Another Depression?

I don't think so.

I read a particularly good editorial in our local small town edition of the paper.
The writer is an older fellow who grew up during the Great Depression, as both of my parents did.

He described the lifestyle that most folks had in those days, regardless of whether they lived in a small town, or on a farm as my people did.
The Queen's mother (NaNa) was a farm girl also.
Her dad was a city boy who grew up in Detroit.

Almost three forths of America lived in rural areas in the twenties and thirties.
The great push into the cities did not start until WWII and afterwards, when the boys came home.

Virtually everyone in that era would be considered extremely poor by today's standards.

Few people had phones in their homes, they used the one at the local post office or neighborhood store.
Even tiny farm villages like Wikel where my dad grew up had a post office.
Snail mail was the means of staying in touch with family and friends, and the world at large.
The local paper, Life and The Saturday Evening Post and the Farmer's Almanac were eagerly awaited. Most farms had a battery radio, to listen to "The Grand Ol Opry" and the news.
Occasionally a radio serial like "The Lone Ranger", "Orphan Annie" or the "Shadow" was enjoyed.

Going "To" the doctor or hospital was almost unheard of.
Babies were born at home, and people died at home.
Indeed, most people were too far from a hospital to make them practical, and doctor's would come to you. They were often paid in unusual fashion, more of a barter arrangement.

If a family had a car, it was guaranteed to be old.
My grandfather was one of the first in the area to own a used tractor.
Farm implements were shared.
At harvest time neighbors helped one another bring in the crops, and shared machinery.
One man might own a combine, one a baler, etc.
Lunch was always fixed by the wives, and was enough food to kill a normal person today.

Everyone helped. My dad started working with the men by the time he was 10 years old.
Not much of a childhood.

Most rural homes did not even have electricity, or indoor plumbing.
Even in small towns and cities "out buildings" were common.
There was no electrification on the family farm until 1938, when my dad and granddad built the farmhouse that is still standing today.

One pair of shoes purchased in late fall had to suffice for the winter.
There was no money for more.
Clothes were all hand me down.
If you happened to be the 'down' and were a boy like my dad, with elder sisters, you did the best you could to adapt to their old clothing.

But, they had food, if the weather did not take a disastrous turn.
Both of my parents lived far off the beaten path, and did not see any transient workers (hobos) looking for work/food.
The Queen's Aunt Elaine recently related a story about such people regularly coming by their town farm in Painesville OH.
Her parents always had something for them, and would let them work if there was any.

Both of my grandfathers had to work full time jobs, and farm when they could.
My grandmothers raised the children and ran the farm in their absence.
My mother's father was a mason, and delivererd ice.
My grandad Harvey was a carpenter for the coal mines in addition to farming.

In short, life was tough.
Politicians did not solve the problems and end The Great Depression.
World War Two did.
As late as 1937 unemployment was still in the high double digits.

There are indeed desperately poor people today.
We are all supposed to help them if we are able,
especially if we call ourselves followers of The Christ.

But from what I've seen, little of the ever increasing spending bills (almost Two Trillion dollars to date either passed or proposed. That's two thousand billion dollars, folks!)
will actually benefit them.
We are paying for other peoples stupidity and criminal negligence.
From the Corporate CEO's who ran their companies into the ground, the borrower who paid no attention to what they could actually afford to borrow, the lender who greedily offered them whatever they wanted for a buck, and the base self serving politicians who urged them to do so.
Many of whom personally profited from these incestuous, nefarious deals.

As always, we who actually work for a living and follow the rules will pay the bills.
Our children, grand children and I fear great grand children will also pay and pay and pay.

It is a desperate situation out there in the real working world of free market capitalism.
The world most of us depend on for our daily bread.
Large, long term (1888) conservatively run corporations like mine are suffering, all the way down to the family owned contractors I deal with who are frantically trying to win projects and keep their people on board.

But dear friends and family, it ain't 1929!

We The People will pull through this, by the sweat of our brow coupled with our own innate ingenuity and work ethic.

Our politicians are not the answer, they are the problem as President Ronald Wilson Reagan said in his first inaguration speech.

He was right in trusting the American People, and not the Federal Government.

We need to listen to his wisdom again.

It is patently obvious to me that our current crew in D.C are not following his advice, for the most part.

"Fear not, for I am with you."

Follow The Author of these words and work hard, and we will all make it together.