What are the main beliefs of confucianism?

“Ren” is the central ethical principle, and is equivalent to the concepts love, mercy, and humanity. It is best explicated by Confucius in the following statement: “Do not do to others what you do not want done to yourself.” This ethical principle is further strengthened by the Buddhist tradition that merit is accumulated by doing merciful acts, which leads to a better next life through reincarnation.

There are five cardinal relations (“wu lun”):

1) Sovereign-Subject

2) Father-Son

3) Elder-Younger Brother

4) Husband-Wife

5) Friend-Friend

- https://geriatrics.stanford.edu/ethnomed/chinese/fund/beliefs.html

they were unable to pay their debts

the east coast has nothing to do with the dust bowl, the dust bowl killed a full year's worth of crops in seconds, and with the dust on the land, the land would be worthless.   furthermore the farmers couldn't  get  out of their houses due to the dust so when the bank came to collect money, farmers couldn't  pay it