How did the Great Depression change Theodore Dreiser's political views?

The Great Depression significantly impacted Theodore Dreiser’s political trajectory, ending his period of personal prosperity and deepening his engagement with social activism.1

While he had previously visited the Soviet Union in 1927 and written a skeptical critique of the communist system, the economic collapse of the 1930s led him to reconsider his stance. During this decade, he moved toward a more radical political position, expressing his disillusionment with the American economic system in his 1931 work, Tragic America. This shift in consciousness eventually culminated in one of his final acts, when he officially joined the American Communist Party.1