The Good Depression

I'll continue my list of 20 things I'd cherish from an economic depression. My first six are posted here, and I'll again ignore all the really bad shit that would also occur in my America -- I want to focus on the positives, the social and developmental positives a depression would create. Instead of the Great Depression II, I'll call it a Good Depression.

Truthfully, what this list represents, what these are, are facets of the World According to Me. What I would like to live in. I personally believe a depression would facilitate many of the things I long for.



7) We would likely find more value in the bicycle and light rail. Following a depression, where increasing numbers of people would be priced out of vehicle ownership altogether, we might actually develop a healthier respect for non-car transportation.

8) We would likely lose a host of consumer-excess related businesses -- U-Stor-It facilities, Quik-e-Lubes, car stereo shops, BowFlex home gyms, auto detailing companies, cigarette & smoke shops, junk haulers, ATV and personal watercraft stores, bouncy-house rentals, monthly pest exterminators, real-estate "specialists," shooting ranges, pool and spa dealers, horse boarders, pool builders, tax preparers, mobile premium meat salesmen, tanning salons, cell phone outlets, 4X4 truck accessory shops and paper shredding services. Obviously they won't go away, there will just be a lot less of them, and in my opinion, good riddance. People employed in these fields will find different work, in areas better aligned with dignified labors.

9) Families would grow stronger. Many more relatives, sons, and daughters will be living with parents and grandparents. Provided the leeches are weeded out, family ties might be strengthened through shared hardships. Children might take care of aging parents, or at a minimum, might be willing to live closer.

10) There will be fewer leeches. We will become much less tolerant of those able but unwilling. Prior special grievances will pass away. People will value those who contribute and will find renewed compassion to help those who truly cannot contribute.

11) We might respect the power of petroleum and our unique, one-time allotment. Concurrent with our inability to establish a police station in the Middle East or elsewhere around the world's oil-fields, perhaps we might enforce domestic policies that preserve our own resources. This might result in more compact living environments that don't squander so much energy to begin with. We only briefly, very briefly, dealt with high energy prices and our overall habits and conditions haven't changed a bit. A depression would be a real game-changer. We would lose our collective ignorance towards energy.

12) People will begin to barter for things they need and things they have. Neighbors might become important again. Perhaps neighbors might co-opt into a single lawnmower, sharing it amongst themselves.

13) Perhaps people might garden again. This is a small issue, I know, but bear with me. I remember walking around Germany in 2005, around neighborhoods, and found that nearly every home carried a garden; very nice, well kept, and they provided their residents with varieties of food that have been lost in America, because the Pak-N'-Save doesn't carry variety. If people's economic situations get to where they question their ability to feed themselves, people might take some efforts to grow their own. Now, this leads to all sorts of better outcomes -- neighbors have collective goals, they share foods, tools, and knowledge, agriculture becomes a culture again. Then they might create local value-added products that can be exchanged for other goods...cheese, stews, chilies, wines, tamales. And those who have the ability to grow substantial quantities, say, tree nuts, stone fruits, or sheep, can provide local food and enrich the lives of everyone around them. This is not insignificant.

14) Desuburbanization might occur. As suburban cities without an economy of their own, like my Elk Grove, can't function without growth, a sustained period of flat or negative growth would likely result in more public services eliminated due to stagnant revenues. The "safety" of suburbia would be exposed as the fraud that it is. People desperate for work will find themselves forced into commuting to all corners of their region, and collectively we'll realize how utterly fucked up that arrangement is. Almost all of their income will be spent to support their vehicular needs.

15) When pushed towards delayed gratification, people will make better choices, and they will value things more if there are fewer things available to them. Today we suffer from the paradox of choice; decisions have become increasingly more complex due to the overwhelming abundance of choices available, and we waste time having to choose. We also collectively set too high an expectation and are miserable when we think we made a bad decision. The elimination of choice will greatly reduce the stresses and busyness in our lives. This is not a trivial matter.

16) We will become a tougher people. Earlier depressions forced people into conditions they'd rather not be in, but were capable of taking. They could walk if need be. They could perform manual labor if need be. They weren't too far removed from pre-mechanized society. Shit, look around today -- air-conditioning, perpetual motoring, 24-hour streaming entertainment in private environs, overweight, out of shape, over medicated dolts. We've witnessed the complete pussification of our inhabitants with 50+ years of "prosperity." This might change.

17) We might, just might, realize the value of American manufacturing again. We might be willing to find value again in local production. This, unfortunately, is something I find highly unlikely. In our current recession only the biggest, most globalized institutions are flourishing, and the way Americans act they're likely only going to get bigger, leading to the complete death of American production. A depression could make our world smaller. Let the Chinese suffer from their own poorly made shit, and let America prosper from her own laborers again.

18) The thrifty and responsible would gain at the expense of the profligate and reckless. I put myself in the former category...

19) This nation's trade deficits, federal deficits, and national debt would be worked down or would be forced down. We would never again (in our lifetimes, anyway) spend money we don't have for shit we don't need. This would lead to a whole generation of people who value not being mired neck-to-nuts in debt. Personal financial responsibility would be markedly improved.

20) Lastly, I think a depression would force a total restructuring of our industries of auto manufacturing and finance. A car produced here might actually be cheaper, better built, and more economical. A loan or other financial endeavor might actually be removed from the myriad entities who's sole purpose is to fuck you out of a portion of it. Banks will return to responsible lending, with responsible depositors; we'll forget about the tranching of debtors into risk pools, fictitious credit ratings, fictitious leveraging...

In my hypothetical depression, I don't see lines of citizens in ragged clothing lining up outside Starbucks for their daily frappuccino's. I don't see bread lines. I see a clarity of living that would serve to make us better, if at the expense of having to endure real hardships.