In my early years, I remember my parents and their friends talking about the Depression and hoping that "one day" it would end.
I was born 3 years before the USA got into World War II. The Depression was still oppressing a large number of Americans, all across the country.
FDR has been widely credited with ending the Depression, when in fact, he made it both worse and longer than it would have been had he not tampered with the economy through his "New Deal" policies.
I try to watch and read news and commentary from a number of sources and with varying political points of view. I've been concerned for several months that a few leading economists -- among them Arthur Laffer and Stuart Varney -- have been forecasting economic "collapse" for the US economy. Their consensus is that economic affairs will come down around our years no later than mid-2011!
That's SOON!!
It's been the conservative news media that have been warning of this for months. Now I see that the rest of the media -- not wishing to be perceived as ignorant of financial matters -- are now beginning to point with alarm at future events. In case you can't link to the link at the beginning of this post, I strongly recommend you read this article: http://www.benzinga.com/10/08/426718/will-quantitative-easing-by-the-federal-reserve-unleash-economic-hell
While I'm not exactly sure what "economic hell" is, I know it is not good!
You and I are riding this train, and they won't let us anywhere near the throttle in the engine room, so, what do we need to do in order to ride out this coming "economic hell".
Many financial advisors recommend converting any cash assets you have into precious metal coins -- gold or silver US coins. That sounds good to me, but having some experience in those markets, I recommend Silver Eagles from the US Mint. Those are worth somewhere near $20 today, and will have some value as a medium of exchange even when the paper dollars in your pocket are worthless.
Gold coins are OK, I guess, if you have a large amount of cash to stash, but because of their relative value, they might be too valuable to worth very much as a medium of exchange in crisis except for "big ticket" items, not for every day commerce. If you do decide to convert to gold and/or silver coins, I strongly recommend that you invest only in bullion coins from the US Mint. They are of reliable and accurate weight and content. With coins from any other source, you cannot be sure of either.
To prepare for such dire events, there are more urgent needs needing your attention than currency. After all, our parents and grandparents made it through the Depression with very little or no cash at all!
. . . more later. Your comments, ideas, and suggestions are welcome.
Showing posts with label depression. Show all posts
Showing posts with label depression. Show all posts
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Monday, June 23, 2008
. . . my brother was an only child . . .
"My brother was an only child."
Mon, 01/21/2008 - 02:05
My brother WAS an only child!
You may not know it, but I was born at a very young age. Wasn't even a year old, as a matter of fact. But, that didn't discourage my parents. They kept me anyway.
Alton Thompson and Annie Swor grew up in Trinity County, Texas, in the first half of the 20th century and like many others of their time, were victims of The Great Depression. Alton was born and grew up in Sylvester, just outside the logging town of Groveton. Annie was born and grew up just a few miles away in Apple Springs. Good thing it was a ride on horseback of a reasonable distance, or I may never have seen the light of day.
Dad's parents were Cleona Fidelia (Mochman) Thompson Harrott. Very German in her early years, but greatly Americanized and "Texanized" by the time I knew her. I never knew my grandfather, Herbert Thompson. He died during the year of the great flu epidemic, in 1917. He had "Bright's Disease", so I've never known which claimed him - the flu or the disease. He left my grandmother and four relatively young children, Butler, Madge, Alton, and Wilhelmina to operate a farm and feed and clothe themselves . . . alone. I don't recall their relative ages . . . I'll try to find and post that later, but Alton was 4 and the younger Wilhelmina was only 2 when he died.
A few years later, Grandma married Joseph Harrott, her brother-in-law. Jodie, he liked to be called, was a brother of ______ Harrott, husband of her sister, Ocie. So, Grandma and Jodie are who I remember as my paternal grandparents. Perhaps later, I'll have time for a few stories about them.
Mother's parents were Richard Henry Wright Swor and Mary Elizabeth (Smith) Swor. Farmers.
Richard - all his children AND grandchildren called him "Papa" - had migrated from Swortown, near Paris, TN, when his parents moved to Texas.
Mary Elizabeth - we called her "Grandma", but her friends called her "Lizzie" - had been orphaned when she was quite small. She had been adopted by a couple named "Smith" in the southern Georgia town of Cairo. When she was 7, the family migrated from Georgia to East Texas by covered wagon.
