Little House and the Take-it-for-granted problem

One problem that economics teachers face
is the take-it-for-granted problem. People
may just assume that they can go to stores
that will be stocked with what they need.
They may not appreciate that this is not the
normal situation in human history, and that
it doesn’t just happen. A set of societal
decisions have to be made in order to set up
the process so that needed goods do get
produced and will appear in stores.

It would be good for people to read about
how ordinary people lived at previous times
in history in order to see the contrast.
One recommended book: Little House in the
Big Woods, by Laura Ingalls Wilder.
She wrote this book in the 1930s to describe
her childhood 60 years earlier in the 1870s.
As a young child she lived in a cabin in
the woods in Wisconsin.
Being eaten by wolves, or hunting all day
and returning empty-handed, were both serious possibilities.
The winters were extremely cold (which did help
provide a natural way to preserve meat).
They couldn’t be picky about what they ate.
A trip to the store in town or the arrival of
the threshing machine were exciting rare events.

Although much of their time was devoted to
tasks essential for survival, their lives were not all grim.
Her father played his fiddle for the family, and they
gathered with relatives for a big dance.

This book is the first book in the series about
her childhood. These books have become classics because
they make us readers feel like we have gone back in time
to live as they lived then — something we all should do
at times.
……………..
–Douglas Downing
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