I am listening to Timothy Egan's The Worst Hard Time.The book was published in 2005. At that time, the real estate boom was at its height, public and private leaders were trumpeting the new economic paradigm, and Americans (and, I guess, people worldwide) were consuming on an unprecedented scale.
1. Did Egan have a premonition that the good times wouldn't last, leading him to tell the Dust Bowl story as a precautionary tale?
The reason I ask is this: the extent to which Egan's analysis of the excesses of the 1920's (including (1) uncontrolled speculation in both land and stocks and (2) a complete lack of lending oversight by the private and public sectors) and then the follow-up as to how those excesses came crashing down on both a micr0- and macro- level during the Depression -- is an incredible analog to the economic rise and fall of this decade.
Other questions from The Worst Hard Time:
2. John McCarty, the newspaperman and a prominent booster in Dalhart, Texas, makes me think about David Simon's take on the media in Season 5 of The Wire. What is the proper role of local media in choosing stories that generate positivity, among the local readership, about the town/city/state that is the focus of coverage? I was so frustrated by the recent CBS-19 story about the "greatness" of the Downtown Mall re-bricking project, but on reflection isn't part of building a community supporting others' efforts, and if that's so then should the local media try to put a positive spin on things when possible? Probably not, but the best journalists must find ways to walk the line of positivity/criticism.
3. "Big" Hugh Bennett is a soil scientist who takes a leading role in FDR's administration in changing agricultural policy. To what extent has Obama brought actual farmers into his Administration to advise on new directions in energy/agriculture and how they can best be implemented?
4. Have there been "dust bowls" in other parts of the world?
5. Why is it so easy to fall back on talking about the weather with people when you don't have anything else to talk about? Why isn't the 'default' conversation politics or art? I for one love to talk weather, but is this an evolutionary thing?6. When people buy books, what percentage actually read the book cover-to-cover? I'd say I read about 30-40% of the books I buy, or check out at the library, cover-to-cover. Is this more or less than normal?
7. Obama is having people over to the White House to watch the Super Bowl tonight. Will they actually watch the game (I'm sure they will have it on, but to what extent will people actually be focusing on it?)?
8. Did people in the 1930's sleep more or less than nowadays? Has widespread electricity availability affected people's sleeping habits?
9. When did pizza first become popular in America? Was it eaten much or at all during the 30's?
10. To what extent did people attribute the Dust Bowl to God (ie, "it's retribution for America's sins...")? Egan has not focused at all on religion in the book, but did some people look at it this way?
11. Are any current religious leaders blaming the economic crisis on "America's sins"? I have not heard anybody with this take, but are some of the more conservative churches explaining the crisis as God showing his displeasure with society's path?
12. Will the stock market bounce considerably when the stimulus package is agreed-to?
