Unemployment & rural distress problems in many democratic countries may need optimistic & energetic leadership with good masses-connect & willingness to try innovative solutions, like US President FDR in 1930s
A few days ago, I read a pessimistic article on difficulties faced by rural America which I felt would apply to rural India too, some of the issues being relevant to rural India now itself, and some probably in the future. I put up a post on it: NYT article by Paul Krugman: "Getting Real About Rural America" may apply to some extent to rural India too, https://ravisiyermisc.blogspot.com/2019/03/nyt-article-by-paul-krugman-getting.html, 20th March 2019
Yesterday night, I read something that gave me hope for reducing the severe problems faced by rural America and rural India. I had started reading the book, FDR by Jean Edward Smith, published perhaps in 2007, https://www.amazon.in/FDR-Jean-Edward-Smith/dp/0812970497 (reprinted in 2008), which is a biography of former USA President Franklin D. Roosevelt (president from 1933 to 1945 when he died). In its preface, the author writes:
When he (FDR) took office in 1933, one third of the nation (USA) was unemployed. Agriculture lay destitute. Factories were idle, businesses were closing their doors and the banking system teetered on the brink of collapse. Violence lay just beneath the surface.
...
He (FDR) galvanized the nation with an inaugural address ("the only thing we have to fear is fear itself") that ranks with Lincoln's Second Inaugural, declared a banking holiday to restore confidence in the nation's banks, and initiated a flurry of legislative proposals to put the country back on its feet.
...
And what may be more remarkable, he did this while paralyzed from the waist down. For the last twenty-three years of his life, Franklin Roosevelt could not stand unassisted.
...
His (FDR's) self-assurance was exactly what the country needed. With the possible exception of Ronald Reagan (who voted for FDR four times), no president has been more serene in the conviction that whatever happened, everything would turn out all right. "Take a method and try it," he once said. "If it fails, admit it, and try another. But above all, try something." Social Security, unemployment compensation, stock market regulation, the federal guarantee of bank deposits, wages and hours legislation, labor's right to bargain collectively, agricultural price supports, rural electrification - all of which we take for granted - did not exist before FDR.
...
Roosevelt's wartime (World War II) leadership resembles that of Lincoln. As in 1933, he restored the nation's confidence. Under FDR's hands-on direction, the United States became "the arsenal of democracy". Britain was saved from defeat, the Soviet Union was provided the material it required, and by 1943 American armed forces had assumed the offensive. Roosevelt's wartime diplomacy paved the way for the defeat of the Axis powers and the establishment of a world order based on the rule of law.
...
The United States was a third-rate military power when World War II began. When it ended, America was the most powerful nation in history.
--- end small extracts from preface of FDR book ---
Note that the above extracts emphasize the positives of FDR's work and legacy. The preface also covers some criticism of FDR.
FDR's optimistic leadership, connect with masses, energy and problem-solving approach of keep trying one method or another till you succeed, worked in the challenging period of the early 1930s in USA to overcome problems of unemployment, rural distress, low business confidence etc.
I think for our early 21st century rural distress and unemployment both rural and urban, democratic countries like USA and India need similar optimistic and energetic leadership with good connect with the masses, and a willingness to try innovative methods to solve problems and learn from failures.
[I thank publisher of FDR (book) and its author, Jean Edward Smith, and have presumed that they will not have any objections to me sharing the above small extracts from their book on this post which is freely viewable by all, and does not have any financial profit motive whatsoever.]
Yesterday night, I read something that gave me hope for reducing the severe problems faced by rural America and rural India. I had started reading the book, FDR by Jean Edward Smith, published perhaps in 2007, https://www.amazon.in/FDR-Jean-Edward-Smith/dp/0812970497 (reprinted in 2008), which is a biography of former USA President Franklin D. Roosevelt (president from 1933 to 1945 when he died). In its preface, the author writes:
When he (FDR) took office in 1933, one third of the nation (USA) was unemployed. Agriculture lay destitute. Factories were idle, businesses were closing their doors and the banking system teetered on the brink of collapse. Violence lay just beneath the surface.
...
He (FDR) galvanized the nation with an inaugural address ("the only thing we have to fear is fear itself") that ranks with Lincoln's Second Inaugural, declared a banking holiday to restore confidence in the nation's banks, and initiated a flurry of legislative proposals to put the country back on its feet.
...
And what may be more remarkable, he did this while paralyzed from the waist down. For the last twenty-three years of his life, Franklin Roosevelt could not stand unassisted.
...
His (FDR's) self-assurance was exactly what the country needed. With the possible exception of Ronald Reagan (who voted for FDR four times), no president has been more serene in the conviction that whatever happened, everything would turn out all right. "Take a method and try it," he once said. "If it fails, admit it, and try another. But above all, try something." Social Security, unemployment compensation, stock market regulation, the federal guarantee of bank deposits, wages and hours legislation, labor's right to bargain collectively, agricultural price supports, rural electrification - all of which we take for granted - did not exist before FDR.
...
Roosevelt's wartime (World War II) leadership resembles that of Lincoln. As in 1933, he restored the nation's confidence. Under FDR's hands-on direction, the United States became "the arsenal of democracy". Britain was saved from defeat, the Soviet Union was provided the material it required, and by 1943 American armed forces had assumed the offensive. Roosevelt's wartime diplomacy paved the way for the defeat of the Axis powers and the establishment of a world order based on the rule of law.
...
The United States was a third-rate military power when World War II began. When it ended, America was the most powerful nation in history.
--- end small extracts from preface of FDR book ---
Note that the above extracts emphasize the positives of FDR's work and legacy. The preface also covers some criticism of FDR.
FDR's optimistic leadership, connect with masses, energy and problem-solving approach of keep trying one method or another till you succeed, worked in the challenging period of the early 1930s in USA to overcome problems of unemployment, rural distress, low business confidence etc.
I think for our early 21st century rural distress and unemployment both rural and urban, democratic countries like USA and India need similar optimistic and energetic leadership with good connect with the masses, and a willingness to try innovative methods to solve problems and learn from failures.
[I thank publisher of FDR (book) and its author, Jean Edward Smith, and have presumed that they will not have any objections to me sharing the above small extracts from their book on this post which is freely viewable by all, and does not have any financial profit motive whatsoever.]
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