The great depression of the 1930s began with the Black Thursday Stockmarket Crash of October 29, 1929. It has gone down in history as being the worst economic downturn of the industrialised world. Most people will not see the correlation here, but trust me when I tell you there is much to learn from this dark period in history.
THEN
Cause and Effects of the Great Depression?
History records the causative effects of the Great Depression as the following
- Rapid expansion and Reckless Speculation
- Declining Productivity
- Rising Unemployment
- Falling Wages
- Increasing Consumer Debt
- Downward Pressure on food prices
- Agriculture struggling due to drought
The Social effects of the period of prosperity in the 1920s, commonly known as the roaring ’20s, generally speaking, was a huge upswing in the number of inventions, changing our lifestyles forever and a feeling of being invincible. There was an exuberance and optimism in the ’20s that was infectious. People had a vitality and joy about their lives like never before. World War 1 was over and life was good. Communism had been defeated and Consumerism was on the rise with it being easy to obtain credit. Millions of people invested in new inventions such as refrigeration in the home and automobiles.
This optimism gave way to despair almost overnight triggered by the stock market crash of 1929 which led to bankruptcy, mass unemployment, homelessness, and unpaid debt. Many millions of people lost their life savings and their homes were sold or repossess to cover debts.
The shame of having lost their ability to provide for their families, loss of prestige within their community and social circles saw a huge jump in the rate of suicide amongst men.
Class Segregation between the haves and have nots widened and became based on neighbourhoods and housing type. Poor and Lower classes included the elderly, disabled, single mothers and minority groups. They were forced to support each other. Ghettos and Shanty Towns sprung up on unused public land in squalid conditions with little to no sanitation, dirt floors and no clean water.
The emergence of Breadlines, Hobos, Soup Kitchens, and Hunger Marches began to give rise to a new level of frugality. Crime rose sharply initially but then returned to more normal levels by the mid-1930s, Bonnie & Clyde being most notable. This was certainly a time of extremes. The video below comes from the American National Archives and gives a great insight into life in the 1930s in America but also around the world.
NOW
Our lives now are filled with many of the same factors that contributed to the Great Depression. In fact, it could easily be argued that our causative factors are identical. But are they? CNN, The Guardian, New York Times and many other news agencies are talking of the next great depression. It is truly alarming to see millions of dollars wiped off the stock markets around the globe even if you are not an investor. The flow-on effects of these adjustments will be huge and the reverberations will be felt by us all in one way or another.
Climate Change has much to do with the weather extremes of droughts, floods, and wildfires that the global community has recently endured. Now we have also global disease pandemic of such a proportion that many are likening to the Spanish Flu. One could be forgiven for becoming a little paranoid. Preppers are ready. This is what they have been waiting for. Global uncertainty does not mean the end of life as we know it. It is time we sat up and reimagined our futures.
We must now more than ever learn from the mistakes of the past. Albert Einstein said Only a fool expects a different outcome from the same and repeated action.
The Great Depression has left us with many lessons but have we failed to remember them?
LESSONS FROM THE PAST
Credit – Almost every financial disaster in our modern age can be linked or traced back to debt. The Global Financial Crisis was the biggest since the Great Depression but we have had 33 Financial Recessions since 1854 and we keep doing it. So, take a lesson from the past, credit, and debt can lead to financial strain, relationship breakdown and even physical health problems due to stress. So here it is folks. If you can’t pay cash then start saving. Stay away from credit cards, short term loans and even those pay as you go style loans. You know which ones I am talking about. If you have to have whatever item then save for it. That being said we all want to own our homes and have cars etc. I am not saying don’t ever but reserve your credit debts for the big one-time purchases and put down as big a deposit as you can. Remember – if it means that much to you that you are willing to go into debt for it, you will save for it and appreciate it so much more. This is an exercise in delayed gratification. We do not need to keep up with our friends. If you already have a credit card. Put in a glass of water in the freezer. Yep – you read that right. If you are tempted to buy something you will have to wait for it to defrost and hopefully will have reconsidered the purchase by that time. Work on paying off all your store cards, credit cards and especially any payday loans or time-based credit.
