It's always amazing how fast and how far people end up past the mark in these forums. Kent's point is ironclad and spot-on. The point--and the fact--is that most ALL of us are living above and beyond what we can afford. In one way or another most ALL of us carry debt that we shouldn't or buy goods and services that by our gradparents definitions are extravagant. We could all be doing more to help remedy the problem. We could all be saving more. Simple? Uh, huh. Do you know what saving money does to our economy? Do you understand that the more we are in debt, individually and collectively, the worse off we are...individually and collectively. Kent's comments were written with the intent to prompt us to take a look in the mirror and ask ourselves if we are, indeed, part of the problem; to internalize some of the blame if, indeed, we are to blame. Most of us probably are. Great post.

I think alot of responders to this editorial have missed the point. I believe the author was pointing out that, for the most part, the media, politicians, experts, etc have been pointing blame at "everything" and "everyone" except "us", the american public. So far, political parties, government agencies, politicians, corporate america and the lenders have been blamed for this mess. Aren't we, or at least some or alot of us, at least partly if not largely responsible, ultimately, for our own personal financial decisions and the consequences to follow? Ignorance and lack of education in terms of personal financial matters can only be an excuse for so long. For sure there are many who did not acquire mortgages that they could not handle, but many did buy bigger homes and bigger mortgages then they could handle, and now it has caught up to them (us). I don't think the author was placing the sole blame on "us" but was acknowledging that "we" may have played a large part.