HIS 370 California History

Yaolee Chen

Reader’s Response

Robert McCoy

Summer 2003

City of Quartz by Mike Davis

Davis points out, since the war began in Europe in 1941, Los Angeles had become a dangerous place to live, not only for the reason that President Franklin Roosevelt had planned to build the US military defense in this place; but also, the great landowners are going to be greater in the future. Unlike Jeffersonian Dream, the Americans of middle-class in 1935 had gone to the trend of employees and propertyless[1]. During the time of depression, the price of stock dropped, people lost jobs, and truckdrivers and steelworkers had little food to eat. The LA local papers said in the midst of the depression that the American middle-class “was at war itself”. Editors predicted the country was to be socialism.

In Los Angeles, un-expect socialism had begun in the early-1930s[2]. In the late-1920s when the price of crops dropped, farmers borrowed money from the federal government; and the farmers grew more, in hope that a great harvest would bring forth prosperity to the farm owners. But because too much farmers grew too much food, the prices of crops dropped sharply in the early 1930s. A huge number of orange was burned in Riverside. The Farmers, had been in debt in the late-20s, had to sell the lands to pay off the debts in the early-30s. Small farmers who lost lands had to become farming labors of other’s. Labor workers outside of the state also came to California, looking for job opportunities and the better wages. All of a sudden, the LA residents were landless, employee, and poor, except the few great landowners. The cartoons made in Hollywood, showed pigs, dogs, chickens, and ducks, working together to heal to depression. Sinclair suggested the state government to take over factories in California, and he suggested that the government of California should distribute the job opportunities to the labor workers. Sinclair had almost gained the election, which showed that the Californians had gone to socialism and communism. People of middle and working class believed that Californians were responsible to one another or the others. And un-expect Communism had grown from “acceptable”, to “applicable”, and even to “workable” in LA. Such a trend of socialism to strike against the great landowners had continued till today.

The End Poverty in California (EPIC) gained a great attention to the labor-workers and the unemployed. “Noir” means the Depression Middle-Classes of Southern California[3]. The author of the book “City of Quartz” quoted some fiction stories to say, LA was a terrible place to live in the late-1930s. A novel Postman Always Rings Twice by James M. Cain, in 1934, showed Los Angeles was an “Urban Hell”[4]. The author thinks, the depression history of LA was rather a continuing history of the Gold Rush, and that LA was a place of sin[5]. For as the Anglo-Americans of 1850s, they were putting the Indians into the reservations and rewarding the killers of the Indians 5 dollars a head of India. The rise of the great landowners and the hostile to the great landowners had begun. The depressed Californians hostile to the great landowners, thinking the factory owners and the great landowners threatened to their lives, thinking the people on the top of economic and political power took away their jobs.

Davis Mike collected many the sinful events happened in the city LA and wrote them in the book City of Quartz chronically, the events from the depression year till present, to say that the city Los Angeles is a place of sin. As the great landowner was getting greater and greater, the property owners were getting wealthy and wealthier. And the residents of LA had turned to socialism or communism for answers. Such a trend was getting clear throughout the history that the labor workers did stealing and robbing in the city[6].

I agree with the author that the rich is getting richer in our society. I would like to use the story of Aimee Semple McPherson to support the fact. Father of Aimee is James Kennedy. James Kennedy was an active in Salvation Army, and he actually was a million[7]. When Aimee started her Angelus Temple with the entire project cost more than a million dollars on January 1^st, 1923, her heritage helped her to start a church of her own. So she rises up as a great landowner. And her followers played a role as Socialism or Communism to help her become wealthier. “Temple workers manned telephones around the clock, to minister to the troubled and lonely; the city sister baby-sat, distributed food to the needy, and tended the sick; the Brotherhood helped ex-convicts find jobs”[8]. The volunteer workers believed they were performing the holy duties for the Lord; at the same time, Aimee was getting richer and richer economically.

Aimee Semple McPherson was in a class by herself. At her death in 1944, her Church of the Foursquare Gospel counted 410 churches in North America, 200 missions, 29,000 members, and assets of $2,800,000. In 1992, under her son Rolfe’s leadership it had grown to over 25,000 churches worldwide, with 1,700,000 members and a fund balance of $357,335,000.[9]

Aimee enjoyed rich and famous more than her father did.

Nevertheless, the socialism did not end the depression. During the depression, the city LA was a place of hell, for less and less food and job opportunities left in the city. The labor-workers and the people of middle-class hated at each other. Aimee’s church might have helped the LA residents for a while; but the depression really was end out by the US participation to the war. The aerospace industries hired women to build the aircrafts. During the wartime, in average, the labor workers received their paycheck 7 times than they had during the depression years. After WWII, Eisenhower and many other US presidents had chosen LA a spot for the military defense, for its location next to the Pacific Ocean and near to China. The US will continue to build its ships, tanks, and aircrafts in LA in the future. And more engineers, scientists and cheap labors are coming to this place to prepare for the wars. The value of the lands in LA is, therefore, going to rise up[10]. A greater land is going to belong to the few.

Historically, a trend of socialism or communism will prelude before the wars begin. As the few is getting richer, the majority of the LA residents are going to do the protests, strikes, or even do the stealing and robbing in the city. But, my feeling is not like Davis Mike. I think, the city is not a dangerous place to live. As in reality the profits of Aimee’s church has distributed to the poor and needy. It is hard to say whether Aimee had stolen or robbed from her followers, or had the poor robbed from Aimee. The rise of Capitalism is not always a bad thing; but it makes the living easier for the residents of LA that we all have the need of one another or the others.

Bibliography

“All 4 in King Beating Acquitted Violence Follows Verdicts; Guard Called Out”. Los Angeles Time. April 29, 1992. A1. A22.

Davis, Mike. City of Quartz. New York: Vintage Books. 1996.

Rice, Richard, et al. The Elusive Eden. New York: The McCraw-Hill Companies, Inc. 1996.

[1] Mike Davis, City of Quartz (New York: Vintage Books, 1996), 36.

[6] “All 4 in King Beating Acquitted Violence Follows Verdicts; Guard Called Out”. Los Angeles Time. (April 29, 1992), A1.A22

[7] Richard Rice, et al. The Elusive Eden, New York” The McCraw-Hill Companies. Inc., (1996). 381-387.