[wdvltalk-social] Test

[smile-poetry]

 Just got round to replying. It is very nice to finish a mortgage and know that, at least in that, no one can double the interest charges! And that one really is sovereign in one's own home.

Well, I have been pessimistic on the economy for a long time, expecting real downturns several times over  the past 15 years. They have been prevented by money-printing. This time there is a ll the catching up because of such a long delay. I suspect there will be a depression - in fact by my count we are almost at the end of the third year!

As you see it doesn't have to mean disaster; doesn't have  to be like the earlier one. But all the cutting of stimulus is the entirely wrong move just now. But there does have to be a change to less consumerism. Since the economy that has just expired is all consumerist that is a problem.

The thirties though, was very patchy. Many people sailed through relatively easily, and most were able to make gradual adjustmens that weren't too difficult. This time it should be possible to avoid the desperate straits that so many experienced in the thirties.

Your son is probably good at timing ;-). By the time he is ready to practice building should be picking up, though not necessarily as we think of it now. The US will probably engage in more social housing than it ever thought it could agree to! Should also be moves to small business, expecially shops on high streets [main street], which have disappeared in so many places.

Probably be a lot of exciting new materials coming on stream too; offering new thinking in house provision particularly.

I rmember when they introduced the 65 retirement age here; it caused an enormous outcry from the large numbers that did not want to retire! The mistake has been not to raise it by a year every ten years or so, as longevity increased. And recently there was a story on a man who was still collecting trolleys in a store car park - he is 90.

I think work will change too as the corporate system weakens; though it will take a mighty fight to put corporations where they belong.

Rationing was incredible. 4oz of cheese a week, which was reduced to two for a while. Similar amounts of meat. A lot of the vegetarian ideas started then! And powdered soups - now developed to cup-a-soup and so on. There were a very large number of allotments, and the majority of beloved feature gardens were turned to food growing.

My wife stayed at one place where the Aderson Shelter [vital for protection from bombing in the East End] was devoted to the chickens. She said the landlady never offered them an egg; even for the child - my wife. But mostly there was a deal of co-operation, and mutual support. There were British Restaurants where people could go for meals, though what the ingredients were I hesitate to think about.

And for those who could find the money there was the black market...

The UK was unable to produce enough of its own food, and so imports were essential. But the convoys were sitting ducks for the U-boats. Which is why rationing had to be so tight. I think a great deal of the nutritional understanding today comes from that time.

But it was a very exhausted and tired nation that elected a government to vastly expand the welfare state and introduce a health service at the end of the war. Unexpectedly the emergency measure to offer accomodation to familes whose homes had gone i nthe bombing, the prefab, was one of the most successful innovations. Not only did these temporary structures last 40 years, but they gave rise to all sorts of changes in construction; and to the portacabin.

Joseph


From: "Cheryl D Wise" 
> Things are going well here. After paying off the mortgage on our home
> (benefit of staying in the same house for almost 20 years) we bought what
> will be our "semi-retirement" home at some point in the future (given the
> way things are going with the world's economies who knows if we'll ever be
> able to fully retire) but that's some ways off anyway. Here's some photos
> from when we bought the house
> http://gallery.me.com/wiserways#100008&view=grid&bgcolor=black&sel=11
> Fortunately our business has been doing reasonably well but with a kid going
> off to university next year I can only hope that it continues to do so. My
> eldest thinks he wants to be an architect - traditional sort not software.
> :) Youngest still has another 5 years to go before he reaches that stage. So
> you can see that retirement will be a long way off for us. 
> 
> Joseph, I don't think I ever had a quarter pound of sweets a week. Though I
> don't think I'd have cared for rationing at all, especially the small
> allotments of meat, powdered egg and other things I've read about in the UK
> during WWII. In the US there was rationing but it was more along the lines
> of gas, tires and oil (both cooking and lubricants) from what I understand.
> 
> I'm glad to see more activity on this list.
> 
> Cheryl D Wise
> http://by-expression.com
> http://expressionwebforum.com 
> http://wiserways.com
> twitter: cdwise
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: smile-poetry
> 
> And how is Christine; and Dave? Cheryl, Robert, Violet - who else?
> 
> Matt, lovely to hear all is well with you.
> 
> Nice to see the way the 70th anniversary of the Blitz is being handled; good
> to do this while so many of those who had to fight in the armed services and
> face the tasks of the constantly bombed home front are still alive. I lived
> through the period and suffered the rationing for years afterwards. Quarter
> pounds of sweets A WEEK! Come on now, hankies out  ;-).

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