If the price of pipe tobacco doubled, I'd likely reduce my bowls to about half what they are, smoking a bowl every two or three days. If all prices doubled, my life would be pretty austere compared to now, when it is simple but has its pleasures. People tend to visualize a dystopia, whereas I think it is wiser to lean against that. Most in the Great Depression, horrible as it was, kept struggling toward better times, and achieved that correction for most people, though many suffered. My dad's family grew up in the Depression. My grandma made and mended everyone's clothes. My uncle dropped out of college. It certainly changed lives on a permanent basis. People who owned tidy little homes found themselves renting, and budgets left out dentistry and medical attention. People found a strength they didn't know they had.
