Photos demonstating differences in the 2008 recession and the Great depression.

When finding the photos for this task i decided to find photos that displayed how people dealt with the recession differently depending on the period. The contrast is that the many protests during the 2008 recession in the US blamed the government and 'the system' directly whereas in the 1930s it was people appealing to the government, asking for assistance instead of calling out their errors like today. The top photo was taken in 2008 in New York and the bottom in the 1930s, also in New York.

Both photos demonstrate. to me, the exact difference in how the approach to solving economic distress has changed. The bottom photo shows the front to some form of establishment reading 'Don't Argue', even if it's highly ironic in this photo it sum up well the predominantly peaceful and conformative process protest went through. In 2008, as demonstrated by the top photo, the finger pointed at the government or the '1%' and aimed to change the hyper-capitalisation of America at its roots, from its base mindset.

Urban America- Great Depression to 2008

    The first image shows a demonstration of unemployed workers with their various trades on display, prepared to labour for $1 a week during The Great Depression of the 1930's. This shows the desperate measures that the depression made people take when confronted with the economic poverty that the Depression enforced through the massive loss of jobs; at this time 'in the United States, the percentage of the population that was out of work rose to 25 percent of the workforce at its highest level. This number translated to 15 million American being without work.'

     This is similar to the image below taken from Wall Street in September 2008 after the financial crisis. '"While the gestures of protest were familiar - satirical costumes of billionaires, hand-made signs, numerous bells and horns to draw attention to the cause - some deep-seated anger about an administration and Congress bailout deal for Wall Street was apparent today in a late afternoon protest in the financial district. "

This image taken during the time of the Great Depression shows the impact class relations had and is symbolic for the crisis of unemployment in the US during the 1930s. This shows how even children became part of the protest as they were being massively affected through their parents unemployment as shown with the boy on the right. These children, like any other protest, sought to go out and protest and attempt to bring about change and the fact that children were a part of this, really shows the desperation and deprivation of many Americans. On the other hand, the girl on the left held a sign saying, "Rarig's kid doesn't starve why should we?" which alludes to the idea that every child should have the benefit which Rarig's kid does. Rarig was a engineering successful business owner and was still wealthy during the Depression therefore the comparison is being made and how a large social speciation was occuring. The sign on the left is certainly a popular view, as they would've most likely been from a family of the working class and had parents that were unemployed due to the disastrous state of the economy.

Initially when you compare the recession of 2008 and The Great Depression, the latter is undoubtedly the one which is shown in everyday life through pictures and people on the street protesting regularly. The Depression deprived people of essentials in life, left many homeless and created social separation and uproar. The recession is on a more down turn from this because people weren't suffering badly like they were during the Depression and unemployment rates were far worse during the 1930s. However, both pictures show in a sense that unemployment was a major struggle. This picture demonstrates the closures of businesses which in turn led to mass unemployment. Similar to businesses as seen in this image, over 170,000 small companies were destroyed (2008-2010) and each of them had approximately 100 employees each. Both images share the fact that not enough jobs are available for people to be able to live happily and have easy access to essentials in life. 

"Street Arabs in Sleeping Quarters [Church Corner]"

At first glance, this photograph would generate a lot of sympathy and pity for the street children of New York, yet Jacob Riis in 'How The Other Half Lives' states that "it is a mistake to think that they are helpless little creatures, to be pitied and cried over because they are alone in the world...they were a set of hardened little scoundrels". Riis verbally paints a picture of a street child as "acknowledging no authority and owing no allegiance to anybody or anything, with his grimy fist raised against society", and with "sturdy independence, love of freedom and absolute self-reliance", we see him suggest that these "Street Arabs" embody several core American ideals, such as freedom and independence, despite being in a state of homelessness. This photo therefore shows that despite the hardships faced by immigrants in New York, even this young, they continued to battle and survive the poverty and dangers they faced in New York; which Riis explores my saying "the little ragamuffins sleep with at least one eye open, and every sense alert to the approach of danger: of their enemy, the policeman, whose chief business in life is to move them on, and of the agent bent on robbing them of their cherished freedom". This shows the discrimination against immigrants in America at this time, and lack of pity even on those as young as the boys pictured. However, Riis does also give examples of those who helped these "Street Arabs", such as "Children's Aid Society...lodging-houses". Regardless, they couldn't house every homeless child in New York, therefore there were always those left on the street, like those pictured above, highlighting the inevitable poverty of immigrants in America at the time.