I've been living in the great depression for years, how about you?

[Philosoraptor]

A while ago I typed up a big whiny story about how hard my life has been, but then I deleted it.

Are you living paycheck to paycheck like me? I could use a little company so I don't feel like the Lone Ranger out here.

All I know is if it gets as bad as some are predicting, I'm totally screwed.

[NeedleCast]

1. I'm glad you recognize the fact that it's the poor who will get screwed the worst

in a total meltdown scenario.

The rich will have to go without some levels of luxary. The poor will die.

[riverdeep]

9. And think of how long the pain will last when you have to take

a wheelbarrow full of money to buy a can of soup. The bill as it stands, will lead to inflation and possibly hyperinflation. That will guarantee the poor will stay poor for a generation.

In response to the economic crisis, the Zimbabwean reserve bank has frenetically printed money to support the corrupt and failing government-owned enterprises and to sustain minimal government services. The high growth in money supply has resulted in hyperinflation, officially estimated at 11 200 000 percent, but probably closer between 20 000 000 and 52 000 000 percent. Imposed price controls have emptied shops of food and hospitals of basic medicines and other essential devices to perform rudimentary operations.

As a result of starvation, malnutrition-related diseases such as kwashiorkor are increasing at astounding rates, and it is estimated that between 3000 and 3500 people die every week from HIV/Aids and related opportunistic infections. Tuberculosis cases continue to rise and with unreliable and inconsistent TB treatment, the prospects of drug resistant strains of the bacteria worsen. Thousands of people die on a daily basis from diseases that are entirely preventable and curable. For instance, Zimbabwe was once at the forefront of malaria control interventions in Africa and successfully had managed to control the disease for many years. However, with the disastrous economic policies and the resultant hyperinflation, malaria control has been neglected. It has become impossible to plan for the impending malaria season with the costs of commodities and labour spiralling out of control.

http://business.iafrica.com/opinion/1181140.htm

What happened in Zimbabwe will happen here, hopefully on a less harsh scale, but it will happen.

[galileoreloaded]

18. Bravo. The Koolaid here on this must be so so sweet....... N/T

[Marrah_G]

2. I am a struggling single mom

My grandmother was a struggling single mom of 6 during the depression. Her life was far more difficult then mine is. Yes, life is one big stress filled struggle for me, but I know it could be far worse.

Like you I live paycheck to paycheck. When things get really bad I remind myself that Nana had it worse and she raised 6 great kids.

I know, probably sounds silly, but thats where I get the little strength I have. Where she got hers, I do not know.

If it gets really bad I predict many singles, like you and I, will end up opting to co-habitate to get by.

[prayin4rain]

26. good for you!!!

:hug: i have NO children and a husband and i don't have time to do anything. you must be a super hero :)

[leftofcool]

3. The middle class with suffer too and pay the largest bulk of the taxes

[madrchsod]

4. on and off most of my working life

but since 2001 it`s been total crap. one job that paid 9 an hour for 4 years. nothing but temp jobs ever since since.

[stillcool]

5. I'm a Rolling Stone disciple

.."You can't always get what you want, but you get what you need". I don't recall a time when I have not been able to tap into the fear of having nothing.

[Toucano]

6. I don't mean to undermine your point, but if you have a paycheck at all...

you're better off than people in the Great Depression.

Just an observation.

I don't mean to imply that you're not suffering greatly.

[RaleighNCDUer]

17. The point, I think, is that if things are hard with hand-to-mouth

paychecks now, there is the stress of fearing what happens when that paycheck stops.

The safety net has been shredded, everybody's in debt and nobody has any savings. There are at least 20 million people in this country who are two paychecks from the street.

I'm lucky. I have a state job, and could manage to hang on for maybe three paychecks - and even then, I have no dependents so if I had to pull up stakes I could.

BTW, WaMu went under today. The market opened and immediately dropped by more than 100 points.

We are not headed for another Great Depression. Every crisis like this is singular. What we are facing could, conceivably, be worse than the Great Depression, because we are starting at a more unstable point. The gov has fucked with economic indicators and unemployment figures so much over the past 2 decades there is no telling just how bad things really are. Our unemployment going into this may be, by old standards, well over 10% - not the 5% the gov says.

[sarcasmo]

30. My opinion, this is why they built the fema camps. We are going to have to pay our debt some way.

[CrownPrinceBandar]

7. I know where you're coming from..................

Living paycheck to paycheck, marginal medical (really bad plan w/ a sky-high deductible), no optical or dental, driving a 10-yr old car in bad condition. Yup, I'm right there with you. I'm one severe medical bill or catastrophic repair away from being kaput.

Not to diminish your point, but, I'm very grateful for what I DO have, because so many have it much worse than I.

[anarch]

8. you're fucking-A right I have been

I've learned how to feed two people and one cat on about $30 a week...haven't quite had to dumpster dive recently, but it's been a close thing. If we get to the hyper-inflation point, I'll probably be basically hunting and gathering (I live in the city, in an apartment...maybe I can convert part of the balcony to a tiny garden?). I'm not even quite in good enough shape to say I'm paycheck to paycheck, which is why I've run up the credit debt buying groceries and paying for medicine. And I have a decent job, too! Just not enough of one to support a household on my own, although I've had to since my girlfriend lost her job and hasn't been able to find another....

