Senator Huey long on February 23rd, 1934, delivered his “Every Man a King” (Long, 1934)
speech purposing his “share our wealth plan." The radio broadcast entailed that no single person
can have a net-worth of 300 times the family average, which is 15,000 dollars, thus
capping the maximum amount of personal wealth to between 5 and 8 million dollars
. The issues with the speech are the oversimplification of how the debt is evaluated and
handled within the United States Treasury.
Mr. Long starts out by explaining how much debt there is by claiming “We have in America
today, Ladies and Gentlemen… $272,000,000,000 of debt [owed by] various people in
this country today.” (Long, 1934, pg. 4) This quote is an over exaggeration according
In the 1930s, the time of the Great Depression, most Americans were struggling merely to survive while a select few hoarded the collective wealth of the nation. A man named Huey P. Long stands out from many other politicians and promoted economic equality across Americans. In his speech “Every Man a King,” he blames the rich for the strife of the poor. As a lawyer from a poor agricultural community, Long became the advocate for farmers in Louisiana.
Huey Pierce Long rose from a poor Lousiana family to become a demigod in the pantheon of American politics, while slowly abandoning his most deeply held principles to the prevailing political realties of the time. While not exactly matching the details of his life, Willie Stark in Robert Penn Warren's All The King's Men closely parallels the famous southern demagogue, known as the "Kingfish." The author uses this association to further illustrate his primary goal of the book - that one cannot effectively change society through a corrupt system, without being corrupted by the system itself. Through first observing historical similarities, the reader is then prepared to accept Warren's thesis.
Portrayed as a Southern demagogue, Huey Long, who was also known as King Fish, was a major character on the American political stage around 1930s, an era during the Greate Depression that brought a worldwide economic crisis; many people lost their jobs. According to Frank, Robert H. and Bernanke, Ben S., 25% of American lost their jobs at that time. Huey Long was good at raising his audience’s anger towards the rich. Unlike some Southern demagogues, Huey Long did not criticize African-Americans to seek support from racists; his target was always the rich. He said, “It is the fact that the rich people of this country – and by rich people I mean super rich – will not allow us to solve the problems” (Para 4). During the Depression, when many people lost their jobs and had trouble with supporting their family, the rich easily became the target of their anger. Huey
Senate and won but he waited to be Senator until he could find someone loyal to take his place as governor. Alvin O. King became Lt. Governor, letting Huey become Senator in 1932. He started a program called “Share Our Wealth” which would give families in need a guaranteed income of $5,000 annually, free college education, veterans benefits, healthcare, and old-age payments to people over sixty. He wanted to help poor people because they did not have programs to help the people in poverty back then. Huey did all that he could to help the poor people but on September 8th, 1935, one month after announcing that he would run for U.S. President the unthinkable happened, Huey Long was assassinated at the age of forty-two.
During the Great Depression, the gap in wealth between the rich and the poor was extremely high. Louisiana governor , Huey Long, a longtime supporter of wealth distribution, took to the extremely popular radio to address the nation to help at build support for his movement. The speech was promoting his “Share the Wealth” program which limited the amount of wealth a person is allowed to have and that reminding money would be used to fund programs for the poor. The program was never heard before and was saw as radical by 1930s standards. He also appealed to unions and farmers with his ideas of shorter work hours and no overproduction. The phrase “Every Man a King” implies that under his plan that everyone, included the poor would be supplied
“Make America Great Again,” the campaign slogan know all around the world that is determined to change the face of 2016 election when sixty nine year old Donald John Trump is elected. In 2004, the federal debt was $7.3 trillion. This rose to $10 trillion when the housing bubble burst four years later. Today it exceeds $18 trillion and is projected to approach $21 trillion by 2019. Debt is not the only the thing the United States has been dealing within the past years, such as immigration, abortion, guns, foreign policy, taxes, along with numerous other topics, yet Trump has a way to solve the unsolved and yes, “Make America Great Again.”
