The end of the world as we know it, or cultural renaissance? You decide.

The paradox between the economic disaster of the 1930s-40s and the flowering of cultural achievement in that era has been often commented upon. We get writers like Henry Miller, Ernest Hemingway, Zora Neale Hurston, TS Elliot, ee cummings, Langston Hughes, etc... And artistic movements from documentary realism to expressionism and surrealism. Not to mention the music, this was the golden age of Jazz/swing and the first time marginal genres like folk and country received much wider appreciation. And the same goes for Hollywood and theater in general. How did so much artistic creation rise out of the wide-spread poverty and despair of the first great depression?

There are many answers to that question. For example, there were WPA programs like the Federal Theater Project that funded local theater groups. There was no TV, so people were more likely to get out of their houses in search for entertainment. And 1933 saw the end of prohibition, making night clubs and dance halls possible.  

Beyond the misery produced by such economic downturns, there are other less negative effects as well. When business is slow, or non-existent, people may have more time on their hands. More time to think and create and/or more time to appreciate music, art, theater and writing--the former may also be encouraged by economic imperative, the latter motivated by a desire to escape the confines of their situation. 

Today, our cable TV and the internet are a mixed blessing. These are relatively inexpensive sources of endless entertainment, which can be a good thing when you are too broke to go out. But they are also easy, habit-forming options for unimaginative, and this could wind up being a detriment to the growth of our cultural resources, and a drag on the recovery of the economy as a whole.  But, who knows, perhaps folks will take their economic stimulus (in the form of paycheck tax reductions) and go buy a book, see a theater production or a band--supporting the artistic rebirth of the early millennium, an historical event that our great grandchildren will point to as evidence of our collective cultural sophistication and elan.