Except the great depression happened without FDIC insurance. It wouldn't be pretty, but nobody would have been destitute from a banking collapse. There are many more regulations put in place since the 30s to safeguard against the extraordinary degree of damage a collapse can have like that.
Instead of a trillion dollar bailout that went to rich coffers (and most of which was paid back) we could have just thrown the money, mixed, into VC to replace the dead banks (as investment stake, that the government could have sold back later and recouped the costs all the same) and unemployment protection to keep the people temporarily put out of work during the restructuring from destitution.
In that scenario, the robber baron crooks that should have been in prison don't get to waft off on golden parachutes paid with tax money.
Instead of a trillion dollar bailout that went to rich coffers (and most of which was paid back) we could have just thrown the money, mixed, into VC to replace the dead banks (as investment stake, that the government could have sold back later and recouped the costs all the same) and unemployment protection to keep the people temporarily put out of work during the restructuring from destitution.
In that scenario, the robber baron crooks that should have been in prison don't get to waft off on golden parachutes paid with tax money.