Above: An artwork by Fuji Nakamizo (1889-1950), created while he was in the WPA's Federal Art Project, ca. 1935-1939. On the website of the General Services Administration this artwork is described as a woodpecker print. However, I think it's more likely a Blue Jay (which is not a woodpecker species). Note the striped tail feathers, the checkerboard-like design on the wings, the raised head feathers, and the black necklace-like design beginning behind the eyes. There isn't a ton of information about Nakamizo on the Internet, but it appears that birds were one of his favorite topics to paint, draw, etch. The New England Art Exchange states that Nakamizo was born in Japan and "exhibited widely in the United States until his death in 1950." And a 1936 newspaper article reported that he took photographs and made drawings for East Way, West Way, a book about Japanese women by Baroness Shidzue Ishimoto ("Books to Grow On..." The Pittsburgh Press, November 15, 1936). Image courtesy of the General Services Administration and the New Deal Gallery in Mount Morris, New York.
Above: "Orioles," a painting by Claude Allan Patterson, probably made while he was in the WPA's Federal Art Project, ca. 1935-1939. Patterson seems to have been born in 1887 and died in 1973, buried at Glendale Cemetery in Des Moines, Iowa, near his parents Lemuel and Myrta. According to the Stewart Art Gallery, "He studied at... the Philadelphia School of Design, Monmouth College, Harvard (M. A.), and Columbia University... He was active in the New Deal era Federal Art Project," and according to the website AskArt, "He taught at the University of Illinois, University of Iowa, and Monmouth College in Illinois." While he was studying at Monmouth College he worked as an artist for "Ravelings," the school's student yearbook from 1892-2002. A few pictures of Patterson appear in Ravelings, for example on pp. 18 and 43 of the 1915 edition. These might be some of the very few, or only photos of Patterson remaining (it appears he had no children). Every once in a while, I'm contacted by a relative of an artist that I feature on my blog. Maybe the same will happen with this blog post. Image courtesy of the General Services Administration and the New Deal Gallery in Mount Morris, New York.
Interesting note: College yearbooks used to be much more prevalent than they are today. As colleges (and society generally) have become less cohesive and tight-knit over the last few decades, and more digitized and distant, the idea of a college yearbook has become less popular. Kinda sad... (see, e.g., "Yearbooks ending at University of Virginia, other colleges," Washington Post, January 27, 2010).
Above: "Country Barn," a color lithograph by Betty Waldo Parish (1908-1986), created while she was in the WPA's Federal Art Project, ca. 1935-1938. According to a 1968 newspaper article, Parish was "a descendant of Ralph Waldo Emerson" ("Art Exhibits," The Dispatch (Moline, Illinois), March 9, 1968). Parish married Richard Comyn Eames in 1942 and it seems that they had two children. At least one of them followed in their mother's artistic footsteps, Dickon Eames (1945-1997), and Dickon's son, Matthew C. Eames, wrote a book about his father in 2009, "Dickon Eames: An American Sculptor in France." Image courtesy of the General Services Administration and the Baltimore Museum of Art.
Above: "Difficulty of Thought," a lithograph by Shirley Staschen, created while she was in the WPA, ca. 1935-1943. Staschen was born in Oakland in 1914, was largely self-taught, and during a 1964 oral history interview with the Smithsonian she recalled how the WPA helped her artwork: "I feel that it contributed a great deal to my development and it provided the facilities. It provided the stimulation of working with other people doing the same thing." But she also noted the downside: "There was never anything very sure about it from the beginning of those poor men with the shovels, and the wild effort that was being made there. It never, in a way, got any more sure than that. From one week to another, you would never have the feeling that it was sure. They might close down the mural. They might decide not to finish it. The whole thing might fold. There was never any kind of real security." Image courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Above: "End of the Clue," another WPA lithograph by Shirley Staschen, 1940. A 1960 newspaper article reported that Staschen "exhibited at the Oakland Museum of Art, The Golden Gate International Exposition, and Lucien Labudt Gallery, San Francisco. She has taught art to children at the San Francisco and Children's Hospital, conducted art classes and assisted on mural painting at the Coit Tower, the San Francisco Aquatic Park and San Francisco Junior College" ("Sebastopol Sidelights," The Press Democrat (Santa Rosa, California), August 28, 1960). Image courtesy of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.