Learn the difference between want and need – It never ceases to amaze me how we as people have been cajoled into merging these two concepts. The advertising industry has really done a number on us with this. You have seen the advertising – you need younger looking skin – buy this product, you deserve a break from cooking – get takeaway, whatever it is we are being brainwashed. So, let’s define this a bit more. If we say a Need is something that will determine our ability to have life, for example, food, shelter, water, clothing. These are needs right? Wants now that’s a bit trickier but let’s look at this way if you have 10 pairs of shoes – do you really need any more? Probably not. You might want those really shiny stilettos but you don’t need them. Make sense?
Make friends with your neighbours – this is about relationships and community. During tough times friends, neighbours and whole communities will band together to help and assist each other. This is was demonstrated in the Great Depression by Potluck dinners. Church groups everywhere invited people to come together to share a meal and socialise. More recently, in Australia, we have seen whole communities and even global communities support drought and bushfire victims both financially but also in many other ways. The ability to laugh, cry and share together is what makes us human. Don’t discount your neighbour’s ability to bring you a hot bowl of soup when you are to sick to cook, nor the impact you can have by dropping off a bunch of homegrown vegetables to an elderly neighbour doing it tough. I was blessed over the Christmas period by neighbours who came together to bring my family a hamper because they knew how hard the drought had hit us. Explore your community for ways to give back. You never know when you might need it in return.
Enjoy a simpler life– Life is busy with work, family commitments, etc. You might be studying or be caring for someone as well. But believe me when I say life was not meant to be hard. Take time out for yourself. Find joy in small things. Get off Facebook, YouTube, and Pinterest. These are the biggest time wasters on the planet well except for maybe online gaming. But anyway, we should be out of doors enjoying ourselves. Taking in the sights, smells and rare beauty that is around us. When was the last time you walked in the local botanical garden and just enjoyed the trees and flowers or marveled at the life of butterfly or frog? There are so many simple things that we can do that not only save us money but give great joy. Develop a new skill or refresh old ones. Either way, it’s time to take a step back and enjoy some time. The Great Depression saw the rise of playing cards and board games with friends, family, and neighbours. Connect today.
Learn more than just one trade – There was no such thing as job security in the Great Depression. Being able to adapt to different fields of work was an essential skill. This is something we have lost largely because our parents wanted us to go on to higher education and this is now almost a given. But what this has done is made us all totally reliant on others. How many times have you seen a woman standing on the side of the road with a flat tyre while the local auto club guy changes it for her? So, this skill goes hand in hand with the next lesson on the list. But before we move on let me just say there are certain professions that will ALWAYS be in demand because they provide something, we all require all the time. These include cooking, hairdressing, and health. There are others but you get the idea. So, learn some new skills that will help you to save money on some area of your life.
Never throw away something that can be reused or repaired. This builds on the previous lesson as stated. If you learn how to fix something or repurpose it you by default should be saving money. I remember my grandmother’s house vividly. But what I didn’t know was that when her and grandfather were building it she stashed mountains of newspaper under the lino. Now, this may seem odd but her reasoning was sound. Grandfather bought the paper every day – they used it in the outdoor toilet until plumbing went indoors and for lighting the fire in winter but she also used it as soundproofing and underlay when the carpets and pieces of vinyl went down. It was truly fascinating to read recipe pages and advertising from these pages when it was pulled up to be replaced many, many years later. I have to tell you the house was built in the 1950s and the flooring was replaced in the 1980s so they got 30 years out of those old newspapers. Many other stories just like this have come from a discussion with our elders. They resoled their shoes, repurposed all sorts of items in the gardens and vegetable patches. They fixed their possessions before even considering replacing them. So, go learn to darn your socks, repair the holes in jumpers or other clothing. What else around you could you learn to repair before racing out to buy a new one?
Do it yourself – Again this builds further on the last lesson. Do the kids need a new bed, why not build it yourself? My husbands’ grandfather on the announcement of hubby’s impending birth went to work on building his first bed. That cot is still going strong 60+ years later and has been through 5 children and is currently on the 11th great-grandchild.
Sure, it has been cleaned up and revamped a few times but it’s solid and strong. It also still bears the teeth marks of its first occupant. I just could not bear to sand them out. Haha.
