Our Very Own Recession / Depression

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Most of us are too young to remember the Great Depression of 1929; in fact, I am too young myself.  But my friends recall hearing stories about those times.  Sure, there was lots of suffering, but many of the stories are about people doing things for their neighbors.

One of my friends was the child of one of several brothers who ran a business that made fittings for homes.  Once the Depression spread to California, their factory had hardly any orders to fill; people were not building, so there was no need for doors and windows and what have you.

The plant employed a couple of dozen men at its height.  The owner called a meeting and told them that, seeing as how there was no income, salaries could not be paid.  Rather than lay them off, he kept them on as wageless workers.  They continued to make their product as long as they had the raw materials, and then looked for other products they could manufacture, though I don't quite know how they sold the stuff.

There was an active barter economy; people would grow food at home, and sell it or trade it for other items they could use.  People starved, but managed to remain alive, at least in some parts of the US.

Certainly, these were pioneers, and children of pioneers, and hardy folk.  The degree of hardship dismayed them--it certainly was no walk in the park, and all in a day's work (as it might have been for their ancestors); but one gets the impression that there was far less whining back then.

In the present recession or depression, though unemployment is high (around 10%) it is lower for people with a college education.  I would guess that people with general degrees, e.g. in the social sciences, the arts, or the sciences or mathematics are probably fairly employable.  In contrast, if you have a very specific training, say such as a degree in fashion design, you are probably a little harder to place.  The important things to be able to do are: quickly understand what your employer wants, and be able to cope with minor problems that can be solved with simple ingenuity and common sense.  A knowledge of common computer software, basic accounting principles, a spreadsheet, a word-processor are all useful.  The ability to write a grammatical letter to a customer or a client, to put together a report --on paper or PowerPoint-- to be able to design a poster, or an advertisement for a new receptionist!  Not everyone out there can do this sort of thing, especially kids whose major efforts at "writing" have to do with writing cryptic remarks to their friends with e-mail.  They'll probably have to wait around ten years until their prospective employers are comfortable with their writing style.

In other words, we will have to back away from insisting on a go-it-alone kind of lifestyle, and be prepared to give help and get help, and work at unfamiliar jobs.  A huge first step is to get the youngest members of our families comfortable with *any* sort of job.  Kids used to do paper routes all the time.  But that sort of after-school job is looked down upon, these days, by some of the snootier kids in our neighborhoods.