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Edited on Sat Nov-19-11 02:00 PM by DebJ
that reads almost like 2011: "...tens of thousands of Americans saw a lifetime of investment vanish in a few minutes at a sheriff's sale." Bankers like Mellon felt no sympathy, as clearly the losers were to blame for the 'bad habits and extavagant living' that left them unable to pay their morgages. Mellon made no connection between these failed mortgage payments and the fact that businesses nationwide found it difficult to meet their payrolls and to acquire loans, leading to layoffs and wage cuts, both of which reduced demand, leading to production cuts, leading to further layoffs. Those who failed had only themselves to blame." pg 5
"The pressure on charitable organziations and public assistance increaased dramatically, though what most worried the elite was the spread of radical ideas among the poor." pg 8
"There was no national harmony and the members of Congress did their part to increase the divide." pg 12
"John Swinton, the editor of the New York Sun, looked at the United States and saw poverty for most and excess power in the hands of too few. 'The power of money has become supreme over everything,' he wrote....the elite acquired 'all the special privileges and special legislations which it neds to secure it complete and absolute domination.' This moneyed elite 'must be broken or it will utterly crush the people.' pg 19
"The richest people in the country became heroes, no matter how they made their money, while the poorest and most powerless became the source of violence and disorder, and a dangerous drag on the nation. Those who held to this vision constructed the most significant of all mythologies, social Darwinism, an ideology that not only accepted but celebrated violence." (pg xi)
"Class superceded race as the primary area of conflict...elites battled to maintain their power in every part of the country" (pg xiii)
Banker Jay Cooke, "judged the most creative banker of his era", began the Panic of 1873 which resulted in massive bank and business failures. Cook bribed politicians, bought newspapers, and lied shamelessly to promote his financial schemes, "all of which earned him numerous government subsidies". "Cooke...began using his clients' money without bothering to tell them." (pgs 2-3)
"Leaders of both parties, Sir George Campbell wrote, 'carried into politics what I may call joint-stock morals,' or the view that a political office exists to make its holder a profit'". pg 3
"...banks became more skeptical about lending money and tended to hoard their funds over the next several years, further tightening the credit markets. Real estate markets collapsed as thousands of mortgages were foreclosed. The surviving banks took advantage of the crisis to seize propertis at historically low prices."pg 5
"In the immediate aftermath of the Panic, people blamed federal and private extravagance...For others, alcohol was clearly to blame...any expenditure on nonessentials (was seen) as violating reason and ensuring failure...The leading business journal...pinned the blame on ...talk of government regulation...Many blamed the banks for funding far too many risky enterprises..." pg 6
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