Monday, October 14, 2013

Thoughts on the National Recovery Administration

The National Recovery Administration took me by surprise when I first read about it in the book. Not only because I was expecting it to be the National Rifle Association, but because I could not imagine something like this to be allowed in present day America. My first thought has to do with taking a socialistic economic policy and sticking it in the "freest" country in the world; or so I thought. I am quite curious about the peoples reactions regarding the act. Yet while I would like to imagine they were upset with it, something tells me that their desperate need for economic change lowered the administration's negative feedback. Quite the contrary today when we see Obama-care and how hard congress is fighting to keep the government out of programs.

Now in my opinion, I feel that through the eyes of Rexford Tugwill, there were great intentions. Unfortunately he could not see into the future, when his idol Mussolini, was thrown out of power. Not in a democratic way either; beaten, shot, and hung from his feet in a plaza. Fascist and Socialist economic system often to not work due to human nature and our desire for more. That was in Italy; in America you have a whole different outlook. Especially since capitalism is widely accepted.

The idea of the National Recovery Agency (NRA) was to aid the New Deal program and bring America out of recession. What the NRA did not think out was the effect it had on small businesses. Since small business is prime to the American economy, the NRA was dangerous to the prosperity of small businesses. So in turn, it actually had a negative impact in the area that was the most important. The critics of the NRA were of so many, and so many court cases, the NRA was finally dissolved only two years later, starting in 1933 and ending in 1935. While I do appreciate the effort and the good will of the program, the fact that it was still a socialistic and fascist economic policy was not healthy for America due to small business industry and much more.

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