Depression 2009

(Greg Klee/Globe Staff Illustration, Boston Globe)

Don’t know what the rest of you are experiencing, but the economy here is bad, and in my industry, it’s been very bad for a very long time. The horror stories that our grandparents told us about growing up poor are becoming a reality for many Americans, and I’ve met lots of people who are in basic survival mode–shopping at Walmart, eliminating vacations, avoiding restaurants, and holding on to whatever pennies they earn. The economy is bad, and it’s most likely going to be bad for a very long time.

Now as someone who is interested in oral histories, and as someone who works in an industry that is currently tanking at an unprecedented rate, I had wondered what a second Great Depression would look like.  I had seen the pictures of the First Depression, and I could not imagine people lined up, begging for food and trying desperately to pull money out of the bank in the 21st century.  Movies like It’s a Wonderful Life and Cinderella Man (which, by the way, is an awesome movie) portray the Great Depression in harsh detail, but I found it hard to imagine it taking place during a time when most people have computers and internet access.

This Boston Globe article (thanks, Larry!) puts it into a better perspective: Depression 2009: What would it look like?  According to the article, food and clothing were expensive during the first Depression; in a 2009 Depression, healthcare and food choices would be bigger issues.  More people would eat fatty, processed, cheaper food, and more people would cancel insurance and get their healthcare at the emergency room, where they can’t be turned down.  Both, of course, would put even more financial pressure on hospitals, and we’d see hospitals closing down.  Because televisions are relatively cheap, more people would stay inside and veg in front of the tube, which would result in a far less visible Depression.  According to Robert Putnam, author of the excellent Bowling Alone, people withdrew from their social lives during the first Depression, and it would only be worse today.  Higher education would be mostly for the rich, as only the rich could afford it, and a populace whose education depends on how much money they inherit could quite possibly cripple our investment in the future.

This is scary stuff.  I think we need a government realignment of the private sector.  There’s an interest in eating healthier foods, reducing our carbon footprint, and recreating community, but it’s hard to get there without help (for an excellent commentary on America’s desired social change, read this, by the always astute David Brooks.).  It’s going to require a huge effort from both government and private citizens to go from what-we’ve-got to what-we-need, and I hope for the sake of all of us that we are able to take the bold steps necessary to rebuild our country.

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