The Great Depression and The Recession

This image shows a huge number of white unemployed men at

‘the American Legion Employment Centre in Los Angeles during the Great Depression.’

During the Great Depression there was a clear inflation of unemployed people, as wages began to rise, more people were laid off. This in turn led to an increase in competitively between the working people, as they were in need of jobs.

This image was take in Boston and shows a protest held by ‘Occupy Wall Street’ which is a ‘people-powered movement’.

Similar to the Great Depression, the recession saw an increase in unemployment, however there were many more ways in which people could deal with the lack of jobs, compared to the Great Depression.

The two images are very different. The first images of the men at the job centre demonstrates how patriarchal society was. The image only consists of unemployed men searching for work, whereas the image of the protest shows a diverse range of people who have come together to fight their cause. Therefore also showing the significance of community, rather than the competitive nature illustrated in the first. Furthermore, the black and white image only focuses on the employability factor of the Great Depression, which was also the case with many of their protests. However, 'Occupy Wall Street' are focused on the cause of the issue and consequently want to ‘kick the ass of the ruling class’.