THESE TIMES

As Thomas Paine said, "These are the times that try men's souls." Surely this corona virus episode qualifies as one of those times.

The Great Depression began in this country in 1929 with the stock market crash and was virtually over in 1933. If it had not been for a true leader in our President, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the U.S. would have suffered much more than it did. He set up a series of programs aimed at helping all those affected by that great economic downturn and the elected people cooperated. He created the New Deal which was a series of programs enabling many Americans to at least survive during that time. There was the Civilian Conservation Corps, which built many lovely buildings in our state parks, among other things; the Civil Works Administration and the Farm Security Administration, as well as the Social Security Administration.  Of course, you can look all this up online but I just felt I should point it out now because we have a national emergency and no leader. Oh, he's up there in Washington, wearing his baseball cap and mumbling through press interviews, but he's not really LEADING;because he's not really a leader.

Be that as it may, we have to put our heads together and come up with sensible solutions other than trying to hoard toilet paper. Surely there is one among us who can rise as a Phoenix from the ashes and push us back to reality. Meanwhile, I hope that all will attempt to be level headed and try to get through this mess with the least amount of damage to each other.

Sincerely, an old lady who has already been through a lot.

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