 A MIXED REACTION
The subject of this book is amazing - going into the details of a historical disaster most of us have only explored through the GRAPES OF WRATH. The horror and tragedy of the time seemed insurmountable. The Introduction and the Epilogue were especially important as they stress that when man gets out of step with nature, either through greed or ignorance, disaster occurs. Man's shortsightedness is unforgiven by nature. Sadly and horribly, we are slow learners and continue to flirt with disaster in bending natural rules.
My reaction was not wholly positive however, as I found the writing disorganized. It seems that the author had so much information, that he started dumping without good editing. Paragraphs were not well developed and often included tangential material. The author seemed to have difficulty deciding if the book was going to be presented through biographical sketches, chronologically, or based on major events. Throughout the book, materials were repeated redundantly without adding to the power of the message. A good book that could have been more impressive if tightened up.
 history
A great history of a time I knew little about. The suffering of these Americans is unimaginable and totally unnecessary.
Human nature is survival.
My parents spoke of the dust bowl days as well as the great depression. Their stories most often emphasized how people helped their relatives and friends through very hard times by taking care of one another during illness, and sharing the few resources (i.e. food, clothing and shelter) that they had. During the current economic mess, the skills these folks used could serve us well. There is a lot to be learned about the good and the not so good of human nature and the will to survive.
Relevant, compelling, but not for everyone.
Credit was easy, land was cheap, and the government was optimistic about the economy and the land itself. During the 1920's settlers rushed to "No man's land," or Oklahoma, and plowed innumerable rows of wheat into the dry soil. Soon, droughts increased in severity and frequency, a meteorological phenomenon that coincided with the deepest trough of the Great Depression. Before long, the high plains were populated by n0w-destitute farmers and their families, vast numbers of whom suffered from chronic respiratory problems due to persistent, colossal dust storms that blinded cattle and destroyed crops. Banks--which offered no deposit insurance or guarantee of any kind--closed in droves, and with them went customers' savings from the "good years" of the decade before. Farmers couldn't make money; prairie states garnered insufficient tax revenue; schools went bankrupt; businesses failed. The economy shrank.
In The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl, a history and biography of the 1930's agricultural and economic catastrophe, you can't help but see a reflection of today's Great Recession. Often the difference between our current situation and that of the Dust Bowl is a matter of magnitude, not type. Consider, for instance, the Hoover administration's ignorant but frequent declaration that "soil is the one resource that can't be exhausted!" Soil is a fragile resource that takes thousands of years to create and, in the case of the high plains, just a handful of seasons to destroy. "Gold rush" style farming lead to a rootless layer of soil and an estimated 440 million tons of top soil being swept off the ground and through the air, reaching as far as 300 miles off the eastern seaboard on some days. These destructive "dusters," as they were called, persisted for over five years.
Today, a promise insisting upon soil's limitless resilience would seem foolish and fraudulent. Or would it? Aggressive farming practices continue to decimate landscapes all over the world. Rick and I saw, firsthand, the massive landslides in Nepal, which often result from reckless terracing of the Himalayans. In Oklahoma, the land flies up; in Nepal, it slides down. Nepali farmers work the land this way because they have no choice. They work in dark ages-type feudal servitude, and under the control of private (often foreign) landowners.
American farmers have largely abandoned intensive, sod-destroying plowing in favor of "minimum till" or even "no till" methods, made possible by herbicides like Monsanto's infamous Roundup (glyphosate). Almost as a rule, farmers of corn, soy, and cotton also purchased Monsanto's genetically-modified (and monopolized) "Roundup Ready" seeds, which grew into plants that were unharmed the herbicide. This lead to extraordinary, excessive spraying of Roundup. Now, far earlier than expected, "superweeds" are proving resistant to Roundup, sending farmers scrambling for cheaper, non-genetically modified seeds that demand old-school heavy plowing. (If Roundup doesn't work, then why pay for the premium Roundup Ready seeds?) Meanwhile, our endless appetite for cheap food ensures that sustainable farming practices are a distant dream. It seems we still hope that "soil is the one resource that can't be exhausted."
What's most remarkable about The Worst Hard Time--and what undoubtedly contributed to its recent rise in popularity--is its timing. Egan published the book in 2005, at the peak of our most recent economic cycle. And yet he narrates the rise and fall of the American banking system without a hint of foreshadowing. Reading these passages will make you wonder: How have we let this happen again? After all, our Federal Reserve Chairman (Ben Bernanke) is one the foremost living scholar on the economics of the Great Depression!
While you can't teleport back to 2005 in order to read The Worst Hard Time before the start of our latest hard time, try considering whether you would have seen the writing on the wall. Then ask yourself if you see the writing on our farmland, now. The book places a historical mirror in front of our economically struggling faces; and for that, it is compelling, relevant, and useful. But this book is a slow one, and it lacks the riveting tone of, say, John M. Barry's The Great Influenza(a definite "Read It"). Egan never fully drew me into the lives of the book's core families whom he researches with such depth. A history book is a history book. So I say save it for a time when "remarkable but a bit dry history book" is in your rotation.
Spork in the Road: A blog for our times.[...]
 Worst Hard Times Book
I ordered the Book on June 12 and it is now July 18th and I still haven't received it. The book was to have been received by July 6th (which I think is more than ample time to receive a book). Don't know what the hold-up is...
|
