BTCO

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"Grapes of Wrath" Holds Lessons for Survival - the current economy is even worse for millions of middle class families than during the Great Depression.

Seeded on Thu Feb 17, 2011 8:26 AM EST

politics, us, obama, barack-obama, republicans, gop, republican, tea-party, elections, budget

Seeded by btco

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John Steinbeck wrote his masterpiece The Grapes of Wrath at the age of 37 in 1939, at the tail end of the Great Depression. Steinbeck won the Nobel Prize and Pulitzer Prize for literature. John Ford then made a classic film adaption in 1941, starring Henry Fonda. It's considered one of the top 25 films in American history. The book was also one of the most banned in US history. Steinbeck was ridiculed as a communist and anti-capitalist by showing support for the working poor.

Some things never change, as the moneyed interests that control the media message have attempted to deflect the blame for our current Depression away from their fraudulent deeds. The novel stands as a chronicle of the Great Depression and as a commentary on the economic and social system that gave rise to it. Steinbeck's opus to the working poor reverberates across the decades. He wrote the novel in the midst of the last Fourth Turning Crisis. His themes of man's inhumanity to man, the dignity and rage of the working class, and the selfishness and greed of the moneyed class ring true today.

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Public Discussion (21)

btco

The American people have a choice. They can continue on a course of apathy, selfishness and worship of mammon, or they can rally together with selflessness and concern for the welfare of their fellow man and future unborn generations. The current path, forged by a minority of privileged wealthy elite, will lead to the destruction of this country and misery on an unprecedented scale. It is up to each of us to show the courage of John Steinbeck, who without a thought for himself, stood up against the stones of condemnation, and spoke for those who were given no real voice in the halls of justice, or the halls of government. By doing so he became an enemy of the political status quo. Are you prepared to incur the wrath of the vested interests and meet their lies and propaganda with the fury of your own wrath in search for the truth?

7 votes

#1 - Thu Feb 17, 2011 8:27 AM EST

Remote Viewer

Are you prepared to incur the wrath of the vested interests and meet their lies and propaganda with the fury of your own wrath in search for the truth?

I see no other choice if we hope to survive as decent human beings instead of spineless slaves to the greedocracy. ReadingThe Grapes of Wrath in high school in 1960 was a transformative experience for me, a daughter of conservative Republicans. For this day and age, it still says it all.

Thank you for this seed, btco.

7 votes

#1.1 - Thu Feb 17, 2011 8:52 AM EST

demmywemmy

A very well done article. I wonder how close we are to civil unrest when the income gap shows no signs of abating even under a democratic president- a president who gave Wall Street no more than a wrist slap.

The only person I catch with some regularity on MSNBC is Dylan Ratigan- he's abrasive and sometimes rude, but he's the TV equivalent of Steinbeck, letting the public know the game is rigged and both political parties are in on it.

4 votes

#1.2 - Thu Feb 17, 2011 10:15 AM EST

Chuck1968

Is it the Dems stopping the stimulus? was it the dems fighting for free market deregulation? was it the dems who lied about health care, budgets, the deficit, the Irq war WMDS?

Im still waiting to hear how the Dems are in on it.

I like Ratigan as well. But he has been wrong on plenty of things. Such as blaming F/F for the greed of the private bankers (and F/F investors who forcefully pushed for F/F to get into the CDS CDO markets. )

He is right though that we need regulation on the mortgage backed securities.

Just as Democrat Brooksley Born had said a decade ago.

Name the GOP members who have learned from this experience and are now wanting regulation.

there are none. Name the Democrats fighting for deregulation. The entire party.

so both parties are in on it ...equally?

3 votes

#1.3 - Thu Feb 17, 2011 10:32 AM EST

liberalism is a lie

yes you are correct...the dems have lied about the cost of health care. The dems have lied about their budget (actually they have yet to create one after two years). The dems have lied about the deficit (Obama in particular). So yes, you liberals lie pretty good.

