The "D" Word
Saturday, January 31, 2009, posted by Q6 at 5:49 AM
This week, here in Southern California, a man killed his wife, his five children, and himself. At the time I'm writing this post, the only information they have (other than the crime scene) is a note the guy faxed to a local TV station. His claim: despondency over his employment situation.

Depending on what news channel/website you follow, this country has eliminated over 600,000 jobs in the last few months. Businesses with 40+ years behind them are closing up shop. Shopping malls are becoming ghost towns. Schools are feeling the crunch. Programs for the impoverished are losing the ability to service a growing impoverished population. Banks are being eaten up by other banks. (Sidebar: is it considered a "monopoly" if you're simply the only one left in business?)

Some news stories claim that we're in the bad part of a recession. Others claim that we've been in a recession a lot longer than we've been willing to admit. What stops us, I wonder, from calling the current financial situation in America a Depression? I'm no expert, so I don't know what the textbook definition is (and Google has been less than helpful). I do know that the "Great Depression" had to do with the maldistribution of wealth among the classes, an imbalance between the rise of prices and the rise of wages, some sketchy stock market speculation, and other things.

I recall learning about the 1920s in school, but most of my memory is based on old photos of people in food lines and unemployment lines, looking sad and helpless. I don't know what such a thing would look like in the 21st Century, but today, people are losing jobs, the stock market's in sad shape, and people are now killing themselves and their families out of desperation.

So, why isn't this a "Depression?"
 
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