Sometimes we learn more about ourselves and our fu-ture by looking back in histo-ry.
Today, we go back about a century to the Roaring ‘20s. Babe Ruth is slamming home runs, the Four Horse-men are playing for Knute Rockne at Notre Dame, the Charleston is all the rage and the stock market is going up. So was the water level in the Mississippi River basin.
The winter of 1926-27 had seen an unusually heavy snowfall, and then came a warm spring which caused it to melt rapidly. The Missis-sippi was flooding from Minnesota south, and prob-lems were made worse when the Missouri and Ohio riv-ers, along with smaller tribu-taries, all came together. The huge levees on both sides of the Mississippi were not enough to stop the flooding.
Governors all along the Mississippi River begged the federal government to do something, but President Calvin Coolidge, who had been ruthlessly cutting de-partment budgets and pay-rolls, announced that the flooding was a state, not federal problem. He was not being inordinately cruel. Since the nation’s founding, flooding and many other problems were state respon-sibilities.
It was soon more than a matter of too much water. Sharecroppers and small farmers in the lower Missis-sippi Valley, many of whom were African Americans, were ordered to move onto the levies to help strengthen them. The Ku Klux Klan took advantage of the crisis and agitated for more restric-tive Jim Crow Laws
The Red Cross did what it could, but this disaster was beyond their means. Will Rogers held fundraisers but much more was needed. Still the President refused to act. Only one Cabinet member traveled to the lower Mid-west — the obscure Com-merce Secretary Herbert Hoover. He was proclaimed a humanitarian, a man with a heart, compassion and empathy. Hoover was elect-ed President the next year.
Unfortunately he was an engineer, not an economist, which meant he was out of his depth when it came to understanding the national economy. We will remember it was during his tenure that America suffered from the Great Depression.
Whenever Hoover tried to remedy the problem, the Senate blocked him, using the old rallying cry, “Not our responsibilities. Let the Wall Street bankers handle it.”
That hands-off approach came to an abrupt end when Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected to the White House. Among the programs he started was Social Security. The goal was to give people over 65 a small pension to make life easier.
Before then, anyone who was out of money and need-ed help applied to their local officials hoping to get a bed in the county poor farm. Social Security was meant to help them live a dignified last few years before dying.
A year or so later, FDR launched the Works Progress Administration and Civilian Conservation Corps. People were hired to paint murals, write travel books about our national parks, and work on those parks and elsewhere. They received food, board and minimal pay, but they were working.
This mattered because fi-nally the U.S. seemed to have a genuine heart for the wellbeing of all its citizens, not just the wealthy. Later, the same principle applied to the GI B\benefits offered to all the men and women who served in uniform during World War II. They could apply and get free college or trade school education and a subsistence allowance. The result was one of the greatest booms in the American economy.
A more-recent place where we have seen America with a heart is passage of the Amer-icans with Disabilities Act. We see it near daily at inter-sections where sharp curbs which can be insurmounta-ble for some people have been replaced by ramps. The message is clear that every-one’s included here.
What’s truly alarming is the nastiness we hear and read all the time. We’ve had gov-ernment and business leaders who have been cal-lous, uncaring, clueless and unsophisticated.
To my knowledge, none of them mocked the handi-capped, women, people of color, alternate genders or poor. None before now called American prisoners of war “losers” or mocked the men and women of our armed forces for their loyalty and service. When one indi-vidual or a group is hurt by this sort of babble, we are all hurt.
Do you remember the 1941 Gary Cooper film, “Meet John Doe”? It’s a dark com-edy where one man led a nationwide movement by speaking up for the nameless common man “John Doe.” It registered with people and many rose up to take action. They organized John Doe Clubs whose sole purpose was to look after their neigh-bors, care for them and do the right thing.
The politicians and oli-garchs did not like this movement and tried to si-lence Cooper and his follow-ers. They wanted to keep all power, wealth and control for themselves.
Sometimes it looks like his-tory is repeating itself. What we can do right now is take even better care of our neighbors, be kind, caring and compassionate to all.
Our country was built on those good traits long before the government got in-volved. We surprised guests from Europe by being a vol-unteer nation, building our own churches and schools without waiting for the gov-ernment. We raised money when another community was in desperate straits. If we can do something good for others, that’s our job.
So turn off the TV and computer and quit watching alarmist click bait headlines. Enough with all the propa-ganda from both sides and ads trying to scare us into buying their goods and ser-vices.
It’s time that we get on with our lives and become the best person possible. No law or power can stop us from caring for others.
