Hooverville

Friday I attended the occupy Atlanta event in Woodruff Park. The Park is in what's called five points, which is in the heart of downtown Atlanta. I was amazed at the diversity of the people that came together to have their voices heard, and to try and organized some sort of solidified movement out of this motley crew. Everyone is familiar with these movements across America, several cities have had their own downtown area's occupied by these people with great fan fair and media attention.

What nobody seems to realized is the park that held Atlanta's protesters, is home to over 100 people, homeless people, people who, after the stores are all closed, and the lights go out, they find a place in the park to put down their cardboard and blankets and  go to sleep. The first thing that comes to mind is all these folks are homeless because of a drug problem, or they lack the will that is required to "pull yourself up by your boot straps and get with it". I spoke to several of these people that live in Woodruff Park, all of them are not living in the streets because of deeds of there own.Some of them are there because of the housing bubble that poped, and put them on the streets at the same time their jobs went overseas. 

I watch a special this weekend on public T.V. by Ken Burns, it dealt mostly with Prohibition, and the 18th amendment, and this countries strong historic desire to get drunk and sell liquor legally. It also had a strong story line that dealt with this countries economic history, dating from the 1850s through the 1950s.

Most folks will admit that allowing vendors to sell liquor legally again was a good thing, it reduced the Mob control over a multi-million dollar industry, although we all know who the real gangsters were, and are today, when it comes to big business and big profits in any industry in this country.

This is what caught my attention about the contrast between the era of the great depression, and today, when it comes to our political divides.during the depression, there was a republican philosophy in place that deregulated our big businesses, child labor laws were opposed by big business because, of course, there were bigger profits in allowing children to do the work, rather then paying a living wage to the adults. Wall Street was deregulated and people like Joe Kennedy Sr. made a killing in the days before the market was put under the regulations of the S.E.C. 

When the market crashed in 1929, and over 5000 banks went under, the people that were hit the hardest were the working class, middle class, and the minorities who, at this time were migrating to the north out of the Jim Crow south. Big business has always opposed regulations, big business has always tried to find low wage or no wage (slavery) workers, to increase there wealth. The people that attended the sit in, at Woodruff Park, are fed up with big business bleeding this countries middle class, and working class people, and not supporting a fair wage for this countries working class people. The republican party, today, holds on  to these same old school deregulation style politics. It's in big businesses best interest to send jobs overseas, to get cheaper laborers, this practice is nothing new. EPA regulations that are a hot topic with the republican party, is all about increases in profits for the industry that pumps the garbage into the air that kills millions every year.

President Obama is trying to get a bill through congress, the republican controlled house has to come up with some talking points to oppose this bill, they have nothing. They keep claiming that deregulation is where the the job creation is, as if we haven't been down this road before. Taxes come up in this argument as well, the republicans want to lower the taxes for the 1% of the riches people in this country, claiming these are the countries job creators. 440 billion dollars in job creating tax cuts for small businesses, construction jobs, teachers, policeman,and  fireman, all of these are working class people that would benefit from the Obama Jobs Bill. 

Because of the deregulations of a generation ago, we suffered 25% unemployment, grand thief on wall street, and forced child labor. President Hoover, a republican, oversaw the worst depression in this countries history with his republican deregulation policies of the 1920s and 30s.

When Hoover was president middle class Americans, homeless, out of work, hungry, and tired, set up a small wood and cardboard settlement in Central Park New York, and they called it Hooverville, they called it Hooverville because they blame the President for the troubles of the nation, and the lost of there homes, and farms.Homeless people in a well known park, in a major city, Woodruff Park, not Obamaville!!