by Lisa Doherty

Created on: October 23, 2008   Last Updated: October 27, 2008

As with most crises, where we place the blame is often everywhere but where it should go. Politicizing aside, the current financial fiasco in the United States has much less to do with the greedy, little fingers caught in the proverbial cookie jar, as it has to do with an entire culture that has glutted itself on gratifying goodies that we cannot afford, yet make us feel better momentarily .

CREDIT CARDS

The number one destroyer of homes, families, and economic situations are those little plastic cards that invite us to spend money we have not earned. What they do not tell you is that a credit card that is maxed to a $10,000 limit will take approximately 40 years to pay off if the person only pays the minimum amount each month. Unfortunately, most average families have more than one card and are carrying interest rates that are twenty to twenty-three percent.

So who is to blame? We, the consumer hold 100% of the blame and there is only one answer. Cut them up and throw them away - - and never get another one. I can vouch from personal experience that you can still exist, rent cars, hold hotel rooms, and travel without using the plastic disaster magnet. It is a little more difficult, but well worth it when you free yourself from owing on things you can't even remember that you bought.

INSTANT GRATIFICATION

As Americans, we do not like to be told we can't have something RIGHT NOW! We tell ourselves that we deserve a new car because we need it for work. We deserve the big vacations because we work all the time. We rationalize every purchase and finally justify our actions with whatever excuse lets us sleep at night because we have to have it right now. Saving takes too long and we hate waiting. Who is to blame, then? Is it the advertisers who pander to our own insecurities and deepest desires? Take a closer look at who holds the power in this situation and it becomes obvious.

CONSUMER CULTURE

When it comes to a consumer culture like ours, we have to evaluate what we purchase and weigh out its financial feasibility. We work long hours in thankless jobs and feel that it is their right to buy, buy, buy. Like an addiction, however, the euphoria of getting your consumer fix only lasts a moment and then we are left with payments that many of us can't afford.

We can throw the blame around from one party to another, but it still does not make any sense to place the blame anywhere but on our own selves and the culture of spending more than we earn that is second nature to most Americans. Unfortunately, by the time many of us figure out that we only have ourselves to blame, we find the hole we dug for ourselves is too deep to dig out of with the spoon we have for an income.

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