The Townsend Movement and Social Security: In the early 1930's a man fed up with the great depression came up with and idea to get the county back on track. This man was Francis Townsend and his plan was called the Townsend act. This was the time when the unemployment rate was at a all time high and most people were poor and only getting poorer, when the rich society of the country was benefiting on they way it was being run. With the fall in the stock market most everybody lost their money and were now on the streets because they lost their jobs. Townsend finally fed up with what he saw made a plan that could have changed all this if it was passed. I believe the author wrote this article to show the county now how many people really believed in these plan and wanted it to pass. With millions of followers it could have changed the way of America itself. Instead the social Security act was passed and to this day it still is in effect, although it is in need of change badly before it runs out of funds. .
The plan in Townsend's eyes was quite simple. Everyone over the age of 60 was allowed to retire. The thing is I kept thinking was, are they allowed to retire or were they forced to retire. With the mass of elderly retiring this freed up jobs for the young citizens in the county to take up. Hence lowering the unemployment rate and bringing the country back on track. But his plan didn't end there, he wanted to also give every retired or person over the age of 60 an allowance of 200 hundred dollars a month. Back in 1935 this was a huge amount of money. They were allowed to get this only if they were able to spend it all before the next check arrives for the next month. This idea would make the country also come back on track and out of the depression. To many this was a good idea and supported the idea of "youth for work, age for leisure". When the act started to roll its supporters grew all over the country, including Los Angeles, Seattle, Portland, Chicago, Toledo, and Cleveland claming 3 and a half million followers.
