A CNN article reveals that in a recent poll most Americans are fearful about the state of the country.  The story highlights run as follows:

• Nearly eight in 10 say things are going badly in the country
• Three of four Americans are angry about the way things are going in the country
• But three out of four questioned say that things are going well for them personally

Those sentiments are in stark contrast to some of the moving stories described in the Delaware County Daily Times weekend article. It’s entitled, ‘LENDING PERSPECTIVE: Seniors who lived through tougher times advise those struggling today to be patient’.  The article reminds us that

Economists have referred to the current economic downturn as the worst financial crisis Americans have seen since the Great Depression.  By 1933, four years after the Black Tuesday crash of the stock market, the banking system had collapsed and nearly 25 percent of the labor force was unemployed.  Presently, the national unemployment rate is around 7.5 percent — a far cry from the depths reached in the 1930s, but still the highest in a quarter century.

The article includes a number of accounts of how people coped in the years following the Great Depression.  Thankfully such pictures are unlikely to be repeated in the present situation.

The final piece of advice from someone who struggled through those difficult years is worth repeating:

Whatever comes, you can’t complain too much because things are so bad. It’s happening to everybody, not just one person. It’s happening to the whole world.  It’s going to take a long time to get better … but they’ll have to accept it and hope it gets better. I’m sure it will, but it will take time. It won’t get better overnight.

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