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November 19, 2008

Look at 2008 from 1929 perspective

<a href="mailto:llilja17@hotmail.com">By LORRAINE LILJA, Innocent Bystander</a>

I've been wondering what a modern version of the Great Depression would be like. In 1929, people didn't just wake up unemployed and poor the next day. For some, it was years before they felt the real pain.

We were a nation of farmers in those days and more self-sufficient. Most people had at least a small garden and the knowledge to expand it when the need arose. A bumper crop of anything was shared after the grower had put by enough for his family. A neighborhood cow lightened our coffee, and others' transportation lightened the load.

MENDING BASKET

It's hard to predict how our technical know-how would change things. Bad news could travel faster, I suppose.

Hard times have always brought out the best in people. Think back to the 1998 Ice Storm and other great inconveniences. Folks seemed to enjoy being challenged in a new way and were a lot more concerned about their neighbors.

Muscle appears when you're stuck in the snow. And during the Great Depression, if you were verbal about your needs, there was often something in someone's barn, attic or basement that would fill the bill.

Newspaper and cardboard lined the soles of worn shoes, and an old relic called a mending basket was usually in sight. The frugal would even turn collars inside out to hide the worn edges.

Knitting and crocheting might come back in vogue; maybe even creations made on the old Singer.

It's impossible for me to imagine how to cope with a 21st century depression. I can't picture people selling apples and pencils on street corners. Those involved in the "trades" could probably eke out a living, repairing or replacing equipment and furnishings. Would computers techs find work?

MEASURING UP

Can you think of anything you could supply that would help you earn a living? Some might bake, I guess.

But when it comes to barter, today's lifestyle doesn't hold much promise. I don't think that NYSEG would be interested in accepting loaves of bread in lieu of payment.

I wonder if lessons learned in the depression of the 1920s and 30s would help us today. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's social planning, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), the National Recovery Adminstration (NRA) -- could Obama and others find encouragement there?

We have always measured up, you know. We've learned to cure pestilence and gear up for a war. If you recall, the memories of those struggles brought occasions for valor and lots to giggle over once the crisis had passed.

And I am sure that whatever we need in the future to get by with will be thought of, created and furnished by an American.

Lorraine Lilja is a retired Press-Republican reporter. A collection of her columns, "Lilja's World," is for sale at local bookstores. Lilja can be reached at llilja17@hotmail.com

Lorraine Lilja is a retired Press-Republican reporter. A collection of her columns, "Lilja's World," is for sale at local bookstores. Lilja can be reached at llilja17(at)hotmail.com.

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