#头条创作挑战赛 #
A Great Depression in the United States in the 30s of the last century had a huge impact on the whole world. On the mainland Internet, there are still lies circulating that 8 million people starved to death during the Great Depression in the United States.
Why do I say this is a lie? First, we need to understand the concept of the Great Depression.
The Great Depression was a period of overcapacity, the production of industrial and agricultural products exceeded the sales volume, the selling price of industrial and agricultural products was below cost, factories and farms were forced to stop work or go bankrupt, resulting in a sharp increase in unemployment and poverty, and a sharp decline in the standard of living of ordinary people.
In other words, it is an economic crisis caused by overcapacity and a great market depression.
It is fundamentally different from the great famine caused by natural disasters, poor food harvests, lack of materials and other factors in history.
It was a time when Americans poured milk into the Mississippi River, and farmers destroyed crops, abandoned land, and used wheat as firewood. In fact, it is the same as we Chinese farmers rotting Chinese cabbage in the ground, dairy farmers pouring milk and killing cows. It is that the production exceeds the sales volume, and the sales revenue is not enough for harvesting and storage costs.
The lie first appeared on the Chinese internet in 2006, when the author cited three arguments, and similar articles that have appeared since then mostly cite this article's arguments.
First, demographic data. The authors found the demographic data of the United States from 1900 to 1960 (the population of the United States is every ten years), which is credible. He calculated the statistics and found that the U.S. population grew by about 9 million people in the decade from 1930 to 1940, compared with about 17 million per decade in other years. This leads to the conclusion that 8 million people died of famine in the United States during the Great Depression.
We all know that the United States is a country of immigrants, after the Great Depression, a large number of workers lost their jobs, the US government limited the number of immigrants, the number of immigrants in the 30s was 5.6 million less than in the 20s, and the decrease in the number of young and middle-aged immigrants led to a decrease in the number of births.
In the early 30s, condoms with lubricating oil began to become popular in Europe and the United States, and the high unemployment rate of workers must lead to a decrease in fertility desire.
In the 30s, the number of births in the United States was 2.325 million fewer than in the 20s.
The number of immigrants and births decreased by 7.905 million during the decade.
II. Report of the New York City Welfare Commission of 1932. The report says that 29 people died of starvation and another 110, mostly children, from malnutrition.
The author did not post this report in the article, and I did not find the relevant report. But on the problem of malnutrition, I think it should be possible, many countries have a long-term malnutrition problem, in 2005, the malnutrition rate of middle school students in Hangzhou was 34.78%, of course, it may be that the standard of malnutrition definition in our country is too high.
Third, literary works. American writer William Manchester's book Glory and Dreams, in which famine is described.
William Manchester was ten years old when the Great Depression hit, and the work does describe some scenes of famine, but it is only by his later hearsay that no people die of starvation.
But he also wrote that during this period, Americans' cultural life and sports activities were very fulfilling, for example, Hollywood made nearly 5,000 movies, and Americans bought 28 tickets per capita; Miniature golf and library business is booming; Sales of refrigerators and radios soared.
Stocks on the NYSE fell 80%; The country's GDP fell by almost half; Food prices fell by 40%; The price of agricultural products fell by 50%; The purchasing power of the dollar rose by 25%.
While helping people find jobs, the government is also distributing relief funds to poor families. According to simple logical reasoning, if there is a great famine, it should be a sharp rise in the price of agricultural products and food, and a decline in the purchasing power of the dollar, and it cannot be the other way around.
In the United States, in the context of the Great Depression, when legal citizens were unemployed, it should be a great test for the survival of illegal immigrants. William Manchester's "Glory and Dreams" describes people rummaging through garbage bins for food, most likely illegal immigrants. They are not eligible for welfare and can only rely on receiving relief food from churches or public welfare organizations, so it cannot be completely ruled out that illegal immigrants are starved to death, and even if they do, it should be the misfortune of a very small number of people.
In addition, even if none of the arguments I have refuted are valid, think about it from another angle, the United States is a country with free guns, and if 8 million people are going to starve to death, imagine how much movement it will make.
However, we have no information on large-scale riots in the United States during this period.
Although history is gone, the fog cannot hide the truth after all, and may there be no more famine in the world.
So, do you think that 8 million people starved to death during the Great Depression in the United States is a lie or a fact? Welcome to leave a message in the comment area.