When financial disaster struck in 1929, it was a surprise to everyone.
Sophisticated financial types were busy making money and they never thought the good times would end. Less-sophisticated investors — those who made a good living and invested prudently — were wiped out, even though their investments were exactly what financial planners had advised.
And those common people who just worked for a living — who had no investments but didn’t think jobs would fade away — were devastated. Millions of people suddenly had no reasonable way to support their families. The Great Depression had come to the U.S. and Europe.
Almost nobody saw it coming — and those who were doing what they thought was smart were all wiped out, even though they were following conventional wisdom.
You don’t want to hear this, but that’s going to happen again — almost certainly within our lifetimes — and it’s going to wipe out everybody who’s currently doing the prudent and “reasonable” thing with their money. Of course, that narrative isn’t good for the business of those who sell you investments, so they’re going to do everything in their power to convince you not to look behind the curtain.
Suicide ends pain of depression, but scars loved ones left behind
Depression can be mind’s way of saying, ‘Hey, we’re way off track’
A year later, my father’s death looms large, but I have no regrets
We’re neither friends nor enemies, just strangers who share the past
Society needs storytellers to help make sense of a changing world
My bad teen poetry suggests I’ve always hungered for missing love