1) Cite your sources on medicaid eligibility, because a lot of those 'facts' are hard-to-impossible to believe.

2) No, bankruptcy is not cheap, but it can provide a reset and much-needed relief. Chapter 7 usually costs around $1k or so, since it is the easiest if you qualify for it. Chapter 13 (the most common type these days thanks to reforms beginning in late 2005) has the legal fees rolled into your monthly trustee payments. And no, it is not "more expensive" to navigate bankruptcy without a lawyer - basic math would tell you that lawyers roll in filing fees with their billing FFS, and you still have to show up at the hearing(s) even if you do have a lawyer present. It is more time-consuming on your part, but not more expensive. The lawyer is there to ensure that you have all the paperwork you need in one go (Ch. 7) and/or to act as a source of advice and as a means to ensure that all is progressing well, and to file/petition for changes in income/situation (thus raise or lower your payments to the trustee) as you move towards discharge (Ch. 13).

3) Try not to make snide comments based on insanely ignorant suppositions - it's a bad look for you.

None of what you wrote contradicts what I've written. Of course shit happens - nobody disputes that, least of all me. This does not invalidate that the most common reason folks end up in bankruptcy court is due to either living way beyond their means, or by living beyond any cushion of safety (that is, no savings to speak about in the bank, then expecting only to make more money each year over time to justify that big new load on the credit card, buying more house/car/whatever than they should, etc.)
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Again, bad things happen, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't have some savings packed away, that you should put at least some reasonable self-imposed limits on what you're looking to buy, etc.

Err, why did your kid go that route? My ex-wife went to a specific vocational school of nursing, and went up the route from CNA to LPN to RN. She did it all w/o a college degree (she got a BSN later on.) The whole process for her took 3 years, and it cost maybe 3/4 the price of a typical community college AS degree (at in-state rates).

I hate to say it, but this alone tells me that I don't think you have this all sorted out very well... and blaming some nebulous conspiratorial system for the result of making self-disclosed not-good choices makes absolutely no sense at all. Sorry if taht offends, but dude, seriously? I find it hard to blame eeeeevil Republicans (or whoever) for the fact that you sent your kid full-ride to a "major uni" (translation: $$$$$$$$$$!) for what a vocational school could have taught.

Also wages are most certainly not collapsing. 10 years ago you'd be damned lucky to make minimum wage to work a kid's retail job at the mall. Now, in the same area (Portland, OR), they compete to offer anywhere from $13-$20/hr with full benefits for anyone with a pulse and the ability to show up every day for work.

Not completely correct. I can, now that I have a house, opt out of it at any time, and I can just buy used vehicles with cash from here on out, or leave deposits w/ the utilities and such. You'd be amazed how much money it saves long-term.

On the other hand, the average Chinese citizen can never leave the matrix.

Most gov't mortgage programs (VA, FHA, USDA) consider a minimum average FICO score of 620 to be perfectly fine. Most lenders (for any good or service) consider a score of 720 or higher to be "excellent", and qualified for the best rates they offer. 700 qualifies as "good" in most legit lenders' eyes.

Most hospitals have hardship programs that write off medical bills (and in the US, there's also medicaid when there's no other alternative out there), which obviates the whole loan sharking scenario. Bankruptcy can also remove medical bills w/o too much of an issue, by either removing the debt entirely (Chapter 7) or setting up a long-term partial repayment plan (Chapter 13).

Can't fully bring myself to agree with the rest, but I can refine this bit: They want to give you enough slack that you can get yourself into trouble, but not get in so deep that they as creditors end up losing out by way of bankruptcy court. Makes sense, really.

Also, to be honest? Having credit, like owning a firearm or driving a vehicle, is not an inherently harmful thing. However, like nature, credit is highly intolerant of carelessness, incompetence, or neglect. Welcome to adulthood?

Stop getting high on partisan supply - even the eeeevil "one percent" isn't reaping anything at the expense of anyone else (see also how investing actually works. Or did you think they stuffed it all under mattresses, or put it in a giant vault and swam it in Scrooge McDuck style?)

Indeed - most quit after their first enlistment - usually 4 years. IIRC, less than 20% of Enlisted hang around for the 20+ year ride to retirement; the percentage of officers is likely the same or perhaps lower given the political hazards they have to deal with as they climb the ranks. From my experience back in the day, at least in the USAF, if you re-enlist after the end of your second enlistment (~year 8), you were going to grunt it out for 20. Few people did that by the time I got out (1991), doubly so after they changed the retirement rules.

But then, most soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines don't get to experience the relative gravy lifestyle of, say, the typical Assistant Deputy Secretary of Pencil Sharpening for The United States Department of Literacy Standards, Writing Utensil Division, Western District, San Francisco Office.

We're in the midst of what is considered by nearly all quarters as an excellent economy. With even a small modicum of skill, you can find and get a higher-paying job with little effort right now in most areas.

If you don't have (or aren't building up) a savings nest-egg right now, then either you have astoundingly bad luck in life (it happens), or you're blowing too much money on crap.

Or, you're just being a partisan hack in an election year. Be a better person already.

Nobody said they had to... but consider what would happen if this attitude carried to other products, such as cars, refrigerators... You don't 'brick' someone's old car just because they bought a newer model of the same car under some loyalty program discount - you either buy it on trade-in for additional money, or let them sell it to someone else.

Sonos could have simply let their users sell off the old product at a decent discount, if only to introduce the brand and product line to potential new buyers - If their product doesn't suck, it would be pure marketing gravy for them, and would very likely increase the number of folks who eventually plonk down for the next iteration of their speaker set once that comes out.

...or EMACS.

(...what?)

Buy our (McKinsey & Co's) services, or you're (cue Invader Zim voice) doomed! Doomed! Doom...!

No, seriously, there will always be a number of banks in such a position, taking greater risk in return for a shot at greater growth. The doom prophesy is cute, though. But then,. it's always easy to predict an eventual drop when you're on an upswing, no?

I just hope the next time something like 2007-2008 happens, they actually let the bastiches fail. FDIC can cover for the non-wealthy among us, and everyone else can eat the losses on everything over $100k per account in deposits. Then we can prosecute and imprison the C-level and the boards of directors for fiscal irresponsibility.

Seriously? Does the state have to wipe your bum for you too?

Seriously -at some point you are going to have to adult this, not buy Starbucks for a week, and while you're at it go get a $10 copy of your birth certificate.

Wait - an ID card costs around $50 or so in a coastal state, and lasts for like 7-10 years, depending, with renewal costing far less. $50 is barely more than an average monthly bill for a cheap smartphone plan, and far less expensive than a new outfit. Pretty sure that unless you're homeless and jobless, it's not going to be that big and nasty of an imposition. Considering that you need one to get into a club/bar, buy certain adult products, get a bank account, a credit card, purchase a firearm, get a job...

The kicker is, many states subsidize ID cards if you are impoverished (many giving them to you for free!)