I don't recall much about mother and daddy courting. I guess I was much too young to have noticed. :) But, I do recall them telling about daddy riding his horse from Sylvester to Apple Springs to see her. They liked to go to dances, and from what their friends have told me, they were very good at the Texas 2-Step. No question about whether or not they enjoyed it. They really did.
In 1935, they had a son, Jerry Alton, who never lived more than possibly a moment or two. Apparently his was a very difficult delivery in which the doctor needed to use forceps to assist in birthing him. Forceps can be very hard on a new-born's delicate little body. In the delivery, tragically, his neck was broken, along with mother's heart. Jerry Alton is buried in the Old Sumpter Cemetery, just outside Groveton, TX, where he was born.
Three years later, on May 5, 1938, their next son was born, also in Groveton. That was I.
In 1941, my first sister, Elizabeth Ann joined me. Then in the icy winter of 1944, Charles Henry became a part of our growing family. In 1946 and 1948, both on March 13, Martha Lynn and Melba Jane made our famly complete.
About my brother being an only child? I just borrowed that from Mark Twain to get your attention.
Mon, 01/21/2008 - 02:05
My brother WAS an only child!
You may not know it, but I was born at a very young age. Wasn't even a year old, as a matter of fact. But, that didn't discourage my parents. They kept me anyway.
Alton Thompson and Annie Swor grew up in Trinity County, Texas, in the first half of the 20th century and like many others of their time, were victims of The Great Depression. Alton was born and grew up in Sylvester, just outside the logging town of Groveton. Annie was born and grew up just a few miles away in Apple Springs. Good thing it was a ride on horseback of a reasonable distance, or I may never have seen the light of day.
Dad's parents were Cleona Fidelia (Mochman) Thompson Harrott. Very German in her early years, but greatly Americanized and "Texanized" by the time I knew her. I never knew my grandfather, Herbert Thompson. He died during the year of the great flu epidemic, in 1917. He had "Bright's Disease", so I've never known which claimed him - the flu or the disease. He left my grandmother and four relatively young children, Butler, Madge, Alton, and Wilhelmina to operate a farm and feed and clothe themselves . . . alone. I don't recall their relative ages . . . I'll try to find and post that later, but Alton was 4 and the younger Wilhelmina was only 2 when he died.
A few years later, Grandma married Joseph Harrott, her brother-in-law. Jodie, he liked to be called, was a brother of ______ Harrott, husband of her sister, Ocie. So, Grandma and Jodie are who I remember as my paternal grandparents. Perhaps later, I'll have time for a few stories about them.
Mother's parents were Richard Henry Wright Swor and Mary Elizabeth (Smith) Swor. Farmers.
Richard - all his children AND grandchildren called him "Papa" - had migrated from Swortown, near Paris, TN, when his parents moved to Texas.
Mary Elizabeth - we called her "Grandma", but her friends called her "Lizzie" - had been orphaned when she was quite small. She had been adopted by a couple named "Smith" in the southern Georgia town of Cairo. When she was 7, the family migrated from Georgia to East Texas by covered wagon.
I don't recall much about mother and daddy courting. I guess I was much too young to have noticed. :) But, I do recall them telling about daddy riding his horse from Sylvester to Apple Springs to see her. They liked to go to dances, and from what their friends have told me, they were very good at the Texas 2-Step. No question about whether or not they enjoyed it. They really did.
In 1935, they had a son, Jerry Alton, who never lived more than possibly a moment or two. Apparently his was a very difficult delivery in which the doctor needed to use forceps to assist in birthing him. Forceps can be very hard on a new-born's delicate little body. In the delivery, tragically, his neck was broken, along with mother's heart. Jerry Alton is buried in the Old Sumpter Cemetery, just outside Groveton, TX, where he was born.
Three years later, on May 5, 1938, their next son was born, also in Groveton. That was I.
In 1941, my first sister, Elizabeth Ann joined me. Then in the icy winter of 1944, Charles Henry became a part of our growing family. In 1946 and 1948, both on March 13, Martha Lynn and Melba Jane made our famly complete.
About my brother being an only child? I just borrowed that from Mark Twain to get your attention.
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