Following politics can be very depressing these days because we seem to be suffering one crisis after another. I’m old enough to remember when approximately a third of the savings and loan associations failed between 1986 and 1995. Then there was terrorism and 9/11, a major economic downturn, and COVID, all against a backdrop of fentanyl overdoses and waves of illegal immigration.

Serious stuff, to be sure. But as a history nerd, I keep trying to put all this in perspective. I find myself thinking — what are the greatest crises this country has faced, and how do they compare with contemporary times?

We could begin at the beginning with the Revolutionary War, the trauma that started us off as a nation. Then came the War of 1812, which some consider a second war of independence. The Civil War certainly is high on my list, as is World War I, the Great Depression, World War II, and the Cold War in chronological order. And of course there were lesser economic episodes, as in the Financial Panics of 1819, 1837, 1857, 1873, 1884, 1893, and 1907 (yes, that’s what they were called then).

I thought of this when I ran across an article from a more authoritative source: “11 Crises That Changed American History” on The American Facts website (https://www.theamericanfacts.com/article/11-crises-that-changed-American-history?). Here is their list —

1. World War II (1939-1945)
2. The Great Depression (1929-1939)
3. The Great Chicago Fire (1871)
4. Yellow Fever (1793)
5. The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire (1911)
6. The Dust Bowl (1930s)
7. The Cold War (1945-1991)
8. The Revolutionary War Smallpox Epidemic (1775–1782)
9. The Cholera Waves (1832–1866)
10. The Smoking and Lung Cancer Crisis (1960s)
11. The Pure Food and Drugs Act (1906)

Interesting. In their list, what jumps out at me is that five of these events (4, 8, 9, 10 and 11) involve public health, while I mostly thought of wars and economics (you know, follow the money). But in any analysis, all of their events certainly brought about major change.

So where are we today? Do any of our contemporary conditions deserve equal consideration? What do you think?

Now go out about 50 years. What will the list look like then? Will there be any mention of the public debt (which currently is larger than our economy)? Or something environmental, like rising sea levels and Category Six hurricanes?

I would dearly love to be around in 50 years to see. But it may be best that I won’t be. Future generations, good luck!