Similar situation happened to my family when I was a wee lass. My dad had a great job with US Steel. 1981 rolls around and he is laid off due to irresponsible schmucks in the upper levels. My dad loses his job when there are no jobs to be found especially for guys who are not citizens and have no papers to prove they had any schooling. It sucked, but we survived.
As for people who buy cars they cannot afford, I used to see that crap everyday at the grocery store I worked at putting myself through college. They would hand me their Link cards to get the cash and then instead of using it for bills, or laundry soap or something, they flash their gold, manicured nails, name brand clothes and use the money to pay cell bills and then play the lottery. That absolutely infuriated me when that would happen.