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When a country is in economic crisis, it is often the marginalized and economically disadvantaged who carry the burden of being perceived as the "country's downfall." Especially with a country as geographically vast as the United States, people tend to draw hasty conclusions as to who is to blame for their economic strife-perhaps they see an immigrant shopping in an expensive department store and huff that it hardly seems immigrants in this country are suffering the way that they, hard-working, native-born Americans, are. But whatever the assumption, the current economic crisis in America is hardly due to the "poor".

First of all, let us begin by discussing the question of foreclosures on property. For those who truly believe that the poor in this country have even the slightest possibility to cause our real estate economy to crumble have much to learn about the economic history of this country. Even in our most thriving of economies, and even with the most outrageously low mortgage rates possible, one has simply never been able to walk into a bank without a stable credit rate, a steady job, and proof of financial stability and get a mortgage handed over just by walking in the door. At no time has our country handed mortgages out on the street. So let us set the records straight: in a consumerist economy such as that of the U.S., there has never been, and never will be, a moment in which the government will go out of its way to cater to the poor so much that the rest of the country's investments are sacrificed.
Furthermore, we are barking up the wrong tree if we think that only the poor would fathom making irrational, irresponsible investments. Take the Enron (ERE) scandal. The Parmalat (PLT) scandal in Italy:

"...creating a web of offshore entities that contained bogus assets used to offset Parmalat's mushrooming debts. [...]Parmalat disclosed that it had not recovered a payment of $589.9 million from a hedge fund based in the Cayman Islands." ("The Rise And Fall Of Parma's First Family,MARK LANDLER AND DANIEL J. WAKIN;New York Times, January 11, 2004.)

Who was at the helms of these corporate giants' downfalls? Certainly not their middle class workers, or a completely detached lower class sector of their respective populus' demographic. Market rule of thumb: investments are made by those who have money. Period. Sociological studies have consistently shown that not only do the poor adhere almost strictly to "conspicuous consumption", that is, buying only for

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