This post is, indirectly, the intended part 3 of the time period nostalgia review started here. It began under more positive times.
It was supposed to be my decade, in the idolized retro 1950’s way. I had finally achieved a rather decent salary, in fact putting me in the top 17% of Americans–not bad for an Ohio resident/History major. I have my house. I have my family. I have my car. I have my gardens. Possessions might not define the man, but they remain an integral variable in the equation of life’s material existence.
Yet the victory is bittersweet. Not all are so fortunate, and it dampers the elation to see so many of my contemporaries struggling.
Business closures will reduce consumer choice and consolidate markets. Schooling taught from home will hold a generation’s academics behind. Record unemployment will again permanently damage the lifelong earning potential for those impacted. Collapsing equity values will damage retirements.
It was not the hopeful predictions I had planned to write for this installment.
–Simon