Redistibution of Wealth
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Ali Price
Mr. Griffiths
AP. US. History II
22, March 2005
Redistribution Of Wealth
October 1929 the United States of America went into a state of great depression. Millions of Americans lost their jobs, their homes and went deeply in debt. The reasons for the great depression were the over production of goods, higher tariffs, over speculation of the stock market, unregulated banking and the misdistribution of wealth. The president of the time Franklin Delano Roosevelt enacted a solution called The New Deal. This plan included emergency measures for industrial recovery, agricultural recovery and short-term emergency relief of the jobless. Huey Long a senator from Louisiana was the biggest opposition to Roosevelt. Long proposed taxing the rich to give to the poor. The government should not use its taxing power to redistribute the wealth in America.
Huey Longs plan of reform bordered on socialism. He proposed that every family have the reasonable comforts of life up to 5,000,000 dollars. All family fortunes should be between 1,500,000 and 5,000,000. The yearly income should be no less then 2,000. Long wanted to regulate working hours, and provide pensions for people over 60. Huey planned on paying the veterans of wars and provide equal and free education. Finally Huey Long wanted to raise the revenue and tax on the top inheritance. “Share Our Wealth by soaking in the rich, he would make every man a king.”
The first reason that the government should not over use its taxing power is because it will destroy initiative. In Huey Longs Share Our Wealth plan he intends on giving the jobless and homeless 2,000 for doing nothing. The person because they are receiving free money will have no reason to want to start working and help boost the economy. The homeless and jobless and former middle class will receive enough money just through the charity.
This is intertwined with the second point, if people receive charity and stop working then the factories and farms will close. The company will have no employees to produce the mass amount of goods. This would also lead to inflation because their would be no