Monday, March 9, 2009
The Great Depression and Today
I found that our current economic times give more meaning to how the Great Depression may have felt. The media describes how many people lose their jobs everyday and how many sectors of our economy have declined. It was interesting to talk about the Great Depression and the shame that people felt in discussion, because we see and may feel those same feelings in our current times. The shame during both times was due to the fact that people could not provide for their families and it is difficult for us to deal with that because we have a culture that believes one should be able to provide for one's family. I also feel that there is a parallel between the Great Depression and now because we tend to feel that as Americans, we should be able to find jobs to secure our necessities. People were shocked at the economics of the Great Depression as people are shocked now because we think that America and its people are supposed to be successful. It troubles us when our ideas of America are not consistent with the realities of our economic situations.
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I agree with the comment about Americans feeling that we should be able to find jobs to secure our necessities. Yet I also wonder how closely Americans during the Great Depression tied their identity to their job as we often do today. In an era of people making their career their lives, aside from the financial blow, I wonder if the recession now could be a more devastating personal blow to people losing their jobs.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely agree with this parallel between the Great Depression and today. The sense of shame that many jobless parents are feeling epitomizes the ideals of the individual and taking responsibility for your own successes and failures. As I mentioned in class I have heard of many stories of fathers who are too ashamed to tell his family that he lost his job and can no longer afford the mortgage on their home. Like the times of the Great Depression no one wants ask others for help, and just hide their sense of failure behind a wall of shame.
ReplyDeleteThe parallel between the Great Depression and today's economic crisis is definitely apparent. Both resulted in huge amounts of job loss and even further, the theory of individualism. There seems to be a huge emphasis on supporting one's own self and his/her family today, much like what many people felt should be done during the Great Depression. This individualistic mindset is definitely popular as the typical American dream is based on how hard one can work to make him/herself successful. So I definitely agree with the fact that there is a huge fear of failure and if failure occurs, one feels as though he/she must hide it. We no longer want to ask for help in times of need because we feel that we should be able to take care of ourselves.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you in the connection of feeling the need to provide for one's family and not being able to fulfill that duty. I had posted a reflection earlier about the same topic. It seems that much of the shame that people felt during the Great Depression, and especially now, arises from this inability. I don't think it's just our culture that sets these standards, however. I think it's in man's nature to feel the need to provide basic necessities for the ones you love.
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