class rage - Gawker

posts about #classrage more →
Jesus, Just Tell Us When the Recession's Over, OK?
They Didn't Call it the 'Great' Depression For Nothing
Horace Mann-Sense: Li'l Roy Cohn Sad, Former School Head's Spitzer Connection
Meet the Horace Mann Scandal Crew!
Horace Mann School Sued For "Smear Campaign" Against Fired Teacher
Horace Mann Censors Student Paper
Horace Mann Teacher's Novel Got Him Canned

Your version of Internet Explorer is not supported. Please upgrade to the most recent version in order to view comments.

Dsmvwl Admin Promote to frontpage Approve user Ban user ×

ChillbearLatrigue
07/31/09

In reply to Jesus, Just Tell Us When the Recession's Over, OK?
It doesn't mean anything to the average person immediately, Mr. Cook. However, when the middle class' 401k's start to recover and the housing market levels off, consumer confidence returns. When that occurs, the 90% of the work force starts to spend. This creates jobs for the 10% who aren't. It's hardly a beautiful scenario, but it is more hopeful than it was a few months ago. Now if we could just get the government to loosen up with some of that stimulus money, that would really be something.
Reply

ChillbearLatrigue was starred

RheaPollstry
07/31/09

In reply to Jesus, Just Tell Us When the Recession's Over, OK?
Things will never improve until we reverse the damage of 30 years of Reaganomics and the war on the middle class.
Reply

Mediahohoho promoted this comment RheaPollstry was starred RheaPollstry was unstarred

Mediahohoho
07/31/09

@RheaPollstry: Haven't you heard? This is Obama's recession. I know because John Boehner said so.
Reply

Mediahohoho was starred Mediahohoho was unstarred

Niko Bellic
07/31/09

@Mediahohoho: Get it right: it's the work of Obama, AIG, Mao, Goldman Sachs, Chavez, Chase, Ahmadinejad and GM working together.
Reply

Edited by Niko Bellic at 07/31/09 4:35 PM Niko Bellic was starred Niko Bellic was unstarred

The Recession Is Over
07/31/09

In reply to Jesus, Just Tell Us When the Recession's Over, OK?
Damn it... I just wrote a report about the the labor market where I reference the 5.5 percent contraction in Q1... I just got fact checked by Gawker about the economy.
Reply

John Cook promoted this comment Edited by The Recession Is Over at 07/31/09 3:02 PM

depardoo
07/30/09

In reply to They Didn't Call it the 'Great' Depression For Nothing
My mother, who was a child throughout the Depression, nevertheless constantly reminds me how her family ate "lung stew" most nights for dinner because they could afford nothing else. Perhaps this accounts for how disgusting my mother's cooking was throughout my middle class childhood.
Reply

depardoo was starred depardoo was unstarred

BadUncle
07/30/09

@depardoo: My grandmother came from a dustbowl farm during the depression. And despite becoming affluent later in life, she wouldn't give up a commitment to offal, from a childhood eating "the whole animal, head to hoof." She only served calve's brain to me once.
Reply

BadUncle was starred BadUncle was unstarred

Pinekatz
07/30/09

@BadUncle: Ditto. My grandparents, who hailed from farms in the Midwest and Oklahoma, always had a jar of pickled pig's feet in the fridge at all times, long after it wasn't necessary. Grandma learned to love this "delicacy." My grandfather would chew gristle and enjoy it. I always watched that with such fascination.

They ate beef heart, liver, chicken heart, sweetbreads and every manner of appalling forms of protein.

But, these people could bake a pie. They would work as a team, he doing the crust and she doing the filling. Their pies were, still to this day, the best I have ever had.
Reply

Pinekatz was starred Pinekatz was unstarred

ambitious
07/30/09

In reply to They Didn't Call it the 'Great' Depression For Nothing
Tough to interview the people who died of starvation or illness. Or the suicides. I'd love to get their collective take on "hope" in the job queues.

