Studs Entry 2

        The first thoughts that I had regarding Arthur Robertson's story began with the fact that he was a very wealthy individual. I guessed that he had made a lot of money in some sort of stock or investing situations. I also questioned his integrity; I wondered weather he had connections to casino sharks or other shaky situations like that. I saw the fact that he was the man that everyone looked to for loans as an important detail. Another important detail was the ideas that he was smart enough to buy old, cheep broken down businesses. He also always seemed to know when to get out, especially when he said "We decided to take every dollar out of the banks" right before the crisis. Another piece of key text from the interview was when he "suicides left and right" because it shows the true impact that people felt during the great depression. The final key piece of text that I found as when he said "What's the use having 10 million if you can't have big money?" This piece seemed to be a central idea regarding the economic status of people during this time period. I had a few questions as I was reading. I was confused as to how he was making all of these good choices and was he educated in economics? This connects to our conversation regarding suicides because his good friend killed himself. Also this connects to my family during the great depression because they were fortunate to have a good amount of money. They were also able to make some good investments when the market was so down.

The first thoughts I had regarding Oscar Heline was that he was a farmer. He was the "old man" so he was obviously very knowledgeable. I also thought about the hardships that he must have faced because he lost a lot of value in his crops and his land. The first important detail that I noticed was that farmers were using crops, such as grain and corn, for heat. This shows that there was hyperinflation because the values were not worth selling. I also found it was interesting the way that people many a ton of money off of the poverty of other people. It was also very important that the government finally stepped in to make a difference. Heline said that he "wants to be an honorable individual"and this show that the situation really hurt this desire. Heline also described the situation as "this was a struggle between halves and have not." I think this basically sums up the entire situation. The farmers were unfortunately part of the have not. The question that was raised was the question as to why the government did not set in earlier? I also wondered why WWII was a big boost for farmers? This connects to our class because we talked about that acts that tried to regulate the farm industry.  

Studs Terkle Entry 1

Vine Deloria:

I though that this piece was very interesting. I initially started to thing about the way that the changes in transportation created less of a thrill for traveling. It really emphasized the importance, or lack there of, of transportation. A few important detail that I noticed were that she had an Indian background, and that she was originally involved with an Indian religion. She then converted to Christian, which I found very interesting because it surprises me that who felt so strongly about new technologies, would switch their native religion. This interview was centered around "social constraints"as Deloria said. It was a story about issues from that past as well as important issues to come. Deloria stated it as "Maybe American Dream is in the past understanding who you are is the future." The also references the "importance of place" early on in the story. The only question that was raised was, Why do people live retrospective lifestyles? I found that a genuine connection to our class was the Indian wars for land. We studied the way that Americans mistreated the Indians, and the way that we kicked them off of their land. I also had one personal connection. My uncle was actually Native American, and his ancestors were actually kicked off of their land by the Americans. I am sure his family had some of these similar thoughts.

Andy Johnson:

I initially thought that this was just going to be another story of an American Immigrant who struggled, but as I continued to read the real implications dawned on me. The first important detail was that Johnson was a finish immigrant with "Kuume" or American Fever. The conditions were very harsh, to the point where they often did not have floors. It took him many years to finish school because he could only attend in the winter because he was forced to help provide for his family during the other seasons. Johnson explained the reason for moving as "The poorest, the most miserable came here because they had no future over there." He also said "I had my independence, except that it had my lively hood more difficult. This raised the question of how hard was the transitions? I also wondered how where the conditions in Finland? Was it really worth all of this trouble to live the "American dream." Immigration and Ellis Island were direct connections to class. We talked about immigrants and the way that they often lived in harsh conditions, making little money at factories. A personal connection is that may dads family traveled through Ellis Island during 1930's and their lives were very hard at first.