The Great Depression was not isolated in America, like "The Great Recession" today, it negatively effected the entire globe. We don't have to look far to see similarities: sure the poor is still downtrodden, but more importantly, the anger is back. In Thailand (formerly Siam), The Depression lead to the collapse of the absolute monarchy during the Siamese Revolution of 1932. In France, widespread rioting lead to the rise of the Popular Front party. Australia, Canada, Chile, South Africa, all suffered devastating riots, political upheaval, and unprecedented civil turmoil. Japan escaped much of it by simply building up their army and artillery. And in Germany, The Depression gave an extremest group, The Nazi Party, all the willing listeners they needed.
No one was untouched by the hands of Wall Street bankers. And that was 1929.
When people lose money, they lose their minds. They do things they wouldn't normally do, say things that normally wouldn't be said, and take from those they wouldn't normally take from. It's psychology that we fear each other most, but the comfort and security afforded to us in good times, helps keep that fear at bay. But when society loses, the security fades, and we reach for our pitchforks ready to attack anyone who will take it.
It's not uncommon, it's human nature. And when purposefully evoked, it's called terrorism.
[From a statistical perspective, says Clark Chapman, Ph.D., an asteroid researcher at the Southwest Research Institute, in San Antonio, Texas, it was "very strange" that the deaths of a few people from anthrax dominated the news in late 2001, while the risks of influenza, which killed 30,000, "were just buried." That distortion, adds Geoff Sommer, a graduate student at the think tank Rand Corporation, is the essence of terrorism. It works as a "weapon of mass distraction," siphoning attention from other arenas.] (excerpt provided by psychologytoday.com)
Suddenly, everyone is out to save themselves from the impending doom!
Political factions like The Tea Party, an extremely small and ill organized group harvesting hate, bigotry, and racism have a national platform with hollowed and fearful Americans sauntering along. You have greed running rampant in every political office, with the number of mayors who faced recalls doubling (http://tinyurl.com/6a95d3j) . And you have neighbors telling one another, "I'd rather see you die, than assist in your well-being."
Terrorism is any calculated action that makes any group fearful of their well being.
The powerful, the media moguls, the bankers will continue to seek distractions. We must think beyond the latest "threat," challenging our fear, and begin expecting more from one another. Not fearing one another. The enemy is the one telling you to fear: the one that terrorizes. Stop listening. Turn off the TV. Stop thinking in red or blue, right or left, he said she said. It's time to think above it all. It's time to start demanding more. It's time to take your power back.
