Frustration Was a Unifying Theme
Have you ever read The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck? It is the heart-wrenching story of family that heads west in search of salvation after losing their farm, and the last few pages do more to illustrate the desperate poverty felt by so many in America during the Great Depression than any amount of statistics or data possibly could.
The Great Recession was named to evoke the spirit of one of the hardest periods in American history, and in many ways the name is doing its job. People forget that the living standard of America’s poor is far and away better than that of the majority of the Earth’s population. In other words: there are very big differences between absolute poverty and relative poverty -- and we would do well to remember it!
Living through the Great Depression was an exercise (for the vast majority of the American population) in absolute poverty. It was characterized by unmet needs (not unmet wants), by long periods of zero income (not unemployment benefits), and by real homelessness (not moving back in with your parents after college).
I cannot say that today’s Occupy Wall Street protestors don’t understand the difference. The world needs the wide-eyed radicals to call for change in a way that grabs the attention of those in charge. But one does need to keep a level head and an eye on the past for perspective.
Take the Occupy Baltimore event, for example. To expect the same turnout and enthusiasm as was seen in New York would be unfair (we’ve been doing our absolute best to squash all the vibrancy out of our city for decades!), yet one must also wonder if the folks quoted by the Baltimore Sun weren’t just showing up because they had nothing better to do that day.
To sum things up in one line, borrowed directly from the Sun write-up: “Frustration was a unifying theme.”
Frustration? Seriously? We’re asking the government for more handouts -- unemployment benefit extensions, subsidized or free healthcare, and mortgage assistance (to name a few) -- because we are frustrated?
Mankind certainly has come a long way. One hundred years ago, frustration was not something you wanted to admit publicly. If you were “frustrated” that you couldn’t properly provide for your family, people would wonder why you weren’t working harder. It was seen as something you could do something about, and something that was your sole responsibility to change.
Today, however, we don’t look within for change. We look to our government.