#1.4 - Thu Feb 17, 2011 10:50 AM EST

Hughmac312

liberalism is a lie, geez don't overplay your hand before the ante.

what is the lie about health care, that it is inflated artificially by the overt corruption of the health INSURANCE industry. How does anyone create a budget in the climate of obfuscation, obdurate behaviour by opposition leaders, and outright corruption?

And the deficit, you mean the deficit that was doubled by W, that deficit?

You are part of the problem. You allow your desire to be a part of something other than your country, to blind you to the corruption of all the leaders on both sides.

Grow up, get educated, and help all of us come together to get out of it. I'll guarantee that the people stealing this country care as little for you as they do for me.

2 votes

#1.5 - Thu Feb 17, 2011 12:01 PM EST

btco

liberalism is a lie,

This isn't a dem vs rep thing, it is a Corporate America vs real Americans thing.

Tell me what you think of the fact that Financial Firms that trade in derivatives sent letters to the Federal Regulators who are right now writing rules to protect us from another bubble. Those letter were forged and they committed a felony all in the name of profit.

How do you like that we gave Department of Defense contracts worth $280 Billion to 211 companies who already paid the Federal Government over a million each to settle previous criminal fraud charges?

And finally, what do you think of Deutsch Bank, Morgan Stanley and Saxon Mortgage for leaving a disabled Iraqi Veteran homeless? They violated the law and stole this hero's home six years ago, he still is waiting for justice.

We are being robbed blind, we are told it's the other guys fault. That it's the GOP or Pelosi or whoever, when in reality it's the greed of large corporate interests exerting influence on ALL politicians that is killing us. Just like in Steinbeck's classic.

2 votes

#1.6 - Thu Feb 17, 2011 12:22 PM EST

demmywemmy

Chuck 1968

As has been said, please get over the partisan issue on this. Here's two names: Kent Conrad and Chris Dodd. Here's a company: Country Wide Mortgage. Google the three and you'll see that these two dems are as guilty as any Republican. Is it any wonder that both are "retiring"?

People need to go to jail on this and Eric Holder won't do @!$%#- he needs to be called out on it ASAP.

1 vote

#1.7 - Thu Feb 17, 2011 5:02 PM EST

Dean Moriarty

In the GoR the moral of the story is they did not stand around waiting for someone else to feed them.
They did whatever they could to provide for themselves. They packed up and traveled the country searching out work at a free market wage. They feared the government because they knew that the government was not going to do a darn thing for them.
They ignored the laws and committed crimes. They survived because of personal responsibility.

2 votes

#2 - Thu Feb 17, 2011 9:05 AM EST

Hughmac312

It lasted how long, the great depression, how did we get out of it?

Massive government spending, work projects, TVA etc. Then we got us a good war to gear up for and that eventually pulled us out of it completely. So I guess their fear of the government finally won out over the pangs of hunger.

A lot didn't survive. A lot lost everything they worked for now that sounds familiar, and I seem to remember pictures of all kinds of relief and soup kitchens, are we talking about the same depression or do you choose your facts differently than I do?

Our society is drastically different but that's an entirely different subject.

5 votes

#2.1 - Thu Feb 17, 2011 9:18 AM EST

btco

Actually, it's more of a transformation from the Me to the We for the sake of survival against the greed of the wealthy.

Wherever they's a fight so hungry people can eat, I'll be there. Wherever they's a cop beatin' up a guy, I'll be there. If Casy knowed, why, I'll be in the way guys yell when they're mad an' -- I'll be in the way kids laugh when they're hungry n' they know supper's ready. An' when our folks eat the stuff they raise an' live in the houses they build -- why, I'll be there." -- Tom Joad, Grapes of Wrath

Steinbeck's wrath was directed toward the bankers who stole the farms, the California landowners who treated the workers like vermin, and the police who sided with the wealthy and carried out the brutality on the workers. Tom Joad's anger and wrath toward those who meant to make them cower is portrayed powerfully in this passage:

"I know, Ma. I'm a-tryin'. But them deputies -- Did you ever see a deputy that didn't have a fat ass? An' they waggle their ass an' flop their gun aroun'. Ma," he said, "if it was the law they was workin' with, why we could take it. But it ain't the law. They're a-working away at our spirits. They're a-tryin' to make us cringe an' crawl like a whipped bitch. They're tryin' to break us. Why, Jesus Christ, Ma, they comes a time when the on'y way a fella can keep his decency is by takin' a sock at a cop. They're working on our decency".

