A Multi-Pronged Attack To Fix a Badly Broken Economic System

921 Words2 Pages

It is obvious that we have a problem in this country. With negative savings rates and huge deficits everywhere we look. It is clear that there will not be a silver bullet answer to this question. The problem goes beyond foreclosure. Its more than just the housing industry, its our entire economy, and as we have seen in the past, the World economy. Who is at fault? The home buyers, who take out mortgages to buy luxury items, yes. The bank who gives out these loans, yes. So when we have a situation such as this where both parties are in the wrong who do we look to? What do we change? The government is not exactly a shining example for the people. It has huge deficit problems of its own. What we need is a cultural shift towards responsibility. This is neither an easy nor a quick fix, but it is the only way that we will not continue to revert to the practices that caused this crisis.

One serious problem attributing to our current situation is a lack of education or awareness of how the system works. People are concerned with having the latest gadget or shiny object, not realizing the actual cost or value of this luxury. The driving force behind this trend is advertising. People believe that they need to have things to impress people. Peoples definition of "necessity" has become so skewed due to marketing and cultural shifts in "coolness." It is scary to think how few high school students would think of water as a necessity when engaging in a conversation about their future happiness. This is simply cultural, we take many necessities for granted because they are so easy to come by in our society. This is where we need to teach. Hands on learning can make people respect what they have and value things differently and this is ...

... middle of paper ...

...
All together this problem is very much solvable. It just must start on the individual level. Teaching children about the dangers and rewards in our current system. Showing them the money saved when purchasing something outright. Or the money saved when able to make double payments on a mortgage. In addition to this we need to teach our kids about the world and where we fit in it. All kids eat, but most have no idea how they get there food and where it comes from. Simple lessons can make people appreciate the luxuries they have, even make them see things as luxuries that they once took for granted. If we do our part culturally, then it becomes our children's job to make sure the other pieces fall in to place. They will be the ones overseeing the new regulations and the changing of credit system. I do not promise a quick fix, but a solution none the less.

Open Document