I read this book back in 2008 as a requisite for better understanding the Great Recession that was just getting started. Prior to this, my thinking was primarily influenced by what I had learned in high school and college history classes. Our school learning basically tells us that despite the great and noble effort by FDR, the depression was so bad that it defied any cure, and the only thing that could cure it was a world conflagration. So the question on my mind in '08 was, is it necessary to repeat this same history? Are we destined to suffer a full decade of miserable economic performance and to have it capped by a world on fire? Wouldn't it be better if we all took a more exhaustive look at history in order to avoid a foolish repeat? This book takes an unvarnished look at the Great Depression an uncovers a multitude of bungling and missteps our leaders made during this era. It's a must-read for anyone with a discerning spirit.
The book starts with a cameo story about a young man who commits suicide. The note he leaves behind reveals the despairing mood of the time. The reader fully expects (like we learned in our sugar-coated stories in history classes) that this story will be contrasted with the story about having a brave and heart-lifting man elected as the US president, and he is soon revelling the masses with hope and optimism and heartwarming fireside chats. The shocking truth is the setting is not in 1932, it's 1939! The brutal truth is that the late 30's was even worse than the early 30's. During the late 30's the US suffered a recession within a depression. FDR had been the champion for the Forgotten Man for nearly a full decade, but things only got worse.
The book then does a rewind and begins a detailed and honest look at FDR history in order to catalog his war on the rich, flirtation with Communism, court packing and power grabbing, and an honest revelation of the economic history of the era. At this point, a reader might be perplexed. If the depression was so awful, why was FDR elected to 4 terms? If the answer was hinted at in this book, it wasn't clear to me. BUT! I feel this question is more directly addressed in the book, "FDR, New Deal or Raw Deal?", by Burt Folsom, Jr. The short answer is that socialism is a vote buying scheme, pure and simple. Beyond that, elected officials can (and will) divvy out taxpayer financed rewards to where they will buy the most votes.
The author also gives an account of the origins of the Forgotten Man theory, and how FDR bastardized it for his own use. Let's see if I can get the original theory right without looking at the book. Person A and B are socialistic do-gooders and want to help distressed person X. Instead of A and B contributing directly to the plight of X (or convincing Gates or Buffet that X is a worthy cause), they con their gov't to prey on C to finance the cause. C is the forgotten man! He's the middle class working stiff struggling to make ends meet through honest endeavor. Despite this, he is bludgeoned into forking over what little wealth he has, by socialistic do-gooders who are too cowardly to put their own money where their mouths are. C is the forgotten sap who is forced to pay for contraceptives for promiscuous brats who think that big gov't is the answer to everything.
Oops! I just fully revealed my strong conservative bias. All the better, I guess. If asked, I would offer with no embarrassment that I strongly dislike socialism. It's not I begrudge a better life for those in distress. But who would be so foolhardy as to trust big government with their hamfisted inefficiency to handle such delicate and lofty goals? You need to ask yourself: How good a job is our gov't doing with core responsibilities like protecting our borders, balancing the federal checkbook, and saving us from gross predators like like Madoff? Yet our political leaders would have us believe that with little funding they can heal the sick and raise the dead! Thank God I am a conservative!
With that in mind, I have to confess my frightening vision for the future. I can't help but shake my head negatively when I see so many parallels between FDR and the Obama admin. The hallmarks are class warfare, creeping socialism, and extreme deficit spending. It's like Obama is repeating FDR's script. And it seems like we are reaping the same results - the economic suffering seems protracted and Europe and the middle east are sinking into a contagion. Am I wrong to think that our elected leaders are suspects when I hear them say, "Let no good crisis go to waste"? Hey! You say predatory lenders, I say PREDATORY GOVERNMENT!
Update: 140616. Here we go again. History is repeating itself. A prolonged lagging economy, high unemployment caused by the administrations never ending class warfare and reckless high deficit spending. And now the Middle East is going up in flames and the Soviets and Chinese are flexing their muscles aggressively. Thanks to elected officials who love to milk a crisis for all it's worth and keep an electorate cowed in submission to big governement, the final results will be the same. Get ready for WW3.
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- BookwormReviewed in the United Kingdom on April 10, 2018
New Coths for the New Deal
Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase - Dan MontgomeryReviewed in Japan on June 18, 2009
Good research poorly presented
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase -
RENATO MONTEIRO OLINOReviewed in Brazil on August 14, 2020
Muito bom, mas cansativo em alguns momentos...
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
