0 comment Tuesday, October 7, 2014 | admin
Recently I had a conversation with someone -- actually it's an ongoing discussion -- about something like this blog piece from April of 2008.
How the Oldtimers Survived the Great Depression and Why We May Not Measure Up
Arguably, things have gotten worse economically since that blog piece was written -- way back before the 2008 election. In fact I hardly know anyone who is not feeling the effects of the economic situation. I suspect all of us know people who are out of work after years of employment, unable to find a job, or people whose income has been drastically reduced, and I think we all notice that the cost of food and other necessities has gone up noticeably.
The blog entry linked above is an interesting one, and I agree with many of the points made.
One of the reasons why we may not fare as well in a depression is the subject of this piece, from a few months ago, painting a rather stark picture of the de-industrialization of our country.
''The deindustrialization of the United States should be a top concern for every man, woman and child in the country. But sadly, most Americans do not have any idea what is going on around them.
For people like that, take this article and print it out and hand it to them. Perhaps what they will read below will shock them badly enough to awaken them from their slumber.
The following are 19 facts about the deindustrialization of America that will blow your mind....
#1 The United States has lost approximately 42,400 factories since 2001.''
Read the rest. The writer concludes his piece by asking
''If anyone can explain how a deindustrialized America has any kind of viable economic future, please do so below in the comments section.''
I am interested to hear if anyone believes that we can return to what we were in prosperous times, given that we seem to manufacture very little in this country anymore.
Another subject of discussion with my friend is the fact that many of our foods are grown or processed in some other part of the world, such as Asia or South America. Yet most of our foods grown here seem to be destined for other parts of the world, not local consumption. In other words, the fact that we don't seem to grow much of the food we eat or produce many manufactured goods is not a good sign. We are nowhere near as self-sufficient as we once were.
I know there is a movement among some people to grow food in home gardens or at least, failing that option, to buy locally-grown produce where possible. And now Senate Bill 510 may interfere with our right to grow fruits and vegetables.
The blogger at Code Name Insight, in the first linked article, pinpoints many of the features of old America which enabled them to survive the economic hard times. This piece too delineates how people helped one another during the Great Depression by voluntary giving, personal charity, within their own circle and community. This is something that is rather rare today. I live in a town where people do give rather generously to charity, but I know that much of what is done by the churches involves digging wells in Africa and tending to the people there, or in Central America -- meanwhile there are people in need in this area, people who cannot afford to pay their heating bills or to buy gas for their cars, and so on. Much of the food bank's stock goes to 'immigrants', as donations are insufficient to the demands.
There is a crying need for stronger community bonds and more mutual assistance. This is something that is within our control, even though we can't do much about the other issues, like the fact that our country has lost so many jobs to deindustrialization and offshoring.
Lately I have felt the urge to try to wake my neighbors up to the fact that they need to focus on local needs, and stop trying to save the Third World.
I know I am not the only one who thinks about these issues, and who feels helpless to make a difference as far as the larger economic picture. The globalist elites, who are playing a big game with us as pawns, plainly don't care about our wishes, the will of the people, or about our well-being and prosperity.
I hate that this post sounds rather Glenn Beckish, (minus the chalkboard), but what do the rest of you think about all this? How do things look from where you are?
How the Oldtimers Survived the Great Depression and Why We May Not Measure Up
Arguably, things have gotten worse economically since that blog piece was written -- way back before the 2008 election. In fact I hardly know anyone who is not feeling the effects of the economic situation. I suspect all of us know people who are out of work after years of employment, unable to find a job, or people whose income has been drastically reduced, and I think we all notice that the cost of food and other necessities has gone up noticeably.
The blog entry linked above is an interesting one, and I agree with many of the points made.
One of the reasons why we may not fare as well in a depression is the subject of this piece, from a few months ago, painting a rather stark picture of the de-industrialization of our country.
''The deindustrialization of the United States should be a top concern for every man, woman and child in the country. But sadly, most Americans do not have any idea what is going on around them.
For people like that, take this article and print it out and hand it to them. Perhaps what they will read below will shock them badly enough to awaken them from their slumber.
The following are 19 facts about the deindustrialization of America that will blow your mind....
#1 The United States has lost approximately 42,400 factories since 2001.''
Read the rest. The writer concludes his piece by asking
''If anyone can explain how a deindustrialized America has any kind of viable economic future, please do so below in the comments section.''
I am interested to hear if anyone believes that we can return to what we were in prosperous times, given that we seem to manufacture very little in this country anymore.
Another subject of discussion with my friend is the fact that many of our foods are grown or processed in some other part of the world, such as Asia or South America. Yet most of our foods grown here seem to be destined for other parts of the world, not local consumption. In other words, the fact that we don't seem to grow much of the food we eat or produce many manufactured goods is not a good sign. We are nowhere near as self-sufficient as we once were.
I know there is a movement among some people to grow food in home gardens or at least, failing that option, to buy locally-grown produce where possible. And now Senate Bill 510 may interfere with our right to grow fruits and vegetables.
The blogger at Code Name Insight, in the first linked article, pinpoints many of the features of old America which enabled them to survive the economic hard times. This piece too delineates how people helped one another during the Great Depression by voluntary giving, personal charity, within their own circle and community. This is something that is rather rare today. I live in a town where people do give rather generously to charity, but I know that much of what is done by the churches involves digging wells in Africa and tending to the people there, or in Central America -- meanwhile there are people in need in this area, people who cannot afford to pay their heating bills or to buy gas for their cars, and so on. Much of the food bank's stock goes to 'immigrants', as donations are insufficient to the demands.
There is a crying need for stronger community bonds and more mutual assistance. This is something that is within our control, even though we can't do much about the other issues, like the fact that our country has lost so many jobs to deindustrialization and offshoring.
Lately I have felt the urge to try to wake my neighbors up to the fact that they need to focus on local needs, and stop trying to save the Third World.
I know I am not the only one who thinks about these issues, and who feels helpless to make a difference as far as the larger economic picture. The globalist elites, who are playing a big game with us as pawns, plainly don't care about our wishes, the will of the people, or about our well-being and prosperity.
I hate that this post sounds rather Glenn Beckish, (minus the chalkboard), but what do the rest of you think about all this? How do things look from where you are?
Labels: Charity, Economic Depression, Globalism, Localism, Old America, Poverty, Self-Sufficiency