American History Questions - Essay Example

American History Questions Question A: How the Other Half Lives and Aftershock are two iconic books developed meticulously to address some of the most intriguing features of the American past. In How the Other Half Lives, Jacob Riis discusses the problems that face people living in the slums around New York while in Aftershock, Robert Reich discusses the factors that led to the credit bubble. Among the major similarities in both books is that the authors blame the wealthy for the problems facing the people in their respective societies.

Riis for example argues that the middle class and the wealthy have forgotten the plight of Americans living in slums. He explains that the wealthy have failed to employ the poor immigrants living in the slums a feature that enhances the problems the slum dwellers face. In Aftershocks on the other hand, Reich argues that the large inequality gap between the wealthy and the middle class stoked the credit bubble thus leading to the crisis. Reich begins his book by countering the arguments by Timothy F.

Geithner, the Treasury secretary at the time that the middle class was buying too much while saving too little. Reich believes that the middle class did not make adequate amounts of money and was instead employing a number of survival techniques none of which could sustain the economic growth. The difference in the book lies in their structures with Aftershocks is a book while Riis’ is a publication of photojournalism.Question BI disagree with Mrs. Rodgers assessment that the era of the FDR a welfare state that continues to plague the country.

I believe that President Franklin D. Roosevelt employed every feature including the welfare programs to help the economy and in deed, he did. He for example authorized the utilization of about $5 million in relief programs that sought to create employment for the public. The president understood the importance of employment in enhancing the economic growth. The public assistance relief program helped cushion the public from the adverse effects of the great depression. The Works progress Administration did not only see the development of mega infrastructure at a time the country was facing the worst economic crisis but also provided the citizenry with adequate income capable of sustaining their lives thus overcome the crisis.

The country has consistently employed similar strategies including the systematic bailouts in 2007 and 2008 financial crisis that helped keep the largest corporations operational. Question CInequality for all has been a factual indictment for the economic condition in the United States. The economic crisis of 2007-8 showed the potential of the crisis proving that the American economy remains vulnerable owing to the widening inequality between the wealthy and the middle class. 1% of the top earners in the United States currently earn more than 20% of the income in the country.

The tendency leaves the middle class vulnerable and frustrated as they live in squalor. The large inequality gap leaves the middle class vulnerable a feature that compounds financial crises as was the case in 2007-2008. The inequality gap has grown since the 1877 and continues to grow with the middle class left to employ a number of survival techniques including double employment (Schmidt and Curtis 89). Prior to the 2007 financial crisis, corporations relied on the middle class to grow the economy with banks and financial institutions creating products that targeted the middle class.

The approach compounded the effects of the crisis thus showing how vulnerable even the top earners were at the face of financial crises. Work citedSchmidt, William H, and Curtis C. McKnight. Inequality for All: The Challenge of Unequal Opportunity in American Schools. New York: Teachers College Press, 2012. Print.