Hey Alex. I too grew up in the big one. Born early 1926 in New Jersey. Lost mother to diabetes in early thirties, lived with relatives while dad was in the 3 c's. Times were tough. Don't really look forward to them again. I think people were better able to cope back then with so many living closer to the soil. There was more compassion for others then than now. Oh, And more respect(possibly fear) of the law also. People helped each other if they could. Not so absolutely self centered. As to today,i think those bastards on wall street have killed the country. Something the idiots in Washington haven't been able to do since Franklin began the process during the last Great Depression..
As I implied in my initial post, forgetfulness is what brought this on. It happens again when the old virtues are forgotten. When anything goes. When America and prosperity are viewed as invulnerable. It is no accident that the Kondratieff wave takes three generations to recur.
I saw people losing their houses and eating pet food... in California in the 70's!! Remember the inflation years? Old people with paid off houses were losing them because they could not pay the property taxes to the tune of hundreds per month!! LiberalAssClown Jerry Brown was governor, never lifted a finger to help any of them keep their homes...
Hard Times: An Oral History of the Great Depression by Studs Terkel please post books, oral and visual sources of the great depression.
Here is a quote of mine from 2006 When I was a very small boy, my father had a small hotel. We also had a nice home, car, phonograph, radio and nice furnishings. I had my own tricycle and pedal car and at Christmas we had a tree and presents to open. My life was as idealic as it could ever be. Then in 1938, it all changed. I stood outside of our house while the auctioneer sold everything we had. We moved to hells kitchen in NYC with only the cloths on our backs and what we could carry in our luggage. We had no furniture so we slept on the floor. At night we ate mostly smelt or corn and I didn't get enough to eat. We had no ice box, so we kept the left overs, if there were any, out on the fire escape. One day I asked my mother what happened? And she replied, "Now the rich people have all the money and they don't want to spend it". She wasn't literate in English and couldn't read the papers but I think she had it figured out.
So, Hoodooman, do you think that old folks with hard stories like yours are in all cash now? I did it 16 months ago. Do they already know what others will be figuring out soon? Like with electricity at 13 cents a kWHr, cooking with your propane gas grill is 60% more efficient than electricity with a 20 lb. refill at $10.99? Or that washing and reusing that 4.25 cent quart baggie saves money? Sad to say, I myself have switched from champagne to vodka. And grain is in my plan. Am I poor? Far from it. I can last a long time. But it may be a looooong haul. I advise the hispanic grocery store to get gringo-friendly real quick. Gonna be sellin' a lot more lard and beans.
Heh. Interesting - read that a few months ago to get a perspective of what might be coming. Important to note that not everyone did poorly during the depression. Also, read 'judgment day' from the studs lonigan trilogy. Will share the main take-home point I got from this piece of historical fiction. Initially, things weren't so bad for the middle class; it was the lowest classes that got hit hardest and fastest. However, as time went on, the general slowdown got worse, and folks recomitted their capital to speculative ventures which all uniformly failed. This caused bankruptcy. Interesting read, possibly applicable to our times. My grandmother's mantra was "Save, save, save." Don't worry Grandma - I got the message.
They already are (at least the ones in the states). Man, you can get some swell deals at the ethnic places. There's an oriental market we go to that sells frozen rabbit for a great price. And there's a place that is mostly Hispanic we shop at. Awesome prices, and more kinds of dried peppers and tortillas than you can shake a stick at. By Obama's (and the rest of the democrats) standards we're rich. But our cars are 13 years old. We buy cheap hooch in half gallon bottles. Bud Light is the good beer we get when company is coming. The high end restaurants haven't seen us in years (except once for lunch for me at the Capital Grille and don't tell my wife). We'll do well. We know how to hunt and fish, how to grow vegetables and herbs, how to process and preserve food (drying, canning, smoking). I've got no problems building a chicken coop and processing chickens for dinner. I can even brew decent beer (and make some pretty crappy wine - I'll need 7-Up to hang around). I've cut down trees, split and stacked firewood and heated our house with a forced air wood burner. But the idiots who are living paycheck to paycheck, have never seen food less processed than what they find at the supermarket and have never had a blister on their hands are ill prepared. We rented a cabin once, and the dolts next to us couldn't even build a fire. Never in our history have so many people been incapable of going back to basics and surviving.
My grandfathers father was a rich man, they had servants and all that excess. The great depression took all those luxuries away. He told me one year for x-mas he got an orange and was pretty excited about it. My great grandpa drank himself to death. Didn't have the energy left to start over i think. My grandmother's father joined the military because he couldn't find work. I just graduated college in May with an economics degree and i really don't have any useful skills. Perhaps if i can't find employment i too may have to join the military.
My dad used to deliver pizzas and work a second job stocking at a grocery store while I was growing up. Gotta love that small southern town job market. My mom used to make pork n beans on toast with cheese melted over the top for us (no never got any free pizza lol). By the way, that sandwich I just mentioned tastes awesome. Try it. Major Christmas gifts were socks, board games and I got a Lite Brite once. It was actually mine and my brother's to share. Always got WalMart shoes. ha ha Voit and Spalding baby! Started buying my own shit in high school. I became an enterprising teenager, to say the least. Plenty of people have been worse off, but it was tough. Wouldn't change it though, but I sure hope the shit doesn't happen again!