| Lys Changes
History, Part 4
By 119694_avalanche Press
June 2007
119694_avalanche Press VP Lys Fulda recently
asked us, "If you could change one moment in history
what would it be and why?"
Here, our answers continue.
Beth Donahue's Answer
An era in American history that still haunts our society
is the Great Depression. Some who remember it, the Great Generation,
are scarred by childhood memories of selling apples on street
corners to feed their families that evening. Although a handful
of people didn’t have to suffer throughout the 1930s,
over 1/3 of Americans lived below the poverty level
and even more just a step above. If I could change any point
in history, I would change the Stock Market Crash of October
29, 1929, Black Monday — the day that launched the Great
Depression.
It wasn’t just that people who had invested in the
stock market lost their money, it was that companies, banks
and investors lost money belonging to the millions of Americans
who entrusted their hard-earned income to those institutions,
leaving most people without their life savings, trust funds
or even weekly earnings.
The Great Depression didn’t just effect income; it
affected every facet of American lives. Men lost
their jobs because companies went bankrupt. Families were
forced to sell their belongings, houses, or even their own
sources of revenue, their farms and businesses. Many, after
losing everything they had, fled west to find cheap and inhabitable
land, only to find even harder times, while others worked
multiple grueling jobs just to feed their large families a
daily meal in candle-lit shotgun shacks.
My great-grandfather, in Bridgeport, Alabama, ran a dry-cleaning
business, hair salon, and general store out of his home. He
was lucky. He kept his home and was able to feed and clothe
his family, unlike many who lived in shacks and shanties all
around him.
To my amateur eye, it seems that a bit less greed and cockiness
could have prevented the crash altogether, or at least lessened
the blow. The bull market of the late 1920s was a cheating
and ignorant friend to those thousands of companies and individual
(mostly naïve) investors who trusted its lies and fed
its greed. The vast margin between the wealthy and poor proved
to be a fatal flaw in the Roaring '20s.
I wonder, have we learned — have we really learned
— or will we feel the need to “beef up”
the stock market’s worth once more and take our chances?
Beth Donahue
Graphic Designer, 119694_avalanche Press
John McGill's Answer
When I was asked to write about which moment in history I
would like to change I thought about a world without Hitler,
or if Lincoln had finished his second term. What if Kennedy
had not been assassinated? Would he have won a second term
and would it have changed history? Yes, history would have
been different. But I didn’t want to pick low hanging
fruit. What if President William Harrison had worn an overcoat
to his inauguration?
Then I had it! The day was April 6, 1973. The New York Yankees’
Ronald Blomberg became the first designated hitter in baseball.
The designated hitter rule allows a team to assign a player
on the bench to hit for the pitcher. How could they do that?
Abner Doubleday, Union General in the American Civil War
and the father of baseball, is probably rolling over in his
grave. I assume he wanted everyone that plays to bat. What
if they had the designated hitter rule when Babe Ruth started
playing? He was a good pitcher, and had he not batted we would
have never known he was a great home run hitter.
Baseball is like a chess match. It’s late in the game
and your pitcher is coming up to bat. Do you leave him in
to bat or take him out? That’s what makes it a great
game. The good news is that the designated hitter rule is
only in the American League. This may not have been a world-changing
event, but it changed the game of baseball forever.
P.S. Listen to your mom and wear your overcoat!
John McGill
Plant Manager, 119694_avalanche Press |
