During the depression you had high unemployment however I think the rate of people under-employed in this country is much higher now than the unemployment rate during the depression. This is more dangerous because we are tricked into believing there is little or nothing wrong because we are all "getting by" better than the unemployed during the depression.
But how are people getting by these days - on credit cards.
I know a man who works as a manager at a major grocery store chain. He's a hard worker who's held this position for many years. He makes around 30,000 a year - which use to be a nice income. Now, that ENTIRE income would barely pay the mortage on a simple two bedroom home (and not just here in Northern Cali but in places like Utah too).
We are importing mass amounts of cheap goods from overseas, namely China, so we have "stuff." Our "stuff" keeps us in an illusion of getting by that those during the depression didn't have. If we suddenly had to give up all our cheap made goods it would turn into an employed depression here in the US. Think about it. All the clothes, dishes, toys, food, furniture, and nick nacks - all of it would be too expensive to afford much, if any, on the salaries that US workers make. If we suddenly had to buy all US crafted goods as they did during the depression it would be another depression.
My partner makes a decent enough income that, in times gone by, would have afforded us a decent, moderate lifestyle. Now we can barely pay our rent, we're on food stamps, and we have to stretch every penny. We could probably be getting by a little "better" if we shopped at Walmart and used credit cards but we refuse to do that for obvious reasons.
So what happens? We can't continue a civilization propted up on an inflated, valueless dollar and mass credit debt. It's troubling but, again, it seems that localization is key. I can't think of any other solution.