7 votes

#2.2 - Thu Feb 17, 2011 9:25 AM EST

Hughmac312

Someone is going to have to make a Grapes of Wrath video game if you want our kids to even know there was such a book.

Maybe today's version could be the Wrath of Greed, or tonight's dinner the Seeds of Grapes.

All of us, the right and the left need to be in the streets, coming together and demanding justice, accountability, and jobs.

I always get a sinking feeling that the last 2-3 years have been nothing more than the tip of an iceberg. States are broke, we've lost our manufacturing backbone, education is deplorable, and our leadership is synonomous to criminal.

We have a military that does nothing more than suck our resources and blows up other country's infrastructure while our infrastructure blows up all by itself. But then we send billions and billions to rebuild the other country, for a phony fornicating war, while our infrastructure crumbles.

7 votes

#3 - Thu Feb 17, 2011 9:14 AM EST

Chuck1968

the moral of the story is they did not stand around waiting for someone else to feed them.
They did whatever they could to provide for themselves. They packed up and traveled the country searching out work at a free market wage.

This most certainly is not the moral of this story. FDR saved the day with SOCIALISM the CCC, TVA...

good Lord! THE FREE MARKET DOES NOT EXIST. We are at the mercy of corporate America ..wake up!

All of us, the right and the left need to be in the streets, coming together and demanding justice, accountability, and jobs.

First the right wing has to admit they've been duped. Their team captains screwed them. Good luck because they don't seem to understand or care about the basic economic facts and corporate America will continue to push the baloney so we fight amongst each other.

5 votes

#4 - Thu Feb 17, 2011 10:19 AM EST

demmywemmy

First the right wing has to admit they've been duped. Their team captains screwed them. Good luck because they don't seem to understand or care about the basic economic facts and corporate America will continue to push the baloney so we fight amongst each other.

I can't think of any words that are more on point. And the saddest part are your last six words.

1 vote

#4.1 - Thu Feb 17, 2011 10:32 AM EST

Nick46

the moral of the story is they did not stand around waiting for someone else to feed them.
They did whatever they could to provide for themselves. They packed up and traveled the country searching out work at a free market wage.

Wrong. They left because of the horrible conditions of the "dust bowl'. And there was no one to provide hand outs. They didn't search out work around the country they headed directly to Calif because that's where they heard jobs were available working the fields.

We are in desperate times but when we spend $billions on a war there should be some available to help here at home. The next war we have will be a revolution.

2 votes

#5 - Thu Feb 17, 2011 10:41 AM EST

Sweet-Baby-James

Both my parents grew up on sharecropper farms in the south during the Great Depression. To compare our current situation to those days is ignorant, at best.

2 votes

#6 - Thu Feb 17, 2011 10:48 AM EST

Hughmac312

who is comparing the two? they are similar in the fact that millions were put out of work, millions have lost their homes, and millions are in poverty

i don't believe it is about you and your parents...

1 vote

#6.1 - Thu Feb 17, 2011 11:44 AM EST

Hughmac312

and you seem to have a good grip on what ignorant is

#6.2 - Thu Feb 17, 2011 11:55 AM EST

BTCO

"Grapes of Wrath" Holds Lessons for Survival - the current economy is even worse for millions of middle class families than during the Great Depression.

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BTCO

"Grapes of Wrath" Holds Lessons for Survival - the current economy is even worse for millions of middle class families than during the Great Depression.

Published to:

FUN STUFF:

COMPANY STUFF:

LEGAL STUFF: