Government imposed rationing was the cure for the great depression (according to a government source

While doing some research, I came across this jaw dropping statement by the U.S. National Park Service which should anger anyone who believes in free market capitalism

Only when the federal government imposed rationing, recruited 6 million defense workers (including women and African Americans), drafted 6 million soldiers, and ran massive deficits to fight World War II did the Great Depression finally end.

www.nps.gov...

The quote comes from the last paragraph before the sources. According to this .gov source, government imposed rationing ended the depression, in addition to drafting 6 million soldiers and running up massive deficits.

My response

So I guess the only cure for the global meltdown is government imposed rationing and massive deficit spending. I take it Obama got the memo for the deficit spending, but could you imagine if the Obama administration came out and said that government imposed rationing is the only solution, because that is what worked for the great depression?

I do not think that would work today.
Too many fast food joints.
If they closed, millions more
would be out of work.

Besides, too many US Military
products are already being made
in China. So what are the defense
contractors gonna build here????

I just don't see the same remedy working
for 2 different time periods. Too much
has changed since then.

World War II destroyed Europe, and in the rebuilding there was large demand. That fired up the US economy AFTER the war.

A lot of older people say "A good war will fix the economy" believing that good economic times always comes out of war.

I think, so many people *thinking THAT* is a problem.

Depressions are caused by one thing and one thing only.

Sorry, take a look around any system of governance and you will find one thing and one thing only that is synonymous with depressions.

Centralization. Period.

If someone can find me another component in all the depressions in the world, I may take you up on that discussion.

Collectivism and centralization of resources/production/currency is the ONLY component that has been the underlying component/cause.

Tell me, is the non integrated parts of the world suffering from this depression? And do not EVEN attempt to thwart my contention that this is a depression. What is the definition of a depression? Anyone out there even know? It is four quarters of declining GNP. Sorry, you CANNOT include the money just printed up from thin air and dumped into the economy, that is a LIE!

Self sufficiency is the ONLY defense against a global, national, state, community or even a family depression. PERIOD.

Tell me, is the Mennonite or Amish communities part of the depression? Are they feeling the squeeze? Of course not, they are not tied into our idiocy of government control.

When do we as a nation decide that supposed security is NOT the solution. It is a fallacy, misnomer, and an ILLUSION all rolled into one.

Choice, is yours and my only solution to the problems in this society or any society of the last 5000 years.

Do you think that those slaves in the Egyptian dynasties of the past, could of come to an individual consensus? Or how about a societal consensus? Why is it that you believe that you have the RIGHT to make decisions for others?

Peeps, life is NOT everlasting, unless you CHOOSE to decide it is.

Fear is their control. Fear is their motivator. Fear is the CHOICE you have to make.

Decide, now please!

Thing is we are no longer the free Nation and people we were during the end of the roaring 20's.

At that time we were a Nation strong because of it's workforce, factories and American made quality products at a reasonable price.

Now we have become a Global conglomerate and even those in supposed control lack sufficient ability to actually lead. No longer the ones in power, and indebted like never before, we struggle to aid in the last remaining bailout of the privileged few who have even themselves become absolutely compartmentalized through the current industrial devolution.

They honest corporations are a thing of the past, are rendered blind and left to fend for themselves in a world which no longer can be based on the backbone of American citizens nor corporate integrity.

Yes the CCC camps were a way to get the citizens employed for pennies a day and the mills, quarry's and factories even at full capacity could not meet the total needs of the unemployed.

Would it work again? If that was the case then by all means lets do it, lets ration and open factories and mines, create government jobs like the 2010 Census, which employed 10's of thousands even for a short time.

The only viable reason they would ration now would be for control, and to send our goods, what little we have left to foreign aid and to over seas occupations.