Human beings as a group try to make the best of shit. That's not new news.
Reply

ambitious was starred ambitious was unstarred

meechybee
07/30/09

In reply to They Didn't Call it the 'Great' Depression For Nothing
Yes, and all of the commenters in the Newsweek article were children during the depression. I bet their parents had a very different opinion of the times.
Reply

ambitious promoted this comment meechybee was starred meechybee was unstarred

ambitious
07/30/09

@meechybee: I asked my nana what it was like growing up during the depression and she said "We didn't know anything about that. We were playing." I mean, it makes sense.
Reply

ambitious was starred ambitious was unstarred

lionboy
07/30/09

@meechybee: I'm sure you are quite right it wasn't as hard on the kids because it was the only thing they knew.

My father grew up during the depression, one of five children deserted by their father. A lot of men deserted families out of shame for not being able to provide for them. His mother re-married and added four more to the brood. Although she died when I was about 10, I still remember Grandma Wagoner as a woman devoid of affection or joy.

The kids, my aunts and uncles, were always really funny. My dad's nickname was Skip. He got it because of the way he walked after a cutting his foot on a piece of glass. See, his shoe had a hole in it and they couldn't afford a doctor so he hobbled around a lot until it healed. As depressing as this story of poverty is, he continued to go by the name Skip for the rest of his life. The story always got laughs whenever it was re-told at family gatherings.

The other depression story that always left a mark on me was from an aunt who explained that poverty taught tolerance. It didn't matter who was what (race, religion, etc.) because everybody was poor. Nobody got to be better than anybody else.

Jesus, I think that rant is a sign of early on-set Alzheimers. Shit.
Reply

Edited by lionboy at 07/30/09 12:58 PM lionboy was starred lionboy was unstarred

meechybee
07/30/09

@meechybee: Yes, my father grew up in the depression, too. He tells stories of "borrowing" row boats to run booze from Jersey City to NYC, scavenging scrap metal and copper to sell, and running number from the candy shop (which was running illegal gambling in the back room). One of the highlights of his childhood was when the Maxwell House coffee warehouse caught on fire. They gathered up as many floating cans of coffee as possible and sold them the next day. A real "Our Gang" childhood.

Meanwhile, his mom was an immigrant with no family in the states and raising six kids on her own after being abandoned by her alcoholic husband. She worked two jobs scrubbing floors to make ends meet. In addition, their apartment was a cold water flat (literally) with an outhouse in the backyard (remember, this is a Jersey City walk-up, still there). All of their healthcare came from charities and the goodness of strangers.
Reply

meechybee was starred meechybee was unstarred

dado
07/30/09

In reply to They Didn't Call it the 'Great' Depression For Nothing
It seems like my being told that the recession is over is related in some inverse fashion to the fading prospects of healthcare reform. Not that I mind being spun.
Reply

Edited by dado at 07/30/09 11:34 AM dado was starred dado was unstarred

hilikusopus
07/30/09

@dado: That's because in the new healthcare reform proposal we will get all of our healthcare needs addressed by spin doctors. Say "ah".
Reply

Swifter promoted this comment Edited by hilikusopus at 07/30/09 12:00 PM hilikusopus was starred hilikusopus was unstarred

skymotel
07/30/09

In reply to They Didn't Call it the 'Great' Depression For Nothing
And who can forget all the exciting, creative ways people learned how to cook? Mock Apple Pie! Isn't this recipe great? We can eat sweetened crackers and pretend we used real apples! YAY!
Reply

skymotel was starred skymotel was unstarred

ManchuCandidate
07/30/09

In reply to They Didn't Call it the 'Great' Depression For Nothing
Tom Joad sez "Go fuck yourselves."
Reply

ManchuCandidate was starred ManchuCandidate was unstarred

Tremonius
07/30/09

In reply to They Didn't Call it the 'Great' Depression For Nothing
Don't forget the eponymic cutlery given away free at movie theatres which allowed countless poors to retire to the Hamptons when they became antique. Don't forget Depression Glass.
Reply

Tremonius was starred Tremonius was unstarred

Earlier discussions Other discussions Show all discussions Show featured discussions only Start a new discussion

SUBSCRIBE TO Gawker

Login

Reset Password

Register

Submit Your Comment