THE GOOD OLD DAYS

If you were old enough to remember the Great Depression, here's what you would remember.

After the stock market crash of 1929, our economy and the world economy went into a tailspin. Unfortunately, we had just elected a Republican in 1928, Herbert Hoover, who philosophically held fast to the notion that the government should not involve itself in taking action in the crisis. As conditions got worse, as unemployment hit 25%, hundreds of Hoovervilles sprouted up to house thousands upon thousands of rail-hopping hobos looking for work, and Herbert Hoover assured America that he was staying the course and prosperity was just around the corner.

It wasn't. America dumped Hoover and the Republican Party in 1932, and Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected. Over his next two terms, he had some success in using government powers and government funds to improve the lives of ordinary Americans. Many wealthy and privileged people in this country still hate him for doing that.

The worldwide economic crisis brought down a new democracy in Germany. A new fascist government allied itself with a militaristic regime in Japan. Western governments, sickened by the horrifying loss of life in WWI, went to great lengths to avoid new conflicts. That didn't work.

War started in with a German invasion of Poland in September 1939, a little after Josef Stalin and Adolf Hitler agreed on a non-aggression pact. Poland was crushed, and afterwards Britain and France declared war on Germany. For two more years, America stayed out of the war. But Roosevelt and many others wondered what would happen if we did not enter the war, and if France and Britain were defeated. Would Germany come after us next?

But the United States did enter the war, after our naval forces in the Pacific were attacked by Japan on December 7, 1941. We declared war on Japan. Germany, Japan's ally, declared war on us. We then declared war on Germany.

No one in this country knew if we would win this war, or lose it. In retrospect, Franklin Roosevelt's statement that "No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory." was a pretty gutsy thing to say. But no one knew if we could win, or could even survive this war.

For at least once in our nation's history, we were united by the shock of Pearl Harbor. We amazed ourselves and the world with the force of our united strength. The tide of the war against Japan turned in the summer of 1942, with an American victory at Midway and the destruction of the carrier force that attacked Pearl Harbor. The tide of the war against Germany turned when they betrayed the Soviet Union in 1943 and attacked. Our inconvenient alliance with the Soviet Union began, and we supported them in their resistance to Nazi Germany.

In 1945, the United States and its allies were victorious. We all experienced the relief and pride of a hard earned victory. But unlike our allies, we had not been bombed into rubble.

Before WWII, the United States of America had been an economic entity. But we were not a world leader in anything, except corn and cotton production.

After WWII, we were Number One. In just about everything.

While the rest of the world rebuilt its houses, we went full speed ahead with our massive manufacturing plants. Suddenly, the backwater pre-war USA became the powerhouse post-war USA.

We're Number One!

Many modern Americans don't remember what the world was like before WWII.

We weren't much then.

We didn't become something more until after other world cities were bombed to rubble.

After that, we got a big head start. We were Number One when there wasn't a Number Two.

The Fifties. The Sixties.

Those were the Good Old Days.

Unfortunately, we've outsourced our manufacturing and ruined our climate and indebted our economy to foreign powers. Oops.

If you are old enough to remember the Great Depression, you came through a terrible time.

If you're not old enough to remember the Great Depression, you're living in a terrible time.

Your enemies are domestic, not foreign.

We're only Number One if we're smart enough to stay Number One.

But, geez, what are the odds of that? It's comforting, at least, to remember.

THE GOOD OLD DAYS