On Tue, 24 Mar 2015 06:55:39 -0700, Rudy Canoza
wrote:

On 3/23/2015 10:33 AM, dpb wrote:
On 03/23/2015 10:25 AM, Ed Huntress wrote:
On Mon, 23 Mar 2015 09:22:37 -0500, wrote:
...

Them was tough folks...

I'll say they were tough. We have plenty of Depression-era stories in
my family, but combining it with the Dust Bowl must have made them
epic.

It hardened people in different ways, some became so concerned even
after the era was over they never did recover. I know of an old fellow
only slightly older than grandfather down in the OK panhandle about 40
mi on W from us who never got over the feeling of needing to miser
everything--he never bought any newer or larger equipment nor other
improvements so when there were better years he couldn't take advantage
of them owing to simply being so outdated couldn't do more than just get
by.

The idea that it was a universally searing, wrenching experience is BS -
a political myth. At its depth, 25% of the workforce was unemployed.
That's terrible, but it means 75% of the workforce was still working,
and life for them and their families went on more or less normally.

Greece has had unemployment in excess of 25% for over three years.
Their definition approximates ours: not working but seeking work. I
doubt if their depression is portrayed as ours was.

Greece's situation is not portrayed as ours was for good reason.
Greece has safety nets. In the early years of the Depression, the US
did not.

No Social Security or other safety nets. By 1932 alone, 273,000
American families were evicted from their homes. There were roughly 2
million homeless people in the US during the Depression.

And then there were the bank failures. No FDIC. By 1933, depositors
lost $140 billion through bank failures. 11,000 of the country's
25,000 banks collapsed. Lending almost stopped.

These things had cascading effects that disrupted life 'way beyond the
mere unemployment numbers.

--
Ed Huntress