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According to the United States Department of Labor, created 69,000 new work places, much lower than expected by analysts, which slightly raised the unemployment rate to reach 8.2%, 0.1% more than in April.

Does low job creation will jeopardize Obama’s reelection? Feedback

Health services, transportation and trade were top priorities in creating jobs, but the construction sector was not so benefited.

According to the agency EFE , this is the lowest rate of job creation over the past 11 months, after which most analysts had estimated profit of more than 150 thousand jobs.

The registered unemployment rises in most of the major ethnic groups, including African Americans came to 13.6% for Hispanics and 11% among whites rose to 7.4%, while for Asians was unchanged at 5.2%.

How Obama reelection risk?

The economy has averaged 73,000 jobs per month over the past two months, the third of the 226.000 that created monthly in the first quarter.

These figures could affect the prospects for re-election of President Barack Obama and the Federal Reserve to introduce further measures to support the economy. His Republican opponent Mitt Romney, is focusing his campaign on the economy, the agency said The Associated Press.

No president since the Great Depression has sought re-election with unemployment as high as the figure of 8.2% and previous presidents who have tried it lost when it was increasing the number of people who lost their jobs.

The Republicans took away the jobs report revealed Friday by the Labor Department.

“The very complicated report today on employment shows once again that President Obama’s policies are simply not working, and that he has failed to fulfill the promise of his presidency,” said Republican National Committee chairman, Reince Priebus.

In this land of plenty it has become apparent that 15% of all Americans a staggering 49 million, could not afford to eat properly. It has also become apparent that the worst hit are our very future, families with children and what is even worse within these families 1.1 million of there children are outright hungry.

We all know this is not just an American problem but a world wide problem a problem that seems to be getting worse by the day, so I ask this question. Should this be happening here? I think not as America does have the infrastructure even in these hard times to cure this problem. So what is stopping us and how can we allow this to continue?

There are many people who do try to alleviate some of this suffering and our thanks should go out to them. Many people and non profit organizations have opened private food banks but with over 4.8 million people (a rise of 0.9 million people since the year before), there stocks are running low.

I once had a chat with a very old gentleman a blues guitarist who used to travel the rails during the Great Depression and he told me at times, the only way he could survive was by visiting Soup kitchens. I am not saying times are quite as bad as in the great depression but it is a matter of fact that today these soup kitchens are back and in 2009, 625,000 people, that’s up by 90,000 from the previous year used a soup kitchen as there last resort.

Not a great picture for what was once called the land of plenty and the land of opportunity.

I have asked many questions in this article and I have to apologies to you, as I don’t know the answer to this problem, but I do know it should not be happening here.

I wish everyone luck and great health.

Steve Simmonds

Unemployed men queued outside a depression soup kitchen opened in Chicago by Al Capone, 02-1931 – NARA – 541927 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In accepting his party’s nomination, Roosevelt had promised the American people a “new deal.” This became his campaign slogan, and after his election, the laws that Congress passed on his recommendation were known as New Deal laws.

Immediately after his first inauguration, Roosevelt began his New Deal – new laws and special executive orders aimed at bringing stability to the nation’s economy and work to the nation’s unemployed. He closed all banks until government controls could be established, so that people would feel that their money was safe in a bank.

Let us go back to the civil War…., in 1862, President Lincoln created the position of ‘commisioner of Internal Revenue’ and enacted the income tax to pay for increasing war epspenses. this income tax was repealed 10 years later until Congress revived the tax in 1894. However, just one year later, the Supreme Court ruled the income tax unconstitutional.

Then in 1913, say hello to the 16th Amendment, ratified by Wyoming, it provided the three-quarter majority needed to amend the constitution. So, what did the 16th amendment do?, it gave congress the authority to enact an income tax.

The first 1040 Form came that same year after congress levied a 1% tax on net personal incomes over $3,000. there was also a 6% sutax on incomes greater than $500,000.

During World War I, in 1918, the top rate of income tax rose to 77% to help finance the war. It dropped to 24% after the war but rose again during the Great Depression. And… (woulldn’t you know it?) during War World II Congress introduced the payroll withholding and quarterly tax payments. This set the stage for taxes as we know them today.

Life for blacks in the 1930’s has been described as an “American hell” but it wasn’t just the 1930’s, basically from 1863 to 1965. The conditions in that time period were basically the same for blacks.

In 1930 blacks had no civil rights, land ownership was possible but very limited. for instance if a black family “owned” land, the white people could take it if the saw a use for it. blacks were not allow to serve in any political positions on any level.

the threat of violence was a everyday possibility. multiple hanging, lynchings, and being burn on the cross was happening, most of the violence against blacks were done at the hands of the white police, mosty the local sheriff or the pastor of a church, and othe peopl of authority.

there have been several accounts of white sheriffs breaking in the homes of black families and raped the women and children at gun point.

blacks were forced to say “yes sir” and ‘Yes ma’am” to small white kids.

