Over the weekend, my wife and I watched the 1945 motion picture “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn,” which is based on a book by the same name. It follows a family – mother, father and two precocious children – and their struggles during the early 20th century in Brooklyn. It was a fantastic film and definitely should be recommended viewing.
Why is a golden age film being talked about Economic Collapse News?
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Well, because a movie set more than a century ago gives us a glimpse into the life of these people who helped build the United States. It also allows us to see how much progress we’ve made in 100 years and how grateful we should be for capitalism, free markets and technological advancement.
In the picture, the kids had to go through a lot: they went to school, bathed in the kitchen sink twice a week, had to rummage around the town to purchase stale bread and wore pretty much the same clothes day in and day out (they washed them daily or semi-daily, of course). Towards the end of the day, they even were given jobs to prep in the kitchen and clean the restaurant (this wouldn’t happen today, the government would forbid it).
Today, the average school-aged child hardly has any problems. The biggest issue for an average 12-year-old to have is whether or not he’ll play three hours of Xbox or three hours of PlayStation. Or, if he’ll purchase an iPhone or a Samsung. Or, if he should watch YouTube videos or Netflix. Even poor kids have these choices, considering that most youth have smartphones and video game consoles.
What made the film partly interesting is the fact that it opens our eyes to the simple realization that we can simply walk into a store today and lay down $10 and buy a few shirts for our children. Back in the day, this was pretty much impossible.
Thanks to free trade and globalization, a poor family in the U.S. can save up $20 and purchase a few shirts and two pairs of pants from Wal-Mart or Target for their 12-year-old. This makes him hygienic, it saves the family time from having to wash the same clothes day in and day out and prevents other kids at school from teasing the child.
A store akin to Wal-Mart has helped the poor in more ways the government has.
Aside from clothing, a poor family can purchase a fresh loaf of bread for a couple of dollars without having to fight with other neighbors in front of a truck for stale bread.
Wal-Mart gets a bad reputation for selling inferior products using cheap foreign labor and for closing down mom and pop stores, which hasn’t really been proven. They also get chastized because they avoid paying billions of dollars in taxes to the U.S. government, which will just use those funds to bomb Muslim nations and waste it on politicians wanting to go to a trip to Paris.
The only real founded criticism is some of its cronyist ways, like schmoozing politicians in cities the company wanted to enter.
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But Wal-Mart is just one of the many private sector businesses to aid the poor that are low on cash. Don’t forget about the middle-class families, too, that want to save some money on laundry detergent, paper towels and clothing.
Long live Wal-Mart!
I totally detest people such as yourself that prove me wrong. Honestly, I had never looked at it through that lens before, but it makes a lot of sense. However, I will never admit defeat, so I’ll just declare victory and leave. thank you much!