Introduction+Tom Kearney+ Chester Kolar Entry 7

Tom Kearny brought up the concept that the great depression impacted people’s entire lvies, not just the years of their lives while the depression was going on. I never considered what people missed out on because of the depression, because people eventually recovered from in economically. However, Tom Kearny discusses the things he never got the chance to do because of the depression. He starts a response to one of Terkel’s questions with “If the depression hadn’t come along…” (263).  He then goes on to discuss how the depression impacted his entire life, and disabled him from doing things that even as an adult he wished he had done in his past.

Kearney also made various points comparing the newer generation to older ones. He simply stated that, “Today things are changing” (265). Kearney followed this by discussing various ways in which society had changed from his past to his present.

One of these changes Kearney discussed was integration and the change of social acceptance. He talked about his belief of integrated schooling, addressing Americans about other ethnicities saying, “You’re going to have to get along with them. They’re here, so you might as well go to school with them and get along with them” (265). This showed how Kearney believed everyone should simply learn to live together

Kearney also touched on the change in religious belief. He stated,  “It isn’t a big deal anymore” (266). By this he meant that times were changing and for the most part people in general were not as stubborn about changing their religious beliefs or acknowledging the different beliefs of others.

Kearney also discussed the industrial changes and progress made in the country throughout his life. While talking about machines and factories he declared, “One man can do the work of ten today” (266). By this he simply meant that technology had advanced a lot since his past and the industrial world changed significantly since he was younger.

Both Kearney and Chester Kolar discuss the generations following theirs, which would be the people closer to our age. One comment Kearney made that stood out was he said, “They seem to accept other people more easily than we did” (270). This was interesting as I have heard this before and wonder if it is because there was so much racial tension in past generations.

Chester Kolar discussed our generation by talking about the impact of the media and television. He brought up the idea that all of the unfortunate news did more harm for the people viewing and hearing it than good by saying, “I think this news we’re having is doing us more harm than good” (273). This shows how the media coverage of unfortunate events such as deaths of war can negatively impact people.