiplier has historically been much lower than the Obama administration hopes, produced a tremendous amount of response -- from Paul Krugman, Brad DeLong, Greg Mankiw, Matt Yglesias, and Tyler Cowen (some of them several times). And that response was notable, in part, because it turned into a reflection on the "standards" of the...

KRISTALLNACHT SEVENTY YEARS LATER"Was There No Space in the World for Us?"by Rabbi Marvin Hier, Simon Wiesenthal Center Founder and DeanSeventy years ago, while Jews in America gathered at the Algonquin Hotel and Waldorf Astoria at banquets in support of Jewish causes or in personal celebration of a Simcha, the most notorious pogrom was unleashed by Hitler’s Germany. On this day was born the Night of Broken Glass, Kristallnacht.The Nazis said it was in reaction to the killing of a German official in Paris, but as documents showed, it was a state organized pogrom involving the highest officials of Nazi...

Tuesday, December 26, 2006 Everybody knows that the loss of huge portions of their home U.S. market to imports has decimated U.S.-owned automakers Ford and GM (as well as Chrysler, which is no longer U.S.-owned, but shares many of Detroit’s biggest problems). What everybody doesn’t know is that literally dozens of U.S.-based manufacturing industries have suffered the same kinds of losses since the late 1990s. The clear bottom line, as revealed by the U.S. Business & Industry Council’s latest annual survey of domestic manufacturing’s competitiveness: The United States is a military superpower, but is steadily becoming an industrial also-ran. The...

Juan Peron was an Argentinian president who was a dictator who Fascist tendencies from 1946-1955 and 1972-1974, when he died. He was a soldier originally who in a coup became Secretary of Labor in 1943, then he went to prison, because some military personals feared he was getting powerful in 1945, which he goes to jail. Then in October 17th, a large rally occurs calling for the release of Juan Peron, which he is released. He marries Maria Eva Duarte, who becomes Evita Peron. This was Juan Peron's second marriage. His first wife died of cancer. He is elected in...

Wednesday Canada's National Post published an error correction. Last Friday, the newspaper's lead story reported that the Iranian parliament had approved legislation that would compel Jews to wear a yellow strip, Christians to wear a red strip and Zoroastrians to wear a blue strip on their clothes. The story fomented an international storm. Yet it turned out that the story was untrue - or jumped the gun. The Iranian parliament did pass legislation expressing its intention to install a compulsory Islamic dress code for the country's subjects, but it did not characterize the required attire. On its Web site last...

Many people often speak of the "dangers" of capitalism - unsafe working conditions, little kids working, too many hours in a week, low wages, monotonous work, no health care. This is really the big argument against laissez-faire. They may not say it, but frankly, its what it is. Even George Orwell was big into this. Now, I know that government intereference and poverty truly caused all of this, not businesses. I would like some more specific information, and wondering if you guys could help me out - specifically, historical information (1920s and 1930s). Now, it is obvious why such conditions...

"An almost hysterical antagonism toward the gold standard is one issue which unites statists of all persuasions. They seem to sense - perhaps more clearly and subtly than many consistent defenders of laissez-faire - that gold and economic freedom are inseparable, that the gold standard is an instrument of laissez-faire and that each implies and requires the other. In order to understand the source of their antagonism, it is necessary first to understand the specific role of gold in a free society. Money is the common denominator of all economic transactions. It is that commodity which serves as a medium...

"An almost hysterical antagonism toward the gold standard is one issue which unites statists of all persuasions. They seem to sense - perhaps more clearly and subtly than many consistent defenders of laissez-faire - that gold and economic freedom are inseparable, that the gold standard is an instrument of laissez-faire and that each implies and requires the other. In order to understand the source of their antagonism, it is necessary first to understand the specific role of gold in a free society. Money is the common denominator of all economic transactions. It is that commodity which serves as a medium...