Above: "The Search," another WPA lithograph by Shirley Staschen, ca. 1935-1943. In 1964, when asked what happened to the art she created in the WPA, Staschen said, "I have no idea at all what has happened to the work." Staschen died on November 26, 1995, in San Rafael, California. Image courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Above: "Old Man," a wood engraving print by Mac Raboy (1914-1967), created while he was in the WPA, ca. 1935-1943. Image courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago.
The economic annihilation thus far
Many middle-class Americans--and all poor Americans--have been financially bullied and terrorized over the past several decades. Many of their jobs have been sent overseas to cheap labor markets; their wages have been largely stagnant; if they want a college education, they must go into debt (education by extortion is the new norm); debt-relief for the middle-class and poor has been seriously curtailed, so that there is now a segment of the population that is permanently insolvent; they've been subjected to more, higher, and regressive taxes, tolls, fees, fines, and utility rates at the state & local level; in the 1980s, the age of full Social Security eligibility was raised and phased from 65 to 66 to 67; in the 1990s, Social Security was allowed to be garnished; fixed pension plans are being replaced by inadequate 401ks; the cost of healthcare has risen so high that medical bills often force people into bankruptcy (that is, if they can afford bankruptcy); healthcare is so inadequate for the poor, and their day-to-day life so miserable, that their babies are far more likely to die than babies born into wealthy families.
Above: "Doomed," an etching by Michael J. Gallagher (1898-1965), created while he was in the WPA, ca. 1935-1943. What do you do if you live in poverty and the actions and behaviors of the super-wealthy and their political puppets ensure that you will never escape it? Image courtesy of the General Services Administration and the Everhart Museum of Natural History, Science, and Art.
The economic annihilation to come
As if all of the above were not bad enough, Republican politicians and their donors are actively planning for more economic pain and suffering for the middle-class & poor. For example, the Republican Study Committee (RSC), a very large group of right-wing politicians in Congress, is trying to increase the age of full Social Security and Medicare to 70. They tell us that this is necessary to "save" the programs and "account for longer lifespans." However, life expectancy in the United States is actually dropping, especially for the middle-class and poor, and "wealthy Americans can now expect to live up to 15 years longer than their poor counterparts."
If they actually wanted to save the program (they don't), Republicans could (a) stop demonizing it, (b) eliminate the contribution cap, so that earnings over $128,400 are taxed too, and (c) perhaps tweak the payouts a bit, so that poorer beneficiaries get a little more and richer beneficiaries get a little less.
In any event, at the same time that they seek to cut programs that aid the middle-class and poor (Medicaid expansion is also on the chopping block, by the way), the ghoulish RSC plans to protect tax cuts for the rich and increase military spending from the current record-breaking $700 billion to $716 billion, and then again to $800 billion. Currently, U.S. defense spending already "dwarfs the rest of the world's" defense spending - so, why is it necessary to keep increasing it, when there is so much poverty, despair, and crumbling infrastructure at home?
And why is it necessary to protect tax breaks for the rich, when the rich are already enjoying record wealth?
In their vile deceit of the American people, the RSC tells us that we must refocus "federal spending on core constitutional responsibilities like national security." What they fail to mention, conveniently, is that the General Welfare is also a core constitutional responsibility - promoted in the Preamble and provided for by Article I, Section 8.
Above: "One-Third of a Nation," an oil painting by O. Louis Guglielmi (1906-1956), created while he was in the WPA, 1939. A description for this painting states that "Guglielmi draws attention to the horrid living conditions during the Great Depression. The forms in the foreground resemble coffins, and subsequently suggest a similar reading of the brick tenements behind them. The floral wreath adorning the building’s cornice reinforces this metaphor." Image courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
The consequences of economic annihilation: A potpourri of poverty, hatred, and death
The economic pain & suffering that the political right and their super-wealthy donors impose on the middle-class & poor has many harmful and lethal consequences. Here are just a few examples:
1. Increasing suicide: Almost without exception, suicides have increased since the turn of the century, both in raw numbers and frequency. And we know that financial stress, such as unemployment and debt, is a major factor in suicide rates. Here are the numbers from the CDC's Fatal Injury Reports:
2. An increase in deaths of despair: Immediate deadly acts are not the only way people can take their lives. They can also engage in long-term destructive behavior, like drug and alcohol abuse, to escape the pain of life. These behaviors can lead to an early death. Two researchers in this area tell us that "many more men are finding themselves in a much more hostile labor market with lower wages, lower quality and less permanent jobs. That's made it harder for them to get married. They don't get to know their own kids. There's a lot of social dysfunction building up over time. There's a sense that these people have lost this sense of status and belonging. And these are classic preconditions for suicide... The rates of suicide are much higher among men... And drug overdoses and alcohol-related liver death are higher among men, too" ("The Forces Driving Middle-Aged White People's 'Deaths Of Despair'," NPR, March 23, 2017).
