G'day
I remember an old fella who lived through those years telling me what life was like during the depression, he said because there was no work and food was scarce he hit the road and went from one rural property to another where he would sometimes get work in exchange for food, like chopping wood and such, then he said you would have to move on to another place, sleeping rough most times by the roadside, he was saying that one time he was given a sandwich and a piece of fruit cake, he said he was so knackered that he stopped under a tree for a rest and ate the sandwich deciding to keep the fruit cake for later, anyway he fell asleep and when he woke up the fruit cake was alive with ants, he said he tried to wipe the ants off but there were too many so he said that he just woofed the cake down ants and all because he was too hungry and didn't want to waste it.
It would probably do many people in our society some good to go hungry for a bit so that they can learn to not be so greedy and always expect everything just to be laid on, and some tough lessons in life can make you really appreciate what you have, back in my early years before joining the army I went interstate with some mates, great adventure but later discovered life was tough with no work and no money, I ended up at a share place and while waiting to get some dole money as there was no work I lived on a bag of brown rice and a bottle of soy sauce for about a week and a half, I was so hungry if I had found a dead cat I would have seriously thought about eating it, I always said that the reason the recruitment officer for the army let me in was because I probably looked so skinny and decrepit he felt sorry for me.
I appreciate everything that I have and have learned to make do, and never been one to care about who has what like some these days, also coming from a poor family you soon learn not to expect anything because you most likely will not get it anyway, you don't get disappointed that way, it would be hard to adjust to life in a depression but I guess we will all find that you just have to do what you have to do to stay alive and get on with life just like the people did last time round.
cheers
stayyerAU