What Would A Modern Depression Look Like?

[DJ_Quinn]

http://mintdollar.com/depression-2009-what...d-it-look-like/

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

Cry Of The Eagle: History And Legends Of The Cherokee Indians And Their Buried Treasure - Grab it through Amazon!

[EDDE]

something like this

 

[Jeffro]

Gotta admit, that was one tough bread line!

Wonder what the soup line looks like?

 

[mikeofaustin]

I've heard that those 'rich people' that drive those nice cars are really poor at times... Friend who ran a pawn shop told me 'rich' women in the jag's would come in to pawn a ring for 20 bucks...

.... with that said, I'd think there would be the rich snobs in the soup line too, along with more laws, and police pointing rifles toward your direction... this would be 'for your protection'.

 

[pippinwhitepaws]

Population: 303,824,640 (July 2008 est.) this is from us factbook...
so let me get this correct...
700 billion bailout for financial markets, 15 billion for the auto industry...
couldn't we avoid a depression by not sending money to international corporations, but a billion to every person who has a social security number? even if you include the illegals in the bailout, we still save 400+ billion...

who would complain about 4.00 gallon gas then?

 

[DJ_Quinn]

Population: 303,824,640 (July 2008 est.) this is from us factbook...
so let me get this correct...
700 billion bailout for financial markets, 15 billion for the auto industry...
couldn't we avoid a depression by not sending money to international corporations, but a billion to every person who has a social security number? even if you include the illegals in the bailout, we still save 400+ billion...

who would complain about 4.00 gallon gas then?

I always wpndered about if you redistributed all the wealth, 5 years from now, would the people that were wealthy and succesful and the people who were living on the margins be back in the same boat again?

 

[rmptr]

I would, DJ!

I'd like to try a Minelab Excalibur. and I'd get me a small boat. to get me to my new tropic island where I could try it out!

Of course there'd be a few beers in there...

 

[lucky1777]

Population: 303,824,640 (July 2008 est.) this is from us factbook...
so let me get this correct...
700 billion bailout for financial markets, 15 billion for the auto industry...
couldn't we avoid a depression by not sending money to international corporations, but a billion to every person who has a social security number? even if you include the illegals in the bailout, we still save 400+ billion...

who would complain about 4.00 gallon gas then?

You math is WAY off. 1 billion for every person in your figure would add up to 303824640000000000.00 I am not sure but I think this would be three hundred three quadrillion or quintillion. Don't quote me...

 

[jglunt]

If you took the $700,000,000,000.00 and distributed it evenly to every man, woman & child it adds up to just under $700.00 each. Not exactly life changing money.

Jim

 

[rmptr]

So what's this new math mean?

We can bail out bankers and I can't have a Minelab, boat, and a small island?

 

[jglunt]

I'm sure Countrywide will give you a favorable interest rate on a mortgage on the small island.

 

[cybercop106]

Make sure you use part of the "island loan money" to buy a .50 cal machine gun and declare yourself 'Soverign'. Then default on the loan and fire a few warning shots across the bow when bill collectors or repo agents come. By that time the Big O will probably have gutted the military and emasculated law enforcement, so they couldn't afford to come after you.
Even if you do end up in trouble just blame the mortgage company for taking advantage of your dreams (by that time there will probably be a fed court precedent for that defense) and ask for some redistributed wealth as 'compensation'............ or just sue them. By then, that will probably be a shoe-in too.

 

[Michigan Badger]

Great thread.

Back a year or two ago we had similar thread going here on about the same topic. Back then few believed there would be a for real depression. Today the general attitude has shifted toward doom.

I think the article you gave the link to is good and I partly agree with it. He thinks TV will be the average Americans main "toy" during the depression period. I personally see many of these cable TV/phone/internet setups going down the tubes. When money is really tight the expensive cable setups will be dropped by most folks.

While all of us hate the thought of a depression, the fact is, a hard depression could be beneficial to this nation in the long run. It could actually strengthen the family and heal some of the wounds between the various racial factions in this country.

America since about the mid 50's has gone nuts. It's almost humorous that the children types featured in "Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory" give a pretty darn good picture of the average person in the world today. Greed and never being satisfied are a way of life here in the U.S.

For the sake of my grand children I hope that real depression never comes but it might be the only thing to save America.

 

[Noodle]

No Internet
No Satellite TV
No restaurants
Sparce hotels, with few amenities
No full grocery stores
Lots of neighbors comparing tools
Seeds from anywhere, mostly bought weeks ago or scrounged
No clothing bought
No gifts bought
Electricity cut back to minimal
No payments made on luxuries; life insurance, car insurance, home insurance
Car loans defaulted and gone; repossessed

 

[Jeffro]

Great thread.