So in my opinion it would do nothing to help bring our quality of life up or to help ease the burden of an overly spendthrift administration living in the pockets of the evil corporate puppet masters.

reply to post by endisnighe


That is absolutely right - you make several excellent points. I would also add that with centralization you have no stopgaps. For example, a good ship is built with containment portions each sealed so if part of it is punctured by an iceburg the entire ship will not take on water. The same principal applies with economic societies. This is why globalism has been a dismal failure of the elites.

reply to post by Rockerchic4God


Shhhhhh.

Sorry, only one guy said what I said and he may have actually got the idea from me or someone else here on ATS.

MAD.

Mutually Assured Destruction. That was the nuclear description.

NOW, here is the thing, I brought up the Mutually Assured Economic Destruction on another site and Beck actually used that for a WHOLE one EPISODE and since has NEVER been mentioned. I guess he got too close to the truth.

Remember, it is NOT what you see in the news, it is what YOU DO NOT SEE!

Someone has to make a thread about the MAED!

[edit on 7/12/2010 by endisnighe]

reply to post by filosophia

"Only when the federal government imposed rationing, recruited 6 million defense workers (including women and African Americans), drafted 6 million soldiers, and ran massive deficits to fight World War II did the Great Depression finally end."

I've been thinking about the possibility that we may see rationing reappear on the type of scale last seen in the west durng/after WWII. The much discussed food/harvest issues, Schwarzeneger's attempts at forcing state employees onto a minimum wage, a Dollar/Euro collapse, fuel supplies impacted due to conflicts...etc... all got me thinking.

I am under no illusion as to how tough and unpleasant that may be, but I do think it may be preferable to some alternative routes...however I agree that implementing it now may be more difficult than it was during WWII, for a variety of reasons.

1. You have to switch public opinion from seeing the cause of the rationing as being any of these: Poor governance (including management of sustainable financial, energy, manufacturing, agriculture and environmental, infrastructure and supply chain models/planning), self indulgence by the state (over spending), the banking crisis created by highly paid/bonused bankers/investors/corporates based in your own nation,

2. You need everyone to unite behind a common goal, and have a vision for a prosperous and successful outcome/model - that might be trickier than it was to generate after so many changes and conflicts in the social/cultural landscape post WWII, including the recent global financial collapse, the end of the cold-war...

What really worries me is that it is most likely to be accompanied by some form of similarly scaled armed conflict, that would likely be 'realised' as posing a greater threat to the very populous being asked to endure rationing...than challenging those implimenting the rationing?

rationing or engineered scarcity was Then...

Now.... the only scarcity or rationing is of money being lent out by the corporations & banksters..

& that won't happen until that cartel has all the power and exemption from prosecution 'they' deem appropriate.

the corporate-government fascist Beast did not exist pre WWII,
and todays corporate beast is flush with record profits, have Trillions in their corporate treasuries...
but refuse to reinvigorate the unlimited consumer credit build-up to every entity that could fog-a-mirror or produce a cook-the-books scheme to attract a velocity of money.


until then the bankster & corporate will sit it out, smugly comfortable in gaining control of even more resources, think homes/land/ventures...
as the masses lose in every way imaginable> jobs, unemployment benefits, IRA wealth, homes. health, mobility, etc

I could very well be wrong, but I think our gov't has a bigger financial mess than they did before and during the depression....they need money more badly!!
cap and trade, it seems would be a more logical, fairer, way of rationing fuel than those old ration stamps of the past! I mean, this way, the very well to do can still heat their oversized mansions, fly their private jets, as much as they want, ya it will cost them more money, but it's not like they are gonna have to go without a meal to pay the taxes for their luxuries...but well, the middle and lower classes will be skimping on the heat, walking more, driving less.....just to make ends meet, the result, less fuel is burned, less co2 in the atmosphere, and well...even more money in the super better off's pocket, since the whole scam of cap and trade has them sitting on the top, trading the new paper certificates!!!

na, don't think we will ever see the old fashioned rationing again, they have found a better way I think....it's called tax the living crap out of everything!