Chapter 51: The Aftermath of the Great Depression
"You're a truly good person, sir."
*No, I'm not, child.* Using a newspaper, he picked up the last piece of bread from the table and handed it to the raggedly dressed child before him, as Colin replied silently in his heart.
From the very beginning, his intentions were not pure.
Due to the limitations of printing technology, some defective copies would inevitably appear during the printing process.
This became particularly evident on the newspaper office's old rotary press as The Messenger's sales increased.
Whenever this happened, Old John would manually adjust the rotary press to prevent further misprints.
However, over time, the offices of The Messenger had still accumulated a considerable pile of 'waste papers.' These misprinted newspapers naturally couldn't be sold as regular papers or given to newsboys for distribution. Keeping them served no purpose other than taking up space.
Normally, these 'waste papers' would either end up as 'blankets' for the homeless or as trash to be burned for heating water in the newspaper office.
However, Colin seemed to have thought of a new way to reuse these papers.
If a misprinted old newspaper was thrown into a trash can, it was undoubtedly garbage.
But if used to wrap food, the value of these newspapers seemed to change, especially for those receiving the food—the vast majority of the lower class living in the Great Depression era, a group unreachable by newspapers and other media.
You couldn't expect someone who struggled even to eat to spend money buying a newspaper.
To them, what happened in the world was meaningless, as it wouldn't change the fact that they were hungry, nor would it bring them much change. The news reported in the papers might be important, but to them, it seemed utterly insignificant.
Most of the lower class were doing everything they could to sustain their lives; you couldn't demand more from them.
This was the Great Depression, the true reality of life for the lower class in this era.
Colin couldn't change much about this.
He was just a newspaper owner, even if he possessed some special abilities.
But in these times, he was still somewhat insignificant.
Perhaps this was also why Superman became so popular in this era. People yearned for the appearance of Superman, hoping for an omnipotent being to rescue them from the bottomless mire.
Or perhaps, deep down, these people also knew that even Superman couldn't save everyone.
Of course, Colin had no intention of saving everyone in this era.
That was the American president's job, not his.
All he did was buy some cheap pork liver bread.
He gave them away as charity, along with those misprinted old newspapers, thereby gaining *Faith* and finding a new use for these otherwise worthless scraps of paper.
...
After handing out the last piece of bread, Colin gestured with his eyes to Little John beside him.
The latter nodded, then stepped forward and urged the crowd still unwilling to leave in front of the newspaper office, "There's no more! The bread is all gone. You'll have to go line up somewhere else..."
At Little John's urging, the people in the queues reluctantly dispersed.
"Sir, will you be giving out bread here again tomorrow?"
Squeezing past Little John's arm, a child who looked only four or five years old stared at Colin with dull eyes and asked.
"No."
Reaching out to stop Little John, Colin squatted down, looked at the ragged child before him, and replied with a shake of his head.
Hearing Colin's words, a clearly disappointed expression appeared in the child's eyes. "Will there be no more bread from now on?"
Looking at the emaciated child and the crowd still lingering in front of the newspaper office, Colin was silent for a moment before saying, "There will be, but you'll have to wait until next Monday."
It would take at least a week to accumulate a sufficient number of newspapers.
"Okay, sir."
Nodding, the child spoke to Colin in an expectant tone.
*Everything for Faith,* Colin told himself silently.
...
They moved the tables that had been placed outside back into the newspaper office.
The giveaway was over.
"Boss..."
Little John walked into the newspaper office holding a cardboard sign that read 'Relief Bread', his face still showing some hesitation.
"Are we really going to do this giveaway every Monday from now on?"
Although, with the increase in sales of The Messenger, the newspaper office had escaped its previous predicament and was gradually improving.
However, the days when the newspaper office struggled were still etched in his memory. This made him worry that such actions might affect the business and, indirectly, his own income.
"It's just a simple charity. If we don't do it, someone else will."
"Once the situation improves, people won't come here anymore."
As a transmigrator, Colin knew that the Great Depression couldn't last forever. With Roosevelt's inauguration and the implementation of the New Deal, the gloom caused by the Great Depression would gradually dissipate.
"Situation improves?"
However, for Little John, who was living through the Great Depression, he clearly didn't believe Colin's claim that the situation would improve.
On the contrary, he felt that the Great Depression would continue indefinitely, and life would only become increasingly difficult.
The number of residents in the 'Hoovervilles' was increasing day by day. It was said that the size of the shantytowns had grown from a few hundred households to tens of thousands, and this number was still rising. Even in Little John's own neighborhood, many residents who couldn't afford food had been forced to move into a Hooverville.
Noticing the disbelief in Little John's eyes, Colin didn't say much more.
He knew very well that in such a time of economic depression, people's mindsets couldn't be easily changed.
Even in the future, when the Great Depression ended and the economy recovered, the mark left by the era was already deeply etched into the memories of the people from that period, forever changing their lives.
Many people suffered from the trauma of the Great Depression, remaining deeply affected for years, even decades, after it ended.
Fred*** was one of the victims of the Great Depression's aftermath. He never allowed his sons to show a gentle side. He wanted his sons to be "fierce," not like sheep, but "killers." Material possessions were to be seized, and one always had to be wary of them being taken away. This deep-seated insecurity was on full display.
"Man is the most ferocious of animals. Life is a series of battles where the outcome is neither victory nor defeat." —The 45th President of America.
(end of chapter)