I was talking about John Steinbeck's "The Chrysanthemums" in class on Friday, reflecting on how, being published in 1938, it really does reflect the social, cultural, political, and economic realities of the Depression era. As I mentioned, the Great Depression really began in 1929, triggered by Black Tuesday, which began a decade of massive unemployment, with millions of jobs lost, people losing their houses and life savings, losing hope, losing everything. That era, more than anything, is a reminder to most of us in the Western World (though the Depression was felt everywhere, not just in the USA and Canada) of just how bad it can get, economically. It's a benchmark of how terrible our social and economic problems can become if we, our governments, and big business don't actually mind our business properly.
The same conditions appear to exist today. Although I'm no economist, it doesn't take one to see that our financial system is built on a house of cards--even more now because we no longer even have paper money and hard cash so much to produce. Most of what we own is a bank machine printout that says how much, or how little we have. It's all just numbers being traded back and forth. Same with Wall Street, as it always has been, I suppose. The U.S. government seems to have no clue to the value of a trillion dollars, buying out huge companies (though arguably, they are also preventing dozens of other companies from filing for bankruptcy in a sort of domino effect), shelling out billions and trillions to pay for wars they can't afford and, arguably, shouldn't even be fighting.
Beyond that, people are losing their houses in record numbers because banks loaned them money they really shouldn't have loaned them. So the banks foreclose, but that's not the same as the bank getting its money back. So the people are in debt, the banks lose money, and the whole thing starts to go up in smoke. The banks are getting bailed out by government, which only means the government goes in debt by trillions more, and the government is actually the people themselves.
Factor in massive layoffs, a global economy that depends on American stability (an oxymoron if I ever heard one), and the impending financial and other catastrophes as a result of global warming, and you have the recipe for a perfect storm. Great Depression II. Will it happen? Maybe there's a solution, or maybe someone's working on one. Let's hope so because it's not just an American problem.
Anyway, I mentioned in class on Friday that, for my money, The Grapes of Wrath by that same John Steinbeck feller is one of the top four American novels of all time. I consider The Great Gatsby, The Catcher in the Rye, and To Kill a Mockingbird to be the others--though I admit I need to reconsider my list and maybe update it one of these days. But my point, really, in writing this entry is that the movie version of The Grapes of Wrath is actually on CBC television tonight at 1:30 a.m. (Newfoundland time; midnight ET) in case you're interested in taking a peek. It's in black and white (which I love) and stars Henry Fonda, one the greatest actors of all time. You'll get to see his portrayal of the character in Bruce Springsteen's best song of all time (my opinion, anyway) "The Ghost of Tom Joad." That song gives me shivers every time I hear it because it makes me think of the fragility of our social fabric, but the strength of the human spirit at the same time.
The highway is alive tonight,
And where it's headed, everybody knows.
Just sittin' down here in the campfire light,
Waitin' on the ghost of Tom Joad.
If you're interested in seeing the video, I just found it on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DEtA5fhk4k
And if you've a mind to watch a clip from the movie, you'll see where Springsteen got his inspiration, from one of the most famous speeches in literary or movie history: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wke1RBvcNQ
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