Whose fault is it?

Whose fault is it?  Contributed by Pam Simmons

I was listening to a news program today and they suggested that the current economic situation is the fault of the media, because they are supposed to be the watch dogs calling attention to this type of thing. That got me thinking about who is at fault. Sure the mortgage companies who lent money to people at high interest rates and let them keep refinancing again and again. They are at fault. But what about the homeowners that knew in their hearts there was no way they could afford those payments? What about the Realtors who wanted to sell homes and didn't advise their clients to be more realistic? What about the politicians, the bankers, the builders, the credit card companies?

What about the average American? I saw what was happening in the housing industry, I knew my neighbor was refinancing his home again, and I knew he was going to be in trouble. I knew in my gut we were headed down the wrong path and we were going to wind up in trouble. The Realtors kept selling. The lenders kept lending. The credit card companies kept extending credit. The politicians kept making promises. The media kept quiet and so did we all.

What happened to the common sense and morals of our grandparents, "pay as you go"?
Living better than our parents did is an American dream, but you still have to work for it. It is a hope, not a promise. Instead of teaching our children how to pass a test in school, let's teach them life skills. Let's teach them personal economics, so they can make good decisions. Teach them that nothing in this life is free; there is always some type of payment required. There will always be predators in this world, loan sharks and such, but education is the magic shield to defend against those predators.

So whose fault is it? It's your fault and it is my fault!                                    

The story of how to catch wild pigs comes to mind. You put out food and when they get used to coming to eat, you put up a fence on one side, then another and then the final side goes up with an open gate and then you simply close the gate and you have pork and they have given up their freedom for an easy meal.

Contributed by Pam Simmons