Most people do not have a clue how bad this could get. The collapse of a specialized economy which we live in today will make the Great Depression look like a Sunday picnic. There will be less food to go around this time since we've have nowhere near the amount of people living an agrarian lifestyle as we had in the '30s.
I wish and pray there was a way to avoid it, but I don't see enough people waking up to what is about to happen to make a difference. Even Congress, in the latest budget passage, seems to have withdrawn from the fight.
It will bring on the terminal crisis of the welfare state and the end of the New Deal paradigm, which turns 81 on March 4.
On the other hand, we are much better at mitigating these problems. Our understanding of the art/science of economics is greatly improved, as is medicine, agriculture, etc. One advantage to this might be that many illegals go home, as happened during the depression. The quality of our military personnel might soar as well as middle and upper middle class young men have few opportunities. The situation might be bad, but there will be silver linings.