Posted on 07/21/2011 12:33:22 PM PDT by Kaslin
I just read two very interesting articles on the U.S. economy, written from historical perspectives. They compelled me to share my own historical perspective. And what I want to say is more about our changing culture than our economy.
One of the articles, by Julie Crawshaw of MoneyNews.com, notes that the "Misery Index"—the combined unemployment and inflation rates—made infamous under President Jimmy Carter, has hit a 28-year high. It's also 62 percent higher than when President Obama took office.
But that's nothing compared to Mort Zuckerman's article in U.S. News & World Report. Zuckerman measures the current situation against the Great Depression. He writes:
jobs, wiping out every job gained since the year 2000. From the moment the Obama administration came into office, there have been no net increases in full-time jobs, only in part-time jobs. This is contrary to all previous recessions. Employers are not recalling the workers they laid off.... We now have more idle men and women than at any time since the Great Depression.Zuckerman is a perceptive writer who looks at economies from a historical perspective. In my comparative politics course at Grove City College, I use his article on the Russian collapse in the 1990s, which Zuckerman showed was worse than our Great Depression.
I can't say we're teetering on that precipice, but Zuckerman's article got me thinking: Imagine if America today experienced an economic catastrophe similar to the 1930s. How would you survive?
I remember asking that question to my grandparents, Joseph and Philomena. How did they survive the Great Depression?
My grandmother, never at a loss for words, direly described how her family avoided starving. Compensation came via barter. Her father, an Italian immigrant, baked bread and cured meats in an oven in the tiny backyard, among other trades he learned in the old country. My grandmother cleaned the house and babysat and bathed the children of a family who owned a grocery store. They paid her with store products. Her family struggled through by creatively employing everyone’s unique skills.
What about my grandfather? When I asked that question as he sat silently, my grandmother raised her loud Italian voice and snapped: "Ah, he didn't suffer! Don’t even ask him!"
My grandfather, also Italian, returned the shout: "Ah, you shut up! You're a damned fool!"
Grandma: "No, you're a damned fool!"
After the typical several minutes of sustained insults, my grandfather explained that, indeed, his family didn’t suffer during the depression. They noticed no difference whatsoever, even as America came apart at the seams.
Why not? Because they were farmers. They got everything from the land, from crops and animals they raised and hunted to fish they caught. They raised every animal possible, from cattle to rabbits. They ate everything from the pig, from head to feet. There were eggs from chickens and cheese and milk from goats and cows. There were wild plants.
I was captivated as my grandfather explained his family's method of refrigeration: During the winter, they broke ice from the creek and hauled it into the barn, where it was packed in sawdust for use through the summer. They didn’t over-eat. They preserved food, and there was always enough for the family of 12.
When their clothes ripped, they sewed them. When machines broke, they fixed them. They didn't over-spend. Home repairs weren’t contracted out. Heat came from wood they gathered.
And they didn't need 1,000 acres of land to do this.
They were totally self-sufficient—and far from alone. Back then, most Americans farmed, knew how to grow things, or provided for themselves to some significant degree.
That conversation with my grandparents came to mind as I read Zuckerman's piece and considered life under another Great Depression. I realized: The vast majority of Americans today would be incapable of providing for themselves. If you live in the city with no land, you'd be in big trouble. Even most Americans, who have a yard with soil, wouldn’t know what to do.
Isn’t it ironic that with all our scandalously expensive education—far more than our grandparents' schooling—we've learned so little? We can't fix our car let alone shoot, gut, skin, and butcher a deer.
Think about it: If you lacked income for food, or if prices skyrocketed, or your money was valueless, what would you do for yourself and your family?
Americans today are a lifetime from their grandparents and great grandparents. God help us if we ever face a calamity like the one they faced—and survived.
hmmm, I’ll give that a try and see how it works, thanks. With this drought in Texas water could be a problem if the stuff its the fan.
Google “sand filter”. A big pot full of clean sand with a perforated bottom will filter out a lot of the bigger stuff.
After that you could pour it through a coffee filter to more finely filter it.
After that boiling or a little bit of chlorine would kill off any critters in it.
Unfortunately, none of that will get rid of any chemical or heavy metals contamination - for that you need the high-grade filters/charcoal systems (and testing to make sure you got rid of it).
LQ
air rifles will take a squirrel, rabbit, or other small
animal, not make a loud noise and uses a smaller piece of lead.
out beyond Issaquah we have sacred elk roaming around with beepers around their necks so the wardens can track them.
guess that won’t matter when the end of civilization comes!
