Recession Files: We are all Harvey Lesser
Scenes from the recession are rarely heartening. If anything, looking at photographs of Americans being removed from foreclosed homes, having cars repossessed, or lined up at the unemployment office, feels predatory or even obscene. But at their best, these photographs should remind us that times are still incredibly tough, regardless of what out-of-touch ‘experts’ like Larry Summers have to say. Having experienced job loss firsthand this past summer (Read: Fear & Self-Loathing in America’s Rust Belt, Part I and Part II), I am well aware of what day-to-day survival entails. For me, the ability to quickly adapt to my new reality and hustle day and night to pay bills and put food on the table, allowed me to weather a tough but life-changing six months of unemployment. That, and of course, luck. After sending out countless resumes, I eventually found work. Many are not so fortunate. One such case is the story of Harvey Lesser, an unemployed software developer with chronic health problems who was recently evicted from his apartment in Boulder, Colorado (pictured below).
Sheriff's deputies wake Harvey Lesser, 58, with a court order to evict him from his apartment on December 11, 2009 in Boulder, Colorado. (Photo: John Moore/Getty Images North America)
Michael Shaw, over at Bag News Notes, provides a sobering analysis of Getty Images photographer John Moore’s shots of Harvey Lesser being evicted. He begins by citing a Frank Rich column in the New York Times that was inspired by the film “Up in the Air”:
What gives our Great Recession its particular darkness … is the disconnect between the corporate culture that is dictating the firing and the rest of us. In the shorthand of the day, it’s the dichotomy between Wall Street and Main Street, though that oversimplifies the divide. This disconnect isn’t just about the huge gap in income between the financial sector and the rest of America. Nor is it just about the inequities of a government bailout that rescued the irresponsible bankers who helped crash the economy while shortchanging the innocent victims of their reckless gambles. What “Up in the Air” captures is less didactic. It makes palpable the cultural and even physical chasm that opened up between the two Americas for years before the financial collapse.
The private-equity deal makers who bought and sold once-solid companies like trading cards, saddling them with debt, never saw the workers whose jobs were shredded by their cunning games of financial looting. The geniuses in Washington and on Wall Street who invented junk mortgages and then bundled and sold them as securities didn’t live in the same neighborhoods as the mortgagees, small investors and retirees left holding the bag once the housing bubble burst.
Those at the top are separated from the consequences of their actions. (via Frank Rich)
Shaw then goes on to add his own commentary to the discussion:
The words above, from this morning’s Frank Rich column inspired by the movie “Up in the Air,” seem to speak directly to this photo by Getty’s tireless recession watchdog, John Moore. In this instance, Boulder resident Harvey Lesser – an unemployed software developer with chronic health problems related to obesity — was woken up on Friday by Sheriff deputies with a court order to evict him. Having burned through his savings, Harvey had stopped paying rent.
Shaw ends his post with a thought that accurately sums up the situation Wall Street has created for us: “…the fallout continues desperately, disasterously and mostly under-the-radar.”
Hard luck stories like that of Harvey Lesser make their rounds on the Internet and then they vanish. We all care for a moment, appalled by what we see in the photographs flickering on our computer screens, then we focus again on our own survival. But where is Lesser today? Is he living in his car? Is he fighting for a bed in a homeless shelter? Perhaps Getty photographer John Moore will provide an update. Perhaps we will never know. The shame is that we are all Harvey Lesser. Maybe not today or tomorrow. But one day we will be in a similar situation — on the receiving end of a severance package or eviction notice or a foreclosure letter — and who will care for us?
View John Moore’s slideshow on Harvey Lesser’s eviction
Post Your Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment
T/S Members
Log in with your True/Slant account.
well said Matt, especially the last paragraph. thank you for working so hard to make sure this was not our future. XO
Mr. Newton,
The way to look at the Great Recession is to compare it to the Great Depression. The stock market crashed in 2008 and 1929 respectively, signaling, not causing, each of the “Great” events. Today we are only in the Great Depressions equivalent to 1930. Everyone is still in denial about the size and severity of the economic collapse.
In October of 1930 President Hoover spoke to the American Bankers’ Association at Cleveland and said that the United States is so largely self-contained that it need not wait upon economic recovery in the rest of the world, but can take the initiative to do so itself. On September 23rd, 1930 Secretary of Commerce Lamont said there were “Distinctly encouraging features” in the business outlook based upon his reading the statistics.
Franklin Roosevelt did not become president for three more years of increasingly worsening conditions during which time the Federal Government did little to help the average American. He did so only after four years of Depression and increased social unrest.
There is still much more avoidance and denial to come before there is any serious effort to address the real problems of this country. You can expect more of the “We have to save Wall Street in order to save Main Street” talk for quite some time to come.
Great point David. I actually spoke with a friend recently about the idea of civil unrest, and how financial institutions and the government would be reacting far quicker to the worsening economic conditions if people were taking to the streets and voicing their disapproval in greater numbers. Hopefully conditions start to improve soon, and it doesn’t take three or four more years.
In response to another comment. See in context »Mr. Newton,
Part of the problem is that everyone, the powerful in Washington and the powerless getting evicted, are all sure that “recovery is just around the corner” and that if we just sit around wait a bit longer everything will be just fine. Of course Wall Street needs to be rescued, Main Street cannot unless Wall Street does. Once the “smart guys” on Wall Street and the “smart guys” in Washington (and they are the same guys) get things going, all will be well. It is a toxic blend of passivity and denial.
Harvey’s sister, Sue Mandell, and mentioned in the slideshow, saved the day.
Here in her own words is her posting on the slideshow “Discuss this Story” from MSNBC.com’s Newsvine: I am Harvey’s sister and I want to thank everyone for the very kind thoughts. This has been a very difficult time. Harvey’s neighbors, Emily, Ruthie and Brad moved all of Harvey’s belongings into an empty garage to keep them safe and out of the snow. God Bless Them. I don’t know how I could have handles finding a place and moving his things when I arrived from CA. They made a horrible time a little easier.
Harvey will be coming to my home and my husband is graciously trying to figure a way to build some privacy into our living room for him. This is no one’s ideal situation, especially financially with this economy. We are struggling too, but at least we will all have a roof over our heads.
With regard to donations, they are not necessary, but of course would be appreciated. If you care to do so, you can reach me at suemandell@wetip.com. My office number is (909) 987-5005 ext 250. WeTip, PO Box 1296, Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91729. God Bless you.
It is up to us from now on to take care of each other, as the aid agencies are simply overwhelmed and Goldman Sachs has completed its coup de etat of the federal government.
Ironically, I found out about Mr. Lesser’s story the same day I saw Matt Taibbi’s post about the Morgan Stanley Veep’s vanity plate, 2Big2Fail. There can’t be two America’s like this for much longer. The people will get pissed and fight back. No wonder Goldman Sachs execs are arming themselves.
Great post Matthew. I keep hearing from most people I meet that they are shocked we are not having more people in the streets protesting how Wall Street and the Insurance industry are taking over our government. I think too many people listen to the happy talk about everything getting back to “normal” in 2010. The lesson from the Great Depression was that the stock market actually hit the lowest bottom not in 1929 but in 1933 after going up several times in between to tease people into believing things were getting better. Thanks for making these stories come alive with your writing style.
You’re right fleetlee, I think times will unfortunately get worse before they get better. It’s frustrating to hear constant news reports about the end of the recession and tough times, when most anyone who stays even remotely up-to-date on the state of the economy knows that so many people are in crisis right now — and have a long road ahead to rebuild their lives. Thanks for your comment.
In response to another comment. See in context »