On Writing & Inspiration

 

ERIC LEIF DAVIN ON WRITING & INSPIRATION:

https://www.facebook.com/JessicaBellaBold/videos/235322071780916

 

What Do You Want?

 Eventually, this clip will get to me, the last one to be interviewed. Just sitting on a bench in Squirrel Hill, enjoying the day....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lL5xTj_zg7E

Lessons from the Great Depression

 

LESSONS FROM THE GREAT DEPRESSION


During the 1932 presidential campaign, in the midst of the Great Depression, the Democratic challenger, Franklin D. Roosevelt, came to old Forbes Field in Pittsburgh's Oakland neighborhood. There he unveiled the major pledge of his campaign. As president, he would "balance the budget."

 

As it happened, the economy was in such collapse it didn't matter what the Democratic challenger promised. He was guaranteed victory against the Republican incumbent, seen as responsible for the economic shambles.

 

Once in office, FDR discovered the only way out of the economic mess he'd inherited was through a big government economic stimulus program. So, he funded a number of such programs, such as the Civilian Conservation Corps and the Works Progress Administration.

 

But, because FDR and most of Congress still believed the most important priority was "balancing the budget," none of these programs, known collectively as "The New Deal," were funded enough to completely pull the economy out of the Depression.

 

Yet they did bring about enough of a recovery so that things began to look better and, in 1936, the slight recovery helped FDR win a historic re-election landslide victory.

 

Encouraged by the margin of safety his re-election gave him, and the slight economic recovery, FDR decided it was now time to get serious about "balancing the budget." So, in his second term, he cut back on all the meager deficit stimulus spending he'd promoted.

 

The economy promptly relapsed into what historians call "The Roosevelt Recession" of 1937. His Republican opponents surged back to victory in the 1938 congressional elections and FDR's New Deal was effectively ended.

 

Meanwhile, the economy hobbled on to the end of the 1930s, only to be finally pulled out of the Great Depression by the massive government deficit spending required to win World War II.

 

FDR never did fulfill his Pittsburgh Promise to "balance the budget" and stop deficit spending. But the economy was booming -- and so no one cared about "balancing the budget" for many, many years.

• 
  

A Conversation with Curt Siodmak

 

MY CONVERSATION WITH LEGENDARY SF AUTHOR CURT SIODMAK: 

 

http://sfmagazines.com/?p=5592

The Prophetic Vision of Stephen Vincent Benet

 

THE PROPHETIC VISION OF STEPHEN VINCENT BENET: 

 

https://dreamforge.mywebportal.app/dreamforge/stories/show/the-prophetic-vision-of-stephen-vincent-benet-eric-leif-davin

Victor Jara of Chile

 

A CORRIDA FOR VICTOR JARA OF CHILE 

by Adrian Mitchell (Set to music & recorded by Arlo Guthrie)

 

Victor Jara of Chile 

Lived like a shooting star 

He fought for the people of Chile 

With his songs and his guitar.

 

And his hands were gentle 

His hands were strong.

 

Victor Jara was a peasant 

Worked from a few years old 

He sat upon his father's plough 

And watched the earth unfold.

 

And his hands were gentle 

His hands were strong.

 

When the neighbors had a wedding 

Or one of their children died 

His mother sang all night for them 

With Victor at her side. 

 

And his hands were gentle 

His hands were strong.

 

He grew to be a fighter 

Against the people's wrongs 

He listened to their grief and joy 

And turned them into songs.

 

And his hands were gentle 

His hands were strong.

 

He sang about the copper miners 

And those who work the land 

He sang about the factory workers 

And they knew he was their man.

 

And his hands were gentle 

His hands were strong.

 

He campaigned for Allende 

Working night and day 

He sang: take hold of your brother's hand 

The future begins today. 

 

And his hands were gentle 

His hands were strong.

 

The bloody generals seized Chile 

They arrested Victor then 

They caged him in a stadium 

With five thousand frightened men.

 

And his hands were gentle 

His hands were strong.

 

Victor stood in the stadium 

He voice was brave and strong 

He sang for his fellow prisoners 

Till the guards cut short his song. 

 

And his hands were gentle 

His hands were strong.

 

They broke the bones in both his hands 

They beat his lovely head 

They tore him with electric shocks 

After two long days of torture they shot him dead. 

 

And his hands were gentle 

His hands were strong.

 

And now the Generals rule Chile 

And the British have their thanks 

For they rule with Hawker Hunters 

And they rule with Chieftain tanks.

 

And his hands were gentle 

His hands were strong.

 

Victor Jara of Chile 

Lived like a shooting star 

He fought for the people of Chile 

With his songs and his guitar. 

 

And his hands were gentle 

His hands were strong. 

 

 https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=V4BdVB5t_Vg...

A Selection from my book, "Question Authority"

 A SELECTION FROM MY BOOK, "QUESTION AUTHORITY: WRITINGS FROM THE FREE SCHOOL MOVEMENT, 1971-1975," AVAILABLE ON AMAZON, Etc. 

 

https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1974/11/19/christopher-jencks-does-he-lack-the/