[Toucano]

11. Are there any food pantries near you?

I know that many of them are struggling, too, but they might be able to help a little.

Do you not qualify for food stamps?

Best regards.

[anarch]

14. yes, if it comes down to it

not sure about the food stamps...I think we do qualify, but my gf applied and never heard back.

We're not starving yet anyway...you'd be amazed how well you can eat for not very much money if you don't mind taking the time to cook. For us, it's been a necessity, but my cornbread skills have gotten pretty amazing, and if we stretch out the rice and beans for most of the month, we even get to splurge around payday. But if things fall apart....

[onenote]

24. how much do you pay a month for an internet connection?

may be a way to save some money.

[prayin4rain]

27. you can get internet for like 9 dollars a month and he may be posting from the library n/t

[onenote]

29. that would be a good thing.

[BreweryYardRat]

31. So sick of that argument.

An internet connection costs $40 a month for cable, and satisfies ALL your entertainment needs. You can download most books, movies, music, TV shows, etc... How much would each of those cost individually?

[Philosoraptor]

33. It's a very republican point, I am sick of it too.

[BreweryYardRat]

32. So sick of that argument.

An internet connection costs $40 a month for cable, and satisfies ALL your entertainment needs. You can download most books, movies, music, TV shows, etc... How much would each of those cost individually?

[onenote]

35. I agree that cable is a great bargain

Although I'd love to see a deal where you get cable and high speed for just $40.

My only point is that anyone comparing their present situation to the situation faced by people during the great depression ought to consider what sort of things they have that make that a rather inapt comparison. As noted elsewhere, during the depression people lost everything -- no roof over their heads, bread lines, etc.

And even those like my dad who were able to get employment still had to do things like share a pair of shoes with his brother.

I'm not suggesting that anyone here complaining of their circumstances should shut up. Just that they should have some perspective about what a really truly horrific situation the great depression was compared to what most anyone posting on this board is in.

[lunatica]

10. I hit the Great Depression when Bush was 're-elected' in 2004

His 'The American People Have Given Me A Mandate' speech was the deciding blow.

I have two part time jobs, and I take care of my bedridden mother. And I don't quite live paycheck to paycheck. At the end of the month I have to use credit cards for food.

updated to add the last sentence.

[riverdeep]

12. And yet, people in the same situation keep electing Republicans.

Not you, I don't mean to imply. But there's a lot of people out there that apparently would rather remain malnourished or die of an entirely preventable illness that they can't treat without health insurance or work two jobs and not see their kids grow up, than to see two guys walking down the street holding hands.

[SammyWinstonJack]

19. Was thinking the same thing. It boggles the mind, doesn't it?

Self-righteousness got us here and it's too damn bad that others will suffer when it should only be the self-serving self-righteous suffering. Doesn't work that way, though. x(

[pnwmom]

13. Many people in the Great Depression weren't living paycheck to paycheck.

They were living from railroad stop to railroad stop. Or from soupline to soupline.

My sister, a 15 yr. bank employee (not a big whig or a high flyer) lost her job yesterday, if that makes you feel any better.

[Philosoraptor]

15. My folks told me all about it, so I know, I've been homeless, with family.

[LanternWaste]

16. Although I'm living paycheck to paycheck also...

Although I'm living paycheck to paycheck also, I have a job, my utilities are paid, I eat three squares a day (sometimes two if I'm too lazy in the mornings to pack my lunch), have an internet connection, and even a few dvd's to watch on a boring Friday night; so I'm not really experiencing the Great Depression as I've come to understand it.

[onenote]

20. lots of people live paycheck to paycheck. and they have things like computers, high speed connection

cars, televisions, vcrs, dvd and cd players, cell phones etc.

Do you have any of those things? If so, I don't think the comparison to how people were existing during the Great Depression (when, for example, my father and his brother shared one pair of "nice" shoes) is terribly apt.

[Philosoraptor]

21. Yes, I've really cheapened the suffering of the great depression haven't I?

You're talking to a homebound man in a wheelchair with post polio syndrome facing the streets with no welfare or government help, don't get me started, I know how bad off I am and I own one of every one of the above mentioned things.

I'm bad off here by any decade's standards, and I can see the worst from where I'm sitting.

[raccoon]

22. One big difference between the Great Depression and now is that

at that time, many more people were farmers and could feed their own families, even if they didn't have money for anything else.

My mother's family was like that.

[Philosoraptor]

23. ..........

[TexasLady]

25. same here. but like my wise grandmother always said

when you are only 'this far' from the bottom, you sure don't have that far to fall. This attitude got her and her family through the Depression. I knew there was a reason I listened to all her stories!

[sarcasmo]

28. You are not alone. I guess we are moving in with my folks or her brother.

If the Depression does hit, that would be the scenario. My Dad has his house paid for, it may be a little over crowded.

[NNN0LHI]

34. Right now when you or I go buy something we are paying prices the wealthy people can afford

Prices would come down if there weren't so many rich people with money to burn who were willing and able to pay those high prices.

Thats a fact.

Don

[Blue_Tires]

36. +1

[librechik]

37. hubby just got suspended from job of ten years

yikes!

Back to the food stamps!