For many people, this is a time of great uncertainty – they don’t know what is going to happen next. For those of us who study history, what happens next isn’t the question, but rather how bad it will be – and what happens after that. This may sound like the same thing, and as far as most people are concerned it probably is. But there is a boundary to what might possibly go down and there are known likely effects of this situation. The more we understand what happened before, the more we can take confidence that we at least know where we are.
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Economics and commerce, all built from scratch.
Values
I was challenged recently to explain what happened to our economy in simple terms. I set myself a limit of 800 words, and as you can see I failed. But I like this essay and I hope you do, too. I don’t want to take out anything.
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Call to Action
It’s just a word. That’s the main thrust of many of the comments on my last blog entry, several e-mails, and a lot of tweets. The other side of the same argument is that words can be very powerful, so what’s the point in using that power to scare people? If we call it a Depression, a Recession, or a Banana it doesn’t really make any difference except the potential for panic. Why do I want people to panic?
Just as the power of words leads many people to think we might as well avoid the incendiary word, taking away its power, the goal of using the word Depression for me is to actually avoid panic. I want to confront this thing head on.
What’s in a Name?
Words shape the way we see the world around us. We are a social animal that relies on discussion and interpretation to understand what we see, figuring things out in a kind of committee. Our thoughts are often in language, a Jungian dialogue between our outer and inner selves. There is a rich meaning beyond the simple names that make up our lives like “house” or “car” or “spaghettios”. When events overtake us we need words that describe them such as “Depression” – the alternative is anxiety. Yet choosing the right word with the right color is tricky.
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Millions of people are finding themselves not only without a job, but without a career. As whole industries downsize at once the necessary restructuring in our economy means that many professions are going to be reduced to the point where they appear to have gone away. If their profession is a big part of their identity, many workers will feel that they have been disposed of. Dealing with this issue will, eventually, move from being a personal trauma to a social tragedy – and perhaps a new openness in the job market for the professional middle class. Continue reading
