Maybe? The fact is that we have to be somewhat careful comparing the present to historical data. Not simply because “past indications don’t predict the future but can be applied...” But because the world is so incredibly different today than ever before. Like- in ways most people REALLY don’t realize. All but the oldest humans alive today grew up in a very different world. WW2 and the effects that follows profoundly changed basically EVERYTHING about the world. I mean down to the molecular level of the world we live in.
Most people alive today have spent most of their lives in a world where the background radiation levels of the earth are higher due to human activity. We have to salvage pre war steel just to get metal that isn’t contaminated by radiation. But socially, economically, politically, the way people live and even think about things is so different.
Even a “Great Depression” remains to be seen how that would compare to the historical event known by that name- a number of factors at the time conspired to create particularly brutal conditions. Our complicated and often derided (even by me) economic systems make for loop holes and tools of oppression and wealth hoarding- but they also contain some protections and robustness that didn’t exist in the Great Depression.
Any recession or depression will have human costs- but the “real world” effects and who will see them or be harder hit are an open question globalization creates complex economic bonds between distant lands and peoples which can exacerbate economic trends and spread effects farther- but it can also create redundancies that allow burdens to be equalized over larger groups to reduce the extremes that more isolated economic systems can develop.
It is unlikely history would follow the trend of depression and wars which brought us to the present day- possible if people both forget lessons of the past as well as people with power to influence policy get stuck thinking that what worked before will work now- but unlikely if things are allowed to develop.
Mainly because the untapped resources and such that became available post world wars, and the connections made which allowed from growth and new markets- aren’t really there in the way they were. There is potential for a redistribution or wealth through instability- especially if certain resource rich or strategically positioned lands were to become gate keeper to those things as opposed to being made to service the will of greater powers- but that isn’t additive. It would change local fortunes for the better but not globally.
We MAY be in the “roaring 20’s” right now- a time labeled for excesses of the few- and often in history, when a small group revels in excess while others go without... revolution tends to rear its head once the many get tired of the few... but in present day- the “many” are less the urban elites of a given land mass and more entire countries and continental masses which are thousands of miles away from the “few” and command weapons that could quite literally erase entire nations with an order.
So that seems unlikely. Possible but unlikely. More likely is what we have seen- homes foreclose and jobs disappear until the government creates some artificial crutches to prop up and stabilize the situation. A few countries make controversial and bold moves to save their eco mikes like forcing certain people to continue to produce essential goods and services- and most countries use political trickery and imaginary numbers they made up to replace the old broken imaginary numbers... and then things move back on track. A few “life changing” changes are made but very little. Everyone adjusts to the new normal- and wether it is o he ticket better or worse- a bunch of people pine for “the good old days...” while telling you how much things suck now.
Remember- a generation or so back are folks who bit h about how kids dont play outside and are always on their phones- ignoring the fact that kids can explore and create worlds of imagination with people from all over the world and exchange ideas from home- and that before people played on phones in public they listened to walk men and read books or news papers.
So if the world goes pretty belly up and we don’t have money for toys and gadgets (doubtful..) you can bitch to your kids, while they play outside and read books, that things were better when you were growing up and people didn’t waste time with local townies just sitting by a creek- they talked to people all over the world and expanded their minds with elaborate virtual adventures created by renowned artists and exposing them to complex and mature themes and ideas of morality and philosophy. It’s all a big circle jerk.
If you have a job, go to work. If you don’t have a job, vote for Bernie Sanders, and whatever you do probably won’t actually matter because most of these things are controlled by a handful of families that control most of the wealth and politics in the world. Most of the world does t have guns, and those that do don’t have much that can beat what the worlds leading militaries have- so you’re odds of upending the entrenched controllers of global destiny are pretty slim. Not even a World War can root them all out. We still have some of the same dynasties in charge of most of the worlds wealth now as we did then.
So grab a seat, buckle up, and enjoy the ride. Perhaps take the opportunity to learn something objectively useful- something that actually builds or creates things of value to society and doesn’t exist as a way to piggy back the work of people that do actually create things if value. Real value. Not- “without marketing people wouldn’t buy products so my marketing career is valuable to..” no. It isn’t. It’s worth money because it can generate money. Money isn’t tied to actually producing anything. Most of it is made off people doing actual and essential work.
“Marketing department” wasn’t listed as essential was it? People would still buy soap if you didn’t have soap commercials. We need soap you toadie. It doesn’t take a degree to put an ad in he paler that says: “buy some soap or get sick and die and live as a smelly dirty scag.” Marketing is the art of optimized manipulation to get a person to buy the exact thing you want them to- which is the thing that benefits you- not them.
Same with a ton of jobs that are just a consequence of how economics works in a “free market” controlled by idiots. Then there are all the jobs that are just disguised unemployment. The equation of prestige and perks added to salary and then weighted against security, portability, advancement, requirements, and work- is what most people use. That or what seems “fun” or “interesting.” But maybe focus on that which is more practical- depression or no- the world has to run- and the fluff usually gets cut pretty early in when things get tight.
You can't lose everything if you don't have anything