The Western American culture is a frontier of American culture that is still left in the dark for me. Steinbeck's essay shed some light on the subject. The idea of the government camps was one that was very interesting. I have the (limited) view that government welfare programs are basically just handouts and that the recipients don't have any responsibility to work for it. This concept of a self governing sort of camp was very interesting. Especially since it did so much more than restore their finical situation it restored their sense of dignity. Which was the one thing that seemed to destroy them the most. I felt like the ever valued American spirit was revived in those camps. However I must pose the question, would those camps thrive today? Is hard work still up held by the American spirit? Are people willing to work for the betterment of the whole and for the dignity of the whole rather than for the individual?
Also something I want to mention was that I really liked Steinbeck's writing style. It helped me to connect the dots with some of the TSIS concepts.
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