40% of the lynchings that happened to blacks where because of the false accusations from white women. 

the white man would beat or rape his wife / girlfriend.. and then accuse a black person of the act just to protect her spouse.

Willing and excited to blend his or her identity with others’ identities, the early adult is prepared for intimacy. Erikson (1975) defines this intimacy as the ability to commit to actual “affiliations and partnerships”. In order to commit to such relationships, early adults must be able to confront the fear of losing self-esteem in circumstances that require self-abandon “in the solidarity of close affiliations, in orgasms and sexual unions, in close friendships and in physical combat”. When early adults are afraid of losing self-esteem and avoid such experiences, it is possible for them to suffer “a deep sense of isolation and consequent self-absorption” (Erikson, 1975).  

The two key concepts present by the theory of Levinson include the stable and transitional periods. During the stable period, an individual makes vital choices in life. When the individual ends a certain stage and enters a new one, he or she is in the transitional period. During this transition period, individuals undergo experiences that can be either complicated or easy. On the other hand, the value and implication of the life commitments of an individual frequently transform between the start and ending of a period.

Some inconsistencies, however, can be observed in these life stages theorized by Levinson (1986). It must be considered that the data collection conducted by Levinson took place soon after the end of the Great Depression and involved men who commonly grew up in stable families when the economy was growing and had practical life goals. During the recent decades, nevertheless, to high divorce rates put the onus on men to take care of less stable families. Moreover, the goals of these men during the recent decades are much harder to attain since these men are obliged to cope with an irregular economy. These inconsistencies make it difficult to apply the theory of Levinson (1986) on life stages to the modern generation. Even in the case of those who came from a stable family and grew up in a fluctuating economy, it is quite subtle to declare that they are fully transitioning from adolescence to adulthood. 

Most high school students are aware of the news about our economy. More and more people in America are losing jobs and are unable to find new jobs. Some have even become homeless. Because of this, I feel that a lesson on the Great Depression would be a good lesson because many students, unfortunately, can relate to this.

The Great Depression, as it was called, occurred in the 1930’s. It was considered to be a period of a great crisis in American history, just as it is considered today (2011).

By 1932, millions of people were out of a job. They looked and looked for a job, just as they are doing now, but couldn’t find any. In those days, the poor, who were homeless, were called hobos. They begged for money on the streets, just as we see now in our big cities.

Some of the homeless would lay on the side of the train tracks and wait until they could see the train coming. Some of them had a bottle of water and a piece of bread in their pocket. This is all they had to eat or drink. These people were usually men. When a train came, they would ride all day and night on top of what was known as a boxcar.

In the book called “Hard Times, an Oral History of the Great Depression,” by Studs Terkel, there was a paragraph that described how homeless men sat together in a tent beside the rail. Studs Terkel stated, “There were about twenty five men who got together and made food from what little they had. Together, they would take a big pot and cook cabbage, meat and beans and put it all together.”

In the city where I live, you don’t see more than one homeless man or woman sitting or standing together and eating. A homeless man or woman in this city, usually stand at a corner where there is a signal. They generally stand with a sign indicting that they need money for food.

During the Great Depression, some of the homeless people lived in old, rusted cars. Today, there are also some people who live in cars. Some people during the depression lived in piano boxes or large crates. They lived in whatever they could put together.

I know of some poor people at the present (year 2012), who are not homeless, but they still need money in order to be able to make some kind of a living. They go to a recycle area of their city, and bring in goods that can be recycled, such as used cans, bottles, clothes, etc. They get some money for these goods that are going to be recycled. In the 1930’s, recycling was not known, but people received money from empty milk bottles because they could be turned in and receive a nickel for each bottle.

During those early days, some people who didn’t have jobs, went on what was called Relief. This is where they received some money from the government. It was similar to what we now have, called welfare. During the Great Depression, people were ashamed that they had to go on Relief. Students can learn more about the Great Depression by going to their library or going to their Search Engine on their computers.

Source: Hard Times: An Oral History of the Great Depression by Studs Terkel

I don’t have my father anymore; he passed away in 1984, of cancer. It attacked him quickly, turning him from a vigorous 70 year-old to a pale shadow of himself in less than two years, and perhaps in the end that was merciful. He spent the last few months of his life in pain, but never allowed that pain to affect his demeanor, never letting himself become bitter or discouraged. When the doctor’s told him that he could be treated for a time, but was ultimately terminal regardless, he decided to save the family from financial ruin by accepting his mortality, and deciding to die with dignity, and honor intact.

My father taught me well how to be a man; both by his life and his death he showed me the way to walk through life with honor. The example he set for me sustains me even today; when making a tough decision, I still imagine him looking over my shoulder & telling me to make the decision that allows everyone involved to keep their self-respect and meet their own needs, by telling the truth tempered with compassion, and having the couraqe to take the responsibility for my actions.

In today’s world, surviving with one’s sanity intact is a perpetual challenge. Human society has, for some time now, begun to suffer the effects of overpopulation. Everyone alive today knows what happens when overcrowded living conditions reach a critical point; we all performed, or at least read or heard about, the experiment with a rodent population allowed to reach that point. Increasing violence and abberrant behavior, breakdown of societal norms, food, water, & shelter become items of primary import. Ultimately, the colony dies, and being human does not shelter us as a species from the simple, deadly fact of this aspect of living in an increasingly unbalanced ecosphere.

One of the symptoms of impending disaster, the “breakdown of societal norms”, is the unfortunate evolution of the norm for a “family” in today’s world. The two-parent household is no longer the majority in today’s society; one parent households are just a common. And this simple fact means that, of the children growing up today, less than half will have an effective male, or female, role model in the home. Many children will not have either a mother or father figure available, or will have that role filled by grandparents or extended family, or by people outside the home such as teachers.

This phenomenon is not necessarily all bad; in my experience, even folks who aren’t terribly good at parenting are at least doing their best. But it does mean that society in the future will be different, very different, and can only contribute to the general overall confusion in society. Humanity has a very challenging era rushing upon it, and significant changes will need to be made, and survived.

My father, whom I honor every day, was part of what may be the last generation ever to have the majority of families with a traditional make-up. I hope the model that society evolves in coming years will create in children the same feelings of self-worth, confidence, and compassion for others that my father, and mother, were able to teach to me. If it is, then I believe there is hope for humanity. If not, then the time of critical danger is apporoaching all too fast……

One of the things Bernanke said he would in the 2002 speech, in addition to devaluing the currency 40%, was to keep interest rates at or near zero percent.  Bernanke with his speech and actions sure believes that we are in a Depression and he is right.  Not only does he still believe we are in a depression, but he also thinks the Depression will continue through at least the end of 2014.  Bernanke said he would keep the interest rates at or near zero until then.  Bernanke has kept interests rate at or near zero since late 2008. 

In the linked Yahoo article, Bernanke says he is not even worried about inflation.  Anyone who goes to the grocery store or gas station knows that inflation is becoming a big problem and will only get worse.  Bernanke’s track is the wrong one, in my humble opinion. 

            Bernanke studied the Great Depression of 1929-1945 in detail.  Obviously, the man is not concerned with inflation.  This is confirmed in this 2002 speech as he is scared of the evils of deflation, declining, rather than rising prices.   This nine page speech talks about everything he would do if another great depression hit.  A great recession hit of course 2007-date and peaked in the fall of 2008 and is still with us at the end of 2011 in spite what anyone says. So, when he became chairman of the FED and the crisis hit in 2008, he did exactly what he said he would do in this speech. 

First, he cut interest rates to near zero.  Everyone says that he has run out of “ammunition” because interest rates are zero.  He disagrees.  He likes some inflation which he calls a “buffer zone” to deflation.  He would rather prop the economy up rather than take a short term fall and lead into a real recovery.  Compare this to a junkie getting off of drugs.  He will have a bad headache for a while, but in the long term, he will be better off. 

Next, he said he would print money.  Many people get the definition of inflation wrong.  Inflation occurs when the government (or the privately owned FED) prints more money in circulation.  The rising prices are only a symptom of the government-caused inflation.  More dollars are chasing the same amount of goods, so prices have to go up. 

 The next thing Bernanke said he would do is buy the debt himself.  As we know, the Fed is the no. 1 creditor of the United States because no else, even China, are buying the Treasury bonds.  The FED makes money out of “thin air”, or make money from digital bits on a computer.  Then they loan the “money” to the US Government.  The Government, really the taxpayers, have to pay this back with interest.  This is why we have a $15 trillion national debt and rising. 

 Everything that Bernanke said he would do in this 2002 speech he has done.  The last thing should scare the hell out of everyone.  If the depression persisted, Bernanke would do what President Roosevelt did in 1933.  FDR stole the gold of the people of the country for $20 an ounce.  He then sold it for $35 an ounce.  This amounted to a devaluing of the currency by about 40% almost overnight.  So, during a time of Depression when it may have been good to reduce the costs of things to get people to buy them, inflation went from negative 10.3 percent  in 1932 to negative 5.1 percent in 1933 to positive 3.4 percent in 1934.  Was it good that things got more expensive in a depression?  I don’t think so.  I also don’t think it was good that people had their old seized and the paper dollar value (their spending power) was reduced 40% in one year when the price of goods went up. 

 I don’t know what 2012 will hold.  I would not be happy to know that the dollar will be devalued 40% and that spending power will be reduced that much if my holdings were in US dollars.  Bernanke has done what he said he would do.  Expect him to continue in this time of depression.

Please read my follow up piece. http://socyberty.com/issues/gold-price-org-reads-article-bernanke-devaluing-dollar-40/