On August 28th 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous “I Have a Dream…” speech in from
U.S Federal Deficit and Debts:Understanding the history and context. (2011, November 1). Utah Foundation. Retrieved January 25, 2014, from http://www.utahfoundation.org/img/pdfs/rr7
On January 15th, noontime, in the year of 1929, a man of great pride, diligence, and intellect would be brought into the world. When his time came forth, he would display an image of humanity living, loving, and coming together as brothers and sisters under God, to outweigh the inequality ingrained in society for hundred of years. He was a smart man, smart indeed, but overall he was well motivated, driven, and willing to work for what he wanted. He embodied the mindset that anything was possible if you put your mind to it. Follow your dreams and they will become reality.
A man born in an obscure part of Louisiana, were to go against the normal political implications the city upheld to. Winn Parish gave way to a political monster, wise beyond his limited power. Huey Long was a great and fearless leader who got things done by putting pressure on other government officials to actually do what they were supposed to do, and that’s govern. August 10, 1893 a diamond in the rut was born to forever change political progression. Growing up knowing about how the United States had little to no care about the poor and companies abuses of people simultaneously depriving people more and more of economic growth. The people of Louisiana needed Huey Long to fight for them against politicians who forgot the people who got them elected. Huey will always be one of the most significant political figures of Louisiana. The spot he made during his ruling period in the state is truly a benchmark, as he made better roads and better schools along with centralizing the state government improving the way things were done for the better. He was great for Louisiana, being one politician that was for the people becoming the greatest political leader Louisiana ever had.
Huey Long, “Share Our Wealth” “Share Our Wealth” Plan was a drastic program of wealth distribution as an alternative to the President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal programs. It was a Radical relief program proposed by Senator Huey Long in the 1930s to allow the government to take the money from the wealthy through taxes and provide a guaranteed minimum income to poor. The program appealed to the hopeless lower middle class Americans during the Great Depression, guaranteeing everyone to be fair. Huey Long was the governor of Louisiana who improved medical care, public services, and education to help underprivileged people. Long based his ideas of “Share Our Wealth” Plan on the biblical laws.
because he request to the audience that we must unite together to bring change in a society.
He unified people in many ways including the use of “we” and “us” in contrast to “I” and “me.” One of the most quoted lines from this speech “Another articulate spokesman defines liberalism as ‘meeting the material needs of the masses through the full power of centralized government.’ Well, I, for one, resent it when a representative of the people refers to you and me, the free men and women of this country, as ‘the masses.” ties together this sense of unity with his limited-government views. It is ironic that he conveyed this message of individuality to a broad spectrum of people, inviting them to be individual together. However, it still added to his effort to create a sense of unity because he touched on an emotion that everyone feels. This allowed him to present his views as a mere citizen, rather than a politician or actor, effectively inhibiting the desire of the audience to detect bias. Statements throughout the speech such as “You and I are told we must choose between a left or right, but I suggest there is no such thing as a left or right. There is only an up or down” followed by an explanation of his proposed solution to a given problem made his views seem “simple-citizen” because they created a sense of
How does one earn the title of wealthy? Authors Dr. Thomas J. Stanley and Dr. William D. Danko have studied how people become wealthy for over twenty years. They have conducted research, written books, conducted seminars, and advised major corporations on whom the wealthy are and what are the characteristics of the affluent in America. The research for The Millionaire Next Door was comprised of personal, as well as focus group interviews, with more than 500 millionaires. A survey of 1,115 high net worth and/ or high income respondents was also compiled. The authors define the threshold for being wealthy as having a net worth of $1 million or more. This is one distinction that the authors make in comparison to what most Americans might perceive is the definition of wealth. As opposed to what most Americans in our society believe, a measure of an individual’s material possessions does not necessarily equate to being wealthy. According to the authors, wealth is what you accumulate and not what you spend. Based on the author’s definition of wealth, only 3.5% of American households meet their criteria for status as a millionaire. Of this small percentage, 95% of millionaires have a net worth between $1 million and $10 million. The authors chose to focus on this segment of millionaires because this level of wealth can be attained in one generation and by many Americans.
On August 28, 1963, King gave an emotional and political speech for freedom “I Have a Dream...” He used symbolism, metaphorical imagery, repetition, emotive and controlled language and other powerful techniques to create an impact on the audience.