The Washington times., 1934-02-01
To
Type
Sense of Guilt
Holds Back
Recovery
By GILBERT SELDES

keeps our rich men from invest
ing in new enterprises, which
would do much to check the de-
preston; there is also a "sense
Of sin" in the matter Of spend
ing their money. Dr.. Barach
was reporting to the National
Committee for Mental Hygiene;
his report was based, at least in
part, on what he had learned
from patients who were quite
able to spend, but took a special
pleasure in being miSerly be-
cause "the motive force that
supported the doctrine Of thrift
was a sense Of guilt about
spending money on the part Of
q man who was economically
able to do So"
DR.. Barach suggests that we
stop encouraging thrift, on the
ground that advertisements
showing the perils of an unpro-
tected old age react not only on
the moderately poor who ought
to save, but on the rich who
ought not. I am not sure I
agree; I think that much more
to the point would be an agree
ment not to throw our hands in
to the air in holy horror when
ever a great governmental defi-
cit is mentioned,
Instead we ought to have pro-
cessions with torches and ban
ners every time we hear that
new agency has been created to
spend five or ten billion dollars
more. And editorial writer's
ought to say to men who still
have money to spend, IF you
d don't want the Government to
spend, do it yourself"
Blame the Puritans
DR.. Barach is one Of the first
= to recognize that behind our
troubles lies not only an eco
nomic difficulty, but a moral
: one, almost a religious one. I
have said before that it is quite
possible to hold that the stern
Puritans, with Jonathan Ed
wards at their head, are as re-
SponSible as anyone for our
present misfortunes. Not di-
rectly, but because We allowed
their morality to hang over us,
long after the circumstances
which created their morality
had passed. They spoke of thrift
in a world where food and
clothing were scarce; We spoke
Of thrift still, two hundred years
later, when everything we need
ed existed in abundance.
It is a form of thrift to pay
your workmen as little as pos
sible. On the annual balance
sheet, wages are low and sales
high, and we congratulate the
management and give a bonus
to the directors. It is also a
form of thrift to spend only
what you already have earned
and as little as possible of that.
This second form was aban-
doned during the 1920's-iron-
ically enough, under the Presi-
dency Of Calvin Coolidge who
really believed in thrift. But
the first type-of paying low
wages-continued. Only l per
cent of the population of the
United States had an income
Of more than $4,000 a year;
of the wage earners, 100000
out of so got less than $25 a
week.
Making Up for Errors
About two years ago it be-
came apparent that we would
have to rectify the error we
had been making for a gener-
alton. Efforts were made to
encourage spending-in buy
now" campaigns and in giving
honors and letters from the
President to those enterprisers
who would start new works.
We discovered that individuals
could not make up the loss.
We had stocks on hand which
had to be exhausted, we had
debts, we were in arrears all
the way down the line. In
1888 the Government stepped
in, buying and spending and
giving wages-to make up the
deficits of the past.
The howls of agony at the
thought of our deficit in 1887
betray the training of Ameri-
cans in the school of thrift.
We still think of thrift as some
thing connected with proper
living and good sound religious
training. But thrift is only a
moral reflection of economics.
It has nothing sacred in itself.
And, as DR. Barach hints, We
have got to get rid of our sense
of sin before we can return
to prosperity. We may have
to 20 further and make people
believe that thrift itself is
guilty, and the man who re-
fuses to spend is a criminal.