Depression

Today's authors along with the media have created the different generations and this leads to comparing one with another. They have names for them starting with the baby boomers, Gen X, Gen Z and so on. Discussions range on about who are the best workers, the best students, the most responsible and on it goes but one generation stands out like no other and they are called and rightly so, the Greatest Generation. These are the people who lived through the great depression and fought the great war that defeated the enemies of freedom around the world. The poor people in the US today live like royalty compared to those who lived through the 1930's. There was a big difference between those who lived in the city and those who lived in the country and that difference centered around the garden. Even a small plot of ground could provide enough food for the family but in town you had to rely on soup lines and other government hand out programs. On the other side the towns people had free entertainment on the radio but there was no electric power on the farm. In those days the culture demanded that dad worked and brought home the bacon and mom took care of the family. When the jobs disappeared, dad no longer felt like a man and this caused no end of psychological problems which often resulting in alcohol abuse. There was a lot of trading and sharing going on to accomplish the main objective which was to feed the family. I lived in town but my dad who was a milkman had a job and that was almost like being rich.