I've always enjoyed my history classes. Lately I've been feeling the urge to pull out some history books, dust them off, and read up on things like, oh -I don't know, maybe the Great Depression.
It's not often I get the feeling that I am living history in the very moment. The first Gulf War, 9/11, maybe the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, Putin taking over Russia to bring back the glory for the Mother Land. Okay, check that. Apparently I live through historical moments too often.
Still, usually it feels like just the everyday blah blah that will be summed up in one paragraph in a eighth grade U.S. History class text book, because my life hasn't been impacted so substantially that things are radically different. These last few weeks, however, I think might get us an entire chapter or more, depending on what happens: Major Financial Crisis amid Presidential Election! Where's FDR when you need him? {Blast those term limits!}
Occasionally I wonder what a depression looks like in this day and age, what with all the social media that keeps us connected and our dependence on the infrastructure and the way society has changed in the last 100 years. Academic minds want to know!
Also I'm thinking about buying a generator. And some extra chocolate to stash around the house.
Because it's the good stuff that goes first.
I feel somewhat similar - looking at history books, I always thought of what people _felt_ thru those times. Now, as I tell my 8 year old how we rushed thru NY streets to get home from the playground during 9/11, and how the air was thick with dust and smoke and how the whole city seemed deserted with no cars around, I also tell him that he witnessed this horrible tragedy and when he reads about it later on, he should remember our upstairs neighbor, and how his dad had an interview on the 46th floor just a few days ago...
ReplyDeleteThe news was a bit daunting last night. I would hope that we could not repeat history with the intelligence of the day. . .but it looks like congress isn't bailing anyone out for now and it may be a rough road before America straightens out financially. As usual this one seems complicated to me and will probably mess a few kids up on a future test as they try to "get" it. I keep wondering if my Personal IRA is truly safe even if I don't need it for several years. Will there be anything left of the inconsequential sum to others yet hard earned by me when this is all said and done?
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