Posted: Mon., Oct. 25, 1993
If the past is indeed prologue, the first two hours of PBS' seven-hour exploration of the Great Depression weave a cautionary tale that could as easily have focused today on
Ross Perot as Henry Ford, and on
Ronald Reagan and George Bush as
Herbert Hoover. History keeps repeating itself; the trick is in breaking the chain. And only the citizenry seems willing to try.
a sad combination of bad weather, bad leadership and the unwillingness of government to step in to help or at least shift away from its reliance on unregulated industry and trickle-down economics turned the unthinkable into the inevitable.
The images of devastation are as remarkable as they are unforgettable. Soup lines. Hungry faces. Hopelessness in the eyes of children. Anger in the eyes of men.
the United States was the only Western industrial power with no safety nets for unemployment, relief and social security.
clipped from: www.variety.com