Bingo!
If my grandparents could do it, I, and my family, will do likewise....as a family. =.=
“We wouldn’t survive because everything down to the smallest task requires permits and permission from the government.”
Basically, to survive we’d have to become a type of outlaws.
I suppose, like jaywalking, if enough people do it most of us won’t get into trouble.
I will, can’t say the same for those who will try to keep me from doing it though.
Going to suck to be a game warden or a badge in the days to come.
***and gardening is questionable.***
Most small city lots had enough room for a garden and a few chickens or rabbits. A few years later these were called Victory gardens due to WWII.
Now days, city lots are made much smaller and zoning ordanances have forced small livestock out of the cities.
Doubtful, because I am having a hard enough time trying to survive the current one....
***The LAST place you want to be when the starving masses start fleeing the cities is anywhere near a major outflow artery,***
Thirty years ago the Survivalist movement was stating you needed to have your retreat at least ome tank of gas away from the cities.
After my husband’s 4th tour he retired and then left me and our girls. Since then I lay in bed at night overwhelmed with this very question.
So, I took action. Renting a small house with a few acres right next to the river. We have chickens and are working on a few head of steer and maybe a pig down the line this autumn. I have all heirloom veggies and well water.
The main issue for me would be rent and for that I take what little I have left and buy silver just in case the dollar becomes worthless.
I don’t know if I’m doin’ it right, but I am sho’ as hell givin’ it an honest effort. (I really don’t want my mettle tested in the slaughtering department...that would just be a sad state of affairs.)
Shouldn’t that be “a shotgun, rifle, and a 4-wheel drive?”
Or is there a shotgun that is also a rifle?
My grandfather kept his job, but when he got home at night he went into the swamp and shot muskrats so the family could eat meat
Somehow I don’t see many folks doing this in 2012
You sound like one tough lady
God Bless!
Ever thought about getting a portable home (trailer home) or even a used RV?
Ha! You think THIS society would sacrifice anything for future generations? THIS society that aborts 30 million of its children every year?
We don’t have a sacrificial bone in our collective body.
As long as my health held out, had no dental issues, I think I’d be ok. I’m a bit plump now, so I’d have at least a year’s worth of fat on me to tide me over. ;)
On a more serious note, my MIL owns some land out in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the country. It has a well, a wood burning stove, and stocked pond, and plenty of wildlife roams on it. The problem would be getting there from the east coast without getting killed or raided on the way, and dealing with my impossible MIL if we were to happen to have to make it our temporary home.
Not sure if I want to “survive” only to have to deal with HER on a daily basis.
Have recently purchased a Big Berkey water filter system ..so I feel a bit better about that. Have been stocking food, but dont’ have near enough to survive behyond a few weeks.
Tried some gardening this year ..and have found that the varmits are a HUGE problem. ..had some awesome zuchinnis that were just munched to pieces just last night. ;(
Gardening for survival is TOUGH. I have learned this over this summer. I have a long way to go to learn real survival skills.
But if it were to happen ...I’m not sure I’d be all that sad saying goodbye to our current lifestyle. All we do is work, work, work for “stuff” we don’t need. We aren’t socially connected, because, well, you don’t have to be nowadays ...neighbors are distant to one another. No one really “needs” each other anymore.
I’d be ok to get back to a different way of life ... although I may be romanticizing it a bit.
I'm with ya...my grandparents came from Armenia, met in an orphanage and married when they turned 18 or so (my grandmother didn't even know her real birthday). They immigrated, LEGALLY to San Francisco. My dad told me how he and his two brothers would get apples and oranges for Christmas and be happy with it as they didn't often get fruit. He also sold newspapers when he was barely big enough to carry them. They worked hard but had fun, too.
My Grandparents, my dad, my uncles, nor any of their friends were whiny about all they went through.
My kids are pretty tough but there are times I need to remind them how easy they really have it....take them back to their "roots"!
Well if I’m not, I’m gettin’ there quick. Thank you!
I looked for specifically for this situation. Small town <1200 pop. Natural resources. Everyone knows everyone and they look out for each other. I have something to offer them and visa-versa. If the proverbial excrement hits the oscillator of doom, bartering will save many folks’ backside.
I have set it up as well as I know how. Let’s just pray it won’t come to that.
I think you’d have to be pretty dense to choose obeying the government when it comes down to that or surviving.
If anything, your post just proves that we don’t need government to surivive.
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