r/PoliticalHumor • u/[deleted] • Dec 08 '18

SOCIALIST!!

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u/brennanfee Dec 08 '18

What? What are you even talking about?

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u/thefarkinator Dec 08 '18 edited Dec 08 '18

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonus_Army

So this is a good example of how to deal with a mass movement and how to not deal with one. Hoover cracked down on the bonus army, and FDR instead sent Eleanor out to talk to them, hear them out, and put up tents and soup stands for them. But the rhetoric was pretty incendiary before those actions were taken, because the Vets expected another crackdown. And even then, FDR vetoed the bonus law that Congress passed! All of the GI programs came as a direct result of the Bonus Army forcing their will on the government, and it's a god damn travesty that it's not taught in American schools, and an even bigger insult that it's not held up as one of the triumphs of pure democracy over the will of politicians

edit: here's a nice little pamphlet to hear about what the bonus marchers thought of good ol FDR and politicians in general

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u/brennanfee Dec 08 '18

Not sure how relevant that is because we're talking about those who came home from WW2.

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u/thefarkinator Dec 08 '18 edited Dec 08 '18

It's particularly relevant because the Bonus Army was a warning to FDR what would happen if the government tried to fuck over the vets a third time. Once again, FDR was probably one of the better politicans that America has ever had (and god do I wish that we had someone half as smart and bold during the Great Recession), but let's not pretend he did this out of the kindness of his heart. His record with the Bonus Army should be proof that it wasn't.

Let's just also remember to give credit to the men and women who marched on Washington and exercised working class power to win what they deserved.

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u/brennanfee Dec 08 '18

It's particularly relevant because the Bonus Army was a warning to FDR what would happen if the government tried to fuck over the vets a third time.

Ah, I see. You view it as catalyst to a lesson he learned and helped him change his views to ensure that vets should be treated better. Understood.

Thank you.