I think the article you gave the link to is good and I partly agree with it. He thinks TV will be the average Americans main "toy" during the depression period. I personally see many of these cable TV/phone/internet setups going down the tubes. When money is really tight the expensive cable setups will be dropped by most folks.

One funny thing I've noticed over the years is exactly the opposite. I've seen many people here on welfare, on food stamps, unemployment, kvetching about how they can;t get ahead, but the one thing that is always paid is the cable bill! Never ceases to amaze me. Kids are eating ramen morning noon and night, but Showtime and HBO are readily available. Strange society we live in.

 

[rmptr]

I'm gonna pass on that Soverign thing, Cyber...

Without an army, I know what sovereign is = deposed.

Then the only tropic island I get is Club Gitmo!

Ha! Ha! What was the Peter Sellers movie where some little country attacked USofA
They pulled up to the dock during an air raid... everyone was out of sight. They figured they'd won!

Badger, I think the collapse we are entering will make the 30's look like a picnic.
And I have specific reasons.

There is exponentially more debt than there was before.
There are many more people.
Federal management still does poorly, but exercises more control.
Too many people reliant upon government.
Resource depletion.
All people are very reliant upon the bankrupt system which is in place.
The majority of people no longer live 'close to the earth' as they did in the past.
We're overdue for a pandemic such as the Spanish Flu.

As you can tell by my post count here upon Tnet, I've had far too little work for some time now.
Much as I'd like to think, I'm pretty much average Joe sixpack.
I've had an inordinate amount of time to research any number of different subjects via the internet that have led me to believe our prospects are not good.
I'm still looking for someone to refute the prognosis I see coming at full speed

Occasionally someone tells me how they are doing better than ever with their fried clam business in Poughkeepsie, or something like that... Good for them! I'm concerned for our general populace as a whole.
The newest level of national debt which shall be shouldered by our children is a burden that would stun an ox.

Best
rmptr

 

[Noodle]

Nothing has changed for 50 years. When I was a youngster in the 50s, hunger was rampant, especially in farmland areas. And especially among widowed families. Yet there was always one thing visible when we went to deliver groceries. A TV and an antenna. Didn't matter how small or poor the household was; they had tv. There are just certain things that folks won't give up. Who knows? Maybe it brightened their lives more than it could have satisfied their bellies. Friends and neighbors were there to help, after all.

 

[rmptr]

That's interesting Noodle!

I haven't really seen much TV since before W's Daddy tried to get more money out of Uncle Ben.

Since that time we got two 90 day trial periods for $25. One cable, one dish.

Got to the point we saw everything on the History channel 3 times and never renewed it.

We got 1 channel now, with the rabbit ears, it's about worthless as anything I ever saw.

Watch plenty movies from the library, though. Too many.

Just saw that Dark Knight on DVD.
Big downer. Twisted and whacked. Wasted my time, again!

 

[rmptr]

I think that one might be the 'pea picker near Nipomo' by Dorothea Lange, Mac.

She most likely came over to the coast from Bakersfield, chasing a harvest and thinking things would be a bit nicer over in the coastal areas.

It's not.
There's never been much water over here and there's been little farming, growth, or industry because of it.

Today there's not much chance of earning a buck harvesting crops.
The amigos got that pretty well tied up.
Very hard work. Some of 'em do well for themselves, though.
I did, poorly.

Travel by jalopy wouldn't be possible, and isn't allowed any more in CA.
The Golden state got big rules and regs for personal transportation!
10 days in the state, you gotta register it.
Or if you get a job.
And Arnold is talking about tripling reg fees!
Then there's the mandatory smog check and insurance, before you can register it.
They tow everything they can find.

Oh, and don't try to sleep in a vehicle within most city limits. The zombies will getcha!

Yesterday, and today again, I watched two homeowners put up their own Christmas lights on VERY tall homes.
Ignorant, stoopid, and recklessly foolish!
Homes probably STILL worth over 1/2 mill and they make the money to pay for 'em and won't hire a handyman with a ladder to put up lights for $100.

One guy fired up his diesel pusher MH and climbed up it's ladder to get on the lower part of his roof.
Today, we sat and watched another up on his tile roof with our cell phone at ready.
We could tell from half a block away HE KNEW he had no business up on that roof!
People too afraid of someone getting hurt on their property to hire help when they should.
And money's tight.
Landscaper told me today, 7 cancellations this month. There had been NONE during the whole year.

It will be a tough row to hoe for the itinerant artist and troubador, I'll tell yah!
I think Jewell might be the last big success story we see for a while.