Few can believe that suffering, especially by others, is in vain. Anything that is disagreeable must surely have beneficial economic effects.
I see one-third of a nation ill-housed, ill-clad, ill-nourished.
If we can ''boondoggle'' ourselves out of this depression, that word is going to be enshrined in the hearts of the American people for years to come.
In a society of little economic development, universal inactivity accompanies universal poverty. You survive not by struggling against nature, or by increasing production, or by relentless labor; instead you survive by expending as little energy as possible, by striving constantly to achieve a state of immobility.
Recession is when a neighbor loses his job. Depression is when you lose yours.
So-called ''austerity,'' the stoic injunction, is the path towards universal destruction. It is the old, the fatal, competitive path. ''Pull in your belt'' is a slogan closely related to ''gird up your loins,'' or the guns-butter metaphor.
We are enjoying sluggish times and not enjoying them very much.