random SMart thoughts

I was listening to some old recordings of Studs Terkel talking with people who lived through the “Great Depression” and was struck by how close our current situation seems to be coming to those circumstances. It hasn’t gotten to the point yet, at least not in my local world, where people are standing in bread lines, but it seems possible it could get that bad. And even our hopeful President Elect Obama is saying it’ll get worse before it gets better. But what really struck me from what those Depression survivors were saying that does seem to apply right now is that “we were all in it together.” That’s what I’m noticing now — it’s not just me or a friend who’s feeling the pinch. It really seems to be most people. Somehow that makes it easier to cope with. People just aren’t spending money like they used to, but instead of feeling resentful, the group attitude seems to be one of humble belt-tightening. We’re not failures, we’re just experiencing a world phenomenon — we didn’t create it (and those that did should be in jail and how they continue to be openly in office drives me crazy, but that’s another story) but we’re all pretty much experiencing the same thing. I guess I’m always trying to find a positive way to look at everything, and this is the one thing I get out of this thing “they” are FINALLY calling a Recession — at least we’re all in it together.