“Federal Aid Weakens the Sturdiness of Our National Character”
I know that someone already used this cartoon, and that I also spoke about it during class, but i think that it helps to make a point that I happen to feel quite strongly about….
—
Much the same as what people have become increasingly afraid might today if the Federal Government becomes too involved in economic affairs by ‘over-regulating’ big business and
the economy as a whole, this cartoon implies that some of the steps taken by FDR in the New Deal may have come dangerously close to a socialist state. Most notably, the National Recovery Administration (NRA) that was created to promote cooperation between big business and the government by implicating codes to regulate output, prices, and work conditions. Through the NRA, Roosevelt “Had repudiated the older idea of liberty based on the idea that the best way to encourage economic activity and ensure a fair distribution of wealth was to allow market competition to operate unrestrained by the government.” – pretty much a survival of the fittest type of situation.
the economy as a whole, this cartoon implies that some of the steps taken by FDR in the New Deal may have come dangerously close to a socialist state. Most notably, the National Recovery Administration (NRA) that was created to promote cooperation between big business and the government by implicating codes to regulate output, prices, and work conditions. Through the NRA, Roosevelt “Had repudiated the older idea of liberty based on the idea that the best way to encourage economic activity and ensure a fair distribution of wealth was to allow market competition to operate unrestrained by the government.” – pretty much a survival of the fittest type of situation.—
I think that President Grover Cleveland’s the idea that “The government should not support the people” and that, “Federal aid… weakens the sturdiness of our national character” speaks volumes about what true capitalism, for better or for worse, is really about. Actually, I believe quite strongly that many of the policies enacted by the New Deal are, today more than ever, serving as a crutch for the weak and lazy (for lack of a better term).
—
Don’t get me wrong, I do understand that we might not all have what it takes to become billionaires, and that much of it can sometimes be out of our hands, but things like social security, and welfare – which were created to help a devastated population during the Great Depression – seem to actually be hurting more than they’re helping by “weakening the sturdiness of not only our national cgaracter, but more importantly our character as individuals… And that’s why I decided to expound on the point that I made during class earlier today.
-C. Salama
