Many Americans who are older than 50 or so have heard stories from their parents or grandparents about the Great Depression of the 1930s or read about it in history books.
“Frugal” was the new normal, and our grandparents adhered to that principle —annoyingly, sometimes — long after the Depression ended.
The tremendous economic expansion of the 1950s and 1960s — “the good old days” depicted in TV series such as the “Andy Griffith Show” — characterized some of the best American values, not the least of which was a nostalgic memory of the hardscrabble times Americans endured a generation before.
We should expect the current recession to leave some lasting cultural markers on future generations. I doubt “frugality” will rank at the top of the list, but I suspect it will play a big role as the recession of 2007-2010 fades into memory.
We can definitely expect economists, talking heads and political candidates to hash out the reasons for, solutions to and future risks over the next several months leading up to the 2012 elections.
For now, we can thank Providence that hunger, homelessness and unemployment have not levied the painful toll they laid on the Depression generation. We can point to government programs — memories of that long-ago collapse — that provide aid for the least fortunate among us.
Better yet, we can look to the future. By almost everyone’s account, 2011 appears to be looking up.
Not way up, of course. The social “shock absorbers” that kept a worldwide recession from turning into bread lines and foundling homes in America leveled the road back to economic prosperity. We don’t have to suffer as much or work as hard, but it will take longer.
And — thank Providence again — we don’t have a global war to rev our economic engines past the red line.
But “up” is still good, and it’s getting better every day. For the most ambitious and cleverest among us, opportunities for economic prosperity will abound in 2011.
Unlike our Depression generation forbears, our consumer economy today is powered as much by attitude, confidence and determination as the vagaries of manufacturing production and logistics. We’re in a far, far better place than the America of the 1930s, and I think we are better able to lift ourselves — and our economy.
It’s recovery time. This year will be better for all of us in East Orlando and the rest of the country. Better than last year. And for the most ambitious and cleverest among us, this year will be one of the best ever.
If not now, when? If not us, whom? I say, let’s do it.