Dust Bowl
The other evening my wife and I watched the two-hour Ken Burns documentary, The Dust Bowl, on PBS. It brought back a rush of memories of good times and bad times for me, a kid of the Great Depression. We didn't live in the actual Dust Bowl, but lived on the peripheral edge in Central Oklahoma. We experienced drought and dust storms, but not to the extent they did west of us. Several things in the documentary were most notable. Some follow:
I noticed none of the kids or people were fat. We hear much about our population being over weight. Maybe we need a Great Depression to slim down.
The conditions in which we lived. Today, we make much to do about destroying as much bacteria as possible. Actually, we need certain bacteria to survive and as kids we need to develop immunity to all manner of bacteria and other things.
Poverty was rampant. Everybody was poor. People of today have no idea what it is to really be improvised and struggle from day to day just to have a little something to eat.
Government was everywhere with all kinds of programs most of which had unintended consequences. Many, including my father, were strong believers in individual responsibility and were too proud to accept welfare (God knows we could have used it) from the government. I recall my father borrowed the money from the bank to buy seed to plant fifteen acres of cotton. When it was about six inches high the federal guy came and measured the acreage. He said my father had planted three acres too much and to plow it up. My father saw that cotton as a possible way to better provide for his family. He refused. It was only when the federal guy sent the sheriff out, and under threat of arrest my father reluctantly plowed up the cotton.
If you haven't seen the documentary and it plays on your local PBS TV station I highly recommend you watch it. It is a real eye-opener and gives cause to pause and contemplate where we are today as a society and culture and what we need to do to restore the once greatness of our blessed America.
I noticed none of the kids or people were fat. We hear much about our population being over weight. Maybe we need a Great Depression to slim down.
The conditions in which we lived. Today, we make much to do about destroying as much bacteria as possible. Actually, we need certain bacteria to survive and as kids we need to develop immunity to all manner of bacteria and other things.
Poverty was rampant. Everybody was poor. People of today have no idea what it is to really be improvised and struggle from day to day just to have a little something to eat.
Government was everywhere with all kinds of programs most of which had unintended consequences. Many, including my father, were strong believers in individual responsibility and were too proud to accept welfare (God knows we could have used it) from the government. I recall my father borrowed the money from the bank to buy seed to plant fifteen acres of cotton. When it was about six inches high the federal guy came and measured the acreage. He said my father had planted three acres too much and to plow it up. My father saw that cotton as a possible way to better provide for his family. He refused. It was only when the federal guy sent the sheriff out, and under threat of arrest my father reluctantly plowed up the cotton.
If you haven't seen the documentary and it plays on your local PBS TV station I highly recommend you watch it. It is a real eye-opener and gives cause to pause and contemplate where we are today as a society and culture and what we need to do to restore the once greatness of our blessed America.
posted by Donald G Davidson at 12:08 AM
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