Provided the world doesn't degenerate into a war between haves and have not, perhaps a good hard recession/depression might be just the thing we need and so richly deserve as well!
My parents were “Depression Era” young adults. They grew up in rural America and frequently related stories of growing up in those times. I recall they and their friends getting together during the 50”s and reflecting and sharing stories of their most dire moments during the Depression with almost a reminiscent happy recollection and kind of pride over their ingenuity and self reliance that was developed through those dire times.
There was a pride in the fact that even though no-one had much of anything, people enjoyed each other's company and a shared value system. There was comprehension that no-one could justifiably set in judgment over another person. From what I could gather there was a resigned acknowledgment that all were commonly suffering in need, want and lack. They had a sensitivity and understanding of the other person's feelings.
From what they related, there was a staunch pride in being an honest and forthright person, due to their shared plight. They wouldn't take advantage of each other nor even a stranger; while not allowing them to be taken advantage of.
A practical, common sense attitude applied to everything and nothing was dismissed as unimportant or insignificant. Everything was based upon a person's word and actions. Not to say there weren't many that didn't adhere to those values. The criminal elements of people that had decided to resist society and government and create their own success at all other's expense. There were the “Bonnie and Clyde” types and all the “Speakeasy” crowds.
According to my parent's and their friends, there was a subtle “culling of the herd” and people tended to congregate based upon their own self evaluations as well as their peer's evaluations of them. Being young adults at the epicenter of prohibition, many of the young men did attempt to find a way of procuring liquor to some degree; which usually only amounted to beer or a pocket flask of cheap gin or grain alcohol. Finding work was far more on their minds most of the time.
I'll share one of my Dad's recollections of plucking chickens all day, usually a ten-plus hour day or better, for an outrageously poor wage. His recollections are passively remembered by me as something on the order of .02 cents per chicken. The process began with beheading the chicken, catching it as it flopped around, hanging it upside down to drain it of it's blood, then dunking it in a scalding pot and plucking the feathers.
My Mother waitress-ed in her Mother's and Grandmother's “Tea Room” serving, according to her account, sumptuous Pork Chop Dinners at .35 cents a plate. She would tell of how some customers would come in and sit for hours and simply drink water and an occasional tea or coffee.
Granted, during the Depression, people didn't experience the communication glut of Toffler's “Future Shock” and they were terribly naive about the remainder of the world outside of their own microcosm; but there was still comprehension of the world in general terms. After all; values were values in central rural America with a vociferous pronouncement of what was right and what was wrong.
I believe that's why their generation didn't worship the almighty dollar at the expense of their humanity. They seemed to possess a richness that couldn't necessarily be measured. They didn't compromise their values over money. Despite what has been related in many of the movies; supposedly based in “realism” of the era. Which I might add, was advanced and financed from second generation beneficiaries of those “other” elements.
So, for those of you terrified of tomorrow; perhaps after reading this, some of your anxieties will be relieved?
You are not the designer clothes you wear. You are not the colored piece of plastic you carry. You are not the gadget you hold in your hand or the vehicle that transports you. You are the same basic human being with a sense of right and wrong, the ingenuity and creativity that those of the “Depression Era” were.
Perhaps, what is coming, will help many of you find yourselves? You've been lost most, if not all of your lives. You'll be trading that laptop and cell phone for generosity of spirit, comprehension of your fellow man and a better understanding of yourselves. That's called humility!
Your needs, wants, desires, aspirations and lack and how you contend with them, will try your steel. You will be your own judge. Here is my best suggestion to you. Find some of those old black and white movies of the 30's. Revisit “The Grapes of Wrath” and “The Razor's Edge”. Reflect upon your own culture and history with just a slight less twinge of fear. That inner soul and desire to correct wrongs may visit your spirit as well. Starting as a glimmer somewhere deep down inside and becoming a determination. That's called character!
I guess the real answer to the question of what is coming, is, transformation. Don't be afraid of it. We all undergo it in some manner, by some means, usually in a completely unexpected moment, with absolutely no prior intent.
Perhaps your “value system” is about to have a long overdue major overhaul. We'll all be leaving “stuff” on the side of the road which has really been nothing more than a tremendous burden.
