Were Americans Really Better off during the Great Depression?

[Ptarmigan]

Were Americans Really Better off during the Great Depression?
https://fee.org/articles/were-americans-really-better-off-during-the-great-depression/

In the ever-evolving world of social media trends, TikTok has seen its fair share of fascinating and sometimes perplexing content. Lately, a concerning trend has emerged where some TikTokers are romanticizing and downplaying the Great Depression, a pivotal period of economic struggle in American history. Influencers on the platform are making bold claims about the financial conditions during that era and drawing questionable comparisons to the present day.

Numerous creators have jumped on the bandwagon, asserting that Americans during the Great Depression earned more than today's average salary. One individual boldly stated, "In order to be making an average [salary] that is on par with what the average American was making in the lowest depths of the Great Depression, in the year 2022 you would need to be making $95,000." Another influencer took it even further, claiming, "we are currently in the greatest depression in American history" and insisted that employed Americans in 1933 made an average of $4,200 annually, which would also be around $95,000 in today’s dollars.

These claims, however, require careful examination and fact-checking. While they may seem captivating, they are, in fact, quite misleading. The figures cited in the TikToks are based on historical data from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). However, they conveniently omit a crucial detail—the IRS report from 1933 does mention an average salary of "$4,218.40 for taxable returns," but this only includes a subset of 1.7 million individuals, hardly representative of the entire population.

The actual average salary during the Great Depression was approximately $1,045, which, when adjusted for inflation in 2023, would amount to about $24,526.07. This starkly contradicts the inflated numbers presented in the TikToks, which mislead viewers into believing that people during the Great Depression had higher earnings than the average salary today.

TikTokers state people were better off during the Great Depression. The Great Depression was hard times for many. What they do not take into account is how much they made back then compared to today with inflation taken into account.

Amidst the misleading TikTok trend, it is crucial to revisit the somber realities of the Great Depression. This period, which commenced with the 1929 stock market crash, plunged the nation into an economic abyss. Unemployment soared to unprecedented levels, peaking at around 25% in 1933. Poverty became widespread, and countless families struggled to put food on the table and keep a roof over their heads. The economist Murray Rothbard noted: “…average weekly earnings fell by over 40 per cent during the depression, and real weekly earnings fell by over 30 per cent.”

Homelessness became a pressing issue, with many people forced to live in makeshift shantytowns known as "Hoovervilles." Soup kitchens and breadlines became common sights, illustrating the desperation for even the most basic necessities. Families were torn apart, and children were compelled to work to contribute to their households' income. The emotional and psychological toll on the nation's citizens was immense. One study noted that the suicide rate increased from 18.0 per 100,000 in 1928 to 22.1 per 100,000 in 1932. For comparison, it was 14.1 in 2021.

Since the Great Depression we’ve come a long way. Today, we enjoy a level of comfort and convenience that was unimaginable in the 1930s. As Professor Clarke astutely pointed out: "We've expanded air conditioning, refrigeration, central heating, indoor plumbing, motor vehicle ownership, interstate highways, penicillin, improved cancer and diabetic treatments. I mean, reheat your two-day-old leftovers from your fridge in a microwave in sixty seconds and bask knowing such conveniences and luxuries did not exist fifty years ago."

Poverty was widespread and many fell into poverty during the Great Depression.

[enslaved1]

We've got a couple of generations who have been educated into imbecility.  They can't connect dots or compare and contrast.  Throw a few data points at them, tell them how you want them to interpret those points, and they will parrot it back, thinking it shows how smart they are. 

The Great Depression was like nothing almost any of us have ever experienced.  My grandmother lived through it, and while she didn't talk about it much, looking back, it impacted how she lived.  Almost nothing was thrown away or wasted, cause during those formative years, she was in a world where you didn't know if you would be able to find or have money for so many basic items.  There was no safety net, no welfare state, and most people were in the exact same boat, meaning very little kindness available from others, cause they were just as broke. 

These fools need to go read and watch the stories from the people who lived through the Great Depression.  Manipulated statistics to get internet points can't begin to show the whole picture.