A Re- De- pression?

There is an awful lot of howling about our being in a global recession or maybe even a (*GASP*) depression for the past year, while the bankers, who control the flow of currency, have given themselves huge bonuses for their (heck-of-a-job-Brownie) performance.

It makes me recall the stories about the Great Depression of the 1930s, of course, and the fact that it was a Clinical Depression (though the term wasn't used at the time). People discouraged by a downturn and tightening of credit, and often complete failure of their banks, fell into a funk and quite a few chickened out and jumped out the window, or found other ways to shuffle off this mortal coil. That's happening now to (we hope) not quite as many.

It also reminds me of the story Alan Watts told about the carpenters showing up at the job one morning and being told they couldn't start work, since they had run out of inches!

If there is no currency, there can be no commerce, right? Wrong! There is barter, there is our parent's concept of the Victory Garden, many ways to repair, recycle, re-use and re-purpose what we already have.

FDR said "...the only thing we have to fear, is Fear Itself!" And we must pull together and get through this, perhaps better than we did before.

A number of nice big national and international projects that will benefit the entire planet (which has shrunk to about a half-hour of transit time from/to anywhere) would sure be nice. I know! How about going back to the Moon and on to Mars? The last time we went to the Moon, people screamed about the expenditure, but y'know what? Not a penny, not a nickel, was spent on the Moon. It was all spent here! Let's get serious about refining silicon into photovoltaic (solar) cells, and get off the oil needle. Wind generators are already cheaper than the filthy oil and coal alternative. The combination, spread out over our planet, with a robust power grid to deliver the power from sources to destinations, will do a lot.

There's a lot we can do to make our nest better, and our great-grandkids more secure and comfy, so let's get to it! Think globally, act locally, etc...