General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: It's time to examine where my loyalties lie, you judge, I'll just explain my position. [View all]Lydia Leftcoast
(48,217 posts)(like the British Tories who literally laughed as they passed legislation that made life more difficult for the poor), and too many Dems have either bought into that attitude or are off in their suburban cocoons blissfully assuming that everything is fine because Obama is in charge.
I think that one thing that was different about the Depression was that mass entertainment wasn't so dumbed down. There was no television, narrative radio requires imagination, movies assumed a certain verbal sophistication, and even children read fairly difficult material. (My mother kept her fourth grade reader for some reason, and it was written on what we would consider a middle school or even high school level.)
Nowadays the mass media, aside from lying to us about politics, tell us that the really important things in life are sports and celebrities and the empty-headed narcissists who populate the "reality" shows.
When was the last time you saw a TV drama deal realistically with poverty or racial issues (as opposed to fairy tales where no one notices anyone else's race) or political corruption or labor issues or disabled rights? In the early 1960s, it was possible to see these kinds of issues explored on TV dramas such as "East Side/West Side," "The Defenders," "Naked City," "Route 66" and some of the medical shows. (Don't say "The West Wing"--What a shallow feel-good program that was in comparison!)
Another enemy of solidarity that was absent during the Depression is suburbanization. Unlike urban neighborhoods or small towns where everyone knows everyone else and there are natural gathering places, the typical car-oriented suburb has no natural gathering places, no venue for sitting down and talking to all kinds of people. (This lack of community is one reason for the success of the megachurches, most of which are in such suburbs.)
If you live in such a place, and your neighbors keep their troubles hidden, and your only view of poverty is from the freeway, you're going to be unconcerned, too.