3. Depression, stress, and suicidal thoughts: Even for those who don't decide to kill themselves (yet), life can be a daily misery. The U.S. recently fell in the World Happiness Report rankings, millions have suicidal thoughts every year, and Americans "work among the longest, most extreme, and most irregular hours; have no guarantee to paid sick days, paid vacation, or paid family leave; and pay more for health insurance, yet are sicker and more stressed out than workers in other advanced economies" ("The Way We Work Is Killing Us," Slate, April 24, 2018).
4. Enduring, soul-crushing, inescapable poverty: When good-paying jobs with good benefits are going the way of the Dodo Bird, and education comes by way of student loan debt extortion, and bankruptcy relief is taken away, people end up in poverty and can't get out. It should be no wonder then, that "Most Americans Can’t Afford A Minor Emergency," Huffington Post, January 29, 2018). 5. A searing hatred for one another: When the super-wealthy gobble up all the resources, and leave the rest of us with crumbs, fights break out. One of the most amazing examples of this is when we see low-income whites joining white supremacy groups, and blaming low-income minorities for the economic problems caused largely by wealthy whites - via financial fraud; job exporting; stock buybacks (instead of job creation and wage increases); tax evasion; predatory lending; lobbying to decrease consumer protections; and so on. (See, "Why Can't White Supremacists Confront the Fact That the Source of Their Economic Problems Is White Economic Elites?" Alternet, August 16, 2017).
Above: "Street Fight," a lithograph by Theodore C. Polos (1901-1976), created while he was in the WPA, 1938. When the people are left with only crumbs, they'll fight one another - often oblivious to the real cause of their suffering. Image courtesy of the General Services Administration and the Baltimore Museum of Art.
The wretched, humiliating, and Kafkaesque old-age that awaits us Kafkaesque - "having a nightmarishly complex, bizarre, or illogical quality" (Merriam-Webster).
In the not-too-distant future, tens of millions of elderly Americans will live in extreme poverty - and they will be told, by people with cold-blooded eyes, "It's your fault." They will receive inadequate medical care (because of their poverty); they will live in constant financial stress & anxiety (because of their poverty); and they will kill themselves in ever greater numbers (because of their poverty). And when they ask for help, they will be told, by a society that is even more sociopathic than it is today, "Don't bother me, you should have made better decisions in life."
Everyday on the television, commercials scold us for not saving enough for retirement. And a government document informs us that Social Security will be inadequate, and then states, "You will need other savings, investments, pensions or retirement accounts to make sure you live comfortably when you retire" (annual benefit statement form, 2015). This scolding and advice, however, is oblivious to the fact that most Americans today are so destitute that they can't even afford a minor emergency expense.
Mark my words, the "you-should-have-saved-more" propaganda will win out. When low-income, older people retire into misery and squalor, this is how the Kafkaesque public conversation will go:
Elderly in Poverty: "I need help."
Sociopath Society: "Where is your savings?"
Elderly in Poverty: "I never made enough to save."
Sociopath Society: "Well, you should have saved more."
Elderly in Poverty: "But I just told you that I never made enough to save, I lived paycheck to paycheck."
Sociopath Society: "I think that's kind of irrelevant, don't you? Anyway, what about are your investments? Can't you tap into them?"
Elderly in Poverty: "Investments? I couldn't even put money into a savings account, let alone the Stock Market."
Sociopath Society: "What? Let me see your investment portfolio, maybe we can figure something out."
Elderly in Poverty: "Investment portfolio?"
Sociopath Society: "For Heaven's sake! What about your pension? When do you start collecting?"
Elderly in Poverty: "I had a 401k."
Sociopath Society: "Okay, great, now we're getting somewhere! How much do you have in there? Five hundred thousand? A million??"
Elderly in Poverty: "About $3,000. I had to raid it once to pay bills. Plus, I never made enough to put much in there."
Sociopath Society: "????"
