RateItAll: The Opinion Network

Arguably the worst decade of the 20th Century, the 30s were dominated by the Great Depression and the political upheaval it spawned; an upheaval that led to genocide and the most destructive war in the history of mankind. The causes of the Depression echo, in many ways, our own time: an unbalanced distribution of wealth-concentrated in the wealthy urban classes of the US; rampant speculation in stocks and real estate; saturation of demand for cars and housing, financed by debt rather than income; massive over-production, especially in agriculture; irresponisble loans to weak governments; inept and grossly irresponsible governmental policies camouflaged by the purely rhetorical incantations of laisser-faire capitalist mantras. Economics alone, however, does not explains the horrors that emerged in the 30s and 40s. Beyond the purely material factors cited above, there were more fundamental causes, prophesized in the 19th Century by Nietsche. He predicted that the decline of Christianity, combined with the rise of the masses to political power, would sweep away both monarchy and parliamentary democracy, as well as the aristocracy and middle-class that created them. The future belonged to the masses and their charismatic leaders-prophets and dictators promising a new, secular heaven...and delivering hell on earth. Communism came to power early in Russia (1917), and Fascism in Italy; but neither became truly global ideologies until the 1930s. The breakdown of capitalism, its failure to deliver 'bread and circuses', led to the rapid expansion of Fascism and Communism-an expansion only halted only in 1945, and not defeated until 1992. Even in the 'free world', Freudianism (Psychoanalysis) and Modernism, while apolitical, were basically secular religions. Rising to dominance in the 30s, they set back the science of psychology and architecture for decades, and caused serious setbacks in many other fields. Much of the academic/artistic work of the 1930-1990 period has turned out to be a dead end. In the 1930s, great progress was limited primarily to physics and chemistry-and this was harnessed chiefly towards the arts of mass murder and destruction. The sterility and menace of the 1930s was captured by decade's best poet, W.H. Auden (writing on the outbreak of WWII): "I sit in one of the dives/On Fifty-second Street/Uncertain and afraid/As the clever hopes expire/of a low, dishonest decade...."

Well,let's see.....a great depression,2 dummies in the White House,Hitler,fascism,Jim Crow,poverty,Stalin...Oh yeah,a real loser of a decade.

The country was struggling with its poor economy, but was guided by a terrific president who brought hope and opportunity to all Americans.

i wasn't even alive in this decade.. i could give a crap less. so i am giving 3 stars for a neutral opinion.

The depression is enough to make any decade bad, no matter what else happened in the decade.

Not a good time to be black. Hardware stores sold a lot of rope.

Such an underrated time. People now focus on the Depression, but it actually galvanized people into action. The entertainment of the '30s was magnificent, from exciting new fields like the now-maligned "pulps" to Gone With The Wind. Architecture and design flourished at the Bauhaus and modernism blew away the excesses of Art Deco. Give me the '30s over the '50s anytime.

My high rating may seem unusual but I'm basing this on what was told to me by a woman I knew, who died recently at the age of 100. She said that the Depression years were the best time to be alive. Her reason: People helped each other then. People cared about each other, and trusted one another so much they could leave their doors unlocked. People weren't material-minded like they are now. I don't ever want to live in a time of depression - but I can appreciate what she was saying about the strong character of people in those days.

The Great Depression worldwide. Adolf Hitler comes to power in Germany. Mussolini comes to power in Italy. Nationalism spreads like a disease. Japan invades China, eventually killions millions. The Dust Bowl comes to the midwest. With the help of Hitler, Franco comes to power in Spain. The worst war of all time begins. France for the first time becomes a weak nation; and stays that way even today.

Ask anybody who lived through this decade, and they'll give it the same rating. Economic Depression and the Rise of Hitler. A very dark period in America and the world.