Reply #101: That happened to my grandfather and his brother during the Depression.

[distantearlywarning]

They came home from school one day and all of the family's stuff was on the lawn.

Then the Sheriff took them aside, told them that their sole remaining parent had died (found out later it was suicide) and the bank was foreclosing on the property. Then he gave them $5 each and told them they should go find work somewhere else because nobody could support them. My grandfather was 11 years old at the time.

This is an absolutely 100% true story - my grandfather told it to me, and it was confirmed by two other relatives who were there. That's the kind of thing we might have to look forward to again in this country if things keep going as they are.

BTW, my grandpa ended up working for a farmer in another state for 5 years until he was old enough to lie about his age and join the Army. He told me that the Army was one of the few places a man could reasonably expect to have "3 hots and a cot" daily in those times, so lots of people wanted to join up. They literally had waiting lists to join the Armed Forces.

It'd sure be nice for BushCo to have to turn people away from service, wouldn't it? We'd have no problem waging war on Iran or anywhere else if lots of able-bodied American citizens desperately wanted to sign up. Ok, that's my tin-foil hat thought for the week... :tinfoilhat: