Texas Liberal

All People Matter

Reading About The Panic Of 1873 In Front Of The Enron Building

This video is called Reading About The Panic of 1873 While In Front Of The Former Enron Building. It is the second video on the blog. This video is about three minutes long.

Please click here to see the first video on this blog.

I view the ability for average person to make a video as an updated kind of folk art. Here are various definitions of folk art. One idea of folk art is people without any artistic training creating something with the tools they have at hand.

All people are able to express themselves in some creative way.

Here is information about the impact of the Panic of 1873 in New York. This article discusses what the 1873 crisis had in common with the current economic distress. 

There were issues of banks and credit and greedy speculation.  

Here is a good essay about the impact of the Panic of 1873 in Illinois.    

Here is the Panic of 1873 for kids from PBS.

The book I read from in the video is The Age of Lincoln by Orville Burton. 

Here is a chronology of Enron events from USA Today

Here are a series of articles about Enron from the Houston Chronicle.

Here is a history of Enron from the Canadian Broadcasting Company.

In the video, the sun is partially on my big head while the other portion of my head is in shadow. This makes my head somewhat like this drawing of the Earth—Part light and part dark. Here is an explanation of daylight.  Here is an explanation of night time on the Earth.

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March 6, 2009 - Posted by | Blogging, Books, History | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

6 Comments »

  1. Neil,

    I like the video thing, I think it’s working well for you. I particularly like — and agree with — the idea that video has become a folk art. When I first started with video, in about 1993, it was very much rarefied because it was so expensive. Cut to 15 years later, and it’s become quite accessible. It’s fantastic.

    This video is nice and contains a great deal of irony. I like that you’re doing locations. And locations with meaning. I also like the idea of looking at past economic crises. This has all happened before, and we can learn a lot from history. I agree, if we can hold out for a bit, things will get better.

    Cheers!

    Mike Barron

    Comment by Mike Barron | March 6, 2009

  2. Neil,
    Well done.
    Folks may wish to explore the history of the US Treasury at http://www.treas.gov/education/history/ It’s inadequate, but a place to start. It does not address the depression of the late 1810’s, largely spurred by wild speculation in the real estate market. This contributed to Moses Austin’s decision to try specualtion in another market, Spanish Texas.
    Your video approach to an enlighened and tolerant Texas could have influence. Maybe you could produce some shorts on HISTORICAL highlights of Texas liberalism, to prove that they exist and to be used by others wishing to demonstrate that Texans can be liberal, even in the 1800’s and 1900’s.
    Good luck.
    Will Howard

    Comment by Will Howard | March 7, 2009

  3. Thanks for both these comments. Both are useful as I proceed and think up new ideas. I might do something just like that Will.

    Comment by Neil Aquino | March 7, 2009

  4. The videos are a great add and I really hope that you don’t have to go back later and edit when you called it the recession of 2008 & 2009.

    Comment by citizenx | March 8, 2009

  5. Neil you have really done it.Your art project hits the spot.I agree that these videos are indeed folk art.To capture recurring cycles in history,and then show people how they are engineered is nothing short of genius.This allows people to see the big picture and the scope of things.Times are tough yes,but they could and have been alot tougher.Panicking sure wont help.We can all ride this out together if we don’t become the sheeple the giants expect us to be.Less credit,more cash on the barrelhead.Barter even better.Thank you for your video reading.More Please!! Heather Prescott Cumming

    Comment by Heather Prescott | March 8, 2009

  6. Citizen X–Hopefully not.

    Heather–Barter..I’d not thought of that.

    Thanks for these comments. I will indeed press ahead with more videos.

    Comment by Neil Aquino | March 10, 2009


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