Elderly in Poverty: "What I mean is, I never had a job that paid a really good salary."
Sociopath Society: "????"
Elderly in Poverty: "What can I do?"
Sociopath Society: "Well, you're obviously going to have to sell your house, and use the proceeds to live in a lower-income senior citizen community or apartment building. I'm sorry it has to come to that, but you have to do what you have to do and the days of living extravagantly must come to an end."
Elderly in Poverty: "I could never afford to buy a home."
Sociopath Society: "Excuse me?"
Elderly in Poverty: "As I've mentioned several times, I never had a really good-paying job that allowed me to put money aside."
Sociopath Society: "Yes, I remember you mentioning something like that, but you should have just bought a home anyway, for investment purposes."
Elderly in Poverty: "How can you buy a house when you're only living from one meager paycheck to another?"
Sociopath Society: "Well, that seems like a distracting question. Anyway, what exactly was the problem with you and jobs??"
Elderly in Poverty: "Many good jobs were sent overseas. Low-paying service sector jobs took over. Wages were stagnant. Every time I applied for a good-paying job I was rejected. And a steady labor market turned into a gig economy, which - "
Sociopath Society: "Woah, woah, woah... I understand all of that stuff but, facts and reality aside, don't you think you should have gotten a better job?"
Elderly in Poverty: "I tried."
Sociopath Society: "Well, maybe you should have gone to college. Did you ever think about that."
Elderly in Poverty: "I did. It didn't make any difference. In fact, it made it worse. It didn't open any doors. It only strapped me with student loan debt that I couldn't pay back."
Sociopath Society: "Yeah, well that can happen when you major in basket-weaving or artsy things."
Elderly in Poverty: "I chose a major that was projected to be good... but by the time I graduated a million other people had the same degree, and there weren't enough jobs for everyone, and now I only have the student loan debt to show for it."
Sociopath Society: "Well, HELLO, that's what bankruptcy is for! Why didn't you file for bankruptcy and get a fresh start?"
Elderly in Poverty: "Student loans are almost never dischargeable in bankruptcy."
Sociopath Society: "What does that have to do with anything?... and, in any event, why didn't you just get a better-paying job? That would have really helped you out."
Elderly in Poverty: "Look, I'm not understanding any of this. I don't understand why you're not listening to me when I tell you that I could never find a good-paying job, that I never made enough to save, that I never made enough to invest, and that I never made enough to buy a house. What I need is some sympathy and understanding. Can you help me or not?"
Sociopath Society: "Sure, I can help you... go f*ck yourself. How's that?"
Above: Workers on a PWA-funded waste disposal project in San Pedro, California, ca. 1933-1940. During the New Deal there were massive investments in infrastructure - schools, hospitals, airports, bridges, roads, dams, athletic fields, water lines, national park improvements, and much more. Look at the smiles on the workers' faces above. Most people are happy with (a) a job with some meaning, and (b) a paycheck that allows them to live a decent life. It's not rocket science. Unfortunately, the greed and selfishness of the few (along with the low-paid, dull, private sector make-work they create) has made it seem so. Photo courtesy of the National Archives.
A new and improved New Deal would bring an end to economic annihilation
Economic annihilation is not inevitable. It is the result of public policies put into place by sociopath politicians who are funded by sociopath millionaires & billionaires. It doesn't have to be this way.
The New Deal offered employment to millions of jobless Americans, through the CCC, WPA, and other work-relief programs; it held Wall Street accountable, through the creation of the SEC; it protected the bank deposits of everyday Americans, through the creation of FDIC; it built up our infrastructure like never before or since; it built better schools and hospitals; it created Social Security and facilitated better private sector pensions through its backing of unions; it fostered unemployment insurance and overtime pay, which created more economic security. It did all of these things and much more.
We could do the same today if we stopped allowing ourselves to be spit on and stepped on by neoliberal millionaires & billionaires. It will take a little bit of courage and a fair bit of work and education... but mostly, it will take a newfound sense of dignity and self-respect. We need to end our slavish devotion to the rich and return to We the People.
Above: In this three-minute video that I like to share from time to time, George Carlin explains (in NSFW language) how the rich prefer us to be uneducated & obedient; how they want to cut our Social Security; and how we end up voting the way they want us to anyway. It's a sad, but remarkably accurate portrait of American society. Youtube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKUaqFzZLxU.