Get Dirty – yep most people during the depression had no choice but to grow their own vegetables because they simply could not afford to buy them. It doesn’t matter if you have a small balcony or a large acreage plot there is plenty you can do to provide for yourself. Grow some salad greens on your window sill, foam esky tubs are great for potted plants or vegetables. Some of my best vegetables were grown in them. Learn to grow from seed – don’t rush out to the local nursery to get seedlings. Start small and grow what you can. You will develop your own methods over time and learn what works and what doesn’t in your area or circumstance. Growing your own is not only rewarding but it will improve your health and your bank balance. Don’t forget to share the surplus when you have some.
Get creative with your pantry – following on from growing your own, you will need to learn how to preserve your harvest so that you have it available all year round. There are many ways to do this from bottling to drying. Preserves can be fermented like sauerkraut or kimchi and they can be frozen or dried and powdered. Whatever you need to do to extend the time that these items are at their best. This is not only fun but can be a way of bringing the family together to share the workload and each others company. We have all seen the images of Italian families making sausage or pasta sauce together – it’s a family event and ritual that dates back many hundreds if not thousands of years. There is a reason these groups join together in this way. Try it sometime – you will be amazed.
Appreciate what you have – Learning to appreciate the things you have is probably one of the greatest lessons we can learn from the depression times. We have alluded to it already but it really does need its own category here. Children had 1 toy if they were lucky. Mostly kids learned how to amuse themselves with what they could find and put together. This encourages us never take for granted the things we have or know and to appreciate all gifts as if they were the only thing you owned.
Embrace the Imagination – Children, as stated above, have this innate ability to see the world differently. They can have a full conversation with an imaginary friend for hours on end and be perfectly content. As adults we forget this or lose it, I am not really sure which, but we need to stop the world from time to time. Halt everything and fall totally and completely into a child’s world. My not so famous as she wanted to be, daughter, once said if a toddler hands you a toy phone – you better answer it! I really think I have nothing more to add on that score.
Don’t put all your eggs in the one basket – We have all heard this saying, right? Well, it is true and looking at the collapse of several banks during the great depression and the global financial recession confirms this. But more than just finances this old saying encourages us to be wary of pushing too hard in one direction. Diversity is the key here. So when applying some of our other lessons keep in mind not to jump all in at once. Take it slow and flex your muscles a little bit at a time. Oh and don’t forget to stuff some cash away somewhere handy just in case.
Learn how to haggle – This is a skill some of us may have played with on visits to markets or even overseas, but we need to do it more. I always ask for a discount in stores mostly in smaller businesses, not the big chains. The big chains will give you a discount if you find a cheaper price elsewhere though so be sure to use that. We as a society are too easily parted with our money. Save pennies and they will add up to pounds. Use and practice this skill everywhere and at every opportunity. Hold on to your money as long as possible.
Focus on the important – The most important thing in your life is always your family. You need to protect them, cherish them and focus your time and energy. I can’t stress this enough. Our lives are so busy but I am never to busy to hear what my grandchild did at school or football today. Celebrate the wins, commiserate the losses but just be there. This is probably the only place that I think technology actually helps. If not for facetime, skype and the like I would not get to see my grandchildren anywhere near as much as I do.
Frugal not cheap – a word of caution here. Just because we are attempting to live a little more frugally and buffering the financial, spiritual and physical blows, does not mean we are being cheap. Let me clarify this. Frugal living, according to Annie Raser-Rowland Author of the Art of Frugal Hedonism, there is a sweet spot between not having enough money even for basic necessities and being overindulged, time-poor and unhappy. There is no sense in buying things that are cheap and nasty only to have to replace them sooner and on the flip side of that, there are plenty of free things in life that just make our lives so much better. A lot of things we spend money on actually make our lives less enjoyable. It takes practice to master this art of frugal living so don’t be hard on yourself. And do grab a copy of Annie’s book – it’s light-hearted and practical.
So, in summary, there is much to learn from the great depression and much to apply to make our lives just that little bit more resilient. If you can think of more please join us in our Facebook group and let us know.
